Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Yesterday was a perfect day to experiment in my kitchen. A friend of mine just moved out of the country and gave me the contents of her refrigerator and cupboards. I took home a lot of peanut butter and honey so I didn't feel intimidated to experiment, which sometimes I feel when I think of wasting ingredients.

Nourishing Gourmet has a homemade version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I tried it out, but instead of using coconut oil, I tried a little bit of organic shortening in the chocolate part, and cocoa instead of hard chocolate, which didn't work out at all. It was worse than terrible. The clumpy mixture had to be chucked. I'm sure Nourishing Gourmet's version was great. The reason I wanted to forgo coconut oil is because it gets so sticky and melty so soon after taking it out of the freezer and I didn't want my peanut butter cups tasting anything like coconut.

I decided to make up my own version of peanut butter cups. Fortunately, mine ended up simple, easy and delicious.

The only problem is that the smell of peanut butter and melting chocolate attracted a small crowd (think teeny, tiny East Coast kitchen apartment). The next thing I know, Jeff is next to me with his Skippy peanut butter and our dog Annie is hanging out giving me her special adorable eyes, patiently waiting for a glob of peanut butter to drop to the floor.



Here is the how-to for these tasty, sweet treats. If you love chocolate and peanut butter together, then you'll love these and never need another Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. If you really want decadence, when these have finished solidifying, cut them into small pieces and add to ice cream-sugarless of course!

Easy Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter
1 C peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tblsp honey - depending on your sweet tooth

Chocolate:
2-3 ounces unsweetened chocolate bar, broken up into bits
2-4 tblsp honey - to your sweetness requirement

Mix peanut butter with vanilla and honey. Press spoonfuls into mini cupcake pans, filling each about halfway.

Next, I put the chocolate bits in a glass measuring cup in a small pan of simmering water. Stir in the honey and keep stirring until the chocolate is melted.




Next, have your camera ready for when you catch your partner sneaking peanut butter to the dog.

Lastly, if you have family members who poo-poo your naturally sweetened goodies like I have in my family, save a couple cupcake spots for them. Jeff was quick to fill his spots with peanut butter and chocolate chips when he saw that there was room.





I don't know if I'll ever convert his sweet tooth to naturally sweetened goodies. He seems dead-set against it and I don't push it on him, too much.

I put the cupcake pan in the freezer to get the peanut butter cups to solidify and it worked great. They pop out easily and still manage to melt in your mouth right out of the freezer.

My palate has changed so much over the past year and a half that even the smallest amount of sweetener satisfies. Keep in mind that the honey amount in this recipe can be altered, depending on your sweet tooth. If you are looking to cut down on calories, use a low-fat peanut butter and consider using a different sweetener than honey. It has more calories than white sugar.

This little recipe is incredibly easy, quick, and produces very little mess.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Tart and Temptation

I have to say if you like chocolate, check out this Deep Dark Chocolate Tart recipe. I discovered it today visiting one of my favorite recipe blogs, The Nourishing Gourmet. The ingredients are mostly crushed almonds, unsweetened chocolate, honey, coconut oil and vanilla. Some others, too, but in all, this appears to be a very easy recipe.

As I read the ingredients, I have to admit a little anxiety set in. Why was I feeling so anxious? Lack of the necessary ingredients? Then all of a sudden, it hit me. All my husband wanted for his birthday in June was Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake and I didn't come through. I won't blame it on moving or not having any of my cooking supplies near me. I also won't blame it on not knowing where the nearest grocery stores were at the time, AND being on foot only. I wished I had a better scapegoat, but the truth was, I just didn't do it.

Sometimes it is extremely difficult to make a time-intensive, sugar-laden dessert when I know I can't even lick my fingers in the process. When I'm crushing Oreos for the crust, I want to be eating them, too. I always have in the past, and even though I've gone this long (1 year and 7 months!) without sugar, sometimes certain things make me feel resentful. It's not that I feel this towards anyone, but that I got off sugar in the first place. I actually think there may be a little sugar fairy living in my psyche stimulating the pleasure center of my brain just enough to make me feel tempted to eat sugar. The pleasure juices of my brain start flowing and I can easily anticipate how pleasurable it would be to indulge. Knowing there are a floodgate of opiates just around the corner, ready to release in my brain if I indulge, I have to admit is pretty tempting.

So, sometimes I just don't want to struggle with the temptation. I KNOW I'm not going to give in, but having the choice at my fingertips, ON my fingertips, is sometimes very frustrating.

All this to say that I am very pleased to find a chocolate tart recipe that I know my husband will enjoy very much, and I will enjoy preparing because I can lick my fingers.

Naturally Sweetened Chocolate Lover's Recipe

I found a new recipe. It looks incredibly rich and creamy and makes me think of mousse. I haven't made it yet because I am one ingredient short, but here it is anyway, the Decadent Chocolate Pâté, brought to you by the Avoiding Milk Protein blog. The origin of the recipe comes from the Sweet Freedom blog, which is putting out a recipe book in May. I peeked around the recipe book's website and the concoctions are mouth-watering. The author/recipe-builder presents pictures of thick buttercream frosting atop a cupcake, glazed almond bars, butter tarts, berry crumble cake and chocolate pudding to name a few. What I'm most excited about is that all of her recipes are sweet but "free of wheat, eggs, dairy and refined sweeteners." I can't believe it! Although I use wheat, eggs and dairy sometimes, I am excited to find a healthful, naturally sweetened perspective on goodies. I'm not sure if she uses any artificial sweeteners, but as far as I could tell, she doesn't. Look for her recipe book, Sweet Freedom, in May.

