Coffee's Ready!

Four cups of brewed coffee, black please. 

A few years back hubby and I decided to go for a healthier lifestyle. 

Am saying healthier because earlier on in our marriage (we celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary this November) we resolved some issues when it comes to what to put on our dinner table.  We have said "no" to patis (fish sauce), so much so, that my children grew up not knowing what patis is, what it's for and how it even looks like (one time we were watching an investigative reporting about a patis factory somewhere in the Metro, when my daughter just had to ask, "Mom, what's patis?").   Same with those packed instant noodles. My children have never seen those in our grocery bags and in our cupboard. The only time I remember buying one was when I was pregnant with my daughter (one of those pregnancy cravings that for the life of me, I just had to eat one!).  I was so excited to cook and savor the noodles and soup. Piping hot, and a few spoonfuls later, I ended up throwing the rest!

The story of how we shifted to a healthier diet deserves is perhaps worthy of another piece. For now let me focus on how I conquered a sugarless and cream-less coffee.

Growing up with a sweet tooth (one of those pregnancy cravings was eating a whole cake, much to my poor mother's chagrin!), over time, thank goodness, I've learned to put a "quota" on eating sweets, I taught myself to be choosy, e.g., I wouldn't touch a bar of chocolate unless it's dark chocolate. So I thought I was doing a great job at it, until I heard about the book, Sugar Shock  (I must admit I haven't read it yet) that details how we, adults, have been programmed (in Psychology, this is called  "conditioned") since birth to develop a preference for anything sweet. 

So I made a mental list of the usual food and drinks I consume daily.  By this time, we've totally given up on white rice, white bread, instead opting for brown rice and wheat bread.  Coffee. Whoops, I sure like it strong and sweet! I knew I had to do something about it. Rain or shine, coffee's a staple in my diet. So I tried removing the sugar, just coffee and cream.  Then a friend told me that cream's sweet too! IKR! The good girl that I am, tried it without cream. It was just plain and simple coffee.  Good thing we always keep a bottle of cinnamon powder at home (for those cinnamon toast we love to make!)... hmmm... So I sprinkled cinnamon powder and that was the beginning of how I learned to love black coffee. Pretty soon hubby was following my formula.  By the time we allowed both kids to have brewed coffee, they were quite used to seeing us enjoy them black. They take theirs black too, my daughter adds lots of cinnamon powder while my son enjoys his plain (sometimes he puts it in the refrigerator, preferring a cold cup, especially during the hot summer months).


The photo above is a staple at home, especially during Sunday morning.


There's still a lot to share about how I try to keep myself sugar free, but for now, let's enjoy a cup of brewed coffee, black please.