stevia rebaudiana

this week, we've had to make a few changes. you see... momma karen has been seeing this super cool mind and body doctor. the doctor suggested that my mom should take all processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and carbohydrates out of her diet. no more diet soda, splenda, little packets of flavour for water, bread, pastas, decaffeinated beverages, chocolate, chips, candy... you get my point. right?

so, on tuesday... i did a major... and i mean MAJOR clean out. well... it was pretty easy, there really wasn't a whole lot of carbs in the house to begin with. siobhan and momma karen were already eating everything that i've been eating for the past few weeks for dinner. so, it was just other bits of crap that was kickin' around. gone. into the composter. all the other stuff that wasn't opened was sent away with my brother... to his girlfriends dorm room! all the healthy food that we will be cooking with was moved into pantry in the kitchen. the other food, that we don't need to see, think about, want to eat... was put into the back room pantry. perfect.

i made butter chicken that night too!! oh my!! butter chicken is usually really rich, creamy, and oh... buttery. but, my mom had been watching a cooking show. and these women created a much healthier version of it!! it's terrific.... and tasted pretty stinkin' close to the real stuff. of course we ate it with whipped cauliflower! it was just like eating it with basmati rice. it soaked up all the tasty sauce. mmmm!

in the comments section of the previous post, my friend jenn mentioned stevia. this stuff is magic!!! go and check out their website... and read about the benefits in length! here is a little blurb from the site though...

"Benefits of stevia: Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a wonderful dietary supplement used for over 1500 years as a sweetener and for medicinal purposes. Since the 1970's, stevia has been used in Japan as the main alternative to sugar, used instead of the banned aspartame in diet soda, gum and other food and beverages. Stevia is also being used as a sweetener in other countries after extensive studies proved it's safety. Stevia has been used with success to treat many ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure, gingivitis, digestion ailments, addictions, topically for acne and other skin ailments and also as a wonderful weight loss aid. Safe for diabetics as it does not raise blood sugar!"

so, i went out and bought some. i was excited to start experimenting with it!!! one of my mom's greatest disappointments about no more artificial sweeters was no more diet pop. she doesn't drink lots of it... but, likes something fizzy to drink once in a while. so... i created this for her:

fizzy berry soda
2 cups frozen berries (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry)
1 cup water
2 tsps stevia
put everything into a pot, over medium-high heat... simmer for 20 minutes. stir occasionally. blend with stick blender. then pass through a fine sieve, into a container. chill. then put about 1/4 cup of the sauce into a glass with a few ice cubes and top with club soda!!!

according to my mom... it's pretty good! i haven't had any yet... but, on april 1st... when i can have fruit again. i will definitely try it out!! i think that i'm going to make mango sauce... and a bunch of other different kinds. it will be refreshing when it gets warm out!

5 more days till i have some fruit.

133 more days till aderito arrives in toronto.

135 more days till we fly off to vila franca do campo!