Week 37: Sugar

I didn't post this week's challenge yesterday because I still hadn't come to terms with it.  But, since it's the big elephant in my healthy eating closet, I might as well address it.  It's sugar (hanging my head in shame)!  For months, my family's sugar consumption has been in the back of my mind.  For the most part I shrugged it off by saying that we didn't eat THAT much sugar.  Besides, we do so well on so many things, I really don't need to monitor our sugar intake that closely. 

Sadly, Saturday morning the facts were staring me in the face.  I dumped the last of our sugar bucket into the canister.  You may remember when I made my first bulk purchase.  I went back to check the date.  It was March 12th that I bought 50 pounds of evaporated cane juice.  So, in slightly more than 6 months, my family (and daycare kids) have consumed 50 pounds of sugar.  Eek!  Of course that doesn't include the already prepared foods we buy whether they be bags of tortilla chips, a candy bar or the dozen donuts that my husband will dive 20 miles for at 5:30 in the morning just for his "fix."

Just the thought of consuming 50 pounds of sugar makes me nauseous.  I was so distraught about it that I brought it up to Hubby.  He said, "Well that's only 10 pounds each."  Yeah, no help there.  Since Saturday, I've been thinking of ways to reduce our sugar intake.  I don't plan to eliminate it completely because I value my marriage and I know full well that sweet tea ranks higher than me any day.  Even if it's not gone completely, there are a number of things I can do and I think most are things that my family won't notice (I find that those are the best changes.).

1. Whatever the amount of sugar is in a recipe (or the amount I use), cut it in half.
2. Use maple syrup and honey where applicable.
3. Make/eat fewer sweets.
4. Incorporate whatever sweets we are eating into the meal, rather than eating them separately, ie. a muffin with a scrambled egg for breakfast rather than a bowl of ice cream before bed.

This week I'll be experimenting with a few "sweet treats" recipes and I'll be making those with less sugar.  Reviews will follow.