The Sugar Addict Quiz, Something for your Sweet Tooth & Something to do tomorrow night

I want some chocolate right now.... bad. But here I am. Eating pecans and pretending they are not pecans. Here is how my first six days have been going:

First, I never realized how mindlessly I eat. I had some idea of it, but midday Saturday I was standing around waiting on someone and I picked up a cookie and took a bite of it. And I was chewing and thinking about my breakfast smoothie and then I was like "OH shit" (I'm being honest about the moment) and I spit cookie on the floor. I really picked this cookie up without even thinking and ate. This was a big wow moment for me. I wasn't hungry, I was just eating because I was waiting. 

Things you already knew made into a fancy graphic!

  Second, I am not over the cravings BUT I can get through them. I think about eating something sweet a lot of times a day. Mostly after meals and mostly when I haven't had enough water. And it's worse when I'm at work because something sweet is more accessible. I'm hoping this craving sweets will get better in the next week. 

Third.... I am FULLY not as bloated. I feel slender in the midsection even though I am eating like normal, or maybe more than normal to curb the cravings. But I'm still sticking to 95% real, whole foods, and that has helped me so much in life to stay at an appealing weight. I should start working out again. It's been... three years plus 40 weeks of pregnancy = 2010. 

Fourth - I have not had any caffeine because I haven't needed it. I have had so much more energy. That's been a big thing that was easy to tell from the start. I don't have the roller coaster up and down with my energy. I'm really loving that and it's making a big difference in my days at home with the kids. Everyone is happier. 

So all good things so far except that I would LOVE to get to the bottom of a 1/2 pint of ice cream right now. I made cookies for Landon's teachers last night and it was smelling delish. I went in search of a sweet treat without sugar and with some healthful elements. Great for Not So Sweet May or a really good option for the kids when they want a treat. 

Ingredients:

3 mashed bananas (ripe)

1/3 cup apple sauce

2 cups oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine and bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes

And if you are up for some fun, I have found a mostly dramatic sugar addiction quiz online. I guess I'm not as bad as I thought. Take your quiz here.

On a non sugar related topic, I will be signing on to the Recipe for Success Instagram account tomorrow night posting live photos from their Fashion Gene Awards at Tootsies. Recipe for Success Foundation is dedicated to combating childhood obesity by changing the way our children understand, appreciate and eat their food, and by educating and mobilizing the community to provide healthier diets for children. It is a cause near and dear to my heart. So if you live in Houston you can still BUY A TICKET for the fashion show, or the fashion show plus dinner. Because of generous sponsors, 100% of proceeds will directly benefit Recipe for Success. And if you cannot attend, be sure and follow their Instagram page and like everything you see! 

And if you aren't following Raising Texas on Instagram yet, you should be.

Throw any other sweet (but not sugary) recipes my way and good luck this week! 

-RT

Not So Sweet May

Welcome to Not So Sweet May! It's been an interesting first day. I knew that I ate a decent amount of sugar daily, but I didn't realize how mindlessly I did it. For my specific Not So Sweet May, I am staying away from as many processed sugars as I can find, and some naturally occurring sugars for at least the first 2-3 weeks.  What are natural sweetners? The best and most simple definition I have come across is from Food Renegade. Simply put (by her): A natural sweetener is one that a person could reasonably expect to grow, harvest, and process themselves without the use of added chemicals, enzymes, or expensive machinery. Think things that grow on trees and bushes, maple syrup from maple trees, honey from bees, etc. The reason why this difference matters is because your body processes natural sugar differently than processed sugar. 

From Examiner.com: A natural sugar is unprocessed by chemicals and other refined processes, and so still contains the enzymes, vitamins, minerals and fibers it was ‘born’ with. As in other raw foods, the elements just listed allow the body to recognize the sugar as a real food and digest it normally in the digestive tract. This means it will end up in your blood stream, which, if you’re not diabetic, would generally be preferable as your body will deal with the sugar accordingly.

A processed sugar is devoid of pretty much everything except the sugar/fructose or other concentrated sugar derivatives. This means it is considered foreign to the body and is thus digested by the liver and turned to triglycerides and stored as fat. Too much of it will make you fat, and also your body is not recognizing it as food and you’ll still be hungry, making you eat more and voila, around in circles you go!

I don't want to be a total downer because I love sugar and dessert so much, but if you want to know the super scary truth about what daily refined sugar intake can do to your body, click here. 

