Meyer Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes

The National Honey website has some great recipes. This is my favorite by far!  It's a little more work than I like to go through for an everyday kind of treat, but if you are looking for something a little more upscaled like a ladies luncheon, it would be perfect!  It states to use orange blossom, but any light tasting honey will be great.  The link to the Raspberry Whipped Cream is missing, so here it is!  Of course you'll want to use an all-fruit jam.  I like the Polaner brand.

New York Cheesecake

When my husband I were married, we had cheesecake at our wedding dinner.  I didn't much care for cheesecake at the time, but I soon found out that it was his ultimate definition of yumminess.  So, for the last 12 years I have slaved long hours over an oven and cream cheese.  Not until it was perfected to his tastes with processed sugar dared I venture into the world of sugar free, but I have done it!  My husband considers this recipe my masterpiece, and he will even brag that it tastes better sweetened with maple syrup than sugar (I hope so!).  While I still don't care for a Sam's Club Cheesecake, this cheesecake....is heaven on a fork!

 I didn't say this recipe was healthy.  I just said it doesn't have sugar in it.  :)  But this will not cause your sugar cravings to return, and when your body has had enough, it will not be prevented from telling you so! You will feel satisfied.  Your tongue might want more, but it will be much easier to respect what your body is telling you.  It is also made with whole wheat!  An organic raw cream cheese and this would be a guilt free food to me!  Last time I calculated, it cost about $16 to make, probably $20 by now, and is a definite splurge.  But when the occasion warrants, it is worth every penny!  

This recipe doesn't take a whole lot of actual labor time, but needs to be planned out well in advance.  When I am really at the head of my game, I plan at least three days before.  That way I can pull my ingredients out in the morning to let them reach room temperature.  Then I find a good chunk of time to cook it in the day--planning for that two hours it sits in the oven (while I can't cook anything else in it!), so it won't fall.  Then I let it chill.  Overnight is a minimum.  It continues to season and develop those luscious maple undertones and beautiful texture for another day or two...or more!  With cheesecake, you want a nice smooth batter, but without too many air bubbles, or it will crack. You may want to smooch  around your cream cheese separately and add your eggs after the cream cheese and maple syrup have combined.  A cracked cheesecake tastes just as good, it's just not as pretty! 

New York Cheesecake

Crust:

3/4 cups whole white wheat flour

3 T honey

¼ C pecans, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter, softened

Filling:

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened (totally room temperature)

1 ½ cups pure maple syrup, best quality you can afford

3 tablespoons whole white wheat flour

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 T vanilla

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 10 inch springform pan with spray oil.  Combine crust ingredients, spread in pan, prick all over with fork.  Bake crust for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool.  Increase oven temperature to 475. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients except whipping cream and mix just until there are no lumps.  Add whipping cream and mix only enough to blend. Pour filling over crust and bake for 10 minutes at 475 degrees. Reduce temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake for one hour. Turn oven off, but leave cake in for another two hours.  Remove from oven and chill overnight.

Easy snack ideas

This area needs expanding, but I'll post it for now and expand later. 


Snacks:
Carrot sticks, sweet peas, red pepper slices, broccoli, 
Popcorn with extra light tasting olive oil (like Bertolli's) and salt
Crackers (make your own!) and cheese
Fruit
Whole Wheat Bread with a nut butter
Smoothies, sweeten with apple juice concentrate (if needed)
Popsicles, sweeten with apple juice concentrate
Pineapple salsa and tortilla chips
Applesauce
Yogurt, sweeten with maple syrup
Juice jello
Quesadillas

What are your easy healthy snacks?

How do our bodies process sugar?

From what I have picked up, everything we know about how our bodies work, is still in hypothesis form.  So, every piece of what I will say has been contended.  But, this is what seems to be the consensus of what is out there, as I understand it. 

