Rainy Days and Sundays are Caramel Worthy

 

In 1971 Karen Carpenter sang us a song about how rainy days and Mondays get her down. In my world, it doesn't matter the day, but rainy days don't get me down as much as they make me want to bake. Today I thought I would try my hand at making something sugar free. For anyone who reads our posts regularly, Terry and I are both diabetic. These cookies fit the bill as they are sugar free, but this will be the first time I bake sugar free desserts. My daughter bakes healthy meals and sugar free desserts all the time. They always come out perfect. My granddaughter, Jessee like to eat sugar free as well because she has PCOS which is polycystic ovary syndrome. 

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which the ovaries produce an abnormal number of androgens, male sex hormones, that are usually present in women in small amounts. Numerous cysts can develop in the ovaries. PCOS can make pregnancy almost impossible and there are several other issues that go along with PCOS. That is why my great granddaughter Zyrah is such a blessing.

Not to veer off into Jessee's medical records but she also keeps an eye on how much sugar and carbs she digests each meal. This is an awesome thing because she is so careful, she has lost weight and has had a baby even after doctors told her she wouldn't or couldn't have a child. Jess bakes a lot of sugar free items too, such as an amazing banana nut bread with chocolate chips. Wow! Is it ever awesome!

Anyway, I thought I would give the sugar free baking a try tonight. Terry had another A1C come in and it woke us both up as to how badly we have been eating. It is a must that we go with as much sugar free as we can and eat plenty of fibrous foods along with tons of veggies. So, here we go.

Terry's attention was on the Oscars tonight, but I just have not been able to get into them. Not just this year but any year they've been televised. I know, l am strange but it's just the way I am.

I spent my evening making steaks and mashed potatoes for dinner and of course, the cookies for dessert. I've eaten plenty of sugar free stuff, but I have never personally baked with sugar free ingredients. Not sure how these will turn out, but boy, do they smell awesome!

Because of diabetes, we are supposed to watch our carbohydrate intake as well. We both try, but too many good foods are filled with carbs and are difficult to stay away from. But alas, we have to if we want to remain healthy and within the normal blood sugar limits. 

First, we started out with the dinner portion of the evening. The steaks came out well done and wonderful, just the way we both like it. Potatoes, well, who doesn't enjoy mashed potatoes with a dab of butter? I followed that up with a larger portion of sweet peas. I love peas! We took our plates of food and sat in the TV room to begin the Oscar viewing. Terry had watched most of the show and I jumped in toward the end. 

I love the combination of meat, potatoes and peas. The peas and potatoes should always come with a dab of butter! The steak was well done to perfection. Just the way I like it. All in all, dinner came out great!

Terry commented that his dinner was good too. Hey, I'll take the compliment! He is an easy man to please.

We ate through the last part of the Oscars and called a timeout during the commercial break to snag a couple of cookies. The sugar free caramel cookies came out great! So much better than I expected. They didn't look like the conventional sugar filled cookies I used to make, but they tasted great! I was impressed.

I replaced the brown sugar and the white sugar with sugar substitutes. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the substitutions are tasting now. They used to leave an aftertaste, but that seems to be an aspect of sugar free baking that is dissipating as time goes on. At least it's not so strong. You can taste a small difference, or the substitutes will sometimes leave a cooling affect in your mouth. Strange, yes, but it is what it is as the saying goes. But the substitutions seem to be better now than they were years ago when I first tried the keto diet. 

With dinner done, chores complete, it is time to walk the pooch and let him do his duty for the night, then we will climb in bed and call it another day. Even on rainy days life is good. I love the home life or going out to do fun activities. Either way, I'm feeling very blessed to have Terry and the animals, my family and everyone I care about in my life. Even my enemies are a blessing because of the lessons I learn from them. I do wish you all blessings in your life as well and the ability to know what blessings you do have. We all have something in our lives to be thankful for. I wish Karen could have enjoyed rainy days and Mondays a bit more. May she rest in peace. 

Have an awesome week and remember to count your blessings,