Re: cane sugar or sucanat: Sucanat is better than evap. cane sugar. However, I can’t afford sucanat, even using my co-op.
So, I buy evap. cane sugar, my husband uses sugar for his coffee, of which he consumes a lot and for my water kefir and kombucha; I’m a stevia girl for my coffee (trying to slowly switch him over to less sugar and more stevia by using the chocolate flavored).
I agree that we should reduce our sugar intake overall, but there are traditional sweeteners that are worthy of use, IMO; within moderation, like our anscetors did. Sugar was a luxury and was used sparingly; only beginning in the late 1800’s and esp. the 20th cen. did sugar become so cheap and so prevalent.
So, I use others sweeteners, too. Since I’m southern, Sorghum Syrup is our traditional sweetener and it’s a whole sweetener (a crushed, then extracted cane juice) .
Raw honey or stevia in tea, plus Molasses in other things. I buy Org. Maple syrup once a month and once that’s gone, we mix molasses and honey; sorghum and honey; or heated mashed fruit w/a touch of raw honey or sorghum.
I’ve been changing my muffin recipes to using more stevia than honey or sorghum; it just depends upon the grain/seed (except for the corn muffins – I’ll use sorghum/honey). My cornbread I use honey, molasses and or sorghum or a mixture of them. I WILL NOT use stevia in my cornbread!
I use Better Stevia, Sweetleaf, or Stevita. If you’re switching someone over, I’d suggest the Better Stevia or Sweetleaf, since it contains glycerin as a preservative, it’s a little sweeter than Stevita (which uses grapeseed ext. as a preservative). I have the Nunaturals brand, but I haven’t tried it yet to give you a comparison.
For powdered stevia, I stay away from those with dextrose, sucraose, erythritol, and maltodextrin. Sweetleaf has a couple of options: one with inulin, which is a fiber and the plain white one: http://www.steviasmart.com/wisherstevex1.html
My children are getting used to using stevia in their yogurt (they esp. like the Sweetleaf chocolate flavored!) and more often than before, their breakfast; though I’m not against using raw honey or sorghum, depending upon the grain/seed. Cooking oats with molasses in the cooking water makes a really nice result.
I made an incredible dessert with dates. If you subscribe to or go to the Tropical Traditions blog, they have awesome desserts using dates, coconut products and little sweetening + good breakfasts and other recipes; I’ve used several.
http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.htm
This is the date dessert I made that my family went ga-ga over (my pecans were soaked and dehydrated ahead of time): http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2013/1/23/german-chocolate-style-bars
We don’t go completely grain-free. I’m working on a sprouted or soaked Spelt pita, pizza, and tortilla recipe and eventually-this summer-sourdough (the creme-de-la-creme or breadmaking, IMO) This past Passover, I made all of our spelt matzah, so that increased my confidence in making pita, flatbreads, tortillas and pizza breads instead of just sandwich bread.
Until I make spelt pasta, some wheat alternative pasta products that have been successful for me:
quinoa/corn pasta by Ancient Harvest
Brown rice pasta from Tinkyada Pasta Joy
For muffins and quick breads, I use:
sprouted or soaked spelt
quinoa
millet
oats
I’ve recently begun to incorporate buckwheat and kasha dishes into our diet.
For english muffins and bagels, I get the (non-soy) sprouted wheat ones.