So let's move on. During the first part of the month I am going to try and avoid some of the more concentrated natural sugars like dried fruits, honey & maple syrup. I really want to try and get my taste for super sweet sugars out of my system. I am also staying away from "sugar free" products, because that isn't going to cut my cravings and I want the benefits of the natural sugars. 

One big hurdle this month is going to be my typical breakfast of Cascadia Farms Organic Chocolate Os. Mornings are hectic with two young kids, so I made a plan a few weeks ago to combat this: Smoothies. I made a slight investment in the Ninja Master Prep Professional Blender and I started making smoothies the day it came. I really love this product because it is super easy to clean and I discovered that it is AMAZING for making baby food.

The other great side effect of making a smoothie for breakfast: my kids both want to eat it. I make enough for me, our 3 year old and for our 9 month old as well. Landy has hers on the side of her eggs or waffles, Will has his with a few organic Os to keep him busy while I throw it together. 

I'm not really following any secret recipes. I usually throw in a handful of spinach and whatever fruits or veggies I have on hand. Sometimes Greek yogurt, sometimes coconut water, sometimes almond milk. Frozen fruit is a great addition to give it more of a treat feel, and I love a dash of cinnamon to give it some more flavor. If you are looking for smoothie inspiration, I am finding it all over Instagram.

A breakfast smoothie for everyone.

Some of my favorite combos plus chai seeds.

 Tonight I did dinner on my own, and had a big lunch, so I am having a two smoothie day. While I made my dinner I made baby food for tomorrow. I keep falling in love with this stupid blender system.

Dinner on the left, baby food on the right

Dinner and baby food after

I can already tell that this is going to be a great month for finding ways to keep our entire family eating more real, natural foods. I feel like I learned a lot just on the first day. It was harder than I thought it would be, but I'm excited about how I'll feel in two weeks. If you've joined in, hope your first day wasn't too bad. This weekend is going to be tough. We have a family get together and those always include dessert. For daily updates be sure to follow the Raising Texas Instagram account and #notsosweetmay.

I'll be dreaming of chocolate cake tonight, but I've got some great recipes coming up this month that should help curb your sweet tooth. 

More to come next week!

RT

Sweet, Sweet Tears... for Sugar

It might happen... this might become a blog about toddlers and pregnancy. Listen, it's not that I'm going for that, it's just that... Well, what's going on in my life right now? Toddlers. Oh, and also, pregnancy. I'm turning to my go-to meals a lot, the ones that you have already heard of. Things like Salmon and Kale, and King Ranch Casserole. And cereal. I have the energy level of half of a sloth. NOT EVEN A WHOLE SLOTH. That is serious. Have you ever seen a sloth? Here is a video of one:

You might be wondering why the video looks like a picture. It's just that the sloth moves so slow, they are basically the same thing. No time to argue... half a sloth over here trying to bang this one out. 

In other sadness topics, let's talk about my super BFF sugar. You remember sugar, right? We go waaaay back. It turns out that sugar is not my friend recently. It's been giving me headaches and general badness feelings if I eat it at the wrong times. Know what else isn't my BFF? SIMPLE CARBS. I mean.... all I want to eat right now in my little pregnant world is sugar and simple carbs. Seriously. Load me up with rice and pasta, a side of mashed potatoes, and we'll wash it down with chocolate cake....not anymore.

To say a proper (and temporary) farewell to my sweet, sweet friend, I'm giving you fattening Friday on a Wednesday. And maybe on Friday too. I guess we'll just have to see how this goes. 

Over 14 years ago I bought some country magazine because it had a picture of George Strait on the cover. Lay off, some girls liked Justin Timberlake, I liked George Strait. And Robert Downey, Jr and Dave Grohl. We'll call my tastes eclectic. Where were we.. yes, the magazine. There was a cooking insert with some C&W stars and their favorite holiday recipes. I paid no attention to it, but my mom did. She found a contribution from Dolly Parton (or more likely her publicist/PR person) for Saltine Cracker Toffee Candy. This was one of the fantastic things I made for friends for Christmas that never got delivered. Sorry friends. Love you friends. You are lighter because of me, friends.

On a scale of zero to healthy, this recipe ranks somewhere around Paula Deen. Y'all.

You will need a baking sheet, foil to line it with, saltine crackers, butter, brown sugar, milk chocolate chips, and chopped pecans or walnuts. Line your baking sheet (one with a rim) with foil and lay out your crackers just so:

I used a large coking sheet so I doubled the recipe. Have no fear, the legitimate recipe with correct measurements is below. I put my butter (HAY PAULA) and my brown sugar in a pot on the stove and stirred while the mixture heated to a boil. Then you boil it gently for 3-5 minutes until the graininess of the sugar is gone.

