Well, here we are on May 6th.  Six days into our families’ sugar elimination challenge. Is anyone in the challenge with us?

I would highly advise anyone to give it a try.  It isn’t too late to start your own 14 day challenge.  Maybe you don’t eliminate all sugar, but pick one thing, such as sodas, breads, or candies.

It’s really eye opening what items have sugar in them.  I have caught myself attempting to cook or eat something and checking the labels to be sure, and then surprised to find it has sugar in it.  For example, season salt. Salt.  It’s the opposite flavor of sugar and yet it’s in my season salt (which probably isn’t that great for you anyway).

Chocolate and sweet snacks have been my hardest mentally to give up.  I always love getting a little sugar snack at the grocery store.  But I had very little self-control with them.  (Hence one of the reasons for this challenge).  My friend, Stephanie, at Lady Handled suggested I try her Raw Chocolate Turtles.  I decided to give them a try and really liked them.  Being that my husband doesn’t like pecans, I got creative with them and created my own modification of them.  I’ll share my creations in the next little bit (I’ve noticed having 2 kids now has really slowed down my blogging time!).  I did run into another item unexpectedly covered in sugar…coconut.  I made these nice macadamia nut truffles rolled in coconut, only to read the label AFTER I made them.  Yes, my coconut had sugar in them.  I shared them with a friend and picked up some non-sugared coconut at the grocery store today.

Can I say my body feels different? Not really. I hope that over time I begin to feel different.  I can say that my daughter and I haven’t been sick in the last few weeks.  Not sure if it’s related to sugar or our mold elimination attempt. But it makes me feel better to know we aren’t eating as much sugar and instead we’re eating more fruits and vegetables.  I still have my sweet cravings but am excited to continue looking for alternatives. Do you have any recipes to share?