Hello Sugar, Goodbye Regret

I want a vita-mix. So I can make this!

 

It’s vegan ricotta cheese from YumUniverse, such an amazing website. It sounds like the perfect addition to veggie lasagna or a sweet treat with some fresh berries. It doesn’t actually need a vita-mix to make it but I think my life would be infinitely better with a blender of that caliber and quality.

In other news, giving up sugar was a great experiment but I’m glad I came to my senses and ended that journey before the 30 day goal. I already eliminated so many unhealthy things by going vegan. I live by the motto “just because it is vegan does not mean it is healthy…specifically if it is dessert” but I eat mainly healthy, unprocessed, often organic food and work out almost daily. So I will have my cake and eat it too because I’m staying active and a small treat occasionally will not negate all my hard work. Also I was a little frustrated that I could not have my beloved ketchup and that something with very few grams of sugar but with the sweet stuff still listed in the ingredients was off limits (especially when it’s Trader Joe’s Latin Style Black Bean Soup…that’s never OK).

I did gain something from the mini-resolution. My tea, oatmeal, and peanut butter are all things that I can enjoy sans sweetener. I add peanut butter to that list because I was shocked it was sweetened and after switching to an unsweetened variety, the brand I used to covet tastes awful with the extra ingredient. 

30 Days without Sugar: Day 2

So I am changing the theme of this blog so that it is a little more personal and not just about food and products I like. I am giving up added sugar (this includes evaporated cane juice, agave, syrups, and strictly limiting 100% fruit juices and stevia) for 30 days because I have some vices that I need to get rid of for now and curtail in the future.

One of them is bars. I love bars! They make a fantastic snack, but seriously, just because they are vegan does not mean you can have 3 of them all at once. That is just a waste of calories and money. The next is hot drinks and smoothies. I took a great raw kale smoothie recipe and over time added a lot more of the sweet ingredients than it originally called for. I also love to make hot green tea with fresh crushed ginger and steaming almond milk or boil a pot of homemade spicy hot chocolate… and add sugar to it all! I try to add only one or two teaspoons of sugar or agave then supplement that with stevia or use stevia alone but that just means i still need everything to be totally sweet. 

I’m really excited for the next 28 days left because so far everything is going well. I feel like I am getting very enlightened because I’m already scanning every product critically and seeing how sugar is everywhere. There is evaporated cane juice in my peanut butter and sugar in my mixed seasoning, ketchup, and pre-seasoned quinoa/rice blend. So basically it is every! Honestly the fact that it is everywhere just creates a wonderful challenge for me to get creative. Tomorrow morning I am making my own jam with strawberries and chia seeds and I found a great smoothie recipe that is packed with protein and fiber. 

I hope this will get me past the weightloss plateau after losing 46 pounds and help clear my skin. Regardless of the actual results, I am just happy to try out this little experiment!

Kale

Kale is king. The rich flavor makes it a serious contender with common staples like spinach. The playing field is further tilted towards this green because it is richer in fiber than other greens, keeping you fuller longer. It is also rich in vitamin A, C, and K, calcium, and beta-carotene, an antioxidant. Kale is amazing in soups, salad, and (my personal favorite) simmered with other veggies. I love to dice up 1 tomatoes, 1/2 a white onions and 4 white mushrooms and saute them in a tablespoon of olive oil plus some spices for a few minutes then add in 3 raw cups of kale for just 5 more minutes. It’s not good to cook the greens too long so that the nutrients are not lost.

The ToneItUp ladies Katrina and Karena have some amazing recipes to further introduce you to this green powerhouse!