GIVING UP SUGAR: More Details Please....

Inspirational, but with few details, of someone giving up sugar.

What I'd really like to see is discussion about the  great substitutes, like fruit juice, honey, agave, etc., and how the person is using it--still, it's worth noting. You can't go cold turkey, unless you've got someplace to replace the 'turkey' with...When I threw out the sugar, breads and pastas in my kitchen, I was ready with apples, bananas, agave, carrots, honey, cheeses, nuts and lots of other stuff.

COCONUT SUGAR: Worth Going Cuckoo Over?

Coconut sugar is gaining in popularity; I haven't even cooked with it yet. But, I'm determined to find out more about it. Reportedly, the glycemic index is low -- 35 -- (below 55 is low), and hence is healthier than white cane sugar, or standard brown sugar. Here's the Wikipedia page, and I'll be looking for more info.

Vitacost is selling two different sizes (12 and 8.4 ounces) for roughly the same price, at around $1.33 per oz. No idea whether this is a good deal or not. I'll try to report on other sources for this product, and prices, soon. Of course, it's more expensive than government-subsidized white cane sugar, to be sure...

FOOTBALL GAME DINNER: Veggies, Beans, Meat, and Hold the Corn Chips

NFC Championship Menu from last night, managed for no-refined-carbs consumption:
Starters:
*Carrots, celery spears with Trader Joe's tomato-basil and eggplant hummus products.
*Guacamole with carrot spears or corn chips (did not have any of the latter).
*Beer (did not have)
*Club soda with blueberry juice

Main Course:
*Slow-Cooker Chili with meat, black beans, Crystal Hot Sauce, jalapenos, onions and condiments: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese.

Dessert:
*Cupcakes (did not have!)
*Apple slices

FLOURLESS CRUSTS: ...for Pizza!

This interesting thread from Laura Dolson's Low Carb Forum on About.com features some great ideas for flourless pizza crusts. I've featured the cauliflower one before, but it's still worth repeating, along with some new ideas. Thanks Laura.

BEAN SALAD: A Delicious, Easy Take on This Fave

Bean, Corn and Avocado Salad (from SparkRecipes) looks like a winner.

No flour. No Sugar. And, you can make it using canned food (except the avocado, tomato and onion), for those long winter months when fresh produce is either out of season, or coming from too far away to merit consideration. This recipe, a take on bean salad, looks healthy--and portable in a container for lunch at work.

GLYCEMIC INFO: The Truth is Out There...

As part of the educational mission of Factually Food, I want to explore the facts around the glycemic values for refined carbs and unrefined carbs during the coming year (high-glycemic value foods raise blood sugar more quickly, bringing on hunger and eating excessively, according to many experts and studies; high GI foods include white sugar, pastas and many breads)

Turns out this is more difficult than it might seem because of disagreements about how to measure for glycemic impact, which glycemic measures are most important, the current state of scientific thought and opinion regarding glycemic measures and their importance, and, of course, the politics of government support for various foods, e.g. white cane sugar. On the other side, various food producers have a lot at stake in convincing you that their foods are both of low glycemic value, and may control your body's response to high-glycemic foods

That last point is one reason why it's difficult to get definitive information from governments, for example the U.S. government, about glycemic index and load. However, we will persevere.

IT'S A WINNER: Chipotle Cole Slaw

Wow! So few entries in the salad division of the potluck, that I was bound to win with Chipotle Cole Slaw (made in a friend's kitchen, as mine is under construction). I took home a Fish Eye Shiraz, and a mandate to bring back the dish at the finale after the other nine events are run between now and mid-March.

Some rights reserved by Robert S. Donovan

Although the 'slaw' was not finely chopped, I was very careful not to add too much chipotle--nor too much of the adobo sauce which the peppers came in--to the slaw dressing. See earlier entries for the link and recipe. Here is the Sunset recipe; I left out the molasses.

COOKING W/O REFINED CARBS: Chipotle Cole Slaw

Today I'll be making Chipotle Cole Slaw for a potluck event here on the Russian River; this is a recipe I adapted from Sunset magazine, because it was a NERC ('no-refined-carbs) recipe and also yummy. I posted it previously, but now have to find it. Here it is, and, oops, I'm a little embarrassed: the recipe contains regular mayo, along with molasses--so there is some sugar in it. Arrgh.

The solution should be to make one's own mayo, sin/sans sugar, and then nix the molasses and substitute with the darkest agave syrup you can find--I may not have time for that solution. In which case, I'm going to cut down on the mayo, nix the molasses and pray that it comes out OK.

A New Factually Food Year

Wow, all of sudden, the new year is here, and it feels like so many goals--to begin baking more, to explore the new unrefined sugars--like coconut sugar, to create a sugar-less/flour-less community, whether of cooks or eaters or gastronomes...are slipping away. It's the middle of January already!

Goals are important, and whether your goals include baking something different, going without sugar or flour, having an affair with the UPS guy, running for office, re-painting a room, or re-painting your life, we need to have goals.

Here are some goals for Factually Food this year:

*I'd like to feature more  guest-bloggers, and I would like to guest-blog myself.

*Featuring more alternatives to flour crusts, or clever versions of sandwiches and pizzas--two of the biggest bread-usages. For example, an open-face sandwich using a portobello mushroom as the 'bread', or finally making that army wife's pizza dough-solution out of cheddar cheese and cauliflower...

*More resources for sugarless/flourless eating and baking on the blog--including menu items from restaurants.

*Internet radio show that features Factually Food content.

