Sugar Free | Delicious Green Tea Fruit Punch

A few people have asked for my recipe for delicious sugar-free green-tea fruit punch.  So although I have included the recipe in my various impromptu party posts, I thought I'd single it out for some special attention and give it a post of it's own.

I invented this concoction myself, and it has been guzzled with glee by kids and adults alike. The drink is light, refreshing and - dare I say it - good for you.

It's a great alternative to fizzy drinks at birthday parties, satisfying the little people's desire for something fizzy while satisfying the concerned mamas' need avoid their littlies bouncing off the walls. The use is not limited to parties OR children though,  oh no.

This is the perfect light refresher to serve chilled on a hot summer's day, any day of the week. You can serve it up at barbeques, at lunch, or sip it as you're reading in a sunshine-dappled hammock, with a gentle breeze wafting through... (we can but dream).

Without further ado, here's the recipe for my Green Tea Fruit punch - in two versions Berry and Apple. Feel free to adapt, add your own flavours, get creative and ENJOY!

Berry Fizz (green tea punch with a berry infusion)

BERRY PUNCH BASE:
1 litre of boiling water
4 green tea teabags
zest and juice of one lemon
1 cup of frozen berries
Two tablespoons of runny honey.

First dissolve the honey in the boiling water; then add the green teabags, lemon and berries and steep overnight in the fridge.
The next day strain your punch base into a drink dispenser (or large jug) and add 1 litre of sugar-free berry fruit juice (e.g. "Juice Juice" Strawberry & Kiwifruit or Blackcurrant & Apple)
Add 3 litres of chilled soda water and voila - a delicious healthy fizzy drink.
So light and delicious, with no artificial colours or flavours and refined sugar free.

(NOTE: Never put berries in the drink dispenser as a pretty garnish. They clog it up and force you to ladle out the fairy fizz with a scoop! Gah).

Apple Fizz (Green tea punch with an apple infusion)

APPLE PUNCH BASE:
1 litre of boiling water
4 green tea teabags
zest and juice of one lemon
1 large grated apple
Two tablespoons of runny honey.

First dissolve the honey in the boiling water; then add the green teabags, lemon and apple and steep overnight in the fridge.
The next day strain your punch base into a drink dispenser (or large jug) and add 1 litre of sugar-free apple juice (e.g. Just Juice which has no added sugar).
Add 3 litres of chilled soda water and serve.

OPTIONAL: Add a drop or two of natural green food colouring for a green-tinted drink; perfect at Star Wars parties as Yoda Soda and the like.

..............

OTHER FAVOURITE PARTY DRINKS:

Old Fashioned Lemonade

Sangria for Young and Old

Easy Eggnog

Delicious Cakes (Sugar-Free and Good for You!)

It's been roughly six weeks since we took the plunge and went (mostly) sugar-free.
Can I just say two things about that:
1. I have NEVER EVER successfully followed through on changing my diet before I did this
2. It has been easier - and more enjoyable - than I ever imagined

In case you're new round here, you should know that I am the self-confessed Lazy Mother who always looks for the shortcuts, and despite all appearances (i.e. my party posts) I have never thought of myself as a baker. Or a cook. Or anything else which required too much time in the kitchen on a regular basis.
True story.

But all that is changing. And I have never baked so much.
Never have my kids had such interesting, healthy lunchboxes on a consistent basis (which, might I add, they are still making themselves.) They are short on processed crap and filled with stuff like unflavoured milk, strawberries, pistachios, lemon-dipped carrot sticks, chicken salad sandwiches on grainy bread, and plain yoghurt flavoured with (homemade) berry coulis.

John Campbell's lunchbox nazi would find little to complain about here.

But best of all are the cakes. The Cakes. The CAKES.
Mostly from Petite Kitchen, my new favourite cooking-gal. I even bought the recipe book.

I have made these recipes more than once, sending multiple guests reeling in astonishment when I revealed that these drool-worthy delights are not only gluten-free but sugar-free too.

They are SIMPLE to make, and delicious to eat, as well as being so good for you.

First up, my version of Petite Kitchen's Simple Almond Cake.

Orange Almond Cake With Berries Gluten free and Sugar free

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of ground almonds
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup of runny honey
• 60g butter (melted)*
• the zest of one large orange
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Preheat the oven to 160oC (not fan bake). Beat all ingredients together until smooth then pour batter into a round cake tin lined with baking paper. Sprinkle over the top:

• half a cup of frozen blueberries (or mixed berries)

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top of the cake feels firm when lightly pressed.

Serve with homemade berry coulis and plain yoghurt (with just a dash of added honey)

Soooo good.

