Sweet Life with Chris Xaver

Food means celebration, family, and good times. But for those trying to either watch their weight or their blood sugar, celebrating with food is either "forbidden" or disappointing. Often times, sugar-free recipes are tasteless and lackluster. The Sweet Life provides simple, delicious recipes that taste just like the foods we have either grown up loving, or learned to love in our favorite restaurants - BUT these recipes are made without all the sugar, carbs, and excess fat. Many people have tried cooking with sugar substitutes and had disastrous results. The problem isn't with the ingredient substitutes; it is in knowing just how they cook and bake up differently. More than four thousand Americans each day are diagnosed with diabetes, adding up to more than 13 million cases annually. It is estimated that half of the women in America on any given day are on a diet, and one in four men are watching their weight. The Sweet Life is not a diabetic food program, but instead focuses on figuring out how to make those foods we know and love healthier by reducing sugar, substituting healthier fats and choosing better carbohydrates. These are foods that will impress guests while protecting their hearts. Unless the cook "kisses and tells" family and friends will feel as though they are indulging. The Sweet Life will raise expectations, not blood sugar. Chris Xaver has hosted a local cooking show on WCNY/Syracuse. She holds a PhD in Communications and is a professor and department chair of Communications at Tompkins Cortland Community College in upstate New York.