Let Them Eat Cake.....CHOCOLATE!

I found a recipe for the BEST chocolate cake......EVER!  Well....ok, maybe not ever....but definitely since I have made these lifestyle changes.  It only takes about 3 minutes and it is wonderful!  It only has 4 net carbs, and it did not raise my sugar.  I am working on an icing recipe to go with it.  I don't always want something sweet, but when I do, I usually want chocolate.....and I LOVE cake!  I usually eat blueberries with cocoa almonds when I am wanting "sugar."    This was the perfect solution.  I used a cereal bowl to make it in, and split it with my husband.  It was just enough to take that craving. I love that I am finding things that seem normal to eat.  What I am finding is that searching for Paleo recipes seems to bring me to recipes that I can eat without them raising my sugar.  I am on a journey to keep my sugar normal!  I know it is best for my body, so I get excited when I find things that I can eat and feel normal.  The recipe is posted on my recipe tab at the top.  I try to post new ones as I find them.  If any of you find any good recipes, please share them, as well!  We can travel this road together!

Fried Cabbage.....well, sort of

I love fried cabbage.  To be honest, I love cabbage in any form, and it is good for you.  I used to make fried cabbage with ground beef added to it, and it was yummy!  I found another recipe and tried it the other night, and it was really good, too!  It has ground beef, onions, garlic, cabbage, salt, pepper, and tomatoes.  It was very filling and did not raise my sugar at all!  I think I will try adding some "noodles" to it.  I put noodles in quotations because I do not use real noodles.  I have found some shirataki noodles that have 2 net carbs for the entire package.  They are not made with grains, so they are VERY LOW carbs.  They take on the flavor of whatever you cook them with.  It is like having spaghetti without the spaghetti!

I found these at Walmart by the salad section.  There are 4 carbs per serving, but 3 of those are fiber.  

I think they will be great in my cabbage goulash.  (my name for this dish...)  I am also going to try them with some very low carb spaghetti sauce I found.  I will let you know how that turns out!

 

Another Pizza

I wrote previously about making pizza using cauliflower for a crust, but I have found a new recipe!
This one uses cheese for the crust and is MUCH LESS time consuming than the cauliflower recipe. The mozzarella cheese has less than a carb per serving.  It took seven cups, which is about 31 carbs total.  The sauce has about 24 carbs per jar.  The toppings have no carbs, except for the cheese.  Total carbs for the whole pizza is about 60.  If you cut it into 12 pieces....I cut it into more than that.....it is about 5 carbs per slice!

This is the crust after I took it out of the oven.  I brushed melted butter mixed with garlic powder on it before I added the toppings.

This is what it looked like with the toppings added before I baked it again.

This is what the final pizza looked like.  It was very good, but since I am not really a cheese person, it was kind of heavy for me.  I will DEFINITELY make it again, but next time I will use less cheese for the crust so it is not so thick.  The recipe is on my recipe tab at the top of the page.  Check it out!

Fried Chicken....Yes, I said Fried Chicken!

Who doesn't love some good fried chicken?  I know I do, but being diabetic puts a damper on that.  Or does it?  I have found a way to get fried chicken with NO CARBS!  I use coconut oil (VERY good for you and will not add cholesterol) to fry it in.  I take some coconut oil (I use solid not liquid) and put it in my pan.  Allow it to melt and heat up just like regular oil.  I put my chicken (I use chicken tenderloins) in the pan and let them really brown up on both sides.  Then, I turn the heat to medium low and allow them to cook the rest of the way.  They are crisp, just like fried chicken and taste like fried chicken but have absolutely NO breading on them.  Here is what they look like:

It looks like real fried chicken, doesn't it?  It tastes like it, too!!

Crackers

Every time I go to Walmart, I am always on the lookout for new stuff to try.  Today was no different. 

I knew that I was making tomato soup, and I had decided that I was going to get some of my flat bread, cut it into small pieces, bake it, and try to make some crackers to go with my soup.  As I was headed over to get it, I noticed some boxes above the fancy cheese section near the deli.  I went over to see what they were, and I found some crackers!!!  Here is what they are:

Ok...so they are Crisps instead of crackers....but they are crackers!  They have 11 carbs in a serving of 9 crackers.  There are 0 sugar carbs and 0 dietary carbs.  I chose the cracked pepper flavor.  They had another flavor, but this one sounded better to me.  So how did my sugar do after eating them?  Well...before I ate, my sugar was 88.  1 hour after eating, it was 124.  2 hours after eating it was 98.  These readings are after eating 2 cups of my tomato soup and 9 crackers.  I added bacon to the soup to add protein so that I am not eating just carbs.  I guess you can say I had my crackers and ate them, too!!  Dinner was really great....tomato soup and crackers!  Excited that I now have found a substitute for regular crackers....which I have not eaten since September when I gave up all processed foods!  I think these would be great with cheese, also.  They have a great texture and wonderful flavor.  They are VERY thin but taste great!

