Welcome to My Kitchen

Several requests for sugar free recipes have come in over the past two weeks. The holiday baking season is fast approaching, and folks who have recently been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes are struggling to find suitable recipes to replace traditional sweets. I have found that it is best to use recipes developed by the sugar free sweetener companies, as each product is a bit different, and none of them cook up the same as granulated beet or cane sugar.

Splenda.com and Truvia.com are excellent recipe sites available on the internet. Our public library has at least one Splenda Cookbook and other diet publications. All sweetener companies have conversion charts, sugar to sweetener, on their websites. What people miss most is crispiness in baked goods, and some do not care for the sticky aftertaste.

I know there are Odessa cooks who have some favorite sugar free recipes in their collection. Please share them with The Record readers. I have made many sugar free recipes over the years, but very few have made the cut and stayed in my recipe box. One fits the season, Nutra Sweet Pumpkin Pie, a recipe I found in a Twin Falls, Idaho newspaper in 2004.

Nutra-Sweet

Pumpkin Pie

Pastry for one crust pie

1 can (16 ounce) solid pack pumpkin

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

3 eggs

5 1/2 tsp Nutra-Sweet or 18 packets

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees.

Line pie pan with pastry and set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in blender and blend until smooth, 45-60 seconds. Pour mixture in prepared pie pan. Place in oven and bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 40 minutes more, or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not over bake. Yield: 8 servings.

All sugar free sweeteners are somewhat heat sensitive. Prolonged high temperatures can make them bitter in taste. Additionally, they do not have the keeping qualities of sugar, which means they spoil faster. So baked goods need refrigeration.

My sister-in-law, Tammy Bubemyre sent a recipe for Broccoli Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing. She found the recipe on http://www.WebMD.com, another place to look for specialty diet recipes. This salad recipe is yummy and crunchy and doesn’t require sweetener of any sort.

Broccoli Salad

With Creamy Feta Dressing

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

8 ounces broccoli crowns, trimmed and finely chopped (about 3 cups)

1 can (7 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained.

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

Combine feta, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until combined.

Add broccoli, drained chickpeas and bell pepper, toss to coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Yield: 4 servings.

Note: I used a 15 ounce can of chickpeas. You can double or triple the recipe easily.

Sugar free gelatin may be substituted in just about any recipe calling for gelatin. It takes just a bit more stirring to dissolve well, but is worth it for the sugar reduction and you can hardly tell the difference in flavor. Sugar free pudding mixes on the other hand, do have a different taste, but the sugar free cook&serve varieties taste pretty similar to regular cook&serve. Unfortunately it is hard to find, it is disappearing from the grocers order lists. Amazon.com has been my best source lately. If you like rice pudding, Creamy Rice Pudding, made stove top, is an easy sugar free dessert.

Creamy Rice Pudding

1 small (0.8 ounces) package vanilla or chocolate, sugar free, Cook&Serve pudding mix

1 egg

4 cups milk

1 cup instant rice

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

In a large sauce pan, stir egg into pudding mix, then stir in milk. Add rice and mix well, let stand 5 minutes.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand 20 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Pour into serving dishes. Serve warm or chill until serving time.

Flavor option for the holidays: add 1/2 tsp rum extract and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the vanilla version for eggnog flavor.

Note: this recipe may be made with regular cook&serve pudding mix.

Splenda Apple Crisp has appeared in this column before but it is the best sugar free version I have found so far. The apples are cooked in a saucepan so the baking time doesn’t turn the sweetener bitter.

Splenda Apple Crisp

6-8 tart apples, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick

1/4 cup raisins

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

3/4 tsp vanilla, divided

1/2 cup Splenda Sweetener

1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal

1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

Combine apples and raisins with 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until apples are tender and raisins are plump. Stir in 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon and vanilla. Cool mixture to 125 degrees, then stir in Splenda.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 inch square baking pan.

Combine margarine and oatmeal with remaining cinnamon and vanilla, mixing thoroughly. Spread evenly over apple mixture.

Place under broiler on medium heat until nicely browned. Watch closely to prevent burning. Serve warm or cold. Yield: 8-9 servings.

Share your favorite sugar free recipes, holiday treats and fall menu recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159 or email http://www.therecord@odessaoffice.com Or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Mulch carrots now to keep the ground softer for digging throughout the winter.