When Saying "No" to Sugar Just Isn't an Option

And a Recipe to Make When It Is

Last week I shared about my mercurial relationship with sugar: falling in love with it in my mid-teens, ditching it 30 years later in search of some inner sobriety, then hearing its siren call once again after our one month break-up. Did I really want to live my entire life without another morsel of chocolate or lick of ice cream?

The short answer? No. Because while we all know that sugar is basically one of the worst things for our bodies, the truth is that in some circumstances, there’s just no substitute.

For instance, birthdays.

I realized that I’m not willing to give up eating a Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcake from my favorite bakery in celebration of the day I first entered the world. It’s a big occasion, one that doesn’t feel properly indulged when eating a celebratory treat that has chia seed somewhere on the ingredient list. I’m not shaming chia seed here, and I have a doggone delicious chia seed pudding that I’m eager to share with you in the coming weeks, but eating that in celebration of my birthday? No, thanks.

Another circumstance? When your child cooks.

I homeschooled my first four children which meant we spent a lot—and I mean A LOT—of time together. Because I loved puttering about in my kitchen, it only seemed right to use cooking as a way to break up the monotony of our school days and teach my babes some basic life skills at the same time. I started off by having them leaf through my cookbooks each week and choose a recipe they wanted to make with me. That progressed to them attempting recipes on their own, which eventually evolved into them creating their very own recipes. The end result is that my older kids happen to be really good cooks...and exceptional bakers.

So, I knew the moment would come when my oldest daughter would present me with a slice of her sublime Raspberry Mascarpone Layer Cake or my middle daughter would pull a steaming pan of made-from-scratch Orange Rolls (think cinnamon rolls but ten thousand times better) from the oven. Did I really want to make a moral commitment that left me responding to their luscious offerings with a tight-lipped shake of my head? Absolutely not.

And, let’s get even more honest about things: sometimes you just have a day. The kids miss the bus because their driver’s foot is actually made of lead and she gets to the stop ten whole minutes before she’s supposed to be there and then snickers as she coasts by. Then, the dog vomits poop (yes, actual poop—this has happened before) in the entryway, and only by the grace of God are you able to control your gag reflex for the next hour while you clean it up. You decide to take the day back in hand, make something wonderful out of what so far has been crap, and in a bright spark of genius you create your very own pumpkin scone recipe. An hour later your hard work and creative ambition are justly rewarded when out of the oven you pull a sodden, oily mass that goes straight from the baking sheet into the trash can. To top things off the kids come home from school bad-tempered, tired, and snappy with their siblings, and that night you spend the entire dinner refereeing the WWE matches that are taking place on the benches of your farm table.

These are the hard days, friends. And what I learned during my month-long sugar fast is that I could make it through days like this without ending the evening with my face in a quart of ice cream. I could sit with my feelings—really let myself marinate in them—and on the other side, I was okay, even without chocolate there to get me through it. But sometimes—not every time but on occasion—you just want something that tastes so fabulous that when it touches your tongue, it tells your taste buds which in turn tell your brain, “You survived a helluva day. Great job.”

So, here’s the conclusion I came to: I want the freedom to eat sugar when it feels appropriate to do so, but I also want to maintain the strength and courage to keep it on the sidelines of my life rather than on center stage. What does that mean for me going forward?

Most of the time, I don’t eat processed sugar. If I have a hankering for something sweet after lunch, I eat a handful of grapes or a plum. I’ve learned that if I choose options like candy or cookies, 30 minutes later a headache will set in and I’ll start to feel sluggish, but I’ll still crave more of those devilish treats. And if I keep giving into those cravings over the course of a day or two, my mood will plummet and my anxiety will ramp up. Those are mental and physical sacrifices I’m not willing to make for a Snickers bar or a bag of shoelace licorice at any old time. But I am willing to make it for a big, luxurious slice of my daughter’s cake. And, yes, I may even have seconds. We get to choose our battles.

But I have learned that on the tail-end of a “helluva day”, choosing to drown my sorrows in sugar won’t make me feel better in the morning. Still, when the ordeal I survived feels like it needs something more than a plate full of apple slices to commemorate it, one of my favorite go-to’s is a generous bowl of my Peanut Butter Cup Granola. It has lots of the good stuff that my body actually needs, and just enough of those decadent flavors that give me a pat on the back and the “Attagirl” that I’m looking for.

“Attagirl” Peanut Butter Cup Granola

Ingredients:

5 c. quick oats (You can use old-fashioned oats here if you’d like, but I enjoy the texture that quick oats give.)

1 c. peanuts (It’s funny how The Man tries to sneak the weirdest ingredients into the strangest places, e.g., a jar of peanuts. Check the label before you buy your peanuts to be sure that the only ingredients are peanuts and salt.)

½ c. ground flaxseed

1/3 c. coconut or light olive oil (If you’re going the olive oil route, make sure the bottle says “for baking” on the description. The more robust olive oils won’t give the flavor we’re looking for in this recipe.)

1/3 c. maple syrup (Don’t even try to slip Aunt Jemima in here. I’m serious.)

1/3 c. peanut butter (Again, look at your ingredients. There should only be peanuts and salt listed if you want to bypass all the crud that can sneak into your food.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

1 c. chopped dark chocolate (Personal preference reigns here. If you want to keep this recipe vegan, then milk chocolate isn’t an option. But if you’re a die-hard Milkie, go for it. And I won’t hold it against you. I promise. Yes, in my eyes the darker the chocolate, the better. But in The Kitchen, there are no dividing lines, no Us and Them. We’re all just chocolate lovers here.)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl combine first 3 ingredients.

Now, mix together the next 5 ingredients. You can do this by hand in a separate bowl or you can toss the ingredients in your blender. No need to break out the big guns like a Vitamix for this job—a small blender will do the job just fine. And yes, here I go harping on about the kitchen appliances again. But really, throwing all those ingredients into your little countertop Ninja and blitzing it for 30 seconds might save you a brief arm workout. But if you don’t have a blender or you’re looking to tone your bi’s and tri’s, just do it by hand.

Once they’re mixed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and combine thoroughly. Sometimes I even get my hands in there and massage everything around just to make sure all the ingredients are getting the same attention. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, stirring the granola halfway through.

When the granola reaches that toasty, golden-brown color, pull it out of the oven and let it cool right there on the cookie sheet. Once it’s completely cooled, add the chopped chocolate and stir it around. All that’s left to do is dish a generous helping into your favorite bowl, maybe add a few banana slices on top, pour in your favorite plant milk, and choose the coziest spot on the couch to nestle into while you enjoy.

Photo by Mike Meeks on Unsplash