Decadent Chocolate Pâté

1-1/4 cups (7 oz. or 210 g.) nondairy dark chocolate (70% cocoa is best), chopped

1/4 cup freshly squeezed (essential!) orange juice (remove larger pieces of pulp)

1 small ripe (but not squishy) Haas avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks (about 110-120 g. flesh)

2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) pure maple syrup

1 tsp. (5 ml.) pure vanilla extract, optional

Line three individual-serving loaf pans or a single small loaf pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.

Place chocolate in a heatproof glass or metal bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Melt together with the orange juice and maple syrup, stirring frequently, until perfectly smooth.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, purée the avocado, making sure to scrape down the sides so there are no lumps. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and purée until perfectly smooth, creamy, and glossy. It will have the texture of an old-fashioned cooked pudding–thick and almost glutinous. Turn the mixture into the pan(s) and smooth the top(s). Refrigerate about an hour until the top is just firm, then cover the top with more plastic and refrigerate overnight.

To unmold, remove the top piece of plastic. Place a serving plate upside down onto the loaf pan, then, holding the plate against the pan, turn the whole thing over so the pan is on top and the plate is on the bottom. Remove the loaf pan, then carefully peel off the plastic. To cut into slices, use a long, sharp knife that has been dipped in hot water and wiped clean between slices. A little goes a long way–one individual-serving loaf will serve 3-4 people (or 9-12 servings for the entire batch of pâté). Serve with fresh berries, cream, or other fruits.

Artificial Sweeteners: Mayo Clinic Perspective

I still have a lot to learn about artificial sweeteners.

I am passionate about nutrition and the safety of food products. I aim to give a fair and honest look at all of the possibilities. There is much to keep up on. Research seems to give us all kinds of information. "Coffee is good for you!" one month, then, "Warning: Coffee may cause....!" I am not talking about media hype, here. Just research.

I have entire sets of ideas that I want to be right, but, I have to remember to give each and every credible source its voice. Even if I don't want to. Otherwise I am just another biased voice pushing an agenda.

In an effort to share ALL of the credible information I find in my research, I would like to share what I found at the Mayo Clinic website: "According to the National Cancer Institute, however, there's no scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer."

The Mayo Clinic article focuses on the four low/no calorie, sugar substitutes; Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), Saccharin (Sweet'NLow, SugarTwin), Acesulfame K (Sunett, Sweet One), and Sucralose (Splenda).

The best part of this article is where they touch upon those of us who completely gorge ourselves on sweets. They have a very classy way of saying, "You idiots! Stop eating crap!"

I love this: "Just removing sugar from cookies and chocolates doesn't make them low-calorie, low-fat foods. If you eat too many, you'll still get more calories than you may need, and you may not get enough nutritious foods."

The obvious can be so profound. This issue is exactly what I have been dealing with. Eating too much of something, even if it is "healthy and naturally sweetened." Sure, I'm sugar-free. But I am still wrestling with my inner imp on issues of moderation.

I have written a lot about the negative aspects of artificial sweeteners, because there is a LOT of hype about how dangerous they are, but even those claims, as much as we want to believe them, need to be questioned and researched just as thoroughly. It is extremely difficult to know, sometimes, which of the information out there is to be believed. Obviously, if we are already biased or just desperately wanting to believe something, it's easy to back up what you want to be true. You can find anything online. "They" don't call it the information superhighway for nothing. What makes a source credible? I am still trying to figure this out, especially in light of all of the networking, politics and incentives between giant organizations/corporations.

The cold, hard facts on artificial sweeteners? We may not know all of the facts for another 20 years. Many studies come to fruition after a certain amount of time has passed and researchers are able to talk "facts" in retrospect. In the meantime, I am considering going to school to become a clinical nutritionist or registered dietitian. Then when I get preachy to my friends and family, they'll have to listen.

-http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073

My Naturally Sweet Pantry

Here is a small list of the naturally sweetened items I have been sipping and munching on lately. Hope the links help. You might have to ask the company where to find their product or if you can order it from them. Some of these have been hard for me to find, but worth it.

• graham crackers (So far, I've only been able to find these at Whole Paycheck. They are so fabulous dunked in my morning cup of coffee.): Midel
• moist, bite-sized, chewy cookies (These wonderful little bite-sized cookies make me really tired. They contain wheat flour. They can really satisfy the sweet tooth, though and are excellent substitutes for donut holes with your coffee): Fabe's
  
• chewy black licorice (Trader Joes has them cheapest): Panda
• large, filling, very sweet cookies (Very crumby, almost too sweet, but perfect in a sweet tooth emergency): Nana's
• grape juice (You will never go back to cheap grape juice after trying this.): R.W. Knudsen
• rich, creamy coconut ice cream (The chocolate mint variety has refined sugar in the chocolate flecks. Personally, I love the cherry almond and the dark chocolate): Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss
• crumbly, very tasty cookies (Most of these have evaporated cane juice as a sweetener. Too bad. The naturally sweetened cookies are the plain shortbread and the ginger cookies: Pamela's Products
• prunes-Get 'em anywhere, but don't eat more than 2 or 3 at a time. Trust me.
  
• local apples. I love to slice them up for a mid-day snack or make them part of a meal. I either chop them up in a salad, or cut big slices and eat them with exotic cheeses.
  