Slaw

So....I have been out of commission for about a week with a kidney stone.  UGH!!!  Not fun at all!!!
I ended up with a UTI on top of that....so let's just say it has been a memorable week....and not in a good way!  I am pretty sure that the change in diet and weight loss contributed to the stone coming out.  The doctor said it was definitely possible.  Added to that is the fact that I began drinking the warm lemon water about 2 months ago.  Lemon water will help clean your kidneys and will dissolve uric acid....which is what most stones are made of.  I think I got just the right combination of all these to cause the stone to pass!  Not intentional...but glad it is done!!  LOL!!  It was a very small stone, but painful none the less.  Anyway...enough of my yuck!  I wanted to post about some very good slaw I found.  You may be familiar with it, but it was like gold to me when I found it.  It is called Green Giant Fresh Broccoli Slaw.  It has 5 carbs per serving and 4 serving per bag.  It has 2 dietary fiber, which leaves 3 net carbs.  It does contain 2 sugar carbs.    I just mix it with my Just Mayo, salt, and pepper.  It is delicious with a hamburger patty or chopped sirloin, or steak!  It makes for a great lunch.  The first time I ate it, I felt like I was eating something that I should not eat....it was that good!
I love it and thought you might as well!  Here is a picture of the bag.  I get it at Walmart in the fresh veggie section.

What are some things you have found that don't spike your sugar?  I would love to hear about them!

Something as Simple as Mustard

When my sister was doing her research to help her husband, she found that Turmeric, a yellow spice, would help lower blood sugar.  He would take a teaspoon each morning with coconut oil and it would lower his sugar throughout the day.  My sugar was going down so quickly that I was afraid it would lower mine too much, so I did not take it.  I did notice, however, that when I would eat mustard on my meat, that my sugar would be lower.  Come to find out, mustard has Turmeric in it!  Now I don't eat mustard on my meat every time, but if I know I am having higher carbs with my meal, I will use it.  It really seems to lower my sugar more than if I don't use it!  Something as simple as mustard!!  Imagine that!!

Sugar Substitutes

I wrote a post recently about how eating 1 breath mint spiked my sugar to 171.  Well, today I found some with NO CARBS OR SUGAR!  They are called Spry.  They have 0 carbs and have Xylitol instead of sugar.  You may be familiar with Stevia, but may not be as familiar with Xylitol.  I like it MUCH better.  With Stevia, you have to be careful to not use too much or you will get a bitter flavor. Xylitol is different.  My husband tried both in his coffee.  He said the Stevia made it bitter, but the Xylitol tasted exactly like sugar.  It measures exactly like sugar.  If something calls for a cup of sugar, you use a cup of Xylitol.  It is all natural like Stevia, but will not raise your sugar.  You do need to be careful when transitioning over to Xylitol.  It can have a laxative effect at first.  There are many benefits of Xylitol.  Dental health is greatly enhanced.  Studies show that using Xylitol daily can reduce your risk of tooth decay and can increase your overall dental health!  It does not have an after-taste like many of the artificial sweeteners.  Those sweeteners are REALLY bad for you, by the way.  Research shows that drinking or eating artificial sweeteners can cause all kinds of health issues.....and it does not matter which kind of artificial sweeteners you use.  You can order Xylitol online, or you can usually purchase it at a health food store.  It is kind of expensive, but well worth it for as little as I use.  I am pretty sure it would be cheaper ordering it online.  Here is the bag I have, and the breath mints....I am pretty excited about the mints...can you tell?

Warm Lemon Water

One thing I do each morning is drink a glass of warm lemon water.  I turn on the tap and let the water get hot.  Once I add the lemon juice, it cools it down enough that it does not burn my tongue.  There are many benefits of drinking warm lemon water.  One thing it does is flush out toxins.  Diabetics tend to be filled with toxins, and this helps rid them.  Another benefit is that it can help with weigh loss.  It is high in pectin fiber which helps fight hunger cravings.  It also helps maintain your alkaline level in your body.  A more alkaline diet aids in weight loss.  Diabetics tend to suffer from inflammation.  Warm lemon water will reduce inflammation as it dissolves uric acid.  One of the MANY downfalls of diabetes is a weakened immune system.  Warm lemon water contains lots of vitamin C and will help fight off infections.
I use a cappuccino mug.  I fill it almost to the top with warm water, then I add my lemon.  Most people say to use 1/2 of a real lemon, but I keep a bottle of Real Lemon in my fridge.  I drink it about 30 minutes before I am ready to eat.  I have found that it starts my metabolism if I wait to eat.  I have also found that I tend to get less hungry when I drink the warm lemon water than on the days when I don't have time to do it.
I do realize that not all diabetics need to lose weight, but there are still many benefits that everyone can gain from drinking warm lemon water.  It is just an added benefit  for those of us who do.

