Natural Sweeteners...

I am sure you are all adjusting to no sugar, and hopefully the sugar cravings have gone away or at least gotten more manageable.

But remember natural sugars are okay, here are some suggestions...

Fruit

I'm sure you have noticed that fruit tastes a lot more sweet when you have cut out most sugars from your diet. Its amazing how a bowl of fruit can satisfy that need for sugar, not to mention its so delicious!!

Grab some fruit, cut some up and eat it with greek yogurt, or whip up a fruit/green smoothie

Honey

is completely natural, yet so so sweet! A lot of healthy recipes call for honey instead of sugar, try substituting it so you can still make wheat bread, wheat banana bread, etc.

I like a little honey in my whole wheat toast in the mornings or add it to your smoothie to sweeten it up.

Last but not least,

Agave

I discovered this little beauty last year, I buy the agave pictured below in a 2-pack from Costco. It is SO SWEET, it is the consistency of syrup so its not as thick as honey, which means I wouldn't suggest using it on toast. BUT it is amazing in smoothies and can be substituted in baking.

Not sure what it is?

To be honest I wasn't sure either, so here is some info, straight off the back of my Agave bottle:

"agave is a natural sweetener extracted from the heart of the agave plant. Agave is a low glycemic interest sweetener, so it is slowly absorbed into the body preventing spikes in blood sugar. It is 25% sweeter than sugar, so you need less, and it has been consumed by ancient civilizations for over 5,000 years. The sweet mild taste is perfect for sweetening beverages, baking, and as a multi-purpose sweetener. Use wherever you would use table sugar."

Go here for cooking tips with agave!

Alright if you actually read through this entire post then you made it to the best part :)

Here's my family's favorite green smoothie recipe:

1 banana

1 orange, peeled

3 slices of pineapple

handful of baby spinach

honey or agave to taste (we prefer agave)

ice

I have a vitamix, which is a very strong blender so BE CAREFUL! I put a little water in the bottom of the blender than add the rest of the ingredients. Blend it up and enjoy!

mmmmmm, mmmmm...a yummy dessert and a perfect way to get the last little serving of fruits and vegetables in for the day.

There you have it, some natural ways to satisfy that sweet tooth!