White Whole Wheat Agave Sweetened Sugar Cookies

I tampered with Nourishing Apron's sugar cookie recipe. I was out of white flour and I tried agave instead of honey.

I also substituted vanilla extract for almond extract. Basically, I completely changed the sugar cookie recipe and used different ingredients except butter. I didn't measure, which I realized I should have so I could share those amounts with you, however, they were fairly close to the amounts used in Nourishing Apron's recipe.

Here is an estimate of what I used:
One and a half cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cold, salted, organic butter
1+ tsp vanilla extract (I rarely measure--I just pour)
1/4 cup agave

I combined the butter and flour first, then slowly added the agave and vanilla. It is a pretty hard dough after you refrigerate it, which makes it nice and easy to roll out later.

I don't have a food processor, which probably would have made combining the cold butter and flour much easier. I used a hand held mixer at first but ultimately a fork to combine the butter and flour, much like you would do for pie crust. Slowly adding the agave helped combine the last remaining stubborn pieces of butter with the flour for a nice, thick dough.

After a few hours of refrigeration (or days in my case) roll out and use a cookie cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes at 300 degrees F.

If you try these and use different amounts or ingredients, let me know!

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a problem with this cookie dough. It is out of this world delicious. It is so sweet and chewy and moist with just the right amount of vanilla.....It is the ultimate comfort food. Not hard to believe when you think about it: butter and sweetly aromatic, with flour for fill, for that intoxicating fragrance and heavenly sensory experience.

Cookie dough has always been my favorite sweet snack. With the little dough I had leftover after days of snacking, I was able to make a small tray of cookies. They were delicious, too, but didn't even make it beyond the day they came out of the oven. I have to admit that even though I used a white sugar substitute, (agave) my problem with eating too much of something good still exists. I have to work on my moderation skills before I dare make these again.

Enjoy!

One of my readers, Shanti, baked Nourishing Apron's cookies and they look beautiful. She sent me this picture:

(Shanti says no, the sprinkles are not sugar-free! Dang!)

Tofu In Cookies?

I've had a 1982 Tofu Cookbook for probably 10 years and have never used it until today.

I have no idea why one would use tofu in cookies, but I thought I'd see what it was all about. I thought I would bring this strange goody to a potluck tonight. As it turns out, the recipe is completely vegan and I turned it into sugar-free.

I had to delete the entire recipe after the first batch came out of the oven. These are not potluck-worthy. Shoot! I wonder if by substituting white whole wheat flour for regular flour they got heavier? They are okay, but really not very sweet and kind of cakey and dry. If anything, by substituting honey for sugar, I expected them to be quite moist.

I enjoy using organic tofu once in a while, but I'm going to use it as a main ingredient for now on, not a cookie ingredient.

If you are interested in an 80's tofu cookbook, this one seems to have some pretty interesting recipes, many of which I would like to try sometime. I just wouldn't recommend tofu cookies.

(I would love it if someone out there proved me wrong and provided a delicious tofu cookie recipe!)

Cookbook: Tofu Cookery, by Louise Hagler

Warning: Cookie Dough E. coli Illnesses

I grew up eating cookie dough.

When I was little, I asked Mom to put cookie dough in my lunch box instead of cookies, and she did. I've eaten homemade cookie dough and store-bought cookie dough most of my life. It's always been this crazy favorite food of mine. It's strange to think back on my little lunch box and all of the unrefrigerated cookie dough I used to eat.

Since I gave up sugar in 2008, I still make cookies and taste the cookie dough, but sugar-free cookie dough has not been as exciting as the actual sugar-free cookie resulting. It's been a while since I've enjoyed cookie dough...

Last night on a late-night walk around the city, my husband got a hankerin' for ice cream. We stopped in at a little market and he bought a pint of B&J's cookie dough ice cream and ate most of the cookie dough right off the bat.

This morning we learned of the E. coli illnesses related to the ingestion of Nestle cookie dough. There are far-reaching implications, but simply put, it made me really sad and nostalgic.

Here are some links reporting on the problem:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "As of Thursday, June 18, 2009, 65 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 29 states."

KGW News/Associated Press "Food maker Nestle USA on Friday voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products after a number of illnesses were reported by those who ate the dough raw."

Food Politics "If cookie dough is the culprit, how on earth did this nasty form of E. coli, usually excreted by farm animals, get into it? The endless mantra is that we need prevention: HACCP, pathogen testing, and independent third-party verification."

Center for Science in the Public Interest "We urge the House to pass the Food Safety Enhancement Act now."

Marler Blog "Nestle should step up now and pay E. coli 0157:H7 culture-positive victims’ medical bills and lost wages."

Be sure to dispose of this product, and pass this information along!

Nutrients vs. Calories: The Debate Goes On

The debate continues. So far, I have not heard any support for high calories and low nutrients, except in the case of starvation (see below). Instead, people seem willing to sacrifice a few calories in the name of healthier food, which can be looked at as preventative medicine. This decision seems heavily based on nutrition education.

