Banana Nut Bread

When my husband arrived home from a grocery store run with a bunch of bananas in hand, I was overpowered by a sudden urge to bake banana bread. The traditional version is low in fiber and high on the glycemic index (all that white flour). Determined to satisfy my craving while not compromising flavor or my blood sugars, I headed to AllRecipes.

My search lead me to two similar recipes. First, I found "Lower Fat Banana Nut Bread" and then "Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread." Liking the sour cream in the first and the whole wheat flour and honey in the second, I created my own version of the recipe. I guess it would be Lower Fat Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread. Or something like that.

Rachel's Version of Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sour cream (I used fat free)




• 4 large (omega 3) eggs




• dash of vanilla extract




• 2 t baking powder




• 2 t baking soda




• 3 bananas (that weren't, by the way, very ripe)




• 2 T butter




• 1 t salt




• 2/3 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend




• 1 cup whole wheat flour




• 1 cup white flour




• 2 cups of old-fashioned oats




• a healthy amount of chopped pecans (I'd guess I added about a cup)




• white chocolate ships




• dark chocolate chips




• honey for topping




• margarine for topping




• sugar for topping

1: Preheat your oven to 350. Coat two pans (I used a loaf pan and one round cake pan) with nonstick cooking spray.

2: Combine the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, bananas, and butter into a large bowl using a mixer at medium speed until creamy.

3: Add in the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar. Add the chocolate chips and pecans. Divide the dough between the two pans.

4: Melt the margarine and pour it over both loafs. drizzle each loaf with honey and sprinkle on some sugar.

5: Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the loafs are hardened and brown on top. Cool before slicing.

You can, of course, omit the chocolate chips. You can, if you desire, add another banana or two and omit the chocolate chips.

I shared the bread with collegues. I was told that the bread is "very moist" and "dense." Yum! I think the sour cream does wonders in this recipe, and the chocolate is a nice twist on this traditional bread. The nuts add protein, and the whole wheat flour and oats add fiber and a more nutty taste than white flour. If your batter doesn't seem thick enough, just add more oats.

Enjoy!

Smarter Dinnerware

Two summers ago I picked up plates like this from a kitchen outlet store on The Outer Banks (or OBX to many who travel there) of North Carolina.

Corelle dishes are well-known for their strength and durability. Supposedly you can drop a dish and it will not break or chip.

What I love about my plates:

1: They are white, simple, and clean. White goes with everything, including my Nautica (blue and white) dishes.

2: They keep my food from touching. Yep, that's me friends, the one who doesn't like her food to mix. I know, it all goes to the same place. But I hate soggy bread or peas sharing space with my salmon.

3: They stack nicely and thinly in my cabinet, taking up little space.

4: They can go in the dishwasher, the microwave, and the fridge.

5: Despite eating everything on them from a blueberry and blackberry fruit salad to marinara-sauce laden chicken parmesan, these dishes have yet to stain. I've had them for over two years and they look brand-new.

6: They are inexpensive: $3.99 each!

And my favorite, lucky #7, is . . .

They are perfect for portion control---diabetes or not.

• 1/4 for carbohydrates


• 1/4 for protein


• 1/2 for veggies/fruits

Though I occasionally have the dinner guest laugh at my "special" plates, I have never regretted my purchase. And my blood sugars are better when I can control my portions.

Happy dining!

Fat Free Brownies: Product Review

You have probably guessed that despite having diabetes, I'm a huge fan of chocolate, baking, and desserts in general. I'm sure it stems from first, not having diabetes as a child or teen and having many years to get acclimated to berry cobblers, homemade ice cream, and birthday cakes, or second, that these foods seem to be "forbidden" making me want to rebel like a pre-teen.

Is my obsession with desserts visual? Psychological? Emotional? Or is it all about taste? I don't know...

but when I first picked up a box of No Pudge! Original Fudge Brownie Mix, I was skeptical. I mean come on, a fat free brownie?