After you get to a good texture with the "toffee" portion, you pour it evenly over the saltine crackers. It should look like this:

Then you pop it in the oven for five minutes at 375 degrees. It comes out looking remarkably the same as when it went in. That's ok. This is actually a different photo than the one above: 

Immediately sprinkle  the milk chocolate chips over the toffee cracker mixture like this:

They begin to melt pretty much as soon as they hit the hot pan. I took a soup spoon, rubbed the back in one of the butter wrappers and spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers. 

 

Right after this you sprinkle the chopped walnuts or pecans over the top. I used pecans because it's what I had on hand. Final product looks like this:

The last step is to put it in the fridge to set. About an hour should be good if the weather is right. If it's humid or hot outside it will take longer. Once it's cool you will cut it for serving. I prefer to run diagonal and a pizza cutter works amazingly well for this. Just make sure you peel back the foil or pick it off of your cut pieces. Whichever method you prefer. 

This tastes like Heath bars. Or Skor bars depending on your geographic location. It is TO DIE for. And the few tastes I had before retiring to my sick bed were amazing. Again, sorry friends. If you are feeling indulgent this is a good one to indulge with. 

This post taking forever for me to write was brought to you by a brief interruption by The Mindy Project. One of the best and most awkward episodes ever tonight. Since I can no longer be obsessed about margaritas, vodka, or sugar, I'm kind of obsessed about this show.

Sorry I'm not sorry.... about all of the added sugar and calories.

-RT

CHOCOLATE  TOFFEE  SALTINE CANDY  COOKIES

Ingredients:

About 35 saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 – 11-1/2  ounce package milk chocolate pieces

1 cup chopped nuts

1.       Line a 15 X 10 X 1  inch baking pan with foil.  Place crackers in a single layer to completely cover bottom of baking pan (cut crackers to fit, if necessary).  Set the pan aside.

2.       In a medium saucepan, combine butter and sugar.  Heat and stir over medium heat till mixture boils; boil gently for three minutes.  Pour butter mixture evenly over crackers.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 5 minutes.

3.       Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with milk chocolate pieces.  Let stand for a few minutes to melt; spread chocolate evenly over all.

4.       Sprinkle with nuts, pressing lightly.    Chill.    Cut into squares or diamonds to serve.  Makes about 48 small cookies.

Strange Fact: Life Causes Death.... now get over it

As Syrio Forel once said, "fear cuts deeper than swords." If you get that reference you are such a nerd. Like me. Congratulations. Unfortunately, a sword can slice your head or arm off, and that's pretty scary as well. I'm not sure when the world decided to make people scared of EVERYTHING but I'm pretty over the nightly news. I'm sure if "the one thing I must know before getting in my car again" was that important, it would be breaking news and not a teaser for the news that comes on in 3 hours. 

The BlackBerry thumb will kill you, followed by iPhone brain. News at 11.

 Here's the thing about living with certain fears... the end result of life, is death. Everyone will eventually die, unless you plan to live in hologram form and go on a concert tour following your personal end. (Good for you weirdo.) 

MJ's hologram reads this blog.

 I have recently come to a sad conclusion while delving into health information and worrying about what L is eating... When it comes to local news and the internet everything "causes" cancer. By "causes" we mean, contains an ingredient, mutation, or hormone that has been shown to be a carcinogen. Lunchmeat causes cancer, soda causes cancer, heated hard plastic causes cancer, water bottles cause cancer, sugar causes cancer, the sun causes cancer, and also breathing, something none of us can seemingly avoid, causes cancer in various ways. These statements are all huge reaches, but for some reason, news media in various forms is trying to scare the crap out of us. Also, this propaganda is causing young people to be fatalistic about cancer. None of that is good.

By the way, this doesn't end by me saying "eat and drink whatever you want, smoke 20 packs a day, and renew your tanning bed membership because you are going to die anyway!" It's just a point where I had a realization that released me from a lot of fear. Instead of trying to do everything in a way to be the best and most healthy, and really stressing myself out, time would be better spent making intelligent choices about what I'm putting into my body, while enjoying life enough so that if the world ended tomorrow I would be satisfied that I had lived and tasted and wined and loved and gotten high on sugar, and sunburns, and wine. This is where I realized that you just try your best, you know your limits, but you still push them when you need to, and enjoy your life. Cancer is awful, death is sometimes a scary thing to think about. Most things we don't know much about are. In the instance of the opening quote, cancer/sickness/death could be the sword. Living your life in fear of death or sickness is basically giving in to that fear of sickness and not living at all. Done preaching, now on to more light hearted fears... like the fear of kitchens and raw meat. 