Earlier this week, I shared the debate with Dr. Marion Nestle in an email. Here is what I said:

"I ask my readers to choose what they would prefer: less nutrients and more calories (i.e. cheap junk food) or more nutrients and less calories (assuming there is a cap on the amount of money spent on food). What I find to be a fascinating argument is that junk food (fast foods, packaged food, frozen food, etc.) is argued to be cheaper so it has been concluded that lower income people are more overweight due to higher calories at lower prices. I'm not quite in agreement with this argument because those same lower-income people could (assuming they are educated about nutrition in this case) choose to eat healthier foods, albeit less calories for more money, but it seems like most of us could use less calories anyway.

What are your thoughts on this? If you had to choose between less calories/more nutrients or more calories/less nutrients, which would you choose?"

Dr. Nestle responded: "The choice you pose depends on the circumstances. For people who are starving, calories with some nutrients is better than not enough calories. For typical Americans who are largely overfed, cutting down on calories is a good idea."

Emma's comment about junk food is another good argument: "...1200 calories of potato chips is almost a day's calories for someone trying to lose weight but I bet those chips are eaten as a snack in one sitting. You then have to buy food for lunch, dinner, breakfast and afternoon tea."

I enjoyed reading everyone's comments and I hope to fuel the debate by sharing a story about school lunches:

I learned recently that one of the biggest problems with school lunches is that there are USDA guidelines that require a certain amount of calories per meal (1/3 of a child's daily caloric requirement must be served at each meal). The following story describes why this guideline needs to be changed to adopt a more nutrient-based requirement, and not just calorie-based:

Once, a dietitian decided to try and make school lunches healthier by taking cookies off the trays and substituting apple slices. The apple slices did not provide the required amount of calories, though, and so the apple slices were taken away and replaced with the high-fat, high-sugar cookies--all because of a caloric requirement, not a nutrient requirement. It seems that as long as the minimum number of calories are met, the quality of food doesn't matter. Fried, sugary and fattening foods seem to fly as long as the calorie requirement is met. I understand that some children get one or two meals at school and this might be the best form of nourishment they get all day. However, if the USDA guidelines would take into account nutrients, those same kids might also be participating in preventative health care, which in turn lowers annual health care costs.

Take a look at PCRM's (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) school lunch program nutrition advocacy here.

Also, there is a Childhood Obesity National Conference coming up next month, June 18-19 in Washington, D.C. where I am currently visiting and learning a lot about nutrition and politics. The issues being addressed at this conference are particularly interesting to me, including:

• PANEL: Are government and industry responsible for childhood obesity?
• The fattening of America: How the economy makes us fat, if it matters, and what to do about it.
• Global dynamics of diet and obesity
• Can a vegetarian diet protect children from obesity?
• PANEL: Should every school offer vegetarian options?
• The developmental origins of obesity in childhood and chronic disease in later life

To name a few. To find out more, go to ChildhoodObesityConference.org

Also, this just in: Dr. Nestle's post, "Strong Opinions About Obesity"

And, lastly, an article in the Washington Post giving us insight into the decision-making of the poor.

Sugar is Dead

It sits in your cupboard, quietly. It silently lines the shelves at grocery food stores. It is not sugar's fault that you are eating it. Sugar does not care. Sugar is not a living, sentient thing. Sugar is not evil.

Marketers, advertisers, food companies, agri-business: people, are who you must focus on the next time you are blind-sided by a craving. The next time you can't stop yourself from pulling boxes of cookies and sugary cereals from the shelves of a grocery store, think of the people who have orchestrated this very experience. A lot of money, time and creativity was aimed at key variables in your decision-making.

Sorry, but your personal health is of little concern compared to the money you spend. Of utmost importance to the people responsible for providing sugary foods, is their bottom line. Gross profits. No one, and I mean absolutely no one cares what you do with a product when you bring it home. No one cares if you sit at home and eat an entire box of cookies. No one cares if you eat one or two or five Snicker's bars. Your family might be the only people who care. Those responsible for providing the product in the first place DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. If they did, things would be very different. Unhealthy products wouldn't be sold in the first place. Secondly, if they were sold, and people cared, you would get frequent phone calls checking up on you to see if you ate too much, or how you felt after you ate such-and-such product.

The ugly, political/money-driven truth is that if you support an industry of unhealthy products, you've made the people behind these products extremely happy. They count on you feigning ignorance. They count on you feeling peer pressure in social situations. They count on you not being able to see through their tricky advertising. They count on you to be persuaded by the pictures of fruit on a cereal box, with a catch phrase like, "Enriched with B Vitamins!" and they hope you purchase the cereal without looking into their product further. Gerber is being sued currently for these tactics.

