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When we found out that one of my kids is sucrose intolerant, the doctor prescribed some medication and I immediately changed our diet.

Shortcut to Starch-free and Dairy-free or Sucrose Intolerant-friendly Recipes:

No sugar and dairy-free Almond Cookies

Gltuten-free, starch-free, and dairy-free Cassava Flatbread

Turkey Breakfast Patties (No Sugar, No Preservatives)

Pork Loin Chops Marinade for Sucrose Intolerance

What is Sucrose Intolerant?

Many people know what lactose intolerance is, which is intolerance to dairy products. What not a lot of people know, including me before the diagnosis, is that individuals can have an intolerance to sucrose which a lot of products have like: table sugar, wheat and gluten-free pasta, and even some high sugar vegetables and fruits like carrots and bananas! Luckily, there are low sugar vegetables and fruits that are safe to consume and the grocery stores here in the county have an abundant of substitutions like Stevia and Sweet'N Low! I have an older family relative who is diabetic so a sugar-free diet is not unfamiliar. However, many restaurants use sugar in their recipes. Therefore, I'm encouraged and determined to do more creative home-cooking!

The vegan snacks that we've been accumulating will now have to go in the trash. Since so many general snacks at the grocery store has dairy in it, in the past, we'd resorted to vegan snacks because they don't have dairy. However, they add a lot of sugar! I've looked at the ingredients list of the 5 boxes of vegan snacks in our cupboard and added sugar was all there, plus there are starches that we have to avoid now.

I'm going down this rabbit hole of researching for the best recipes and alternatives for my son and I'm going to collect all of my research and thoughts here so that I can always go back to this blog post and be able to share it with others as well. I know my son's situation is very unique because he is lactose-intolerant and sucrose-intolerant. However, for those who are sucrose-intolerant, it seems that dairy has to be omitted anyway because it's high in sugar!

Omitting Pasta (Even Gluten-Free), Grains, High Sugar Fruits Like Apples, and Table Sugar

I have what I call the "no eat" list for sucrose intolerance from our Dr.'s office that notes that he should avoid the high sugar items like: cereals, gluten-free bread, bread, rice, oats, polenta, arrowroot, millet, psyllium, quinoa, sorghum, tapioca, dairy milk, dates, dried beans (including soy bean), carrot, parsnip, potato, silverbeet, sweet potato, taro, banana, cantaloupe, grapefruit, honeydew melon, oranges, passionfruit, pineapple, tangelo, and of course, plain sugar or table sugar. I'm sure there is a bigger list in the universe, but as a popular food item list, this is what the doctor gave me, which I'm very grateful!

So many items on this list are perceived as healthy and very many are items that my son really enjoys eating, but he can no longer have them because of his sucrose intolerance. It's really sad. I had to have a talk with him and tell him that I wish he could have all of these so-called "healthy" items, but for his body, they are not healthy for him because of the intolerance to sucrose. I encourage him to make the right decisions for himself as he grows older, without needing me to constantly remind him because ultimately, his body pays for it with inflammation internally. I'm also going to encourage him to learn to cook beside me, even though he is currently only 11 years old, so he can learn to be creative with cooking with things his body can tolerate. I think this is something my son and I can creatively do together and bond over multiple discussions.

Using Stevia, Sweet'N Low as Sugar Substitutes

As mentioned earlier, many grocery stores have sugar substitutes which include Stevia and Sweet'N Low. Luckily, I already have some lying around in the house because I had ordered a big coffee box from Starbucks for a soccer tournament to share with other parents and Starbucks gave me so many of them. I had saved them!

I also noticed that a lot of restaurants have Stevia and Sweet'N Low on tables for coffee, and I appreciate that more than ever!

List of Vegetable and Fruits that Are Okay for Sucrose Intolerance

I had mentioned the list of high sugar fruits that my son should avoid already, but what's equally helpful is a list that he can actually have that is "safe" for his sucrose intolerance. Here is the vegetable and fruit list that his Dr. gave him that is safe for him to consume: alfalfa, bamboo shoots, bean shoots, green beans, bok choy, celery, chives, cucumbers, endive, ginger, lettuce, olives, parsley, pumpkin, bell pepper, green section of spring onion, spinach, squash (depending on the individual), tomato, zucchini, blueberry, boysenberry, cranberry, grapes, kiwi, lemons, lime, raspberry, rhubarb, and strawberry. I'm sure there is a bigger list out there on the internet, but this is what our doctor's office gave us as a reference and I think it's a great starting point.

