New Tabs

 I have added 2 more pages to my blog that I hope will be beneficial.  They are right beside the recipes tab, below the title of my blog.  

I added a Low Carb Links tab.  Here you can find links to YouTube channels where you can find low carb recipes. Not all of the recipes are low carb, so you will need to search for those which are keto. I felt that providing links would give y'all more resources, and we ALL need resources!  It was also easier to just post a link to their channels than it would be to copy each recipe and try to give directions on how to make it.  They do this for you with their videos.  I will still make some posts about great recipes I find or use, and I will provide a link directly to the recipe (if there is one), as I did in the previous post.

The second tab I added is a Diabetic Information tab.  Here I am putting videos and web pages that provide useful information for those trying to navigate diabetes. Dieticians do NOT give you helpful information.  Sorry....not sorry!! I research for solid information that will help.  The dietician I saw when first diagnosed told me that I could eat a poptart for breakfast, if that's what I wanted, because it was less than 35 carbs.  Now, I'm no doctor or dietician, but I knew immediately that was NOT the correct thing to do.  Many don't take the time to explain what actually needs to be done to be successful and to keep you off medication. Aaaaaaaaanyway....I could go on about that for a long time, but I'll spare you. 😁

I will be adding to both tabs as I find content that I use and think will be helpful.  Hope this helps y'all!

Potatoes? No....Faux-tatoes!

Who doesn't love potatoes?  I know I do. However, having blood sugar issues hinders my consumption of potatoes for the most part.  I was raised on "meat and potatoes."  Potatoes were a staple.  We had mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, potato cakes, hash browns, French-baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, potatoes au gratin, and scalloped potatoes. Get the idea?  I love potatoes!  One of my favorite kind of potatoes is scalloped potatoes. They just pair so well with so many things. And.....who doesn't love all that creamy goodness???  I think potatoes are the one thing I miss most about not being able to eat whatever I want.  One thing about eating as a diabetic seemed to be the lack of choices. Side dishes seem to be so limited.  I mean, there are only so many things that you can do with broccoli and cauliflower!

I was so excited to find a great recipe for scalloped potatoes faux-tatoes! They are made with....turnips!

Now, hear me out.  I don't like turnips. At all.  They are bitter and taste.....well, nasty! However, I was willing to give this recipe a try because of my love for scalloped potatoes.  If this recipe could give me the "sense" of eating scalloped potatoes, why not try it? I was desperate at this point. I gave it a go, and it was 💗 at first bite!  It is now one of my go-to recipes for a side dish.

I cannot take credit for this recipe. I found it on a YouTube channel named  Papa G's Low Carb Recipes. He has TONS of great low-carb recipes.  Here is a link to this recipe:

https://youtu.be/obdLtYPbIKQ

Go on over and give it a try.  Don't let the turnips scare you off.  It is definitely YUMMY, and it really doesn't taste like turnips! I would still be looking longingly at the scalloped potatoes in the grocery store aisle if I had backed out because of the turnips.  If you love turnips, you've REALLY got nothing to lose.  If you hate turnips but love scalloped potatoes, you have everything to gain!  Go on.  Give it a try!  You'll thank me if you do!

 

 

Breakfast

Quick post today about breakfast.  I found out very early on that I can't eat any carbs for breakfast.  I have to start my day with just protein......no toast, fruit, or anything carby.  For me, it sets the pattern for the day with my sugar.  If I eat any carbs first thing in the morning, it jacks my sugar and I have trouble maintaining it throughout the day.  So......what do I do?

I make sure that the only thing I eat first during the day is protein only.  I usually eat 1 egg and 2 slices of bacon.  I use regular bacon or turkey bacon.  Eating this everyday does not bother me like the hamburgers did.  Sometimes I eat my egg scrambled, sometimes I make egg muffins, but most of the time I eat a boiled egg.  I started doing this because it was faster to have the eggs ready and not have to cook before I left to teach for the day.  Now that I have retired, I do it because I tend to sleep later, and it keeps me from having to cook and eat later. HA!

