Ok, I'm going to be the outlier here. The whole idea of gifting people with "treats". This is just ludicrous to me. Cookies, fudge, sweet popcorn balls and who knows what other sorts of garbage. It's this whole messed up mind thought of food=happiness. ERRRGGGG! This is a bit along the same line as people forcing food on you in the guise of a "gift". Why do you feel compelled to "gift" anyway. Try showing your collegues you appreciate them thru out the entire year, not just once year. Oh I could just go forever on a rant on this. This is almost as bad as people spending money they don't have on holiday gifts for adults. We're adults for crying out loud, we're not 5 year olds that need toys.

Maybe I'm a scrooge or just call me Mr. Grinch but this stuff drives me crazy to watch how other people just lose their minds during this time of year.




I agree--LC baking ingredients ARE expensive. Not like 4 bucks for 10 pounds of baking flour or white sugar.




And I bet when you serve this, there is nary a left-over in sight!

I can say this....when I'm cooking at home for family or friends, I do cook LC, I don't make starchy sides, have bread, or cook standard sweets, I cook what I can eat, let people know what the ingredients are and let them make the decision to eat or not to eat. I should preface that to say that I have NEVER had dinner guests who have EVER left my house hungry (most everybody knows what they're in for when the come to my house for dinner! )

Progress not perfection.

Lisa

I am supposed to take dessert to a party. I am making macaroons for my self and something for Them. I will take enough macaroons to share-with recipes. I do not want to have Splenda myself, it gives me leg cramps at night, but will use Truvia as my sweetener. I also love the taste of coconut so I use about a third or the sweetener called for. I could not give anyone something like that without a warning. Plus, then if they shy away, there are some left for me to take home! Lol.

It had nothing to do with low carbing at the time, but one time I got a bunch of shrimp and mixed up some cocktail sauce, and cracked some ice, and brought shrimp cocktail to the office party. It was more popular than most of the cookies and stuff. It was not a cheap thing to do though

The only thing there for low carbers to watch for is the sugar content in the cocktail sauce.

After giving it some thought, I guess you should not give someone something with any artificial sweeteners without somehow letting everyone know they are present. I know that if I got something that had sugar alcohols in it, and didn't know it, I would be very upset that I didn't know about it. Because I would be spending a lot of time in the bathroom soon.

I only bake "treat gifts" a couple of times a year. Kolache for my son's birthday and Christmas cookies for some friends. I do indulge at those times and move on without beating myself up.
The rest of the time, "treats" for myself and DH are LC, like coconut bark or LC waffles with berries and whipped cream. I made LC peanut butter cookies once from the recipe section, but we had portion control issues...

Honestly, I just don't think you should be giving out gifts with any kind of agenda......Especially food gifts.

It's just way too complicated. You might freak out a nice vegan. Or they might offend you. Etc.

Not to mention that there are just way too many of these types of gifts from "I don't normally bake" type people floating around this time of year.

How about skip the food and give a candle or a bottle of wine or some bubble bath stuff?

If it's something I would also be eating (like something I'm bringing to a potluck), then I might make it low-carb, but I would let everyone know if it contained sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners. This is why I usually stick to deviled eggs for potlucks instead of sweets - I find them safer and still very popular

Whatever you do, just make sure the recipients/guests are aware of what's in it. I know some people who would much prefer natural ingredients over artificial sweeteners and others who would prefer the artificial sweeteners to lower the calories. I also know some who avoid specific sweeteners due to individual side effects they experience. So do what you will, but be open about it.

Same here. I would just make spicy pecans or something.

I make LC pumking bundt cake for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. My parents and sister come over and eat everything I've cooked -- but they KNOW that it's LC.

If I give something LC that's been sweetened with artificial sweetener, I have to let my friends know. It's their choice. I have one friend that doesn't want AF, so she brings sugar to my house.

If they want to eat sugar, they need to bring their own.

Great points per usual. Alright, so I'm either doing spicy pecans or candles!

I am not a grinch either- but I agree with Lisa. This is a WOL-
dare to be different!

Every time I hear the word "Grinch" I feel compelled to start singing that song...

♫♫♫ Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinch! ♫♫♫

I basically opt out of the entire season as much as possible. Everyone around me knows that I'm not giving gifts, nor do I expect any. If my sister invites me for Xmas dinner, I'll be getting gift cards for my neices ('cause they're kids) and my sister because she's going to all the work and expense of putting on dinner. That's it. No mad shopping. No decorating. No panic. Christmas will find me relaxing quietly at home with my hounds.

Just call me Scrooge.

Actually, in previous years I've joined a Christmas choir and gone to hospitals and nursing homes to sing carols. To me that's a lot more in the spirit of the holidays than the frantic cooking, eating and buying. Unfortunately our group didn't get together this year, I'll have to find a new one.

I guess there are different things that I consider "treats." There's a tea shop close to me called Xiu Xian tea. I gave my math instructor 3 of my favorite teas as well as a mug for making loose teas as a gift. The teas I picked out smell *amazing* and are really high quality.

Maybe that's why I consider them treats even if they don't fall in to the dessert category.

Anywho, I think it's an excellent idea for all of us to only give our friends and loved ones food gifts that we would eat/drink ourselves. Low-carb desserts and drinks imho are much better quality than the usual crap that is given around christmas (things from the bakery in particular or sugar cookies that are made from premade dough).

I'm a retired pastry chef. At the end of my career, I developed a small line of sugar free, gluten free 'baked goods' for the people who dined at the Inn I worked in.

Nowadays, that's what I make as 'gifts' for my friends/family. And, I was a bit hesitant at first, wondering if they would perceive it as me 'forcing my diet upon them'..but when the teenage Grandkids 'mow on it' and ask for MORE? Um..I guess I'm safe, lol. and I finally got asked if my homemade yogurt was 'whipped cream' ..so I guess I'm getting close to 'success'.

I pretty much only bake for myself but I made a coconut gooey butter cake a few months ago and had one of my nieces taste test it - she loved it. So for Christmas, I'm going to make a pan of it for her and the rest of her family. They are well aware that I use artificial sweeteners.

I'm also planning to make sunflower seed bars and give them some, if I can perfect the sweetness level.