My Journey With Weight Loss – Making Food Taste a Bit Better

Last week I took my final blood pressure pill. My doctor had been weaning me off these pills since the summer and we were both a bit cautious as I had been taking those pills for nearly 20 years. I’ve been taking my BP each day since that last pill and it averages 93/73 with a heart rate of 61-64 BPM. I think I am officially out of the hypertension category.

Today I wanted to talk about making food taste a little better especially if you keep your sugar and sodium low. First, let’s talk about sugar. There are all sorts of sugar substitutes out there. However, most have a fair amount of chemicals which I acknowledge aren’t the best for you. But let’s be honest, sometime you just need to have a sweet treat. I should start with the fact that I am really not a dessert person but every once and a while I like something sweet. This for me is often quelled by eating some fresh fruit (actually I eat fresh fruit everyday) but I have become a master at converting recipes to use Splenda products. Again, I don’t recommend using artificial sweeteners on a regular basis, this is for occasional treats. I have made low sugar versions of a variety of desserts including cheesecake, angel food cake, cookies, cakes etc. Most of these have turned out fantastic though a few have failed (Splenda marshmallows weren’t great). I try to find recipes that don’t call for a lot of sugar to begin with and that seems to convert well to a 1:1 exchange of sugar to sugar substitute. Don’t be afraid to experiment with some recipes to see what works and what doesn’t. I do know that my low sugar cheesecake is a big hit at parties where I have come to realize there are often diabetics present so I make sure to label my goodies as diabetic friendly. As for fruit pies, here’s a hint, often you can skip a sweetener all together by simply adding extra spices. My favorites are apple or peach pie both I heavily flavor with cinnamon and nutmeg. They turn out amazing.

As for skipping things like syrups, I have a great recipe for no sugar added blueberry sauce which can be made with apple juice (though if you get good blueberries you can replace the apple juice with water). The recipe is simple;

2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 c water or apple juice

2 tsp arrowroot flour

1 tbs water

1. Place the berries and ¼ cup water (or juice) in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until bubbling. Slightly smash some of the blueberries with the back of a fork.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the arrowroot powder and 1 Tbs. of water. Remove the saucepan of berries from the heat. While stirring constantly, add the arrowroot mixture into the blueberry mixture. Let cool until no longer hot and serve. The sauce with become even thicker when chilled.
3. Store the sauce in the fridge for a few days.

Note: I have made this with cherries, strawberries and peaches and all have turned out great. This sauce goes really well as a topping for this such as pancakes or french toast.

But what about replacing salt. This one is so easy. Firstly, one of the best ways I have found to add flavor and skip the salt is adding heat. In my home that usually means adding jalapenos but that is not for everyone (both my husband and brother are not fond of spicy foods). But there is so much more you can do. Garlic and ginger are wonderful flavors to add to perk up your food. If you are not a lover of these then try whatever fresh herbs that work for you. I am partial to rosemary, basil and oregano while my sister is obsessed with parsley and cilantro (I will tolerate parsley but despise cilantro). You can also go for that old standby, Mrs Dash, which comes in a variety of flavors. Since it is naturally low sodium you can use as much of it as you like. Once you start adding all these additional flavors to your food you will realize you don’t need that salt and staying low sodium just becomes easier.