Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Meat Lovers Rejoice!

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As soon as I saw Heather make a Meatza, I started defrosting my ground beef.

You all know that I am such a lover in grain-free foods, so meatzas are right up my alley (Meat Pizza=Meatza). However, I wasn’t in the mood for regular old pizza (I don’t eat cheese anyway), but I was in the mood for Mexican food. Thus, the Taco Meatza was born!

Taco Meatza

~You can rearrange the recipe however you like to make your favorite pizza. Grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, yeast-free, soy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 package of Taco seasoning (make your own by combining 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika)
  • 1/2 chopped onion
Toppings
  • 1 cup of your favorite salsa (You can make your own using THIS RECIPE)
  • 1 cup cooked rice or crushed tortilla chips
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1 cup chopped veggies (I used onions and bell peppers. Feel free to use whatever you like)
  • optional toppings: guacamole, black olives, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, cheese (if you eat dairy), cilantro
Preheat oven to 450*. Combine all crust ingredients and spread mixture onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes (it will shrink). Drain off beef fat.
Top the crust with salsa and sprinkle the black beans, rice or tortilla chips, and chopped veggies on top. Broil until golden. Serve with your favorite cold ingredients (like the ones listed above or other favorite taco-toppings).
The crust with salsa
The crust with salsa ‘sauce’ …
Broiled with rice, beans, onions, and bell peppers…
Topped with Guacamole, tomatoes, cilantro, spinach, and black olives. Served with fresh watermelon.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is your favorite pizza topping?

I’m not really picky, and I could eat any pizza topping-as long as it doesn’t have cheese 😉

Just Add Water!

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Thank you so much for the kind compliments about my new haircut! You are all too sweet!

I am thanking you by giving you a healthy, inexpensive recipe that any traveler is sure to enjoy.

Instant Oats! 

When I make myself oatmeal at home, I use organic rolled oats from the bulk aisle of my grocery store. Each pound of oats costs $1.99, which works out to be about 17 cents per 1/4 cup serving. 

Compare that 17 cents of organic, high-quality oatmeal to the $3.00 instant quaker oatmeal pack that works out to be 38 cents per serving. 

So…you save money by making your own, and you can add the ingredients you want without all that added sugar. Quaker’s flavored instant oats all have around 10 grams of extra refined, white sugar per serving. Check out the ingredients in their Peaches’n’Cream Oatmeal:
“WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, CREAMING AGENT (MALTODEXTRIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL**, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, WHEY, SODIUM CASEINATE, SUGAR, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), FLAVORED AND COLORED FRUIT PIECES (DEHYDRATED APPLES [TREATED WITH SODIUM SULFITE TO PROMOTE COLOR RETENTION], ARTIFICIAL PEACH FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, ANNATTO COLOR), SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE, GUAR GUM, OAT FLOUR, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, NIACINAMIDE*, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, FOLIC ACID*.”

Sugar is the second ingredient on the 33 ingredient-long list. Thirty-three ingredients? Why can’t we have Peaches’n’Cream Oatmeal with only three ingredients: peaches, cream, and oats? This is nuts! I can’t even pronounce half of these ingredients and preservatives, and why in the world do we need to eat partially hydrogenated soybean oil?
Homemade Instant Oats
~You may add whatever ingredients you like to the mix, but here is the basic recipe. Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free! 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound rolled oats, gluten-free if needed
  • Optional: dried fruit, nuts, chia, flax, or other grains
Place your oats (and other grains and spices, if using) in a blender and pulse/blend until smooth. The thinner the oats, the thicker the cereal. Add dried fruit and nuts, if using.
Store in a jar or measure them out into 1/4 cup servings in individual baggies for easy on-the-go use.
To eat, simply add hot water and stir until it thickens. Add about equal amounts of water per dry mix. Of course, you may adjust this if you like a thinner or thicker oatmeal.
The dry…Cinnamon, raisins, and pecan oatmeal.
Just add water, stir, and enjoy!
When I was in DC last week, I brought along Eco-Planet gluten-free hot cereal because I knew my hotel’s breakfasts were too expensive. I thoroughly enjoyed the cereal, but it was more expensive than making my own instant oats. Thus the idea to create my own instant oats was born! I can’t wait to experiment with this recipe! Some of my ideas include:
  • Mixing grains by adding rice flour, millet, quinoa, or buckwheat
  • Homestyle Oats: raisins, cinnamon, and walnuts
  • Apple Crisp: dried apple bits, cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond pieces
  • Double Chocolate: cocoa powder and cacao nibs
  • Strawberries and Cream: vanilla bean and dried strawberries
  • Trail-mix: Add as many nuts and dried fruit pieces I can!
  • Chocolate-Peanut Butter: Peanuts and cocoa powder
Now you can bring your own instant oats whenever you are traveling! Almost every hotel has a coffee maker in the room now, so you can heat up your water and dump a bag of your own instant oats in a to-go mug. You can even make coffee-flavored oatmeal by adding coffee into the oats!
In a paper to-go coffee cup. I am ready to travel (and eat oatmeal!)
Now there is no excuse to eat unhealthy food on the road 😉

