Sugar, man, what the hell? You are the bane of my existence. The temptations, bad enough most of the year, will only increase with the holidays of Autumn until you bombard me with promises of bliss, then leave me with poor health. Will power goes down during the day, but naps can reboot. Maybe I can sleep through the season.
I make meals from scratch and don’t eat out much, so there isn’t a lot of hidden sugar in my diet. However, a handful of candy corn is terrible! And exactly what I had last night. I was innocently walking to the bathroom at a friend’s house when BAM! a shiny bowl of candy corn appears on a side table, complete with angelic chorus. And yes, it tasted good. Dammit!
(Lemon Ginger tea to support my digestive system today, maybe a little cleansing action. There are quite a few specific detox teas on the market, though I don’t have any on hand at the moment. My daughter is an herbalist, I should ask her what are effective for detox in my current tea arsenal. Writing of herbs…I just signed up for an herbal CSA with a local and wonderful lady of plants who grows and prepares all her wares. I had an hour and a half consultation with her [when was the last time my doctor paid that much attention? um, never] and can’t wait for my personal blends!)
But I love candy. My mom was the only one on the block that was aware of health apparently, since every other house I visited had Fruit Loops and Oreos in the cabinet, and watermelon hard candies on their coffee table. My sister and I would walk several blocks away to wait for the ice-cream truck and sneak Gobstoppers into our diet.
This doesn’t mean I binge now. Our bodies learn what is “normal” in childhood, so I never feel good eating too much sugar, no matter how pretty the candy corn looks. In fact, once I got into high school, my mom really didn’t monitor food anymore. I remember eating Fruit Loops for breakfast every day for a few months just because I could. Of course, I felt like crap mid-morning in school, and soon stopped that experiment, going back to my favorite: Grape-Nuts with sliced bananas and skim milk. Lest you get the wrong impression, my favorite lunch at school was deep-fried pizza rolls.
Back to candy! Chocolate, of course. But the full-on sugary, sugared-up refined sugar stuff is a dream. Sweet-tarts are a favorite- the texture. I’ve never been into lollipops, though Blow-pops were fun as a kid when you got right to the crunchy candy over the gum part. And yes, I like Wurther’s Originals- the grandpa treat.
At this time in my life, eating more than a handful of that pure sugar is painful- rips up the roof of my mouth, and makes my tongue swell. Obvious poison. But I adore cookies too, and I can eat MANY without immediate harm. The key is to not have them around in the first place. That takes planning.
Lately I’ve been pretty good at having a “trick” snack handy: they taste just like treats, but hardly have any sugar. I’ll share one with you. With just a drizzle of dark chocolate on top, I’m completely fooled. Plus, no bake!
Lois’ Coconut Almond Bars
2 cp almonds- processed
1 cp shred unsweetened coconut
1/2 cp nut or seed butter
2/3 cup coconut oil melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 oz dark chocolate
Put everything mixed into a 9×9 pan except chocolate. Refrig for 1 hour. Melt chocolate and drizzle on top. Chill 10 min. Cut into bars and enjoy.
Thanks, Lois, whoever your are!
Rise unfettered.
Move with intention.
Be grand.
