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Combination of inspirations this weekend had me making pickles. After seeing this post, then reading about pickled pattypan squash this month in Cooking Light, I decided some zucchini quick pickles were in order. I haven't pickled zucchini in a long time, and I'm excited to see how these turn out.

Half my family is diabetic, so we use a lot of Splenda. We just sub out sugar for Splenda equally, EXCEPT in recipes where you have to cream butter with sugar. Because Splenda has a different, fluffier consistency, it doesn't mix as well. But with things like batters, biscuits, etc. it's fine. They do have Splenda for baking, which is half sugar/half Splenda. It's a good start.

And using WW flour, I'd also start by subbing out only part. The glutens in WW flour react differently than with AP flour.

Hannah, a big thumbs up on your writing style. And as a huge fan of dessert wine, I'll be hunting down a bottle.

Also, on a more personal note, I used to HATE all goat cheese, or any cheese reminiscent of goat cheese. Then, a friend put a really good feta in a salad, and I started enjoying feta more as I ate it. After that, I tried a pizza with little gobs of chevre on it, and while there was a slight aversion at first, now I LOVE it. Goes to show, some things, cheese especially, can be an acquired taste.

I would definitely agree with redhead. Even at full ripeness, the taste is like a very pungent, bitter green pepper. Not at all like a red pepper. Though, we did what Kerry did and made fajitas with red onions and purple peppers.....come to think of it, the purple in the pepper fades to almost the exact color of an overcooked red onion. They're definitely pretty, and do well in salads to add more color. Personally, too bitter for me....

Says "this sugar snap pea season". Should read "strawberry season" perhaps?

In regards to baking, anything that rises is going to have trouble with Splenda for Baking because Splenda does not contain the same chemical properties that allow things like cakes to get nice and fluffy. If I'm making a cake, and I want to decrease the sugar, I usually halve the sugar component and add a little bit of stevia. Cake made with Splenda subbed in for sugar usually has an odd aftertaste. You'll always need some amount of sugar in the recipe in order to get the rise and crumb that people associate with cake.

For whole wheat flour, if I'm making a cake, I use half white flour and half whole wheat flour, again because of problems rising. Whole wheat flour is heavier than white flour and won't rise as well. I find than a 50%/50% split is a reasonable compromise for a cake.

I haven't cooked with it yet, but I actually just tried a Kool Aid made with Splenda (I don't even drink Kool Aid, it was just a freebie sample at a baseball game) and it was delicious! It tasted less sugary than I remember the normal stuff tasting like, and I actually wanted more!

Hillary
Chew on That

My husband is diabetic and we've made a lot of changes as suggested by the nutritionist. It's definitely true as per luswim06's comment that once you start cutting back on sugar you taste how much utterly unnecessary sugar (or corn syrup!) there is in an incredible array of foods. We eat a lot of fresh, locally grown produce and part of why I emphasize that is based on our nutritionist's advice to always have a mix of fat, protein and fiber derived from actual green vegetable sources in every meal. The fiber is what slows down digestion and keeps your blood sugar steady. (Fruit is less desireable because of the carb load.)

We literally eat veggies at every meal now, whether it's tomatoes and sauteed spinach with breakfast, tofu and carrot juice in the smoothie - of course all the obvious salads and so on - the key is that fiber from actual natural food sources (not a fiber pill, powder, etc) to keep the blood sugar steady. And since you're supposed to eat 5-9 servings a day, this is how that can actually happen - LOL.

Our doctor is very happy because he has stabilized his sugar at normal, which is apparently the hardest thing to do. We are no saints believe me, and our next step is the exercise and weight loss, but for now - steady sugar has been a big improvement and it's all those veggies that do it.

That's why I bought Jessica Seinfeld's book about sneaking veggies into everything - she puts spinach in blueberry bars for instance. That book is too kid-oriented for us, but I think it's another way to accomplish the goal and she does not use splenda to do it.

Check it out and see if this emphasis on vegetables at every meal doesn't give you the actual long term results you are looking for. And good luck! It can be done, with love and patience and a sense of fun and exploration which you obviously already have in abundance! yay.....

