A new appliance and an easy homemade old people’s potato salad recipe.

In this post: Washing things, eating things.

That sound you hear in the background? Yes, it’s LAUNDRY DAY again at Howdygram headquarters! At the moment I’ve got towels in the dryer and a load of socks and whites spinning in the wash. I honestly can’t imagine anything that’s more entertaining on a Thursday afternoon except for refilling my pill sorter or possibly a nap.

Learn how to make Sam’s favorite marinated salad.

In this post: Good things to eat.

My project du jour? Making a huge tub of cucumber & onion salad because SAM LOVES THIS STUFF and he requested it last night when he got home from work. My recipe is an old standard (I learned it from mom) with four basic ingredients: cucumbers, onions, vinegar and sugar. However I like to use two kinds of onions (red and white) and due to having diabetes I prefer granulated Splenda to sugar. A sprinkle of dill is nice, too. (Also black pepper.)

Sam will be heading to Wal-Mart this morning to load up on ingredients and I’m so excited I typed out my grocery list at 5 a.m.

Try my Easy Omelet in a Mug. Thank you.

In this post: Easy Omelet in a Mug.

A couple of things. First, it’s 4:15 in the afternoon, Sam is asleep in the family room and I’m doing laundry. Second, this is really as boring as it sounds but there’s nothing else to do because it’s 48° outside and really cloudy. Naps and wet socks are as productive as we’re going to get.

My low-carb Mock Matzo Balls are fluffy little beauties in your favorite soup.

On October 13 I posted a simple little recipe for easy low-carb dumplings that you can cook in a pot of soup or stew. After a brief period of intense experimentation in the Howdygram test kitchen I’d like to announce a recipe revision, as shown below.

• 3 cups CarbQuik low-carb baking mix
• ½ cup zero-carb heavy cream
• ½ cup water
• 3 extra large eggs, beaten

Blend all ingredients in a big bowl until you have a nice soft dough. Add a little extra water one tablespoon at a time if the dough is too dry. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto simmering soup (or stew). Cook for 10 minutes uncovered and then 10 minutes tightly covered. No peeking, okay?

Let’s talk chia seeds!

Chia seeds are an ancient Aztec “superfood” with a ton of soluble fiber and more protein than any other grain, more omega-3 fatty acids than any other plant food (including flax) and contain three times the calcium of milk, twice the potassium of bananas, three times the iron of spinach and three times the antioxidants of blueberries. They’re great for hydration and absorb 10 times their weight in water, they slow how the body converts carbs into simple sugars (fantastic for diabetics like yours truly), they lower your blood pressure and they contain a complete amino acid chain on par with meat or eggs. Holy crap, right?

As a bonus, chia seeds are adorable and look like poppy seeds (see inset, below). They poof up in liquid and turn into a gel that’s similar to mucilage.

My favorite way (so far) to eat these little treasures is in an easy homemade pudding that reminds me of tapioca. Here, for your possible interest, are several different chia seed recipes, but all of them use the same basic directions, which appear at the end.

Pudding for One
Moosh together 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, your favorite sweetener and 
1 cup of liquid. You can use any kind of plain or flavored milk (soy, almond, cow), lemonade or fruit juice.

Nice Fake Tapioca
Use 2½ cups of plain soy or almond milk, ½ cup of chia seeds, your favorite sweetener, 
½ teaspoon of cinnamon 
and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
. Try very hard not to eat this all at the same time. Trust me.

Raspberry Chia Seed Jam
Thaw and drain 12 oz. of frozen raspberries and mix with 2 tablespoons of honey and 3 tablespoons of chia seeds. Refrigerate for at least half an hour. As a diabetic I don’t eat fresh fruit (too many carbs) or honey, but this recipe sounded so damn good I thought I’d include it, anyway, in case you’re interested. 

