Sorry, desertmom, but it is ILLEGAL to not like Oreos!!! You are certainly breaking some major food law!! LOL!!

To the OP, I could have written your post about syrup- just 5 minutes ago I gave DS pancakes with "syrup" I bought at the dollar store. Personally, I LOVE, LOVE the real thing, but am aghast at the price, but would buy it if my kids would eat it, but they like the bad stuff. In fact, I ususally but the type that has 1-2% REAL maple (bad, I know), but this time around bought just "syrup" (0% maple) - and younger ds said that it tasted just like the kind they get in school!!! UGH!!! Anyway, my kids go through it like crazy, so I guess it is better they don't like the real deal - too much $$$.

I grew up on real maple sryup since my dad makes it. I always get it for free. Now I live far away sometimes I run out sometimes and have to buy my own. You can make your own fruit syrup pretty easily just put butter or butter product in a skillet with berries until the juices start coming out and then add maple syrup. I usually use blueberries or strawberries. It is a great treat.

HFCS is in canned diced tomatoes too. I just discovered this and had to change brands. I was very surprised.

What! What is it doing in there!

(running to check all my canned tomatoes...)

We, too, have switched to 100% organic maple syrup and ohhhhh boy it is expensive. We buy the big container at Costco and it costs about $18. Well, we'd only used it about 3 or 4 times and I accidentally put it in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator! Oh my goodness, my hubster was not pleased with me!!!

I don't like the flavor of maple syrup either. I LOVE the fake stuff and every time I drizzle a little maple syrup on a pancake, I momentarily long for the Mrs. Butterworths... *sigh* My oldest likes ms, but my younger two eat their pancakes plain or with a little organic jelly. I have found I prefer jelly to maple syrup, too!

I had a big scare about 6 or 8 weeks ago and was worried about gestational diabetes. I had eaten a bunch of sugary foods/drinks (I had guests over) and ended up feeling really horrible the rest of the afternoon (shaky, weak, dizzy, ravenous...) It felt like my body wasn't processing sugar like it always has in the past. Until recently I would estimate that sugar has made up the majority of my diet for all of my adult life! I eat so much candy, sweets, etc... so I worried that my poor pancreas just gave up on me! I was so scared, I didn't eat sugar for almost 5 weeks. I felt great and wasn't gaining a huge amount of pregnancy weight (as I usually do.) Anyway, sugar has been creeping back into my diet again, so I need to watch it. It's so hard! As you all have pointed out, HFCS is in many, many things. Have you read the book FatLand? If you are on a HFCS kick, it would be an interesting read.

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Keep with the regular maple syrup and eventually you'll never eat anything else. I know, my dh is Canadian! I grew up on the fake stuff as well and loved it. I made the switch about 10 years ago and I cannot, I repeat *cannot* the the fake stuff anymore. Actually I think it must have been way more than 10 years ago. My ds has only had the fake syrup at pancake houses and he prefers the real as well. I swore that no matter how tight money ever got, I'd never give in and buy the fake. So, a few years ago I broke my own promise, we had one taste and threw the bottle away. It was that BAD compared with real.

If you crave that intense maple flavour, I would suggest Grade B dark maple syrup, it has a deeper flavour. It 'used' to be less expensive because it technically is an inferior grade, but since it has been recommended by chefs for it's great flavour now I find it is more expensive.

If you go to Costco you can buy the large jugs but you have to really use it consistently or if will mold, yes, even in the fridge. I buy the smaller ones and just consider it the price of eating healthier. We either use less or don't use it for awhile to conserve.

Good luck! Hold out. That last bottle of the fake stuff I bought I had one taste and out it went. Once you get used to real, you'll never go back!

I am trying to eliminate as much HFCS as possible, too. It occasionally creeps in, so I haven't done it entirely, but we are working to consume less of it. I actually made pancake syrup the last time we needed it. I just made a simple sugar syrup and added a little maple flavoring. It tasted fine, and was loads cheaper than buying real maple syrup (If I can find a good price, I'll buy it, but honestly we don't use it that often so the little bit of sugar does not worry me). DD eats her pancakes etc. plain, and ds eats his with PB and a drop or two of "sticky stuff," a.k.a. syrup, or homemade jam.

What irritates me is all the places they stick HFCS and artificial sweeteners that you wouldn't think about it. I found sucralose in the bagels I had been feeding the kids, even though sugar was there, too. And the other brand I tried had HFCS! So I have become more vigilant, and I have started looking for recipes to make at home. The ones I am having the most trouble with are things like Teddy Grahams. DD loves them, but I don't like the ingredients. Same goes for Quaker's breakfast oatmeal squares...love them, hate the ingredients.....so if you have any suggestions, I would welcome them!

HFCS does not register in the brain as you having eaten anything. If you eat sugar, the brain recognizes that you have consumed calories. With HFCS, the sensors in the brain that register that you have had calories are not tripped. Your body doesn't FEEL like it has had anything to eat!!!! This is one of the big problems with HFCS. The body doesn't measure HFCS as a food, so we tend to overeat foods with a lot of HFCS.

Most HFCS in the diet comes from beverages. Well over half, in fact. Cut out all beverages with HFCS and you have done a lot for your family's health. Look to cut out foods in which HFCS is one of the first 3-5 ingredients (depending upon what it is.) I buy bread at Grocery Outlet (good bread) for $1.89 a loaf that states on the plastic bag wrapper, No High Fructose Corn Syrup. The same bread is about $3.59 a loaf in the regular grocery store.

I buy jam/jelly made with sugar or corn syrup only, preferably sugar. Regular corn syrup is nt good for you, but it does register in the brain as calories.

I don't worry about ketchup, salad dressing, BBQ sauce and the like because you simply can't get certain foods without HFCS being in it. However, a little bit in condiment type foods is not going to ruin (a non-diabetic's) health IMO. I am careful, but not paranoid about HFCS when I shop. Are there any others out there like me?

I remember my mom making our maple syrup when I was a kid. She made the simple syrup and added maple syrup, so it was a little sweeter. She also did it to have some real maple taste, but keep it a lot cheaper.

It also irritates me all of the places they stick the HFCS and artificial sweeteners. Did you know that Flinestone vitamins have aspartame in them? I was going to buy some juice boxes the other day and I looked at the top and saw sugar (not HFCS), so I bought them. I should have read further. At the bottom of the ingredients was sucralose! Makes me so mad! I brought them back to the store.

As far as the kids snacks go, I've been buying O Organics brand from Safeway. They have cheez-it-type crackers with all organic ingredients and cheaper than national brands! Annie's also has cheddar bunnies that the kids like way more than Gold Fish. If you have a Safeway near you, go check out their cereal bars, snack cookies and other items. They are really good and cheap.

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My aunt used to make homemade ketchup. I didn't know people did that, but my cousins tell me that once you taste it you'd never buy ketchup. My favorite b-day cake when I was a kid was chocolate w/ my mom's homemade butter cream frosting. It was pure white, very smooth frosting - like glass - not the least bit sugary. When I got married, I asked my mom for the recipe. It was, essentially, granulated sugar, some vanilla, beat into CRISCO!!! I could have died. Essentially, smearing crisco all over cake. I'd loved it for years but I haven't had it since.

I so totally agree with this! I'm trying to buy heathier foods and I'm spending more $$. I don't get it. Oh and BTW I like maple syrup too!