When appliances attack.

 I get it. Of all the comfy rooms in your house, the kitchen is by far the scariest. It has knives, ovens, stoves, fire, sharp edges, and the air of possible cooking failure hanging in the air like early morning fog. None of that stuff ever scared me. I usually fail at cooking things daily, if not a few times a week. Overcooking eggs, undercoating pans, and most of this is because I often cook without a recipe. It's how I learn best. 

I'm a raw chicken breast, and I'm here to kill you.

When I first started to cook, the things that scared me most were raw foods. The instillation of this fear can be directly attributed to media and pr, as it was not put in me by my mother. The people hacking their antibacterial products like to play commercials with pictures of germs writhing around on your counter tops. I'm not saying you should pick up raw chicken and lick it, I'm just saying Julia Child NEVER washed her hands in the kitchen. She was a cross contaminating machine. If you don't believe me, go watch any of her cooking shows. When this fact came to light, it helped me realize that any time I touched raw chicken, I probably wasn't going to die. (Whew!) Now the only reason my kitchen is evil is because the stove is electric and from the early 90s.

Queen Julia tells salmonella to eff off.

ATTENTION: Full circle moment. Just as you should not let fear rule your life, don't let fear of failure keep you out of the kitchen. Cooking at home is the BEST way to know what you are eating. It is proven time and time again that if you want to weigh less you need to cook MORE and eat out less. Cooking at home isn't the scary sitcom fodder that it used to be. Get a subscription to a great recipe magazine like Cooking Light and follow along. Or use the internet for free recipes and cooking techniques. Spend your time in the grocery store in the produce section, at the butcher, and in dairy for your milks, yogurt & cheese. And your eggs, even though they aren't dairy. That's just where they live. Then GET OUT while you still can... Grocery stores are evil.

The candy section.... MWAHAHAHAHA.

If you want to eat out intelligently and maybe don't have a cook at home option, arm yourself with information and knowledge. If I had only KNOWN that my precious drumsticks had 300 calories a pop, I wouldn't have an extra 3 lbs hanging around that I now have to work and deny wine to get rid of. Knowledge is power. Pick up one of the Eat This not That books. That will fill you in with a lot of information to make healthy decisions when you eat out.

What's the Ramona Pinot calorie count? 666 per glass.

I came up with some wise words all on my own to sum this up: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, y'all. And holograms of dead people.

Let it be,

- RT

Ignorance is Bliss. So is Stir Fry.

Hello Internet. My name is RT and I'm a Sugar Addict. I know this because I took a quiz online and the results confirmed my suspicions. I also took a quiz online that said I was going to die at 92, so it's totally fine that I have a sugar addiction. If you have been reading along you know that I have a thing for nestle fudge ice cream drumsticks right now. It started out as a fling and was on it's way to becoming a full fledged relationship. I was making special trips to pick him up, we had a date almost every night, and sometimes he slept over (in the freezer). 

Hey there handsome fella.

Then I made a big mistake... I broke into his phone and read his texts! Wait... I mean I actually looked at the nutrition label. I had clearly been telling myself lies, as one sometimes does in a hot and heavy relationship. I could no longer ignore what was staring me right in the face.... 300 calories per drumstick. That, my friends, is much more than just one glass of wine. Well, unless it's this glass:

Seriously, someone buy me this.

And the story gets even more sorted. Sometimes I went back for seconds. On one lonely day during nap time, I skipped lunch in favor of three drumsticks. It was getting bad. I knew it had to come to an end. The calorie information is the last straw and, well, I wanted you all to know it's over. Our relationship was much better before I knew all of the facts. Now I just feel like a cheap, dirty sugar addict with no self control. So I came home to do one of my favorite things, ask google questions. "Google," I asked, "am I a sugar addict?" Google found a handy quiz for me. It is true/false. Let's review.

1. I don’t eat refined sugar every day These answers are complicated. Usually, FALSE. Fine. FALSE

2. I can go more than a day without eating some kind of sugar-containing food If I try, I can. But I don't try. So I'm going to give myself a False.

