Sugar free?

I'm definitely failing this challenge. After doing research about the link of colony collapse disorder to systemic pesticides used on the majority of corn, I have been trying to avoid everything with high fructose corn syrup. At first I thought it wouldn't be too hard, because I don't eat many processed foods. However, anytime I want a snack or a condiment, I have to check the labels. Lately, I've just been avoiding anything with sugar in the ingredients, since I'm not sure where this "sugar" comes from. Beets? Sugar cane? Corn? Who knows. So I'm trying to avoid it all.

I haven't been totally sugar-free, and have consented to the occasional ice cream or ketchup. I have definitely reduced my normal consumption, though, and I don't get those gross feelings after you eat too much sugar.

However, I'm feeling like a person on a diet who has intense cravings where I want to eat all the ice cream in the world! I've been trying to make a lot more snacks myself, to avoid getting antsy during the day and caving. I have two ideas for you, if you'd like to try something new:

Banana ice cream and candied pumpkin seeds.

I had heard about making ice cream from just frozen bananas before, but I thought that there's no way it could taste that great, since I'm not crazy about just eating a banana. Wrong. I chopped up two frozen bananas and threw it in with half a peach, a half cup of milk and a drop of peppermint extract. I blended it together, and stuck it in the freezer for a bit. And... AMAZING. It really does taste like ice cream, and the best part was after my second bowl, I knew that I had only eaten a banana and a quarter cup of milk.

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The maple pumpkin seeds are almost just as easy. I found this recipe here:
http://www.food.com/recipe/roasted-pumpkin-seeds-with-maple-syrup-145280
Since my dad makes maple syrup, I have plenty of it at home. I mixed a cup and a bit of pumpkin and sunflower seeds with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika. I put the mix on a baking sheet, and roasted it at 425F. I watched them really carefully and stirred halfway through, but it probably was only in there for about five minutes before they were ready. And then I ate them. Lots of them. The sweetness of the maple syrup, the saltiness, the spices...MMMM.

If you got any more corn-syrup free snack recipes, keep 'em coming!