Being Sugar/Sweetener Free

[birdie.lee]

Hello

I was wondering if anyone has any experience being sugar and sweetener free or can point me to some resources? I've found that having sugar or even non-calorie sweetener (like stevia) causes me to have unpleasant food cravings with not so great consequences. I just used up the last of my nice organic sorghum syrup and I'm not going to buy any more.

I thought that I could find some helpful information in the raw vegan corner (I'm a 'cooked vegan' - ha!) but I still found recipes with agave and I want to avoid that. I googled 'sugar free vegan' and find recipes w/ maple syrup, stevia, sugar alcohols, etc. and that's not what I'm looking for either.

I make my own bread but all my recipes contain a bit of sugar for the yeast...is that something I can leave out?

I'm not opposed to things that are naturally sweet like fruit. (I don't want to give up fruit!)

[Pen_esque]

I've had good success using dates in place of sugar. I take dried dates, chop them and add just enough boiling water to cover. Then I either mash them and strain, or just use he mash as is, or wizz the whole business, depending on the recipe. You need to tweak it a bit & reduce liquid if you're following a recipe as the date smush has different properties to sugar.

HTH!

[Sayward]

I am sugar-free! For a while I didn't do any fruit either, though now I've added it back in (in moderation). I don't eat much dessert but when I do I only do raw desserts and I do NOT use agave. I use fresh fruit juice (like I made a cherry tart and just pulverized some cherries and squeezed out their juice to sweeten the crust) and I've used soaked raisins in a recipe, the soaked raisins in the crust plus their soaking water in the filling. I haven't used dates - raisins are as close to a sweetener as I've gotten.

When you don't eat sweeteners things start to taste a LOT more naturally sweet.

As for the bread, I don't have experience because in my body wheat/grains act JUST like sugar. If I eat bread it kicks off cravings same as if I ate sugar. SO I can't do it. But if this isn't the case for you, I wouldn't worry about a little sugar for your yeast. If the yeast works then it should consume the sugar and there won't be much/any left in the final product.

I make homemade almond milk yogurt and use a little maple syrup to feed the cultures and don't worry about it for the same reason, and I don't taste much sweetness in the final product and I definitely don't have a 'sugar' reaction to it.

Hope that helps! Living sugar/grain free has been one of the best things 've done and I'm feeling REALLY good because of it!

[birdie.lee]

Thank you both!

I bought some organic dates yesterday, and I smushed them up with some hot water and added that to my bread for the yeast to eat. It's baking in the bread machine right now and truly smells delicious. I think that will work great!

I will definitely try out soaking raisins or even other dried fruit and using the water for sweetener. What a great idea! I want to make some cranberry sauce for toast and I think soaked raisins would be fantastic in it.

I would love it if you could share your cherry tart recipe Sayward.

I made a veggie stir-fry with rice for dinner the other night and it tasted sweet. It was totally strange that vegetables could taste like that.

[Sayward]

Well unfortunately I always just make my desserts up as I go along, but I can give an approximation.

For the crust:
- I used the almond pulp left over from making almond milk, but a rough equivalent would be 1 cup raw almonds, soaked. You could also use walnuts or pecans or macadamias
- about 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs
- about 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
- about 2 tbsp coconut oil
- about 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- either 4 soaked dates or 1/3 cup soaked raisins or 1/4 cup fresh juice squeezed from sweet (*not tart*) cherries (like Queen Ann cherries which is what I used, not like Bing which are much more common)
- a sprinkle od sea salt

Put it all in a food processor and blend until it forms a chunky paste. Use your hands to press this into a tart dish or some other mold/form (I used 2 ramekins to make mini tartlettes). Put it in the fridge while you make the rest of the stuff.

I made a chocolate sauce of sorts by mixing coconut oil (melted - put it in a small bowl and then float that bowl in hot water and the coco oil will melt), cherry juice (or raisin/date soaking water), and raw cacoa powder. Just mixed until I had a flavor/texture I liked, but remember that when you chill this the sauce will harden up because the coconut oil is hard at cooler/room temp.

