For the month of January, I cut out added, artificial, and refined sugar. I wanted to re-calibrate my taste buds as well as be more aware of how sugar is added to everything we buy. The three staples of this program: 1) know all the names for sugar, 2) read labels even when you don’t think you need to, and 3) meal prep/cook at home as much as you can.
Overall, it was a good experience and I will continue to eat lower sugar, but it wasn’t life-changing. Here are some of my favorite recipes from the month:
Breakfast
- Apple Cherry Baked Oatmeal
- 10-Minute Chia Seed Jam: I made this twice; blueberries & vanilla extract was my fave combo.
- Instant Pot Hard and Soft Boiled Eggs: Not really a recipe, but I love this method so much I included it anyway.
- Make-Ahead Seeded Oats: I made this without sweetener and stuck in a bag in the fridge. Used it for both cold overnight oats and hot oats. Mix-ins for some sweetness: chia seed jam from above, pear butter from the farmer’s market with no added sugar, peanut butter, unsweetened applesauce, or some combination of these things.
- Easy Homemade Bagels: I used whole wheat flour and everything bagel seasoning one time, and whole wheat flour, sea salt, and sesame seeds the next. The taste is great, but the texture is definitely a little more dense and chewy than typical bagels.
- No Sugar Added Blueberry Almond Overnight Oats
Ground Turkey/Beef
Chicken
- Baked chicken with Creole seasoning blend and 5 Minute Magic Green Sauce, side of sweet potato and broccoli roasted with olive oil, salt, & pepper: Inspired by Spicy Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Broccoli but exact instructions not followed. 1/4 of the seasoning recipe was more than enough.
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower and Peas over brown rice: I subbed in frozen cauliflower cooked 80% of the way in the microwave before adding to Instant Pot.
- Burrito bowls: Brown rice, salsa chicken (see below), black beans (drained, rinsed, and warmed with 1 Tbsp taco seasoning), and toppings (e.g., guacamole, thawed sweet corn, salsa, hot sauce, cheese, plain Greek yogurt). For the salsa chicken, heat 1 lb. of chicken in Crockpot with 1 Tbsp taco seasoning, 1 jar of salsa, and (optional) ~1/4 cup chicken broth if you’re worried about dryness (I always am) for 8 hours on low. Shred once cooked through.
- Mediterranean bowls: cauli rice, harissa shredded chicken, cabbage, cucumber, roasted red pepper sauce, hummus, homemade easy tzatziki (plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, dill, garlic salt, and pepper to taste). This would also be great with black olives and feta but I forgot to add them.
- Crockpot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup: I halved the amount of chicken broth so it would fit into my Crockpot and used yogurt instead of sour cream but kept everything else the same.
Vegetarian/Vegan
- Glowing Spiced Lentil Soup
- Creamy White Bean Shells with Broccoli and a dash of 5 Minute Kale Pesto: I just microwaved frozen broccoli so I did not do the sautéing, etc. the recipes specifies; also left out pine nuts and onion.