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

When you are on the road, do you usually bring your own food or eat out at restaurants? What do you bring? What restaurants do you go to?

I do a mix of both. I try to bring as much food as I can, but I supplement with food at restaurants. I try to eat as many veggies as I can while on the road, and I stay away from refined flours, breads, fried foods, and sugar, of course!

Change is Good

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Where’d my hair go?!

I got about 6 inches cut off! What do you think?

Also, look up at your address bar. I am no longer spoonfulofsugarfree.wordpress.com, but spoonfulofsugarfree.com! Yay!

So what’s a girl to do with a domain of her own? Make business cards, of course!

My mom was a graphic designer, so she taught me how to use photoshop at a young age. I used to make business cards just for fun, and I made them all the time for homework and other business endeavors of mine. I always have her look over my work, and she gives her input so I can create the best business card I can!

Also, remember when I told you my Smacaroons sold at Katie’s Bake Sale for Japan for $96? Well I am sending a triple batch off today in an adorable little jar for the gracious bidder!

I sure do hope the Smacaroons arrive safely!

If you haven’t made them yet, I strongly encourage you to do so! They are sweet and salty, tropical yet comforting, and oh so healthy.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Are you comfortable with change? What do you think about it? Have you had any big or small changes in your life lately?

Honestly, I love changes. I think it gives me a fresh outlook on life, and it inspires me to have a little hop in my step 😉 When I was little, I used to share a room with my sister. Every few months we would totally rearrange our room. On that day-our stuff would be everywhere! Beds turned upside down, drawers emptied, knick-knacks  thrown all over the floor! SO MUCH FUN!

Calories, Fat, Carbs, and Protein

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Hello everyone!

You may have noticed that I don’t post the Nutrition Facts for all of my recipes. The only reason I don’t is because I don’t count calories or carbs, and it is just a bit more time-consuming. However, I completely understand those who need the calorie information due to Diabetes, weight loss, weight gain, etc.

For those who need the nutrition data, please feel free to ask me. Just leave a comment or send me an email at spoonfulofsugarfree@gmail.com. Tell me which recipe(s) you are interested in, and I will get the data calculated for you right away!

Now onto something fun. Like raw flax crackers!

I have never made raw flax crackers before, but they looked easy enough. I threw a bunch of stuff in my magic bullet, and Voila! Crackers that taste good and are good for you.

Raw Bloody Mary Flax Crackers

~These crackers are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, vegan, raw, and, of-course, sugar-free! 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flax seeds
  • 12 oz. tomato juice
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 tsp hot sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 clove garlic
Blend all ingredients. Spread mixture thinly on a Parraflexx sheet, plastic wrap, or parchment paper in your dehydrator. Dehydrate overnight or until crispy. Each dehydrator is different, but mine took about 24 hours to rich desired crispiness. Half way through dehydrating, I took the crackers out to cut into desired shapes. You may also break into pieces after they are done drying-your choice.
These taste delicious with Homemade Hummus! They are sure to satisfy your crunchy cravings.

