If anyone has access to the latest Time magazine (June 23, 2014) the cover article "Eat butter" makes some very interesting points!

Hiya Umpa!  I'm thinking of playing with some of the recipes in the bakery book but have a couple questions.  You use Xylitol almost exclusively in your baking.  What would you recommend as a substitute for that?  I'm trying to cut back on my Splenda usage and am eagerly awaiting my FTS sweetener.  However my husband is incredibly sensitive to the Xylitol and any little bit causes him rather major intestinal upset!  Is there a way to substitute in stevia instead?  If so, what do you think the ratio would be?  Thank you!

Hey TooSweet - I did some searching for BBQ sauce recipes after seeing yours - see what you think of this one!
1 - 6oz can tomato paste (20gm)
1/3 c Splenda (8gm)
1/4c finely chopped onion (4gm)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (0)
2 Tbsp Chili Powder (0)
1 tsp black pepper (0)
2 tsp smoked salt (0)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (0)
juice of 1/2 lemon (1.5gm)
1 clove garlic, chopped (1gm)
1 squirt mustard (0)
Water to thin out (I used about 1-1/4 cups)
Combine all ingredients in saucepan and simmer until onion is soft and flavors are combined.  If you like chunky, it's good to go!  I pureed it smooth.  Also, the smoked salt can be hard to find - I get it at my work; you can probably just use liquid smoke, I just don't know the numbers for it.  This is a fairly sweet sauce, you can tweak it with less sweetener or more heat.  It comes to 34.5 gm carbs for entire recipe - mine made 2 cups (16 servings @ 2Tbsp per serving = 2.16gm per serving).  I know you can cut that way down just by switching out the Splenda with Xylitol, but my husband can't tolerate the Xylitol.  I think next time I am gonna try it with Stevia instead.  Enjoy!!

Ok everyone, I've started cleaning out my cabinets today to get rid of all my sugar. Yes, 3 weeks after starting, but my husband just got on board this week so I hadn't taken anything out. My question to you all - did anyone else have a little mini panic attack about how empty everything is?!   Freaking out a little! 

  Has anyone tried these?  And if so, are they any good? Or does anyone have another option for jelly, that's something I miss some.  Thanks!

Ok so big high to big low.  Pht.   I just got back from my doctor's appt this afternoon, and what wonderful results he had to tell me.  NOT.  So 35 years old and my bad cholesterol is 220, good is 57.  I am pre-diabetic.  What exactly does that mean?!  Does that mean it's not bad enough for medication...yet?  Ugh.  And I think the part that made me the most mad is that according to their scale I only lost 2 LBS.  Double UGH.  I'm just frustrated, and kinda a little scared. 

Not sure if this is the right place for this... My one big thing is always flavor.  And the best, low carb way to add wonderful flavor is to spice it up!  Anyone who feels this way, please check out www.savoryspiceshop.com.  I work for this company here in Denver; it is owned by a family here.  We grind and blend most everything ourselves.  Yes, some of the blends have sugars - honey powder, white sugar, brown sugar or maple sugar.  A few have a little arrowroot in them.  But the website lists all ingredients for each blend so you can find lots that don't have those in them.  We have over 140 blends and over 400 products altogether.  The freshness is the key! Did you know cinnamon is usually only potent for about 6 months?  We sell all our products in as small as 1/2 oz bags, up to lbs.  There is no MSG or artificial ingredients in any of our products.  I hope you all enjoy!  When I first found this place 6-7 years ago I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

Hi all.  I am trying to have my low carb options in place before I get started (hoping it helps with the transition!).  Searching carbsmart.com I came across Dreamfield Pasta. Supposed to be 5gm "available" carbs?  Any thoughts?  Thank you!