Need sugar free recipes - miracle berry makes everything taste sweet

jordylass

I would like to lose weight, (who wouldn't) but I don't do a great deal about it. I dieted on and off until I was 30, then grew up and give it a rest.
Since then (I'm 42) my weight has remained stable but way to high.
When I stumbled across the miracle berry from some blogs I was reading I was pretty sceptical, but I bought some from ebay and it was delivered this morning.
I'd seen some footage on youtube and read some articles; Guardian, BBC.
But I was still amazed that it worked. I hoped it would make my very dull muesli taste nice, (it didn't) I had orange juice (concentrate type) I was unable to drink until the berry wore off it was way too sweet. So I'm thinking what can I try it on, I didn't fancy a lemon...there were some granny smiths that I had in for the kids (I usually leave well alone) so I tried that and it was lovely, so instead of buying pink lady I think I'd be able to eat any type of old crab apple. Then I tried a tomato, that was the best thing, really lovely to eat.
So I'm thinking the berry works. I can cut down on sugar, say a rhubarb crumble with no sugar. My favourite thing to eat is ice cream, and I like sorbet, could I make a lemon or fruit sorbet with no sugar?
My OH is sceptical and I can see where he is coming from this thing has a limited usefulness it makes sour things taste sweet.
This is where I need your help, what could I cook, where I could leave out sugar, and still have yummy tasting food, by eating the berry before hand?

moo2moo

The bit you forgot to mention is it retails at £5.99 for 2g.

What happens when you've lost weight by persuading your body that everything good for you tastes sweet? Surely its more like feeding your sweet tooth than dealing with it. How much is this natural miracle cure costing you a week? £50 or is it more than that? Surely just reducing the sugar in the things you eat would make a difference without hitting you quite so hard in the wallet. You'd gradually get used to things not being qute as sweet.

No wonder your husband is skeptical. There is plenty of "yummy tasting food" availble which contains no sugar at all. There are plenty of naturally occurring sweet tasting foods which are good for you... pineapple being the most obvious one.

Make your dull museli taste nicer by adding dried fruit, or apricots, or fresh strawberries. Jamie Oliver has a great recipe ....

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of crushed bran (health food shops)
• 8 handfuls of oats
• 1 handful of chopped dried apricots
• 1 handful of dried dates
• 1 handful of crushed or chopped walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or Brazil nuts

Mix everything together. You can include different sorts of fruits (such as raisins or figs). This mixture can be kept in an airtight container for a number of months.

This is a sample bircher muesli.
The Night Before

• Milk (dairy or soy)
• 1/2 an Apple (per person)

The muesli needs to be soaked before you can eat it. Put your serving into a bowl and cover with milk. Grate the apple(s) into the bowl and mix. Place in the refrigerator.
Breakfast
The next morning the mixture has softened and thickened. Add more milk and throw in half a banana (chopped or sliced).
Add yogurt or berries (if available).

jordylass

I think you're missing the point. I already eat healthily,
I was having muesli for breakfast with or without the berry.
I do like sweet food and my downfall is ice cream. I'm wondering how I can get that sweet satisfaction without the sugar. My question was how I could make lemon sorbet, without the sugar. Lemon ice may work just as well. I didn't pay that amount for the berry it was £15 for 10g dried stuff and a few grains were enough for about 30 minutes.
I'm not planning to use it for every meal....

moo2moo

Ahh. My initial reading of your post was SPAM. A couple of grains of expensive something or other and pow in a single morning you can taste the difference. Its hardly a long term trial is it.

Your original post doesn't say whether you eat healthily just that miracle berries are a wonder cure. The 1970s clinical trials failed to reach that conclusion long term. However by way of a peace offering.... sugar free lemon, chocolate, cinnamon and apple cider sorbet recipes follow.
Sugar Free Lemon Sorbet


1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 1/4 cups water, divided
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons Sweet'N Low Bulk, divided
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

In small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup water; let stand 5 minutes to soften gelatin. Add 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons Sweet'N Low. Cook over low heat, stirring, until gelatin and sugar dissolve completely. Pour into large bowl; add remaining water and lemon juice. Chill until syrupy, about 2 1/2 hours. Beat egg whites with remaining tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon Sweet'N Low until stiff but not dry. Fold into syrup mixture with lemon peel. Pour into aluminum loaf pan or rectangular baking pan. Cover with foil and freeze 2 hours or until frozen 1 inch around edges. Spoon into large bowl and beat until smooth. Return to aluminum pan, cover and freeze 3 hours. Transfer to bowl and beat again. Return to pan, cover and freeze until firm, several hours or overnight. To serve, let sorbet stand at room temperature about 15 minutes for easier scooping.