Substituting Grains with Shirataki Noodles and Almond Flour Baked Goods With No Dairy And No Sugar

This is where I have to be super creative with recipes as a mom of a son who loves pasta! He can't have any pasta which includes any with wheat, gluten-free, tapioca starch, arrowroot, millet, quinoa, sorghum, psyllium, rice or oats. It's a strict list! I'm very early in my journey on this, but I found out that shirataki noodles may be a good option, so I will be on the look out for that at my local grocery store! I've never had shirataki noodles before so I'm very eager to try it. I just have to make sure there is no soy bean (like miso) and other starchy ingredients in the labels as many of them have them for flavoring. Because I don't want my son to go through this journey completely alone, I'm going to eat with him when I cook these new dishes for him. Amazon is going to be my best friend for items that I can't find at my grocery store in San Luis Obispo County.

Luckily my son is not allergic to tree nuts, like almond, because I can definitely substitute baked goods that usually use wheat or gluten-free flour with almond flour. I've been baking with almond flour for a little while so, fortunately, this is something I'm familiar with doing! I baked a lemon almond cake for his birthday earlier this year.

See my clip below of the cake I baked as I put a Dog Man topper on top:

Recipes I've Found That Are Safe For the Sucrose Intolerant

As I stumble onto great recipes on the internet that is safe for sucrose intolerant individuals, I will add them to the list below. We are not a vegan family as my son will still continue to eat chicken and seafood. However, coincidentally, because we are avoiding sucrose (including dairy), some of the recipes are vegan. 

• Simple Grilled Salmon & Vegetables


• Seasoned Cod


• Almond Cookies - Inspired by this recipe: Almond Cookies, I made a couple of adjustments to make it sucrose-free. I swapped out Coconut Sugar for a smaller portion of Stevia.
  Here is my version and my list of ingredients to make Sucrose-free (also Dairy-free) Almond Cookies:
  • 1 cup of Almond Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Baking powder (that is wheat-free, and no corn starch, etc for sucrose-free diet -- This is trickier than expected.)
  • 5 small packet of Stevia powder(about 3/4 tablespoon of Stevia)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
  • 1.5 tablespoons of Water
    Luckily my son is not allergic to any tree nut, so we're able to utilize almond flour. I mixed all of the ingredients together and baked it in the oven for 15 minutes for 350 degrees. This is how it turned out.
    Thankfully, my son likes them!
• Cassava Bread and Baked Goods - I've baked a banana bread with cassava before and it had a really nice texture. However, this was before I knew my son has sucrose intolerance so I have to work on baking without bananas now. I found this Cassava Flatbread Bread recipe online.
  The exact ingredients that I used for the Cassava Flatbread are:
  • 1 cup of Cassava Flour
  • 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Salt (I put less than what the recipe stated)
  • 6.5 tablespoons Unsweetened Oat Milk (recipe said to use any type of milk but I had oat milk at home)
  • Water (as needed if it's dry)
  
  
  It was only 5 ingredients and it tasted wonderful to my son! What's particular about the cassava flat bread is it requires a unique technique. After combining the ingredients into a crumb like texture, you have to warm it up in the microwave for 30 - 40 seconds and then be able to knead it to the right texture. I did find that it was still dry after I microwaved it so I added 1/3 cup of water until it was more of a pillowy texture, but you don't want it to too wet or it'll be too sticky! Then with a rolling pin, I flatted them out and cooked them on a cast iron outside. Cassava tends to burn and smoke up easily from my experience so to avoid setting off alarms, I cooked it outside, just to make sure. My son liked eating the cassava flatbread with his eggs, so it was a success! Here is the picture of my cooked cassava flat bread!
  
  
  There is also a Cassava Loaf Bread recipe that I've found, I had to make some changes to remove the yeast and maple syrup and replaced them with baking powder and monkfruit sweetener and it turned wonderful!
  Cassava Loaf Bread Ingredients that I used:
  • 1 ½ cups of Cassava Flour
  • 1 tablespoon of Monkfruit Sweetener with Erythritol
  • .8 teaspoon of Baking Powder (find that I if I put too much in the past when I bake, it has a interesting taste so I am usually a bit conservative
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • ¼ olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup warm water
  After mixing the ingredients together, I actually let it sit for 30 minutes covered. I didn't put any yeast in this, but felt like I should give it some time to meld. When it was time, for 35 minutes, I baked the loaf of bread in 400 degrees Fahrenheit in a regular bread pan. However, I really needed a baguette pan because the original recipe said that this batter is made best as a narrow bread. So, I put some parchment paper in my loaf pan so that the bread was more narrow and not wide. It turned out alright! The is probably the best cassava product that I've ever made! The bread was moist and the flavor was nice and simple. There was no weird after taste.
  I also experimented with baking cassava cookies a few times but was unsuccessful at first. After the third batch, I was finally able to successfully bake them without burning them or them tasting kind of weird! I used monkfruit sweetener, which helped with the sweetness and taste than regular stevia.
  Here are the ingredients that I used for my Cassava Cookies:
  • 1.5 cups of Cassava Flour
  • 2/3 cups of Olive Oil
  • 1/3 cup of Monkfruit Sweetener with Erythritol (It's the only one I found at Grocery Outlet, but some stores sell just Monkfruit Sweetener without the Erythritol)
  • 1 tablespoon of Stevia Extract/powder
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
  • 1 small drop of Lemon Extract
  
