Whole Foods Fast: Sugar Free Taco Seasoning Mix

Everyone is happy on Taco Day in our house.  I am happy because it is a healthy meal with little prep work or clean-up work that can be made ahead that our kids love to eat.  The kids are happy because they love the taste and have fun making their own tacos.



Sugar Free Taco Seasoning Mix
Adapted from Family Feasts for $75 per week

1/2 cup of dried minced onion
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup organic corn starch
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons of Salt
2 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon of Ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon of Dried Oregano

1. ) Place all the ingredients in a pint-size canning jar.  Put lid on and shake to combine.  Use 1/4 cup for every 1 pound of ground beef.

Notes:
* You will thank yourself over-and-over again if you cook 4-6 pounds of ground beef and use what you need the first day and put the rest in freezable Pyrex containers (I find the 3 1/2 cup rectangular size is the perfect serving size for our family of four)
* This is my go-to meal when we get a last minute invite out on an afternoon when I haven't made dinner yet, but I want to eat at our usual 5/6PM time.  I pop one of these out of the freezer, take the meat out of the pyrex, put it in my slow cooker on high, chop up some tomatoes, shred the cheese and go have some fun.  Then when we get back home a dinner everyone likes is waiting for us.
* If you want to have this every week, alternate between tacos and taco salads every week.  That way you won't feel like you are serving the same thing every week.

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Marlene's Sugar Free Experience

After a whole week last week of eating way more sugar than I normally do, Sunday I started  "Kick the Sugar."  Julie posted that she wanted others to join with her for a month-long sugar fast.  I decided I needed to try this and see if my headaches would improve, if my cholesterol would lower and my over-all energy and mood would get better.  

We came home Saturday afternoon from visiting the grandchildren in two states, so I didn't have a lot of food in the house.  This was good for one reason-no treats or goodies; and bad  for another reason,  because I had no substitutes to help with the diet.  I am planning on some hummus and- more veggies and fruit- only jam.  I plan to watch what is in the packaged food I eat, but that will be easy since I don't eat too much pre-packaged food.

I will do it a little differently than Julie in that I am not going to cut out fruit from my diet for now, but just cut back to 2-3 servings a day.  My lo-carb sprouted bread from Trader Joes lists honey and molasses at the end of the ingredient list but shows no measureable grams of sugar.  I also plan to eat 1 to 2 pieces of very dark thin Ghirardelli chocolate which is 72% Cacoa.  I just need it; at some point I may be able to cut that out. I read Julie's blog recommendation www.sugarshockblog.com  and ordered the book "Sugar Shock."

Sunday the only sugar I had was:
*a little regular jam on my toast
*1/2 apple
*2 rings of fresh pineapple
*2 dark chocolate squares
*1 cup of hot milk with plain cocoa in it- whippped.

Oh, and I have to mention that I gained 2 1/4 lbs last week.  I am hoping the swimming I do everyday and cutting the sugar will help me lose those pounds and a few more.  This is a challange and discipline that I think will be good for me.  We need to nuture ourselves sometimes and I think this is a good way to do it.   Thanks Julie for starting me on this program.

No Sugar Almond Flour Muffins (with low sugar option)

These muffins are what I eat for breakfast every morning with my coffee or tea.  They have no added sugar, only the sugar from 1 banana and 1/2 cup of blueberries spread out between the 24 muffins.  I like to use almond flour because I find it much more filling than a wheat flour.

Sugar Free Muffins (with low sugar option)

adapted from Everyday Grain Free Gourmet

5 cups of balanced almond flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 eggs

2 tablespoons of vanilla

1 banana

1/2 cup of honey (optional)

1/2 cup of blueberries

1. ) Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.

2.) Put all of the wet ingredients in the well of the dry ingredients.  Use a hand blender or a fork to mash/mix the eggs, banana and vanilla (and honey if using).  

3.) Mix in blueberries, fill muffin cups 1/3 to 1/2 the way full with batter.

4.) Bake in a 300F oven for 25-35 minutes.

A few notes:
* I find that these do not store for very long, so I put them in the freezer and defrost them in my toaster oven each morning.
* Did you notice how brown the banana was in the picture?  That is because when they get old, I throw them in the freezer and then pull them out when I need to cook with them.  Once defrosted, just snip off the top of the banana with a pair of scissors and press out the banana from the bottom right into your bowl.  It will be pre-mashed.  

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Sugar Free Salad Dressing Recipe

Well, today is the 1st day of giving up sugar.  I am super excited that two other people have decided to join me and will be writing guest posts here about their experience.  If you would still like to join in, there is still time!

One store-bought item that frequently has added sugar is salad dressing.  To avoid this, I usually make my own.  My absolute favorite recipe that works well on a variety of salads is an adaptation I have worked out from the Greek Salad Dressing recipe from Family Feasts for $75 per Week (a very good book).



Greek Salad Dressing
Adapted from Family Feasts for $75 per week.

I usually make a couple of batches in the pint size canning jars.  I will mix the liquids into one, and then put the rest in the pantry, so when I am ready for the next batch, I only have to add the liquids.

Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon will taste good too)
1 teaspoon onion powder

Wet: 
I put the fill line measurements for canning jars in ( ) so you don't have to get out the measuring cups.

1/2 cup olive oil (fill to 6 oz. line.  Note: The dry ingredients take about 2 oz of space, so even though 1/2 cup has 4 ounces in it, we start measuring the liquids at 6oz.)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (fill to the 10 oz. line)
1/4 cup water (fill to the 12 oz. line)

Shake and use or place in fridge for up to 2 months.



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Giving Up Sugar for a Month

Photo Credit: Uwe Hermann

On Sunday I will start a month-long journey of giving up sugar.  Why?  I have become lazy over the past year and let sugar creep back into my diet.  Too much into my diet!  I know friends and family already feel like I don't eat that much, but I do.  And I can feel it.  I don't like the way my body craves it for a pick-up in the afternoon or the example I set for my kids when they see me eat it.  I don't like the few pounds I have gained because of it.  So the time has come to give it up for another month.

This isn't the first time I have given up sugar, I did it back in November and it was a good experience.  So I will do it again, but with a difference.  This time I would love to have people join me on the journey.  So I would like to invite others who would like to do this with me to guest post on the blog about your experience.  Why are you giving up sugar?  How is it going?  Why do you like it?  Why don't you like it?  How do your family and friends feel about your decision?  

Is anyone with me?

I think giving up sugar could look different for different people depending where you are at right now.  Maybe some people do it for a week, maybe two.  Maybe you give up all sweets, but don't worry about the sugar in your pasta sauce or hot dogs.  

To me a Giving Up Sugar in May means: 

• * No sugar.  
• * No corn syrup.  
• * No sweeteners, fake or real, of any kind in the ingredients list of anything I buy.  
• * Naturally occurring fruit and milk sugars are OK - but I will limit fruit to no more than 1 per day.

So if you are interested in doing this with me, send me an email at j m a g r o @ g m a i l . c o m (remove the spaces) and let me know.