A molecule of table sugar is made of two joined molecules.  One is glucose, the other is fructose.  After we eat it, the molecular bond between the two gradually breaks down.  Glucose can be used by any cell in our bodies, so each cell it encounters takes what it needs, and lets the rest move on.  Most of it is broken down in our small intestine.  The stored form of glucose is called glycogen.  When our blood sugar rises (as soon as we eat), our bodies release insulin to process the glucose into glycogen so it can be stored in the liver and muscle cells.  Health problems from overwork of this system range from diabetes to heart disease to cancer.

Fructose can only be processed in one place in our bodies: in our livers.  When we absorb nutrients into our bloodstream, most of the blood circulates through our bodies to our hearts.  However, in the small intestine, there is a connection directly to the liver.  So, fructose is absorbed in the small intestine where it is taken to the liver where is it processed into glycogen and byproducts LDL and triglycerides, aka bad cholesterol.  If there is more fructose than the body can handle, it will store it in the liver (liver disease), and if this continues, the liver will develop cirrhosis, exactly as it would if you were an alcoholic! 

So now we're thinking--wait!  Fructose!  That's fruit sugar.  Well, no one out there seems to think that's too huge of an issue--though speaking from experience, don't go overboard. * A lot of people will say that honey, which varies but averages to be an equal amount of glucose and fructose, is the same thing as sugar.  I don't buy it.  They ate honey in the Bible!  And prized it!  A raw unfiltered honey from a farmer you trust has all the enzymes and nutrients needed for your body to process it.  And (I love this!) does not break down into LDLs and triglycerides!  Obviously, there is a difference.  Though, still, consider the amounts of honey they must have consumed in Bible times and strive for that...you know, maybe how much wealthy Soloman must have had access to.  :)

Consider these topics:

Where does your body get the materials to make the insulin to process the glucose?  (think Weston Price)

Processed sugars have been shown to be more addictive to lab rats than cocaine. 

The Mayor of NYC has tried to limit soft drink sizes because he feels the amount of sugar consumed leads to chronic disease

*I read that fruit had all it needed to basically process itself, and the article recommended fruit instead of breakfast, and anytime of the day eaten alone instead of a meal.  So, we tried it!  It didn't take long to realize that wasn't a good option for us.  None of us felt good...maybe there was more I should've know, I don't know!  Too complicated and I'm out of there!  Food should be intuitive.

Sources Include:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/September/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart
Fructose processed only in liver, 2 bi-products of fructose are LDL and triglycerides – bad cholesterol, cirrhosis

http://westernsagehoney.com/faqs.html
Honey converts directly into glycogen and not triglycerides or bad fats LDL

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=96
Health benefits of honey

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/digestion-absorption-sucrose-3680.html

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/17/147047545/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol

Welcome to Our Sugarfree Home!

I have posted a large portion of my arsenal, some of my most beloved recipes!  This represents some of the favorites we've accumulated during our 10 year journey to becoming sugar free in our home.  If you want to learn more, read our story.  The gist is that none of our 5 kids have had sugar until they were three...at least were not intentionally given it by their parents.  ;)  There are a lot of kind and well meaning people in the world and every kid had it given them a couple of times, of course.  No problem!  We don't eat sugar in our home and most of the time we don't eat it out of our home.  We leave it up to choice and right now they are all choosing to not have it out of the home either!  Yay!

We define sugarfree as no processed sugars, but feel good about moderate amounts of honey, maple syrup, and fruit, which we see as whole foods.  The goal is not really "sugarfree" per se, but to be healthy and eat whole foods and the no sugar part just highly supports that.  If it doesn't have sugar in it, it is less likely to have artificial colors, preservatives, MSG, and all kinds of unknown and undesirable chemicals.  The goal is to nurture a love of good food, which requires the purposeful absence of foods or "foods" that detract from that goal.  When we are trying to fill our bodies with lots of nutrients, sugar is just too distracting. Right now, we make a special treat about once a month (typically a birthday) and the rest of the time our snacks are veggies, whole grains, fruit (probably 2-3 servings a day), legumes, nuts and seeds.  We strive for a moderate amount of high quality dairy and meats, and the best oils, salts, etc. we can find/afford.  We used to make our "special treat" items more often and have only gradually adjusted the expectation of the adults, who grew up with a special occasion 3 or 4 times a week, so for wherever you are in your journey, here are some of our "special treats" to get you started and a few other treasures that support a sugar free home.  Please tell us what recipes have been helpful, share your ideas, and enjoy!

