Happy World Chocolate Day!
I'm sure most of you have been celebrating by scoffing a range of chocolatey delights. As a recovering sugar addict I'm a bit more reserved in my celebrations.
Sugarfree
For the last month I've stopped eating sugar. By that I mean I stopped eating cakes, biscuits, sweets, ice cream and chocolate! I'm not going crazy about it and cutting out things like bread because it contains some sugar, but I do buy no-added-sugar versions of foods like peanut butter when I can. I'm trying to lose the last little bit of baby weight and wanted to see what would happen if I stopped eating all the sugary foods I like for a few months. Plus I like challenging myself now and then!
Kick Cravings to the Curb
Apart from the time when I ate a family sized bag of toffee pop for breakfast one morning (I blame my hormones!), I've stayed on track. But I still got to thinking, there must be other ways to get a sweet fix without sugar. I tried and failed at a sugar free recipe for flapjacks. The were seriously disgusting! Then I came across this beauty of a recipe for brownies. I used to make brownies regularly with my middle daughter. We perfected that recipe but it contained an insane amount of sugar. This recipe is from the book "Eating Well Made Easy' by Lorraine Pascale. I'm going to share the recipe with you because I've tried and tested it.
Ingredients:
Rapeseed oil, for greasing
75g (3oz) oats
200g (7oz) Medjool dates, pitted
125g (4½ oz) unsalted butter, melted
75g (3oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (I used 10 tbsp as I felt it was too dry)
2 free-range eggs
1 tsp baking powder
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C), 350F, Gas Mark 4. Grease and line an 18cm (7in) square baking tin with baking parchment and set aside.
- Put the oats in a food processor and blitz until they become like a powder or fine flour. Add the dates, butter, cocoa powder, almond milk, eggs, baking powder and vanilla seeds/extract and process until the mixture is smooth and fudgy.
- Spoon the brownie mixture into the baking tin, smoothing the top evenly with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until firm on top but a little soft in the centre. That should mean that the centre of the brownies should still be the tiniest bit gooey.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. Then, cut into nine squares and serve.
Not so guilty pleasure
If you're trying to eat clean but still want to enjoy a sweet treat then try them. They're not exactly like the sugary kind that contain melted chocolate but they're pretty tasty. My three kids gave them the thumbs up and they know their sugary treats!
Let me know if you try them out and what you thought of them.
I have been living like this for about 2 years now... except leaning more towards the cutting of carbs as that is my weakness, not sugar as much. It is a game changer. I have lost all my excess weight and i never get ill ( although i attribute that more to the amount of wine i drink... lol... my boys tell me i am pickled!! ) hahaha.
Well done and good luck going forward in your journey. It is a lifestlye change thats for sure. 😎👌👊👍
Wow! That's amazing that you've changed your lifestyle like that. I do feel that since I stopped eating sugary foods I don't have as many energy slumps in the day. And I no longer feel like I can't cope without sugar.
Thanks for reading :)
where is lady because they love chocolate more then man haha
This comment has received a 0.14 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.
@mummyimperfect
your storyline is encouraging for many. and your resolve to live healthy is inspiring...
keep it up and thank you for sharing this experience and recipe...
you won my upvote...
Thanks for reading.
always welcome ma'am
a great mum indeed...as such, check out my blog post of a week ago on family versus office...a great inspiring short story for mums... also my post of 2 days ago...on male and female brain efficiency
do support, follow and comment and lets always support one another's posts
thanks
So are you saying that picture of that wonderful treat is sugar free?
It's refined sugar free. There is natural sugar in the dates that sweetens the brownies. Also there is no refined flour. I used oats instead which give you slow releasing energy. So it's a win win :)
Always making me hungry haha :)
Lol! Have a go at making them!
i need this in my life!
You need to try them! They are pretty simple to make and don't require a ton of random expensive ingredients :)
Looks really good :0) but I guess Im the only person on this planet who doesnt eat chocolate or like it. But my boyfrind does so I will try this for sure. Thx for sharing
wow...you so sweet... preparing what you dont like just for someone else... your boyfriend is lucky to hae you.. wish you well and nice comment...
Aww thank u so much :0) warms the ♡
He does a lot for me too so he deserve a good dessert. I promise to let u know how it goes.
He may love it so much so I have to make it again :-0)
Thank u for ur sweet comment and for sharing that good cake♡
If u wonder what I will eat then.....icecream with strawberry.....not his favorit
So everyone happy....lol
great..a win win...
please share the cake with me so i view the image and partake in the love...there is love in sharing
that reminds me, i have some good story lines for a sweet lady...check my blog and read up sh
ort story on family versus office and also the post on male and female brain which is more effective...
the second version of the post on adam and eve will be perfect as bedtime stories for your baby twins..
comment/follow and show some little support to a new stemian
thanks
Hope he likes them. My husband is a chocolate enthusiast too! He likes the unhealthy version of brownies the best but he was pleasantly surprised by these.
My boyfriend the same thing :0) it will be fun making those and see what he says...lol
Thx for sharing.
Upvoted and resteemed
sugar free but not steiviea.
Yes it is just sweetened with the natural sugars in the dates. I haven't tried Stevia yet. Do you use it?
yummy! sugar free food rocks! <3 haha :D
Keep up your diet it's worth it, did you noticed any change in taste? Because when i stopped after month or two i realized my taste has changed :D
Yes my taste has changed! I find dates so sweet now. I had a bite of my daughters cake today and it tasted ridiculously sweet. Before it would have just been normal to me. I don't crave sweet foods as much as I used to.
Sugar is poison.
I'm beginning to realise exactly how bad sugar is for the body. There are so many naturally sweet things that we can have instead.
You will always be better off if you use something natural thats unprocessed.
Thanks for great info love your post
Looks yummy. thanks for posting. followed n upvoted
Very nice post! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, yes, difficult. Without sugar, it is really a challenge. Did you try already honey? Or is this something you want to avoid as well?
A banana is also a good substitution.
I have also limited my use of honey. Honey is the same effect on the body as sugar but honey is natural not processed. Sometimes when I'm craving a desert I will have natural Greek yoghurt with some berries and a dash of honey. It's better than a slice of cake !
Definitely better as cake. We are only used to it.
Some day, you have a mind shift and then you think about what you eat. One do it earlier the others later. :-)
Thanks for sharing
How interesting..!?
I'll have to try to bake this...
I don't use too much sugar myself but my kids like sugary stuff this will be nice beginning for them (I hope) :))
But when you bake one try to invite me...lol...wil love to enjoy one someday...you are followed
Interesting....l love this post...thanks anyway for your upvote on one of my post...steemit is filled with lovely people like you....keep steeming cos you are followed always...upvoted!!!!cheerrrsss