Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Food

McDonald’s Redeems Itself

By

Remember my post about McDonald’s “Real” Fruit Smoothies?

When McDonald’s makes something seemingly healthy, it has to be questioned. When I started seeing the commercials for McDonald’s new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, I had to hop on over to their website to investigate.

According to Mickey D, the restaurants have two options for oatmeal: with or without brown sugar. Which is great because it gives you the choice to omit all that unnecessary sugar! Therefore eliminating 14 extra grams of sugar.

You also have the choice of adding the following toppings: cranberry raisin blend, diced apples, and light cream. Personally, I would not add the cranberry raisin blend because dried cranberries are always sweetened with extra sugar. They are just too tart for most people if they don’t sweeten them. I also wouldn’t add the light cream because I’m not a fan of pasteurized dairy.

Take a look at the nutritional information for yourself:

All in all, its a great breakfast when your on the road. It has a good amount of protein and carbs to get you through the morning. I’m glad McDonald’s has started selling this because I am going to be on the road this weekend. It also has a great price, $1.99. Also, they serve the oatmeal all day at most stores!

Some other great fast food places that serve oatmeal include:

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal-Served with optional nuts, dried fruit, brown sugar, and milk of choice. $2.95

 

Jamba Juice Steel Cute Oatmeal-Slowly cooked in Soymilk, and served in a variety of flavors including apple cinnamon, berry cherry, blueberry & blackberry, fresh banana, or brown sugar. $3.45

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Have any of you tried McDonald’s new oatmeal? I haven’t tried it yet, but I expect it to be an instant oatmeal like Starbuck’s. I’ve never tried Jamba Juice’s either. Have any of you tried it?

How do you eat breakfast on the road? I usually bring a bag of snacks with me wherever I go, nuts, fruit, bars, and I like eating the oatmeal from Starbucks.

Easy Ginger-Miso Dressing

By

I have been hoarding this recipe for a long time…

It is my absolute favorite homemade salad dressing! I have been searching and searching for my favorite salad dressing served at Japanese Steakhouses, and when I made this dressing I realized it tastes just like it!

Ginger-Miso Dressing served atop fresh kale, red peppers, grapes, cucumbers, and avocado

Easy Ginger Miso Dressing

~This salad dressing is gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Serves 1

  • 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon miso
  • teaspoons of lemon juice or water

In a small bowl, mix the ginger and miso together. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice (or water), and whisk. Add more lemon juice (or water) in teaspoonfuls until desired consistency is reached.

I like my dressing thick, but thin enough to pour. Feel free to double or triple the dressing as needed depending on the size of your salad and the number of people you are serving this to.

Health Benefits

  • Ginger: Ginger is best known for helping digestion. Ginger can help when you feel nauseated or cramped. It can also minimize the symptoms from colds, allergies, and respiratory conditions.
  • Miso: Made from soy, miso is high in iron, copper, manganese, vitamin B12, and vitamin K. It naturally contains probiotics that help the digestive system. Studies have also shown that consuming miso reduces the chances of getting Breast Cancer for women.
  • Lemon Juice: Helps stimulate and aid in the digestive system, and helps to get rid of toxins in the body. It can help the skin stay healthy and clean while decreasing the amount of phlegm in the body.

Compare all of these wonderful benefits of the Ginger-Miso dressing America’s most popular salad dressing, Ranch.

2 tablespoons of Hidden Valley ranch dressing has 140 calories, 14g fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 260mg sodium, 1g sugar, 1g protein.

Ingredients: Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

Not only is the ranch made mostly of oil, but it is full of unhealthy preservatives. It also contains harmful MSG. I think I’ll stick to my ginger-miso recipe.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is your favorite salad dressing? Do you like making your own, or is there a certain store-bought variety you like?

Usually I just drizzle some balsamic vinegar and olive oil on my salads, but I fell in love with this Ginger-Miso recipe as soon as I created it!

2-Ingredient Macaroons

By

I swooned when I created this Macaroon, an I hope you do, too!

2-Ingredient Coconut Macaroons

~These macaroons are vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

  • Dried, Unsweetened Coconut Shavings
  • butternut squash puree (or another mild-tasting squash puree)

Take a spoonful of squash in a bowl, and mix with a whole lot of coconut! Mix together with your hands, and roll into balls. Add more coconut to the batter if it isn’t “coconutty” enough or if it doesn’t stick together.