This next recipe would have been tricky to execute if I hadn't recieved, that very day, a special delivery from one of the companies my hubby does business for. See, I haven't had a food processor since I melted our old one in the dodgey dishwasher. I've been making do with a hand-held electric beater and a bit of elbow grease. But since hubby's points earned me this new kitchen Whizz, I now have a MACHINE to do all the heavy lifting. (for meeeeee, for freeeeeee).

This cake is to die for, and with my new magical Whizzer, so simple too. Truly.

So without further ado, here's my version of Petite Kitchen's Decadent Raspberry Torte.

Decadent Raspberry Chocolate Torte Gluten free and Sugar free

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup of runny honey
• 60g butter*
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda

Preheat the oven to 150oC (not fan bake). In your (shiny new) food processor, whizz the frozen raspberries until they are as smooth as you can get them.

Melt the honey and butter together in the microwave and once melted, whisk together lightly before adding to the raspberries; add the rest of the ingredients and whizz together in the magical whizzer. Wahoo!

Pour batter into a lined cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed.

Then enjoy with a friend, with a little coulis on the side and some honey-tinted yoghurt. 

Don't even bother to feel guilty, because it's ALL GOOD FOR YOU.

*To make dairy free substitute butter with 1/4 cup of coconut oil.

Easy Berry Coulis

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of frozen berries
1/8 cup of water
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice (about half a lemon's worth)
2 Tablespoons of honey

Put all the ingredients in a pot, simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is soft and squishy. Now you can either serve as is, with berry bits (a simple berry sauce) or you can turn it into a "coulis" by mashing it through a sieve and discarding all the seeds and pulp.

Add it to plain yoghurt in place of those awful sugar-loaded pottles your kids have been guzzling that you used to think were healthy til you knew better. They will love it, trust me.

OTHER POSTS FROM MY SUGAR FREE QUEST

• Going Sugar Free (Thanks Nigel Latta!)
• Going Sugar Free- Mission Progress Update
• Blueberry Honey Muffins (refined sugar free)
• Spiced Carrot Muffins w. cream Cheese topping (sugar free)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sugar-Free Spiced Carrot Muffins (Super-Moist & Delish)

Sorry to overload you with my sugar-free excitement, but I just had to share this delicious recipe for spiced carrot muffins with y'all.
This recipe is a winner on all counts: The muffins are easy to make, they are full of goodness and have no nasties, they are moist and delicious -  even the next day - and were gobbled up and raved about by those fussiest of food critics - my kids.

These muffins are refined sugar free (sweetened with honey) and even have an optional delicious cream cheese topping with no sugar.

I adapted the recipe from one for healthy carrot cake on Sugar and Cinnamon Blog, which was shared with me by a reader. I didn't have a few of the ingredients and I'm trying to make my baking gluten free where possible, so I substituted a few ingredients and these babies are the result.

I promise you will love them. xx

Sugar Free Spiced Carrot Muffins (with cream cheese topping)
adapted from recipe found here

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of runny honey
3/4 cup yoghurt
2 eggs
the zest of an orange
1/2 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of oats
1+1/2 cups of grated carrot
half a teaspoon each of: cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of mixed spice

METHOD

• Beat the eggs until they are pale and fluffy, then mix in the wet ingredients (honey and yoghurt)
• Stir in orange zest, spices, carrot, flour and oats until just combined
• Place spoonfuls of mixture into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers or silicon baking cups
• Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180oC  or until firm and golden.
• Makes approximately 18 muffins

TOPPING (optional)

250g pottle of cream cheese

juice of half an orange

2 teaspoons of runny honey to sweeten

Whizz together the ingredients then spoon onto muffins once they have completely cooled. (This mixture is a little bit runny due to the addition of the orange juice, so you may prefer to use zest instead for a stiffer, thicker topping.)

Store muffins in an airtight container and pop them into lunchboxes for a healthy delicious treat that your fussy kids will not turn their noses up at. (They are still yummy without the topping and are less messy, so you might want to keep a few muffins plain for this purpose).

OTHER POSTS FROM MY SUGAR FREE QUEST

• Going Sugar Free (Thanks Nigel Latta)
• Our Sugar Free Mission Progress

An InLinkz Link-up

On a Mission to Reduce Sugar (and wall bouncing)

MISSION LOG STAR DATE 0914: Our mission to reduce sugar in the inmates' diet has been under way for twelve days. This is a delicate operation requiring tact, determination and NASA-quality earplugs (in the inevitable event of whining and complaining). Phase One of our enterprise is almost complete ("Mission Reduce-the-Crap"). Phase Two ("Mission Replace-the-Crap-with-Goodness" is being met with some resistance, but we will persevere in our quest for reduced sugar, hopefully leading to reduced chaos. 
-----End of Transmission----

Hello earthlings and fellow sugar-reducers.
I was kind of blown away by the response to my Nigel Latta/Sugar Free story the other week - it would seem that a lot of you saw that show and had the same reaction that I did: A feeling of horror (at the amount of sugar in EVERYTHING) and a new determination to change things up and reduce the sugar.

