Hey, all!
I'm really wanting to take my blog in a new direction, or perhaps what I'm really seeking is some better variety of topics.
Honestly, I'm so busy keeping up with the care of my new daughter that posting every recipe I make is nearly impossible---especially making sure I post pictures! (If you are like me, you despise those cookbooks that do not include pictures. The food-porn is 50% of the reason why I give a recipe a chance!)
I also am coming to the realization of how hung up I am on specific types of recipes, specifically vegetarian and desserts. :) Too bad I love my desserts!!! It's currently killing my blood sugars! (Right now I'm in one of those diabetes ruts where I am having a hard time caring and a really hard time self-disciplining. Sigh!)
So...I would love to hear your suggestions. What do you want to know more about? What types of recipes are you seeking?
Talk to me!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Product Review: Kashi
There are many words that promise to grab the attention of a person with diabetes.
Low Carb
Low Glycemic Index
Reduced Sugar
Sugar free
High Fiber
Diet
Diabetic-Friendly
I try to have hope when I see these words, but usually a quick glance at the nutrition facts or ingredients list has me disappointed, shaking my head in disgust. If it's "reduced" something, I know it's been "enhanced" somewhere else---and not in a good way.
I'm sad to report that about 90% of the time, I put the product back on the shelf. Yes, diabetes foods have come a long way, but we aren't there yet, folks. Not even close.
Thankfully there is a company who really gets it. They understand what healthy means. I am totally in love. Head over heels. Butterflies in the stomach.
My friends, meet my crush, Kashi.
Kashi gets that I need protein and fiber, healthy carbs, vitamins, and I need all this with taste---REAL, delicious, crunchy when it counts, slightly sweet, TASTE.
I have tried many of Kashi's products. Here are some of my favorites:
Kashi Pilaf: The possibilities are endless. My favorite dish is to make some pilaf, add black beans and salsa, and top it with some sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese.
Kashi Frozen Entrees, esp the Lime Cilantro Shrimp: I love taking these for lunch. Pop it in the microwave, and voila! I pair mine with a piece of fruit.
Kashi Cereals, esp the Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almond Flax) and Heart to Heart (Honey Toasted Oats). First, the Go Lean Crunch is fab on top of salads, dry as a snack, or with milk at breakfast. It's addicting!!! The Heart to Heart cereal is like Cheerios amped up---and come on, the cereal pieces are shaped like hearts---who wouldn't love that?
TLC Crackers (Fire Roasted Vegetable): These are amazing with a wedge of Laughing Cow (reduced fat Swiss) cheese. Also great in chili.
In the "Wellness Hub" you can get great nutritional info, fitness tips, and more. If you click here on "Join the Kashi Community," you can receive coupons and have other opportunities.
I hope this short overview will convince you to check out Kashi products for yourself. I can't say enough positive things about this company and their efforts. I hope you fall in love with my crush, too.
Low Carb
Low Glycemic Index
Reduced Sugar
Sugar free
High Fiber
Diet
Diabetic-Friendly
I try to have hope when I see these words, but usually a quick glance at the nutrition facts or ingredients list has me disappointed, shaking my head in disgust. If it's "reduced" something, I know it's been "enhanced" somewhere else---and not in a good way.
I'm sad to report that about 90% of the time, I put the product back on the shelf. Yes, diabetes foods have come a long way, but we aren't there yet, folks. Not even close.
Thankfully there is a company who really gets it. They understand what healthy means. I am totally in love. Head over heels. Butterflies in the stomach.
My friends, meet my crush, Kashi.
Kashi gets that I need protein and fiber, healthy carbs, vitamins, and I need all this with taste---REAL, delicious, crunchy when it counts, slightly sweet, TASTE.
I have tried many of Kashi's products. Here are some of my favorites:
Kashi Pilaf: The possibilities are endless. My favorite dish is to make some pilaf, add black beans and salsa, and top it with some sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese.
Kashi Frozen Entrees, esp the Lime Cilantro Shrimp: I love taking these for lunch. Pop it in the microwave, and voila! I pair mine with a piece of fruit.