Other resources:

• Food Preservation Links
• Sprouts
• Sugar and Behavior

Apple Pie with Cashew Pecan Shortbread Crust

With the shortbread crust, this apple pie has a more rustic look than your traditionally formed pie crust, and the apple filling has a very fresh apple flavor.

This recipe is adapted an old photocopied recipe from my friend Alyssa labeled ‘Sugarless’ Apple Pie, with the only credit being ‘Empire Magazine.’  I am sorry that I can't properly cite it, but if anyone tracks down the magazine, please let me know…I want more recipes like this one!  The crust is purely my creation.

The recipe states to use red delicious apples, "because of their sweetness."  Even though it is not typically a baking apple, or even considered a yummy sweet apple, I usually use red delicious, and it has always turned out perfectly, so I trust them on that!  Consistency is perfect! I have also tried it with a marvelously delicious baking apple from the home I grew up in. Of course that was the yummiest!  

Crust:
1 1/2 cups whole white wheat flour
2 T pecans, finely chopped

2 T cashews, finely chopped 

1/2 cup butter, softened (can use less or substitute with some water, but play around with consistency)

6 medium, Red Delicious apples, peeled and sliced (about 6 cups sliced apples)

1 can (12 oz) frozen apple juice concentrate with no sugar added, thawed

1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

pinch cinnamon (1/16 of a teaspoon?)
1 T vanilla

3 tablespoons butter (optional)

Mix all crust ingredients, press into a 9 inch pie pan. Bake pie at 350 for 5 minutes.  Crust should be slightly underdone.  Cool.

Place apples and undiluted apple juice concentrate in a large pan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about five minutes.  Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of water.  Gently stir.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 to15 minutes or until apples begin to soften and mixture is thickened.  Gently stir in cinnamon and vanilla.  Fill crust with apples.  Dot butter on top of apple mixture.   

Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cook with a cookie sheet under in case the pie spills over during cooking.

Sesame Seed Honey Candy

Thanks to my sister-in-law Shelley for passing this along!   My kids prefer this to Halloween candy, so I swap them every year!

3/4 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) hulled (white) sesame seeds

1 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped

Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with foil, allowing it to extend over the short ends of the pan, and generously oil the foil or use a silpat. Set the pan on a heatproof surface.

In a large heavy skillet, bring the honey to a rolling boil over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and salt, stir in the sesame seeds, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the seeds begin to color, about 3 minutes. Add the almonds and stir until evenly coated, then immediately scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Using the back of the spoon, spread it as evenly as possible in the pan. (once the candy has cooled slightly, you can flatten it again with your fingertips if you like). Let the candy cool until it is lukewarm.

Using the foil, lift the slab of candy out of the pan, invert it onto a cutting board, and peel off the foil. Turn the candy over and, using a sharp heavy knife, cut into 1-inch squares. Let cool completely. Store the candies between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container at room temperature. (The candy will keep for several days.)   Makes 8 dozen candies.

Honey Vinaigrette

My go to sweet salad dressing!

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup any vinegar...but raw apple cider vinegar is the best!
1/2 cup honey

Add ingredients to a quart jar and shake well!  Serve on a green salad or as a dip for a crusty bread.

Chocolate PB Cup

The famous-coveted-sugarfree-mouthful-of-heaven-but-can't-take-it-out-of-your-house-or-it-will-melt-Chocolate-PB-Cups.  Hmmm, I guess the original recipe is more catchy.  :)  I'm pretty sure that after I had baby #4, I ate a whole muffin tin worth of these by myself within a day!