I had so many messages from friends and readers who are passionate about healthy eating, as well as from those of you who are more like me (just horrified and anxious) and loads of people shared links to awesome sugar-free recipes; it was inspiring.

I did have to be careful not to be overwhelmed by all the information, and all the recommendations. My super-healthy friends (and those who had read the "I Ditched Sugar" website) recommended ditching ALL sugar, not replacing refined sugar with "better sugar" (e.g. honey). According to the website ALL sugar is bad. Get rid of it all.

But I know what I'm like.
I might lose the will to live if I eliminated ALL TREATS OVERNIGHT!
It has to be baby steps. Bit by bit. Layer upon layer. Phase by phase.

[In case you missed it the first time, here's my sugar-content graphic. Eek, right?]

Phase One is Reduce the Crap.
Instantly I stopped buying all the packeted stuff that gave me the heebie jeebies once I knew their sugar content. Goodbye Nutrigrain, Up'n'Go, and Uncle Toby's flavoured instant oats.
We're back to plain oats, Weetbix, rice bubbles and cornflakes for breakfast.
Knowing what my kids are like, I told them, "This is the last of the Nutrigrain/Up'n'go/flavoured oats; make the most of it cos when it's gone it's gone and I won't be buying any more."

See how I did that? My sugar-crazed brood would riot if I just ripped these things away. I gave them warning. Time to absorb the new regime. Time to savour that last bowl of sugar cereal, knowing it was goodbye.

Baby steps.
I know some of you braver souls would have tipped that evil Nutrigrain down the insinkerator as the sobbing natives looked on. You would have been able to stand your ground when the rioting started and pushed through to victory... but me (coward that I am) I choose a slower path with less resistance. We all get there in the end.

See I know my kids. They're a quirky bunch, emotional, volatile, stubborn. Sometimes parenting them requires all the delicate skill of a bomb defuser, and all the protective protocols of working on a nuclear reactor.
As I've mentioned briefly (so briefly you might have missed it) we have various spectrum issues complicating life round here, which leads me to believe that reducing the sugar can only help the level of emotional volatility. Energy and emotions often run high and reactions to small upsets can be truly nuclear.

I am so very curious to see whether having less sugar in the kids' diet will, in fact, lead to a calmer, less emotionally-volatile home. And oh boy, am I so very hopeful that it will.

So far, since we are doing things so slowly and the sugar is gradually reducing as the packaged crap runs out (never to be replaced) it's hard to know whether it's making a difference or not. Time will tell.

[Super healthy Oat & banana cookies with dark choc chips were rejected by my offspring]

Meantime, I am hard at work on...

Phase Two: Replace the Crap with Good Stuff.
This is where I have hit a few roadblocks, as I've tested recipes which held so much promise but were roundly rejected by most of the inhabitants.

I made the oat and banana cookies with high hopes (I'd added peanut butter and dark choc chips for flavour). They all made puking sounds and refused to touch them, apart from Dash, who put one in his lunch box (out of sympathy for my efforts, I think?). I might try tweaking that recipe, add some date honey for sweetness, try again. They are just too healthy (and EASY) to give up so easily.

I made my famous sugar free blueberry-honey muffins one morning before school. Yes you heard me. I got up early and BAKED. It was some kind of miracle, but it proved to be all for nowt. Two out of three muffins came back home, with complaints that "they were cold by the time it was morning tea". Well, DUH!
Dash though, he said, "Bake them for me mum! I love them!"
Bless. (He's been so receptive to this whole sugar-free thing which is amazing, given that he's always been such a fussy eater).

I made a loaf of Leonie's bread. Not in the breadmaker, by hand. It was easy to make, and it smelled amazing. I broke off a bit of the crust and it tasted divine. I had high hopes and thought "I could do this every day!"
But I took it out of the oven too soon. It was still doughy and gluggy in the middle. The kids tried it and made faces. "Your bread tastes funny mum," they said. I haven't tried making it again.

And then there were the cocoa & peanut butter cookies which looked so good, smelt so good baking... and then burnt on the bottom. The recipe DID say "keep a close eye on them cos they burn easily." Yep, they do. So When they'd cooled I scraped the burnt bottoms off and handed them round... "Yuck mum, they taste like peanut butter!" "They're not sweet enough, they need some sugar!" ("That's the whole point! I'm trying to reduce sugar!") "Well I like them, mum..."