As promised, here are the basic directions:

Whisk everything together in a bowl or jar and then repeat the process after about 15 minutes so the seeds don’t clump at the bottom. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

And now ... a word of caution. From everything I’ve read about chia seeds the recommended daily portion is about two tablespoons. As you might expect with an undisciplined food addict like yours truly, on day one I made a huge quantity of chia seed pudding (3 cups of Soy Slender chocolate soy milk with ¾ cup of chia seeds) and ate the whole damn bowl watching “People’s Court.” Two hours later this resulted in a weird hypoglycemic episode — VERY low blood sugar — and severe joint pain, although I eventually determined that my joint pain was due to weather conditions that included tornado warnings and thunderstorms.

Chia seeds are relatively cheap and you can buy them online at Amazon.com. Thank you for reading this.

Try my Beanit Butter chocolate chip cookies.

As promised ... here’s my fantastic no-brainer cookie recipe for low-carb dieters and diabetics. Each of these little puppies has less than one gram of carbohydrates. Whoa! Specifics about some of the ingredients appear at the end.

• 1 cup powdered Sensato erythritol sweetener
• ½ teaspoon EZ Sweetz (liquid Splenda)
• 1 cup CarbQuik
• ½ cup Beanit Butter
• ¼ cup softened butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• handful of Nevada Manna sugar-free chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350°. Combine both sweeteners, Beanit Butter, butter, vanilla and eggs and smoosh up until well mixed. Add the CarbQuik and chocolate chips and continue stirring until a thick dough forms. Drop by cookie scoop or tablespoonfuls onto a nonstick cookie sheet two inches apart. Roll each scoop into a cute little ball and then press down slightly to flatten. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until light golden brown. You’ll get 15 to 18 nice-size cookies from this recipe, and they’re REALLY GOOD.

The exotic ingredients are all from Netrition.com. These include: 1) CarbQuik (a low-carb Bisquick knockoff); 2) Beanit Butter; 3) powdered Sensato erythritol sweetener; 4) EZ Sweetz; and 5) Nevada Manna sugar-free chocolate chips. I can’t live without this wonderful crap and I don’t ever want to try. Pass the insulin. Thank you.

Biscuits & chicken goop deliver low-carb comfort food.

Here’s a new and speedy comfort food recipe of my own invention, featuring two of my favorite food groups: low-carb biscuits and goopy gravy!

To begin you have to make a batch of CarbQuik drop biscuits. This involves mixing ⅔ cup of water with 2 cups of CarbQuik until it forms a dough. (I use my bread machine for this. It takes about 90 seconds.) Divide the dough into six wads, drop onto an ungreased nonstick cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 13 minutes at 375°. Presto … YOUR BISCUITS HAVE ARRIVED!

While your biscuits are in the oven you can make the goop.

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• ¼ cup rehydrated chopped onion
• ⅓ cup CarbQuik
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup unflavored Almond Breeze almond milk
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 2 cups rehydrated freeze-dried mixed vegetables

In a nice pot simmer the cubed chicken and broth until the chicken is cooked, maybe about 10 minutes. In another nice pot heat the butter and rehydrated onion. Stir in the CarbQuik, salt and pepper until well-blended. Gradually add the broth, chicken and milk and stir until thick. Add the veggies. Heap everything on top of three CarbQuik biscuits. Refuse to share if necessary.

A couple of final thoughts. First, if you don’t have freeze-dried mixed vegetables you can substitute any cooked mixed vegetables. I use freeze-dried because I’ve got a pantry full of this excellent crapola from Shelf Reliance. Second, enjoy the leftover biscuits for a bedtime snack shmeared with low-carb Jok ’n Al blueberry fruit spread from New Zealand. You can pretend you’re eating jelly doughnuts.

Here’s my low-carb version of traditional Greek “spanakopita”.

It wasn’t my plan to write a recipe post tonight, but I created a spinach and feta casserole for dinner a couple of hours ago that definitely deserves a little international publicity. It’s low-carb, of course, but feel free to create your own high-carb version if that’s what floats your boat. Here’s my recipe.

