Blackstrap Molasses

The coolest part about this post could be the name. I love that it needed no catchy introduction because it's catchy just by what it is. No, it is not a new character on Pirates of the Caribbean (although it could be)!
This viscous dark syrup replaced the honey in my Chai this morning and I am very excited about the results. It tasted sweet and yummy and happens to be great source of healthy promoting minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese, potassium and copper. So for those of us that don't indulge in regular steak consumption, molasses is a wonderful way to supplement the iron in your diet. Those of you on a dairy free diet, get your calcium on with this stuff.
With just two teaspoons of blackstrap molasses a day you get 18% of daily manganese, 14% of your daily copper, 13% of your daily iron and 11% of your daily calcium all for just 32 calories and you can say goodbye to the refined white sugars and/or artificial sweeteners you are putting in your coffee and tea. Use blackstrap in your coffee, tea, on cereal or oatmeal, in baked beans, gingerbread cookies, Asian sweet and sour sauce or BBQ sauces.
Unsulphured Blackstrap is the by-product resulting from turning sugar cane into table sugar. By-products are considered "waste" in many situations but in this case all the nutrition that is being lost in order to achieve that white sugar we are so accustomed to is going toward making nutritionally rich molasses. The term unsulphured means that the sun was used to ripen the sugar cane and not sulphur.
I was able to find blackstrap in my local grocery but it is a new item on the shelf there in the health food section. If you have no luck at your conventional grocery, give a health food store a try or ask your grocery customer service if they are able to order.