1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil (organic, unrefined)

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt

mix with an electric mixer until smooth (not by hand, the oil will separate)

2/3 C peanut butter

¼ C honey

Mix with an electric mixer until smooth and dough-like.

Pour a small amount of chocolate into the bottom 12 cups of a small muffin tin.  Divide PB mixture into 12 pieces and roll with hands into small balls.  Place one in each cup and pat down.  Pour the rest of the chocolate on top.  Place in freezer for half an hour.  Remove your fantastic au naturale PB cups by sliding a butter knife into the cup.  It should pop out easily.  Eat right away and hide any leftovers in the back of the freezer. 

Two cake alternatives and Pumpkin Pie with a Pecan Shortbread Crust

I love this recipe blog, the Nourishing Gourmet!  She follows Nourishing Traditions practices, but is also dairy free and keeps a budget!  Of course I have adapted many of these recipes, but since I don't have permission, I will just link to them.

We have actually used this Sweet Souffleed Omelet for birthday cake in a pinch (in the middle of a move)...but it isn't really that pretty, just that yummy!  We have made this often.
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/07/5-dish-sweet-souffleed-omelets.html

This brownie pudding cake is one of my favs and no eggs! It's like a volcano, but lighter.  I use almond milk (I've tried just water and it's a little to light in flavor) for the cake and use the lemon juice, not the cider, if you don't use buttermilk or sour milk.  For the pudding part,  I didn't want quite a dark chocolate flavor, so I use only 2 tablespoons of cacoa or cocoa, and use 1/3 cup maple syrup instead of the honey.  I also add a tablespoon of vanilla.  Yummy topped with pecans. It needs an overnight soak, and some thickening time, so plan accordingly.


For my pumpkin pie, I use the Libby's Pumpkin Pie Recipe, but directly substitute the sugar for honey.  I also leave out the cloves, add vanilla (of course!), and use my pecan shortbread crust!

Pecan Shortbread Crust:

1 1/2 cups whole white wheat flour

4 T pecans, finely chopped

4 T water (room temperature, add more if needed for consistency)

1/2 cup butter, softened

Popsicles

Here's my favorite popsicle recipe:

Throw the following in a blender:
yummy, sweet strawberries
more strawberries
and more strawberries
blueberries, maybe
raspberries, maybe
bananas if you really, really like them (as much as Matt does--I just prefer...strawberries!)
a touch of vanilla
apple juice concentrate, sweetens to taste
enough milk or yogurt that your blender will mix everything

Blend well

Pour into "kid cups," those small, bathroom, paper cups, set a popsicle stick in or press in later if your mixture is too thin for the stick to stand upright. Freeze. Serve on a sunny day with sprinklers.

Why go Sugarfree?

 Want some motivation?  Watch this 60 minutes video, Is Sugar Toxic?

and also the original Youtube inspiration for this video:

Here is a great one for kids!

Raw Cashew Ice Cream

You are going to thank me your entire life, even if you make this only once.  But don't thank me.  Thank the Lord who made such an awesome naturally divine food as the cashew!

2 c cashews, soaked 4 hours (or longer in fridge is ok)
1 1/2 c water (may reserve soaking water)
2 t flax seed ground (in a Vitamix it might grind completely without grinding first...my Hamilton Beach needs pregrind)
1/3 c light tasting olive oil (Bertolli makes a good one--and is cold processed, even though they don't list that)
2/3 c maple syrup or other natural sweetener
heaping 1⁄4 t sea salt
1 T vanilla

In blender, combine cashews, flax seed, water, oil, sweetener, salt, and vanilla. Blend on high until very smooth. I dip out small amounts to check for smoothness.  Chill completely, about 2 hours, covered tightly, in refrigerator before using. Chilling will allow the flax particles to thicken the mixture.