• 3 cups rehydrated chopped spinach*, well-drained
• 6 to 8 medium green onions with white parts, chopped
• 8 oz. crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered whole eggs*
• 2 tablespoons water
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¾ cup CarbQuik* (or Bisquick)
• 1 cup unflavored Almond Breeze almond milk*
• 3 tablespoons powdered whole eggs*
• 4 tablespoons water
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Heat your oven to 400°. Spray an 8-inch glass baking pan with Pam. Squeeze as much water from the spinach as possible by pressing it in a wire strainer, then mix the first seven ingredients together in a bowl: spinach, onion, feta cheese, egg powder, water, salt and pepper. Spoon into the baking pan. Blend the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, pour onto the spinach mixture and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes.

This stuff is so good I almost can’t find the words to describe it. I love Greek food, but I can’t eat most of it because it’s all loaded up with carby crap like phyllo dough, pasta or rice. My spinach and feta casserole is a low-carb version of traditional Greek “spanakopita” (spinach pie). Seriously.

You can buy the ingredients marked with an asterisk (*) as follows: 1) powdered whole eggs and freeze-dried chopped spinach are from Thrive; 2) CarbQuik is a Bisquick knockoff from Netrition.com; and 3) you can buy Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze in most supermarkets or click here to order from Netrition (be sure to use the original flavor, not vanilla or chocolate). I highly recommend all of these products and can’t live without them. Don’t tell Sam, but I’m having a love affair with powdered whole eggs. This might be the most versatile kitchen ingredient EVER.

This great big low-carb cookie is too damn good to share.

This is probably the best recipe I’ve ever made. For me, as a diabetic, it satisfies so many cravings at so many different levels that I almost can’t find the words. For instance: 1) it tastes exactly like an expensive bakery cookie; 2) it’s sugar-free; 3) it’s so low in carbs you can eat the whole thing without help from anybody and not have to beat yourself up afterwards; 4) it’s really easy to make; and 5) it’s beautiful. Here’s the recipe!

• ½ cup granulated Splenda
• ¼ cup shortening, melted
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 egg
• 1⅓ cups CarbQuik

Heat your oven to 350°. Spray a nice 12-inch nonstick pizza pan with Pam. (If you have a pizza pan that’s not so nice it would probably work just as well.) Mix the Splenda, shortening, orange peel and egg in large bowl with a spoon. Stir in CarbQuik and mix until a soft dough forms. Spread or pat the dough on the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for 10 to 11 minutes until the crust is light golden and set. Cool in the pan for about 30 minutes and cut into bars or wedges.

There are lots of ways to jazz this thing up if you’re interested. For instance, you can throw in a handful of sugar-free chocolate chips and/or use several drops of a concentrated LorAnn flavor oil (try almond or lemon) instead of grated orange peel, since I rarely have a fresh orange hanging around waiting to be grated. Extracts would be fine, too.

Wondering where to buy all this amazing crapola? LorAnn flavor oils are available on Amazon and CarbQuik is a low-carb Bisquick replacement that you can buy from Netrition.com. You’re on your own with the pizza pan.

A low-carb, slightly strange microwaved muffin in a bowl.

As a diabetic and generally unmotivated senior citizen I’m always looking for a low-carb dessert that’s easy, gooey and fast. Glorioski, I finally think I’ve found one! Here’s a recipe for a chocolate chip Microwave Bowl Muffin made with CarbQuik (a low-carb Bisquick knockoff) that really hit the spot tonight.

• ⅓ cup CarbQuik
• ⅓ cup DaVinci sugar-free chocolate syrup
• 1 tablespoon Nevada Manna sugar-free chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon milk

You just moosh everything together in a cereal bowl until a soft dough forms and then microwave for two minutes on high. That’s it! You actually end up with something that looks more like a sloppy pancake than anything that remotely resembles a muffin, but what the hell ... the flavor is PHENOMENAL.

