Category Archives: sugar-free food

Whole Food Plant-Based Sugar-Free Recipes

Energy Cookies

ECOOKIESLITTLEvery now and then your body screams at you — “I need fuel”. Something more than a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit. It wants something solid and chewy. Which is why energy bars were created in the first place.

Unfortunately, commercial energy bars are almost always filled with strange ingredients, sugar and preservatives.

My solution, of course, is to make my own.  I have tried all kinds of things. I wanted a basic recipe that could be adapted to various food plans and tastes.  So with out further ado, here is my latest attempt. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 12, 2015
Posted in baking, gluten-free food, Protein, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Vegan (or not) Coffee Cake

coffee cakeI have been on a breakfast kick and trying new things. I have this little piece of me that every now and then craves have something sweet and a little gooey.

Here is my coffee cake cheat. . . I’m not sure it is exactly healthy but it tastes great and using nuts and chia seeds adds some food value in the way of protein. Eggs work best for this, but as noted you can use applesauce for a real vegan treat. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on April 24, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, sugar-free food, vegan, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Vegan French Toast

french toastFrench toast has always been a favorite breakfast food, but the eggs more or less made it a non-starter. Lately we have been testing alternatives and here is my current favorite.

The best thing about this particular recipe is that it slightly sweet and toasts up to a wonderful golden brown. I promise you won’t miss the eggs at all! (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on April 11, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Cherry Preserves

cherryLast week when cleaning out the freezer we found a big bag of organic pitted cherries. We bought them at Costco intending to use them in smoothies, but somehow that didn’t happened. They were starting to get freezer burned so we needed to come up with a way to use them quickly.

Cherry pie? How about cherry ice cream,cobbler, compote, tart, chutney or some sort of sauce? After all our excess in New Orleans desert didn’t sound even remotely interesting, I am not a big chutney fan and sauce without a purpose seems like a waste of energy. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on March 20, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, gluten-free food, plant based diet, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wretched Excess

excessWe are home!  We had a wonderful time! And yet are glad to be home: be it ever so humble and all that. . .

We had fabulous ethnic food.  Particularly Middle-Eastern and Vietnamese. The problem in those cases had to do with quantity. Evidently I (conveniently) left my “full button” at home and suddenly felt it absolutely necessary to consume every single morsel on my plate.

It has been a long time since I went to bed at night feeling “stuffed”! But that was almost a nightly occurrence.

by Genene Cote Posted on February 28, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, Middle Eastern Food, sugar-free food, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes and a Plant-Based Diet

Here is the last part of my husband David’s story about his retreat from heart disease and pre-diabetic condition. He used a plant-based diet regain his health.

I was fat. My belly was distended and my body fat index was over thirty so I qualified. I was more than fifty pounds overweight.

My blood sugar was over one hundred and at one point above one hundred and fifty. My triglycerides were also higher than they should be in a healthy human being. My doctor told me that I was definitely in the pre-diabetic class. He warned if I didn’t change my diet and lose weight I would be a full-blown type 2 diabetic within 2-3 years.

He stressed losing weight because fat is an early warning sign for diabetes. Curing it is the main concern if you are showing early symptoms as I was six years ago. And yes, it is possible to cure type two diabetes no matter what any “expert” has to say. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on February 1, 2013
Posted in diabetes, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Coconut Brown Rice

SNAGHTML5e0edc19We all have specific comfort foods. Usually sweets like chocolate or starchy foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta.

Sugary foods taste great but they don’t seem to fill me up or leave me feeling full. It doesn’t take long for me to start craving more.  For me, starches are the ticket. They taste good! And as an added benefit they actually make me feel full after I eat them. And as my Mom would say they “stick to my ribs.” (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 27, 2013
Posted in additive-free food, Asian, diary-free food, plant based diet, rice, sugar-free food, vegan, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Year of Being Vegan: 2012 Lessons Learned Part 3

I have always been a plant-based eater; a vegetarian. Over the last year David and I decided to become vegans. It has been an incredible learning experience! Between now and the end of the years I will share some of the things I learned.

fat cookMany “Healthy” Vegan Recipes are NOT!

The decision to be vegan meant David gave up meat. And we gave up cheese and eggs. Meal planning became a challenge. I spent a couple of hundred dollars (all of it on used bookstores) and many hundreds of hours pouring over menu plans and recipes.

My biggest take is that many vegan recipes do not fit my definition of healthy food. Many of them contain ingredients that I wouldn’t eat on a bet: (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 29, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, environment, Food Additives, gluten-free food, GMO foods, plant based diet, processed food, Protein, Soy, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Quit Sugar!

At least once a week someone asks me how in the world I  quit sugar. I can’t tell you how many people talk to me about quitting sugar in any given week. They have read Sugar Blues. They know it is an addiction. They can tell me all the reasons they should quit. But the actual quitting? That is a whole other thing! Most people try (and fail)  many times before they actually do it.

I know I did! I decided to quit eating sugar 30+ years ago. It was one of those obvious sort of decisions. I was in terrible and chronic pain and finally at the point I was willing to do ANYTHING to feel better. So when this very old chiropractor told me that my pain would be considerably less if I quit sugar, I did it. At least for a few days. . . then for a week and then a couple of weeks. You get the idea. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 19, 2012
Posted in book review, diabetes, sugar-free food | Tagged , , | Leave a comment