  
  After mixing the ingredients together, I baked them for 11 minutes in the oven in 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I noticed that when I bake them for more than that, they start to have a burnt taste, so watch them carefully. Now, there is a dry and airy texture to cassava cookies, because it's not a starch but a root vegetable, but it's much better than not having any edible cookies to eat at all!


• Chia Bread - As I was researching for sugar free bread recipes that is sucrose intolerant friendly, I stumbled on this Chia Bread recipe that only uses two ingredients! It seems that you will need a good food processor for this.


• Sugar Free Jam - I found this Sugar Free Jam recipe that only uses 4 ingredients and I'm eager to try it.


• Turkey Breakfast Patties - My son really misses eating breakfast pork sausages, so I decided to make turkey patties with similar herbs and he actually loved it. (Image of this is coming.)
  Here's the list of ingredients that I used for the Turkey Breakfast Patties:
  • 1 lb of ground turkey
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme (you can use dried too)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of fresh sage (chopped)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
  1/4 teaspoon of oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (you can omit if you don't want this kick)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
  I just mixed it all together and let it sit to meld for an hour before cooking them into patties on the pan. It's definitely less greasy than pork meat, but it still taste fine. Make sure to add olive oil to the pan before cooking them.


• Baked Pork Loin Chops - We now just eat pork loin chops every once is awhile, as we try to cut down how much red meat we consume. Furthermore, in addition to significantly cutting down how much red meat we eat, we also eliminated soy products per doctor's orders. My son's doctor think this will help him with inflammation, even if he doesn't outwardly look like it he is allergic to it when he consumes soy products. Eliminating soy products is quite more more difficult than I thought. There is soy in so many packaged food products! We also miss using soy sauce. So, I decided to try coconut aminos to cook for the first time by using it to marinade pork chops. It's a great substitute for soy sauce and the recipe I found, turned out to the best marinade I ever used on pork chops. Coconut aminos are quite expensive so I can see how I've missed using this ingredient before. However, It's delicious to cook with! I recipe I found: Pork Chop Marinade.
  Pork Loin Chops Ingredients that I used:
  • 3.75 - 4 lbs of Pork Loin Chops with Bone-In
  • 1/3 cup of Olive Oil
  • 1/4 cup of Coconut Aminos
  • 1.5 tablespoons of fresh Lemon Juice (A man sells them for 4 of them for $1 at the local flee market in Nipomo, but he kindly threw in an extra one for me for some reason. Support local!)
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard
  • 4 gloved of minced Garlic
  • 3/4 teaspoon of Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Black Pepper
  I've invested in a hand blender when we found out about sucrose intolerance. It's only been a couple of weeks, but I've been cooking about 1.5 - 2 hours a day as I've experiments with baking starch-free breads, different recipes and making my own sauces. I used my hand blender to blend the marinade together before putting it in a ziplock with to marinade my pork chop loin. Man, what an immersion difference this hand blender makes! Using a hand blender takes getting used it. I still get my clothes dirty each time using it from the splashes. I've also been utilizing my cast iron a bit more often lately as well. I've started to sear food outside to avoid starting my fire alarm in the house. The smoke detector in my house is so close to my kitchen. So for the pork loin chops, I seared both sides of each pork chop for 2-3 minutes. Then, moved them to a baking pan, spraying a non-stick spray oil first to avoiding sticking. Then, I baked them in 400 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven for 8 minutes. They were fantastic! I wish I had taken a picture.

Part of making this journey successful is the sucrose-intolerant individual will need to learn to be open-minded with eating and expanding their food options to more things that their body can tolerate, and eliminate the items they can't anymore. I can only help him out so much with the incorporation of tolerable ingredients as I try to cook or make what I think will still taste good. However, this journey is an educational journey for both of us.

This blog entry will be actively updated so bookmark and visit the page again in a couple of weeks for more updates.