It is our fault, as consumers, that companies have gotten away with this. We have chosen to believe the false advertising because we want it to be true. I have found this to be especially true at health food stores. There are still outrageously unhealthy products sold at health food stores. Sodas.....organic. Cookies......with organic cane juice. Non-dairy milk products.....with sugars, corn/palm oils and vitamins. Since when did food-manufacturers begin enriching our food? (In the 1940's.) If we were eating healthy foods to begin with, vitamin-enriched foods would be arbitrary. However, Wonder Bread was a big hit when it came out because it was enriched with essential vitamins. Do the enriched food products really cause us to turn a blind eye to the other ingredients in the product, like white flour, added sugars, or undisclosed "flavors"? If you are interested in enriched food products, please click on this.

So, let me repeat: Sugar is dead. You are not. You are a living, thinking, breathing organism. It is easy for me to rant about the "sugar pushers" and it is easy for you to sit and read this. The problem is, we all seem to get zealously inspired when we read something empowering, but out there in the real world we tend to go with the flow. At restaurants you convince yourself, "This is a special occasion," and at the grocery store you think, "I'll get this for ___," but you know you'll rip open the bag as soon as you get in the car.

Even some of the healthiest people I know will throw their ideals out the window in an effort to "not offend" someone else. I try my best not to offend people when it comes to politics, religion and philosophy, (in fact, I live for friendly, provocative discussions/debates) but when we are talking about something that is potentially going to go into my body, I speak up. It is always my choice and I would rather speak up right away than feel secretly resentful for eating something I didn't want to. Trust me, this is much easier to do if people know ahead of time what your dietary "restrictions" are. (For lack of a better word....)

Try soaking up the inspiring, healthy topics you read about and practice them out there when you leave your home. Ask a store clerk for a suggestion card. Special order a healthy item if it is not on the shelf. Ask your server specific questions about menu items. These questions are often relayed back to the chef/cook. If enough people speak up and demand healthier food, healthier food we will get. Write to food/beverage companies. Tell them how you feel. Tell them what you want. Right now we are demanding junk food and fast food, thus the overabundant supply.

Sugar is dead, but the people counting on you indulging in their products are very much alive and well.

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

Desensitized to the Junk Food You're Eating?

My parents' garage is full of soda. Kitchen drawers hide candy bars and giant, Costco-sized bags of M&M's.

How did this come about? I grew up eating healthy and soda was off limits. Not only has soda made its way into their house, it has now become a daily way of life. I do not mean to pick on my parents. I merely use my story as an example of what has changed in society.

My main concern is that the high standards we had growing up have changed dramatically over the years.

Why is it that the standards used to raise us have become lower, instead of higher, as we get older? Over the years, beginning sometime in junior high, junk food was introduced in our home on more and more of a regular basis. By high school, we had cupboards of Oreos and other miscellaneous junk food snacks. We were no longer told to not drink soda. (Perhaps they laid off the "no soda" rhetoric in hopes that we would drink soda instead of alcohol in high school.)

During my college years, I would come home intermittently to visit, and find the garage refrigerator full of soda. Both diet and regular. What?!? Was it because my brother and I had moved out and mom and dad were free to do as they please? Or, more probable, was the fact that soda had become more prevalent in all households. A social evolution, due in part to marketing and desensitization. Being fun party hosts, my parents were sure to have all of the popular, choice sodas that people had learned from fancy television ads, would enrich their lives.

But, I did not grow up with this. We all knew back in the 70's and 80's that soda wasn't healthy. How did soda manage to infiltrate my parents' house after all this time? I guess I have always believed that as we got older, our standards would get higher, not the other way around.

I had an experience ten years ago that sparked my interest in such matters. At the time, I was working at a consulting firm and taking public transportation to get there. One morning, I grabbed my umbrella because the sky looked like it was going to rain. I got on the light rail and enjoyed a book for the 30 minutes or so it took to get to my stop. I jumped off and began walking my beat. Suddenly, I felt empty-handed. I stopped and realized that I had left my umbrella on the light rail. There was nothing I could do. Someone had surely found themselves a new umbrella by now.

Let me back up. This was no ordinary umbrella. I had a bit of an umbrella fetish back then and I had recently spent all of my Christmas money on a ridiculously expensive, wooden handled, plaid umbrella. It was gorgeous and I loved carrying it around with me.

As the realisation hit me that I would probably never see my red plaid umbrella again, my eyes filled with tears. I tried to fight the tears because I did not want to smudge my make-up and I was walking in a very busy part of town. I walked on towards work and suddenly, I had a revelation that changed my world-view.

That morning I had seen on the news how an earthquake had destroyed a city on the other side of the planet, and killed thousands of people. I didn't cry then. I cried over losing a material item, while not feeling much of anything watching the news earlier in the morning. People had lost their lives and their homes and their loved ones and I had not dropped a tear or given it much more than a subconcious, "That's too bad..." while getting ready for work.

I remember being shocked at myself and angry for crying over my umbrella but not giving a second thought to the lives lost in the earthquake. Thus began my search for why and how we have become desensitized over time and why our standards have lowered. It was in those few moments on my walk to work, that I realized I wanted to change. I did not want to be desensitized by the world around me. This eventually led me to question society's standards of health (or lack thereof) and our desensitization to the junk food we continue to buy in enormous quantities.

