YOGURT ~ JUST DESSERT ~ No Sugar!

May 27, 2024January 3, 202537 Comments

What are you having for dessert TODAY!!! YOGURT with blueberries (any fruit – apples), a handful of seeds or nuts, flax seeds, chia seeds. Whatever tickles your fancy.

Yogurt

I grew up on yogurt. The quality of your yogurt depends on the quality of your ingredients. This is such a good video I wanted to share it with you. NO SUGAR!!! ignore those recipes low sugar yogurt. BAH!!! You don’t even have to buy a yogurt maker. Notice when you have home made yogurt has a slight fermented acidic notes. Something like Kambucha. If you think it’s sour, you’ve been eating way too much sugar in your diet. I am at a point where ice cream is too sweet. I cant eat it. Take care of yourself for me! Please be good to yourself!

The next thing you want to know is ..What is the best yogurt?

HOME MADE YOGURT

NEXT BEST YOGURT: GI (Glucose Index) for GREEK YOGURT : 11. The GI for ice cream : 88!!! Replace your sour cream (GI 56) with Greek yogurt – for your baked potatoes-a side with any meal to add creaminess and balance to what you are eating. Instead of a dollop of ice cream or whip cream, use a dollop of yogurt? Note: GI under 55 is considered low.

GREEK style yogurt has the least amount of carbs.

DOCTORS AGREE
Full fat Greek yogurt is your #1 choice.
2% is the lowest percentage you want to buy.

Did You Know?

If you are lactose intolerant you can eat yogurt.

YOGURT contains lactase which is the enzyme our bodies need to break down lactose.
Yogurt is often beneficial to the lactose intolerant.

Blame The Manufacturers Then .. Blame Yourself!

MANUFACTURERS know that people like sugar. No, people are obsessed with sugar. Sugar is a preservative and enhances flavours. What would you think if I told you 70% of the supermarket shelves would be empty if sugar products were removed.

PIONEERS did not know the price you pay for sugar. Today’s ULTRA “Processed Foods” have way too much sugar. A lot of sugar is found in processed foods not as a preservative but to eat freely. Read your labels. The first ingredient in most power bars is sugar. Sugar is found in abundance from white bread, whole wheat bread to milkshakes.

Sugar Is Legal

GLUTEN FREE chocolate brownies have listed sugar as the number one ingredient written on the side of the box.

Diabetes (type 2) was diagnosed for a 13 yrs old child! !Diabetes leads to heart disease… It all starts with sugar. Since sugar is legal, we can eat as much as we like. Don’t be porous and let this information go right through you. I hope you are mindful of the dangers from sugar.

GOOD Dessert CHOICES

Fruits are an excellent sources of minerals, vitamins and enzymes. They are easily digested and excise a cleansing effect on blood. Each and every fruit is enriched with their own kinds of nutrients. And, 70% dark chocolate is full of manganese!

Home Made Clafoutis (click for recipe)

Blueberries are at the top of the nutritional food chain. I have them around all the time. If it’s not fresh, it is frozen. But, always GOOD! If you have to have sugar, be sensible about it.

15 BEST SUGAR FREE DESSERTS

Blueberry CRISP ~ New and Improved!

July 8, 2023July 10, 202313 Comments

Blueberries are at the top of the nutritional food chain. I have them in my fridge all the time: fresh or frozen. Always GOOD!

Blueberry Crisp

Servings: 8
Time: 65 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

INGREDIENTS
FILLING:
4 cups Blueberries (plus other fruit -optional)
3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Gluten Free Vanilla Bean Paste (or vanilla extract)
2 Tbsp (30 mL) Truvía® Brown Sugar Blend ~or~
⅓ cup Sweet Potato or Butternut Squash for sweetness
TOPPING:
1 heaping cup Almond Flour
¼ cup(60 mL) Truvía® Brown Sugar Blend
1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
¼ teaspoon Cinnamon Powder (or grated stick)
¼ teaspoon Fresh Ginger -Grated
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg -Grated
¼ teaspoon Cardamon – 2 to 3 cardamon pods -ground
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (cold and cubed)
Optional: ⅓ cup Walnuts, Pecans -or mixed nuts (chopped)

INSTRUCTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the blueberry filling. Mix together your fresh (or frozen!) blueberries and other fruit with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, truvia or sweet potato (or squash) in a medium bowl.
2. Divide your blueberry mixture to buttered ramekins and set it aside while you make the KETO crisp topping.
3. In another medium bowl, combine the almond flour, baking powder, chopped nuts, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar substitute, cardamon and Kosher salt.
4. Cut the cold butter into smaller pieces and add it to the dry ingredients mixture and blend into a crumb-like texture.
5. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberry mixture, cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes then remove the foil and bake for about another 10 minutes -until the topping is golden brown. Optional: mix ½ cup gluten free oats to the topping.

TOPPING (Additional)
Add a dollop of Greek Yogurt and garnish with lemon or chocolate mint.
310 cal. per serving Prep: 15 min. Bake: 40-50 min.

