There is too much focus on what we can’t eat and the sweets we miss. I thought it might be an idea to focus on those treats and products that are made for us and meet our needs. To start I found Jelly Belly sugar free jelly beans, Sweet 'n Low hard candies (coffe flavors and butterscotch), Murry’s cookies (similar to Oreos, shortbreads, and lemon sandwich), Gucerna (Chocolate Peanutbutter snack bars and Chocolate Chunk meal bars) and the whole line of EXTENDbars.
I have to tell you, I basically reject all the special diabetic food products. Others may find them useful, but I don’t. Some of that can be that I basically gave up “sweets.” I don’t have them, generally not even substitutes. If I do, I’ll use something like the Da Vinci Syrups. If I want a snack bar, I would choose a sweet and salty peanut bar (19g carb) instead of Glucerna bar (25g carbs) for a fraction of the cost. And when I look at the nutrition label for something like Murrays Oatmeal cookies, what I see is 21g carbs, 3g fiber for 3 cookies. I see a cookie that has almost all the carbs of a regular cookie. If I want a cookie, I’ll make a almond butter cookie that has like 1g of carb per cookie. I just feel “ripped” off.
Now that being said, many people find that they need ready to go foods that are low in carbs. What I have tended to do is select foods that are diabetic friendly, but are not marketed to diabetics. Small packs of nuts, individual cheese sticks, beef jerky or pork rinds.
What I really wish is that my local stores actually started to carry the broad range of low carb products available at places like netrition.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions we fight, about our disease, is being able to consume sugar. Society always thinks, and preaches, that we can’t eat, or have any sugar, and that we need to stick to sugar free everything… and they do it out of concern, but they are wrong. Back in the 1980s, yes, it was thought that we needed to avoid sugar, at all costs… But now we know more information about the situation, and as it turns out… it is the carbohydrate amounts in the food that we need to watch out for, and not sugar in specific. Sugar is just another carbohydrate.
Most of the products you mention, among others, contain something called “sugar alcohols.” And sugar alcohols, although they are not as strong as sugar in their glycemic response, are still just another carbohydrate. Often, manufacturers add twice or three times as much of that sugar alcohol to be able to get the true sugar flavor that they are looking for… and often, they end up with a product which has even more carbohydrates than one which would have been made with sugar, and an even worse glycemic response. We can have regular sweets, but we need to watch the portion size, like bsc mentioned, or make our own sweet alternatives, at home. For me, when I want a sweet fix, I mix 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, with 1/4 of unsweetened coco powder, and 1 packet of truvia, on a slice of low carb whole wheat toast, or a Wasa cracker. 
If I want a cookie, if it’s small… I have just 1… If it’s bigger, I cut it in half. Or I look for recipes from members in here…
Some commercial sweets will surprise you with how low carb they are… and they’re not sugar free! Some ice cream bars, the plain vanilla ones with chocolate coating, are 11 grams of carb! So… don’t be afraid to shop around for your sweets, and look at those total carb counts. You’ll be very sweetly surprised.
when my son was first diagnosed we were looking at sugar-free candy vs. the regular candies… the sugar free had more carbs in a couple of cases. We basically just go with the regular food - except the soda… and sometimes sugar free jello, but even with low salt items the fat content is usually higher. You really have to read labels !! i think we are all pretty good at that now !
Not marketed to D, but popular at my house are Dreyer’s Fruit Bars (popsicles), no sugar added at 25 calories and 6 carbs each.
My daughter likes Joseph’s Sugar-Free cookies. They come in a lot of flavors but are small - about the size of 3 quarters stacked. 4 cookies are 95 calories and 13 grams carb. (No great bargain if you ask me.)
Mousse Temptations by Jello come in carmel (sort of like flan) and chocolate. I think the texture is oddly spongy, but again, my D daughter enjoys them. They have 60 calories and 9 or 10 carbs, depending on the flavor.
I was shocked to see Vanilla No Sugar Added Blue Bell Ice Cream (beloved here in Texas) had the EXACT same number of carbs per serving as their regular ice cream. We eat ice cream regularly at 18 carbs per half cup.
Lastly, I went down the D aisle the other day because it was the same aisle as the toothpaste. (Odd.) I was mystified by Walden Farms products. All their products are advertised as Calorie Free, Carb Free, Sugar Free, Fat Free, Gluten Free, Preservative Free, and Kosher. BBQ sauce, salad dressing, mayonnaise, jams, peanut “spread” and marshmallow fluff. How could this possibly be true? http://www.waldenfarms.com/index.html
Well, sawdust must be pretty versatile! lol Honestly, anything that does not have their nutritional data, online, for any of their products… I am highly suspicious of.
Actually, I quite like the Walden Farms products. The syrups are made with splenda. The majority of the products are however made with things like xanthum gum as an emulsifier to thicken without fat. Many products that eliminate carbs and fat replace them with only artificial chemicals. The Walden Farms is one of the better brands.
Now, one product I forgot.
CARB SMART Ice Cream!!! Made with splenda and somehow reduced milk sugar, it has 13g carb, 4g fiber per 1/2 c serving. The only better thing is homemade ice cream.
Sawdust! . . . . Well, I wondered.
You made me laugh, Lizmari.