• bananas and almond butter (This makes a very healthy, filling breakfast, especially on sprouted wheat toast.)

If you think of any tasty, naturally sweetened treats, please pass them on! It's very helpful to have a variety of options in your kitchen at all times so you don't stray from your goals. When there is nothing healthy available, it is too tempting to give in to whatever you do have lying around your kitchen.

Sugar Has Power Over Me, Only if I Eat It!

Sugar is a mind-altering drug.

I picture myself having one mint on New Year's Day. One mint. You know those pink, green and yellow melt-away mints shaped like Hershey kisses, with little white sugary balls on the bottom? I've been imagining how savory it would be, how sweet and creamy and perfect just one mint could be. But one won't be enough. Just when I start to have that climax of sweet taste, it melts away and I'll need another one. That's why when Santa brings me a bag of them every Christmas, they are always gone before New Year's Eve.

By the time I need another one, my mind will have been altered. My mind will have given way to the forces of my tongue, which makes outrageous demands, especially when it's on drugs: sugar.
The psychology of this is beyond me. I've spent hours talking to friends and different people about the psychology of wanting sugar, and the general conclusion is that, yeah, it's addictive.

I don't want to feel out of control. I would like to taste one of those mints. I feel better saying no to all sugar. What about an old-fashioned donut, oh my gosh it would taste so perfect. I have been enjoying my even-keeled, sugar-free self. A bar of chocolate is all I need. One bite. I feel really good about myself and that has led to my eating healthier all year, and exercising regularly. What about a little squirt of whip cream on a small hot chocolate? Right at midnight tonight. I am satisfied with naturally sweetened alternatives. Okay, just one of those mints and then throw the rest away immediately. This back and forth in my mind has been going on since November.

Do I eat sugar again or don't I?

You have spoken and I have taken all of your recent comments and emails to heart. The common theory is that no one can have just one taste of sugar. It is so good, so literally mind-altering, that one does not mean one. Eating sugar means eating more sugar. That scares me because that is the very problem I worked so hard to get out of my system all year. I had to quit eating sugar cold-turkey because I could not moderate my sugar intake.

Even if I set out to only have one cookie, that always meant at least 3 or 4 or 5, etc. The sugar got a hold of my senses and started speaking for me. The sugar started making the decisions for me. It took a lot of sugar to satisfy the sugar. Usually the only thing that spoke louder than the sugar itself was my tummy ache after I had royally stuffed myself. That tummy ache was the most common problem with eating sugar. I depended on feeling sick to know when I was done eating sugar.

Those days are over.

I know that if I eat sugar, it is likely that it will have power over me, but as long as I don't eat it, I'm the winner!

Holidaze: How to Just Say No

No, Audrey, No!

Be Strong! Don't give in to temptation! If I can resist donuts, then you can resist anything. For some reason this time of year is especially daunting. Everybody bakes and brings over dishes that haunt me with amazing aromas. I watch my husband light up at each gift of dessert that is brought over. As long as I have hot coffee with cream, or one of my favorite teas, then I'm okay. Sometimes I busy myself with an apple while my husband splurges. The other day I bought prunes. You either love them or you hate them. I love them. I just pop two slimy prunes in my mouth and that is a sweet shot that will last me for hours.

I have to set out each day with the reminder that I am strong enough to say no, and that I feel wonderful and would like to continue feeling wonderful. That donut, though decadent, will only last a few minutes in my mouth, but will leave all sorts of guilt lying around-physically on my butt, and emotionally. Who feels really good about themselves after eating a greasy donut?

Not to make those of you feel bad, who eat donuts, this is just me free thinking out loud--this is what one must do to have the willpower to say no. Sugar supremacy. Sometimes it's fun to say no, other times I really begin to feel resentful. When I begin to feel resentful, I tell myself that I can have sugar if I really want to. And of course I don't. Not enough to blow my goal, anyway. It's a psychological mind game, this sugar thing. You wouldn't believe the thoughts that go in and out of my brain on behalf of sugar. Most are best kept hidden in my gray matter. On the other hand, I love to share my process, because I'm guessing there are a lot of you who can relate.

Since it's the holidaze, I will share my favorite psychological tactic for having the willpower to say no. I've shared it before, and here it is again. It works, but you have to keep it to yourself. No one will appreciate you saying this out loud. Here's what you do: Tell yourself that you are superior. You are a sugar supremist. Everyone else is splurging on goodies and you are nibbling at the veggie tray with no Ranch dressing (loaded with sugar). Look at everyone around you. All kinds of people, all different backgrounds with varying social status....and you are superior. Yes, you are superior to everyone else in the room based on one little fact: you are able to say no and no one else has that willpower. People might notice. Hold your head high, but do not rub it in or talk about food. Be nice and act like yourself. Be kind, and understand that you were once the one who stood there with a plate of brownies, mini-cheesecakes, and truffles.

Let's Review: How to Have Holiday Willpower:

• Fill up on healthy foods before going out
• Have coffee or tea in hand at all times
• Tell yourself that you can have sugar, but that you'll pass
  
• Notice everyone else's lack of willpower
  
• Be kind to everyone, but know you are superior!

(Okay, disclaimer time. Of course no one person is superior to anyone else. Sugar requires extreme psychological self-talk, though. And it works. It's worked for me all year.)

