I'm Diabetic but I Still Want Dessert!

I did good for the first year of the diabetes diagnosis, but then all hell broke loose and I was consumed with finding and creating desserts that I could safely eat without raising my blood sugar.

Enter my dear friend Kay, who has lived with type 2 for many years. She recommended I start exploring cheesecakes made with artificial sweeteners. Cheesecakes are full of protein and you can create them with very little sweetener and still have them turn out scrumptious. Plus because it's not actually a cake you're not dependent upon flour and sugar to create the texture you're looking for.

In addition, I have recently discovered the joys of erythritol, a powdered substitute for sugar which I found in the pharmaceutical department of my grocery store. I have been safely using erythritol to sweeten things without compromising my glucose levels. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you look into it for your baking needs. It is one of the sugar alcohols and it does not have the aftertaste of other artificial or natural sweeteners. 

So here's my recipe for cranberry cheesecake. I know the holiday season is long gone, but cranberries are so good for you and I love their tartness. 

This cheesecake is made in a 7 inch springform pan, smaller than the standard 9 inch. Prepare the crust according to my recipe A Berry Fraiche Tart, but use only 3/4 cup of almonds, 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of flour (use a high fiber flour like almond flour, oat flour, or even coconut flour).

Crazy Cranberry Cheesecake

A Low GI Dream

2 pckgs cream cheese

¼ cup erythritol

¼ cup splenda

2 tbsp stevia blend

1 tbsp coconut flour

2 eggs

1 egg white (leftover from making crust)

1 ½ cup fresh cranberries

¼ cup triple sec

splash of water

¼ cup erythritol

Put cranberries in a small sauce pan with triple sec water and erythritol. Simmer until all the cranberries have bursted and it has thickened a little bit. Set aside to cool or put it in subzero freezer for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 or 325 if you have convection.

Combine room temperature cream cheese with sugars and flour in a stand mixer. Blend till creamy. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla on low-speed. Blend until very smooth.

Pour the mixture into a prepared springform pan over your parcooked crust.  Scoop the cranberries over the top of the cheesecake and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the center is still moist looking and the outside is set. I bake it with a broiler pan full of water underneath to create steam and keep it from cracking. This also keeps me from having to do a water bath.

You can use this recipe for a 9 inch springform pan by adding another package of cream cheese, increasing the sweetener to your liking, adding one egg, and another tablespoon of butter.

Taking Stock

The best advice I can give you about making soup is to try making your own stock.

I know you don't have time; I know that there are "good" broths and stocks available at "Whole Paycheck", I know people like Ina and Rachel tell you that store-bought stock is okay.

But I'm telling you from my experience of making soups for many, many years:  the soup always tastes better if I start with HOMEMADE STOCK!

And besides that, here are some other things I've discovered:

It's not difficult.
It doesn't take that much time and effort.
It's inexpensive, since all of my stocks are made from parts of meat, veggies, and fish otherwise thrown away.

Really!

Let's start with a simple veggie stock.

Any time I cut up veggies for a mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) any discarded parts, including the bottoms, tops, and skin of the onions and bottoms and tops of celery and carrots, get stuffed into a ziploc bag and thrown in the freezer. Also, anytime I clean out the veggie drawer in my frig, old dried up baby carrots that I wouldn't serve and limp celery get thrown into the freezer. I also will save a stray potato gone soft but not rotten or other root vegetable (except maybe sweet potato since that has such a distinct flavor). Old tomatoes and tops and bottoms get thrown into a separate bag. They're good for starting a vegetable broth that will be made into a tomato based soup, but you don't usually want that taste in a straight up vegetable stock.

Then when I have 2 or 3 bags of remnants and I'm in the kitchen doing other things, whether making dinner or baking, I'll throw the contents of those bags into a pot of water and boil the shit out of 'em. Like I mean really boil the shit out of them. That doesn't mean a rolling boil, it just means simmering for a really long time. Until they are mush. It could take 2 hours, but that's not time you need to tend it. I've put pots of stock on a low simmer and gone shopping. I usually partially cover the pot, letting steam escape so I don't have a boil over situation. Sometimes foam will form. Don't worry about this. It will be fine. This ain't rocket science.