Yes, my friends, it's real. And the brownies are wonderful!

One package of the mix will run you anywhere from $2.50-4.99 depending on the location. I purchase mine at Trader Joe's. Even more exciting than the price, which isn't bad for a "diet" food, are the nutrition facts. Each package makes twelve brownies and will run you 120 calories, 0 grams of fat, and 28 g of carbs.

Here's how it works: you simply stir in either 2/3 cup of fat-free plain or vanilla yogurt, or 2/3 cup of fat free sour cream, or 2/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce. (I have yet to try canned pumpkin---to make these a veggie-dessert). Mix until combined. (You WILL get a workout from making these---the batter gets pretty stiff though it's smooth, rich, glossy appearance is deceiving). Bake in an 8x8 pan at 350 for about 30 minutes. Voila!

For better portion control, I often bake mine in regular or mini muffin tins.

Those of us with diabetes know that fat-free doesn't equal good for blood sugars. Though adding in chocolate chips and/or nuts will add fat, it will help your body process the carbohydrates more slowly.

I especially love using these brownies, along with strawberries, with chocolate fondue (recipe to come in the near future!). I bake the brownies in the mini-tins, have just two (which equals one regular sized brownie) and heap the strawberries, and then drizzle on the chocolate. So good, and with the berries, quite filling.

If you click on the No Pudge! website (link above) you will notice the different varities of mixes. I have tried every one, and the only one I like is the original. The website does offer a recipes page where you can experiment with your mix and customize your dessert to the taste of yourself and your guests.

I have gone so far as to buy boxes of these mixes to give as part of food-basket gifts at Christmas. I'm a believer!!!

Three C's

One of my favorite magazines is Cooking Light. I'm not sure if it's the "light" part or the could-pull-it-off-the-page-and-eat-it photos that intrigue me more, but each month I love opening my mailbox and revealing my latest issue.

It's late April when I'm avoiding a stack of student essays in order to indulge in a little me time. Page 140 of my May issue reveals the title "Cool, creamy, chocolaty." Titles matter, I tell my students, and these adjectives have me salivating. Below the title is an intimate shot of a four layer dessert.

Crust:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

6 T chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

Cooking spray

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup less-fat cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup fat-free cream cheese, softened

1 (8oz) carton frozen reduced-cal whipped topping, thawed and divided

3 cups 1% milk

2 (3.9 oz) packages chocolate instant pudding mix

Unsweetened cocoa (optional)

Directions:

1: Preheat your oven to 325.

2: Combine flour and 1/4 cup sugar in the food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter and pulse 10 times until mixture is coarse. Stir in pecans. Press mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325 for 20 min or until crust is lightly browned. Cool.

3: For filling, combine 1 cup sugar and cream cheeses in medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Fold in half the whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture on the cooled crust, cover loosely, and refrigerate for one hour.

4: Combine milk and pudding mix in a large bowl and beat with a mixer for 2 minutes at medium speed. Cover and refrigerate for one hour (until pudding is set). Spread the pudding mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture. Then spread the remaining whipped topping over the pudding layer. Cover and chill for at least a half-hour.

Rachel's note: This dessert tasted the best on the day of preparation. The next day was edible, but by day three I tossed it.

Cooking Light reports the following nutrition facts: Cals 268; Fat 10.2g (sat 6.3g); Protein 5.2g; Carb: 39g; Fiber 1.1g; Chol 20mg; Iron 0.9g; Sodium 183mg; Calc 92mg.

Now, this was my pre-no/less-substitution days (which is a fairly recent revolution), and I totally screwed up the crust. (I used margarine instead of butter, whole wheat flour instead of white---and the result was a tough, thick, brown mess). Since I only had a few more hours until the party I was preparing the dessert for, I simply omitted the crust. I guess the upside is that the dessert contained fewer carbs.

