Recipes REDUX: A French 75 Cocktail Without the Sugar

Finally, a sweet cocktail that does NOT use simple syrup--basically liquified white-sugar. This recipe, for a version of a French 75, dubbed a "Santa Cruz 75," featured in Southwest Airline's Spirit Magazine, was created by Jeff Bareilles, of Manresa, in Los Gatos, Calif., near San Jose. His recipe for the champagne and brandy (normally gin) drink uses honey....

AltSweet THEME: Evaporated Cane Juice Not So Juicy

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So, lots of companies have switched from high fructose corn syrup or white sugar to something called 'evaporated cane juice' (EVJ). It sounds nutritive, but...it ain't. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers the word 'juice' to be mis-used in this way, but has never--to my knowledge--issued a directive forbidding companies from using the word.

Meanwhile, EVJ is really no better than white sugar, according to many sources. And, it's pretty high on the glycemic index, meaning it has a dramatic effect on blood sugar, which makes controlling appetite, food intake and weight, difficult. Look for 'unsweetened' products, wherever you can find them. Almond milk and soy milk usually come in 'unsweetened' varieties, although the big sellers have evaporated cane juice--check the labels. Because it is less processed than bleached, white, crystalline, sugar, some insist it's a healthy alternative; it's really not, once you dig deeper.

Unprocessed sweeteners, like agave and honey, remain better glycemic choices. Those choices are expertly discussed, along with helpful info about refined and unrefined carbs at The Franklin Institute. These natural sweeteners will always be more expensive, at least in the U.S., where corn and sugar cane growers are subsidized in a number of ways through the tax code, legislation and federal agriculture policy. There's always fresh fruit in season, for a dose of complex carbs...

TIPS Tuesdays: Creating a Sweeter Future Without Sugar

How do you cut back on sugar? This is the ginormous question.

One partial solution is to find sweeteners other than crystalline white sugar. Agave, honey, real maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, date sugar, brown rice syrup and stevia (a powdered, natural sweetener now available mixed in with both sugar, and with other artificial sweeteners, depending) all offer possible solutions. Brown sugar...not so much. Raw sugar? Ditto. I've been experimenting a lot with honey, agave and maple syrup mixed with agave, as sweeteners. Evaporated cane juice is, while not optimal, better than refined sugar. Organic Authority addresses this in an article.

And here is an interesting little table of comparative information about the panoply of sugar, sugar-like, and sugar-substitutes, but natural and chemical.  Barley Malt Syrup is something I would like to investigate, and experiment with. There are no hyper-links to research, or hard data, connected to this table, so...take it with a grain of salt.

SATIATED Saturdays: Recipe #6 - Fruit Parfait with Yogurt or Soft Tofu

It's simple, yes, and also cheap. It's also really easy to make, and you can make it with dairy, or non-dairy, products. I'm talking about a fruit-parfait.

You will need: a small bowl or large ramekin (there's no rule that says you must put this in a parfait glass, so that you can see the layers--do so if you want, but it's not required); a knife; a spoon, a sharp knife; roasted flaxseeds; chopped nuts or almond slivers; honey or agave; two types of fruits from (roughly) the same family (.e.g. berries or citrus); perhaps one kind of dried fruit, like golden raisins or figs or dates;  plain yogurt or silky (soft) tofu; oats (either steel-cut or raw flakes).


I like to chop up the fruit first (so for instance, strawberries and apples go nicely together (leave the apple skins on), add either plain yogurt or silky tofu -- enough to cover the fruit at the bottom. Then, I add another layer of fruit, a little more yogurt or tofu, top with the nuts, oats, flaxseed and a few teaspoonfuls of either honey or agave (or real natural maple syrup with no added sugar). Mix-up and serve. It's especially good for a hot summer's day, when cooking is out of the question.