FAQ

Blog Questions

 

 

What made you start this website?

I originally started Divine Glowing Health around April 2013. That site is a bit of everything site, anything that can help people become healthy is what I will write about. This included recipes, food tips, health related articles and even focuses on inspirations. However, what I noticed was how important it was to have one site that really had a narrow focus. Even though I am not deserting Divine Glowing Health, nor do I intend to, I want to make this place a great spot for vegans who are looking for recipes.

What camera do you use?

I use a Canon 6D with the EF24-105mm lens that came with it. I will probably invest in more lenses when I’m not a pauper!

How do you edit your photos?

I do all my editing on Photoshop, and my favourite tools are: Levels, brightness/contrast, colour balance, sharpen and curves.

Where do you buy all your equipment, food props and such?

A few of my favourite places: Home Goods, Crates and Barrel, Potterybarn, Michaels, Bed Bath and Beyond, Hobby Lobby, Pier 1 Imports, Anthropologie, FasProjects (Etsy),  LooneyBinTradingCo (Etsy) and even Walmart.

I tend to buy small pieces of wood from places like Home Goods and Hobby Lobby. You have to really look for them, because most of them are just random home decors and can be found anywhere.

Can I use one of your recipes on my website?

I love when people share recipes, but I would prefer if you just take one picture and link to the recipe rather than copying and pasting the whole thing, but you are totally welcome to try making it yourself and post your own pictures or make an adaptation of it.

Food and Recipe Questions

Why are the desserts not as sweet?

If you’re using to other recipes and you suddenly make mine, you may realise that I don’t add a lot of sugar to my desserts, and I like to make them in small amounts. That’s because I want to promote the idea that desserts can be equally delicious if you add less sugar, enough to taste the sweetness but not overly done to the point where you need 1 cup of dates or 1/2 cup of sugar.

Also, I believe if you’re making things in multiple layers, you only really need one layer that’s sweet. Say if you’re making a cinnamon bread, you just need the filling and glaze sweet, the bread itself doesn’t have to. Or, if you’re making a chocolate pie with a crust, you really don’t need both the crust and filling to be sweet. One is usually enough!

Can I substitute this with that on your recipe?

I often have a lot of different ingredients that may be hard to find, and yes – if you feel that something may work, do try it but I can’t guarantee it will work 100%. For example, you can totally substitute carob for cacao/cocoa, but you may need to add a tiny more sweetener as cacao is generally more bitter than carob. If you can’t find all the different flours, you can always stick to one or two.

Tapioca starch, cornstarch, arrowroot and potato starch can be interchanged. If a recipe calls for 2 tablespoons tapioca starch and you don’t have it, you can try cornstarch.

Do not replace whole wheat pastry flour with whole wheat flour!

If a recipe calls for different flours such as spelt and whole wheat pastry flour and you only have spelt, you can try using spelt for the entire thing. I can’t guarantee it will always work though.

If you’re replacing a solid sweeter with a liquid, remove some liquid from other parts of the recipe, such as almond milk.

I mostly use extra light olive oil for baking and stir frying, but you can also try coconut oil, canola oil or other types of oils that’s not nutrition dense like extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil (which should not really be heated).

What are some equipment I should get to make your recipes?

Vitamix blender is a must. I don’t think you can really make much without it, because I use my precious blender every single day.

Other equipment that’s really handy: Food processor, dehydrator, juicer, julienne peeler/spiraliser, mini springform cheesecake pan, candy/chocolate mold, doughnut pan, ice cream maker, ice cream scoop, steamer, silicon muffin cups, jars, nonstick pots and pans, toaster oven.

Where can I find an ingredient?

Most often, you can find ingredients like barley malt, carob, various types of flours and superfoods on a store called Vitacost on Amazon. I bought so much of my ingredients there.

I often like to cook Asian foods as well, so it will benefit if you have an Asian grocery store nearby.

You can also check out a local health food store for these ingredients.

If you’re in the US, Trader Joe’s is one of my favourite places to shop!

Why do you eat how you eat?

I’ve tried different ways of eating, cooking and such, and I find that eating this way has really improved my health in every aspect.

What are some of your rules when it comes to cooking?

I don’t usually have strict rules, but I do have this. I never use refined sugar, ever. I will always stick to sweeteners like fruits or unrefined syrups that provide more nutritional value. I try not to use refined flours if I possibly can, and I will never use butter.

Also, I bake and saute with extra light olive oil as it has a higher smoke point. Extra virgin olive oil should not be used for temperatures higher than 320F. For that, I usually use Extra Light olive oil.

What are foods that you eat every single day?

Here’s a list of foods I try and eat every day: Kale, spinach, carrot, dark lettuce, broccoli, lemon, orange, apple, grapes, berries, oats, brown rice and small amount of nuts. I also eat a little bit of dessert each day, sweetened with natural foods and always whole wheat/grain.

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