Spread the chocolate sauce in the bottom of the tart, reserving a bit to drizzle on top.

Pile pitted cherries on top of the chocolate sauce! Drizzle with the reserved sauce, then put it in the fridge to set up, maybe an hour or so.


I hope that makes some sort of sense! Here's a photo of it!!!

[goldenwillow]

My DP (professional cook) says sugar not needed for the yeast. The yeast will feed on the flour!

[crunchy_mommy]

Yeah we make bread without sugar & it comes out fine.

Bananas are a great sweetener if you'll do fruit -- you can add mashed bananas to muffins or brownies etc. and they come out yummy without the sugar.

We often roast veggies (esp. good with pecans!) and it brings out their natural sweetness. Same with carmelized onions...

I love black bean brownies: http://happyherbivore.com/2009/05/ve...bean-brownies/ (you can leave out the agave or add in soaked dates)

I think you'll find that the more you get accustomed to sugar-free, the more you'll be able to just cook your regular recipes without the sugar. We aren't sugar-free -- I guess we're "low sugar" -- but I can't stand things like ice-cream-stand sorbet or other things made by others because they taste sickly sweet to me... We are just used to cutting the sugar in half/subbing natural sugars/eliminating the sugar so 'full sugar' tastes gross. I'm sure you'll find the same thing after a bit! Are they any particular foods besides bread that you want to make sugar-free?

[birdie.lee]

Sayward ~ That cherry tart looks so yummy! Thank you so much for the recipe. I am definitely going to try it out. I think I am going to use carob instead of chocolate (I'm off caffeine). I've never made a raw dessert before so it should be interesting.

Xantho ~ Thank you! Next loaf of bread I bake will be w/out the dates.

crunchy_mommy ~ Thank you for the suggestions! I hadn't thought to use bananas as a sweetener but I will give it a go. Quite honestly, the black bean brownies sort of scare me. I like black beans and I like brownies, but I'm not sure about together.

I interested in making sugar free cereal or granola. I found a no-added-sugar sprouted grain 'grape nuts' type cereal that I really like, but I really do like granola but I'm not sure how to get it to stick together w/out a sugar syrup of some sort. I eat low-fat as well so I'm not really interested in using oil either to make it stick together in clumps.

And I really like cupcakes! Not sure how to make frosting for them though...

[crunchy_mommy]

LOL I was scared of the black bean brownies too but you can't taste the beans!! They are yummy! Though I don't know how it would work with carob instead of cocoa, but would probably still be good.

The granola sounds tricky... what if you pureed some dates or other dried fruit & mixed that with the 'grape nuts'? Kind of on the idea of Lara bars but with more cereal or nuts?

Cupcake frosting... hmmm... you could use cornstarch or agar as a thickener to pureed fruit (something like pumpkin or bananas or possibly coconut if that's not too high-fat for you) and add vanilla/spices and cook on the stove to make it like a thick pudding consistency. Do you use non-dairy milks at all? You could also use a homemade nut milk or something as the base if you didn't want it too fruity. ORRRR... Soak raw cashews in water and then drain & puree with dates or bananas or cherries... it would make a thick 'cream' that you could use as is or thicken further on the stove. Or extra firm tofu pureed with carob & dates (let set in the fridge for at least several hours before 'frosting')

[birdie.lee]

OK OK crunchy_mommy, I will try the black bean brownies! You've convinced me.

I was thinking that I needed to try and make my own Lara bars, they are so expensive anyways and it would be easy to do.

For the granola, I read somewhere to use orange juice concentrate in it...now that's pretty sugary I thought but maybe I could fresh squeeze an orange... But pureed fruit like applesauce or even apple butter would work good to stick the oats together.

Yeah, I do non-dairy milk, just unsweetened plain almond milk... Those frosting ideas are fantastic! I am going to be baking up a storm now. I usually only make single-serving deserts so I'll be able to try them all out w/out stuffing myself w/ baked goods.