I didn’t have any sugar-free chocolate chips in the house so I successfully substituted one square of a low-carb dark chocolate bar, which I pounded to smithereens in a Ziploc bag. My weapon of choice was a can of Pam.

For the record, be sure to soak the bowl in hot water as soon as you’re done eating. Trust me on this.

An easy, no-crust, low-carb cheesecake. Seriously!

This cheesecake is so damn good you can serve it to company and they’ll never guess you’re sneaking them a tasty low-carb dessert. Here’s the recipe!

• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup unflavored Almond Breeze almond milk
• 1 cup powdered erythritol sweetener
• ¼ teaspoon liquid sucralose (EZ Sweetz)
• ½ cup CarbQuik*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened and cubed

Heat oven to 350° and spray a 9½-inch glass pie plate (or an 8-inch square glass baking pan) with Pam. Dump the first six ingredients into a blender container (or food processor) and blend on high for about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides. Add the cream cheese and blend for another minute. Pour into your prepared pan and bake just until puffed and center is dry, 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (Do not overbake this thing, okay?) Cool slightly. Spread Sour Cream Topping (see below) carefully over the top and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or until you can’t stand it any more.

And here’s how to make the Sour Cream Topping:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 drops of EZ Sweetz
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

My own personal preference: I don’t like vanilla in the sour cream and I love little globs of sugar-free fruit preserves on top. But that’s just me.

Try adding a flavor to your cheesecake. I’ve got a dozen teeny bottles of concentrated LorAnn flavor oils in my kitchen and all it takes is six to eight drops to jazz up your dessert. I recommend banana, apricot, almond or pineapple. (You can buy them on Amazon.)

*CarbQuik is a low-carb, high-fiber Bisquick knockoff. I really LOVE this crap!

A nice way to consume little pouches of salmon.

It doesn’t get much easier than this. If you’re into salmon patties — hey, who isn’t? — you’ll absolutely LOVE these!

• 10 oz. salmon
• 2 eggs
• pinch of dehydrated onion flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 tablespoons CarbQuik baking mix
• oil for frying

Mix the salmon, eggs, onion flakes, salt, pepper and CarbQuik. Heat oil in a large frying pan and spoon mixture into 4 large patties. Brown on both sides. These taste great with a wad of optional tartar sauce and a little dish of Vlasic sugar-free sweet pickles.

I recommend using Chicken of the Sea or Bumble Bee salmon in those convenient little pouches. (I buy mine by the case from Amazon.)

Please eat this really good low-carb lasagna wannabe.

Here’s the first of my recipes featuring CarbQuik baking mix from Netrition.com, the Bisquick knockoff with 90% fewer carbs. CarbQuik is my new best friend.

I made this Low-Carb Lasagna Pie for dinner tonight, and it would have been an over-the-moon winner if I hadn’t added salt twice by mistake. We still loved it but next time it will be perfect and we won’t need a gallon of water standing by.

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup pasta sauce (I use low-carb Bella Vita)
• 1 cup unflavored Almond Breeze almond milk
• 2 eggs
• ⅔ cup CarbQuik
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Preheat your oven to 375°. Spray an 8-inch square glass baking pan with Pam and set aside.

Layer ricotta and parmesan cheese in prepared pan. Mix cooked beef, pasta sauce and ½ cup of the mozzarella; spoon evenly over top. Beat milk, eggs, CarbQuik, salt and pepper with an electric mixer for one minute until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and let stand for 5 minutes.

Incidentally, I use Thrive Freeze-Dried Ground Beef for this recipe. (Actually, I use it for every recipe.) It rehydrates in five minutes and you don’t have to stand over a frying pan for half an hour hacking up a brick of frozen meat. I strongly recommend that you give it a try. Thank you and bon appetit.

Try my Five-Minute Stupid Soup if you’re in a hurry for hot and tasty food.