Freeze in a conventional ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions or put it in your freezer in a shallow container and stir every half hour till the consistency is right.  Harden off in freezer for another 1/2 hour, if you can possibly muster up that much self control.

Matt is pretty sure pralines are needed to make this recipe perfect, and Meishe likes chocolate (just add a tsp raw cacao or cocoa), but I like it just how it is.

Honey Carrot Cake Link

Here is a link to a cake sweetened purely with honey and carrots.  I have made it and it is awesome.  The cream cheese frosting is a good go-to frosting for any cake.  My friend Toni makes this for her family birthdays!  

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Carrot-Cake/Detail.aspx

On a side note, I put this picture up, thinking it must be carrot cake, but now that it is up, I am remembering that it is purely mashed sweet potatoes!  And not even a cake at all!  The frosting is probably the same as this recipe, colored with a bit of beets or raspberries or something, and peas from my mamma's garden!   Our sugarfree home brings out my resourceful nature.  I'm pretty sure this baby enjoyed the sweet potatoes more than she would have any cake!

Food Preservation Links

Storing Vegetables at Home
www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/store/wisc_vegetables.pdf

Drying Fruits and Vegetables

Preserving Food at Home
www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

And here is a food storage recipe site.

Sprouts

When Matt and I were dating, my little brother Layne did a science fair project on sprouts, and we thought it was the funniest thing how, out of the blue, he would tell us some fact about how oats have 600% more vitamin C when they're sprouted. But, really, sprouts are cool! :) You can grow them yourself at home and you really feel like you're giving your family some love when you feed them something that is that good for them and tastes good!

In WWII the government was expecting food shortages and funded research to find out what we would do if meat, dairy, and eggs were scarce. There results showed that sprouts were an adequate substitution to keep us healthy!

Since my mom had cancer and it runs in my family, I am totally motivated by health. Anything I can do to qualify for that destroying angel to pass by me, I am all for! And plants are at their healthiest when they are babies--sprouts! This includes all sprouted nuts, seeds, and grains.

The protein actually increases when you sprout it and that protein is easier for the body to use. How much protein can you get from plants? 4 oz of sprouts have as much protein as 4 oz of a t-bone steak.

The nutritional value of a seed skyrockets! Oats sprouted for 5 days have 600% more vitamin C (as I learned from Layne), 500% more B6, 600% more folic acid, 10% more B1, and 135% more B2.

The sprouting process uses up the calories and the stuff that gives us gas and digestive problems.

Another great thing about sprouts is that we can eat healthy as still save money. You can get over 50 servings for the cost of a pound of beans. 3 tablespoons of mung beans will make 4 cups of sprouts. If you are one of those people who prefer organic when you can afford it, organic sprouts are always a great deal, because just a little grows into a whole lot!

They're easy to use, as they don't require a lot of cutting and peeling. You can eat them straight out of the sprouting jar or lightly cook them--the cooking time and temperature decrease when you sprout. They're sweeter and softer than the seed they came from. We eat them almost every day in our hot breakfast cereals, and add them to sandwiches, salads, soups, tacos, and baked goods. There are some recipe books out there, but I just add them to whatever I normally make.

So, how do you do sprout? Here are the basics: Rinse 3/4 C wheat, beans, rice, or other seed, and soak overnight (or 12 hours) in a clean Quart jar with a plastic mesh sprout lid (available at your local health food store). Rinse and place jar in a bowl so that it tilts about 45 degrees--so that excess water will drain out. Rinse 2-4 times or more per day (the more the better) until sprout is about as long as the original seed. Rinse and store, covered well, in the fridge for up to a week (rinse every few days).

If there is a natural disaster, here are the directions to some seeds you might already have that could save you life. ;) Use all the sanitation practices you normally would, like washing the jars in hot water, and not touching the seeds unnecessarily. You only want the sprouts to grow and not any extra little germies. If in doubt, cook it!