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.

Thank You Philly News!

(For a peek at the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, click on THIS. It is the same article that was published in the Seattle PI--now it's available in Philadelphia.)

I have another confession.

It's about what my New Year's resolution was going to be this year. I was going to get really fanatical and give up not only sugar for another year, but all sweeteners. No honey. No molasses. No agave. No brown rice syrup or maple syrup. My plan was to get all of my sugar needs met through fruits and vegetables. It's possible! I'm guessing it's what the cave people did long ago.

However, the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a really bad idea. For several reasons. First of all, I'm finding that in conversations about nutrition, it's hard enough relating to people who are still eating sugar. My palate is from a different planet now, and for those who have to have sugar, my stories don't seem to make much sense. Secondly, being this fanatical might alienate me from other people. Who would I relate to? Lastly, I figure that it was hard enough to go without sugar. What would I be getting myself into if I gave up those sweeteners? They alone are what make going without sugar so easy! Why would I put myself in that kind of position?

We are so lucky that we have so many food/diet options here in our country. Or maybe this does not mean we are lucky. Maybe we are overwhelmed by it. I get really caught up in the smallest details of the quality of ingredients in foods. I feel like I need to lighten up. On that note, I don't feel like "I am doing" or "not doing" the sugar thing. Because I spent all of last year perfecting my relationship (or lack thereof) with sugar, it is not something I am doing. I would like to consider it my lifestyle. The no-sugar lifestyle. I don't like using words like "forever" because that is too long to commit to, but I can say that I now have a no-sugar lifestyle.

One of my favorite store-bought cookies are called "Traditional Spice Windmill Cookies" and they are made by Heaven Scent. Wow. Very crunchy, light and flaky. Very tasty. You would never guess that they are fruit juice sweetened only. I highly recommend that you try them. Click here if you are interested in knowing more. Then click on the "Windmill Cookies". They have a spicy, gingery flavor.

How To Politely Pass on Dessert

I must be getting my inspiration for this post from all of you, my readers! I have received a lot of interesting questions, suggestions and comments from you, some concerning this very topic, which have inspired me to write about it.

I'll cut right to it--It feels rude to turn down dessert! It's especially tough to turn down if you are a guest for dinner and dessert was made for you. Yikes! Your host doesn't know that you have decided to give up sugar for a week, a month, or a year. What do you do?!?

The psychology of this is quite strange, and I experienced situations like this last year. First of all, you want to please your host and let them know that you are gracious for their time and effort in cooking for you.

It starts off like this: You are welcomed into their home and smell brownies cooking in the oven. Your heart sinks. You forgot to let them know about your no-sugar diet. You start immediately obsessing about what to do. You could tell them about your no-sugar diet, but you know how much they love to bake for you. You know that they will either feel bad secretly, or really let you have it! So, you consider eating dessert anyway. Just a tiny, little piece.

Then, (supposing that you have not said anything about your no-sugar diet) all through dinner you wonder what you should do about dessert. Maybe you should say you're full. But you know that your good friend, or mom, or grandmother, or whomever is your host will talk you into eating dessert anyway. You've already played the "I'm really full!" card, and it's never worked before. All through dinner you are putting a load of pressure on yourself to do the right thing.

There are only two right things:
1. Eat the dessert so you don't offend your host.
2. Be true to yourself and pass on dessert.

What do you do?

At this point, only you know what the right thing is to do. There are a plethora of variables that only you know about your host. Some hosts may not be offended at all if you pass on dessert. Other hosts may act all dramatic and horribly offended but then draw you into a pleasant conversation about your no-sugar diet asking all kinds of great questions. Still others may get pushy and start to get angry that you won't take any--because you've always eaten dessert before and they spent hours working on the Tiramisu!

The "guilt-trip" is my least favorite tactic that a host chooses to use. Little do they know that you are already feeling bad that you didn't disclose your diet ahead of time, and little do they know how difficult it is for you to stick to a diet/resolution! The host who uses the guilt trip most likely uses food as their way of showing you how much they love you. Rejecting their dessert is like rejecting them. This goes way back, generations ago. Grandma always had hot, gooey cinnamon rolls for me because she loved me. Mom always has warm cookies or a chocolate cake made from scratch because she loves me.

I'm not saying that baking for somebody because you love them is a bad thing, but if it's to make the baker feel better about themselves, despite what the eater wants, then it is selfish. Like I said, the psychology of this is strange, and I may be way off. However, I've had a lot of time to think about the meaning of desserts and baking for others, because I've found myself in similar, quite precarious situations! Downright uncomfortable! Fortunately, I declared at the very beginning of the year last year, that I was going sugar-free. Believe it or not though, I had people bug me about my decision all year long! For some reason, going sugar-free makes some people really defensive. Please be patient. Win someone over with your patience and being kind. This will make a bigger difference than a shouting match that you won't win.

How about preventing uncomfortable situations before they happen? I'll share some tactics that I have used, and others that I thought of after offending someone. I never gave in--and I do not regret my decisions.

