How Sweet It Is!

I hadn't heard much about Stevia until this past summer. Stevia is an herb that has extremely sweet leaves. It is a natural sweetener and can be used in much smaller amounts than sugar. It has zero calories and will not raise your blood pressure; making it safe for diabetics. Most recipes call for under a teaspoon of Stevia...so you can image how sweet it really is.

I was fortunate to be able to try some of the Stevia items that NuNaturals carries this summer when they sent me some of their products. It's been interesting using it in recipes and so far so good...though it has been an adjustment trying to figure out how much to use in a recipe as a replacement for sugar. The Stevia baking blend makes it easier as you add the equivalent amount of baking blend as you would have sugar.

My husband has fallen in love with the NuStevia packets. He loves to use these in his coffee and can use just one small packet for all his morning coffee - a little goes a long way!

He also loves the Vanilla Stevia; he adds just a drop to his coffee to sweeten it as well as add a touch of vanilla.

I'm still experimenting with these products and plan to use it a lot in my holiday baking this year. Those receiving our goodies will be getting some yummy sweets that are actually good for them! I'll be posting recipes as I make them.

What's nice is that our local health food stores carry NuNaturals Stevia so it isn't hard to find. You can also order directly off their website and it looks like free shipping after $35. It is not as frugal as sugar, but you use a whole lot less of it in recipes so it still ends up being a fairly good deal for something that is healthy.