Welcome to day three of the Sugar Free Challenge!
Here is today’s sample menu:
Breakfast: Grain-Free Pumpkin Pancakes topped with coconut butter.
Lunch: Lightly sauteed spinach, green peppers, black olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, onions, and black beans served on a grilled brown rice tortilla. Side of sliced cucumbers.
Snack: Bowl of High Protein Cookie Crisp Cereal.
Dinner: Hobos. Take a piece of ground beef and roll into a patty. Top with peppers, potatoes, onions, and carrots and wrap in foil. Bake at 375* for one hour. Tastes great drizzled with dijon mustard or Homemade BBQ Sauce. Vegan option: Two Cans and a Potato
Dessert: Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce:
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce
~This recipe is from my Apple a Day Dinner menu. Most homemade applesauce recipes contain added sugar. Apples are extremely sweet on their own, though, so they don’t need the extra sweeteners! Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, grain-free, vegan, and, of course, sugar-free!
Ingredients:
- 8 apples (any variety will do. I find that a mix of tart and sweet apples gives the sauce a better flavor)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- pinch salt, optional
Peeling the apples is optional. If you choose not to peel them, then you might want to consider blending the apples at the end in order to achieve a smoother consistency.
Core and quarter the apples and place them in your crockpot. Add water and salt (salt helps bring out the natural sweetness of the apples, but is optional) and cook for 6-8 hours on low or or 3-4 hours on high. Once the apples are tender, mash them with a fork and stir in cinnamon. Serve hot or cold.
Health Benefits:
- Apples: a flavanoid called phloridzin that is found only in apples may protect post-menopausal women from osteoporosis and may also increase bone density. Boron, another ingredient in apples, also strengthens bones. The pectin in apples lowers LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and it supplies galacturonic acid to the body which lowers the body’s need for insulin and may help in the management of diabetes.
- Cinnamon: Studies have shown that it can help lower LDL cholesterol, help regulate blood sugar levels, has anti-clotting effect on blood, and it can boost cognitive function and memory.
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
Do you use your slow cooker a lot (or at all)? I just started using mine a whole lot more ever since we started renovating our kitchen. I have a few new crockpot recipes to share with you now!
Do you ever consider certain fruit a dessert on its own?
dates. they are so caloric. and very sweet. But I love apples. and applesauce is so yummy.
Happy Day 3! I almost always have yogurt, berries, and almond butter as a dessert. I do consider dessert a fruit! mmm love everything on this sample menu, it looks awesome. Do you know the brand of rice tortillas you like?
Hey Katie,
I use Food for Life Brown Rice tortillas.
Fruit makes a good dessert – especially peanut butter with apples or bananas. I love dates too, but use them as a natural sweetener in other things like green smoothies.
I’m starting to lose my cravings for sugar after only two days! Yesterday’s eats:
Breakfast – Cinnamon raisin oatmeal with egg whites
Snack – Leftover roasted brussel sprouts with roasted red pepper hummus
Lunch – Pan-fried tofu with homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta
Snack – Sugar-free banana oat cookies with prunes, dates, and walnuts
Dinner – Veggie and sausage pizza
Snack – Freeze-dried strawberries
Hey Christine!
Wow! two days? That’s great! Keep up the good work!
Umm how did I miss that crisp cereal?! Heading over there riiight now
i’m def. checking out that bbq sauce! i HATE how everything with tomatoes has sugar in it! i’m still in it and going strong! it’s so much harder for my bf but he’s hanging in there, too!
YUM!! looks SO good!
Yum! I’m glad you linked up your protein cookies because I missed that recipe. I’m definitely going to try those! And how creative to make them into a cereal!
Love the pancakes! And that applesauce looks soooo good! I use my crock pot ALL the time! Love it!
I still haven’t made those cookie cereal but its on my “must try” list!!!
quick question: how do you handle eating out? like do you go for salads or something else?
Hey Haley!
I stick mostly to veggies, fruit, and meat. So yeah, maybe a salad or a broth based soup. Meat with sides of veggies are my usual go-to. I pretty much know if something has gluten, dairy, or sugar because there are certain things that always do. Breaded meat has gluten, bisques have dairy, tomato-based sauces have sugar, etc.
Cinnamon apple sauce yum! This would be a great topping for oats 🙂