Breakfast and Snacks

I wanted to post this today, even though I know I have already posted today.  I usually go about 5 hours between meals.  I eat breakfast around 7ish in the mornings during the work week.  My lunch is noon, and then I try to eat dinner by about 6ish.  I try to eat by 6 so that my sugar has time to lower before I head to bed.  Going to bed with high sugar can lead to high sugar levels in the mornings.  I used to have sugar levels about 180 in the mornings.  They are now normal.  I said all that to get to this.  Sometimes I start to get a little nauseous between meals.  I have found that if I eat some almonds it will clear up, and it will not raise my sugar.  I found some YUMMY Blue Diamond Almonds....strawberry flavored, blueberry flavored, and CHOCOLATE flavored at Walmart.  They only have 9 carbs for about 38 of them.    When I need a snack, I make sure that I have protein with it.  Almonds are a great source of protein, even though they contain carbs.  Sometimes I will eat them for breakfast if I am not really feeling hungry, or if I sleep late on my off days.

One thing I discovered is that BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY for a diabetic.  What you eat sets the pattern for the day.  I was eating a packet of oatmeal...good right?  NO!  It was spiking my sugar levels and I did not even know it!  I was eating nothing but carbs, so my sugar was running wild.  I now eat 2 slices of bacon and a scrambled egg for breakfast.  I know...what about cholesterol?  Well....a recent study I read shows that most high cholesterol actually comes from eating sugar!  My cholesterol levels are fine!  I make sure that what I eat first in the morning is mostly protein.  It gives me energy, and does not spike my sugar.  I actually found this out by accident.  I had not eaten breakfast yet, and I needed to talk with my boss.  I had what I thought was a sugar free breath mint.  I popped it in my mouth and headed out to talk with my boss.  I was feeling kind of flushed when I got back to my classroom, so I checked my sugar.  It had spiked to 171 just from the mint!  That was an eye opener for me!  Since then, I make sure that I eat protein first before anything else.  I also make sure that I eat protein with each meal.  I know that there is a lot of information out there on protein....some pro protein, and some con protein.  All I know is what has worked for me.

Pizza?? Really??

Today I had pizza.  Not the traditional kind, though it did taste like it.  It had no flour in the crust....it was made out of cauliflower.  The recipe I was given called for a cup of chopped cauliflower and 1/2 egg.  I doubled it to make a larger crust so I could have some left over.  I did exactly as the recipe called, but I was not please with the consistency of the crust.  It fell apart when I flipped it during cooking.  Not to worry, though!  I simply formed it back together, then topped it with pizza sauce, pepperoni, cooked bacon, and mozzarella cheese.  It tasted great, but was hard to eat....I had to use a fork!    I realized what was wrong.  I did not  cook the cauliflower before mixing it.  After cooking it, you are to put it in a towel and squeeze the water out of it.  Those parts were left out of the recipe!  I will definitely try it again, adding these steps, and possibly adding some cheese to help the consistency.  I also want to add a little garlic butter to the crust before cooking it.  YUM!   I used Great Value Pizza Sauce, which has 4 carbs per serving...1/4 cup.  The whole jar has 24 carbs total, and I did not use the whole jar...only about half.  The pepperoni and bacon did not have any carbs. Cauliflower has about 5 carbs per cup, 2 of which are fiber....so that equals about 3 carbs per cup.  I used 2 cups, so the total was 6 carbs for the crust.  The cheese has 1 carb per 1/4 cup and I used about 1 cup, so that is about 4 carbs.  Total, the pizza had about 22 carbs.  My sugar was 98 before I ate and 124 an hour and a half after I ate, so it did not raise my sugar much at all.  This one is a keeper for sure!  I will add a picture the next time I make it!


Here is the recipe:
1 cup cauliflower
1/2 egg

Cook cauliflower for 4 minutes in microwave.  COOL COMPLETELY!  Once cooled, put half of the cauliflower into a towel and press as much of the water out as possible.  Repeat with remaining cauliflower.  Add egg (and cheese if desired) to cauliflower and stir.  Form a ball and roll out to desired thickness. (Brush with garlic butter if desired)  Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes, or until browned.  I cooked mine a little longer to make it more crisp.  Once the crust is done, add sauce, cheese, and toppings.  Cook for another 10-15 minutes until toppings are hot and cheese is melted. Slice and eat!