Sigh.

["Date honey": a packet of dates + a cinnamon stick in a pot, cover with water and simmer
until liquid reduces then blend & keep in the fridge]

I will persevere, keep trying recipes, keep looking for healthier low sugar treats I can serve my family.
In the meantime we have made great strides on the lunchbox front in spite of my mixed results with the baking. I keep a box each of carrot sticks and celery sticks in water in the fridge, it can be easily accessed and grabbed as a snack. The level of fruit-eating has increased. They've started putting better ingredients in their sandwiches (ham, grated cheese, spinach).

As the crap options run out they're being forced to add healthier snack options, like crackers, popcorn, nuts. Smoothies are now made with plain yogurt and frozen fruit; plain cartons of unflavoured milk are replacing the sugary Up'n'Go and - get this - they have actually dished themselves up SPINACH SALAD at dinner time. And eaten (some of) it. Uh-May-ZING.

This morning as I checked their lunch boxes I felt a little glow of satisfaction. They are a world away from what was in them two weeks ago. We will get there. We are making lasting changes, bit by bit.
And if this Lazy Mother can do it so can you, my friend. So can you.

An InLinkz Link-up

"Nigel Latta for Prime Minister!" (going sugar-free)

Nigel Latta rocks so much it's not funny. (Apologies to my non-New Zealand readers who haven't been able to experience the awesomeness of Nigel.) For those of you who don't know him, Nigel Latta is a down-to-earth New Zealand psychologist who has written brilliant, hilarious helpful books on parenting and fronted in-depth investigative TV shows on everything from NZ's criminal element to family violence to... sugar. He's not reactionary, he doesn't have an axe to grind, he understands humans and he just plain makes sense.

Hubby and I have been recording Nigel's latest (brilliant) series and watching it together. Last night's show rocked our world. It was all about how much sugar is in our food and the health effects and cost to the country of diabetes, tooth decay and obesity caused by the sweet stuff.
According to Nigel and the various health experts who shared their knowledge on the documentary, sugar is hidden in almost everything, because it's cheap.
The low-fat revolution made everyone want fat-reduced, but as Nigel's expert said, "When you take the fat out, stuff tastes like cardboard, so they had to add something. And what they added was SUGAR."
And sugar, apparently is way way worse than fat.
It's yummy, it's a treat, it's in all our favourites (chocolate, icecream, lollies) and it's addictive. (Our brain craves more and more of it).
Sugar has been added to tomato sauce, mayonnaise, yoghurt and baked beans. It's even hiding in Marmite!
Of course the worst culprit of them all is pretty obvious: Sugary drinks. Fizzy drinks. Coke. Cheaper than water, these fizzy drinks are easy to drink and cheap to buy. Kids love them, and they star at every birthday party (oops).
As a country we are fatter and unhealthier than ever before. 60% of New Zealand adults are obese and 30% of children! Eek!

[source]

Mr G has been niggling me about the amount of sugar in our kids' diet ever since a couple of our kids have been diagnosed on various spectrums (we have a crazy happy mix of aspergers, ADHD and dyslexia in our clown-house, something I have not blogged about because the kids don't want me to. I'm telling you this without naming names - and I'm on that list too).
Diet is something that can make a big difference, apparently. But I've been dragging my heels because the easy options are... easier. And I am not a fan of spending hours in the kitchen baking (you know that, right?)
I am not the mum who bakes her own bread (I have an abandoned breadmaker sitting neglected in my cupboard who will back me up on that). I pull out my favourite recipes for parties, I occasionally dabble in new recipes when entertaining, and I struggle to get excited about producing a nutritious meal every.single.night.
I follow lots of people on Instagram who are always baking and sharing their latest sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free efforts and I think, Wow, good on them, as the guilt taps me on the shoulder.
Being a self-confessed Lazy Mother is not a guilt-free state of mind. Shortcuts are not usually the best option for healthy living.

[source]

So when my hero NIGEL started shining the light on the hideousness of all that sugar in our diets, I started squirming a little.
Hubby was prodding me from the other couch: "Are you listening to this?" "Did you get that?"
Oh yeah, I did.