Chocolate Cake: My Story

A really wicked guest brought over a home made chocolate cake the other day. Full of sugar. Butter. Made from scratch. Thick, hardened frosting on top with moist-looking black chocolate cake underneath. How do I know all of these decadent details without eating it myself? I've been serving it to my husband each morning for breakfast with coffee. I definitely feel like I'm missing out, eating my cold, hard, crunchy Ezekial cereal while he eats his chocolate cake with his eyes closed.

So yesterday, I decided to make my own chocolate cake. Mine would be more chocolately, moist and heavenly than his--and it would be healthy! Ha! I used a recipe that someone gave me recently (I'm not telling whose--and I've received several in the last week!) and the recipe called for a lot of chocolate. Pure cocoa. Chocolate chips. Natural sweeteners. When I poured the batter in the cake pan, I licked the bowl clean. Delicious! I was going to flaunt my cake all week long. Ha! Ha!

It was disgusting. Dry. Wheaty. But I really wanted to pretend that it was good so I ate some. I poured some coffee and tried to swallow it down. Ew. Gross.

This morning, my husband sits down to his delicious-looking, moist, tall piece of cake and he's looking all smug and superior while I go to the pantry looking for my cold cereal. That cake I made last night was terrible....But I never told Jeff.

I ditched my efforts to get my cereal and instead, walked smugly over to last night's cake (it was so awful I didn't even bother to cover it). I cut a big chunk of it and tried to make it look like it was easy to cut through. Have you ever tried cutting a loaf of sourdough bread with the wrong knife? Then I poured a piping hot cup of coffee and sat down next to him. My first bite took about three minutes to chew. Oh well, I had my chocolate cake, too.

"Honey, you don't really like that cake, do you?" my husband says, and I can hear the twinkle in his eye.

"It's delicious," I said with my head down, trying to swallow this big, dry lump of gross cake in my throat. I could only get it down with another swig of coffee.

"Honey, don't eat it if it's not good!" he implores, his mouth full of his gooey, moist cake.

"It is good," I said, still looking down, trying to fool him.

"Throw it out! It's okay if that recipe didn't turn out."

He knew. There was no fooling him. I looked up and nodded at him, with a big wad of cake stuck in the side of my mouth. He jumped up, grabbed my cake pan and promptly dumped it in the trash. He didn't look at me smugly or make fun of me. He just sat back down and continued eating his cake.

UGHHHH! It is so hard for me to throw out food! It's easier to just eat it, little pieces at a time, knowing that the ingredients cost me a fortune. I felt much better after he dumped that cake, though. I didn't have to eat any more of it. "It's okay to throw out food. It's okay to throw out food," I have to repeat to myself. It's either in the trash or on my hips. I'm just glad that he didn't talk about it after he dumped it. I'll find that perfect, annoyingly healthy recipe.

For starters, for naturally sweetened recipes, I usually check out Nourishing Gourmet's site and look through all of her wonderful recipes. I have found some really delicious goodies over there, my virtual kitchen, my home away from home! It is where I found that great "Mounds" bar recipe.

Are Cane Juice and Raw Sugar the Same as White Sugar?

I am again attempting to find out at which steps of the sugar refining process we get these products. Also, what is their nutritional value?

• Evaporated Cane Juice
• Cane Juice
  
• Organic Sugar
• Turbinado
• Raw Sugar
• Molasses

I posted something about this earlier in the year, but I want even more details, from more sources. The cold, hard facts. I can not get the best information from any source that is selling something. Unfortunately, I am having a difficult time finding this information elsewhere!

I have many people asking why I don't eat some of the above listed sugars. I do eat molasses. A naturopathic doctor once recommended that I eat one tablespoon of molasses a day. I was eating vegan then. I haven't touched the other sugars all year because I believe they are much more refined products of sugar cane/sugar beet than molasses. Molasses is full of iron and other vitamins and minerals. You really can't overeat the stuff--it's so strong! It makes a wonderful sweetener, especially in my favorite gingersnap cookies.

I think that the other sugars listed are advertising "gimmicks" to get us health-concious folks to think a product is okay. I really don't believe that there is a big difference between white table sugar and evaporated cane juice, cane juice, raw sugar and turbinado. If the differences are microscopic, then I think they hardly count. I think the differences should be as obvious as molasses compared to white table sugar. If there are "trace" amounts of nutrition in cane juice or turbinado, does that really make it healthy?

The research that I am looking for is harder to find than I thought. All I want is a chart that shows the sugar refining process, with these different sugars listed at the point at which they are a final product. Ideally, these different sugar products would then be charted according to their nutrition. Do these charts exist? I've looked on both sugar websites and "anti-sugar" websites.

Wikipedia apparently agrees with me, "Evaporated cane juice is used more widely across the globe and is gaining currency as a euphemism for refined white sugar." I think "euphemism" is a loose term, and definitely not a scientific term, but nevertheless...

I'm finding the same thing on most websites, "[Evaporated cane juice] may also be known by a variety of other names including dried cane juice, crystallized cane juice, milled cane sugar and direct consumption sugar."(1)

If you've heard of Sunspire Natural Chocolates, they also have something to say about raw sugar, "Raw sugar is coarse, tan to brown-colored sugar (sucrose) which results from the first processing of cane or beet sugar. True "raw sugar" cannot be sold in the USA because it contains impurities such as soil, mold yeast, bacteria, and wax. When further processed to remove the impurities it is sold as turbinado sugar."(2)

Here is an interesting perspective written by Nutritionist Vimlan VanDien, "One hundred grams of dried cane juice is pretty much the same thing as 100 grams of other sweeteners, no matter what you call it," says Vimlan VanDien, a nutritionist at the respected Bastyr University, in Seattle, Washington. "When people call these sugars something other than sugar, it's deceptive in a way if the market is uninformed. Because dehydrated cane juice is sugar. It simply sounds like a whole food."

