Continuing in my quest to cut out artificial sweeteners, I tried agave in my coffee this morning. I used about a teaspoon in a regular sized coffee mug, but I didn't taste any sweet. It sort of had a funny taste actually. Do I need to add more? (I hesitate to do that because of the calories and sugars.) Do any of you use it in your coffee, and if so, how much do you use? I don't know if I can do this. I really miss my splenda sweetened morning goodness. Why does everything I like have to be so darn bad for me??
I don't use agave in my drinks, but I find it to be very sweet. I use about a teaspoon in my oatmeal. Maybe something else would work better? What about stevia?
I love agave nectar, especially for baking. At Twynn's suggestion, I now drizzle it over pancakes. My opinion, is it wouldn't do what you want it to do in your morning coffee without drastically increasing calories and sugars (even though it's lower glycemic). I, too, have been working to tweak my coffee better. What I've found, so far is that I use less splenda and I've also cut my coffee consumption down. I used to have several more cups during the day. I have about 3 cups in the morning(splenda sweetened) then stop for the day.
Good luck on your quest. For me, my morning coffee is quite a ritual.
I've seen a few recipes that call for agave... I've never been able to find it at the supermarket.. Where do you get it? (Not that I need anything sweet ... ;/)
I have found it at Wegman's and Trader Joe's. It's been awhile since we've been in the States, though, so I forget where in the stores it was. I order on-line now.
I've seen a few recipes that call for agave... I've never been able to find it at the supermarket.. Where do you get it? (Not that I need anything sweet ... ;/)
My supermarket has recently started carrying it. All health food stores have it, and Costco has even started carrying it in the last year.
I got my agave at a local food co-op that sells all organic foods. I didn't see it in the regular grocery store, but our area is not very progressive.
Kara, the lady at the store I got the agave at mentioned the stevia too, and they did have it there. It was kind of expensive though. Maybe I will try that next time I have some extra $$.
Hello,
I recently got into the "artificial sweetners are bad" mode as well and found a box of packets called SweetPlus, its stevia with fiber, no cals, no carbs and zero gi index. It is SWEET too! 1 packet in my coffee and I am good to go.
This coming from someone who used to drink SF Coffeemate with a lil bit of coffee every morning, lol, sweetplus is good.
You can also order agave from Amazon (I love having things delivered to my house and I hate shopping) I've been reading a lot about palm sugar and thinking it might also be SBD friendly because it's another low impact sweetener. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet because I have to special order it. No one carries it around here yet.
If you are using stevia to avoid artificial sweeteners you might want to check out my fave Nutrition Diva's take on stevia as it exists in the more commercial products like Truvia. I'm not a stevia fan because of the aftertaste but DW uses it. We only buy the less processed varieties though. Not to start a thing just FWIW (I keep throwing those in for Jenn cuz I know she loves them)
I got my agave at a local food co-op that sells all organic foods. I didn't see it in the regular grocery store, but our area is not very progressive.
Kara, the lady at the store I got the agave at mentioned the stevia too, and they did have it there. It was kind of expensive though. Maybe I will try that next time I have some extra $$.
Stevia, pure stevia, is very sweet so you only need a little bit. I have liquid stevia that I add to my plain yogurt and I only use three or four drops. So, it might last longer than you think it will, making it not that expensive over the long run.
Kslosingit, check out the "sweeteners" thread in the FAQ for several links to previous threads/discussions about agave. You can also do a search for agave in this forum to find tons of discussions. Hope that helps!
agave?
Why does everything I like have to be so darn bad for me??
(I keep throwing those in for Jenn cuz I know she loves them)
Hope that helps!
