Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: The Coffee Sweetener Dilemma

What the heck can I stir into my coffee in the morning that won't rot my teeth, raise my blood sugar, make me fat, or give me some dread disease somewhere down the road? And doesn't taste weird?

This is probably over-thinking this, but I think I am a sugar addict. My husband says I'm crazy, but I find when I eat a sugar-sweetened dessert, or a piece of candy, I have to have MORE. I can never seem to stop at one serving. Always two and sometimes three. Which is why I try to avoid sugar as much as I can, without turning into a food hermit. According to what I've read from Gary Taubes, I'm probably right about the addictiveness.

I'm guessing I'm not alone, in wanting a little something to sweeten my day, considering how many sugar substitutes I can buy in a single supermarket on a single shopping trip. Aside from plain old cane sugar, there is a plethora of natural and artificial sugar substitutes and the sheer number boggles the mind. Back when I was an online member of Weight Watchers, and frequenting their community boards, there would be outright battles over what to use in place of the demon sugar. No one ever won.

Problem is, I still like my coffee sweetened, or some sort of a decent-tasting  dessert. I've got an arsenal of various sugar substitutes from the generally considered fake artificial, like the saccharine in the pink packets, the aspartame in the blue ones, and the sucralose in the yellow ones. Those are shoved way back in a corner.

Then there are the "alternative" sugars like the sugar alcohols erythritol, xylitol, and the polydextrose (yep, have them, too) and finally the herbal extract, stevia. I'm not even going to discuss the "natural" sugars like raw cane, turbinado, coconut, honey, molasses, and date. Which I also have some of each. What you see here is just from ONE partial sweetener shelf in my pantry. Oy. 

All are good, none are perfect for everything. Sigh.

My current leanings are to evict the artificial ones from their space, and stick to the more naturally occurring products. The problem is, no single sweetener is good for all purposes. I think stevia is revolting in coffee, but fine in smoothies and baking. Xylitol is good for baking and frostings, but can give a digestive upset in quantity. Erythritol is ok in coffee, doesn't give digestive problems, but can be grainy and has a cooling effect in some dishes. No one-size-fits-all here, no matter how much I wish it.

Maybe I'll just start drinking my coffee black.

Deep, Rich & Spicy: Some Like It Not Hot Chili

Wait, where's the tortillas???

Chiles de Arbol? Nope. Pasilla chiles? Nope.  Any Jalapenos, for God's sake? Nope. Is it delicious? Hell YES! There are a lot of folks out there who simply cannot tolerate the heat of chiles in anything. Some of them even frequent my table from time to time. Just because you can't handle foods loaded with chile peppers doesn't mean that you can have a good bowl of chili, or a chili dog. Many of the chili recipes you find around now have 2, 3 or even more kinds of chile pepper in them. Luckily, this isn't one of them. Most chili recipes that omit the hot peppers are nothing more than a Sloppy Joe with beans. This chili is wonderful, with rich, deep, smokey flavors, but no heat. It's the real thing, as far as I'm concerned, but without the burn. I do like killer hot chili, myself, on occasion. Even though I'm from Philadelphia, not a place that spends any time debating chili recipes, I know there are as many opinions as to what constitutes an authentic chili as there are people who eat it. Trust me, this is GOOD, if you need heat, sit down with a bottle of hot sauce next to your plate, or top it up with chopped pickled jalapenos.

Get it all out before you start so you don't forget anything.

Note: Be sure the chili powder you use is a "regular" or "mild" chili powder, otherwise, this is all for naught. A good mild chili powder will have ancho chiles in it, along with some garlic, cumin and oregano (Mexican). Not much else. This recipe is also a little lower in carbohydrate and higher in protein than other chili recipes thanks to the black soy beans.


Deep, Rich, & Spicy No-Heat Chili
Some like it not hot!


1 T safflower or extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs. lean ground beef (90% or leaner)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium-large onion, diced
2-3 T mild or regular chili powder
1 T ground cumin
2 T Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teas. smoked Spanish paprika
1 cup of strong, brewed coffee
1 15 oz. can black soy beans, drained (Eden brand)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. Kosher salt

Heat the oil in a large broad deep pan until it shimmers. Add the ground beef and break up as it cooks with a wooden spoon to keep it loose and crumbly. When it begins to brown and starts to stick a bit, add the onion, garlic and all the spices. Give it a big stir for a minute or so, and then add the coffee, soybeans and tomatoes with all their juice. Add about a teaspoon of kosher salt and stir well, partially cover and reduce the heat to simmer the chili for about 40 minutes. taste for salt before serving.

No Heat Chili ready to dish up and chow down!

Makes 6 meal-sized servings, more if it's used as a topper for nachos or chili dogs. Nice topped with shredded cheese, or chopped onions, pickled peppers or sour cream.