VanDien feels that calling these sweeteners something other than what they are is a way that some consumers can sugarcoat their consciences too.

"To a certain extent," she explains, "when people buy products with so-called alternative sweeteners, it gives them an excuse to eat sugar. They'll say, Oh, it's organic, so it's O.K.' Or, It's a whole food.' But it's not whole food. If you wanted the whole food, you'd go out in the field and eat the sugar cane, and get all the fiber and nutrients it has." (3)

I found a sugar refining website (4) that talks about the process of sugar refining, but leaves out when the various sugar products are produced. The sugar refining process is very interesting to me. It reminds me that sugar is in no way a whole food. What once was a beautiful green sugar cane (sold at open markets in Hawaii and fun to chew on) ends up an embarrassed little pile of tiny white, nutrition-less crystals.

Ah, I should write a children's book about the sugar refining process from the sugar cane's point of view. Poor guy.


(1) (-http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=120)
(2) (http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/nspired/sunspire/faq.d2w/report#gsweet)
(3) (http://organicanews.com/news/article.cfm?story_id=23)
(4) (http://www.refinedsugar.org/)

Healthy Dark Chocolate Fudge

This fudge is amazing, and I don't like fudge. I was a little hesitant to use my expensive, high quality ingredients on a practice run, but after looking closely at the ingredients, how could this recipe be anything but wonderful? For those of you sweet-a-holics who haven't kicked your sugar habit yet, keep in mind that although the flavor of this fudge is intoxicating, it is not very sweet. It is definitely sweet enough for me, but the average fudge you would buy at a bake sale is much, much sweeter and perhaps why I don't care for regular fudge.

I would almost label this fudge gourmet. The ingredients are not cheap, and the taste is absolutely exquisite. Someone sent me the recipe, but like I usually do, I altered the ingredients a bit. I froze it overnight and this morning wandered sleepy-eyed to the freezer in anticipation. In combination with my dark roast coffee, the fudge was the most elegant taste sensation I've ever experienced so early in my day. Here is the catch...it's healthy. Check out the ingredients and see for yourself. The original recipe I received did not call for any sweeteners. I halved the coconut oil portion and added some brown rice syrup instead. This recipe is quick and easy and worth the expensive ingredients.

(DISCLAIMER: I repeat, this fudge may only be delicious to those whose palates have given up white sugar. People who are still addicted to sugar have tried it and many think it is much too bitter...and it is, for their sweet tooth. Just a caution for those of you who still need your treats excessively sweet. For those of you who have kicked the white sugar habit, I have confidence that you will enjoy!)

Gourmet Dark Chocolate Fudge
1 C. almond meal (or grind your own almonds in a food processor)
1/4 C. organic, virgin coconut oil, melted (put the coconut oil jar in a glass of hot water for easy melting)
1/4 C. brown rice syrup
1 C. pure cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 C. raisins, soaked
5-6 tblsp. water from raisin soak

Place raisins in small bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak 5-10 minutes. Do not drain. Spoon out the raisins and save the water for later.

Get your blender or food processor ready and add: almond meal, coconut oil, brown rice syrup, cocoa powder and vanilla. Blend well. Add raisins and a couple tablespoons of water from soak. Blend again. Add enough water to get your desired consistency. Mixture should be thick like cookie dough and may have to be stirred intermittently and then re-blended until smooth.

Transfer to small glass pie pan, pressing down to get an even layer. Refrigerate or freeze.

Grab your partner or call a friend, make a pot of coffee and enjoy with a piece of fudge!

Hot Holiday Drinks

Spicy Mulled Cider
3 C. apple cider
4 whole star anise pods
1/2 tsp. whole allspice berries
1 tsp. whole cloves
1-4 cinnamon sticks
4 white cardamom pods, cracked
2 slices of orange, quartered
2 slices of lemon, quartered

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Lower the heat and continue to simmer gently for 30 minutes. Ladle into four mugs, add a slice or two of orange and a cinnamon stick, and serve steaming hot. Serves 4. Enjoy!
(-courtesy of Guideposts, December 2008)

Delicious Hot Chocolate
1-2 C. unsweetened almond milk
2 Tablespoons honey
1 heaping scoop of pure cocoa

In saucepan combine milk and honey and heat on medium to medium high while stirring. Whisk in cocoa until all lumps dissolve. Serve right away and enjoy!
(I made this up. Feel free to use any substitutions to your liking. As is, this is very thick and sweet!)

Hot Fudge Banana Split

I have almost made it through the entire year denying myself all sorts of gooey, chewy treats. Off and on I get cravings, but I've been able to tame them with natural sweeteners or drinking a ton of water or hot tea. A few days ago, I was hit hard by a craving that came to me out of the blue. It was around the time I usually wander the kitchen and look at what I have to make dinner with. As I picked up my squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and other vegetables, and began envisioning a perfect soup, all of a sudden I started craving a hot fudge sundae...REAL BAD. I immediately quit thinking about dinner and started thinking about how I could satisfy my craving. I HAD to have a sundae. No, make that a banana split. With lots of vanilla ice cream and salty peanuts. I had to have hot fudge--I was obsessed with the thought of cold ice cream drenched in thick, hot chocolate sauce. I ran to the pantry and threw around all kinds of ingredients. Found the peanuts, large and salted. Ice cream....awesome! I had just brought home a container of vanilla Rice Dream the day before. I had ripe bananas on the counter so all I needed was to come up with the best part: hot fudge. I was determined to make it happen no matter what.