Here are some websites I recommend to order online or learn more about sprouts:
http://www.sproutpeople.com
http://www.sproutman.com
Enjoy!

Sugar and Behavior

It always seems like my kids are so naughty after they eat sugar, and I finally read something agreeing with that.

This quote was from www.mercola.com:

Sugar Does Nothing to Sweeten Your Demeanor
One study that measured the visible effects of sugar consumption gave kids the amount of sugar equal to one soda. As a result, their test scores went down. In fact, one hour after consuming the sugar, they made twice as many mistakes. The sugar-loaded students also showed more "inappropriate behavior" during free play.

As Dr. Blaylock explains, sugar has a profound influence on your brain function, and hence your psychological function. When you consume excess amounts of sugar, your body releases excess amounts of insulin, which in turn causes a drop in your blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia in turn causes your brain to secrete glutamate.

Glutamate is a “messenger molecule” that serves an important function in your body. However, when excess amounts of glutamate are excreted it can wreak havoc with your brain and nervous system, causing a variety of side effects such as agitation, depression, anger, anxiety and panic attacks.

The glutamate produced in your body is identical to the flavor-enhancing monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is added to thousands of food products that boost your body’s glutamate load even higher.

Oh! And that explains why I'm so ornery the day after I eat too much sugar!

Here is another article about what sugar does to us. All of the sources I notices are legitimate medical journals, so that always makes me feel good.

J.E.L.L.O.

Here's another of my favorite no-sugar recipes: juice jello! It's cheap, easy, and has endless possibilities for entertaining young children!

First, make two cups of juice. I guess you can buy it already in juice form :), but I usually don't, so this step is #1 on my recipe. I always have apple and grape concentrate in my fridge, so that's my standard. Since apple is so neutral-tasting and cheap, I mix up a couple of cups--you know, the 1 parts juice concentrate, 3 parts water routine (I hardly ever use the whole can at once). Then I like to add a heaping spoonful of grape juice concentrate to the juice to make it a bright pretty red. This also gives it a great flavor that's not too grapey, and the apple/grape jello doesn't stain! For company or special occasions, those juicy-juice flavors are awesome. Imagine peach, kiwi-strawberry, or white grape juice--divine!

Mix 1 cup of the juice with 1 tablespoon of dry gelatin. Mix it well right away, unless you like little fruit-snack-like chunks in your jello...which your kids will probably love, but it might gross you out. You can buy Knox Gelatine, but a super cheap way to go is to buy a big bottle of it from the health food store--I've usually seen it in the vitamins/food supplements section. I order mine online. A bottle is usually around $10 and will last you for years--and it doesn't go bad, so it's ok if it lasts you for years!

Heat the additional cup of juice to the boiling point. Add it to the other cup of juice/gelatin and stir until the gelatin powder is dissolved (about 10 seconds). Pour into a mold, individual cups, or a casserole dish and stick it in the fridge. If you add fruit, do it when the jello is the consistency of egg whites. To double, triple, or quadruple the recipe, heat all the juice except the one cup.

To make jigglers, double the amount of gelatin. We love to make these around holidays (so we can use our cute cookie cutters!) or if we need a snack for a ton of kids. Everyone loves it--and you can let your kids eat as much as they want and you know they've only had like a third a cup of juice!

Pooh Bear Cookies

Because Pooh Bear loves the honey in these soft honey-nut oatmeal cookies--and they're the same color as him! 

Ingredients:
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup peanut butter (I like the kind where the only ingredients are peanuts and salt--chunky stirs in easier)
1-1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 flax egg or 1/4 c applesauce
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups quick oats
1-3/4 cups freshly ground whole white wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

Put raisins in a small bowl, cover with water. Microwave for 3-5 minutes (depending on how effective your microwave is). Let it sit there and plump till you add them to your cookies.

In a large bowl, mix peanut butter, honey, sugar and butter until creamy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; mix well. Add oatmeal. Sift together flour and baking soda; add to cookie dough and mix well. Drain raisins and stir into mixture. Stir in peanuts.