These little gems taste extremely good, even if it lacks ingredients.

Health Benefits:

  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
  • Butternut Squash: Butternut Squash, like most squashes, is a great source of Vitamin A. With 457% of your daily value per cup, the butternut squash will help you form and maintain healthy teeth and skin. Vitamin A will help you keep go sugar od eyesight, too!
  • Also, these Macaroons are the perfect alternative to the sugar-loaded, artery-clogging macaroons we usually eat. These are a lot easier to make, and they can be thrown into a bag for a healthy afternoon treat.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

I’m a little stuck on what to write or make. What recipe would you like to see “healthifed?” Are there any foods that you would like me to make and share with you?

Do you have any questions for me? Any health questions, personal questions, athletics questions, school questions, art questions? A lot of these are off-topic, but I love answering questions!

Do you have any challenges for me? I love a challenge!

Blogger Four-Square

By

Yay! I was tagged by the lovely Sarah from the Smart Kitchen and Nicky from Picky Nicky to do this fun little game 🙂 Now you all sit back, relax, and learn a little about me.

Four TV Shows I Watch

I don’t really watch TV that often, but…

1. The Office
2. Wheel of Fortune
3. Millionaire Matchmaker
4. Hell’s Kitchen (do they still play this on TV even??)

Four Things I’m Passionate About

1. Food and Nutrition. Can you tell?
2. Singing
3. Tennis
4. My family 

Four Words/Phrases I Use Too Much
1. Gee whiz!
2. Oh my goodness gracious!
3. Chaa Man
4. I’m goin to bed…

Four Places I’d Like To Go

1. Washington D.C. (I’m going in April!!)

2. Europe. Travel around. See the cultures, history, artifacts, and, of course, eat the food!
3. Disney World. I think its about time. I live about an hour away from it, and I have played about 20 tournaments in Orlando…somehow I’ve never made it.
4. Heaven

Four Things I Did Yesterday

1. Played Tennis. It was extremely windy yesterday. Made it difficult to hit the ball
2. Lift weights
3. Went to choir practice. It was a fantastic practice, by the way!
4. Made and ate lots of food. Duh!

 

Four Things I’m Craving
1. Any kind of omelet
2. My mom’s salmon patties with lots of dill
3. A big ol’ tub of fresh blueberries
4. Sauteed Veggies galore!

Four Things I’ve Learned From The Past
1.You can’t change people, you can only change yourself
2. Eating too much peanut butter can make your stomach hurt.
3. Don’t try to do a two-fingered handstand while playing baseball in the backyard.
4. Always look before you slam the trunk door to your car, you could hit someone hard on the head and they will have a knot on their head for a month. Trust me…

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To
1. Sleeping tonight after a nice, warm shower, a cup of hot water, and reading a good book.
2. Seeing where life takes me after college
3. Having a job, creating a business, becoming a multimillionaire, and then retiring (maybe)
4. Exploring the world and all the different cultures (and foods!)
Four Things I Love About Winter
1. Spending it in Florida
2. Curling up by the fire, under a blanket, with a book, and a cup of hot tea
3. The Christmas Lights
4. Wearing Button-up jackets with scarves

Four Newest Blogs Added To My Reader

Hmm….I haven’t added new ones for a while, but…
1. Little Miss Healthify
2. Eden’s Eats
3. The Adventures of VEgirl
4. The Flourishing Foodie

Four Bloggers I’m Passing This Along To
1. Kelsey @ Clean Teen Kelsey
2. Kayla @ Little Miss Healthify
3. Kelsey @ The Snacking Squirrel
4. Lauren @ Whole Wheat or Bust (Lauren, you just ruined the whole “K” theme!)

I added this next one because no post is complete without pictures!

Four Recipes I have been hoarding for myself for way too long:

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Answer one of the questions from above (or more if you want). I want to learn about you, too!


The Way to Every Person’s Heart…

By

Make Customizable Pancakes!!!