Per serving 1/2 cup:
36 calories, 1 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 11 mg sodium.
Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 fruit
Chocolate Sorbet

2 c. water
1 c. cocoa
1 c. artificial sweetener
1 egg white

Combine water, cocoa and sweetener in saucepan over medium heat, stirring until well dissolved.

In a small bowl pour a small amount of your cocoa mix into the bowl and whisk in the egg white slowly, which will bring the temperature of your egg up slowly without cooking it in slivers, add the entire mix to your saucepan. (This process is called Tempering. If you do not temper your egg white, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your sorbet!)

Remove from heat, refrigerate. Churn in your ice cream maker (follow manufacturers Directions for your machine.)

Cinnamon Sorbet

6 regular size cinnamon sticks (approx 3 1/2" long each), broken into small pieces
2 c. water
1 c. artificial sweetener
1 egg white

In small saucepan combine the water and cinnamon, Cover and simmer on low heat for 35-40 minutes. Carefully strain the cinnamon water and add 1 c. of artificial sweetener, stirring until dissolved.

In a small bowl pour a small amount of your cinnamon mix into the bowl and whisk in the egg white slowly, which will bring the temperature of your egg up slowly without cooking it in slivers, add the entire mix to your saucepan. (This process is called Tempering. If you do not temper your egg white, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your sorbet!)

Remove from heat, refrigerate. Churn in your ice cream maker (follow manufacturers Directions for your machine.)
Apple Cider Sorbet

2 c. Apple Cider
1 cup artificial Sweetener
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 egg white

In small saucepan combine cider and artificial sweetener, stirring until dissolved. Add Lemon juice.

In a small bowl pour a small amount of your cider mix into the bowl and whisk in the egg white slowly, which will bring the temperature of your egg up slowly without cooking it in slivers, add the entire mix to your saucepan, whisking well.
(This process is called Tempering. If you do not temper your egg white, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your sorbet!)

Remove from heat, refrigerate. Churn in your ice cream maker (follow manufacturers Directions for your machine.)



Tips- adding egg white gives your sorbet a nice light body. Failure to add the egg white properly will result in frozen cubes that aren't much fun to eat.

jordylass

Thank you, I wouldn't need the sugar or sweetener in the recipe for it to be palatable, but would it make up OK without it?

Reading my post it does look a bit like an advertisement, but I was pretty impressed with the product and if I can use it to cut down my sugar intake i certainly will. Although then carbs will be the problem.

lil_me

I remember reading about this years ago, the FDA demanded it was withdrawn from sale didn't they?

jordylass

Yes Lil me, according to the BBC article there is some sort of conspiracy theory regarding the sugar industry. I saw the article by accident on the BBC and researched a bit and decided to give it a go. It does work very well, but it's a bit odd, it seems like any sour taste is blocked and any sugar that is in what you are eating is very pronounced. I think it would be great for rhubarb, blackberries, things like that which would normally need sugar adding.
The problem I'm having is trying to think of things I could cook apart from those without sugar. For e.g. Jam needs the sugar to set. I;d love to try ice cream without the sugar, but it's still going to be laden with cream. It would only taste sweet if there was some fruit in there. (I think)

spaghetti_monster

By the way, the Jamie Oliver recipe for museli/porridge that you soak in grated apple and milk overnight is gorgeous!

For the dried fruit I usually just chuck in (value) raisins and then just some walnuts (as well as the oats and bran). I find this tastes really quite sweet. Maybe the overnight soaking draws out the sweetness of the apple and raisins?

Seakay

Lemon sorbet is usually sugar syrup flavoured with lemon juice and possibly lemon zest with stiffly beated egg white stirred in from about halfway through freezing time. The egg white should offset any change in texture that you get from not including sugar (basically a slight slowing in freezing time and amount) and if the sweetening effect is really good then you could add some extra healthiness by liquidising whole peeled lemons and straining out any remaining pith and pips and using a little less water.
Alcohol in icecream and sorbets also stops a too solid set (not very healthy but you don't need much).
Good luck with your experiment; I think that careful use of this amazing fruit could be very beneficial and I would be really interested to know how you use it.

rachelleblondel_2

have you tried sweet cicely in rhubarb, add it when cooking, easy to grow in the garden (even better in a pot as it can be a bit of a pest) or maybe some stevia which is lots sweeter (250-300x's) than sugar and you only need a little

jordylass

I tried a lemon yesterday and it was wonderful, tasted like real (cloudy) lemonade. So I'm sure using the whole fruit in the sorbet would be fine.
I've searched some low carb recipes which mostly suggest a sugar substitute. I am going to try some of these and just omit the sugar altogether. One recipe suggests using gelatin to make jam. I'll see how I'm doing when I have enough fruit for jam making.