December 29, 2021 Day 168   I’ve been isolating in the house from my family since last Wednesday, Christmas Eve eve, due to a case of covid.  This presents certain challenges to feed myself nutritious, sugar free food, as I want to limit takeout food, as well as my time in the kitchen so I don’t expose my family.  Then of course there is the wiping down of all surfaces I touch while in the kitchen including the Brita water pitcher, the handles on the kettle and stove, and all other obvious spots.    Yesterday, I just cooked up some potatoes and green beans, and leftover chicken and had that both for lunch and dinner.  That to me is comfort food. A few days ago, I ordered a cucumber and tomato salad with grilled salmon, and a while bean salad from a Mediterranean restaurant which stretched to about five meals. Last night I took some home-made veggie broth out of the freezer, so that will be easy to have for lunch today with lentils, and some seed crackers and hummus on the side. It’s like a grab and go – then back to my isolation space.  Read More

Is it almost the New Year already? It seems like just yesterday we were setting resolutions, hopeful about accomplishing new goals and making positive changes in our lives. But while we often do our best to stay focused, resolutions don’t often pan out the way we’d like. We lose steam by the end of January, and then endure guilt and shame at having abandoned our own desires. The problem? Resolutions are too specific. They work for short-term goals such as going for a run today, but don’t have the sustaining power you really need to keep up your motivation all year long. Resolutions also tend to focus on fixing flaws rather than addressing something deeper. Think about it, the resolution of losing weight implies you are currently overweight, the resolution of getting a better job reminds you that you’re currently miserable in the one you have, and even something like “traveling more” can trigger self-criticism at having a lack of adventure in your existing life. No wonder they don’t work, they’re nagging reminders of our shortcomings! Read More

December 19, 2021 Day 158   I’m single this weekend as my husband went to Vermont to visit a few high school friends for their special birthday milestone, and so I get to cook whatever I want, just for me.  I’m not really cooking, but going back to my whole food, simple vegetarian preferences, and it feels so good.  I shopped for myself instead of for my family.  This made me realize that because I’ve been feeding the crew, or at least shopping for them, I’ve gotten away from what I like to eat.  There’s only so much energy one can devote to shopping and cooking for different preferences. So, this weekend I’ll be enjoying lentils, Brussels sprouts, green beans, potatoes, grapefruit, arugula, chickpeas, olives, capers, and taking a break from meat.   Read More

Eat Phytochemicals To Avoid Sugar Cravings    One of the ways I avoid sugar cravings is to eat “clean” whole food, mostly cooked at home, and mostly in season.  This not only helps me avoid sugar cravings, but also helps me stay healthy by getting the benefits of phytonutrient variety in my diet.  Read More

November 30 Day 138   I spent some time geeking out on the Sugar Associations’ website yesterday. Formed in 1942, they represent the interests of the sugar industry and are very proud of sugars’ functional role in food science, health, cosmetics, and more.  As far as its contribution to food, sugar helps balance acidity and flavor, adds moisture to recipes, helps bread rise, provides density, extends shelf life and shelf stability, helps texture and mouth feel, is a flavor enhancer, and adds to aroma and color.  This may all be true, but at what cost to our health?  Read More

November 28, 2021 Day 136   Soup Buddha Bowls now seem to be a thing in restaurants. I’ve noticed them three times over the past month or two.  It used to be just the dry ingredients, either warm or cold usually with quinoa, beans like chickpeas or edamame, some delicious sauce and maybe something pickled.  Now warm soup is added to the bowl first, then all of the other ingredients are gently placed on top. Last night I had one of these bowls with a warm fall spiced squash soup with roasted Delicata squash, roasted carrots, and chickpeas.   Read More

November 26, 2021 Day 134   Why do I own two rolling pins?  When I went to make my once-a- year apple pie for Thanksgiving I found two rolling pins.  One year I couldn’t find my rolling pin so a friend gave me an extra he had because he said he never uses it.  Then of course later I found mine – and then there were two.  Is there anything you can make with a rolling pin that doesn’t contain sugar?  Not that I can think of! Read More

November 18, 2021 Day 126   Yesterday I made the coconut cranberry balls and I’d say they are a winner.  They were easy to come together, once you have all of the ingredients, and would make a nice holiday gift, or hostess gift when visiting friends and family.  Of course, you can always save them for yourself! When buying the ingredients be sure to buy no sugar added coconut as well as no sugar added dried cranberries.  I found an organic no sugar added shredded coconut in my regular supermarket.     Read More

How does too much work, or stress effect your self-care, health and happiness?  Think about it: you spend eight to 10 hours a day, five days a week at work. Chances are you spend more time with your coworkers than anyone else in your life. Some of us are still working from home, but are glued to our computers for that time. Many of us wear stress as a badge of honor, convinced that productivity requires endless turmoil. How does stress inform your food choices?  We know that sugar turns on our brains' reward system and that dopamine makes us feel better (for the moment). Do you ever turn to sweets when feeling stressed?  Keeping stress in check with selfcare is one of the ways to reduce sugar cravings.  Here are some things I rely on for selfcare that help keep my stress in check based on how much time I have: Read More

November 16, 2021 Day 123   I’ve started hunting for new healthy sugar free holiday recipes to serve for Thanksgiving and to bring to holiday parties and found three so far that I’d like to test out. One is a spinach and artichoke dip (not the one with mayo), another is coconut cranberry snowballs (can’t wait to try those) and yesterday I cooked up the third new dish, a warmly spiced quinoa chickpea stew.  It had lots of ingredients, but came together pretty easily and will be a good vegan, sugar-free option for our neighborhood holiday party.  It’s not typical holiday party fare, but there are quite a few of us who enjoy eating this way, so hopefully it will go over well.  In the meantime, I’ll enjoy some of the batch I made for lunch this week and freeze the other half for another time. Read More