How To Politely Pass on Dessert:

• Let your host know ahead of time that you are currently on a no-sugar diet. Ask if you can bring a "naturally sweetened" baked good for dessert, or some naturally sweetened ice cream. (Luna & Larry's--delicious coconut ice cream!)
  
• If you've forgotten to let your host know about your diet ahead of time, bring some naturally sweetened goodies anyway, and perhaps a basket of fruit and a bottle of wine, or flavored tea. Let your host know, at the appropriate time, that you forgot to inform him/her about your no-sugar diet, but that you have brought some naturally sweetened goodies/fruit and wine that you would enjoy sharing with everyone.
• Let's say that not only have you forgotten to inform your host ahead of time, but you have also not had the time to pick up goodies or fruit or wine. My advice to you is STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF ANYWAY! If you give in to dessert out of obligation, not only will you feel bad about yourself, but you may unfairly resent your host for offering you the dessert. It is not your hosts fault if they don't know.
  
• In an effort to be polite and stay true to your resolution, if the time comes for you to either take a piece of dessert or decline, be graceful about it. This may make the difference between a pleasant reaction from your host or an all-out shouting match. Politely say, "No thank you. Looks and smells delicious, but I am abstaining from sugar right now." I hope that your host will treat your decision with respect. Whether or not it goes over well with him or her, you will feel incredibly good about yourself, and will be more likely to decline desserts in the future.

I really hope this helps!

2009: No Sugar For Me!

No sugar for me this year, either!!!

I chose to not rent out that donut shop after all...

Last night I celebrated the incoming new year on the roof of my cousin's apartment building, in the rain, overlooking the city of Portland. There were fireworks all evening long.

My cousin made her special homemade pizza...we each had our own pizza with a dozen different topping choices. She is a natural cook and the pizzas were incredible. To top it all off, she had made brown rice flour molasses cookies for me, that are to die for. I ate three this morning for breakfast.

Sometime yesterday I decided that there were not enough convincing reasons to eat sugar again. Why be its slave? I realized that I may have control over sugar ONLY because I am not eating it; therefore I would not tempt the limits of my willpower by trying to eat just one sugary item. By now you are tired of hearing this, but I have to reiterate once more, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS JUST ONE OREO!!

Because of quitting sugar last year, I am facing 2009 with a new perspective on nutrition, my willpower, others' willpower, and the overall power that sugar has on people. Around the time I quit eating sugar last year, I thought about sugar on a much lighter note. Now that I have experienced going without it and the struggles it involves (can you say CRAVINGS and that IT IS IN EVERYTHING!?!) I do not take sugar lightly. It is a tiny, empty granule capable of so much.

If someone wanted to, a movie could be made about a tiny program inserted into each sugar granule that is used to control people......however, I did watch Tron this morning....

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!

2009 New Year's Resolution-My Dilemma

What is your New Year's resolution going to be?

I can not decide what to do for 2009! This has been the single most frustrating part of going without sugar--deciding whether to continue going without, or if I should loosen up a little, or if I should splurge on all of my favorites that I missed this year: Oreos, donuts, cookie dough ice cream, cookie dough, cookies, cheap store bought cake, hot chocolate with a mountain of whip cream, M&M's, Almond Roca, chocolate bars, etc.

I don't know what to do!

Of course I would love to splurge, and I know I deserve it after a year of giving up all of my favorites, but then again, why would I do that to myself after I've worked so hard to wean myself of these sugary sins?

I've been asked all month, "Why don't you let yourself have sugar in moderation?"

One of the reasons I quit sugar to begin with is because I have no concept of eating sugar in moderation! One Oreo has never meant one Oreo! I don't eat single bites of ice cream at a time. I clean out the entire pint in one sitting, albeit, nice and slowly, savoring each delicate cool, creamy mouthful. I really miss ice cream.

Here are the reasons I hesitate to go back to sugar, even just for one day:

• I feel so wonderful now without any sugar!
• I have a lot of energy consistently throughout my day.
• I have more confidence than I've ever had in my life.
• I don't ride the sugar high roller coaster.
• I don't think I'll be able to control myself.
• I believe sugar was my addiction (both physically and psychologically).
• What good reason do I have for reintroducing sugar back in my diet? It offers me nothing but unhealthiness and guilt.
• I wouldn't be able to be an anti-sugar advocate if I was consuming sugar. (I can't stand those who preach one thing and do another...)
  
• If I eat sugar again, I will feel guilty and bad about myself because I know sugar is wrong for my body. Knowing this ahead of time, why would I eat it?

Still considering my options and really trying to reflect upon what is important to me. I think if I decided to eat sugar again, I would be very jealous of all of you who have told me you are going to go without. On the other hand, going without sugar is quite a lifestyle change....

To be continued...

Tips on How to Quit Sugar

Here are tips for those of you who would like to quit sugar for a month, a year, or forever. I find it hard to make forever plans, so I take things one year at a time. I'll probably do this forever.

