22.7.11

The Magical Box of Candy

When I was young, there were five children in my family and we were read to each night before bed. We got to choose a "fairy story" to be read by one of my parents. It just so happened one night that we read a story about a little girl who received from the fairies a "magical box of candy". As long as she did not eat any other candy all day, she was allowed to choose one candy from the box and the fairies refilled it for her. My mother thought of the idea for us to have a magical box of candy as well. As long as we did not eat any candy all day, every night after dinner we were allowed to choose one piece of sugar-free candy from the box. The sugar-free part went along with her years of well intentioned sugar-free baking and healthy eating to encourage our wholesomeness. So there we were, and it seemed like a wonderful piece of fairy magic had descended on our household too. No more sugar candy of any sort, but a magical box that replenished itself... this went on for quite some time to our delight.

Now as an adult I can say that I run a sugar-free household myself. With all the sugar substitutes you can find today at health food stores, such as molasses, agave, maple syrup, fruit juice, honey, stevia, or xylitol, it isn't too difficult to create recipes that taste just as good, without the refined white sugar. Even whole cane juice can be purchased for 1:1 baking exchanges, or evaporated cane juice, which has the texture of icing sugar. Children do much better in school without the sugar overload so common with pop, candy, cake and even bread containing sugar. To teach them healthy eating choices is something they will carry with them for a lifetime. You can make the very same products without sugar, and they taste just as good. Buy healthy snacks in health food stores instead, and you will find, as I say in my grocery store tours, "the items you buy in a health food store are generally made with ingredients from the health food store..." and you will notice these common substitutions for refined fats, refined sugars, and refined flours.

To learn more about eating healthfully, check out my food program online: www.therainbowprogram.com and take your tablespoon of molasses daily for both iron and calcium.

Emily