Simple Sugar-Free Recipes

Listen, I’m not a chef or foody, but I have come up with some very easy recipes since I went sugar free a couple years ago. Please forgive the terrible pictures I took with my own iPhone because it’s one more way for me to be real with you. I truly do eat this stuff, and these are my real pictures. I hope to keep adding more as I come up with new ones. I’ve noted whether each recipe is E, S, FP, or XO for those who follow Trim Healthy Mama. You can learn more about my experience with THM here.

Fruitilicious Greeky Oats – E

• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
• 3/4 cup plain low-fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 banana or 3/4 cup berries
• natural sweetener of choice, like honey or maple syrup

Pour just enough boiling water to cover the oats in a heat-safe bowl. Let that soak and soften while you get out your fruit and yogurt

 

Spinach Sauerkraut Seed-Cycling Salad – S

• 3-4 TBS of this jalapeño artichoke dip (find it near you here)
• Big handful of baby spinach or arugula
• 1/4 avocado slicked into chunks (optional)
• Small handful of sauerkraut, squeezed of all its juices
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• pumpkin seeds if you’re in the first half (follicular phase) of your cycle
• sunflower seeds if you’re in the last half (luteal phase) of your cycle

Use a heat-safe bowl to melt the dip. Add the spinach and stir it around in the melted dip. Toss in the other items and enjoy! Yes, I know this mix of ingredients might seem weird, but trust me – it’s soooo yummy and nourishing! In fact, it’s mildly famous already since I made it for a couple friends who then shared it with their friends. It’s known by them as “Beth’s Salad,” but I’ve given it a mouthful of a title that tells what it truly is with all its probiotics and good fats!

 

Open Face Sourdough Sandwich – E

• 2 slices whole grain, no sugar added sourdough bread (or one sourdough English muffin)
• 2 slices of turkey or lean meat of your choice
• 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Lite Cheese
• All the sandwich veggies you enjoy (I like pepperonis, pickles, tomato, lettuce…)
• Mustard? Ketchup? Just be sure there’s no added corn syrup or sugar in them.

Leaving this “open face” helps me eat it slower, feel like I’m getting more, and then I enjoy it more! Spread half of the Laughing Cow Lite cheese on each piece of bread along with your sugar-free condiments of choice. Top each slice with your meat and other goodies. This is a great lunch to set up as a sandwich bar for your family. They can take what they want, and so can you. No one feels left out.

Orange Genius Smoothie – E

• 1 cup nonfat or low fat Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup butternut squash
• 1 clementine or satsuma “baby” orange, peeled
• 1/3 of a banana, peeled
• 1 tsp Honey or Maple Syrup or Sweetener of choice
• 1 cup ice (if you want it cold and freezy)

As my husband who grew up in Montana would say, “Toss it in yer grinder, and blend the tar out of it!” Depending on the brands you use, you should get approximately 25 grams of protein, 40 grams of healthy carbs, and less than 5 grams of healthy fats which also makes this an “E” if you’re doing trim healthy mama. This would make a delicious adrenal boosting shake between lunch and dinner, giving you energy for the rest of your day!

Golden Gut Warming Smoothie – FP

• 2 bags oolong tea
• 1 1/2 cup boiling water, divided
• 1/2 cup frozen okra, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 2 pinches ginger
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 TBS whey or hemp protein powder
• 2 TBS hydrolyzed collagen (read my review of 5 brands of collagen here)
• Your chosen unprocessed sweetener make it yummy for you (I use 2 pinches stevia + 1 tsp honey)

Steep the oolong tea bags in a cup of the hot water while you put the rest of the hot water in your blender, adding all the other ingredients to your blender water while you let the tea steep. Blend it all AFTER you add the tea. Blend it until you don’t see any more okra. Keep sweetening it until it tastes spicy/sweet to you. If you use lots of honey, it will become an E in THM. Add a couple TBS of cream to fatten it up and make it an XO if you use honey.

Make Ahead Treats

The following recipes aren’t mine, so the pictures are prettier 😉 

It would be wise of you to make a sugar-free treat to have on hand this week. Dessert cravings aren’t a matter of “if” but “when.” They will happen, so I’ve included a few shockingly sugar-free dessert recipes below that were recommended by other clients going through this!

I’d recommend you check your cupboard for the ingredients and take yourself on a little shopping trip for whatever you need to make at least one or two of the following yummy delights that I’ve organized by sweetener type.

Bonus tip: Try to anchor every snack and meal in protein to slow down the speed at which any sweet thing hits your system. Your blood sugar levels will thank you!

Maple Syrup Sweetened Goodies

Maple Pecan Apple Crisp with Oats & Spices by Butter For All

Chocolate-Covered Coconutties by Full Of Days

Healthy Dark Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls by The Rising Spoon

Honey and/or Fruit Sweetened Goodies

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse by The Herbal Spoon

Chewy Apricot Cashew Cookies by Butter For All

Honey Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes (THM-E) by Wholesome Recipe Box

 

Stevia Sweetened Goodies

No-Bake Almond Joy Bars by Whole New Mom (THM-S)

The Shrinker {Sweet & Spicy) Drink by Trim Health Mama

That shrinker was my own personal “gateway drug” into the sugar-free life + ditching my daily Dr. Pepper. Don’t read me wrong, friends, though… I’m not here to preach perfection. We are here to make some progress, to quit cuddling up to corn syrup, to mosey over to maple syrup, to maybe even explore a little erythritol. Maybe. You see, going “added” sugar-free doesn’t have to ruin your life. In fact, it may just expand it and open your eyes to all sorts of new foods and sweeteners that will do your belly better!

Got a recipe that belongs here?

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