So, you want to quit white, refined sugar. Maybe you've tried before, maybe you think it's impossible. Maybe you don't want to quit, but you are still curious what the process of quitting looks like. Maybe you need a year to think about quitting. For me it's cold turkey or I won't do it. I realize this isn't the tactic for everyone, but even if you quit sugar slowly, weaning yourself from the addiction day by day, I think these pointers will work for you, as well. If you have any pointers of your own or suggestions or comments, please let me know, as I will most likely re-post on New Year's Eve. What works for you? Do share!

* * * How to Quit Sugar * * *

• Make a grocery list and visit a local health food store. If you don't have a health food store in the area, try to find these items anyway, or do some online ordering.
  
• Stock your kitchen with all kinds of naturally sweetened goodies. Here are some examples for when that sweet tooth comes a'callin:
• 100% fruit juice (I'm not a wine snob, I'm a grape juice snob. I drink R.W. Knudsen)
• Dried fruit, fresh fruit, frozen fruit (smoothies)
• Naturally sweetened cookies and ice cream
• Ingredients to bake with: natural sweeteners, grain-sweetened chocolate chips, pure cocoa, unsweetened almond or rice milk, honey, molasses, agave, brown rice syrup, etc.
  
• Buy some flavored tea that you wouldn't normally get. Get cream and make sure you have honey. You won't believe how wonderful some of those hot teas are with a drop of cream and a spoonful of honey. My favorites are the spicy flavors and the vanilla/nut flavors. Buy plenty. Treat yourself. Spend more money than you normally would on tea. This may be what it takes to keep off of sugar. It sure beats the price of hypnosis.
• Make sure you buy naturally sweetened breads, chips, crackers, salad dressings, etc. These normally have hidden sugars and you don't want to cheat just because all of your salad dressings have sugar, do you? Also, remember to get cereals and other snacky foods that are naturally sweetened. If you don't have a health food store, there is one huge commercial brand of cereal that consistently keeps sugar out of its ingredients: Post Grape Nuts.
  
• Double-check your kitchen. Is it stocked? Make sure it's full of naturally sweetened goodies.
  
• Keep junk food in your kitchen. Yes, you read that right. It's good practice to have junk food available, because then you can practice turning it down and choosing something healthier. I was going to throw out all of our junk food last year, but not only was that not fair to Jeff, but if I didn't see junk food on a daily basis, how would I react when I did see it? You'll have to think about this. Even if you live alone, you want to have junk food available to your guests, right? You still want to have visitors, and they certainly want their junk food. They don't want to go on your sugar-free diet! However, if you are an excellent cook, it is possible to make naturally sweetened goodies for your guests, but keep in mind that it usually takes white sugar to satisfy the sweet tooth of those on a white sugar diet. Honey will not satisfy. It takes a couple of months to change your palate and train your sweet tooth to like natural sweeteners. If you know yourself well enough to know that you will sneak treats if they're around, then by all means, clean out your kitchen. Just ask guests to bring their own goodies.
  
• Do not buy "Sugar Free!" labeled goodies. These are tricky gimmicks usually found in the regular cookie aisle, and they are sweetened with a laxative otherwise known as Maltitol. It's the worst sugar substitute I've ever experienced. If you read the fine print on the label, there will be a disclosure statement warning against eating too many. Well, I don't want to worry about a laxative affect. Sometimes I just want to eat the whole box of cookies, thank you very much. Anyway, name brands like Oreos will have a "Sugar Free" variety of their product right next to the original variety. Beware, I have checked the labels and they contain maltitol.
  
• Do buy "naturally sweetened" and "No Sugar Added", as these terms usually mean what they say. Read the label to be safe, but these are terms that usually identify good products.
  
• Check for "Sucralose" which is a generic term for Splenda. You can make your own decision about Splenda. I don't touch it.
• Decide how dedicated you are to eating sugar free--are you focused mainly on quitting desserts? Drinks with sugar? Breads and cereals? If you are just trying to stay away from "sweets", that's one thing. It is another issue to go without white sugar entirely, because it is included in so many ingredients. Now, before you start, is a good time to decide how far you are going to take this. Keep in mind that sugar is in just about everything packaged and hidden in foods at restaurants. If taking your goal to this extreme seems too hard, don't give up. Start with sweets/cookies/obvious no-nos. Consider going 100% sugar free later. You have to find your starting point. Something that is realistic. For me, because I had practiced going weeks at a time without sugar, it wasn't a huge deal to do it again for a year.
• Set a realistic starting point/goal for yourself!

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/)

"Portions" My New Lifestyle, Not Diet!

In trying to figure out why I am not losing weight with the sugarless diet, I have decided that my portion sizes might have something to do with it. Also, I need to increase the amount of my daily physical activity, a huge given, but I truly believe I could lose a few if I cut down on my portion sizes.

