I Want A Sweet Divorce

Last year I was planning on starting a blog called the "Sweetest Divorce." The blog was going to chronicle my divorce from sugar, but I never got it off the ground. Here is the only post from the blog:

I WANT A DIVORCE!!

We've been together for as long as I can remember (at this point). We've shared both fond and not so fond memories: family gatherings, birthdays, vacations, dinners with friends, foodie expeditions all over the world. There have been times where I honestly felt that I could not survive with you. And even now that I've set out to write about our impending divorce, I feel that I am going to be losing a part of me.

I've had a sweet tooth for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, growing up in the USSR, my most prominent positive food memory involves these lollipops called "Petushki" (translated to Roosters in English). I don't remember what exactly was so great about this candy poultry, but I remember they made me REALLY happy.

Over the years, I developed a fairly heavy sugar addiction. At the peak of my eating disorder, I ate nothing but Brach's Candy, which I got at various Walgreen's around the city when they still had bulk candy bins. I went for the ones with three layers, one of which had powdered coconut, thinking they were healthier because they contained some fat.

Because of my experiences, I've always been interested in literature about sugar addiction and the negative effects of sugar consumption. Recently, I discovered the work of Nancy Appleton, clinical nutritional and anti-sugar advocate. In her first book, Lick the Sugar Habit, she discusses the consequences of sugar consumption and provides self-help techniques to overcome sugar addiction. She also has a section of sugar free recipes, which I love!

Besides all of the great research and examples of how sugar addiction leads to a variety of diseases, my favorite part of the book were the self-help techniques Nancy Appleton provided. I would like to share some of them with you.

Lick the Sugar Habit Self-Techniques

1. Remove Corn from Your Diet
According to Nancy, since most of the sugar we consume especially in processed food is corn based, most of us are now allergic to sugar. Any form of corn can bring up sugar cravings, whether its cornstarch or corn on the cob. Keep an eye out for corn in your baking powder.

2. Taste Sweetness Without Ingesting Sugar
She suggests using fruit-flavored lip gloss and brushing your teeth to give your taste buds a little zing when you are craving sugar

3. Avoid Coffee
Coffee can lower your blood sugar, which will cause hypoglycemic symptoms like light-headedness, dizziness, and perspiration. The blood sugar drop will lead to a sugar craving.

4. Read Labels
Nowadays it's rare to find sugar as an ingredient on a nutrition label. But you will often see it called by other names. Here are some examples: barley malt, beet sugar, brown sugar, buttered syrup, cane-juice crystals, cane sugar, caramel, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, date sugar, dextran, dextrose, diatase, diastatic malt, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, glucose solids, golden sugar, golden syrup, grape sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, raw sugar, refiner's syrup, sorbitol, sorghum syrup, sucrose, turbinado sugar, and probably many more that I have not mentioned.

5. Substitute Carob for Chocolate
I love this one! I found out I was allergic to chocolate 8 years ago, so I often bake with carob. Nancy provides a wonderful recipe for Spicy Carob Brownies that I want to share with you! I've adapted this recipe to be grain free and vegan. The original recipe calls for rice and quinoa flour instead of the almond, coconut, and grapeskin that I used.

 Spicy Carob Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup grapeskin flour (Cabernet or Merlot Variety)
2 tsp baking powder (you can make your own without corn)
1 cup well cooked sweet potatoes or yams
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup water
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp coconut oil

Process:
1. In a small bowl, mix chia seeds and water and let stand for 10 minutes

2. Combine almond flour, carob powder, coconut flour, grapeskin flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl

3. In a blender, mix sweet potatoes, chia seed gel, coconut oil and ginger and blend until smooth

 4. Add wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and using a mixer mix for until smooth
 

5. Put the batter into a baking dish, I'm using a heart shaped silicone dish

 6. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

7. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack

8. Cut into cubes and enjoy!

9. Enjoy!

Shared at: Simply Sugar Free & Gluten Free