Trick The Holiday and Love It.

You do not have to sacrifice the holiday joys to save your weight. Gain flavor and feel satisfied without the cupcake, candy, pie, other gobbly goo. Just enjoy the best part.

I was at a gathering this week and the hostess had made a lovely platter of cupcakes. I ate one. It was yummy and I wanted more but I realized that I really only like the fluffy and insanely citrus-y icing. I will ask her for the recipe and I’ll share it here, but I think the take home lesson is that I didn’t really have to eat the whole thing. I would have loved just the good part. Can you imagine what that dollop of fluff would have tasted like on a warm slice of apple?

It is always a chore to come up with a safe (not carby) base for the thing that has all the flavor. This is why I’m promoting spice combos for our homemade yogurt. The spice doesn’t add any carbs or calories, just pure flavor.

Since it is almost fall, I’ll give you my pumpkin spice recipe. Just sprinkle it on your yogurt or kefir and gobble away. So yummy.

Be careful, though. If you use store-bought yogurt it will probably contain ingredients that will add to the carb count. Of course, use it if that’s all you have. But if the holidays don’t leave you enough time to maintain a yogurt supply, get a yogurt gaggle together and each person makes the yogurt for everybody when their time rolls around. You can find time once a month, I hope. Sarah can make it the next week. Jerry makes it the following week, etc. One person per week on yogurt duty.

Pumpkin Spice Recipe

Mix these spices together to keep handy. You can use them to flavor whipped cream, sprinkle on a buttered gluten free English muffin, a dash on your coffee or tea. It is really the fragrance that makes this mixture irresistible. Keep the spice mixture dry in a jar and when you use it, add a drop of stevia to your food item or recipe (I always do) to give it a tiny bit of sweet to round out the enjoyment.

3 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

3 teaspoons ground Allspice

3 teaspoons ground Nutmeg

1½ teaspoons ground Cloves