The only chocolate in the house that is sugar-free is my pure, organic cocoa. This would have to work. I did not give myself enough time to think this through, because I was lusting after my banana split so badly, so I skimped on making hot fudge. What I should have done was run online and looked up some recipes, but what I ended up doing was making up a hot chocolate sauce. I combined the cocoa with lots of honey and some heavy whipping cream and heated them together. I then added some boiling water to speed up the process, but it made my sauce too runny and thin. As if that was going to stop me. As soon as my chocolate sauce was hot and smelled delicious, I poured it over my Rice Dream and chopped up half a banana and then sprinkled a handful of peanuts on top. No whipped cream. Bummer. I don't like those rubbery cherries used on sundaes, and I think they're mostly for show, anyway.

I ate my banana split so fast I almost made another one. It was delicious. The runny chocolate sauce was not worthy of sharing with anyone, so I still need to look up a tried and true recipe for sugar-free hot fudge. But the next night I made another banana split instead of dinner, again. It was blissful. I highly recommend it.

"Mounds" Chocolate Candy

Dark chocolate.....chewy coconut....crunchy almonds.....does this make your mouth water for a Mounds candy bar? I recently discovered a sugar-free recipe for homemade Mounds. They not only taste better and fresher than the store-bought candy, but they actually offer nutrients! They are made with virgin, unrefined coconut oil which makes them especially tasty! (An added benefit to spending $10 on a jar of coconut oil is that you can also use it on your skin. It is extremely moisturizing and smells heavenly, too.)

I tested the recipe last night and gave the little Mounds to several different people and they were a big hit! They are a perfect little disc size that will quench your sweet tooth. I think it would be hard to overeat them because they are so fatty and rich. Unlike cookies where you end up eating a handful straight from the oven, these little chocolate dreams are stored in the freezer to keep the coconut oil from melting, and somehow one is enough! I'm a pretty good judge about things like this because I rarely eat only one of something I love.

Preparing them takes only about 10 minutes, but there is some waiting/freezing time involved. From the time you begin, you will have a finished product in one hour. They are so good. Thanks to The Nourishing Gourmet for the recipe!

"Mounds" Frozen Candy Bars

1 1/3 C. unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 C. coconut oil (unrefined, virgin is best)
1/4 C. honey
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 C. sliced almonds

• Melt coconut oil and honey over low heat until just melted. Whisk to combine. Add almond extract and coconut flakes.
• Take a 12-compartment muffin tin and evenly distribute the almonds in each. Then evenly distribute the coconut mixture over each of those. Place in freezer on flat surface for 30 minutes.
• Next, you will prepare the chocolate:

3/4 C. cocoa powder (not dutch cocoa)
1/4 C. honey
1 C. coconut oil
1 Tblsp vanilla extract

• Combine these ingredients in a 2-cup measuring glass and place in a pot of simmering water. Heat and whisk until everything is just melted. Remove from heat and continue to whisk until smooth.
• Take out the tin of frozen coconut and evenly distribute the chocolate mixture over it.
• Put back into your freezer and freeze until hard, about 30 minutes.
• To get them out after freezing, simply pop them out with a knife. Keep them frozen as they melt otherwise.
• Enjoy!
  

Samples of a Sugar-Free Diet

Here is an example of two different days eating sugar-free. The first day is from my first month of going without sugar!

Food journal entry: January 28th, 2008

Breakfast:
Black Coffee
Veggie tofu scramble
Whole wheat carrot raisin toast with butter

Snack:
Chips
Salsa Verde

Lunch:
Bulgar with sun dried tomatoes

Snack:
"Rice sweetened" chocolate cookies
Apple

Dinner:
Spaghetti with sugar-free marinara sauce
Carrots
Green Salad with tomatoes and olive oil

Dessert:
More rice sweetened chocolate cookies

Food journal entry: March 26th, 2008

Breakfast:
Coffee with rice milk
Barbara's whole wheat cereal with rice milk
Banana

Snack:
Fritos

Lunch:
Vegetable soup
Ezekial cinnamon raisin bread with butter
Strawberries

Snack:
Hot herbal tea

Dinner:
Cheese grits
Collard greens
Sweet potato fries

Red Robin Restaurant and a Little Known Sugar Fact

I love gardenburgers. My husband loves Red Robin. It's a treat for him to go, so I found something that I like there, too. In highschool and college I used to go with friends to eat their gigantic mud pie. It has peanut butter and chocolate and an oreo cookie crust. It has been years since I have eaten one of those, and it was years that I had eaten at a Red Robin at all until I met my meat-eating husband. Since, I have found a healthy, sugar-free menu item and I order it every time. I get the gardenburger in a lettuce wrap with tomato, instead of a bun. Who ever enjoys the bun? It is simply a handy delivery system, but is made with white flours and sugars. My husband and I agreed that if people got the "burger" wrapped in lettuce, or just plain, no one would miss the bun or ask for it afterward. It is simply a "refined" (pun intended) way to eat the burger.