Here’s the recipe I promised in my last post! The key is stocking your pantry with wonderful freeze-dried whatnots from Thrive. You should really be shopping there.

• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon (chicken, mushroom or beef)
• ½ cup freeze-dried ground beef
• ¼ cup freeze-dried carrot dices
• ¼ cup freeze-dried celery dices
• 1 tablespoon freeze-dried onions
• ½ cup freeze-dried mushrooms
• 8 oz. bag Miracle Rice, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water

Boil the 4 cups of water. Stir in your Better Than Bouillon soup base, all the freeze-dried crapola (feel free to use little handfuls instead of measuring cups) and the rinsed Miracle Rice. After everything simmers for two or three minutes stir in the corn starch mixture and your soup will thicken like magic into an INSTANT MEAL with practically no fat and carbs. Is this brilliant, or what?

Incidentally, if nobody in your family wants to taste your Stupid Soup you have my persmission to enjoy the whole pot all by yourself.

A bowl full of heaven for unsuspecting family and friends.

And now, for your culinary pleasure, I’m pleased to present one of my all-time favorite concoctions — Marcy’s Pink and Fluffy Puffy Crap — a healthy mock dessert that’s loaded with a variety of strange and tasty stuff. If you’re feeling adventurous, here are the ingredients:

• 2 cups plain yogurt (not drained)
• 1 cup light or nonfat sour cream
• ½ cup All Bran cereal
• 1 cup Shelf Reliance freeze-dried raspberries
• 15 to 20 packages of Equal 

Smoosh everything together in a nice bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours until the raspberries and All Bran puff up. The result is a small mountain of fluffy pink mousse that could count as a whole meal.

If you don’t feel like investing in a can of Thrive freeze-dried raspberries you can also make this dessert with defrosted frozen fruit, such as pineapple, sliced strawberries or mango. Feel free to throw in any liquid you get from the defrosting process.

Thank you for reading this.

My favorite revolutionary year-round bean soup.

I’m really into beans. They’re cheap, cute, loaded with fiber and protein, easy to cook and an excellent cold-weather food that even works when it’s 91°, like today. And so I’d like to share my recipe for Marcy’s Revolutionary Bean Soup, which gets its name from the instant freeze-dried pinto beans that don’t require an overnight soak or any of the typical complicated hoo-hah you’d expect with dried beans. Enjoy!

• 8 cups water
• 3 cups instant pinto beans from Shelf Reliance
• 4 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon chicken base
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ cup freeze-dried diced carrots*
• ¼ cup freeze-dried diced celery*
• ¼ cup freeze-dried chopped onions*
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• ¼ cup ketchup (add during final 10 minutes)

Bring water to a boil in a large kettle. Add the beans and remaining ingredients (except for the ketchup) and simmer uncovered for about 40 minutes. Stir in the ketchup and simmer for an additional 10 or 15 minutes. *I order my freeze-dried veggies from Shelf Reliance. If you substitute fresh you’ll have to double the pre-ketchup cooking time.

Sam and I love this stuff. Don’t tell anybody, but we never invite company when it’s bean soup night because there wouldn’t be enough for us. Thank you.

Marcy’s speedy cream of mushroom soup.

Hello, people! I thought I’d post my favorite cream of mushroom soup recipe in an effort to try and keep my mind off how crappy I feel tonight due to a BIG COLD FRONT that’s rolling into town. There’s no other explanation for the pain in my back and knees. Holy crap.

So here’s my recipe. It’s easy, there aren’t a lot of ingredients, you can throw the whole thing together in about 15 minutes if you’re motivated and (the best part) it tastes way better than anything that comes in a can.

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 to 4 cups rehydrated freeze-dried mushrooms (see below)
• 6 tablespoons CarbQuik
• 32-oz. container chicken broth
• 1 cup unflavored Almond Breeze almond milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan and sprinkle in the the flour, stirring until both are incorporated into a paste. Add the mushrooms and chicken broth and heat to a simmer, stirring frequently until thickened. Stir in the half & half, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 additional minutes and pour into dark brown soup bowls (required).