To make my dessert a little more satisfying, I added pieces of Heath bars and pecans to the top. The crunch made up for the lack of crust.

The dessert was a huge hit at the party, and no one knew how truly light it was.

Food You Can Wear (no carb counting needed!)

My friend introduced me to an awesome website called Etsy. Everything sold on the site is homemade. If you're bored, in the mood to shop, or just need to feel uplifted, browse away!

I searched "food jewelry." Some of my favorite items include:

I'm thrilled at the reasonable prices and amazing variety. Now, if I could just figure out what to order...

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

I used to be a Gourmet Cupboard salesperson, and my favorite product was the beer bread. However, the mix was laden with white flour which can be devil-sent for those of us with diabetes.

Determined to make one of my newest favorites into a health food, I ventured over to All Recipes and found an easy, delicious recipe for homemade beer bread. When I think of making bread, I think of the sour dough recipe my mom used to follow---days, even weeks, of feeding the solution, and tedious rounds of punching the dough, letting it rise, and repeating. This bread was amazing; however, most of us just don't have the time, or for me, the patience, to create such a delectable masterpiece.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour



• 1 cup white flour



• 4 1/2 t baking powder



• 1 1/2 t salt



• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar Splenda Blend



• 1 (12 oz) can or bottle of beer (I used the cheapest stuff I could find)



• honey



• sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Sprinkle sugar on the sides and bottom of pan.



2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Pour in the entire can of beer and stir in until all ingredients are well blended and a stiff batter is formed.
   




3. Place mixture into loaf pan. Drizzle the top of the loaf with honey and sprinkle on some sugar.
   


4. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, or until the top is set and browned.
   


5. Cool, cut, and serve.
   

Cook's note: My favorite part of this bread is the top---so crunchy and sweet, so this go-round I sprinkled sugar on the sides and bottom. Now when I bite into my bread, it's sweet all the way around.

An online search will reveal the many ways to make beer bread, including with different juices and even diet soda. Experiment!

I slice my bread rather thickly and then slice those pieces into halves or thirds. I then freeze any pieces we aren't going to eat right away. When needed, I pull out the pieces, defrost them either by just leaving them out for a few minutes or in the microwave, and then I pop the pieces into the toaster oven for a "just out of the oven" taste.

This bread is great with butter, yogurt butter, and/or honey.

Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo (Not just for girls!)

After my diagnosis, I began my search for low carb pasta. Please don't bother. Learn from my numerous shopping trips and online searches. Pasta is pasta. It's full of carbs. Period. Some might have more fiber or protein. Some are brown. Some are white. Some are even orange or green. Some are curly, twisted, straight, thin, thick, whatever. But at the end of the day it's all about the carbs.

I decided that I'd rather have a chocolate dessert than a plate of pasta, so I gave up on pasta, went commando on the dinner plate.

That is until I got a call from my library...

"Hello?"

"Hello. May I speak to Rachel?"

"This is she."

"Rachel, this is the library. We have a book in for you."

"Can I have the title, please?"

"Hungry Girl. We'll hold it for seven days."

"Thank you!"

This phone call may seem rather boring and ordinary, but to me it's a ticket to a new adventure.
Later in the week I flipped through the book, recording possible recipes on a post-it. There, on page 257, was a light from heaven: "House Food Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine."

On Sunday my husband and I ventured to Dierbergs, a grocery store that's too pricey for everyday shopping. After fifteen minutes and two employees, we made our way to the very last aisle of the store to the refrigerated organic section to pick up two bags of shirataki noodles, otherwise known as "tofu-infused strands of yam flour" according to Lisa Lillien, aka Hungry Girl.

At just $1.99 a package and 40 cals in the entire bag (with NO CARBS, 1g protein, and 2g fiber per serving), I was thrilled. I left the store giddy, talkative, glowing.

Here's the recipe!

Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo

Ingredients:

• 1 package House Foods Tofu Shirataki, Fettuccine Shape



• 1/2 wedge The Laughing Cow Cheese, Light Original Swiss (I used a whole wedge)*



• 2 t reduced-fat Parmesan grated cheese



• 1 t fat-free sour cream



• salt and pepper to taste

*I'm a huge fan of Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese---only 35 cals per serving! It's great on grilled cheese or as "dipper" for apple slices.

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain noodles in a colander. Pat dry with paper towels.



2. Place noodles in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for one minute.



3. Drain excess liquid from noodles and pat them dry. Slice noodles into smaller strands.



4. Add remaining ingredients. Mix. Heat for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat again for 30-45 seconds. Stir. Repeat until hot and well-mixed.

Cook's note: I added some cooked asparagus to this in order to get in my veggie-serving. You can almost anything to the noodles, and Hungry Girl's cookbook and website offer at least six additional recipes. There are at least two varieties of shirataki noodles to choose from (fettuccine and regular), but keep in mind that you'll need to do your research as they are not easy to find!

Are you wondering how pasta-like these noodles are? They are chewier than regular pasta and have less flavor, though this truly doesn't matter once you use the noodles in a recipe. They were quite filling, especially if you consume two servings/one package (which is just 40 calories!).

I served my pasta with two small slices of whole wheat beer bread (along with some yogurt butter and honey).

For my husband, I created the same meal except I used whole wheat angel hair pasta. He loved it!

Can a life lesson come from a cookie?

You must check out this beautifully written and illustrated children's book! It's called Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jane Dyer.

PROUD means, My chin is high, and I sure do like the way my cookies turned out!

RESPECT means offering the very first cookie to your grandmother.

REGRET means, I really wish I didn't eat so many cookies.

CONTENT means sitting on the steps---just you and me, and a couple of cookies.

Salmon Avocado Salad

The other day I was craving the bitter taste of feta and wondered if there was a recipe out there that included feta and salmon. I did a quick search on AllRecipes and found my prize: Salmon Avocado Salad. This salad, when finished, is a work of art. So beautiful! And it tastes even better than it looks. I also love how easy and fast it was to make.

Ingredients:

• 2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon



• 1/4 cup butter, melted and divided



• salt and pepper to taste



• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced



• 12 grape tomatoes, halved



• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided



• 8 ounces leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces



• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and cubed



• 5 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped



• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped



• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar



• 1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled
  

Cook's Note: I purchased bagged romaine salad instead of the leaf lettuce. I also used one pouch of salmon instead of filets. I didn't add cilantro (as my husband hates it), and after making the recipe, I would recommend not using the jalapeno which just distracted my taste buds from the other flavors. Also, I used all the cherry tomatoes, many more than twelve, as I love the sweet, juicy taste. I did not cut them in half.

(For directions on how to make the original version, see recipe link above).

Directions, my version:

1: Rinse tomatoes, mushrooms, avocado. Dice avocado.

2: Melt a small amount of butter or margarine in a skillet or saucepan. Heat at medium, wait until butter melts, and then add salmon and mushrooms. Stir occasionally, allowing the mushromos to soften.

3: Meanwhile, toss tomatoes with 1 T olive oil and some salt and pepper.

4: To make the salad, place all ingredients including dressing (1 T olive oil and 2 T vinegar) into a large baggie or sealed container. Shake until all is well coated and mixed. You may add the feta afterward for a "fresher" feta taste. If you add the feta before, it will get soggy.

5: Divide salad into servings, about 4, and enjoy!

Cook's Note: This salad is best fresh, but I did eat it as leftovers the day after for lunch. It was a tad soggy but still delicious.

Black Bean Brownies

How's that for alliteration?

My friend Kelly showed me a recipe for "Amazing Black Bean Brownies" at work today. This recipe is found in Baking with Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature's Ultimate Sweetener by Ania Catalano, a book I have yet to order from my library but look forward to doing so. Feeling the urge to bake, I headed to pick up the groceries after work.

