I think the texture is a bit of an acquired taste. I used to think it looked and felt nasty. Couldn 't get past the texture.

Now, i love it!!! Also, different brands have different textures. Some small curd, some larger. Some have lots of "juice", others quite dry.
You could also cream it in the food processor or magic bullet!

Beach Patrol, the only thing that helped wean me off of sugar were sugar-free multi fruit vitamin C chewable tabs. Every time I craved sugar I'd pop it in my mouth (one...two...however many it took) & I would savor the flavor. They taste almost like Sweet Tarts. I don't like fruit..so I never leaned on that as a substitute. This worked 100% for me. I have not had any sugar or sweets since Feb. Now I only need to use the Vitamin C about 1-2x a month when cravings creep around my TOM.

I was a sugar FREAK. Before I started my diet..just to say bye to sweets..I went to Walmart..bought the 30 pack of large candy bars for around $18 & scarfed them all down in less than a day. That was my farewell. Eliminating was very hard.

I actually only discovered I liked cottage cheese after eating the low fat versions. I like small curd, low fat cottage cheese only—the texture of large curd disturbs me, and I can't deal with whole milk or whole fat cottage cheese—but I REALLY like it that one way, and mixed with large peas, odd as that may sound.

I used gum to wean myself off sweets. I allowed myself to chew one piece when I absolutely felt I had to put something sweet in my mouth. But I definitely made sure I didn't just start popping piece after piece in. After about a week, I found I needed the crutch much less than before. I love sugar, but the craving lessens surprisingly fast all the same.

It helps me, a lot. Exactly as you desribed - when I'm eating plenty of fruit, I don't crave traditional desserts much.

I have totally cut sugar out of my diet. I didn't eat fruit, either, until the last 10 pounds or so. I now limit myself to one fruit serving a day and it must be eating with protein and fat to moderate its ability to spike blood sugar.

The problem with fruit isn't the fiber or minerals or vitamins. Those are all good. The problem is the fructose, which is a type of sugar. Excessive dietary fructose has been shown to cause an unhealthy elevation in serum triglycerides. Fructose also feeds the firmicutes, the bad bacteria in the gut and also creates too many advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). And, since fructose is a sugar, it may trigger sugar-cravings in some (not all) people.

For many people, these negatives may well be offset by the good stuff -- the minerals, vitamins, fiber. However, these are all things we can get from veggies, though, so we don't actually need fruit. It is really good tasting though.

After writing this, I realize I'll probably cut back on my one serving during my weight loss. Berries are the lowest in fructose, so those might be okay. I do have an orange and an apple in my bowl, so after those are gone ....

In answer to the question, I do use a little Splenda with some unsweetened dark cocoa that I mix with plain Greek yogurt for a dessert once in a while. Actually, looking back it hasn't been that hard to cut out sugar totally. I really needed to do that.

However, dark chocolate covered almonds still tempt me because I keep thinking the dark chocolate and the nuts might be okay once in a while. But then I realize I'd eat the whole bag so it's important not to even start down that road.