When the veggies are almost unrecognizable cuz they're so mushy, you'll pour the stock through a screened colander. You really need a screened colander for this because there will be small bits of veggies you want to strain out. What you will be left with is an amber-colored stock imbued with the flavors of whatever veggies you put in it.

OPTIONS: I'll throw some fresh herbs in with the stock, such as fresh thyme sprigs, oregano, or even sage, whatever I might have lying around. Whole leaves are good because they'll be big enough to get stuck in the colander when you strain it. I do not salt my stock. I leave that task for whenever I use the stock. So when you taste this stock without salt, you might not think much of it, but believe me, the flavor is there! You have wrenched the flavor from those veggies by boiling them within an inch of their lives.

From there it can go straight into the freezer in sealed containers or you can make this fabulous albeit very simple butternut squash soup.

For this soup, I had a container of veggie stock in the freezer I needed to use up.

Roasted Squash Soup

2 small - medium butternut squashes
1 large onion, diced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced finely
1 roasted red pepper, diced
6 cups homemade veggie stock
juice of 1 orange
1/2 to 1 cup half-n-half
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon hot curry powder
a few leaves of fresh sage
salt and pepper
olive oil
GARNISH: fresh jalapenos and cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Split squashes and de-seed. Baste generously with olive oil and salt and pepper liberally. Roast them
cut side up for approximately 40-50 minutes. They do not have to be mushy done. If they are fork tender but the flesh is still a little resistant, that will be fine. You just want to roast them until they get that yummy roasty flavor and they are easy to scoop out of the skin. When they're done, let them cool a few minutes so they're easy to handle.

Saute onion in olive oil in a large heavy-bottom soup pot for 3 minutes. Throw in chipotle pepper and seasonings and saute another 2 minutes.

Pour in stock and bring to a simmer. Scoop out each squash half and add to the pot. Add orange juice.
Let simmer another 10 minutes, turn it down to lot heat and use a hand blender to smooth out the soup. Once the soup is smooth, slowly add the half-n-half stirring to blend.

Throw in the roasted red peppers at the end, so you can see the pretty red bits.

Cilantro makes a nice garnish. If your folks like heat, garnish with fresh jalapenos.

So simple, but so unbelievably delish. Just one little chipotle pepper gives this soup a smokey heat. And the juice of the orange compliments the sweetness of the squash so well. I served this with a couple of wings and some tortilla chips. The perfect Autumn meal!

More stock advice to come!

Another Low GI Meal and a Diabetes Blog Interview

I got an email a few weeks back from a gal over at discussdiabetes.com, a blog with ideas from and info for people living with type 2 diabetes. They saw some of my recent posts about cooking and baking low GI foods and asked if they could interview me for their blog. So hop on over to discussdiabetes.com to check out my conversation with Laura Kolodjeski.

Not that it was a big stretch for me to talk about food, cooking, or diabetes, as you may know, but after being contacted by Laura I did some reading on their blog and some searching online for other type 2 info, meal ideas, recipes, blogs, etc. It seems like there just isn't that much out there in the foodie blogs for folks like us, so I'm going keep posting some of the meals I've developed over the last year and a half since the diagnosis.


ZUCCHINI FRITTERS AND ASIAN SLAW

Anytime I suggest to my man that I might cook some zucchini fritters, whether it's as a side dish with some spicy wings that he's making, or like in this case, as a main dish with a hefty helping of Asian slaw, he always says, "Honey, you had me at 'fritters.'" This is the perfect recipe for using up that bumper crop of zucchini from your garden this summer. And along with the slaw, the zucchini fritters make a very filling vegetarian meal and a good respite from all the meat-heavy grilling we might do over the summer months.

Fritters

4 small zucchinis (I've used 3 medium, or in this case, 1 lg zucchini and one medium yellow summer squash)

1 egg

1/2 cup oat flour (again, oat flour will be far less taxing on your blood glucose level than white flour or even whole wheat flour)

2-4 Tablespoons of dried Thai curry seasoning mix (make it yourself or store bought)

1 lg zucchini and 1 med. yellow squash made this plate full of fritters!

