Hi, Dear Reader.

I hope you had a really good weekend and you got some Valentine’s cards or cakes or at least some hugs from your Valentine?

I have to say, being single on Valentine’s Day is a very boring affair, but my daughter saved me being very happy about baking a cake and she gave me so many hugs, that my  little sad Valentine’s heart got filled up. Not that she knows too much about Valentine’s Day, and when I started looking closer on when this romantic tradition started,  I found out I didn’t exactly know more than her.

A poem written by Shakespeare sets the stage:

To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn’d his clothes,
And dupp’d the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5

And a lot more is mixed in; martyrs, feasts, folktales, tragedy, chocolate and cards and roses…until today tradition when a special Valentine brings you love and something special. Anyone can do this, a family member, a friend or a loved ones. But mostly a loved ones, and this is where to be single on Valentine’s Day sucks!
The rest of the year, I am totally content being single, but on Valentine’s Day my mood dipped seriously below happy.
So, baking carrot cake with Princess, most of the sugar got exchanged with “Sukrin”, a sugar substitute, made my day. And it tasted great! My daughter sends sunshine rays in all directions and she is the sweetest thing, when she is happy. And she loved the cake!

My plan for next year is to send myself lots of cards, and to Princess too, so she also gets some cards.
And have a plan, so my nice Valentine Day is not going to be a sad affair. Oh, well.

My white sugar-free plan got sabotaged by something unexpected. I usually buy juice, or smoothies, from this one brand that don’t put white sugar in their products. On Friday I bought a blueberry juice mix bottle from this brand, and happily enjoyed it with breakfast over the weekend. Blueberries are the best of the best in the anti-ox world and it is also good on pancakes and things that Princess likes. So we enjoyed it and I felt perked up. This morning I was reading the content list of this juice, and lo and behold, it has added sugar. Dam, dam, dam…but I do think it is okay, it is not a lot of white sugar, and usually 5-6 days should be okay to get over the craving. But I had planned to keep the white sugar content very low for a long time after this, since my sugar habit is bringing me down, not up, in mood.

To alter your mood with any substances is not necessary good. White/brown sugar is a VERY potent mood adjuster, for a short while it brings you stars and glory, and then it is straight downwards to the drain level. I seriously want to be bringing my mood up with wine, exercise, or just being happy being alive and enjoying life as every day is a gift, instead of the silent and invisible white sugar poison that I most of the time do not chose myself. Since white sugar is put in almost everything, in so many configurations, it is hard to actually stay away from it. It is in bread, most processed food, juices, and sauces and you name it. If one is not studying the content of each and one thing one buys, it could be there as a silent perk up. I want to chose what I eat MYSELF, so I actually can stay away if I want and then chose a goodie that gives me pleasure, instead of being driven by a sugar craving I do not chose myself. I feel that at least drug dealers are open about what they are selling, while the food industry gets a free-of-jail card from so many offenses that I am not sure who is allowing this. I do know it is a lot more money in this than most people think, and the politics are driven by money.

Poor us sheep that is taken care by greedy wolves in disguise…

Dear Reader, how are your white sugar craving, and what is it bringing to you?