Recently, we were eating at a Red Robin in Coeur D'Alene and we ordered our bunless burgers. They of course always come with big fat french fries. I don't care for their fries because they are too big, not greasy enough, and for some reason hard to swallow. If I do eat some, I usually choke a little. This particular afternoon I felt like eating a couple of fries, and so I grabbed the famous Red Robin shaker of spicy salt. I completely covered my fries with it and my husband sat across the table staring at me.

"I need more salt in my diet," I said.

"Have you checked the ingredients?" he said with major emphasis on the word ingredients.

"Why should I? It's salt!" I said, feeling my palms starting to sweat.

"But you check the ingredients of everything!" he said, looking at me surprised.

"Okay, I'll check. It just didn't cross my mind to check this. It's salt..." My palms were sweating and I was fearing the very worst. What if I was eating sugar? How could they add sugar to the spicy salt?

"Please, oh please, oh please..." I said to myself as I grabbed the salt shaker and began reading ingredients.

"Whaaaaat?! No way!!" My palms stopped sweating but I felt my insides sinking. "I can't believe this. Why would they do this?!"

There it was, in black, bold letters, "dextrose", another word for sugar. It is very similar to table sugar, and is absorbed into the bloodstream at the same dangerous speed as table sugar. It is an ingredient on my No-No list, because it is basically the same thing as sugar.

"Bummer...." was all I could say. It's not like I really wanted to eat those chokingly thick fries anyway. They were just sitting there and I was still a little hungry. "Well, now I know," I told myself.

And the Winner is: Sugar-Free!

In preparation for our morning ping pong tournament, my husband loaded up on chocolate chip cookies and carnation chocolate instant breakfast, I loaded up on fruit (half banana, blueberries, and raspberries) and a hard boiled egg.

Then the games began. Normally, we are pretty evenly matched. We played two out of three and I won. I was hoping to play another two out of three, but he said he felt really tired and kind of "icky". He was done playing. We agreed that he probably didn't need to eat all those extra cookies, but it just goes to show you how sugar can bring you up but then smash you to the ground!

After our game was over, he went in to take a nap, and I decided to exercise and jog 2 miles.

How to Establish a Healthy Relationship with Your Kitchen

It's 7:00 am and you find yourself stumbling into the kitchen, eyes still sleepy and stingy, your stomach growling angrily--you must eat. Your brain is still fuzzy and it's hard to decide what to make for breakfast so you open your cupboards one by one, your refrigerator, and even your freezer. Nothing in particular jumps out at you except the Oreos in the cupboard and the Ben & Jerry's in the freezer. "Just one cookie while I figure out what to eat for breakfast," you say to yourself. Before you have swallowed the remains of the Oreo, the entire package is completely opened and you lean against the counter having a great morning stare out the window, devouring one cookie after another. At some point your stomach starts to feel funny or you realize that the row of cookies is gone and now is a good time to stop. Because you are not very hungry anymore, you grab a banana or a glass of juice and that's breakfast.

The sugar digests quickly, you all of a sudden have a lot of energy, but all too soon you start to feel hungry again and perhaps a little tired. After brewing some coffee you decide to have a morning snack. After all, it's nowhere near lunchtime. You peruse your cupboards a little more carefully this time and decide to have a piece of toast with jelly and one bite of ice cream.

When it's finally time for lunch, you resort to spaghetti or frozen pizza because it's quick, filling and really tasty. In no time you've eaten lunch, snacked on some chips while you were waiting, and then had a chocolate covered protein bar at the end because you want to make sure you are eating enough protein. When that's gone, you find yourself still lingering in the kitchen. To solve that problem you grab a soda and finally leave the kitchen.

In less than an hour, you take a break from what you are doing and return to the kitchen. You couldn't concentrate because you really wanted two more bites of ice cream. You eat that and then return to what you were doing with a large glass of juice.

Within the next hour, you start to wonder what to make for dinner. Again, you can't concentrate on what you are doing until you solve the dinner problem. You decide to take another break and look through your cupboards again. It's all still there: crackers, several bags of chips, cereal boxes, packaged rice, bags of store-bought cookies, bread, muffins, trail mix, unopened jars of pasta sauce, cans of spaghetti, soups, and fruits. While you try to decide what to put together for dinner, you open a new package of crackers to try them, and grab a little handful of chips before wandering over to the refrigerator....

Did you know that almost all of the foods mentioned above have sugar in them? How is it possible to eat healthy, balanced meals when you have "junk food" lying around? Of course Oreos are more appealing than oatmeal in the morning! There is only one way to kick the sugar addiction happening in kitchens nationwide. Call your friends or a family member and tell them that you have a bunch of food that you don't want anymore and would they like to come and take it before you throw it away? If no one comes to take away your sugar-laden foods, throw it away yourself! You will be making a big statement to yourself by doing this, and are more likely to stay away from junk food because of it.

Most importantly, replace your foods with healthier varieties that don't contain all that sugar. Buy plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and prepare them for eating ahead of time. (Trust me, if you don't, you will pass over your celery and carrots again and again.) Buy or make healthy dips for your raw vegetables if that will help you eat them. Hummus, yogurt dips and freshly blended nut dips are perfect for vegetables. Also, when you shop to replace your old foods, try a local health food store or ask your grocery if they have a health food section. Read labels and be determined to be picky and not buy foods with sugar. There are so many wonderful alternatives! Juices, jams, breads, dry cereals, peanut butters, pasta sauces and crackers, to name a few, are all very tasty without added sugars! Try several brands and varieties until you find something you really like. Also, alternative milk products like soy, almond, rice, hemp, and oat milks usually have unsweetened varieties. It may take a little bit of extra time to shop, and you might actually decide to bake more foods yourself, but it is very worth it and rewarding to eat right.

