The Sweet Sugarfree Life

“Mom, where’s my squash? Mom, I want my squash.” It’s pretty hard to believe there’s a kid who actually screams for squash (in this case stuffed kabocha), but Kirk Krause, 6, isn’t like most boys.

Kirk and his brother, Austin, 4, have been raised on a mostly vegetarian diet of sugar-free foods prepared with fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers markets.

The kitchen of their Hollywood Riviera home contains mountains of produce and crates of oranges stacked high, enough for about a week, says their mom, Pam Krause.

It’s not an all-squash, no-sweets regime, however. “My kids eat ice cream. They eat cakes. They eat pies. They eat all the things that other kids have, only there is no sugar in them,” Krause says. She replaces sugar with a sweetener of raisins pureed with apple juice.

Krause is fairly new to this diet. She once was a hearty meat-eater who joked that she was “the queen of cholesterol.” She changed her ways, however, after marrying Gerald Krause, a chiropractor, vegetarian and advocate of holistic healing. “It was a big switch,” she says, “but it didn’t happen overnight.”

Following the precepts of her husband, Krause removed from her kitchen any product that contained sugar. This left her cupboards virtually bare. Today, she stocks only a handful of canned goods. “I like to have a few things around for emergencies,” she says.

Tall jars of pasta and brown rice stand behind the sink. Cupboards are filled with herbs and spices with which she concocts seasoning blends. “I have to have two blenders,” she says. “I use them so much that the motors get hot.”

She grinds an all-purpose herb-and-spice blend not just for herself but to sell in her husband’s office. She also makes a sweet spice blend for baking. And she turns out so many desserts that she has to replenish her raisin puree constantly.

Additional jars hold seeds for sprouting. Pepper, chiles and chile-based products are not to be found; her husband believes that spicy foods can harm the stomach lining. Like sugar, they are banned from the Krause table.

The Krauses never lapse from their diet. They don’t take their boys to fast-food outlets. And if Kirk and Austin go to a party, they refrain from a taste of cake or ice cream. “I feed them ahead of time or send them with a sack lunch, even when they go to their grandparents,” Krause says. “Their taste buds are different from the average child’s because they haven’t been raised on super-sweet food.”

For breakfast, the boys eat sugar-free cereal. “Their favorite thing,” says Krause, “is hot oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and apple juice instead of milk.”

Dinner might be a pasta dish, like whole-wheat rigatoni with pesto, and a salad that combines several types of lettuce with tomatoes and sprouts. A typical homemade dressing combines lemon juice, olive oil, blue cheese, Krause’s herb-and-spice blend and a dash of raisin sweetener to counteract the sharpness of the lemon. The beverage might be carrot juice or an herb tea that Krause brews and stores in the refrigerator.

The boys get an occasional taste of chicken. “But they don’t eat a lot of it,” Krause says. “There might be a big salad and a little piece of baked chicken, maybe two times a month.”

The biggest fan of her cooking is husband Gerald. “In the eight years I’ve known her, she has made something different every other day,” he says. Krause has featured his wife’s cooking in some of the half-hour shows on holistic health that he has done for cable television. He photographs her dishes and has pressed her to write down her recipes, setting out note pads and even giving her a voice-activated tape recorder to simplify the task.

The result is a book, “Pam’s Favorite Recipes,” that is selling like “pamcakes” (Krause’s version of hot cakes) in her husband’s office. The privately published book contains 200 recipes, ranging from veggie tacos to samosas and jicama coleslaw. Formulas for the raisin sweetener and sweet spice blend are included. The heaps of produce photographed for the cover re-create the ambience of the Krause kitchen. Kirk and Austin are in the picture too.

Like many a proud cookbook author, Krause showed off her recipes with a buffet that covered her dining table. The dishes included guacamole with homemade chips, kabocha squash Provencal, minestrone, roasted red bell pepper strips, Waldorf salad, apple pie with whole-wheat pastry and ice cream made with bananas, pecans and carob that she scooped onto a platter and decorated with huge strawberries. Krause also set out an experiment that is not in the book--pineapple upside-down cake topped with fresh pineapple rings and blueberries.

