1 1/2 cups sliced onions
1/4 cup rolled oats
6 cups chopped zucchini (3-4 medium zucchini)
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/8  teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2  tablespoons tahini
2 teaspoons umeboshi or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a large pot, layer the onions, oats, and zucchini. Cover with the water and bring to a boil. Add the salt, dried basil, and black pepper. (If using fresh basil, see below.) Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree the zucchini mixture with the tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, and fresh basil until well blended. Return the mixture to the pot, reheat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Stevia is a plant from the sunflower family.  One of its species has very sweet leaves that are used as a sugar substitute.  It is 300 times sweeter than sugar but has zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index.  Stevia leaves contain numerous all-natural nutrients that help regulate blood sugar, including chromium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, zinc, and vitamin  B3(Niacin)

Be forewarned though, Stevia has a slightly bitter aftertaste that IMO doesn’t work that well in baked goods.  Also it’s texture and volume per sweetness ration are radically different than sugar so it can’t be used a straight substitute in recipes that call for standard sugars. For instance 1/2 teaspoon of Stevia Extra powder provides the sweetness of 1 cup of sugar.  I prefer Xylitol but use Stevia to boost sweetness in items like cookies (Xylitol is slightly less sweet and way more expensive than regular sugar.)

Modified from "Whipped Cream" by Rita DePuydr in Stevia:  naturally sweet receipts for desserts, drinks and more!

Last night I had a Sunflower Seed Pancake with bluberries sweetened with xylitol and this sweet cream.  This dessert was so good that no one would guess that it’s wheat free, dairy free and sugar free!

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup unsweetened rice milk
1/2 teaspoon Stevia
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons Xylitol
pinch salt
1/2 cup oil

Grind the cashews in a blender with the rice milk until creamy.  Add the sweeteners and salt and then slowly add the oil.  A few drops of water will make it thinner.  Add some cashews to make it thicker.

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Modified from a recipe by Janice Welch

2 1/4 cups almond flour (or any raw nut except peanuts, ground into flour)
1/3 cup of ghee (at room temperature)
1 tsp non-alcohol vanilla flavoring
1 tsp non-alcohol almond flavoring
1/4 cup Xylitol
1 tsp Stevia
2 eggs
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour with baking soda and salt, set aside. Beat ghee until creamy. Add xylitol and honey. Beat in vanilla flavor, almond flavor, and eggs. Beat in flour until combined. Mix in coconut with a spoon. Line an airbake (the bottoms brown fast) cookie sheet with parchment paper, and drop dough by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Cook for approximately 12 minutes. Recipe yields 25 cookies (keep a batch on hand in the freezer - they even taste good frozen).

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1/4 cut almond or cashew or macadamia nut butter (approximately 2 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, whole)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon SteviaPlus®
4 tablespoons Xylitol
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup ground almonds

Bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes

Cream butter and nutbutter with sweeteners, then beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in almond meal and ground almonds. The dough is very sticky so coat your hands with almond meal before rolling into 1" balls and placing on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

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