Sugar substitutes- what's best for what???

Need to look into other alternate natural sweetners- I usually use stevia but it has a different taste, very distinct. I've also used brown rice syrup and a few other things.  Have yet to try rapadura or sucanat.

Ice cream cake

Today I want to try to figure out how to make ice cream cake!
I'm going to use the bean cake recipe I made the other day, but maybe try cocoa rather than the chocolate chips to reduce the sugar more.
I want to use stevia and beans rather than sugar and flour.
Also, I don't have an ice cream make. Soooo.... here's what I am going to try.

I watched a video they had featured on allrecipes.com for ice cream making without the maker.

So I am going to try this:
1/2 c coffee
2 c heavy cream
sweetened condensed milk recipe below
a little almond extract

beat until right consistency- it will be thick


To substitute for sweetened condensed milk I found a recipe at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com That I will modify a bit.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1/2 or 2/3 cup stevia

Put these in a heavy pan and carefully bring to a simmer- don't scorch it!
Let it stay on the burner on really low heat for about a couple hours to reduce it. check it.

Now whisk in remaining ingredients

3 T butter
1 tsp vanilla 

Summer veggies in soup and stir fry

cabbage soup
- add diced tomatoes and beef broth
to cabbage, onion, and spices

zucchini time!

stirring up some squash, onion, and garlic
with a little olive oil
Awesome!

Garbonzo Beans for Dinner and Dessert

bean pattie with side salad of olives,
tomato, cucumber, mozarella cheese 

garbonzo bean patties
mix beans in food processor
with chopped onion,
crunched rice crackers,
thyme, a little salt

portabella mushroom, side salad,
cottage cheese, rice noodle with pesto,
chicken with sun dried tomatoes,
bean patties

Chicken with sun dried tomatoes

stir up chicken with garlic, 

when chicken is almost done add sundried tomatoes, and fresh spinach

Pesto Noodles

make a pesto of parsley, walnuts, garlic, olive oil

mix with spiral rice noodles and butter

Easy Portabella Mushrooms

drizzle mushrooms with olive oil and balsamic vinegar 

bake in 350 degree oven about 20- 30 min.

flourless chocolate cake
garbonzo beans about 16 oz, with 4 eggs,
1 1/2 c melted dark chocolate,
1 c stevia,  1 t baking powder

top with whipped cream and fresh strawberries- YUM!

chocolates

easy chocolate candies

melt together the following on low heat
1/2 stick butter
dark chocolate- I've used bars or chips to equal about 1/2 to 1 c

stir in any combo of the following:
chopped nuts
chopped dried fruit
heath bar bits

blob spoonfulls of mixture onto foil or parchment paper to cool- can be cooled in fridge

One of our favs: giralldelli chips, dark choc chips, heath bar, pecans

Another good turnout: dark choc, pecans, butterscotch chips

peanut butter cookies

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Stevia

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Egg

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Cream peanut butter and stevia together. Beat in the baking powder. Add the egg. Mix until all is well combined.

3. Roll the dough into balls. Place on baking sheet. Press down on the ball with a fork in each direction  to make it look nice and then put in oven.

4. Bake for 10 minutes. They should still be a little soft but they will harden in about 10 more minutes when they cool. Enjoy

Makes approximately a dozen cookies

pancakes, chicken casserole



cooking down berries for sauce to go with pancakes





Trying gluten free Bisquick for the first time!



We liked the pancakes, but wish they didn't have sugar.

It's a little too much sugar for us- so it will be a once in a while treat.

limes sliced and ready to be juiced for lime smoothies :)

Chicken casserole with spinach, leeks, onion...

fake (no sugar) granola

Granola- sort of


2 cups rolled oats
chopped nuts
flax seed, etc.
anything else that sounds good in granola- coconut flour works well...

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup stevia (raw) 

1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray pan.

In a large bowl, toss the oats, nuts, with the cinnamon and salt.

In a medium pan whisk together the oil, stevia, and water, let it boil for about 5 minutes. Let it cool a bit. 

Pour the stevia mix over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them. add vanilla. Repeat until all of the oats are coated. 

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.
Bake about 20 minutes

Leek soup, rice, and turkey meatballs

turkey meatballs, basami rice, leek soup, roasted garlic

Leek Soup variation

In a big pot- get some olive oil heated up and throw in the veggies you want to use. This time I used:

3 leeks sliced and washed
2-3 onions diced up
The leafy stalks of celery in the middle of the bunch all diced up
a bit of chopped up cilantro

Cook them down and salt them a bit
add some apple cider vinegar to wet it down a bit

Add about 4 cups of water, and beef base to taste
Stir in one can of tomato paste
Add worcestershire sauce (optional)

 Turkey Meatballs

Mix together about:

2 lbs. of ground turkey
2 chopped onions
3 eggs
ground up rice crackers
add enough unsweetened almond milk or heavy whipping cream to get the right consistency
sea salt
ground pepper

after meatballs are formed and on tray add more salt and pepper to top
cut 2 large garlics in half and top with evoo.  roast one on each tray

Things to have on hand for anytime of the day:

lemon wedges for water and for quick adds to recipes
e.g.. a cup of hot water with lemon and
a little stevia makes a nice afternoon treat

pesto and veggies- this pesto is almost gone!
To make pesto combine in food processor
some walnuts, parsley, lemon, garlic, salt,
 and extra virgin olive oil
spread in a dish and add grated parmesan cheese on top