Kirk and Austin, arriving home from school, examined the table with interest generated by healthy appetites

“This smells good,” said Kirk, poking into the huge bowlful of minestrone.

“That food’s delicious” Austin chimes in, sounding more sophisticated than his years as he admires a dinner plate heaped with tastes for a visitor.

“Pam’s Favorite Recipes” is a large spiral-bound book with recipes in large print to make reading easy. The price is $24.95, which includes tax, shipping and handling. To order, call (800) 404-4770.

KABOCHA SQUASH PROVENCAL (VEGETARIAN)

This is the squash dish that made 6-year-old Kirk Krause beg for a taste. The natural sweetness of kabocha squash adds to its appeal. Organic soy sauce is sold in health food stores.

4 (2 1/2-pound) kabocha squash

3 shallots, peeled and sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon organic soy sauce

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cut 2 slits in top of each squash. Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until tender when pierced, 40 to 50 minutes. Set aside to cool. Slice off tops of squash and carefully scoop out seeds. Discard seeds. Scoop out pulp, leaving shells intact. Chop pulp and set aside.

Saute shallots and garlic in oil in large skillet 2 minutes. Stir in squash pulp, zucchini, tomatoes, basil and soy sauce. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into shells and bake at 400 degrees 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

4 main dish or 8 side dish servings. Each main dis serving:

213 calories; 80 mg sodium; 7 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 5.73 grams fiber.

MINESTRONE (LOW-FAT COOKING & VEGETARIAN)

Krause uses tomato paste that is salt- and sugar-free.

10 cups water

1/2 cup dried cranberry or kidney beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 pound Roma tomatoes, pureed in blender

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced celery

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 cup sliced zucchini

1/2 cup whole-wheat pasta of choice (elbows, spirals or other)

Organic soy sauce

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Bring 2 cups water to boil and add beans. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Set aside.

Heat oil in 12-quart stock pot. Stir in onion and saute until soft. Add cabbage and saute until wilted. Add remaining 8 cups water and bring to boil. Stir in drained beans and simmer, covered, 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are soft. (Note: Beans must be completely cooked before adding tomatoes.)

Stir in tomatoes, then add carrots, celery and tomato paste. Return to boil, then simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini, pasta and soy sauce to taste. Return to boil and simmer, uncovered, 12 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle cheese on top if desired.

10 to 12 servings. Each of 10 servings, without cheese:

136 calories; 63 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.50 grams fiber.

BANANA, PECAN, CAROB ICE CREAM

2 1/2 cups 50/50 Sweetener

2 over-ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups pecans

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons Sweet Spice Blend

3 tablespoons unsweetened carob powder

4 cups whipping cream

3 cups milk

Blend 50/50 Sweetener, bananas, 1 cup pecans, vanilla, Sweet Spice Blend and carob powder in blender until pureed.

Combine blended mixture with remaining pecans, whipping cream and milk. Turn into ice cream maker and mix well. Process according to manufacturer’s instruction. Makes slightly less than 3 quarts.

12 (1-cup) servings. Each serving:

496 calories; 67 mg sodium; 114 mg cholesterol; 37 grams fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.88 gram fiber.

50/50 SWEETENER

2 1/2 cups raisins

2 1/2 cups apple juice

Place raisins and apple juice in blender container and let stand until raisins plump, about 15 minutes. Blend on high until mixture reaches consistency of paste. Store in refrigerator.

3 cups. Each tablespoon:

32 calories; 1 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.14 grams fiber.

SWEET SPICE BLEND

2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons nutmeg

2 teaspoons cloves

1 teaspoon cardamom

Combine cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom in small jar. Cover and shake vigorously.

1/4 cup. Each tablespoon:

13 calories; 3 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.21 grams fiber.