Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

So my husband has been on this year-long quest to live as healthy as possible. A major aspect of this endeavor is a very strict diet that eliminates all refined sugar and limits the intake of natural sugar except for fruit. Watching my husband, who before could polish off a whole cheesecake in one sitting, limit his sugar and continue strong made me realize how much sugar I eat every single day. I mean…I am surprised I am not pre-diabetic. Seriously. So I challenged myself to go 30 days without eating any refined sugar. Can I say how much it sucks? Cuz it sucks. Even tho I am eating fruit and a few organic treats with natural sugar, I still crave some pretty unhealthy things. But hubby says the things in life that are worth it are usually the hardest to do. He’s my Confucius, what can I say. So in an ode to all that I’ve sworn off for the next month, I present you with my Top Ten Tuesday list:

Top Ten Sugary Snacks I Dream About

1) Animal crackers & cream cheese frosting If you’ve never had this snack you must try it today. And don’t over-think it - get the basic 2lb Stauffer’s animal crackers from Walmart (for like $1.98), get a can of cream cheese frosting, and let your taste-buds do the talking. So good. And good is quite the understatement. This snack helped me through many all-nighters in college…and all-nighters with the babies.

2) Graham Crackers & cream cheese frosting Another good alternative, especially when you make a cream cheese frosting and graham cracker sandwich. yum. o.

3) A big spoon with cream cheese frosting Sometimes there is no time for scrambling. Grab can. Grab spoon. Go for it.

4) Golden Oreos I would love to say I can stop myself at just a few…or even a row. But sadly I can not. These are one of my favorite and every time I think about cutting out sugar I will say “but what about my golden oreos??” And then when they came out with Double-Stuffed? Forget about it.

5) Fruity Pebbles A throw-back to my childhood. This was before all the studies and reports linked excessive sugar to child-hood obesity. Back then our parents knew it probably wasn’t good for us and we knew it too but we wanted it so we nagged and we begged and we pleaded until that colorful box made it’s way into mom’s shopping cart. One of my favorite after school snacks and still one of my favorite cereals (and ice-cream toppings as well) still.

6) White Chocolate Covered Pretzels Flipz or homemade, this mixes salty and sweet beautifully. When Sam’s started carrying the big box of them, I’m pretty sure I skipped up to checkout with that bad boy and made sure our club membership stayed current. Love these.

7) Pumpkin Pie Blizzard This is a seasonal item at Dairy Queen, which I understand but I also think is a travesty since this blizzard is a.maz.ing. Dairy Queen softserve flavored with pumpkin pie spice blended with chunks of shortbread “crusts”…I’m salivating. Truly. So if you haven’t tried it you must!! So get your calendar. Flip to the month of October. Write in really big letter “GET PUMPKIN PIE BLIZZARD!!” & then stamp “URGENT!” underneath. *nodding* you’ll thank me later.

8) Rice Krispie Treats Who doesn’t love them, really??

9) PopTarts Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Night Cap - there is always a good time for a poptart. Lumme some poptarts - I even made a pie showcasing it. Frosted strawberry is my favorite, apple cinnamon a close second.

10) Vanilla cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting Easy-peasy. I have yet to be faced with these while I’ve started my journey but I know if I do I will walk away either sobbing silently to myself or shaking from the desire to pound a few dozen. oh. mama.