Stevia: lots of baggage?

Stevia. Honestly, I didn't even consider this stuff until a co-worker mentioned it. I remember it from "Breaking Bad", too, and not in a way that made me want to try any. As I was writing about sugars, though, I wasn't sure which category to putit in. Google time!

It's not an artificial sweetener, and does not contain fructose. Turns out it's related to licorice. My next question was, what kind of effect does it have on us? After all, fructose is natural, but wreaks a lot of havoc on our bodies.

Stevia is a South American plant, from in and around Paraguay. It has been widely used there for hundreds of years, and has been in commercial use by Japan since the 1970's. Stevia also suffers from some bad science; there are some old, poorly executed studies that conclude that stevia can be harmful. Even though the studies have little validity, their flawed conclusions have lived on.

Dex+: The Hack

This post has been moved to a static page, which I update occasionally: Dex+ Hack

Sugar and Cinnamon Sugar Dex+

This sugar blend is a good replacement for white sugar on your morning bowl of cereal, or on a tart pink grapefruit. You won't notice the fiber, and the sweetness is very similar.

You may also like a jar of cinnamon sugar. It's great for making cinnamon toast, and we like it on the Frozen Yogurt Dex+ too.

I have tried a variety of cinnamons, from Penzeys Spices: Korintje, China Cassia, Vietnamese, and Ceylon. Whichever kind you get, fresher cinnamon has a stronger, better flavor. Korintje is the "grocery" variety. Vietnamese has the same taste but is much stronger and better. Ceylon is the only "true" cinnamon, and reminds me of red-hots candy; not that it is hot, it's just a different note. I actually like a blend of Vietnamese and Ceylon.

Sugar by many other names may not taste as sweet....

This info has been moved to a static page.

Let's talk sugar for a moment. First, I don't have a medical background. I'm just determined to figure out what's going on, and am sharing what I've found out through online research. I'm trying to explain enough to form a basis for making reasonable nutritional choices.

The three simple sugars (monosaccharides):

1. glucose: the primary fuel for our bodies.
2. fructose: processed slowly in the liver, and even slower by some people (maybe me?); stored by fat if too much is consumed at once.
3. galactose: primarily found in dairy; apparently easily processed in quantity by the body.

Although fructose is considered sweeter than glucose, to me it has what I think of as the "high" sweet, while glucose is the more mellow note. I'm not quite sure where the galactose fits. Think of these three as K'nex or Tinker Toys. Hook simple sugars together in a variety of ways, and you get other sugars.

Chocolate Syrup Dex+

Chocolate milk, hold (most of) the fructose please! Coming right up...  Have you found a bag of dextrose and made that simple syrup dex+ yet? If so, go get your Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder, salt and vanilla, and whip up a batch. It'll only take a few minutes, and it is really impressively tasty. 

 

 I wish they sold this kind of chocolate milk to the kids at school!

Frozen Yogurt Dex+

 I really want some ice cream that isn't filled with fructose. No, actually, what I really want is an easy ice cream that I can whip up when my kids are begging for milk shakes or ice cream out somewhere. Like tonight. So, how about frozen yogurt?

Turns out all it takes is some Simple Syrup Dex+, some whole-milk Greek yogurt, and an ice cream maker cylinder in your freezer. It's really a breeze to freeze some up! It fills my two quart ice cream maker about half way, and makes the perfect amount for five bowls of yum. (More about Dex+)

And YUM it is! The kids love it, and so do we. It has a nice tangy taste, which makes me think of cheesecake ice cream.

Simple Syrup Dex+

Traditional simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, combined and boiled long enough to dissolve the sugar completely. It can be used to sweeten tea, coffee, and to make your own Soda Stream syrups. My version of simple syrup tastes about the same as the traditional, and yet has a lot less fructose. Mine also has fiber added to create a fructose to fiber ratio like that found naturally in blueberries. I have added "Dex+" to the names of my "fiber balanced" recipes. It's been very useful in my personal campaign against fructose.

Taking control of Fructose: The Bitter Truth

I have a sweet tooth, and I don't want to fight it. When we deny our food desires, we usually fail. But that doesn't mean we have to give in and eat poorly!

I'm taking control of the fructose in my diet. I watched this video, and although it's long and science-y/ doctor-y, I understood enough to get angry about all the fructose in my food. Health alone was enough to put me on this path, rather than the usual reasons that push one to change one's eating habits.

Here's the TL;DR version, in case the video is too long for you to watch:

Mulled Apple Cider

It snowed! Hurrah! Everyone went out and played, and got cold. So, we had some cider to warm us all up. Very tasty! And it looks lovely cooked in my Lodge cast iron Apple.

Ingredients

2 quarts apple cider

2 cinnamon sticks

2 whole allspice berries

2 whole cloves

1 cardamom pod

1 orange, thinly sliced

Combine ingredients in a pot over high heat to bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Serve hot.

Brezeln (Pretzels)

If you like soft pretzels, you MUST try this recipe! I found this recipe for German Brezeln, which calls for the traditional lye bath that creates a pretzel's distinct flavor. However, like most home cooks, I don't want to mess with lye. Researching the best alternative to a lye bath resulted in this experiment, indicating that a cold bath in sodium monocarbonate gives the best result. The pretzels are then rinsed in water before baking. I tried not rinsing before baking on the lower right pretzel in the photo below. It baked darker and somewhat more crisp, but had an unpleasantly harsh taste. Rinsing is worth the effort. We couldn't believe how delicious they were!

Twix: When less is more...

Twix candy bars are pretty tasty. I just found a great shortbread cookie, and an amazing caramel, and I have a bag of my favorite Pete's Burgundy chocolate. So the obvious thought is, let's put them all together! They look pretty nice!

They are pretty tasty, really. Very rich. But, well, somehow they are disappointing. We all prefer the cookies alone and the caramel alone. Apparently great with great and great is sometimes, somehow less great. A flavor explosion, maybe? Too much butter flavor, and not enough contrast. Maybe I should have made turtles....

I did learn one thing though: An easy way to spread chocolate. I put solid chocolate pieces on top of the caramel and cookie, then set them in the oven on "proof" (100°F) for about four minutes. The chocolate becomes soft and spreadable, without ruining the temper.

Buttery Vanilla Bean Caramel with Sea Salt

Maybe it should be named "I can't stop eating this" caramel!

I just made caramel from a recipe that worked fine before. The recipe calls for honey, and I used some nice local stuff. Unfortunately, the honey flavors intensified while cooking, detracting from the true caramel flavor. Back to the drawing board!

After discovering how amazing fancy imported butter is in shortbread cookies, I wanted a recipe with a lot of butter. Other criteria were salt, vanilla, no honey, no sweetened condensed milk, but with corn syrup (the non-fructose kind). The closest recipes I found were these two, which I combined: http://www.inspiredtaste.net/8947/salted-caramels-recipe/#ixzz2pOwrwAHX and http://www.alaskafromscratch.com/2012/05/16/vanilla-bean-sea-salt-amish-caramels/#prettyPhoto

This caramel is simply amazing! Use heavy whipping cream, vanilla bean, and the expensive foil-wrapped imported butter, and you won't be sorry.