Kashi Cereals, esp the Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almond Flax) and Heart to Heart (Honey Toasted Oats). First, the Go Lean Crunch is fab on top of salads, dry as a snack, or with milk at breakfast. It's addicting!!! The Heart to Heart cereal is like Cheerios amped up---and come on, the cereal pieces are shaped like hearts---who wouldn't love that?
TLC Crackers (Fire Roasted Vegetable): These are amazing with a wedge of Laughing Cow (reduced fat Swiss) cheese. Also great in chili.
In the "Wellness Hub" you can get great nutritional info, fitness tips, and more. If you click here on "Join the Kashi Community," you can receive coupons and have other opportunities.
I hope this short overview will convince you to check out Kashi products for yourself. I can't say enough positive things about this company and their efforts. I hope you fall in love with my crush, too.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Banana Pudding
My father loves banana pudding, so every year on his birthday my mom makes it for him. I like the pudding best when it's a few days old, when the cookies are soggy and the banana slices are soft.
This is a classic, easy recipe that can easily be converted from fattening and high-carb, to a healthier, more diabetes-friendly dessert.
Banana Pudding
Ingredients:
- 2 boxes of sugar-free, fat-free instant banana pudding
- low-fat milk (use as much as directed on pudding box)
- mini Nabisco vanilla wafers
- sliced bananas---as many or as few as you'd like
Directions:
- Prepare pudding as directed on box. Allow it to sit for a few minutes to solidify. If you like thicker pudding, use less milk.
- Take a pretty, glass bowl and line it with the wafers, as many as you can.
- Pour about half the pudding on top of the cookies, and then top the pudding with half the banana slices.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3.
- Top with cookies.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready-to serve.
Cook's Note: When using low-fat milk in any recipe, you can anticipate the food become watery significantly more quickly than if you use a full fat version. However, if you are like us, the pudding will be consumed in a matter of two days, so it won't have time to get watery!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Where I am
This is a non-traditional post for my cooking blog, one I usually reserve for my private blog. But today I feel like I need to speak and be heard. So here goes...
Today I'm confused about diabetes. I might even venture to say that my feelings are hurt. More like every bit of myself hurts.
Just when you think you have it figured out, diabetes pulls out another trick. Surprise! Gotcha!
I know I need to do a few things in my walk with diabetes:
1: I need to figure out how to use food to my advantage instead of using my pump to constantly fix my mistakes. (Now, if I can just get my new insurance to cover my nutritionist appointments!)
2: I am, in just two weeks, getting on a CGM! What good news...I think! My new insurance covers the sensors. I am nervous, however, that the constant alarms and awareness of my blood sugars will cause me to become wrapped up in my diabetes. And then what kind of life is that? But what kind of life is it to be blind, to have my feet or legs amputated, to have a heart attack, to be on dialysis? To spend hours upon hours sitting in waiting rooms, on exam tables, in a hospital bed?
3: I need to recommit myself to health. Every single day. I need to remind myself that I really do have this disease, that it really isn't going away, and that I really need to live well for myself and my family.
4: I need to continue to self-educate so that I can not only live a better life but help others know that diabetes is real and it's life-altering.
I am very frustrated, and my husband gets to hear about it, by the people close to me who pretend that diabetes isn't going to get them. It's really the little things. Their food choices, their lack of exercise, their attitude about health and the way they take it for granted. I am practically in tears writing this. I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! For some reason---due to a virus, do the environment, do to some genetic fluke, something---I have type I diabetes. It's a HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, SCARY, LIFE-ALTERING disease that is 24/7. I can't wish it away. God's not going to take it from me. I can't follow the rules and get a reward.
Here's a message for blog readers who do not have diabetes and think it won't touch your life or you think you can pretend that the white bread you are eating won't get you: If you walked in my shoes, or another diabetic's shoes for just one day, you would kick yourself in your butt and start doing something right now!
Let me share something with you.
This week my daughter was sick. I looked up her symptoms which all pointed toward a lung problem related to RSV. I took her to the doctor yesterday who prescribed a steroid and ordered a chest x-ray. I took my daughter to the local hospital. After an hour and a half of waiting, we were escorted back through a maze of hallways. I was surprised, positive that the xray rooms were very close to the waiting room. As we rounded corners and passed by rooms...panic set in.