When the programme had finished and I sat reeling from the images of two-year-olds who had been bottle-fed Coke, having their teeth extracted under general anaesthetic ("Did you see that?" hubby said. "But our kids teeth are GOOD!" I replied)...
...after seeing Nigel himself fail a blood test when he considered himself a healthy eater who exercises regularly ("And you don't exercise," hubby reminded me "HMNFHHH!" I muttered.)
...after watching people who had gone sugar-free drop dozens of kilos and have loads more energy and still be able to eat delicious-but-healthy food, and seeing Nigel himself go sugar free and improve his blood results after three months...
...well I couldn't ignore it when Nigel said it, could I?

Hubby dragged me out to the kitchen and proceeded to quiz me on the contents of our pantry.
"How many teaspoons of sugar do you think is in this?" he asked, waving a yoghurt pottle.
"Um, three?"
"Four."

"How many teaspoons in this?" (Up'n'Go liquid breakfast drink)
"Four?"
"Five."

And so it went on.

Almost everything I thought was OK to put in the kids' lunch boxes (or give them for breakfast) is loaded with sugar.
The recommended healthy level of sugar is just seven teaspoons per day.
SEVEN! (and nine for adult males).

I'm in trouble here, people. Seriously big changes need to be made.
I'm going to have to research sugar-free recipes, natural sweetener alternatives and ditch the easy-option nasties.

I'd love to have your help, all you sugar-free health gurus, who make your own gluten-free bliss balls and homemade muesli bars. Sugar-free cookie recipes - do they exist?
Homemade yoghurt toppings (I'll be buying plain yoghurt from now on) - I need your recipes.

Please share your recipes with me and my readers! Leave a link to your healthy recipe blog posts on the linky or in a comment or email me (greatfun4kids@live.com). I will be eternally grateful.

An InLinkz Link-up

P.S. I sure wish Nigel was standing in the election. I'd vote Nigel Latta for prime minister anyday.


HELPFUL ARTICLES I FOUND WHILE CREATING THIS BLOG POST:
10 Tips for Packing healthy School Lunches (on BlogHer)
Children's Breakfast Cereal Sugar & Health Guide (on The Parents Jury)

Unbelievable Sugar-Free BlueBerry Muffins (for brunch)

So today I took my own advice, inviting a friend for brunch (and madly doing a cleaning spree in honour of her arrival).

Some of you are blessed to know my friend Sammy; we go back a long way - pre-blogs, pre-kids - so even though we live a fair distance apart and our paths no longer cross naturally, we are making a conscious effort to stay connected and book in regular hang-out time.

[Sammy and "Grace" - my Friday morning brunch date]

It's important to do that, when you have a friendship that spans the years, heartbreaks, triumphs and shared history. It would be easy to let a valuable friendship drift into obscurity, but Sammy and I have determined to MAKE TIME and space for each other, which is so so awesome.

At our last coffee date I promised to make her brunch (she'd seen how I made brunch for Deb, and was keen to have her turn; it might become "my thing").

[The juice is a new flavour from Just juice: Kiwifruit and strawberry = YUMMO]

Day before yesterday I get a text, "Oh and I better let you know that I'm gluten free and sugar free! Haha!"
Oops, so no waffles then. Omelettes are go, but what about something desserty? To nibble on while sipping coffee?

Google Search to the rescue. After a few false starts, I landed on a blog, "Gluten Free with LB", and found a nice simple recipe that seemed to fit the bill.

With just a few substitutions I was able to whip up a batch of THE MOST DELICIOUS honey-and-blueberry muffins. Sooooooo good, healthy AND delicious, I just had to share the recipe with you all, so you can make them for your guests (the ones you invite over to motivate yourself to get tidying, remember?)

The muffins were a hit, as was the (oops slightly burnt) omelette and we thoroughly enjoyed our catchup (even venturing into politics, as you do). Next time I'm going to Sammy's house.

Blueberry Honey Muffins (SUGAR & GLUTEN FREE)
Original Recipe found here

3/4 Cup of gluten free all-purpose flour
1/3 Cup of Rolled Oats*
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Yoghurt
1/3 Cup melted Honey
30grams(2 Tablespoons) melted Butter
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup frozen berries

[OPTIONAL CRUMBLE TOPPING]
1 tablespoon melted honey
1/4 cup oats*
Pinch of salt


METHOD:

• Preheat your oven to 180oC.
• Combine all the ingredients until just combined; add the blueberries last.
• Spoon mixture into lined muffin tins and sprinkle over crumble topping.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and set.
• Makes six largish muffins (perfect to serve for morning tea with a friend or two)

*OATS: Most Oats are not truly gluten-free as traces remain from the processing/harvesting methods, therefore if you are coeliac and cannot tolerate traces of gluten, you should substitute dessicated coconut for the rolled oats and use chopped walnuts (or similar) in the crumble topping.

So.... who's next for brunch???!

• My Favourite Recipes Page