If you are reading this, you hopefully understand the damage that sugar can cause and how important it is to eliminate it from your diet. Here are some easy ways you can make that happen!
Replace sugar with:
Unsweetened applesauce: For many baking recipes like cookies, try to replace sugar with this. You can substitute at a 1:1 ratio, just be sure to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup for every cup of applesauce.
Vanilla: Try cutting the amount of sugar in half and adding a teaspoon of vanilla as a replacement. This can add a good flavor while eliminating a lot of sugar. Try cutting out 4 tablespoons of sugar per teaspoon of vanilla.
Stevia: The natural sweetener stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar and doesn’t have any in it! Don’t be fooled by many brands, make sure to get stevia that doesn’t have dextrose as the first ingredient! Try the liquid kind and start with around 1 teaspoon per cup of sugar.
Brown rice syrup: This one is a last resort. It is still high in sugar, but our bodies process it a little better than regular sugar. If you absolutely can NOT get away from regular sugar, use this instead.
Replace wheat flour with:
Almond flour: Almond flour has a good dose of protein, omega-3’s, and nutrients. It is heavier than regular flour and has more of a nutty flavor. Start by replacing a portion of flour with this. For every cup of almond flour, make sure to add an extra ½ teaspoon of rising agent to account for the extra weight.
Coconut flour: Coconut flour is very high in fiber and low in carbohydrates. It is a great partial substitute. In general baking try to substitute ¼ cup of coconut flour per 1 cup of regular flour. The same goes for coconut flour that you need more rising agent. You will also need a 1:1 ratio of extra liquid.
Replace pasta with:
Zucchini ribbons: Thin strips of zucchini are great for pastas. Replace most or all of the noodles with this. And instead of boiling, simply sauté them for a few minutes until soft.
Quinoa noodles: You can buy these in a box! Taste the same but much better for you.
Spaghetti squash: This one is super easy. Buy a yellow spaghetti squash, cut it in half, take the seeds out, and bake it face down at 350 for about 45 minutes or until soft. Take a fork and scrape out the inside. It looks and tastes even better than pasta. Put some marinara and grass-fed beef over it and you have really easy spaghetti. Don’t throw away the seeds! Sprinkle them with coarse salt and put them on a cookie sheet straight out of the squash and bake them at 375 until they are golden brown. They are even better than roasted pumpkin seeds!