EXPLORE Feature

I participated in a baking class at House of Bread in San Luis Obispo and had a very memorable experience and lesson! I wrote about it as the EXPLORE feature for SLO LIFE Magazine's FEB/MAR 2025 Issue as a contributor. You can pick up the latest issue at Boo Boo Records or read the SLO LIFE Magazine digital version, if it is available.

Dr. Bravo, a very well respected pediatrician in San Luis Obispo, was on the cover of this particular issue. Although my kids have a different pediatrician, he's been recommended by so many moms! I love that many local moms can relate to the person on this cover for FEB/MARCH 2025. He's made, and will to continue to make, a big impact on families in the county.

You can also get a mail subscription for SLO LIFE Magazine so that every new issue is mailed to you. Here is a the link to subscribe.

To view the behind-the-scenes reel for the baking class I took at House of Bread, go to my instagram.

Knead To Know (In Process of Adding Content - Check Back Later!)

In the meanwhile, to view the behind-the-scenes reel for the baking class I took at House of Bread, go to my instagram!

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Planning a birthday party that's just right for the season can be tricky. There are questions about whether it should be family with relatives only, with friends only or both? So far, we have hosted birthday parties for our sons at Pacific Flips Gymnastics, Pismo Bowl, Ravine Waterpark with a canopy rental, and at Pismo Beach on the sand where we brought and set up our own canopy (literally on the beach).

For each birthday party that we had planned out here on the Central Coast, it has been a success and our birthday boys had a great time!

Pacific Flips Gymnastics Birthday Party

Pacific Flips has two locations: Grover Beach and Santa Maria. We've planned a birthday party for our child at the Grover beach location and had an excellent experience with organized play and music! Their birthday packages are either for 90 minutes or 2 hours. Parents are welcome to come watch and when we planned this for our kindergartener, all of the parents stayed to watch.

They set up 2 tables ahead of time per your reservation and you just bring your decorations. I came 15 minutes early to and set up the tables they provided with a Minecraft theme. This was my decoration for our son's birthday party below:

I want to note that we had the party at the older Pacific Flips Grover Beach location. They have moved since to a different part in Grover Beach.
For more pictures and details, read about our detailed experience in this Pacific Flips Birthday blog entry.

Pismo Bowl Birthday Party

Located in the central area by the Pismo Beach Pier, Pismo Bowl was a great spot to host my son's 11th birthday. We invited 5 of his friends and their families to bowl with us. It was a great time for a dozen of us. We did a birthday package and reserved the spot ahead of time. I came 15 minutes early to decorate the two tables that were reserved for us for food.We had 2 hours to ourselves with two bowling lanes, side by side.

After we bowled together, we continued to hang out together at the arcade where everyone got to roam around a little more. I highly recommend coming here for a birthday party, especially if you have a winter birthday. Address: 277 Pomeroy Ave, Pismo Beach, CA 93449

Ravine Waterpark Birthday Party

Since the canopies at the Ravine Waterpark can get sold out during the summer, I booked a canopy for the exact spot of my choice as soon as the waterpark allowed me to book for the season. This waterpark is located in Paso Robles and is only open during the summer and since one of my sons has a summer birthday, we had a birthday party here with just our family (my husband, older son, birthday boy and me), the grandparents, and an uncle and his fiancé. The canopy rental does not include tickets also you would also need to buy tickets and order food a la carte. With a canopy rental, we had a designated server who came and checked in on us periodically so we never had to wait in a line to order. Here's a video tour of the exact cabana that we rented at Ravine Waterpark below:

Read more details about Ravine Waterpark on my blog entry about Ravine Waterpark.

Other Birthday Party Ideas for Kids:

The list below are places that I haven't hosted a birthday at, but I've visited these places personally and feel that it would be great for kid's birthday parties! So, here are some more ideas:

Mustang Waterpark Birthday

Even though we've never hosted a birthday party at Mustang Waterpark in Arroyo Grande before, we have rented a canopy as a celebration for our son's birthday with just the four of us! It was at the tail end of the pandemic. My birthday boy still had a great time and made some random friends there. The canopy space there is smaller than the Ravine Waterpark, but I feel that it's more appropriate if you have little ones the water park is smaller and you can keep track of the kids a bit better. Like Ravine Waterpark, when you rent a canopy, a designated server comes around and takes your order periodically so you never have to get in line to order food.

Read my full detail review of Mustang Waterpark.

Central Coast Aquarium Birthday 

For a 2 hour slot, you can have a birthday party for your child at the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila Beach. They host birthday parties on Saturdays and Sundays.  Their minimum birthday packages is pricey but it's very engaging and is complete with decorations.