I used to boil up about 6 eggs, so I had them for the week.  That was okay, but after a couple of days in the fridge, they got kinda hard to peel.  I would end up throwing away a good chunk of the egg because it was stuck to the shell.  It was still easier than cooking each morning, but it was irritating trying to peel them.  Then, I tried the already boiled and peeled eggs that you can buy at Walmart.....ummmmmm........NO!  They tasted like little pieces of cardboard.  Not that I have actually ever eaten cardboard, but what I imagine it would taste like. I still like the egg muffins, and would make them up and freeze them.  They were great to take out of the freezer, pop into the microwave, and eat.  The one thing I did not like about them was that I put my bacon inside them, so that would be all that I ate at breakfast.  It always felt like I was getting ripped off by eating just an egg muffin!

Since I have gotten my Instant Pot, I am back to eating hard "boiled" eggs.  They are SIMPLE to cook in the pot, and super easy to peel.  Yes, even days after cooking them!

I use the 2-8-5 method of cooking them.  I put a half dozen eggs on the trivet in my instant pot insert, and add a little over a cup of water.  After sealing the lid, I set the pressure cook button and set it for 2 minutes.  Once it gets done with the 2 minutes, I let the air release naturally for 8 minutes.  I then release the remaining air, take the lid off and remove the eggs.  I put the eggs in a bowl with ice and water for 5 minutes.  Once the 5 minutes is done, I drain the water, dry the eggs, and let them cool for a few minutes before sticking them in the fridge.

The peel will slip right off of one just removed from the pot.  The next day, the peel will still come off very easily, but I run it under water as I am peeling it.  I also squeeze it a little to allow the water to get inside the shell.  This helps it to peel right off!  They are just as good on the 6th day as they were on the first, and peel just as easily!

This is my method for starting my day and setting the pattern for my sugar.  Hope this helps someone along the way!

Instant Pot Pork Chops

I don't do pork chops a lot, but I do like them every once in a while.  I decided to give them a shot in my Instant Pot.  I cooked pork chops in the pot about a week or so ago, and they were the BEST I have ever eaten!

The first thing I did was melt some butter in the bottom of the insert pot of my 8 quart Instant Pot.  When the butter was melted and hot, I tossed my chops in to brown them on each side before pressure cooking them:

Once I had them browned up the way I wanted, I removed them from the insert pot and removed some of the butter.  I put them back into the pot and put green peppers and onions on top of them.

Finally, I covered them with crushed tomatoes. I used 2 large cans to make sure I had enough liquid in there while cooking them.  I also added about a cup of water, just to make sure they didn't dry out because crushed tomatoes don't have a lot of liquid with them.

Once I had all my ingredients in the pot, I put the lid on and cooked them for 15 minutes.  I let the air release naturally when I cook meats, because I think it makes them a little more tender.  This is what they look like when they are done:

They are so tender that you can cut them with a fork.  The tomatoes, onions, and green peppers do add a few carbs but not many.  The only carbs I get is from fruits and veggies, so I eat my chops with them.  I like the tomatoes and peppers on mine, but you can eat the chops without them if you choose.

I also tried some pork chops with a dry bar-b-q rub.  I started out by browning them, just as I did with the others.  Then I pulled them out of the pot, cleaned it, and added 2 cups of water so it was ready to cook when I was ready to add my chops.

I put the chops on my steamer tray and added the dry rub to each side.  This is the rub that I used.  It has 0 carbs!  I think I got it at the meat market here, but am not sure.  I bet you could find it online if you are wanting to try it.

  

The steamer tray is one I got from Walmart, and it fits perfectly in my 8 quart pot.  There are others that can be used, but this one works well for me.