We don’t carry any of those brands out here… sadly 
Wish I could check them out, rather than having to rely on a site with no nutritional info… I couldn’t find any nutritional info at all on the Walden’s one.
Mootopia Milk (made by HEB) at 6 carbs per 1 cup instead of 12 carbs. The taste is the same as regular milk. We haven’t tried Carb Control brand milk - can’t find it.
Pepperidge Farm Light Style bread at 45 calories and 8 carbs per slice. I suspect most of the carb reduction is in the portion size of the slice, but it makes a great sandwhich.
I know there’s been posts about Dreamfield Pasta at 5 carbs per serving. Some people complained that it was sneaky and raised their sugars hours later. We’ve had good luck with it, although I serve it as a side dish, not as a pasta feast.
I got over the Dreamfield Pasta spike, by putting it in the fridge for a day before eating it… starchy foods, like pasta, potatoes, and rice, develop something called resistant starch, which the body can’t digest and acts like fiber… lowering the glycemic load.
I reach 170ish or so, without doing this… but when I do do it… my bg is about 108, instead… And I keep a watchful eye to make sure it’s not keeping up rising, later…
I am thanking my lucky stars that I am not a sweets person. I rarely have a taste for sweet things. I am a bready person - and that is more of my torture than sweets. Although I am starting to miss fruit now- my favorite was always pineapple. I haven’t had much luck in the ice cream section for any low carb fruit bars - Thanks for the tip on the Dreyers I will have to look for those.
A few weeks ago I wanted something ice creamy so I decided to get these Coconut Milk Mini sanwich bars (vegan for me). If i only eat half it is only 9 carbs, but I wasn’t expecting them to be so damn small! Geez! Half is like two bites so of course I nibble on it slowly to make it last. But I have to have it as a small meal in between my big meals and if my BG is on the lower side. I probably won’t buy them again though and look for something else. My favorite ice cream - Soy Cherry Chip from Trader Joes (and those Jo Jo cookies) I cant have - way too many carbs. I think I might have to make my own ice cream.
Other than that (and fruit) I really crave sweets hardly ever. My favorite product right now that is slightly sweet is West Soys Soy Slender Cappucino. Only 4 carbs per 8oz glass (1 net carbs because of 3 fibers) and I think 7 grams of protein. And it is sooo good. I feel like I am having an iced starbucks. I actually tastes a bit sweet to me.
For me instead of focusing all the sweety treaty stuff I can’t have I tried to make due with the things I can have. Low carbs things that I always feel like having are peanut butter and hummus and avocadoes.
I haven’t looked into finding some unsweetened chocolate yet that is dark. But I am sure my chocolate craving will pop up again sometime soon.
It is interesting to see how some people are more sweet people and others aren’t. I think there is a reason for it but I forget what it is. But what many people don’t know - is that the more you don’t have something the less you will crave it. Yeah, it takes a while and you have to get past the initial craving (which is tough) but if you can tough it out, your body honeslty won’t miss it anymore and you won’t have the cravings.
There is also Healthy Life bread which has low carb whole wheat, white, Italian and rye. I think yes the slices are a bit smaller than regualr but I love all the choices. Either 8 or 9 carbs per slice. Italian and rye are my favorites so far.
Sugar Free Gummy Bears. They are a bit tougher than the real thing but they taste good. I also really like extra dark chocolate and have no qualms about indulging in a piece or two from time to time. Neither seem to dent my BGs in the amounts I eat. A bag of gummy bears will last about a week. The same for a chocolate bar.
I’m more like you… mmmm peanut butter, hummus, and avocados… are like the main foods in my house, always… lol With lower carb Sarah Lee bread, 45 calories and delightful. haha I always toast bread, and with hummus… and sprinkle it with paprika. Yummeh 
Ok, don’t spread this around. Part of the trick with resistant starch is proper cooking and serving. For starchy foods like potatoes, cook the potatoes, cool the potato and serve cold. Don’t reheat. The same with Dreamfields, cook al dente (you know what I mean), serve immediately or cool and don’t reheat.
The reheating never changed anything, for me… Seriously.
I am like most and don’t use diabetic labeled foods. They are generally more costly and don’t taste as great. I tend to stick with the carb counting of regular foods. personally I like healthy stuff thank goodness. for starters my fav frozen treat is tofruitti ice cream it is great and big serving with low carbs. it is hard to find though I have to go to publix or whole foods to get it. but so worth it. I also love eating sandwiches so I had to find a good bread with a good balance of carbs and taste. I go with health smart bread and deli meats so i get better taste cost a little more once again but worth it. cookies well I eat regular chips ahoy or oreos just in moderation. I try not to limit my foods as bad and good instead just all in moderation and in brands that are carb friendly
Oo, I think I missed checking out the label on the Tofrutti at Whole Foods. I’ll keep it in mind when I go next. Thanks for the tip!
http://www.waldenfarms.com/nutrition_facts.html
There is a link to the nutrition facts for Walden Farms. Seems pretty cool, but to be honest, I just eat regular foods and eat them with my meal with my humalog (I just add the 15 or 20 grams, for example, into my carbs for my meal and give the appropriate amount of insulin).
But I do enjoy Sun Butter, a peanut-butter-like spread made with sunflower seeds. It is quite tasty and is also good for people with nut allergies and celiac. It also has 7 carbs per serving (2 tablespoons). http://www.sunbutter.com/products.php