Let me know what you think!

Today's Finds!

I think one of the things I miss the most about eating this way is being able to just fix a sandwich and chips and call it good.  I have found a way to do that again!!!  YEA!!!  I found this bread at WalMart.  

It is Joseph's Flax Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Pita Bread.  It only has 7 carbs, and 3 of those are dietary fiber.  It has 0 sugars.  They are about the size of hamburger buns, but are pita pockets.  The taste is good.  It fakes my brain into thinking that I am actually eating a real bun!  HAHA!  I put a hamburger patty or some meat on it, and there is my sandwich!!  

For chips I found these, also at WalMart:

They are Garden Veggie Straws.  There are 16 carbs in 36 of them.  I don't eat 36.  I eat about 18-20 so I am only getting about 8 carbs.  They have some ranch flavored, I think, but I like the sea salt.  They also fake my brain out, so it seems like I am actually eating chips.  They have a good flavor, and will definitely work for that "chip" sensation.

I will continue to post things that I find as I find them!

It Began on September 7th...

After hearing from my doctor's office on September 3rd that my A1C was 11.5, I knew he was going to want to put me on insulin.  I determined that it was not going to happen.  He said my sugar was averaging 300.  I immediately called my sister to find out how her husband had lowered his A1C back during the summer.  She sent me an email with things that he did.  The most important thing, that I would find out later, was to make sure that I was eating mostly protein for breakfast.  I had been eating a packet of oatmeal...28 carbs....but my sugar was still going off the charts.  I was eating a wrap for lunch....10 carbs....with meat and lettuce.  For dinner I was eating some kind of meat, a steamed veggie, and a salad.  I had been doing this for about a month when I had my A1C done.  It was still through the roof.  I was keeping my carbs at 35 or under, but it was not lowering my sugar levels.  On Sunday, September 7th, I began my journey.  I started the day with a scrambled egg and 2 pieces of bacon.  For lunch, I had a hamburger patty with mustard and pickles, and some lettuce.  For dinner I had a steak with steamed veggies, and lettuce.  My sugar was still a little elevated, but within the limits of what the ADA says is ok.  I followed this pattern for about 2 weeks, then I introduced frozen blueberries into my diet.  I would eat a small bowl of them in the evening if I was hungry after dinner.  My sugar was still staying down.  I have to tell you, I had to check the bag several times to make sure there was no sugar added. They were so sweet since I had not had any sugar in 2 weeks! Before I started eating this way, my sugar was around 180 in the mornings when I woke up.  After 2 weeks of eating this way, it was right at 100 or lower!
Another thing I did, which I know was the reason for my success, was to get everyone I know praying for me and my health.  I had people all over praying for me.  I also listened to the Bible on CD each night as I was going to sleep.  God's word is healing, and I know He was touching me and strengthening me.  I could have done NONE of this without God!
I knew that I was loosing weight, but was not sure exactly how much.  My clothes were getting very loose.  One of the secretaries at the school where I teach told me one day that it was time to get some smaller clothes because mine were hanging off me!  When I actually went shopping about 3 weeks after changing my eating, I had dropped 4 sizes and I had lost about 40 pounds!  My sugar levels were normal and staying that way.
I continued eating this way until Thanksgiving Day.  My husband took me out to eat for Thanksgiving so I would not have food left over in the house.  I ate normal, and my sugar only went up to about 200....and that was with chocolate cake!  I ate pizza the next day, and again my sugar only went up to about 200.  Now, I know 200 is not where my sugar should be, but considering that it was averaging 300 less than 3 months before, I felt it was great! I also ate normal on my birthday.  I had Popeye's Chicken, and a piece of Boston Cream Pie!  Again, sugar only around 200!
I had an appointment scheduled for December 8th to have my A1C checked again.  My doctor was shocked when he saw me.  He said, "You're only half the woman I know!"  HAHAHA!!!  I told him what I had been doing, and he was impressed.  He told me that most people when they hit double digit A1C levels, there was no turning it around.  They were insulin dependent for the rest of their lives.  I told him that was not happening!  He said that we would be happy if my A1C was down to at least 7.  When I got the results the next day.....it was 6.5!!!!!  The nurse told me he put a note on the results that said ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  She is diabetic, too, so she asked me what I had been doing.  I told her everything, and she wrote it down.  She said she was going to stop by the store on her way home!
I have decided to write this blog to share my journey.  I am learning new things every day.  I am trying new things....some work....some don't.  I hope that I can help others that are like I was..... discouraged and giving up!