TIP: Pile Blueberries as high as you can. The blueberries will cook down. Remember, as fruit cooks -they get sweeter and sweeter -without added sugar!

Mix and Match!

⅓ Blueberries + ⅓ peach, apricot or apples + ⅓ butternut squash -or- ⅓ sweet potatoes, You can mix and match for your filling. Rhubarb pairs well with blueberries. I do not add any sugar in my filling. The sweet potato or butternut squash is my “go to” sugar substitute (If needed).

Blueberries are sweet and slightly tangy. They pair well with a sweet, crunchy topping. Don’t forget the salt. Kosher Salt is an important flavour enhancer!

Alton Brown’s TIP – Good Eats (Food Network) ..see below…

GLYCEMIC INDEX

The GLYCEMIC INDEX (GI) is a number from 0 to 100 assigned to a food, with pure glucose (a simple sugar) arbitrarily given the value of 100. Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by how quickly they digest and raise your blood sugar or glucose levels.

G.I – Ice Cream vs Yogurt Topping

Many desserts have an added dollop of ice cream or whip cream. Let’s make it better!
Remember, the GI index for ice cream is 88. and the GI index for GREEK yogurt is: 11. Add “full fat” Greek yogurt instead of whip cream to your dessert. Note: GI under 55 is considered as a low GI. Y

What is the best yogurt to buy: (i) no-fat, (ii) 2%, or (iii) whole fat? Full fat – Greek style yogurt – is the right answer. It has the least amount of carbs. The carbs in Greek yogurt is very LOW. Doctors agree that a low fat or 2% yogurt is not the healthiest choice. Full Fat – Greek Yogurt Is your “Best Choice”!

Thick, Creamy Greek Yogurt GI: 11 With Blueberry Crisp!

SO-O-O GO-O-OD!

A MEMORY FROM CHILDHOOD

I am cutting down on cane sugar. Blueberry crisp can be enhanced with cardamom, lemon and ginger. Sweet potato is a good cane sugar substitute – if you want more sweetness.

EXTRA NEWS ~About Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes are known to be beneficial to individuals with type 2 diabetes due to the high levels of magnesium and fiber, which helps in reducing insulin resistance and stabilizes blood sugar. Sweet potatoes do have a large level of carbohydrates. But, they generally have a low glycemic index:

Butternut squash GI 52
Sweet Potato GI:61

Orange Sweet Potato (most common), Red Jamaican (white inside) and Japanese Sweet Potato: (red inside).

ALTON BROWN suggests to add crackers, breakfast oatmeal packets, crumbled plain or cinnamon bread to the blueberry crisp. Before baking, mix half your mixture with the blueberries. The other half is the topping! Kind of like mock bread pudding with fruit. Alton you’re so creative!

5 Minute MOUSSE ~ Chocolate with Avocado

April 22, 2016May 9, 201645 Comments

5 MINUTE GLUTEN-FREE MOUSSE
What a great way to Celebrate EARTH DAY!!! Friday, April 22, 2016.
It is a special day that started in 1990 – brought awareness of pesticides used in our crops and focusing on a cleaner environment. Organic foods began its slow resurgence at this time.

Image provided by authoritynutrition.com

AVOCADO
A friend of mine eats 1/2 of an avocado every day. Mainly because she likes the creamy texture and taste. Instead of a salad or other ways to eat your avocado, how about dessert? This creamy high protein fruit goes well with cocoa in a smooth and luscious dessert. The good news is that this healthy avocado-chocolate mousse will not raise your blood sugar or cause that sugar crash of hypoglycemia, or encourage further food cravings. The perfect dessert!

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INGREDIENTS
1 ripe large avocado
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut milk or almond milk
1 tablespoon stevia or other sweetener
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon natural almond extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Ingredients For The Avocado ~ ORANGE ~ Chocolate Mousse

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AVOCADO ~ CHOCOLATE ORANGE MOUSSE
INGREDIENTS
2 small avocados
1/4-1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon stevia or other sweetener
1/8 tsp salt

Avocado Chocolate Mousse! YUM!!!

AVOCADO ~ CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH CARDAMOM
INGREDIENTS
1 ripe large avocado
1/4 cup raw coco powder
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut milk or almond milk
1 tablespoon stevia or other sweetener
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon natural almond extract
1 tsp cardamom ground
1/8 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place the chocolate chips in a bowl. Place over a small saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Place the melted chocolate, avocado, cocoa powder, almond or coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla, cardamom, and salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping the side of the bowl as needed. Spoon into glasses or place in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe into glasses. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (Can be prepared 1 day in advance or even frozen and defrosted at room temperature).

