Ingredients

I have found some favorite go-to items that help me achieve the flavors I am looking for.  These items are wonderful products, easily purchased at your local store.  Since my blog and these recipes are written in the spirit of experimentation, you should feel free to try some of your own experiments, especially if you have some of your own favorite ingredients.

These are some of my favorites and you will see them in several of my recipes:

Splenda:  Well, this is the granddaddy of all my ingredients.  I think that it is a miracle product.  While there are many sweetening substitutes out there, this one, for me, is the most readily available.  It is also used in many other products that can be purchased and make fantastic additions to these reinventions.

Splenda Blend:  While I don't use the white, granulated version of this - half sugar/half Splenda product - I do use the Splenda Blend of brown sugar.  There is no full version of Splenda brown.  So while at first glance it looks like you are going to have half as much sugar in your recipe, it is actually only 1/4.  According to the equivalency chart and instructions on the package, you only use HALF the amount your recipe calls for.  For example:  If your recipe calls for 1 cup of brown sugar, you use 1/2 cup.  Then because it is half sugar/half Splenda there is only 1/4 cup of actual sugar in your recipe.  So while you can't make "sugar-free" products using Splenda Blend, you can get your sugar content very low.  For things like cookies, that really need that brown sugar, this is a great option.

Pillsbury cake mix:  While the sugar-free version at this time only comes in two flavors, yellow and chocolate, we have ways of changing the flavors of the cake...And, cake mix is a great base for other desserts besides cake.  Thank you Pillsbury for being out in front on sugar-free mixes.

Pillsbury frosting:  Again, the sugar-free version only comes in two flavors, vanilla and chocolate.  The flavors are pretty strong.  But I have a few tricks up my sleeve, to help you get a variety of flavors out of these basics.

Jell-O - gelatin and pudding:  The most wonderful thing about these products are the many varieties.  Unlike the limited selection of cake mixes and frostings, Jell-O started making sugar-free varieties in a wide selection of flavors in both the gelatin and the pudding.

Drink mixes:  You know the ones...Crystal Light, Kool-aid, Hawaiian Punch and many other brands, as well as generic powders are there to turn your water into a more tasty drink.  These come in the single serve variety and the 2 quart mixes.  These powders are great flavor adds to many of your sugar-free favorites.

Hershey's chocolate chips:  Wow!!!!  This was a game-changer for me.  So many things I want to make call for chocolate chips or melted chocolate.  The day I found this awesome ingredient, I came home and declared to my husband:  "This changes everything!"  He thought we had won the lottery...so,... he doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for sugar-free chocolate chips.  But he does enjoy the many things I am able to make because I have them.

Oreo cookies:  I can not tell you how many times I would say to my co-workers, "If there were just some sugar-free sandwich cookies...you know...kind of like Oreos.  They don't even have to be Oreos, just something similar."  Finally, one day the lady I sat next to said, "You know, I think that I saw something like that in the sugar-free cookie section at Wal-Mart.  I think it begins with a W.  Look the next time you go."  So even though I had looked many times before, the next time I was doing my shopping, I spent some extra time, looking high and low for the W brand of sugar-free sandwich cookies.  As I bent over looking into a hole in the lined up products on the next to the bottom shelf, way in the back was one lone package of sugar-free Oreos!!!!  Oreos!!!  The real ones!!!  Well, if the chocolate chips didn't change everything, the combination of having sugar-free chocolate chips AND sugar-free Oreos....that really DOES change everything!

UPDATE:  After I finished all of Christmas goodie making (thank goodness), I was going to make something for a special occasion and I went to buy some Sugar-Free Oreos.  The space on the shelf was empty.  So I just thought that this was a great product that everyone was buying and they were out.  I looked again the next couple of times... still out.  I went to a different store ... out.  I was complaining to my husband about it and he said, well, why don't you write to the company and find out.  I did go to the Nabisco's SnackWell division page on Facebook and send them a message and asked about it.  Their reply was that this product had been discontinued... DISCONTINUED!!!!!  ARGGGGG!!!!!!!  As you can tell, I am not very happy about this!

Smucker's ice cream toppings:  I don't know if you realize this or not...but you can get sugar-free hot fudge and caramel sauces.  Isn't life (and Splenda) wonderful!!!  After I found this, I even started finding the sugar-free hot fudge at my local frozen yoghurt shop...Yum!

Smucker's jams and jellies:  Although Smucker's isn't the only brand of sugar-free jams and jellies, they do have the greatest variety.  There are several varieties that can be found in generic forms as well.  But if you want unlimited varieties, you can actually make them yourself.  I know, I know...but it really isn't hard.  I will post some recipes and it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the in season fruit at your local farmer's market or grocery store.

Cool Whip:  This store bought whipped cream has never been a high calorie food.  Just a spoonful on a piece of pie or other decadent dessert certainly was a good trade off.  This versatile ingredient, in it's sugar-free form, can take you to some fantastic places.

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter:  Even though there is no sugar to worry about when dealing with butter, I have found that the sticks of this brand work well in all of the recipes I have tried so far.  Right now, it is the only butter product that I buy and I use it for everything, from baking, to popcorn, to toast and even in cooking or sauteing.

UPDATE:  After hearing a few things in different places about margarine in general, I took a look at the labels between I Can't Believe It's Not Butter  and real Butter.  The calories and fat grams are the same.  The only thing that I could find different on the label was the cholesterol...  butter has it and the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter does not.  So I have started buying butter again, since I don't really have an issue with my cholesterol.  I really feel like the substitute product worked well in all of the recipes, so if you do have issues with your cholesterol, I would certainly continue to use it.

Missing in Action:
     The one product that I have not found that I would really like to have is a "Splenda"-type version of powdered sugar.  You can find recipes for making your own powdered sugar from regular Splenda and some additional ingredients and I will probably include some of those I have found at some point.  While they work fine in small quantities, they will not work when powdered sugar is the main ingredient, like in cake frosting.  I will keep searching and trying new things, but for right now, this is my product which is Missing In Action.