Kids & Low Sugar Desserts
Somebody I barely know asked me the other day if I was a nutritionist, because I’m nearly always toting something about nutrition or biochemistry to read when I have “sit around” time at my son’s activities, etc. I said no, but I’ve always had an interest in nutrition, cooking, and good food, and at this point in my life, that interest has taken a central position.
She proceeded to tell me the story everyone has heard, or told, about the “other mother” who is a freak about not allowing her kids to have sugar, eats tons of it herself on the sly, and how the “sugar-free” kids eat pounds of m&ms whenever they get the chance at someone else’s house. For those who know me, this will be hard to believe, but I just smiled and sort of nodded, but otherwise didn’t say much in response, because I’ve become a “low sugar” mom. And I think she was trying to bait me and I didn’t really feel like taking the bait. Of course, given the chance, my kid probably would eat what I would consider a lot of m&ms, though he did readily agree to toss out most of his Halloween candy, except some chocolate stuff, in exchange for a monetary “incentive”. Gabriel’s no “sugar saint”, but he is increasingly showing he can resist being a “sugar devil”, too. I don’t generally make a big deal of the packaged snacks offered at soccer games and parties (though they usually aren’t what I offer), because it is such a small part of what he consumes and I don’t want to give it a more appealing “forbidden status”. But he often isn’t even interested in finishing after a few tastes of the typical snacks that appear at some kid gatherings, so it’s kind of a moot point sometimes.
So what does my kid have for dessert? Less sugar than in the past, that’s for sure. Since becoming aware of my own impaired glucose metabolism, my efforts to make dessert a rare event haven’t been as successful as I’d like (in part, thanks to my husband, a sweet and agreeable dad), but Gabriel is pretty happy with many of the desserts I do offer. He really wants dessert often, ok, every night, so when I do make “something else” it has to be something with redeeming qualities that we can both agree on. He’ll even happily eat 72% dark chocolate so some nights a small square or two is sufficient (about 5 gms of sugar each) and so, so easy.
One of Gabriel’s most requested recent favorites is sautéed apples in butter with a bit of homemade granola topping with heavy cream garnish. It’s reminiscent of apple pie without the starchy crust and syrupy “gravy”. And it only takes about five minutes to make, so I don’t mind saying yes.
Sautéed Apple
1 apple, preferably a firm cooking variety, but any will do
1-3 Tablespoons butter, divided use
a few tablespoons of homemade, low sugar granola
heavy cream, plain or whipped
Coconut Sprinkles (finely shredded coconut with a touch of maple syrup and baked until lightly browned and crispy)
I core and cut a crisp, sweet-tart organic Cuyama Fuji apple into chunks (it’s the most local I can find and it’s the current fall crop) and sauté it in some raw butter on medium low heat, adding some ground cinnamon while the apple cooks for a few minutes. Eating-type apples will get a bit soft and start to become applesauce a bit around the edges, while cooking-type apples will stay firm and get a bit browned, so if you don’t like the result, try a different apple type. If I have some apples that are getting a bit soft or wrinkly (organic apples often don’t have the waxes applied to prevent this) and the kids won’t eat them for snacks, they are great for this dessert (wink, wink). I also use up apples that I have sliced up for Gabriel’s snack earlier but he was too busy to eat before they “got brown and old” - they go into a container in the fridge and secretly transformed after dinner or into his breakfast oatmeal. I’m such a cheapskate, I know.
Then I add a few tablespoons of homemade granola. The basic granola is made of dried soaked/sprouted whole oat groats, rolled quinoa flakes, coconut oil & butter, coconut flakes (unsweetened), chopped sprouted almonds and macadamia nuts (or whatever sprouted dried nuts I have on hand), a bit of maple syrup, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and whatever else seems good at the time (sprouted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, dried fruit bits, sesame seeds, etc.). After stirring the apples, butter, and granola in the hot pan and letting it cook a minute or two, I pour it all into a small bowl, and add a pat of raw butter to melt on top. When that melts, I drizzle it with some heavy cream (or a shot of whipped cream from my iSi cream whipper if handy), then a sprinkling of Coconut Sprinkles (finely grated coconut baked with a light touch of maple syrup until golden brown and crisp).
This dessert is a little bit sweet, but not too sweet, and yet has no where near the sugar and starch content of a slice of apple pie, so is not likely to spike a “sugar high” or insulin rush. And it takes surprisingly little added sugar to tickle Gabriel’s sweet tooth these days if the presentation is right. Cinnamon and a bit of cream, especially from the iSi cream whipper, makes just about anything look and taste like “dessert”, not like “health food”.
But it is health food: the soluble and insoluble fiber content is substantial in apple, sprouted oats*, quinoa flakes, sprouted nuts*, and coconut; the nuts provide protein, natural fats and minerals; the quinoa provides more protein than most grains or legumes with less starch and is gluten-free; the coconut and coconut oil provides medium chain fatty acids, great for the brain and an excellent energy source that burns easily, almost like a carbohydrate; and the raw butter and cream from grass-fed cows provides lots of naturally-occurring fat soluble A & D vitamins, which is good for his bones and teeth, as well as short and medium chain fatty acids, which along with the pectin in the apple peel, are prebiotics, a.k.a. nourishment for the good bacteria in the gut.
Does Gabriel know that all of this good stuff is in his dessert? Yes, I think he is catching on that there is more than just good taste, but of course, he doesn’t know the details - but he does understand that I put a lot of thought and care into what I feed our family and that his dessert is not just for the purpose of being yummy, it is also real food.
Will every kid accept and like this dessert or the other lower sugar desserts that Gabriel likes? I don’t know, but many of his friends will happily eat the desserts I serve, so I think there is a good chance that most will, especially if they aren’t already hooked on really heavily sweetened and starchy desserts. Changing to lower sugar foods can more easily happen if dessert is made at home rather than purchased prepared; the sugar content can be cut down over time, so that the change isn’t as drastic, allowing taste receptors to adjust.
Ultimately, the tastes and preferences that kids develop during their childhood, will more than likely drive what how they feed themselves as adults. And research is proving that many middle and senior aged diseases take decades to develop, so even though kids and young adults can seem the picture of health due to their youthful resilience, a diet high in refined sugars and starches will do unseen damage for many, many years before showing obvious symptoms or noticed on a health screening. We can’t know how to do everything exactly right to get our kids off to a good start, but minimizing the sugars and excessive starches in their diets is one of most important things a parent can do to put a big deposit in their kids’ “health accounts” to compound and draw on in years to come.
Note: *As per Nourishing Traditions, I soak and then slowly dry at low temps in the oven batches of whole oat groats and nuts to activate the enzymes to neutralize the phytates and ease digestibility. The soaking and drying (at the lowest oven temp or in a dehydrator) does take hours but the hands-on time is just a few minutes.
Phytates are anti-nutrients (anti-sprouting compounds) which bind minerals, inhibiting absorption in the intestine (potentially causing mineral deficiencies if phytate content is high enough, as in a high grain diet). In traditional diets, grains and nuts were sprouted (or fermented) before consumption, but that step has been eliminated with industrial processing. But industrial processing does not eliminate phytates and cooking does not reduce enough phytates. Sprouted oats also cook much faster than unsprouted oats, just about as fast as “quick” rolled oats, but with a better, nuttier texture instead of glue-y starch.
Going Against the Grain
Monday, November 19, 2007
