Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

baking

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!

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 🙂

$96 a Smack!

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Oh. my. goodness. gracious.

At Katie’s Online Bake Sale to help Japan, my Smacaroons sold for $96! Katie did such a great job with this bake sale, and she raised thousands of dollars for Japan! I can’t wait to make another batch of my Smacaroons to send off to the generous donor.

For those of you who don’t get Smacaroons sent to your door, you can make your own! Seriously, try them. They are amazing! You’ll need some coconut oil to make them…

Coconut Oil makes me feel tropical!

Alison from Kelapo was so kind to send me a jar of their Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to try. If I haven’t told you already, I am a huge fan of coconut oil! Not all coconut oils are the same, though, because some are more processed than others. I like my coconut oil to taste extra coconut-ty, and Kelapos does! It is also very smooth

“Harvested from exclusive coconut palms in Sri Lanka, this 100% organic, trans fat free oil can be used as an all-natural, flavorful, and energy packed, butter alternative.”

You can read more about their company at www.kelapo.com. I was excited to learn that Kelapo was based out of Florida (where I live!), and that organic, cold-pressed. I use coconut oil in a lot of my recipes because it has some very healthy fatty acids in it to help your brain stay smart, your eyes stay sharp, and your skin stay clear! Thanks again, Kelapo!

Now go make yourself some Smacaroons so you can be healthy, too 😉

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

Do you like the taste of coconut?

I L.O.V.E it! Seriously, it is one of my favorite flavors, along with chocolate and, of course, peanut butter.

Have a great week everyone because I am going to Washington DC for the National Cherry Blossom Festival tomorrow! I’ve been gone so much lately that I haven’t had time to create more recipes, or post on my blog more regularly! So sorry 😛

 

 

 

Do You Like Green Eggs in Ham?

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Yes, I like them Sam I Am!

But not as much as I like pistachio butter…

This is amazing! It may hurt your fingers, but it is definitely worth it. It is a funny green color, but I think it looks neat-o. Feel free to buy either salted, unsalted, or raw. You can even buy them without the shell, but they are usually more expensive. Therefore, I just hunkered down, watched some tv, and shelled some pistachios!

Ingredients

  • A whole bunch of pistachios, shelled-as much or as little as you like
  • optional: salt and/or pepper to taste

Just throw the pistachios into your food processor or strong blender and blend away! I used my handy dandy magic bullet, and it turned out well. Sometimes my magic bullet can’t turn the nuts into a nice, creamy nut butter without adding oil, but for someone reason the pistachios worked well. I think it’s because pistachios are softer nuts compared to most.

Say!

I like pistachio butter

I do!! I like it, Sam-I-am!

And I would eat it in a (celery) boat!


And I would eat it with a goat…

And I will eat it in the rain on a cracker.


And in the dark.

And on a train banana.


And in a car.

And in a tree apple.


It is so good so good you see!

So I will eat it in a box on a slice of grain-free banana bread .

So I will eat it in a box.

And I will eat it with a fox more bananas.



And I will eat it in a house on ants on a log.

And I will eat it with a mouse some oatmeal.

And I will eat it here and there on another banana with chocolate.

Say! I will eat it ANYWHERE!

Not only because it tastes good, but because it:

  • Has lots of good monounsaturated fat for a healthy heart
  • Decreases bad cholesterol and helps the good
  • Contains carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin that help protect the eyes
  • Contains copper to help form connective tissues
  • Contains vitamin B6 to help you have a healthy immune system
  • Lowest calorie nut! 40 pistachios are only 120 calories! And it takes longer to peel each one, so you will eat less!

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

Did you read Dr. Seuss books as a kid?

I love Dr. Seuss! I remember dressing up for his birthday in elementary school. We had green eggs and ham for lunch, and we read his books all day long. In fact…I went to Seussland this weekend…

My brother likes green eggs and ham, too!

Psst! Check out Chocolate Covered Katie’s Bake sale today! I am donating a batch of Smacaroons to help Japan!

Unplug and…

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To the 7 of you who voted “Yes” in yesterday’s post, you were right on! It started raining just a couple hours after the picture was taken, and it continued to pour all throughout the day and into the night. As I look out my window this morning, the clouds hang over, it looks dreary, and it looks like it is going to be another rainy day.

To the four of you who voted “No,” well, you were wrong. To the two who voted “Ummmm…This is Weird,” I completely agree with you. Whatever, I had fun 😉

As much as I’d like to write a longer post, I need to pack because I am going to North Carolina! I’m not bringing my laptop, either, so I will get a few days break from it.

I encourage you all to do the same, too!

Unplug this:

Bake some of these:

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Do some of this:

And just a little bit of this:

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

Do you like having time off of your computer?
I LOVE time off of the computer. I feel better when I don’t sit in front of it. It always sucks up my time, and I can’t stand sitting there for extended periods of time. I need to take breaks!

 

Carob is Not Chocolate

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But it is rather tasty nonetheless.

My first recipe with carob started with the Healthy 7-Layer Bar. I decided that I love the taste of carob then and there. When I saw my local health food store also sold unsweetened carob in powder form, I had to buy it!

To me, carob has a rich butterscotch taste. It is extremely sweet (of course, my sweet buds are rather sensitive) without adding sugar. Some say it has a tootsie-roll taste. I don’t know. I just like it. Don’t take my word for it, though, go buy some yourself and make some yummy carob recipes!

My first experiment with carob powder turned out wonderfully. I took my Bitter Chocolate Cake for One and simply substituted carob for the cocoa powder. Yum. This cake is no longer bitter!

Flourless Carob Cake for One

~This cake is meant to serve one person, but feel free to double, triple or quadruple the recipe. The cake is gluten free, grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup carob powder
  • 2 Tablespoons of squash puree, like pumpkin, sweet potato, or butternut squash
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • water

Preheat oven to 375*. Mix all of the above ingredients together. Then add a splash of water until it reaches the consistency of a thick pudding. Pour batter into a mini bread pan or a muffin tin (It makes about 4 muffins). Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I actually substituted almond butter for the squash in this cake (because I was out of squash puree!). It made a more dense and rich cake. Reminds me of a brownie....mmmm....

More Ideas: Try mixing in nuts, dried fruit, or carob chips! Add a little almond or coconut extract for extra flavor.

Or make a delectable strawberry and cream stack! I baked the cake in a mini loaf and cut it into 3 pieces. Then, I stacked it with strawberries and topped it with coconut cream!

Each gargantuan cake is only about 115 calories.

Carob Health Benefits: Unlike chocolate, carob contains no caffeine and it contains a number of nutrients, including vitamins A, B, B2, B3, and D. It also contains a good dose of Pectin that helps to eliminate toxins from the body.

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

Do you like carob? Have you ever tried it?

When I was younger I tried a bite of those carob energy nuggets, and I didn’t like. Consequently, I didn’t think I liked carob. Boy am I glad I tried it again!