Knowledge is Power

I have heard that "knowledge is power" my whole life but it's just one of those sayings that you agree with but don't really get.  I think I get it now.  Let me preface this with the fact that I love sugar, in all it's beautiful forms.  I started baking at a very young age and fell in love with the kitchen almost immediately.  When I was in jr. high-the worst time of life for most of us-I remember feeling friendless and alone and my mom, who at the time had at least 8 other kids, changed my life.  Instead of ignoring my whiny-ness or telling me to suck it up and deal with it, she took me into the kitchen and taught me how to make bread.  I am sure the last thing she needed was flour everywhere and yeast crusting up on the counters while her young teenage daughter with no friends found herself.  But there she was, with the 1000 other things she had to do that day, spending time with me in the kitchen.  I never realized what an amazing mother she was til I became one myself.  How grateful I am for her very precious minutes and hours! Long story short, I won first place in a contest for my bread and I was hooked on baking.

Cooking is therapy!  I have spent many a frustrated days using my mixer to beat the stress right out of me using butter and brown sugar!  I love baked goods.  Cookies, brownies, cakes, breads, and other tasty morsels.  However, as of late, I have been reading that sugar is bad for you!  Huh.  Who knew??  :)  Honestly though.  The more I read about biochemistry and how high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and other sweeteners including artificial ones are processed by the body, the more I have been able Pto say no to those things.  I have always felt sugar was a plant, right?  Almost a vegetable!  But if you have ever seen sugar cane, you know white sugar doesn't even resemble it!  And I don't really believe HFCS is any worse for you than sugar but the fact that it is found in almost all processed foods means we are consuming way too much of it. The info I have found has given me much knowledge and therefore power.  Power to read labels and make better choices, power to change my recipes, power to just say "I do not need that, my body doesn't want that, and I am not going to eat that" for the first time in my life.  However,  our bodies are hard wired to taste sugar, salt and fat and I think we were
meant to enjoy those things but just like everything, we gotta find that happy middle so our middles 
can be happy! My family is not too thrilled about our new journey but i feel the responsibility of the health of my husband and children on my shoulders.  I do all the buying and all the cooking.  What I buy and cook is what they  eat!  Oh the pressure!! Here's an altered recipe that my family loved.

Blackberry Crisp

1 c. Oats
1/2 c. Whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Honey
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/4 c. Butter
5 cups fresh blackberries

Put clean berries in prepared 2 qt. dish.  Whisk remainder of ingredients together and smear over berries.  Bake at 375* for 30 min.

p.s.  my sister sent me a recipe for brownies made with black beans!  Yikes!  I will let you guys know if I ever try that one, that is if my hubby lets me live long enough to blog about it!NY Times article on sugar-lengthy but amazing information.