Because I eat vegetarian, hardly any dairy and no sugar, I have assumed that I can eat everything in whatever portions I want. So when I make a batch of the most delectable gingersnaps ever, I heap them on a plate, go find a cozy spot to curl up and sit, and take my time eating each one while reading a book or doing a Japanese number puzzle. I'm in the clear, right? The cookies are healthy--no white flour or white sugar, so I am good to go, right? Obviously not!

To my dismay, I have to admit that I have been overeating. It has not even crossed my mind until recently, for some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the year coming to a close and the one goal I was very much looking forward to, I have not attained. In searching for all the reasons why I have stayed 15 pounds over my desired weight, I have concluded that eating half a batch of cookies probably doesn't help my plight, nor does eating five bowls of quinoa, even though it is healthy!

So, the other day I decided to take into account my portion sizes. Already I feel better about myself. I don't need that super-full/sick feeling in my stomach to tell me that I'm done eating. I need to use common sense and forget relying upon my animal senses. The animal in me will gorge. But I am not an animal, and I don't need to load up on food for fear of starvation.

I am not calling this a diet, because I hope to carry this idea to fruition throughout my life. While this may sound totally obvious to you all, this has been a great revelation for me! We'll see if anything significant (weight-wise) happens over the next month.

Oh, and I thought "Portions" was quite appropriate, being that tonight is the eve of Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Pamela's Products: Incredible Cookies, But Not All Sugar-Free

Have you ever heard of Pamela's Products? They make delicious, gluten-free and wheat-free cookies, some of which are also sugar-free. However, in the last year or so, Pamela's has changed some of their cookie recipes to include sugar as an ingredient. It's been terrible! My favorite cookie, the Lemon Shortbread cookie, was so good. I used to graze right through an entire box in one evening (not good), because it was hard to stop eating them. Anyway, I wrote to the company a while back to inquire about the ingredient change. I received a quick reply back from Pamela's, explaining that due to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, their honey supply has been inefficient and too expensive to continue buying.

I did not understand that very well, but left it alone. Recently, however, I was craving those Lemon Shortbread cookies again, and thought I would recheck the ingredients at the store. Sadly, they are still using sugar, and are using sugar in other cookie recipes, as well. While they do offer a small selection of sugarless cookies, I can't help but wonder why they don't make all of their cookies sugar-free. After grazing through my box of sugar-free Ginger cookies, I decided to write to Pamela's again. Here is the letter I sent:

"11-6-08

Hello. I have contacted Pamela's before to ask about the disappointing ingredient change in the cookies. I consume no refined sugar and have had to stop buying most of Pamela's cookie products. If you have noticed a decrease in sales of the Lemon Shortbread cookies over the last year or so, it is because the ingredients now contain sugar, and I have discontinued buying this product. I received a response about this months ago, which explained that it has become difficult to find a honey supplier to sweeten the cookies. However, there are so many natural sweeteners that could be used in place of sugar! Agave, molasses, honey, stevia, brown rice syrup, date sugar, etc. I really miss the lemon shortbread cookies, and some others, and have had to resort to the ginger cookies only--which I LOVE, by the way. They are absolutely heavenly and sweetened only with molasses. Is it possible to reformulate your cookie recipes at some time and go back to using natural sweeteners? What can I do to help?

I had a habit of recommending Pamela's cookies to people, but now do not feel comfortable recommending a product with sugar. There are a lot of people looking to cut out all refined sugar, and there are few packaged products out there that offer a delicious and naturally sweetened goodie. Please bring back your naturally sweetened cookies!

Thank you.
Sincerely..."

I'm anxious to hear from them!

My Nothing Cookies

My sweet tooth went out of control tonight. Maybe my cravings started earlier in the day but I was too busy to think about it. Well, at some point I jumped up from what I was doing to go make cookies. My first thought was snickerdoodles. I recently had one eaten right under my nose and it honestly seemed wrong for me to just sit by and let that good cookie go. I had to though, because it had sugar. It was loaded with sugar. That was when I decided that next time I'm in the mood for baking, I will make snickerdoodles and substitute date sugar for white refined sugar.

It seemed like a good idea, but here is what happened:

I pulled out the few ingredients needed to make cookies and started by creaming the egg, date sugar and organic, non-hydrogenated shortening. Things were not looking so good. Instead of a "whipped" consistency, these three ingredients became tough. I decided to switch to a chocolate chip cookie recipe so that I could add vanilla. I added vanilla, some baking soda and then white flour (I know, I know...).The cookie dough still seemed rather stiff and tough, so I opted to add some water to smooth things out, and then more vanilla for taste. I realized this was not going to be a chocolate chip cookie recipe for several reasons, one of which is that I do not have any grain-sweetened chocolate chips at home right now. At this point I added a little sea salt here, a splash more of vanilla there, and then sent it through the mixer for a few more rounds. I tasted the dough and it was so-so. It left a pretty nice aftertaste though, so I went ahead and put some doughy spoonfulls on a cookie sheet.

