The Sugar-Free List

A couple months ago, my SIL asked if I wanted to do a three-month sugar fast. We made our own rules for ourselves, but the basic idea was that we would steer clear of refined sugars. Natural sweeteners like fruit sugars, maple syrup, honey, etc. were a-okay...and I also wanted to steer clear of artificial sweeteners as much as possible. What IS that stuff, anyways? My primary goal wasn't weight loss...though it was a nice by-product...it was simply to reduce my dependence on the white sweet stuff...and learn to incorporate more nutritiously-dense sweeteners into my food.

And while a little crazy, I've been uber-grateful for it. Not only has leftover baby-weight dropped off somehow (fiiinally), and made me incredibly aware of how much sugar I potentially consume in a day (thanks, you dang granola bars...), it's also given me countless opportunities for getting a fix for my sweet-tooth in a more natural and healthy way. And seriously tested my powers of creativity for doing so. It has taught me that deprivation is the mother of invention. Ha.

And so, my list. My "things to eat instead" list. You'll notice there's a lot of bananas. And maple syrup. And honey. And other delicious things.

(Disclaimer: it's not about calorie-reduction, just refined sugar reduction. So...no gawking at the cream; it gets self-concious.)

-Lemon Water. Sometimes a little tangy water is all it takes to get through it.

-Straight up fruit. Bananas, berries, cherries, oranges, apples...a wealth to choose from.

-Honey-Lemon Tea. (Lemon juice, water, honey)

-Toast with Honey Butter. Good for the pastry cravings. Mmm...

-Banana Pancakes. (Pancakes from scratch sweetened with a mashed banana...the effect tastes like banana-bread pancakes). Top with fruit, maple syrup, whatever!

-Banana Ice Cream. Frozen bananas, blended straight up, make ice cream. Whoever discovered this has hero-status in my books. I loooove ice cream. I liked mixing mine with natural peanut butter, but really, the possibilities are endless. And I promise, the bananas ACTUALLY get creamy like ice cream, all by themselves. Tip: peel the bananas and put them in freezer bags before tossing them in the freezer. Your fingers will thank you when you don't have to peel frozen bananas with them.

-Plain yogurt sweetened with Maple Syrup...With cut-up bananas, and/or strawberries, and a sprinkle of almonds. Best. Breakfast. Ever.

-Smoothies. Ice, fruit, honey (if needed), and a squirt of lemon juice for zip.

-Strawberries with cream, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of salt.

-Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle. I kid you not, this or some variation of this have made this sugar-fast do-able for me. It calls for avocados and almonds, which makes it reeeally creamy and yummy, and reeeeally filling...a good breakfast shake, actually (chocolate shake for breakfast? YEEAH!) But for afternoon snacks, or random chocolate cravings, I simply blend bananas (don't even have to be frozen, though it does make it extra tasty), cocoa, maple syrup or honey, water or milk, and a touch of salt. Delicious. And good for you. Awesome.

-Naturally Sweetened Brownies. The recipe linked here is the Jillian Michael's version...but I would definitely suggest replacing the applesauce with bananas. And then cooking them a bit longer. I think it tastes better that way, but the applesauce tastes okay, too. Also, I add a 1/4 tsp salt. Again, just tastes better. And then drown drizzle a warm one with cream. SOooo good.

-The Raw Brownie. This one blew me away. I didn't actually expect a bunch of nuts and dates to taste like a brownie! But it did! And it was AWESOME! I actually used pecans instead of walnuts, and regular dates instead of the Medjool ones she recommends...and it still turned out delicious. This blogger actually doesn't use refined sugars in any of her recipes, so any dessert by her is fair game. Like this one, and this one, and this one...all of which I plan to test out. I use a lot of recipes from her site...a LOT. And I've liked every single one I've tried. The brownie recipe above this one is more like cake...this one is more like a dense, chewy brownie. Take your pick.


I think that's it. I'll add to it if I think of any more. These replacements make it easy to avoid sugar...AND make it easy to make permanent changes. Well, I think so anyways.
Give me a freezer full of frozen bananas, my maple syrup, honey, cocoa, and fresh fruit... and I'm good to go.