Health Benefits
  • Flax: Full of healthy Omega-3’s to help your heart stay strong. It is also a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber to keep your gut healthy and help you stay full. Flax also contains lignans which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. These lignans help protect against cancer by blocking enzymes that are involved in hormone metabolism and interfering with the growth and spread of tumor cells.
  • Tomato: This fruit is full of the antioxidant, lycopene, that fights against cancerous cell formation as well as other kinds of health complications and diseases. Free radicals in the body can be flushed out with high levels of Lycopene.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

How will you save money on feeding your family tonight? Save some money on your meat order with ProteinPromo’s offers.

What is your favorite seed/nut?

If you don’t like seeds and nuts, your crazy. My favorite changes from time to time, but right now I am really loving my almonds 🙂

Use up that White Flour!

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No, I am not suggesting you eat white flour. I am suggesting that you play with it!

 

Homemade Modeling Clay

~This is not like play dough, but this is the type of clay that dries into shapes. Keep leftovers in a air-tight plastic bag to keep from drying out.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • optional: food coloring or paint

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Feel free to adjust wet or dry amounts to create the desired consistency of a tough, yet workable clay.

 

Shape into anything you like! Make beads, animals, letters, shapes. Then, put in a dehydrator over night or until dry. If using an oven, turn on low temperature, preferably 200*, and bake for a few hours or until dry. The bigger the shape, the longer it has to cook and dry.

Beads!

Then, paint it if you wish!

Awwww! A teddy bear 🙂

This is a great way to use up all that yucky white flour, white salt, and gross vegetable oil you might have lurking in your cabinets. Then you can replace them with fun stuff like coconut flour, garbanzo bean flour, himalayan salt, olive oil, or coconut oil!

Did you see that I didn’t paint any of them yet? Well…..I’ll leave that up to you! What colors should I paint my new creations???

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Were you a big artsy kid growing up?

My mom is an artist, so I always had markers, paper, felt, fabric, beads, buttons, you name it! I loved craft time!

Sugar Free goes to D.C.

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Hello everyone! I am back from my wonderful trip to D.C., and I am full of sugar-free recipes I am itching to try!

For now, though, take a look at some of the things I did:

I took a trolley around the city to see some of the national monuments...

Including the Lincoln Memorial...
And the Iwo Jima memorial.

The trolley driver, Jazzy Jan, taught me an interesting fact. Do you know the difference between memorials and monuments? A memorial is made after someone dies and a monument is made during his/her lifetime. For example, the Washington Monument was made during George Washington’s life, and the Lincoln Memorial was made after Abraham Lincoln died.

I also took a tour of the Capitol Building
Inside of the Capitol dome.
Saw the Library of Congress. The most gorgeous library ever. If you take a trip to D.C., I suggest making time to visit this Library.
Inside the Library. Pictures don't do it justice.
I had to make a stop in Chinatown, too, to get some wonderful, hot chicken and rice noodle soup to warm me up! Pho DC-Vietnamese noodle bar.
I saw "Liberty Smith" at the Ford's Theatre. Hilarious! I had a blast listening and watching this musical. The Theatre was beautiful and cosy, too.

History Lesson! What important event happened at the Ford Theatre? I’ll  show you where it happened:

If you guessed, “Ford Theatre is where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated,” you are correct! This Friday, April 15th, marks the 146th anniversary of Lincoln’s Assassination.

I also visited the American History Smithsonian Museum. I saw the Ruby Red Slippers from the Wizard of Oz...

And Julia Child's Kitchen, of course!
Almost all of Child's pans were made of copper. A man told me that copper is one of the best heat distributers.

There was so much to see at the museum including Lincoln’s top hat and the flag that inspired our National Anthem. I could spend a month looking at all of the artifacts in the museum. Did you know the Smithsonian isn’t just one museum, but a collection of 19 museums all centered in an area of D.C. called, “The Mall?” Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the designer of the streets of D.C., envisioned a mall of history for D.C. where people can learn and see America’s artifacts. 33 years after his death, the first Smithsonian museum, the castle, opened.

I was exhausted by all of this new knowledge (and walking)

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Have you been to Washington D.C. before? Or maybe you live there?

This was my first time visiting the nation’s capitol, and it was gorgeous. All of the architecture was immaculate, and I could spend years looking through all the history. If you have been there before, what is your favorite thing to do/see? I need to make a list of stuff to do for my next trip there! 😉