When they were done baking, I had to smack each one of them with a spatula so that they were flat cookies instead of the biscuits that they looked like otherwise. After they cooled I bit into one and was pretty surprised how nice and chewy they turned out. The flavor is hard to describe, but I could taste the vanilla and sense the presence of salt. They were dark brown because of the date sugar. That is another reason I could not go through with making them snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles are typically white colored with a light sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top. My cookies were a dark brown and would not pass for a snickerdoodle. I will have to wait for 2009 to eat a snickerdoodle.

In the meantime, as I bite into another cookie, I have to say it's pretty darn good for a no-name, date sugar and shortening blend. It provides the sweet chewiness that is ultimately what I am craving when my sweet tooth acts up. Here's to a no-name, made-up cookie!

Nothing Cookies

1 C. organic shortening
2 eggs
1 and 1/3 C. date sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp vanilla
3 tsp water
1/2 or 1 tsp sea salt
flour (I did not even come close to measuring this. Just add enough so that the consistency is similar to chocolate chip cookie dough)

Cream together shortening, eggs and date sugar. Add other wet ingredients and then stir in the dry. Scoop into spoon-sized drops on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes or so. Enjoy!

Sugar Free in Victoria, BC!

Victoria, BC will forever hold sweet, sweet memories for me and my sweet, sweet tooth. Before we left for a weekend vacation there, I told my husband that I only had to give up sugar in my home country. Every place we traveled to internationally would be a free for all. I was going to sneak in all the international goodies my tummy could take. I imagined eating all sorts of fudge sundae's, donuts and other fresh baked pastries in Victoria's popular downtown. Of course I was kidding myself. I don't think it's possible for me to eat any sugar this year. I like to pretend that I am about to indulge in something bad. But I'll never do it. My husband knows it, but everybody else gets really quiet and nervous when I tell them I'm about to break my New Year's resolution, as if it will somehow be their fault. It's a little sick and twisted, but then again, so is going without sugar. How un-American!

We found an incredible restaurant in Victoria, called the Green Cuisine. I had done some research before we left for our trip, and this restaurant came up several times and had great reviews. It is basically a vegan buffet; a very casual cafe type atmosphere at the edge of Market Square. I was hoping for a selection of baked goodies.....and baked goodies is what I got! The Green Cuisine had two glass cases full of baked goods, complete with ingredient listings by each one. I had to read the ingredients carefully because some of the goodies contained "organic sugar" and "cane juice", but most of the goodies were sweetened with all natural sweeteners. We were in Victoria for two nights and three days. I visited the Green Cuisine twice, which wasn't enough! Each time, however, I filled a bag with different baked goodies: rice sweetened rice crispy bar, oatmeal raisin cookie, raw hemp/nut ball, apricot square and a raw, sesame seed "Earth Ball". The restaurant sells cookbooks which contains all of the recipes they use, but I opted to wait on buying it. I have so many wonderful cookbooks that I already ignore. I did write down a couple of recipes, though, while eating my lunch. My favorite foods there were: tofu lasagna, sweet navy beans, Jamaican rice, and the olive potato pie! I probably ate too much, but it was a treat to have this many healthy foods available, all with their ingredient listings at the buffet bar. Both times I went in to the restaurant, there was a steady flow of people. It seemed to be a favorite place for tourists and residents to eat.

As a funny side note, I committed a Canadian etiquette faux pax. I was determined to study their etiquette before we left on our trip, basically in an effort to be polite. What I read is that Quebec is a province in which etiquette is very important, but that the BC area has loosened up on their etiquette, though they still maintain more proper etiquette than Americans.

It was mid-afternoon when my husband and I found ourselves lingering around the harbour in front of a giant, elegant stone hotel. From the small rocky beach in front of the hotel we were able to take great photographs of the float planes taking off and landing. We were sharing our camera and when he had it, I found myself digging around my large jacket pocket for the bag of Green Cuisine pastries I had stashed inside. I distinctly remember walking around nibbling on my oatmeal raisin cookie, when all of a sudden, I had a flashback of what I had read about Canadian etiquette: "Eating while walking or standing on the street in Quebec is considered bad form." Okay, we were not in Quebec, but still... "Oh my gosh!" I thought to myself, as I looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one seemed to be too put out by my cookie, but I nevertheless shoved it back into my pocket for later. I was so embarrassed, even though I'm pretty sure they are pretty laid back about things of this nature. I even asked two different employees at the Butchart Gardens if it would be rude of me to walk around holding my hot cup of coffee. The answer both times was "absolutely not!"

While I'm on the subject of international foibles, another funny thing happened at Sushi Plus, a hole-in-the-wall, well-priced, deliciously fresh, sushi restaurant. As we took care of the bill up front, the lady behind the counter asked me if we were here on holiday. I said, "No, we are just here on a little vacation." For those of you who don't know, Canadian's say holiday in place of vacation. Jeff told me this once we were outside and we laughed so hard!

In closing, thank you to: Green Cuisine, Sushi Plus, Demitasse, Mirage Coffee, Serious Coffee, Irish Times, Siam Thai, the Mint, La Vita Bella (Seattle) and Zeitgeist (Seattle), for feeding us!

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