Heat oven to 375°F. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 7 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

My Story

We are a family of 8 who loves good food!  We have lived all over over the country and currently live in a sweet little community on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

A local group asked me to give a presentation on our sugar free home, so I started this blog to post information and help assemble my thoughts, but we found it so useful on our continuing journey to define our home, that we continued it.  Here is a post I wrote  years ago to explain why we "sugar free." (The term is a verb and a noun in our house.)

When my first child was a baby, my mom gave me this book called The Family Nutrition Book. It’s by Dr. William Sears and his wife Martha—they’ve written a lot of baby and children’s health books and they seem to come up every time I google a child ailment. The book itself was good, some of it I agree with, some of it I didn’t, but there was one sidebar that changed my approach to nutrition.

“The first three years of a child’s life are a window of opportunity for forming lifelong healthy eating habits. Just as you teach proper behavior to a child, you also want to teach a child what good food is supposed to taste like. If a baby begins solid food life from the can or jar, baby concludes that this is what food is supposed to taste like. The taste of this food and the way his body feels when he eats it become the child’s norms. And, for better or worse, the child’s eating habits and desire for packaged and fast foods become the norm. He is likely to crave this taste—because that’s what his body has been used to—and shun the fresh taste of healthy foods.

“To get your child on the right track, teach him to enjoy the flavor of fresh food before he gets hooked on canned, artificial tastes. If your baby and toddler eats only homemade, freshly prepared, unsalted, unsweetened foods, this becomes the standard to which other foods are compared. The canned and packaged stuff then tasted foreign to his selective taste buds. While babies are born with a natural preference for sweets (breast milk is very sweet), the rest of their taste preferences are learned.

“Many kids ago we had a theory that if we exposed young taste buds and developing intestines only to healthy foods during the first three years, when the child was older, these healthy eating habits would be likely to continue and the child would have a greater chance of shunning junk foods. We have tested this theory with our own children, as have other parents in our pediatrics practice. For the first three years we gave our infants and toddlers only healthy foods. We made homemade baby food and used few jars, cans, or packaged foods. We shopped for farm-to-market-type produce. In essence, relative to their peers, our kids were really junk-food deprived.

“What happened when these “pure” children got out into the sugar-coated, fat-filled world of birthday parties and fast-food outlets? Yes, they tried these goods. They ate French fries and licked icing from their finger, but they did not overdose on junk food. That’s the difference. Halfway through the mound of icing-filled birthday cake, they would slow down or stop. They certainly would not ask for a second helping as they began to recognize the signs of “yuck tummy.” One day we watched them go through the line at a local salad bar restaurant. Like most kids, they bypassed the fresh greens in the adult salad bar and headed for the kiddie salad bar, filled with fatty, breaded chicken, artificially colored and heavily sugared cereal, and dye-colored gelatins. But after a few bites, much of the junk food remained on their plates and they gravitated back to the adult salad bar. Eventually, they bypassed the kiddie bar altogether” (p277).

My mom always fed us pretty well growing up, but when she went through breast cancer when I was 17, she did a lot of research on cancer-prevention through nutrition. Since the cancer runs in my family I wanted to do whatever I could to avoid it, so I jumped right in with her. As I mentioned, my mom gave me the book mentioned above after I became a mom. I was training for a marathon (which I didn’t ever run, because I was 4 months pregnant with Ellie by the time it actually came around) and trying to become faster. I tried going without sugar and it was really hard for me. Mostly, because I could eat it forever and not feel like I needed to stop. I also realized I couldn’t just do less sugar. I always gave in and had more, so I had to go cold-turkey. Then when I’d have it I’d feel rotten and run terribly. Even compared to when my body was used to sugar, I just felt better when it was out of my system. A doctor in our ward didn’t have processed sugar in his home at all, and his 6 boys were pretty impressive. I realized that if I admired that so much, why don’t I try it myself? After my 2-month-old was given licks of ring pops and tasted ice cream before she’d ever tasted real food, I realized I’d have to set the limit somewhere. With all of the “special occasions” with family and church we had, I realized no sugar till three was the only way for us. It was hard, but it made sense for us at that time and it just felt right.

