This wonderful, sweet herb used to grow in my garden (though the picture is not from my garden) and I hope to try again this year when it gets a little warmer. I planted it for the first time two years ago, and hoped it would winter over, but unfortunately, it didn’t.
The scientific name for this plant is Stevia rebaudiana. We use it in our home as my husband is a diabetic and it doesn’t have any calories or negative affect on his blood sugar. If anything, studies seem to indicate that it has a positive affect on blood sugar. I use it in place of calorie-free artificial sweeteners.
I find that I can use the leaves from my garden in teas, but it’s a bit much to use them in any other cooking, so purchase an extracted white powder form of stevia. I have a container with a measure that helps me use the proper exchange for other sweeteners, and packets that I can carry in my pocket book.
Here are a couple of things that I have in my home right now:
Stevia Powder
Stevia Powder Packets
Where did you get your Stevia plant? Or, did you grow it from seed? I would like to try. I live in Zone 6. Thanks!
September 25th, 2008 at 6:56 am[...] Stevia [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 2:31 pm