Being dye free meant that I had to read the label of every packaged food to check for dye. We ended up purchasing a lot of organic products and I started baking/cooking even more than I already did to avoid dyes. One thing I made a lot of was banana bread muffins, this was a great alternative for colorful cereal in the morning. In the beginning, I would make our muffins according to the recipe with one cup of sugar... until I realized that I was feeding my kids about 15 grams of sugar in ONE muffin. Not that they ate just one, I usually let them have 2-3 before school.
I researched sugar substitutes and ended up replacing the sugar in our muffins with unsweetened applesauce. The muffins came out much more moist with a slightly different flavor but the kids liked them. After seeing them still eat a bunch of muffins that were made slightly healthier, it got me thinking "kids are so adaptable to food, why not keep cooking up better treats for them?" If I can start these healthy habits now, then surely it'll carry over into adulthood a lot easier.
Below are three sugar substitutes that we use most frequently in our home. There are so many more options than what I have listed, but these are affordable and items that most of us already have on hand.
Unsweetened Applesauce
- We mainly use this in muffins (which we eat a lot of) but you need to lower the amount of oil you add to recipes since the applesauce is liquid.
- We've only ever ate unsweetened applesauce and the kids and I think its sweet enough. I have a friend who thinks unsweetened applesauce is too bitter but that's because she didn't grow up on it. Seriously, train your kids' taste buds now so they're used to less sweetened foods as they get older.
Honey
- I use this to sweeten up my chamomile tea.
- The kids will eat a little honey on their pancakes sometimes.
- Honey is also helpful in lessening allergy symptoms. You'll get the best results if you buy honey as local as possible. Our jar of honey came from a neighbor a few doors down. They harvest honey in their own backyard/garage and it is the coolest thing to see. Brody had really bad seasonal allergies last year and I gave him a spoonful everyday during spring/summer and he hasn't had any allergies at all this year.
Maple Syrup
- Look for all natural syrup with minimal ingredients. I begged my father-in-law to buy me syrup from Canada last year. Their flag has a maple leaf on it, surely they make the best maple syrup, right?!
- We use this on pancakes in place of processed syrup and it tastes SO MUCH BETTER!
- Maple syrup can also be used as an alternative to honey; syrup is lower in calories.
No comments