The older I get the more I realize that I can't eat like I used to. Now, as a whole, I'm pretty slim. I try to work out 4-5 times a week, and I try to change up my routine so I don't bored. I have a tendency to get tired of the same old same old. In fact, this summer my husband and I decided to take up tennis again after about 15 years of not playing. I have felt like a little kid again. We're not that great (although we like to think we are), but more fun than that is the laughter and enjoyment of doing something together that's not work. Of course, the laughter raises when I get in a great shot that he can't return or when I beat him--love that!
Anyway, I'm a product of a farm girl which meant we had sweets around all the time so that we could feed the helpers who came in the summer to bale hay and walk beans. We never had a meal without dessert, and to this day I love it. But darn, I can't eat as much as I used to and neither can my husband. So I'm always looking for ways to eat sweets without adding all the sugar. A few years ago a friend introduced me to agave nectar, a natural sweetener derived from the root of the agave plant. There are some misconceptions that it is no different from high fructose corn syrup. You can read all about it, specifically this brand of agave on this website: http://www.xgave.com/ I love it and use it to sweeten my oatmeal, steel cut oats, plain yogurt, smoothies and recently started branching out into using it for desserts so that yes, I can still have my sweets without all the calories and pointless calories found in refined sugar. Even some great recipes on this site.
Okay, off to make dinner. Tonight whole grain pasta with sundried tomato pesto purchased from the Gateway Market in Des Moines. For dessert, peaches with agave. Maybe just a dab of whip cream. Love it!!