3. I never have cravings for sugar, coffee, chocolate, peanut butter or alcohol Just False. FALSE FALSE FALSE.

4. I’ve never hidden sweets around the house so I can eat them later Like in the bathroom? Hidden from whom? I'm pretty sure this is TRUE

5. I can stop after eating one bite of pastry or one piece of candy What are the circumstances? Is there a gun to my head? I guess I can, even though I usually don't want to, so TRUE.

6. There are times when I have no sugar around the house When I eat it all or when I'm trying to lose weight. Does fruit count? Because it shouldn't. TRUE.

7. I can have sweets in the house without eating them So in this scenario, do I have PMS? That would really change this answer. But TRUE.

8. I can go at least 3 hours without eating without shakes, fatigue or bad moods I didn't know we were getting this serious. But also, I have a 15 month old. I am always fatigued. So I need to tie in the food and the fatigue? I'm so fatigued by this quiz. TRUE.

9. I do not eat something sweet after every meal Harsh. This question is harsh. And the statement is FALSE. Because special K red berries is like eating candy for breakfast. Be honest. It is.

10. I rarely drink coffee or eat donuts or sweet rolls for breakfast Is this TRUE? yes. I don't drink coffee. Do I wish I had donuts and sweet rolls for breakfast often? Yes.

11. I can go more than an hour after waking without eating TRUE

12. I don’t drink sweetened soft drinks every day TRUE. I really do believe that diet soda in particular is the devil and will lead you to an early death. When something has zero calories, there is something wrong. Full sugar soda should be consumed in moderation. Like fountain coca cola poured over sonic ice with a fresh squeeze of lime juice. Preach.

Here is what I got: 

"For the record, if you answered four of these questions FALSE then stop lying and seek help for your sugar addiction."

That's a little harsh. I just answered all of her questions and she is calling me a liar. So how does she know I'm not lying about my sugar addiction for blog material attention? Here is my big girl moment and I'm putting this out there for all of the internet to see. S, you were right. I was eating too many chocolate fudge filled drum sticks. Print this out to save and throw in my face later. Actually, never mind. Don't do that. It might not end well.

 Anyway, ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power, blah, blah, blah. I'm switching to Skinny Cow and stepping my way down. I cut my calories in half. Everyone do a cheer. And I didn't have one tonight. Because I had a couple of glasses of wine to get me through the breakup. Regular glasses, not full bottle size glasses. You know what else goes down as easy as a nice pinot noir in the middle of July? Stir fry. (Just go with me on this one.)

Stir fry is actually a great and easy meal for the family or just the two of you or just for you. All you  need is love some veggies, add in a protein if you want, some sauces for flavoring, and best case scenario, a wok. Happy healthy Asian delights. (I think that is a meal I ordered at a Chinese restaurant once.)

Here is how our Stir Fry Night went....

Veggies: Two heads of broccoli (chopped), one red pepper, chopped shallots,
sliced garlic, and sliced green onion.

We used skirt steak marinated in soy sauce, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar. (Addict)

Here is our rice cooker. It is making rice. It infuriates me.
I need a new one. Please send suggestions.

Seasonings: Light soy sauce, sesame seed oil, & oyster sauce (not pictured)

The broc takes the longest to cook, so it goes in the wok first
with some grapeseed oil and some soy sauce.

Shallots and garlic added.

Show me the beef.

Red pepper so they'll still have some crunch and green onion tops.

The rice is ready. Seriously, someone tell me a great rice cooker. I need it.

Here is dinner! Leftovers were amazing with a little Frank's Hot Sauce.
You could also add some Sriracha.

The reason stir fry is wonderful is because in a wok you can cook with less oils making it healthier. Also, there isn't a lot of guess work with cooking times since you cut everything up before you cook it and you can easily see how it is going. Make up your own stir fry recipes using different ingredients and sauces. It's a fun thing to cook as a couple or with older kids. 

And pour a little pinot out tonight for my homie, fudge filled drumstick. 

Pour out all of the Ramona Pinot you can get your hands on. I'll help.

 We had it good, real good. We were hot and heavy, and cold and delicious. But all good things must come to an end, and it's still bikini season in Texas.

Here's to attempting the skinnies for a little while longer. When winter comes, I won't want ice cream anyway. 

Flat tummies and skinny cow fudge pops,

- RT

Like the Raising Texas Facebook page and share posts as we try to build fans. When we hit 50, the person with the most shares gets a Goode Co or Royer's Pie!! I promise it's worth it.