*A line of edible goods carried in stores or on carts--maybe the cluster cookies, or my version of the no-bake cheesecake featured last year.

*Posting every day, or almost every day (five out of seven?)

Sweetener Resource...or Not

Browsing for new resources on nutritive (like honey) and non-nutritive sweeteners (like artificial sweeteners), I came across a U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Center website on this subject. It's got a lot of information and hyper-links, but I would advise caution as there are a lot of questionable ideas, e.g. that there is no way to measure glycemic load for most foods. Some is out-dated, some up-to-date. Hmmm.

Nevertheless, it's worth wading through it to educate ones self.

We're BACK: Product of the Week

Back and talking about reducing refined carbs--there is crystalline cane SUGAR in everything! Yikes. But substitutes are coming on strong: stevia, agave, honey, barley syrup, coconut sugar.

**Product of the Week: Very, very clever: Trader Joe's makes a take-out Caesar Salad with jicama croutons--rolled in spices, they look just like toasted croutons with spices...but WITHOUT the bread. Really yummy, and ready to revolutionize the world of bread-based croutons.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: On Hiatus and Will Re-Launch After The Holidays

Factually Food is on Hiatus until Jan 1, 2012, and will re-launch bigger and better than ever. In the meantime, check out the archives for great no-refined-carbs recipes and tips.

THEMATIC Thursdays: Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is becoming popular as alternative to soy milk, which some people are allergic to--and which is reputed to be estrogenic, thereby making it less desirable for men to drink--and almond milk, which some simply don't enjoy. Coconut milk is slightly, naturally sweet, so it's being used as a sweetening agent, as a thickener and as a flavoring. Vons Supermarkets (a Safeway-owned chain in Southern California) is selling coconut milk--as are many other upscale chains.

This is a reminder that I need to weave coconut milk into my cooking....

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS: Product of the Week...Progresso Lentil

Progresso's Lentil Soup (find 'Lentil' under "Vegetable Classics" and click) contains no flour, and less than 1% of sugar (although why it even needs that tiny amount is beyond me), and so it rates as pretty swell for packaged, canned soup, which normally contains loads of sugars and flours. No chemicals, per se, although some "modified food starch." Have at it!

MENU Mondays: Asian Vegan Stir-Fry

This is an adaptation of a vegan, Asian-inflected noodle recipe I used to make--before I stopped eating noodles!  Basically, it's stir-fried vegetables and tempeh with an Asian cashew (or peanut) sauce.

Equipment: Chopping board, chopping knife, large ceramic mixing bowl, wooden spoon, wooden fork, blender or food processor with chopping blade.

Ingredients: 1 cup cubed tempeh, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 zucchini, 12 oz. of diced mushrooms, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 can water chestnuts, 1 tbsp. oil. Sauce: 1 cup cashews, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 4 tbsp. soy sauce, 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp. chili paste.

Notes: Make the sauce ingredients together and process in blender or food processor; set aside. Add the oil to the wok or saucepan. Stir fry 1 broccoli bunch, 1 large zucchini, mushrooms and peas; onions--either green or yellow--are optional. Mix vegetables and sauce, and serve.

THEMATIC THURSDAYS: Fast-Food Salads

Fast food restaurant salads are often dull affairs. But, sometimes they're OK. On a recent road-trip, the Jack In the Box Grilled Chicken salad proved serviceable, as did a similar salad, the Baja Ensalada Salad with Chicken, from Baja Fresh. The former had fresh iceburg lettuce, with cherry tomatoes and a decent low-fat balsamic dressing. The latter had really juicy fresh sliced tomatoes, with a great southwestern dressing.

MENU Mondays: Black Olive, Jalapeno and Onion Dip

This is very easy to make and it's very tasty; you can use veggies or water crackers with the dip--tortilla chips, not so much.

Equipment: mixing bowl, skillet, spatula, wooden fork or spoon, knife.

Ingredients: 1 small can sliced black olives, or 3/4 cup diced black olives; 1 small onion, diced and sauteed, 2 garlic cloves, pressed; 2-4 roasted or sauteed, diced jalapeno peppers, 16 oz. sour cream; 1/2 block light cream cheese; paprika, salt, pepper and dill to taste.

Notes: Mix all ingredients together after sauteed veggies have cooled; chill and serve.

TIPS Tuesday: What's Up Doc?

What's Up Doc? Carrots are definitely healthy eatin'. I get baby carrots in a bag at Trader Joe's to use for dips, because I generally don't eat crackers or bread, and I only occasionally (OK, a little more than occasionally) eat tortilla chips. However, if baby carrots are too expensive, and they sometimes are, you can buy regular carrots in bulk, peel them, and slice them into two to three inch strips for use in dips. One large carrot should make about six or seven strips. Chop the ends off, peel, slice and service. Find out more about carrots in the U.S. government's nutrition database.

SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays: Flourless, Sugarless Cookies

Great flourless AND sugarless oatmeal chocolate drop cookies! This is a recipe that needs a lot of tweaking, but it can definitely work.

You will need: 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1 half cup oat bran, one quarter cup almond meal, two or three squares of bitter chocolate or 90% cacao bar, four packets of stevia, 1 egg, 1 tsp. baking soda, quarter cup of raisins (optional), 4 tablespoons butter.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, wooden spoon, greased cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 300.

Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls by hand, and drop onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven. Cool and serve.

THEMATIC Thursdays: Pumpkin Recipes, Cont'd....

Wow...here's an Almond Milk Pumpkin Pie recipe, from sugarfreelowcarbrecipes.com.