The Natural Sweetener Debate

I know I haven't posted for a while. I didn't even have a chance yet to post about my daughters 2nd birthday(!). But this I kinda wanted to put out there. I haven't done any extensive research, but I guess we'll see how things go.

I guess what I'm looking for is 'the best' natural sweetener for our family/situation. We are a 1 income family and there's Type I Diabetes in our household. So something not too expensive and if it's good for the diabetes, all the better. I've been looking around online, and, of course, there's many conflicting opinions.

As far as I can tell, here are my options:

• Agave Nectar
• Maple Syrup
• Sucanat
• Raw Cane Sugar

The pricepoint for regular refined sugar seems to be best, but I've 'banned' it from our home. I know people who have gone to the sugar factory and seen things. I mean, it's just heaped in piles on the floor and people step on it and spit in it. Yuck. This is what's in the package at the store. I'm not naming names/companies. I'm just sayin'. It could be the same for the sweeteners in the list, for all I know.

I'm not including Stevia because I don't like the aftertaste. I've bought it before and no one uses it.

Agave Nectar:
I've read lots of conflicting articles on this one. That it's just as bad as high fructose corn syrup, that it's super processed/not processed, that it's processed like maple syrup, that it's processed like corn syrup, that it is good for diabetes, that it's NOT good for diabetes. I'm not really sure what to think on this one. If it really has a low Glycemic index, that would be a plus, and worth the cost. I'd be interested in baking with this one if that is the case.

Maple Syrup:
Delicious, but expensive.

Sucanat:
After reading some articles, seems like this is just fancy raw sugar? Also Expensive.

Raw Cane Sugar:
Like regular sugar, but unrefined and not super processed. I've been buying various versions of this lately. It's cheaper but it doesn't dissolve in liquids that great and it's grainy in baking.

This is definitely not a deeply researched topic for me, but sometimes it's hard to weed through the 'facts' that are out there. I guess I'll just keep searching. =)

My husband is so witty sometimes

An exerpt of an email he sent in regards to a birthday dinner we were invited to (he misspelled my name wrong on purpose):

"I just spoke with Elaine and she said that we will not be able to make

it to the dinner but we would be up for activities.  What do you guys 

have planned for the activities?  Are there going to be arm wrestling 

competitions, balancing acts or just straight hanging out?  Please let

us know so we can train accordingly.  Cause I would hate to think that

I over trained for the balancing acts and we wind up with the arm 

wrestling competition.....that would blow.  Any hoo you're probably 

very busy typing with your eyes closed or having explosive diarrhea to

read any more so I'll allow you to return to your business.

Cheers,

Brrrr...or Why do I Live Here?

This is what my windows look like from the inside. Apparently it was
like -58C yesterday morning? It was recorded as the 2nd coldest spot
in the world at the time. Arg.

Please Ignore the Mess in the Background

Sometime this week, at 22 months, Evie started singing. Out of the
blue. The most surprising song she's trying to sing? "C is for
Cookie". She's heard the song maybe 3 times.

Would have been less confusing if they were called Butt Blisters.

Conversation with my mom today...

Mom: So there's a band at the party, they supposed to be pretty good. I think they are called Amroid.

Me: What?

Mom: Amroid.

Me: Hemorrhoid? You are going to see a band called Hemorrhoid?

Mom: No no. You know, Amroid.

Me: ???

Mom: Like the green.

Me: Oh, Emerald.

New(ish) Crayons

Making crayon disks from broken crayons. Tired of buying crayons all
the time. We'll see how Evie likes them when they cool. :)

Todays Prize

The last few times we've gone to the library Evie has found one item,
book or DVD, that she absolutely loved and knew she had to bring home.
This was todays prize. I let her wander in the kids section by
herself - me closely behind of course. She does her own exploring and
knows where the books are and where the DVDs are. I think pretty good
for a 20 month old.

Guinea Pigs!

@ free admission day at Valley Zoo

Homemade chicken stock

This is my first time making stock. I'm making it in the slow cooker
using the chicken parts/"garbage" I've froze when making other dishes.
I've been collecting parts for a while and now I have enough to make
stock. I used to buy stock - waited when it was on sale, but still $2/
L. This homemade stuff is essentially free. Well, less than $2/L
anyways.

Can I Have Some Eggos Pls?

Testing email posting

Just testing posting from my iPhone. :)

Meal Planning

We are starting to get settled at the new house. I'm able to work again (evieheartsmilo.etsy.com) without it being scatterbrained or chaotic. This also means that I can get to meal planning again.

I am a big advocate for this because I can budget exactly how much to spend as I know exactly what I need to buy for the week. Especially when I am no longer contributing as much as I used to money-wise, this sort of budgeting is important to us. What I do is go through flyers on Friday for 'Loss Leaders' - ie, the really good deals, and then base my menu on that.

This week, for those of you who are interested:
Monday - Rotisserie Chicken, oven fries
Tuesday - Chicken Ceasar Pitas (from leftover chicken Monday)
Wednesday - Pizza (handmade/scratch)
Thursday - Meatloaf, mashed potato
Friday - Hot dogs w/ fries

There is a little leeway - sometimes there are good deals at the store that aren't in the flyers, but this is my guideline for the week.

Now if I can stick to it this week, I know I'm well on my way. =)

New house.

We've moved. Again. This would be the 4th house we've moved to in the 6 years we've been married. Hopefully that's it. I hate moving. Hopefully I can get a routine down where I will be updating more often. Stay tuned.

Another Potato Creation

IMG_1119
Originally uploaded by Elaina B

Evie's potato head creation at 17 months. At least she's leaving the pieces in longer so I can take a picture.

Not what you think.

It's been nuts around here - sell house, buy house, banking stuff, selling stuff, tshirt orders...and I'm moving back to my mom's for a month because the sellers of the new house haven't even started looking for a new place yet. We don't get in until end of August.

Anyways, I had a few minutes before Evie gets up so I thought I'd share this.

My relatives are having a garage sale today. A couple of days ago, my aunt asked her 16 year old son (my cousin) to go into the basement to see if he can find more stuff to put for sale. So he goes into the basement and comes across this box.

It was marked 'Adult Toys'.

And he opened it.

Inside was a chess set, some checkers, monopoly, scrabble, etc...

Yipes. That was close.

Stuff I find on my camera.

IMG_0658
Originally uploaded by Elaina B

Or I should stop putting my camera anywhere Evie can reach it. There will be a series of these in the next little while. She apparently is more into taking pictures than I am.

Someone got a hold of my camera.

IMG_0533
Originally uploaded by Elaina B

Now there's yogurt all over the lens.

Rainbow Cupcakes....but you would never know.

IMG_0556
Originally uploaded by Elaina B

Made some rainbow cupcakes using this idea. It wasn't diet style. Just full fat goodness. For some friends we were visiting who just had a baby and didn't have time to celebrate his birthday. I guess I should have took a picture of the final product, but I forgot.

Potato of the Day

IMG_0553
Originally uploaded by Elaina B

By Evie at 15 months on May 8/09. I try to take pictures of her creations if I can be fast enough. She likes to pull the appendages out as soon as she puts them in.

Mailing List is Up.

I think I got it coded correctly. Hopefully.