Battling the Sweet Tooth
It's no secret that kids are partial to sweet food.
It's also no secret that food is one of life's great pleasures, so we can't possibly deny our kids the sweet pleasures they are craving, right? right.
The trick is choosing the right sweet foods.
Processed sugar (white sugar) provides no benefits for your body. Zero. No nutrients. Also, it's addictive so the more processed sugar you consume, the more you'll crave. There's no good reason to have it in your pantry. There are so many alternatives and I promise, you and your kids will like these foods so much more than the candy, cookies, doughnuts, etc that leave you feeling jittery, cranky and gross. Once processed sugar is out of your house and replaced with delicious whole-food sweeteners, you won't even miss it!
Sweeteners we use in the Rapp house:
100% pure maple syrup
Organic Blackstrap Molasses
Banana (favorite)
Apples/Homemade Applesauce
Pineapple
We use banana the most. Mash it up in your oatmeal, make cookies with mashed banana and oats, or make "icecream" with frozen bananas (recipe below). Frozen pineapple is a great sweet treat and can be used in banana ice cream for a more tropical flavor.
We use crushed up pineapple, applesauce, maple syrup and blackstrap molasses in baking. The following recipe link is a staple in our house. These carrot/molasses muffins are nutrient rich and delicious!
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| just made some of her carrot/molasses muffins this morning! |
Nutrition info:
Maple Syrup: 1/4 cup serving has 4% of your daily calcium need and 6% of your iron need
Molasses: Just 1 Tablespoon has 10% calcium, 15% iron, 10% B6. plus Magnesium and Potassium.
**If you are veggie or vegan, you know the importance of eating good sources of iron and calcium. These are yummy, sweet ways to fill that need! (sometimes Owen and I sit down for a spoonful of Organic, unsulphured blackstrap molasses....it's a special treat and we love it!)
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| sampling the molasses |
Banana "Ice Cream"
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| banana "icecream" with almonds and blueberries on top |
Cut up three bananas into 1 inch slices and freeze on a tray for a few hours. (If you're going to leave them in the fridge to freeze for more than 5 hours, put them in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn). When you're ready for it, put all frozen slices into your blender and blend until creamy like ice cream. serve and enjoy! It's just banana so you can enjoy this treat any/everyday! (I ate this for breakfast a lot this summer!!)
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| the blender: frozen bananas turned into icecream! |
note** If you do not have a high powered blender like a Vitamix you may have to add just a splash of milk (almond, soy, coconut) to get it to the right consistency.
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