The strength and stamina that honey offers to athletes has been a well-known fact since the ancient Greek and Roman times. Maybe refined sugar just became easier to manipulate over the course of time in recipes but we are losing out on the antioxidant content that honey delivers. Flavonoids and phenolic acids contained in honey helps to fight off free radicals, something we all need today. Honey recipes are so easy to prepare and maintain the same flavor, if not better, than the processed food with refined sugar that we grab at the store without even thinking about the ingredients. Honey barbecue sauce, for example. Have you looked at the back of the bottle to see if there’s even any honey in that mixture of chemicals, additives, and flavor? There are many honey recipes that actually have honey in it, and here’s an easy one. Simply combine one can of condensed tomato soup, cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of your choice of salad oil, and one tablespoon of lemon juice adding 1 teaspoon of mustard and a dash of hot pepper sauce for bite. Stir it in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, then simmer while stirring until it’s at a desired consistency, and remove. If you have a sweet tooth that just has to be fed, buy some frozen yogurt or custard and make up a honey caramel sauce fit for a four star restaurant. You will receive far less calories than ice cream loaded with chocolate syrup and a host of vitamins from your treat. Mix 1 cup honey, cup heavy cream, 1 TBSP butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/8 tsp salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook the first two ingredients to 238 degrees F, remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Your sauce will thicken and be absolutely luscious. Honey recipes can include tasty snacks that you can prepare and store for weeks. A healthy alternative to chips and candy is granola. You can even use as breakfast cereal with milk. You can combine sweet and salty, depending on your taste but here is a basic honey recipe that you will love. Combine 4 cups of rolled old-fashioned oats, 2 cups nuts coarsely chopped and 1 cup of raisins in a large bowl. Mix together well and set to the side. In a large saucepan, mix cup honey, cup melted margarine, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt. Stir and bring to a boil, cooking for 1 minute. Remove and pour over oat mixture, tossing until blended then turn onto a cookie sheet that is greased. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, mixing every 5 minutes. Cool and crumble. What a treat! If you make an effort to replace your granulated sugar with a small amount of honey sugar, it won’t be long before you don’t even notice that absence of refined sugar. Test your regular recipes with honey sugar, taking care to account for the liquid measure. Remember to reduce your liquids by a quarter cup per each cup of honey, and add half a teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used in baked goods. Empty calories and processed foods have taken a terrible toll on our bodies, which is why it’s so important to start using natural foods. It’s easy to use honey recipes for any meal that you’d normally use sugar with. Let your imagination run wild and create your own honey recipes for you and your family to enjoy!