Print
One Size Fits All Pancakes

One Size Fits All Pancakes

~These pancakes can be made into anything you want them to be! Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (whole wheat flour works well, too)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cups milk or milk substitute
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 egg or egg substitute (like a flax egg or chia egg)
  • 3 tablespoons oil or applesauce (omitting this is fine)
  • Optional: Add ins like the variations listed below.

Instructions

  1. First, whisk the milk and apple cider vinegar together and let sit for a few minutes to create a "buttermilk."
  2. Then, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  3. Add the wet ingredients together and mix well. It is better if batter is a little lumpy.
  4. Pour pancakes on a lightly greased pan heated on medium heat.
  5. Flip them when the batter starts to bubble.
  6. Enjoy with toppings of choice (suggestions below).
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/01/10/the-way-to-every-persons-heart/

Makes a lot of pancakes. Probably feeds 6, but I usually eat about 2-3 servings worth 😉 Make ’em as big or as small as you like!

Sugar-Free Ideas:

Berry Cakes-a classic. Add blueberries, strawberries, etc.
Carmelized Cinnamon and Banana—Sprinkle some cinnamon into the batter. While the pancakes cook, slice bananas onto the top before flipping. The bananas should caramelize on the pancakes! Yummy!
Chocolate Pancakes—Mix in a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder to the batter. To make it even more chocolatey, chop up some unsweetened chocolate for the batter!
Pumpkin Pie Pancake Stacks
Mix Cinnamon into the batter, and layer pancakes with pumpkin. Garnish with more cinnamon. For those who don’t like the taste of plain pumpkin, mix a nut butter with the pumpkin and some pumpkin pie spice.
Grain-Free Bitter Chocolate Stack (Click on Picture for recipe)
Open-Faced Chocolate, Banana, and Peanut Butter (Click on Link for Recipe)

Someone once asked me how I replace America’s beloved topping to pancakes: maple syrup. The answer: I don’t replace! I fill my cakes with scrumptious fillings (lots of fruit and nuts), and top it with nut butters, fruit, and any other random topping  might keep in my pantry!

Ideas:

  • Pina Colada Cakes: Make batter with pineapple and coconut. Top with more pineapple and coconut!
  • Mocha Cakes: Mix cocoa powder and instant coffee into batter.
  • Granola Cakes: Mix dried fruit, oats, and nuts into batter.
  • Reeses Cakes: Mix peanut butter and unsweetened chocolate into batter.

Great Pancake Ideas from other Bloggers:

24-Carrot Cake Pancakes from Chocolate Covered Katie
Brownie Batter Protein Pancakes from Snacking Squirrel
Tiramasu Pancakes from Pure2Raw
Pizza Pancakes from Heather Eats Almond Butter

 

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What are your favorite pancake recipes? Do you like to top yours with a bunch of stuff, or fill ’em up? Or maybe you like them plain?

Banana Bread Bonanza!

By

Yes, I did it again.

Many people have asked for more grain-free recipes after the Grain-Free Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Bread, so, of course, I had to get to work and create another recipe for all of you!

This recipe uses 3 over-ripe bananas, so it is the perfect go-to recipe when you have too many brown bananas to deal with.

Grain-Free Sugar-Free Banana Bread

~This recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and of course, sugar-free!

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons Ground flax
  • 3 Tablespoons Chia Gel (For each tablespoon of chia, mix 2-3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 15-20 minutes. The chia seeds will puff into a gel)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350*. First, mash the bananas. Then, mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour batter into a lightly greased bread pan-or even try a muffin tin! Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

The bread will rise while in the oven, but will sink when taken out. Let the bread cool for fifteen minutes in the pan (this is necessary for the bread to set since it has no flour in it), and then plop it onto a plate or cutting board and enjoy!

 

 

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What are your favorite ways to use up all of those overripe bananas? Usually, I freeze them to make banana ice cream or smoothies, but this bread recipe is now my favorite!

I started collecting recipes for overripe bananas a couple years ago because I thought a book title, “101 Ways to Use Overripe Bananas” would be great! Because this happens to all chefs and non-chefs across America-what to do with all those brown bananas? What do you think? Would you read a recipe book like that? What recipes would you put in it?

****Also, are you sticking to the sugar-free New Year’s Resolution??