I put the chops on the steamer tray into the pot and set the time for 15 minutes.  Again, I let the air release naturally when they were done cooking.  They were just as tender as the ones I did with the tomato sauce!  You can see in the picture below where I pulled a small piece out with a fork to taste them.  They are really good, and have no carbs because the rub was carb-free!

I love cooking this way because the clean-up is SO easy!  It also cuts down on the fat from the meat. The meat sits up away from the water, so any fat that cooks out drops down into the water and away from the meat.  However, because it is pressure cooking them, it helps seal moisture into the meat and it doesn't get dry!  Win-Win!  No messy, stuck-on pans to clean, and lower fat!

These are 2 ways I have used my Instant Pot to cook pork chops.  Both ways make them the most tender chops I have ever had.  

I hope this helps give you some different ideas for cooking meats.  I know the same old things get so boring after a while, so trying new things really helps.

I Want Pasta!

I wanted to share a quick post today about pasta.  I love pasta, but we all know that pasta does not love diabetics!  I did find some pasta that is lower in carbs than regular pasta!  It's in the frozen section at Walmart.  I am sure you could find it at other places, but that's where I usually shop. 


It is made by Bird's Eye, and it's made from zucchini and lentils. It comes in a steamable bag and cooks in 4 minutes.  It has carbs, but they are complex carbs and will not normally jack your sugar.  There are about 2 servings per bag. There are 22 carbs in each serving with 2 dietary fiber, so that means 20 carbs per serving.  Regular elbow macaroni has 43 carbs for 1 C cooked, so this is a HUGE difference.

When I am wanting spaghetti, this is a great alternative.  It gives me that "Italian" taste that I am wanting, but does not give me the carbs!  I get the original flavor kind and add my low carb pizza sauce! I use Great Value Pizza Sauce. I tried it because it was the lowest in carbs, and it is REALLY good! I'm not one that has to use name brands anyway, so this works well for me! I may add hamburger or pepperoni, and I usually add Parmesan cheese.  It really satisfies that desire for spaghetti. 

I also use it to make macaroni and cheese.  I simply cook the pasta, add cheddar cheese and heavy whipping cream (it is REALLY low in carbs.  I don't use much, so it does not add much fat).  It is a fantastic alternative to mac and cheese when I want that. 

One thing I have learned about using these noodles is to wash them really well with hot water after cooking so that there is no bean-type juice on them.  They taste really good, but when I am using them for other things besides just eating them plain.....which I really don't do......I want the water washed off them so it does not over-power the flavors I am adding.

These come in several flavors, but I have only had the cheddar cheese penne pasta and the original flavor.  Those are the only 2 flavors that they have had here.  I really want to try some of the other flavors, especially the Fettuccine Alfredo and the Spaghetti with marinara.

Hope this is helpful for those of you who are like me and love spaghetti, but really can't eat it without paying the consequences.  I am always on the lookout for alternatives to the "bad" foods that I like.
Have any of you tried any of these?  If so, what did you think?

Back to Burgers?

I told you I would share with you some of the things I have cooked using my instant pot, and that's what I am going to do here today!  I spoke last time about being tired of hamburger patties every day.....and I was.  I do, however, still like them on occasion.  Remember how I talked about hating the clean-up from cooking them?  I mean, what do you do with all that grease??   I want to share with you how to cook them in "the pot" with very little clean-up to do.  What about all that grease?  Yep, you don't even have to worry about that!!

The first thing you need to do is get some hamburger.....well duh!!!  I usually get the already made patties.  I buy the 100% Angus package at Walmart.  They are kind of expensive, but they are usually lower in fat, and taste better to me.  They come 12 to a package, so that makes for a lot of meals!  I don't cook them all at one time.  I freeze some of them. I'll talk about that at the end.