Let’s discuss freeze-dried mushrooms for a minute, okay? I buy mine from Shelf Reliance. This is an amazing product to keep in your pantry and I’ve usually got two gigantic cans hanging around for gravy, omeletes, soup and whatnot. They practically last forever, rehydrate in three minutes and you’d never know they weren’t fresh from the supermarket. Please try these. You can start with a little sample pouch if you’re not ready to invest in the big #10 can. Thank you for reading this.

Marcy’s sugar-free black bottom banana cream pie.

This pie is so damn wonderful you won’t believe it, and it’s so easy you can throw it together in less than 10 minutes. If I can do it, anybody can do it.

• 2 large bananas, sliced
• 1 pkg. Jello Sugar-Free Banana Instant Pudding
• 1 pkg. Jello Sugar-Free Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding
• 2 cups cold nonfat milk, divided
• 1 cup thawed sugar-free Cool Whip
• 1 sugar-free Fifty50™ graham cracker pie crust

Prepare chocolate fudge pudding with ¾ cup milk and pour into your pie crust. Top with the sliced bananas (you don’t have to be too neat if nobody’s looking). Prepare banana pudding with remaining 1¼ cups of milk, pour over the layer of sliced bananas and refrigerate for at least one hour. Top with Cool Whip before serving.

The best way to eat this pie is all by yourself. Just store it in the refrigerator in a plastic container marked “leftover liver.” I’m serious.

Our favorite one-pot rice dish.

Direct from the Howdygram’s Test Kitchen, here’s a favorite recipe for Easy One-Pot Greek Rice that Sam and I really love. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

• 1½ lbs. lean ground beef
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ cups raw long-grain white rice
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1½ tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons dried mint leaves
• 4 cups water
• juice of 5 lemons

Dump everything into a big nonstick kettle, stir to break up the ground beef, cover the pot and simmer for about 45 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. If you want softer rice throw in an extra half-cup of water. Doesn’t get much easier than this, does it? There’s enough here to serve at least six ... or two hungry people for three meals.

I highly recommend cake for dessert, but I’d probably eat cake with just about anything. Thank you for reading this.

The world’s easiest dessert that’s not a box of donuts.

Marcy’s Sugar-Free Fruit Cobbler is one hell of a great recipe even if I say so myself. It’s easy, it tastes wonderful and you can even serve it to company with no embarrassment whatsoever if you use nice bowls. I make mine sugar-free because I’m diabetic but I’ve included two recipe variations (see below) in case you prefer regular sugar instead of Equal.

• 1 box dry Pillsbury sugar-free yellow cake mix
• 8 to 10 packets of Equal
• 1 stick melted butter
• Pam spray
• 2 lbs. frozen unsweetened fruit (peaches, blueberries or raspberries)

Preheat your oven to 350°. Place frozen fruit on the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish that’s been shpritzed with Pam. Sprinkle the fruit with Equal. Pour dry cake mix on top and tap the pan gently until it settles evenly with no fruit visible. Drizzle the butter over the cake mix. Bake for about 45 minutes until brown and bubbly and you can’t stand waiting any more.

If fresh berries are in season, substitute 4 cups for the frozen fruit.

Is this gorgeous, or what? Please send an email if you’d like to request an enlargement that’s suitable for framing. The cost is $1.95 plus postage for a limited time only. Operators are standing by.

Recipe Variations. If you’re not diabetic like me you can use any ordinary yellow cake mix and do one of two things ...

1. Skip the Equal and sprinkle your fresh or frozen fruit with ¼ cup granulated sugar. 
2. Instead of fresh or frozen fruit substitute canned fruit in syrup. Specifically, you’d use two 28-oz. cans plus the syrup/liquid from one of them. (Don’t add any additional sugar unless you’re a junkie.)