I've had some mystery symptoms recently and while the doctor is pretty sure I just have a virus he has tested me for diabetes and a few other things. As soon as I heard the word Diabetes I freaked out just thinking about how addicted to sugar I am and how much I would miss out if I did have it, like all the sweet things at the potlucks. Considering the vast majority of things I make are packed full of sugar: cookies, cupcakes etc it would be a struggle. I also went on an elimination diet several years ago and went crazy giving up sugar, I was like a drug addict. I couldn't sleep, got shaky and was so irritable that my then boyfriend would get out of bed late at night and make me a banana sandwich so that I could at least get some fructose.
So while I'm pretty sure I don't have it, I thought that I should make more of an effort to make some sweet sugar less or very low in sugar things from time to time. I've done it before, I enjoyed Dr Furhman's Almond Carob Fudge recipe which is sweetened from dates and the Full Meal Muffins which are sweetened with juice and blackstrap molasses. I also made the super fruit tart recipe which is also from Dr Furhman and is sweetened with dates, fruit and juice- the recipe can be found here.
So my question to you, what are your favourite sugar free recipes?
Mango is a very sweet fruit so when we make things with it, we don't really need to add any sugar. Mango ice cream, made by blending mango with silken tofu and then freezing is good. Or when I was in Thailand we ate a LOT of sticky rice with mango, which was sweetened only with a little bit of coconut cream. It was yum.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know much about diabetes...are you allowed dried fruit and juice, stuff that is naturally high in sugar?
ReplyDeleteI have a few sugar free cake recipes but they rely mainly on dried fruit for sweetness, so I don't know if they'd be ok...?
also, in safeway yesterday i picked up a carob buckwheat crispbread (naturally good brand) which has no sugar or artificial sweeteners, though somehow manages to fill a little sweets void in me. maybe it could work for you, too!
diabetes would be the end of me.
ReplyDeletejust found out that it's not in me though. which is GREAT but leaves a lot of questions over whats making me sick.
trick answer - most dinners are sugar free.
i dont know wht the argument for/against fructose is i suppose you could ask your doctorb about that if you are diagnosed with diabetese.
here's hoping that doesnt happen!
surely you've seen the sugar replacements around, though...
Theresa, I'll have to give it a go in summer.
ReplyDeleteWanting, I don't know much yet either about diabetes. Will looked out for carob buckwheat crispbread thanks.
Lena, if I have it I will have to look into the fructose thing. For the moment though I'm just looking into fructose recipes. I don't like the idea of the other sugar replacements. And as for your health issues, I strongly recommend seeing a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.