Chocolate pudding

I stopped using sugar from the bowl or canister about 2 years ago and changed to local honey. We haven't given up sugar, because we still eat restaurant and store purchased desserts. But today I made chocolate pudding from scratch using honey. It was quite good. Just milk, cornstarch, dark chocolate (cocoa, 100% cacao natural unsweetened), a little sprinkle of salt, honey, vanilla, and I added some butter which wasn't in the recipe. It was very good, more chocolate tasting than the box or store bought.

Boxed dry chocolate pudding mix (both Jello and Godiva) contains: sugar, modified cornstarch, cocoa processed with alkali, sodium phosphate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (for thickening) contains less than 2% of natural and artificial flavor, salt, artificial color mono- and diglycerides (prevents foaming), red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1.

Sodium phosphate is a salt, but it is also what is used when preparing for a colonoscopy. Tetrasodium pyrophosphate is used as a buffering agent, an emulsifier, it’s more salt, and is used in toothpaste and cat food but can promote algae growth in water. Yuk. I won't even analyze the dyes, but I can assure you, that by using 100% cacao ( which has to have a lot of processing to make it useable) the dark color was richer than the box mix.

Chocolate, wine, coffee and butter?

The more the government studies our nutritional needs, the heavier Americans get. I've gone back to butter and whole milk. If the experts can't figure out fats, carbs, and supplements, and now find good stuff in chocolate, coffee and wine, why follow the guidelines? Eat less, move more. The rest is footnotes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/upshot/are-fats-unhealthy-the-battle-over-dietary-guidelines.html?_r=0

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/02/12/275376259/the-full-fat-paradox-whole-milk-may-keep-us-lean

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/19/174739752/whole-milk-or-skim-study-links-fattier-milk-to-slimmer-kids

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/19/174739752/whole-milk-or-skim-study-links-fattier-milk-to-slimmer-kids

My own theory is, the more fat and real sugar you remove from food, the hungrier people get, so they just eat more.

Calories do count!

This morning at Wal-Mart I stopped in the bakery section and looked at the cookies. We really don't need them, but, my goodness they looked wonderful. So I picked up oatmeal-raisin and oatmeal-raisin sugar free, which was twice as much, and compared the ingredients. Both had palm oil, which I don't think is good for us, but in small quantities, it's probably not a killer. But look at that fat and calories count! The sugar-free cookie was much higher in calories, and it would be my guess that you'd probably eat more of them too, because they don't have the same flavor and texture. The reverse is true with fat-free--usually a lot more sugar.

Americans are getting really picky about chemicals in food, sustainable and organic crops, and natural this and that. But they continue to get fatter. I think we were much better off with sugar and lard and fewer snacks and desserts than with chemically modified foods that don't satisfy, but are always at hand, so we eat more. If you really want low fat or low sugar, either add water or eat less.

Sugar free desserts

Jello-sugar free pudding snacks are creamy, low calorie, low fat and very tasty. There’s almost no down side--until you read the ingredients and can’t pronounce some of them. Definitely better living through chemistry. Also, I don’t think coconut and palm oils are good for your body, swallowed or spread on your skin.

INGREDIENTS:
Water, xylitol, modified food starch, cocoa processed with alkali, milk protein concentrate, contains less than 1% of hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut and palm kernel oils), salt, sodium stearoyl lactylate (for smooth texture), sodium alginate, sucralose and acesulfame potassium (sweeteners), natural and artificial flavor, artificial color.

My husband eats one or two puddings a day, so I’ve been experimenting with homemade pudding--again. I used to always serve home cooked puddings, but got out of the habit as the processed products improved in texture and taste. Here’s what I tried recently, called interestingly enough, “Homemade Vanilla Pudding.” Pretty simple list of ingredients. 2 cups milk, ½ cup white sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon butter. (See allrecipes.com)

But of course, I changed it. The first time I added two eggs, changed the sugar to Splenda, added lemon juice and used 2% milk and only a dash of salt. Then to make it fluffy, I added sugar free Cool Whip. So by the time I was finished and it was in a pie shell, all I had done was reduce the cost, not the strange ingredients.

Yesterday I made it pretty much as the recipe card said, but still used Splenda instead of sugar (sorry, Gayle). It looked a little wimpy and pale, so I added a few tablespoons of sugar free strawberry jelly. It has a nice texture, color and taste, and if I’d had fresh strawberries I would have used that instead.

I’ll keep trying. Besides, for some reason I have 3 boxes of corn starch in the cupboard.