Steve's blog: 'I want you all to try it, enjoy it and, like me, share it with the world'

When I came across the opportunity to apply for Davina's Sugar-Free Challenge it took, oh, all of 2 minutes to 'go for it'. 

Did I actually think that I would be one of the chosen few? No way. Am I over the moon about being chosen? 100% yes.

My big sugar hit is snacking. I do think that when it comes to evening meals we don’t eat that badly, though I'm sure my wife would tell you that I could eat a lot more veg! Unfortunately if it begins with 'brussel' or 'cabbage' or 'turnip' it will never appear on my plate, and not even Davina will get me to change my mind on that point!

When my 5 Weeks to Sugar-Free book arrived I had a good read and started to look at where I should start. My first impressions were how simply laid-out the book was; the instructions were very clear and the recipes could be created by anyone, which is always a plus.

Shepherd's Pie (p.127)

Eventually I did decide that the cottage pie had to be my first effort as that’s a family favourite, though I had never done this with sweet potato…

Wow, what can I say? We loved it and I made enough to last a couple of nights. As we both work, I decided not to do pie and additional veg separately so by doubling the quantity of veg I was able to have a one-dish wonder. I love cinnamon so I also doubled the amount. All-in-all I guarantee that anyone who tries it will love it.

(Sorry no picture, we ate it all before I thought about the camera!)

Beef Stir Fry (p. 128)

What a winner! No noodles or rice as this is packed full of goodness. You will not need it. Normally I love to have plenty of chilli in my stir fries and curries, but this dish didn't need any with the Chinese five spice, peppers and soy sauce. It made a great combination and the taste was amazing. The first thing I did after eating this was to broadcast it to the world of Twitter. Why? Because I want you all to try it, enjoy it and, like me, share it with the world and lastly buy the book.

Going back to my big sugar hit: the snacking. Well, I have certainly lowered the amount of chocolate snacks I have and am more conscious about what sort of snacks I eat. 

Next week will be about trying some of the snack recipes such as the flapjacks (p. 178) and the chocolate brownies (p. 174) - oh, and by the way they look fantastic. I know some of my co-chosen ones have already beaten me to making the brownies so I have some catching up to do.

My wife wants the lime and ginger cheesecake (p. 189). Being a sucker for cheesecake this may get priority, so if you want to see what I cooked catch up with the blog next week.