I made all three of these mousse recipes and had a tasting with my friends. “Diva Eva’s Taste Testers!“ Although my preference was the cardamom version, the chocolate orange version got the most votes. Orange is so good with chocolate! I will be serving it tonight with my visitors from the States! They will be surprised with the added avocado! Years ago, we used to serve the orange cups at Christmas dinners in Florida (the orange state) without the avocado. I am so happy that I have found a new way to serve avocados for my friends. They know I am a health nut! Talking about nuts, you can grate the avocado nut. Use it like salt and pepper. read more www.dailymail.com . Add a half grated avocado seed to your smoothy. Did you know Queen Elizabeth uses avocado oil.
FOOD TIP: Add toasted sliced almonds, mixed berries (frozen or fresh) and cocoa nibs. Top with yogurt + chia seeds or chia powder (grind some chia seed with a mortar and pestle and then sprinkle both chia seeds and powder on top of the dollop of plain yogurt). The sour yogurt will bring out the flavour of the sweet mousse. I have used lemon yogurt in a pinch! For peanut butter fans add a smidgen (to taste) in your mix. If you combine cardamom with orange works well too.

TRADITIONAL MOUSSE
Classic Chocolate Mousse is laden with heavy cream, eggs, egg whites and espresso coffee. However, you could add some instant coffee or espresso (to taste) to your A/C Mousse.
VARIATION
Edible clover is good for St. Paddy’s day celebration! The clover would be lost on the dark, delicate dessert we just made. I would add a dollop of yogurt on the mousse. Then, sprinkle the edible clover in top of the yogurt for good colour. Here is another version. The St. Paddy’s Day Mousse from my friend at slendereats.blogspot.ca This recipe uses 6 egg whites giving a light fluffy texture to the avocado. Adding peppermint extract is a nice touch. The chocolate bottom has one tablespoon of instant coffee. It looks so pretty!

Add Fresh Mint and Top with Edible Clover.

Clafoutis: rhymes with sugar-free (back story)

August 14, 2015October 5, 20194 Comments

Clafoutis originated in the Limousin area of France. This is the area where Limoges porcelain is made. This dessert dates from at least the mid 1800’s. The word comes from the French verb “clafir”, meaning “to fill”. You are filling up the batter with cherries in this case. Clafoutis rhymes with sugar-free and that is what this version is and gluten free as well.

. . . . . . . .a NO Sugar, NO Gluten and NO Guilt Dessert.

The classic clafoutis is basically a crust less pie with cherries. When classified as a flan by the rest of France, Limousin objected and the term was removed. The classic version had cherries with stones and they claimed the flavour was enhanced imparting an almond flavour. They believed if the cherries were pitted, the dish would be too watery. Talk about a choking hazard! We have also stopped eating wild chicken while spitting out the buckshot. Today cherry clafoutis is made with pitted cherries. Cherry pits have amygdalin, found in almond extract. To substitute the almond flavour from the cherry pits, I added ground almond in the batter.

QUICK TO MAKE: This is a simple batter of eggs, flour, milk and sugar poured over the cherries and baked in an oven causing the mixture to puff up and brown. Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 40 minutes. I have made this so often because my friends enjoy this dessert. One reason is that it is a very light dessert after dinner. When I substituted plums for cherries, it was a real coup. My friends asked me to come early to their dinner party -the following week, to make the “plum” clafoutis dessert again. It was that good! ( Baked plums are slightly sweeter than raw plums ). I prefer baked plums. This is the best dessert I can think of that is truly healthy. Later, I added cranberries to the mix. The ground almonds is the key flavour that makes this dessert a winner – see recipe.
VARIATIONS: The cherries were later substituted with other ingredients such as plums, apples, apricots pears, peaches raspberries , bananas, prunes, figs, and savory items like cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and prosciutto, bacon and cheese, cheese and potato, ham, etc. If another item instead of cherries are used, then you can no longer term the dish a clafoutis. It is correctly termed Flognardes (flan-like batter).

SINGLE SERVINGS: This recipe is very easy to make and you can cut the recipe in half to make just 2 or 3 servings. Or, you may use ramekins, or any small baking dishes for single serving baking. Otherwise, Clafoutis is classically made in a flan type pan. You may scoop or slice the dessert onto your plate. I prefer to use a ring mold. It is very easy to remove the ring and have a fool-proof presentation at the table for this light, tasty dessert.

THE EYE DOES HALF THE EATING. Presentation is not everything but it is pretty powerful. Have you ever had the experience where someone told you that something tasted good but it really didn’t? It only looked good. We’ve all been there. If it looks good – it is certain that you are anticipating a good meal. The first bite is the tell all. When you taste this one you will see what I mean. It’s fool proof. EASY TO MAKE!

TIPS: You absolutely need to put parchment on the bottom of the ring mold so the batter won’t run out. Place the ring mold on a metal sheet covered in aluminum foil for easy clean up of any possible run off. You coat the mold with butter and sweetener for ease of removal, presentation and decoration.

HEALTHY BENEFITS: The almonds, eggs and milk make this a healthy dessert that won’t give you that heavy feeling in your gut after a meal. It doesn’t cause all the enzymes in your digestive tract to do battle and make you feel like you have a big nap. This dessert supports our mission at Simply Splendid Food for healthy and tasty meals!