So, that’s how I became crazy. But it’s been good. All three of our kids have had a no-processed-sugar-till-they’re-three rule. When they’re about two and a half, they start noticing they’re getting different foods at nursery snack time, but they’re ok with it. They usually are the ones telling me they can’t have sugar. I give them plenty of fruit and vegetables and occasionally all-fruit popsicles or lightly honey-sweetened muffins. They’ve never had processed sugar, so they don’t know what they’re missing out on! My oldest grabbed a cookie off the counter once when she was 18 months and refused to eat anything I wanted her to the rest of the day, but she eventually got hungry enough and ate healthy food again…in a day or two—just kidding. I don’t think kids will starve themselves, when I honestly believe the foods I’m giving them are better for them in the long and short run, I don’t feel like I’m being mean to them. There is this whole array of tastes in whole foods that you can’t really taste when you’re used to processed foods. I know, because I underwent the process myself! And, after how hard I worked to nurse them, and realizing that their tummies are so little, it seems like every bite should count for something. If they eat just a little “filler” food there’s sometimes no room left for anything else…although sometimes my kids eat almost as much as I do.

My oldest was the experiment (and she was given a sugary medicine twice a day for 3 months as an infant—it never occurred to me at the time), and, honestly, since she turned three she can eat ice cream with the best of them, but she eats everything I cook (except sometimes potatoes), and that means a lot to me. My second daughter will eat half a cookie and hand it to me to finish. Wahoo! Of course, she’s also the one who will not even try my stir-fry just by looking at it. She eats pretty much everything else that I cook, though, and loves greens in her oats for breakfast. They all do. I’ve tried it…it doesn’t really taste so bad, I just think it’s weird to have something green for breakfast. They don't know that yet, though, so we're still good to get some good healthy kale in first thing in the morning when they're hungriest! Typically I serve them foods in order of what I want them to eat, and it works. A typical appetizer would be raw broccoli and carrots (ok, yes, with ranch!) and fruit is usually saved for dessert. My third child is currently still deprived and is also a great eater--so far, so we’ll see how the experiment continues.

So, my three-year rule is all about educating their little taste buds by feeding them fresh, whole foods early on. Sometimes it’s hard to think of what there is left to feed them. I’m kind of stubborn, in that I’ve insisted on making all of their baby food. It’s not hard and doesn’t take much extra time, once you get used to planning ahead. I bought that nasty powdered rice cereal with my oldest, but once I bought a box that was on sale--and past its due date, I noticed after she threw it all up. The company gave me a whole bunch of free coupons, but it really was too late. I had already started reading Super Baby Food and that was my excuse to go for it. When you know it's just blended squash, it doesn't feel weird to add some "baby food" to the rest of the family's chili or whatever. You can grind up raw brown rice or other grain and it takes just a few minutes to cook, but we mostly just throw some veggies in the blender. The book I mentioned is great and has all the details. I actually bought my first can of baby food ever a month ago for our move to Utah last month, and it just seemed so expensive. I’m sure we’ve saved a ton of money by making it.

I promise I don’t think everyone should be doing this or that parents who feed their children differently from me are terrible. There are a lot of wonderful things that my friends do with their children that I wish I was doing, but we can't do them all, so I guess we have to follow the Spirit and know that there's a reason we're led to different things. Maybe this will prevent cancer in my family or maybe not, but we all have our soapboxes and here was mine on sugar. Thanks for letting me share.

I wrote this when I only had 3 kids.  I now have 5 and they've all been sugar-free until they are 3.  At home we don't eat sugar...most of the time.  :)  And it works for us.

Sugarfree since 2003!