Once you have your hamburger, you need squares of aluminum foil that are big enough to wrap around each burger.  They need to be about this size or maybe a just little smaller:

Now, put your hamburger in the middle of the foil.  You can add anything on top of it that you want.  You can add mushrooms, green peppers, real onions, cheese, or anything else you might like on a burger. I used Italian seasoning on some once, and they were pretty good.  I usually put minced onions, garlic salt, and pepper on mine. Here's what mine look like:

Once you have added all your ingredients to the top of the burger, wrap it up like this:

After you have put the trivet in the bottom of the pot and added 1 and 1/2 C of water, put the burger packets in your Instant Pot.  You will need to place them in the pot in kind of a scattered stacking pattern.  You don't want them all stacked up on top of each other all the way.  I am using a 3 qt. pot, so I can only do 4 at a time.  I really don't want to cook more than that at one time, because I don't like how they taste after about 3 days or so.  I have an 8 quart pot as well, but use the 3 quart for the burgers since I don't want to do more than 4 at a time.   This is how I have to stack them:

Notice there are 2 on bottom, but they are not stacked completely on top of each other. The steam and pressure can get between them and cook them more evenly......at least I think so anyway!  HA!

You are now ready to cook the burgers.  Put the lid on, and make sure the air escape valve is set to sealed.  Using the Pressure Cook setting, set the time to 12 minutes and hit start. When the 12 minutes are done, let the air release naturally.  Mine takes about 8 minutes to release on its own.  Once the button has dropped back down all the way, remove the lid.  I always turn the release valve to open just to make sure there is no pressure left in the pot before removing the lid.  I'm chicken careful that way! 😅

Use a pot holder to remove the packets of burgers, because they can still be hot.  Place them on a plate to cool, or eat them up right then!  I don't unwrap all the burgers when they are done.  I put the wrapped ones in the fridge and unwrap them when I am ready to eat them.  It keeps the grease with them, and makes them not as "dry" when microwaving them to eat.  I wipe the excess grease off after heating them. They will be the MOST juicy burger that you have ever eaten.....even heated up in the microwave!  And the best part???  Just wad up the foil with the grease in it, and toss it into the trash!  Easiest. clean-up. ever!!!  Add a salad or whatever sides you want, and enjoy the best burger you have ever had!

You will need to empty the water from the steel pot insert once it cools.  Wash the steel insert pot with warm soapy water, dry it, and put it back into the pot ready to use next time!  You also want to leave the lid off the pot to let it dry.  I turn mine upside down on top of the pot to let it air dry.

Remember that I said I buy a package of 12 patties and that I don't like to cook more than 4 at a time?  Well, I prepare all of my patties on the same day.  I cook 4 of them, and freeze the rest of them.  I add all my ingredients to the top of the burger just as if I am cooking them at that time. I wrap them up in the foil packet, and stick them in my freezer.  The best part??  I can simply take 4 of the frozen burgers out, place them in the Instant Pot, and cook them just like they are fresh!  It does not take any more time to cook them from frozen as it does from fresh!  As the pressure is building in the pot, it is defrosting them!  The cooking time is EXACTLY the same, and the taste is EXACTLY the same!

This is one of the ways that I use "The Pot."  Next time, I will share with you how I cooked asparagus and pork chops!

I hope this helps some of you who are struggling to eat right with your diabetes.  I truly do understand!  I have been there, and I still struggle at times.  Finding out how easy the Instant Pot is to use and how fast it cooks has helped me tremendously!  That was one of the biggest struggles for me was when the hunger would come on so quickly that I would get sick to my stomach if I did not eat soon.  It made it so easy just to grab something to keep the nausea away!  This has helped me so much with that sudden hunger!

I would love for some of you to comment to let me know if any of this is helpful to you or not.  Also, please feel free to ask any questions!  If I have absolutely no idea of the answer, we will find it together!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

So, I have taken about a year off, and have not really been eating right.  While I did not gain the weight back, I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel.  I went back to being prone to getting sick with a lot with sinus issues and bronchitis.....even pneumonia.  So.............it's back to eating right!

