Hello!

So here I am writing a blog, something I NEVER thought I'd do. But I feel that what I have to offer in regards to sugar free baking may be thoroughly enjoyed by some. I have been experimenting for quite a while with 'normal' recipes trying to make them sugar free without having to eliminate fats & flours. I love fats & carbs & luckily for me I do not need to restrict these in my diet. I had become frustrated at the sugar free recipes that I would find online feeling too healthy & feeling like I was eating health food & not really enjoying it. Sounds crazy I know, I want to have my cake & eat it too & still eliminate sugar from my diet.

I just wanted to begin with a note on ingredients. Some of the recipes I have created are standard dessert or baked goods recipes that are hardly changed from their original format ie. they still involve dairy, eggs, flour etc. Other recipes are created more from a 'health' perspective such as using super foods, raw foods or different types of dishes such as smoothies. A few examples of foods that I commonly use in my cooking are xylitol, raw cacao & 100% chocolate. These ingredients are definitely not cheap! But my aim here is to provide you with a good recipe & personally I don't mind spending the money. I am still experimenting with stevia & dextrose as alternative sweeteners.

A note on xylitol. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is found in some sugar free chewing gums as it is proven to kill bacteria in the mouth (whereas sugar encourages it). It does not have the same chemical structure as sugars even though it is derived from fruits, vegetables & tree bark. Therefore the body does not treat it like a sugar. As far as I'm aware, in small quantities xylitol is completely safe to eat. I find many sugar free cook books although they acknowledge xylitol, don't use this product. I can only assume it is because of the price.

As of today I have only been off sugar for a week, still early days I know but this is not the first time I have gone sugar free! I do plan to include some natural sugars (such as raw honey, coconut nectar, coconut sugar & rice bran syrup) at a later date.

So please join me on this blog! And please be patient while I learn to navigate & use this site. I will try to post at least once a week but forgive me if I don't as life is sometimes fairly demanding!