In pursuit of sugar-free … with a bar of chocolate in my hand

I’m kidding.  No chocolate in this home.  Well, not since we bought a snack-pack of the Whittakers L&P chocolate because we just had to try it.  My verdict?  I love chocolate.  Would I buy it again? My answer, I love chocolate.

Anyway, many of you have been emailing asking about how Jacob has been getting on since my 6-in-a-row posts of 2 weeks ago, in pursuit of sugar-free. 
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6.

Posts did stop after 6 days, right about the time Jacob went and stayed on a dairy farm in order to get some work experience.  His hosts were fabulous, he remained relatively sugar-free, worked hard, played hard and learnt not to stand too close to the back end of a cow.  Not what you are thinking probably, he has bruises (still!) to show the real reason.

Jacob loved it.  It’s what he wants to do.  We were incredibly lucky to have friends that would take him in, give him a bed, feed him and include him in their busy daily lives on the farm, all with the aim of helping him choose his NCEA subjects next year.  He’s a lucky kid.

But that aside, Jacob is STILL sugar free and doing awesome!  He’s had a check-up at the naturopath again and his body is starting to respond.  He is more energetic, calmer and has even thinned out.  His boxing trainer even noticed it after not seeing Jacob for 10 days.  This is all from a kid that didn’t really eat much sugar in the first place.  (Seriously, my kids eat barely any, no nasty cereals, nothing). But taking out refined sugars and replacing a lot of the other foods such as white flours etc with more natural stuff has made a huge difference.  I was somewhat ‘brainwashed’ by the thoughts that all fats were bad meaning my kid’s diets had barely any.  I didn’t realise the damage I was doing and now that we are all enjoying more healthy fats and less refined foods, we are all healthier.  I realise I’m risking sounding like a total food-hippy here so stopping there BUT seriously, it’s done amazing things for us all.

Here’s an idea of the kind of things we are eating now:

(this is a treat, we’d have this kind of thing 1-2 times a day max, after dinner for example).

No-Bake fudgey sugar free can’t stop eating it slice.

(Made and cut into small squares for treats, this recipe is an adaption of a few other recipes and has a dark chocolate taste)
* 1 cup whole almonds
* 15 Pitted Dates
* 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 2 tbsp. melted coconut butter/oil
* 1 tbsp. honey
* 2 tbsp. water.
* Add almonds to food processor & pulse until ground.
* Add dates, cocoa powder, honey, coconut oil & water.
* Blend until it's a sticky mass. If it won’t stick well, add tiny amounts of water and blend some more until it sticks.  Press into a tin and cut into small squares. Alternatively roll into balls.

For those that want a sweeter version, add in less water and add:
* 1/2 very ripe banana
* 1/2 cup shredded coconut
* 1/4 cup cranberries
* 1 tsp xylitol (or equiv of other natural sweetner such as stevia 1 bitty scoop)
or 1 additional tbsp honey

If you like it superdark chocolately, add 1/3 cup additional unsweetened cocoa.
Play with the recipe, it is easily adapted!

(note this is an adaption from a recipe you can find here)

I have other tried and true recipes too.  Along with many failed ones. 

For those of you that thought this was a scrabooking blog, it still is – I’ve got plans to share over the next week or so – inbetween trialling new sin-free chocolate recipes.  ‘Cos I can. ;)

Laters

Comments

[Dolly]

Glad to hear it's going well Nic!
Will love seeing your work again but also glad to see the other stuff as well. :D

[Gela]

Pinned the recipe. Thanks. I am glad your son is doing well. It is your blog. You can talk about the man on the moon if you want. :)

[Louise]

We had chocolate mousse last night - freeze a chopped up banana (on a tray or else it is too hard to blend) then blend with one chilled avocado and 3 Tbsp cocoa powder. That is it - yummy! Good work guys, it does make one feel so much better, eh?

[Rachel]

thats awesome Nic - go Jacob really proud of you! Sounds like you will be sorted for your NCEA subjects for next year - good luck with that.

[Louise]

You can't taste the avocado at all BTW, it is a filler :) .

[Dolly]

Louise reminded me...there is an ice cream maker you use fruit with called the Yonananas
http://www.yonanas.com/
Also real fruit juice Popsicles....I'm sure you have thought of all of this probably but doesn't hurt to leave you with the link.

[Debbie K]

Hey Nic, glad to hear everything is going well with Jacob and happy to hear that he enjoyed his work experience. May I share a super easy recipe with you that we enjoy at home...

Banana Walnut Muffins – makes 12
Sugar free – gluten free

Ingredients
6 eggs
½ cup coconut oil
4 bananas
20 drops stevia
½ cup coconut flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts
Extra walnuts for garnish

In food processor combine eggs, oil, bananas and stevia and blend until well mixed.
Add coconut flour, salt and baking soda and pulse until combined.
Fold in walnuts
Scoop into muffin cups, add extra walnuts to top and bake approximately 20-25 mins at 180 degrees celcius.

[Linda L]

Good on you Nic. I've been right into the type of foods you've mentioned (the healthy fats, no sugar, more real/live foods) for the last 12 months and my teens are catching on too which is awesome. Hope Jacob continues to improve and you all enjoy the benefits of a healthier diet.

[Janet]

Great to hear Nic. I have been on a life changing experience since retiring doing just what you are talking about.....no sugar and healthy fats and basically just plain old healthy food we had as kids and I have lost over 3 stone and my blood tests show I am a very healthy 67 year old......I have loved trying new and very healthy recipes and life is great. Enjoy your new experience.