I am quickly coming to the realization that prepared foods are going to be pretty much off the table. I deduced this last night when I got out some of our favorite canned chicken chili to have over brown rice for dinner and gueeeeessss whaaaat. Yup- ingredient number seven, right between onion and tomato paste. Who knows how much that ingredient-number-seven sugar that really amounts to? A teaspoon? A tablespoon? Does it matter?
So, once again, we were having sugar with our dinner without really intending to. Greta, our ten year old, who got teary only the night before when we talked about starting the “family project,” was incensed.
“I can not be-LIEVE we’re having sugar for dinner,” she proclaimed loudly, with the conviction of a truly gifted proto-teenager. I found myself in the very odd position of pleading with her: “It’s just for tonight…” I rationalized, “It isn’t very much.” I promised we would do better as we got more acclimated to the new way of eating… which is to say I ‘ll be cooking more meals from scratch than ever before.
Part of me loves this idea- after all, I love to cook and bake. Then again, one of my favorite things to cook and bake is dessert. Huh. Also- the planning involved with so many home-made meals, not to mention the dirty pots and pans that result, is my not so favorite part. So a re-tooling is definitely in the cards for my meal methods.
Meanwhile, I had my first cup of tea with no honey in it this morning- cue the shrieks and screams. Oh, the horror. For me, altering one of my beloved little morning rituals, this was a HUGE step. My mind keeps waiting for that sweet kick at the end of every sip, and- alas- it never comes. Still, the caffeine was reliable, and a little milk helped too. Hey, I thought, I can do this. M-m-m-m-maybe.
••••
Information About The No Sugar Project
Eve O. Schaub 
Heating up your milk to put in your coffee brings out the sweetness and eliminates the need for sugar, is this cheating? I haven’t put sugar in my coffee since I started doing this. Of course I go about 50 50 milk to coffee. Am I the only one reading here? This sugar-free adventure of yours riveting, Eve. Love it.
Thanks for the coffee tip Betsy- I am going to try it! Thanks too for your comments which are very uplifting in these fledgling moments of the “family project”- it is so important to hear that you find it worth coming back to… rather than so much navel-gazing. You’re the best.
I am a follower too! It’s so fun to let you do it while I watch from the sidelines! I used to have to do this for Jade with corn syrup, all dairy products, eggs. Slim pickin’s. (Does that require an apostrophe?) Excuse me now, Jade is going to throw up! Bye!