To see more pictures of the aquarium, read our review blog entry of Central Coast Aquarium. I've volunteered to chaperone at a field trip here before so got to have a more private party experience.

Hop's Bounce House

In Atascadero, you can go to an indoor place with a few bouncy houses inside called Hop's Bounce House. You can pay for the day and have your kids jump around while the adults lounge in their comfy sofas. They also have a private room for parties! We weren't part of any birthday parties there before, but I felt like it was a very decent size! It's a very good option when the weather is not good for outdoor parties. It's designed for 13 years old and under. There is a small toddler section in the front so it's also a place to consider for the little ones. Everyone has to wear socks to jump in the bounce houses.

They have a couple arcade games to play. They take quarters and have a change machine right by it. Hop's Bounce House Address: 5805 El Camino Real suite a, Atascadero, CA 93422

San Luis Obispo Children's Museum Birthday

This children's museum offers a birthday package experience and there have been many times where I've considered booking a birthday package here, but felt that it would be hard to connect with families and have the kids mingle with each other throughout the timeframe because the space is three stories big! However, I have no doubt little kids would have fun here! We've been to San Luis Obispo Children's Museum for their free Moonlight Hours and the kids can spent at least an hour or two here! Read my full review of San Luis Obispo Children's Museum.

As always, you could always reserve a spot at a park with the city office for a particular date within San Luis Obispo County for parties.

Go to the SLO family-friendly restaurants section to see restaurants with a play area. These places are also great options for birthday parties.

List of Things To Do Just for Fun in San Luis Obispo County With Kids

• Charles Paddock Zoo -- Read my blog review
• Hearst Castle -- Read my blog review
• San Luis Obispo Children's Museum -- Read  my blog review
• Central Coast Aquarium -- Read my blog review
• San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum -- Learn more
• Paso Robles Children's Museum -- Read my blog review
• Exploration Discovery Center -- Read my blog review
• Museum of Natural History -- Learn more
• Avila Valley Barn -- Farm Stand with Animals
• The Ravine Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)
• Mustang Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)

A month ago, I dined at El Mirador and raved about how they made a fantastic California burrito on instagram.

Then, today, I walked down the same street to check them out again and realized they are now permanently closed.

The exact message they had on their window was this:
"Permanently closed
From the bottom of our hearts,
thank you for over 28 years of support - El Mirador"

I'm sad that they permanently closed, but glad that I was able to enjoy their California burrito before El Mirador closed a few weeks after.

Within a week of each other, I've visited a brand new coffee shop named Dulce Cafe in Grover Beach as they just grand opened, and then I tried to visit a different shop that was opened for 28 years, to find that they have permanently closed. Life can be ironic.

Read My Reviews for Restaurants in Pismo Beach

• The Rooftop Restaurant at Inn at the Pier Review (beachfront Pismo Beach Hotel)
• Ventana Grill Review (cliffside restaurant in Shell Beach/Pismo Beach)
• SeaVenture Restaurant Inside of SeaVenture Hotel Review (iconic Hotel that's been around for decades)
• Oyster Loft at Pismo Beach Review (beachfront restaurant)
• Kanpai Sushi Review (in Shell Beach area of Pismo Beach)

I was checking my credit card statement and I saw a post for $170 by "Arroyo Grande Oil LLC" that was noted as a personal transaction.

I was very alarmed to see this! So I called my credit card company by locating the customer service toll free number that was printed on the back of my credit card. When I got to a real live representative, I asked them if they could help provide more context on where that charge was coming from and they said there's a telephone number tied to that post. The number is: "8054735400". I googled that number and it linked to the City of Arroyo Grande Website as their main number! Then, I remembered that my son recently took a Winter Camp at the Arroyo Grande Chamber of Commerce office for that very amount. (I know, winter break day camps can be expensive!) So, I felt silly and was relieved that it was for my son's Winter Camp so I didn't dispute the charge. However, it's quite odd that a Winter Camp transaction would show up as "Arroyo Grande Oil LLC" on my statement. What are your thoughts on that?

Before calling the credit card company, I thought someone must have fraudulently used my credit card to get gas and other things. I was really concerned. I'm glad that's not the case, but I think if there's another person who regular checks their credit card statement, like I do and sees that transaction, they wouldn't initial think that it's the City of Arroyo Grande's account for a kid's day camp. The word "Oil" and the LLC part threw me off, for sure.

I wanted to blog it here in case someone was getting super concerned like I did, and a google to this post might offer them some relief.

Organizing Ideas:

• Get a journal, planner or organizer.
• Get a big calendar for your wall.
• Get an echo dot and have it repeat daily or weekday alarms.