I made my own no-added-sweetener jam yesterday and it turned out yummy! I ended up cooking a bag of frozen cranberries and a bag of frozen organic raspberries until the cranberries burst. Chilled in the fridge and it turned into a nice jammy consistency. Put it on my unsweetened soy yogurt this morning and it was really good, not too tart or two sweet, just perfect.

[CariCloud]

I am raw but before going raw I bought a nice vegan cake from a girl at the vegan farmers market I go to and she used apple sauce as a sweetner for her baked goods.

[birdie.lee]

Thanks CariCloud, I will try out the applesauce as a sweetener.

Also, the cherry-coconut-carob tart was made and eaten last night. It turned out amazingly delicious. Thanks Sayward!

Oh, does anyone have a recipe for no sugar quick pickles? I have a recipe for 'cucumbers and onions' that is sliced cucumbers and onions in equal parts vinegar, sugar, and water, and you let it sit overnight. But that's a no-go now but it's the perfect summer salad accompaniment...

[birdie.lee]

Just an update if anyone is interested...

I made granola last night by using frozen juice concentrate (I used cherry-apple but I bet you could use other flavors as well). I did not add any oil or fat. The only wet ingredient was the juice concentrate. The oats and cereal stuck together nicely, and it has a mild fruity sweetness.

And caramelized onions are super sweet

I splurged the other night and drank an agave sweetened root beer, and quite frankly, I did not really enjoy it all that much. I thought it tasted weird. I guess my tastebuds have already started to change.

[somegirl99]

Birdie,

Here's a link to recipes for homemade Lara bars:
http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.c...rs-part-3.html

Also I love blended up frozen overripe bananas as a dessert, the texture is like gelato.

[Anna06]

bump....

Thanks to everyone who posted. I eat way to much sugar.

And I'm not even sure how to get off the stuff. If I just go off sugar what do you all replace it with?

I have been grain free and sugar free before, but that was when I ate meat. Now I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks,

[crunchy_mommy]

I'm not really sure how to answer... I guess you don't replace it with anything really, or with naturally-occuring sugars (perhaps pureed dates or bananas, depends on what you're making). Some people will use small amounts of maple syrup or agave or molasses as well. It depends on your reasoning for being sugar-free. I'm hypoglycemic so my main motivation is to avoid up & down blood sugar, which I find worst with refined sugar and caffeine -- I also add in extra fats & proteins to my sweet foods. If you're trying to avoid sugar cravings you'll probably need to cut out lots more because anything even naturally sweet might start the cravings up... But either way it'll probably be easier to start slow & maybe cut the sugar in recipes in half or replace with dates etc.

Can you give a few examples of recipes you're looking to modify?

[Anna06]

Thanks crunchy_mommy for answering.

I'm really not looking at any one recipe. It's like after a meal, I want something/anything sweet. Cookies etc. Almost like I'm still hungry, but not. I'm just always looking for something. Can't put my finger on it.

Maybe I should just look for will power. ha

[crunchy_mommy]

yup that's sugar cravings (or at least sounds it to me!) That's how I used to be too.

Maybe try replacing the cookies with fruit (or if that's too challenging, try baking some low-sugar cookies). And then once you're used to that & no longer craving it so intensely, try cutting it out altogether. Basically gradually wean yourself. You could also just go cold-turkey but that's harder. The cravings will subside over time -- usually only a week or two if you go cold-turkey. Oh and if you're still not quite 'full' after a meal, try a scoop of PB (which is kind of sweet so a good transition) or a handful of nuts, or incorporate more fat & protein right into your meals. If your meal causes your blood sugar to rise too much (I think it will happen a lot if you're eating high-carb meals) then it will drop rapidly soon after you eat, and that will cause you to crave sugary stuff (to bump it back up).

[sapphire_chan]

Try getting more fat with your meals. And protein. And soak your grains so they let more nutrients into your system.

A craving for sugar, particularly after eating, is a sign that your body needs more nutrients.

While you're sorting that out, try having some bell pepper as the post-meal sweet.

[Anna06]

Thanks for all the replys. I'm totally lacking something.