I admit that I was skeptical. I love healthy recipes---especially ones that include chocolate, but in my experiences as a person with diabetes, the recipes and products advertised as "diabetic friendly" usually taste like a fine mix of tire and dried leaves. However, I had hope. This recipe contained zero sugar or Splenda. I used honey instead of "light agave nectar" which wasn't available at the store I stopped at.

The batter, after all, is my joy in baking. Surprisingly, it tasted like thickened dark chocolate! I sprinkled the top with hearty handfuls of large, dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts on top before baking.

No one warned me (Kelly!) that gourmet baking requires using every single wedding gift. I had a load of chocolate coated dishes to work on while I waited for my brownies to bake. . .

The recipe says the brownies take 30-40 minutes to bake, and I found that 35 min. was perfect.

I sampled so many brownie bites that I wasn't hungry for dinner: salmon patties and mixed veggies. Oh well! Thankfully because of the beans, this dessert is not as high on the glycemic index as traditional brownies.

Oh, and if you're wondering, the brownies don't taste a bit like black beans. (In fact, a collegue of mine said, "This tastes just like fudge!"). I knew health food could be good....I just needed someone to help guide me to the right recipe.

Substitutions

When I was first diagnosed with type I diabetes in March of 2006, my doctors put me on a high calorie diet in the hopes that I would put back on the weight that I had lost while undiagnosed. Upon my diagnosis, I was 5 feet 7.5 inches tall and weight 97 pounds.

For several months after my hospital release, I ate the same foods I did pre-diagnosis. In fact, my first post-hospital dinner meal was from Steak-'n-Shake: a chicken melt and cheese fries. I can still smell the hint of yummy grease.

As my weight came back on and my fetish of baking cookies continued, I determined that perhaps I needed to go "diabetic" and start consuming "diabetic" foods: artificial sweeteners, sugar-free Jello, diet soda. The advertisers got to me---especially through the diabetes brochures and magazines that filled my mailbox in massive proportions. The doctors were shocked as my a1c went from 16.9 (at diagnosis) to 6.9 in just three months. I was doing what I was supposed to do. A+ for me.

Upon diagnosis, like many of my D brothers and sisters, I thought that I would never be able to eat sweets again. Goodbye funnel cakes at the hometown festival, a late-night Dairy Queen run, and blueberry cobbler in June. This also meant---gasp---no baking! After all, doesn't sugar cause diabetes? Or, at least, isn't sugar off limits to those with the disease?

No.

And no.

Thank God---no!

So in order to go high-fiber, low fat, low sugar, I substituted everything. Margarine or applesauce for butter. Egg Beaters for eggs. Splenda for sugar. Wheat flour for white. Fat free sour cream and cheese vs. their evil, full fat counterparts. You name it and I've tried to substitute it.

It took me well over a year to learn that not only do many of these products not taste good, but the chemicals that make up some of these "diabetic friendly" foods are unhealthy. I also desperately missed the occasional treat made with---gasp---white flour or real sugar. I salvated at the sight of a bagel or a stack of pancakes. So why not just eat the real deal?

And, why compromise taste for the sake of saving myself from a few more grams of carbs or a few less grams of fat? Why must I suffer through the aftertaste of a fake sugar (that supposedly festers into cancer in twenty years) in order to feel that eating a cookie is permissible?

I won't say that those months of cooking experiments were worthless. Not at all. I learned how to better calculate carbohydrates, learn about the different types of fat, and understand fiber. I learned that I love flaxseed and wheat germ and that these ingredients can be added into many dishes. I learned that for me, pasta isn't worth the carbs. I re-discovered honey, but not in the grade school, white bread, pb and honey sort of way.

After two years and nearly four months with diabetes I made this decision: I'm going to get back to the real stuff. Real food for real people. I may have diabetes, but I don't have to eat cardboard for the rest of my life. And there's no substitution for living.