Summertime is here and I am totally not ready…Yeah, again. So my husband and I have decided to do a little jumpstart to some cleaner eating. We’re starting out easy with a week of daily green smoothies. I like this easing in because I start feeling the benefits from the boost of vitamins and minerals in the smoothies, and feel ready for the next step.

Next is 3 days of ‘Juice ’til Dinner’. Which only means that you drink fresh juices (a piece of fruit or salad with lemon is allowed in a moment of weakness) until dinnertime, when you eat a reasonable and healthy dinner. This is easier than a full on juice cleanse because there is real food at the end of the day! Vegan of course.  But this time I decided to get the kids in on the action with a cleanse of their own.

Well, more of a break really. It will be 3 days free from refined sugar of any kind.  I’m going to try and couch it all as a really cool adventure. ‘Oh no, we can’t eat that because it has refined sugar in it…What do you think we could use instead…?!’ You know, that kind of thing.

Basically I just want them to pause and think about the food they are eating.  Learn how much sugar they should be eating versus how much they are actually eating. And maybe even for them to find that they don’t need as much sugar to be happy as they thought they did. Its possible they will even come out of this experience with a realization that they have choices about what they put in their body. Or maybe not.

The lesson might not even connect right now. But life is a journey right? You’ve got to start somewhere. And I think awareness is the first step. Kids aren’t really paying attention to what they are eating. They just want it to taste good. But many of them also have no idea that there is an issue at all. I mean why would grown ups give them something that was bad for them?

I’m the first to admit that I love a tasty treat.  But I can temper those indulgences with a measure of self control and a food education that informs the majority of my choices. But kids don’t have the resources we have. They need us to use our adult skills and reasoning to work in their favor too.

I am not delusional of course. Kids like sugar.  I like sugar too. A lot. So this sugar break is something that we’ve decided to do as a family. I’m not gonna lie…I’m about to do a serious amount of baking.  I’ve been searching the web, asking friends and doing some recipe testing of my own to find low sugar snacks and treats for my kids. Because they will want snacks and treats. I am planning on making some sweet and some savory snacks, a basic bread, some muffins, a chia seed jam, and a couple of desserts.

I know I’m not going to be able to get rid of ALL sugar. I’m not even going to try. But we are losing all refined sugar and the processed foods that contain hidden sugar. And I am going to stick to a few guidelines. I will only be using dried or fresh fruit or fruit juice, coconut sugar, whole cane sugar, maple syrup or date sugar. And a lot less of it.

But isn’t sugar, sugar? Yes and No. The ones I’ve chosen are minimally processed which means that they retain all of their vitamins, minerals and fiber. This difference affects the way and the speed with which sugar is metabolized in the body. I chose Coconut sugar because it is simply the sap from the palm flower which is then allowed to dry. Whole Cane sugar is very similar in that it is the product that results after the water is evaporated from cane juice. I will also allow a little maple syrup, and the Date sugar is even one step better. Its just ground up dried dates.

There will also be no juice boxes or bottled juices. Instead we will have whole fruit smoothies or fresh fruit and vegetable juices. No granola bars, gummies, crackers, cookies, or processed and packaged kid snacks or treats of any kind either. Yeah I know… serious.

What will replace those items in our diets are fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and plenty of plant proteins. This is not a fix for the American child’s unfortunate current diet, but rather a step in creating more awareness about the foods they eat, the choices they make and why. I know my kids are still going to want all those ‘kid snacks’ again. But I think the sugar ‘breaks’ will become more of a regular occurrence. Maybe next time we’ll see if we can go even further in eliminating more sugars. I can’t see a downside really. I won’t be mad if my kids are a little more calm for a couple of days.

I am trying to pinpoint the best 3 days for our ‘break’. I’ve already got a basic outline for breakfasts, lunches and snacks. After its all done,  I’ll write another post to outlining how it all wen and the recipes that were hits. Hopefully we won’t have any misses! I know this one will go over well.

This recipe started out as one of my regular muffin recipes, which was already packed with whole grains and used whole cane sugar and maple syrup (creating healthier versions of recipes is kinda my thing). I simply lessoned and switched the sweetener to coconut sugar and substituted in some crushed pineapple for added sweetness. My super testers gave me the thumbs up. Try it with yours!

Low Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Yield: 12 standard muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp coconut sugar, divided

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons Kuzu (unground)

1/3 cup soymilk

1/2 cup raisins

2 Tablespoons oats

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard 12 muffin tin, set aside.

In a large bowl , sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, salt, and 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients together until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl whisk coconut oil, pumpkin, pineapple, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.

In a small bowl mix soymilk and kuzu until kuzu is fully dissolved.

Add mixture to the other liquids and stir until blended.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just mixed. Add raisins and fold in carefully.

Note: This will be a very thick batter. You will need to scoop it into the muffin tins. I like to use a measured scoop, but basically you just want to divide the batter evenly between the 12 wells.

In a small bowl mix the oats with the remaining 1 Tablespoon of coconut sugar and sprinkle on the tops of the muffins, dividing evenly.

 Bake for about 18 minutes, rotating the pan half way through cooktime. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

Let sit in pan on cooling rack for 3 minutes, then take out to cool completely on rack.

Yummy!