We were walking through the Emergency Room. The same ER I was brought to nearly three years ago when I was in DKA, knocking on death's door, and was then told that I had type I. I asked the tech, "Are we in the ER?" She said, "Oh yes. The other xray rooms are full so we'll use the one here."
As I waited for the techs to review the xrays, I paced the room with my half-dressed baby, catching a few glimpses of the ER nurses' station. A million thoughts ran through my mind. Memories. Fears. Prayers of thankfulness.
As we left the ER, my eyes shifted to every patient's room. I saw looks of sadness, of fear, of uncertainty.
I don't know if I have ever left that place of feeling sad, of feeling fearful, of feeling uncertain. I think these negative feelings now blend well with the hope I feel on a day where my meter reads 120, or when I've finished a salad instead of ice cream, or when I workout a little longer instead of spending a high-sugar day on the couch.
Having this disease is brutal. I'm one tough girl. But don't let me fool you with my smile, with my knowledge of how many carbs are in a taco shell, or with the quickness of a blood sugar check. Diabetes is always with me.
I'm trying.
Today I'm confused about diabetes. I might even venture to say that my feelings are hurt. More like every bit of myself hurts.
Just when you think you have it figured out, diabetes pulls out another trick. Surprise! Gotcha!
I know I need to do a few things in my walk with diabetes:
1: I need to figure out how to use food to my advantage instead of using my pump to constantly fix my mistakes. (Now, if I can just get my new insurance to cover my nutritionist appointments!)
2: I am, in just two weeks, getting on a CGM! What good news...I think! My new insurance covers the sensors. I am nervous, however, that the constant alarms and awareness of my blood sugars will cause me to become wrapped up in my diabetes. And then what kind of life is that? But what kind of life is it to be blind, to have my feet or legs amputated, to have a heart attack, to be on dialysis? To spend hours upon hours sitting in waiting rooms, on exam tables, in a hospital bed?
3: I need to recommit myself to health. Every single day. I need to remind myself that I really do have this disease, that it really isn't going away, and that I really need to live well for myself and my family.
4: I need to continue to self-educate so that I can not only live a better life but help others know that diabetes is real and it's life-altering.
I am very frustrated, and my husband gets to hear about it, by the people close to me who pretend that diabetes isn't going to get them. It's really the little things. Their food choices, their lack of exercise, their attitude about health and the way they take it for granted. I am practically in tears writing this. I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! For some reason---due to a virus, do the environment, do to some genetic fluke, something---I have type I diabetes. It's a HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, SCARY, LIFE-ALTERING disease that is 24/7. I can't wish it away. God's not going to take it from me. I can't follow the rules and get a reward.
Here's a message for blog readers who do not have diabetes and think it won't touch your life or you think you can pretend that the white bread you are eating won't get you: If you walked in my shoes, or another diabetic's shoes for just one day, you would kick yourself in your butt and start doing something right now!
Let me share something with you.
This week my daughter was sick. I looked up her symptoms which all pointed toward a lung problem related to RSV. I took her to the doctor yesterday who prescribed a steroid and ordered a chest x-ray. I took my daughter to the local hospital. After an hour and a half of waiting, we were escorted back through a maze of hallways. I was surprised, positive that the xray rooms were very close to the waiting room. As we rounded corners and passed by rooms...panic set in.
We were walking through the Emergency Room. The same ER I was brought to nearly three years ago when I was in DKA, knocking on death's door, and was then told that I had type I. I asked the tech, "Are we in the ER?" She said, "Oh yes. The other xray rooms are full so we'll use the one here."
As I waited for the techs to review the xrays, I paced the room with my half-dressed baby, catching a few glimpses of the ER nurses' station. A million thoughts ran through my mind. Memories. Fears. Prayers of thankfulness.
As we left the ER, my eyes shifted to every patient's room. I saw looks of sadness, of fear, of uncertainty.
I don't know if I have ever left that place of feeling sad, of feeling fearful, of feeling uncertain. I think these negative feelings now blend well with the hope I feel on a day where my meter reads 120, or when I've finished a salad instead of ice cream, or when I workout a little longer instead of spending a high-sugar day on the couch.
Having this disease is brutal. I'm one tough girl. But don't let me fool you with my smile, with my knowledge of how many carbs are in a taco shell, or with the quickness of a blood sugar check. Diabetes is always with me.
I'm trying.
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