Well said, dbcurrie--I tend to agree. Moderation is key, and if you listen to your body and provide it with whole, unprocessed and nutrient-dense foods (fruits, veggies, dairy, nuts, beans, seeds...) you will be well off.

That being said, I've still tried to cut out some added sugar in my diet--I've tried to substitute Splenda into recipes and it works, but from what I've tried, the textures and densities are a bit different than their originals. In muffins, I've had them turn out a bit more spongey and not as flakey--kind of rubbery, if that makes sense. My cookies have been a bit off as well, but it's been awhile since I've experimented.

My suggestion would be to, if baking, lower the sugar content a bit--most recipes can be cut back by 1/4-1/2 cup (at least!) and still taste and appear pleasant. It's a lot of trial and error, but it might be worth the effort. For fruit cobblers or crisps, try to find naturally sweet, in season fruits that DON'T NEED a lot of extra sweetener added to them. (I think that so many people have just given in to adding all this extra sugar to foods, and then develop this overly-sweet preference and need lots of sugar to satisfy their sweet tooth...so many recipes just pile on the sugar, in my opinion...)

A fruit trifle with plain yogurt, fresh berries, and angel food cake (yes, I know--it's basically pure sugar...) or a light pound cake could work! the sweetness of the berries would naturally sweeten the plain yogurt, and the cake part could also add that dessert-y sweetness, without going overboard.

FINALLY, I've recently started seeing a reduced-sugar brownie mix in grocery stores. I think it's Pillsbury brand, and I actually think it is pretty good. I usually add a thin glaze on top, and add some chocolate chips to the batter. If you underbake them just a bit and then chill them in the fridge (or even freezer) they are heavenly!!

@mepolo, I'm not a nutritionist (nor do I play one on TV). But I am extremely skeptical of unsubstantiated health claims, diets, food fads, etc. So when something new comes along, I tend to research it before I embrace it. Most things, I don't embrace, because I like food and if I want something "bad" I'm better off eating it once and being done with it, rather than "sneaking" it and feeling guilty or, worse yet, denying the craving and eating everything else that is similar but not as satisfying.

I also believe that if you really pay attention to your body, you'll choose the right foods for you. Eating a wide variety of things, in moderation (in my opinion) will get you the array of vitamins and minerals that you need, and keep you from overindulging in things that aren't so good from you. Most foods have good things and bad things about them, so if you eat a lot of different things, you balance the good and the bad.

Listening to your body includes paying attention to real hunger, knowing when to stop eating, and understanding that a craving may have something to do with a nutritional need as well as an emotional need.

People managed to keep themselves from starving and eat the right sorts of things to ward off vitamin deficiencies (if the right foods were available to them) long before there were nutritional labels.

Now, too many people rely on those labels and think that Lean Cuisine is a healthier choice for them than some fresh fruit because they can't count the carbs and sodium on the fruit label.

Listening to your body also means not basing choices on what is bad for someone else. Just because some people are allergic to peanuts, it doesn't mean peanuts bad and you should avoid them. Same with gluten or lactose or soy or any of the myriad things that other people have sensitivites to.

If you get a bad reaction to a particular food, then maybe you shouldn't eat so much of it. You don't need a doctor or nutritionist to tell you that if you break out if hives every time you eat strawberries, then maybe you should stay away from them.

And I'm really slow about jumping on the "this is bad for you" bandwagon that cuts whole categories of food from the diet. I really don't believe any natural food is bad for you, if you consume it in moderation. Some things that are bad for you in excess are required in the diet in smaller amounts, so trying to cut out these things is just plain silly.

Like the person I know who had decided that "salt is bad for you." That's it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Salt is bad. She has cut all salt out of her cooking and removed salt shakers from the table. But she hasn't a clue what's in the food she buys. Ham, bacon and McDonalds foods are high in the food chain for her, and she's overly fond of Chinese buffets as well. And there's plenty of soy sauce.

So she cut out table salt, but now craves other things which in the end probably means she's eating more sodium than ever. Once, I tried to tell her that salt was a necessary item, in the proper quantity, but she decided that table salt is the salt that's bad, and that's all there is to it. Her body, on the other hand, is telling her that she needs salt, so she craves bacon and other salty things.

Anyway, that's my rant. What works for me may not work for someone else. But a little bit of research goes a long way.