I have to be honest.  One of the biggest struggles for me was having to cook for each meal, or cooking a lot of the same food at once and eating it for several meals in a row.  It got really old and boring after 2 years of doing that.  It was a chore for me to get motivated to bake chicken or fish, because I knew it would take a while, and those are things that don't heat up well, to me anyway.  The clean-up also stunk!  So...I ate mostly ground beef patties and occasionally would do other meats.  I also HATED cooking the beef patties because of the clean up.  Yeah, I really am not a kitchen kind of person!  I did it out of necessity and tried to be creative with my cooking.  While I was working, and after teaching all day, I wanted to be able to relax and not worry about what I was going to cook for dinner when I got home.  Therefore, I usually cooked up several hamburger patties at a time and would eat those for days.  When I first started eating this way, it really did not bother me, and I didn't really think about it.  Once I started eating "real" food again though, it got tough to go back to eating the same ole stuff day after day. Looking back, I see that it was worth it to get to where I am right now, but boy it isn't easy to go back to that place.  So why now?  What changed?



Enter the Instant Pot!!

I absolutely cannot believe I did not have one of these things before now! It is the easiest, tastiest way to cook meats and veggies!  It is easy to be creative using it as well!  I can cook fish fillets in 4 minutes from frozen!  4 MINUTES.....did you catch that?  No oven to heat up, no pans to scrub, and the taste is out of this world!  BEST. FISH. EVER!  I can also cook a chicken breast in 4 minutes, and the clean-up is simple!  No stuck on gunk to scrub!  💗💗💗

While I can say it was nice to not have to worry about cooking just the right food while eating "real" food, I can also say that eating right makes me feel so much better! And now?  I am actually excited about cooking and trying new things.  I don't dread eating right because I can eat different foods for each meal! I don't even dread the clean-up!  I will post next time about things that I have cooked in my beloved Instant Pot.  I will post recipes as well!

Yummy Summer Lunch

I just made the BEST popcorn chicken for lunch today.  It has no carbs and is absolutely delicious! I had some chicken tenders in the freezer that I needed to use. There were about 4 of them left in the bag, so I boiled them up before they got freezer burn.  I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them when I boiled them, but was actually hungry for some popcorn chicken....you know...the breaded kind that are not good for you at all!  I use Parmesan cheese as a breading to fry several things, so I thought.....why not use it to make popcorn chicken??  Once the tenders were cooked, I let them cool really well.  I cut them into pieces, rolled them in egg, tossed them into a baggie, dumped Parmesan in the bag and shook it.  Then I just had to figure out how to cook them.  I usually use olive oil, since it is so much better for you than the other vegetable oils, but I did not really want that taste. I decided to cook them in butter. Yes.....REAL butter.  It is VERY good for you.  I melted a half stick of butter and let it begin to brown.  Once it was browned, I tossed in the chicken and let it brown and crisp up.  I put it on a paper plate with a paper towel to absorb the extra butter, then sprinkled some garlic salt on it to flavor it.  It was super filling, but really light for lunch.  This is one I will definitely do again!

Southern Fried Okra.....well, sort of!

Who doesn't like fried okra?  Ok, well maybe people from the north, but if you are like me, a good ole southern girl, you LOVE fried okra.  Being diabetic though, this is not something that would be on your list of things to eat. The corn meal would add too many carbs to make it a good choice.  HOWEVER, I have found a way, thanks to my sister, to have fried okra.

Wash and cut the okra just like you would if you are frying it.  Roll the cut okra in a beaten egg. Then, roll the okra in grated Parmesan cheese.....yes, the kind in the shakeable can.  Heat a skillet with a small amount of oil.  I use olive oil because it is best for you.  Put the okra in and fry it up.  It tastes just like regular fried okra, but has a small amount of carbs.....about 7 per cup.  The parmesan crisps up just like corn meal would.  Add salt and pepper, and eat it up!  It is absolutely DELISH!!!!

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!