Sugar free recipes for absolute dummies

[micemicebabies]

I'm trying to give up eating stuff with added sugar and instead start to cook more stuff from scratch. My DH is the main cook in the relationship but we are planning to start trying for kids soon and I want to be over my sugar addiction before I get pregnant preferably as it will be a lot harder afterwards (I am a sucker for cravings as it is).

The trouble is that I am an absolute plonker when it comes to cooking and am definitely not able to go without recipes yet, but the sugar free ones I find are either clearly made for kitchen naturals or actually do have added sugar (like stevia, honey or rice sugar). Sugar in fruit etc is fine for me as long as I'm actually consuming the rest of the fruit and not just the fruit juice iyswim.

I also get extremely stressed being in our kitchen too long and once I get too hungry then I start getting grumpy and making stupid mistakes. Then once I've made something inedible I get upset, definitely don't want to try again and just order something online instead (which usually has some sort of added sugar).

I'm a pain in the arse!

So, does anyone have any great sugar free recipes for absolute kitchen beginners? Or perhaps a recommendation for a book for learning to cook sugar free?

P.s. I know some sugar is important but although I'm skinny, sugar causes me a hell of a lot of mood swings and issues and if I don't cut it out now then I can easily see myself ending up with diabetes. It has got to breaking point and I feel I'm well over the worst of it but my inability to cook is standing in my way of actually being healthy (not to mention it's embarrassing and I want to be able to teach my future kiddies to cook plus feed them haha!).

Thanks x

[Blondie1984]

You could try I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson - there is a website that goes with it that has some recipes on so maybe have a look there first to see what you think

[TeaBelle]

Sounds daft but the baby led weaning book by gill rapley has loads of sugar free recipes and are balanced family meals :)

[micemicebabies]

Blondie thanks, unfortunately though the vast majority of the recipes on I Quit Sugar seem to contain added sugar (stevia, rice sugar and another kind) haha!

Tea thanks I'll look that up! Very interested in baby led weaning when/if the time comes too, perfect! :D

[JamieVardysParty]

Is it mainly desserts that you're looking for? I'm not a great cook but have massively improved over the past year. We eat LCHF and try not to have anything sugary, save from the odd berries with our yoghurt.

If you're cooking from scratch (ie no jars) with protein and veggies, then it's fairly straightforward. Tonight for us is a roast chicken with Greek salad and a homemade mustard dressing (olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, mustard). Tomorrow will be some sort of curry - we've found a few curry pastes that have v low sugar. In the week, I'll make a chicken pie (chicken, veg, chicken stock and cream) with a phyllo pastry topping. DH will probably make steak with a creamy mushroom sauce and veg.

Get into the habit of reading labels etc. The low carb bootcamp is also a good place to start in terms of knowing what natural sugars are in food. They also have some good LCHF recipes which have low/no sugar.

Dessert/snack wise, I make a protein banana bread with no added sugar. I don't have a recipe however. Just throw together couple of scoops of a decent chocolate protein powder, some almond flour, Greek yoghurt, bit of milk, 3 bananas and 2 eggs. Blitz all together in a food processor. Tends to make two big loaves which lasts us a week. We have it as breakfast with yoghurt and berries or as a pre-gym snack.