It is possible to have a healthy relationship with your kitchen. Once your kitchen is stocked with more fruits and vegetables, and healthy snacks, you probably won't find yourself lingering in your kitchen wondering how to satisfy your sweet tooth. You might grab a bunch of grapes, or fresh strawberries, or a trail mix with dried fruit and feel more satisfied in your snacking and a lot less guilty. Once you kick the sugar addiction, you may even find yourself needing clothes in smaller sizes.

Have fun with this!

Sugary Kisses

Last night I cooked dinner for four, and I made a mistake. It was last minute, and there was no way I was going to have time to make any more manicotti. What I did was pour spaghetti sauce all over each one, forgetting that the sauce had sugar in it. I found out after the pizza fiasco that a lot of times marinara and pizza sauces have sugar to neutralize the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce. I usually only buy a brand of marinara that doesn't use sugar, but for some reason, this was all we had while I was cooking dinner. I knew I wouldn't be able to sit there at dinner and just have a green salad. So I made the decision to eat some manicotti anyway, after spending several minutes trying to discreetly scrape off as much of the sauce as I could. I felt so guilty taking my first bite. Conversation flowed freely around the table as I sat in my secret bubble of guilt. Then I had an amazing thought that set me free of my guilt. First of all, after scraping all of the sauce off my manicotti, I probably ingested a total of 5 little granules of sugar, maybe less. Secondly, it occurred to me that I probably ingest a lot more sugar than that every time I kiss my husband. He is chocolate's biggest fan. He eats it two or three times a day or more. Breakfast is literally a piece of bread with thickly spread peanut butter topped with a pile of chocolate chips. Then, he usually has a mocha sometime around breakfast or lunch. Lastly, in the evening when he returns home from work, he grazes through the cupboards and freezer and refrigerator eating anything that has chocolate or is chocolate. Given that we kiss all of the time, surely I am picking up sugar molecules second-hand. I can do nothing about this fact. I am not willing to give up kissing my husband and it goes without saying that Jeff is not willing to give up chocolate. I know all of this sounds silly, but see how hard it is to go without sugar?

On Being Responsible (and Cravings for Pie)

Recently, I've become bored with not eating sugar. It has gotten easier, now that I am in my 3rd month. There are so many alternatives to sugar that I don't feel like I'm missing anything (except donuts.....I love donuts so much. I dream about them. I want to feel that greasy, crusty outside as I bite into the chewy middle. If I ever decide to go without sugar forever, the one exception I may allow myself might be donuts-or one donut a year, or one donut a month.....).

Even though going without sugar has lost its climactic fervor, there are still challenges. Reading labels is key, obviously, and sometimes I just don't want to read a label! Sometimes it's because I know what I will read, and other times I just don't want to feel discouraged. All of this is forcing me to eat healthier and to eat less packaged foods in general. Jeff has challenged me to read all labels, regardless. He pointed out, in not so many words, that if I don't read a label, I am not going forth responsibly. Back when my mom was in the hospital was a different story. Reading a label then may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. I could have had a nervous breakdown at any moment. But now, if I consider not reading a label, it is laziness and dishonesty to myself and everyone that I tell, "I am not eating white refined sugar!" So, I have no choice in this matter. It is starting to feel like a little monkey on my back, but at the same time, I want to be able to look back on this experience and know that I did everything possible to refrain from the white stuff.

On a different note, rather than running to the store when I had a snack attack a few days ago, I decided to try baking. It all started one day when I began craving pie. I've never craved it before. I like berry and apple pies, but I never think about eating one unless it is offered for dessert. Well, that all changed not too long ago when I became obsessed thinking about a berry-rhubarb pie. Nothing could satiate my craving. I would sit there enjoying my imagination's rendition of the flakiest crust and tart rhubarb countered by sweet, fresh strawberries. Over and over I pictured this. Jeff found me in Fred Meyer standing over the boxed pies, staring. I must have been in a trance. It was then I realized I had to eat a pie. So, I bought ingredients (frozen rasberries and strawberries, whole wheat flour) and that night I made a berry pie. The crust was not flaky. It was very hard and crunchy. The filling was great, however. I used date sugar in place of white sugar. The only thing I didn't get was the tart sensation. Making the pie took a while so I decided to make whole wheat, grain-sweetened chocolate chip cookies. Those were delicious and gone in two days. However, I have been eating my berry pie every morning for breakfast with my coffee and I couldn't be happier.

Sugar in the Shower

I used sugar in the shower today! I bought a sugar scrub (that smells just like chocolate cake) for my husband who is the chocoholic. His face was glowing after his shower and he recommended that I try the scrub. "Is this going against my resolution against white refined sugar?" I thought. But of course it was not, as I was not going to ingest it, but just scrub my face with it. So I did. It was truly amazing. The scrub has a blend of sugar and nice organic oils which made my face really shiny and soft. I think it would be really funny to keep sugar around the house to scrub our faces with but not to eat.

Also, I found a really interesting ingredient today in Safeway's bulk foods section. The chocolate almonds had a sign on the ingredients list that said, "Sweetened with FruitSource". Then, it listed the ingredients of FruitSource, which are brown rice syrup and concentrated grape juice. What a relief! I tried one chocolate covered almond and found it to be delicious! Hurray for FruitSource! Hurray for Safeway for providing a healthy alternative to white refined sugar!