Dipping Sauce

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon chopped green onions or shallots

Red pepper flake (to taste)

If you're using a large zucchini or summer squash, quarter it lengthwise and remove the seeds first. Shred all the squash using the largest size grater you have, whether by hand or in a food processor. Put it in a colander, salt it generously then let it sit for a few minutes in the sink. After 10 or 15 minutes, start pressing the squash with the palm of your hand to squeeze out as much excess water as you can (I realize some people like to wring out their squash in a hand towel, but that's just not my style).

Transfer the squash to a bowl and mix in the egg, the flour and the seasoning with a wooden spoon.

Put 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of a large nonstick skillet and heat. Drop large spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and then press gently on the top of the dollop to flatten slightly. They will be irregularly shaped with little bits of squash sticking out the sides that will turn golden and crunchy as the fritter cooks. Make sure to maintain a good amount of heat on the pan without too much smoking. Turn them once when they are toasty brown and cook til the other side is also toasty brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Combine the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and stir. If you want a sweeter dipping sauce, add one squeeze of liquid Stevia or a small teaspoon of Splenda brown sugar blend. 

I'll post the Asian Slaw recipe in the next post. It complemented the fritters beautifully!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes--Turn and Face the Strain!

My boyfriend is an excellent cook. The first meal he cooked for me was boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child, a dish that he literally started the night before. When it came time to serve it, he ladled rich glistening helpings of it over thick slices of toasted italian bread cut into the shape of a heart (am I lucky or what!). It was unbelievably delicious and I was falling in love.

The next time he cooked for me, it was a traditional bolognese sauce over pasta. Again, it was a day's labor as he cooked the sauce from scratch and used it to smother a bowl of thick noodles.

Then a week later I found out I had an A1c of 12.2 and my doctor wanted to see me to talk about treatment for Type 2 Diabetes.

All this by way of saying that I am not the only person who has been affected by this sugar beast. When we met, my boyfriend's recipe repertoire featured those dishes that we are told to stay away from when managing blood glucose levels. Specifically, pizza, pasta, and meat and potatoes with gravy.

But over the past year and a half, he and I have learned how to amend our favorite dishes so that I can make more sensible choices to manage my blood sugar and still eat scrumptious food.

So rather than post some recipes, I though I'd just share some TIPS on how to enjoy a traditional meal in a more sensible, low GI kinda way.

Check it out . . . 

Looks like meat and potatoes with a rich gravy, right?

That's pretty much what it is, but with minor differences that make all the difference to my blood sugar. Here are the secrets:

• PORTION SIZE - We split one porterhouse steak. He eats the strip, and I eat the smaller filet side. And I make sure I hold back a few bites as treats for the dog.
• MASHED CAULIFLOWER INSTEAD OF POTATOES - My boyfriend never even ate cauliflower before he met me. Now he loves mashed cauliflower with our steak. Unlike making mashed potatoes, you need very little butter and milk to mash the cauliflower. I like to boil my cauliflower in vegetable broth just to give the dish more flavor. If you don't have vegetable broth, make sure you salt the water you boil the cauliflower in.
• GRAVY - Use beef broth with your pan drippings and a little bit of butter. Thickening can happen in one of two ways, either REDUCE, REDUCE, REDUCE. That means just boiling away the liquid until it becomes its own thick sauce. Or, if you're impatient, use oat flour as a thickening agent. Unlike wheat flour, you can add oat flour directly to a hot liquid and it will dissolve completely. And, it thickens the gravy without compromising my blood sugar the way white flour will.
• EXTRA VEGGIES - I always make sure I serve lots of veggies with a meal like this. Besides adding to my overall fiber count, which is always good for diabetics, the more veggies I eat, the fuller I feel and that helps me control my portion sizes. 
• RED WINE - A glass of red wine is the diabetic's alcohol of choice. Yes, sometimes I miss beer, but when it comes to a steak dinner, there's no substitute for a glass of Cabernet.
  
  

One year after I had an A1c of 12.2, my A1c was down to 5.5!! 

A Berry Fraiche Fruit Tart

If I swear to you that I am NOT consumed with creating low GI desserts for my own consumption, will you believe me?

You'd be pretty naive if you did. Jus' sayin'.

But I have good sound reasons for my actions. Promise.

We were entertaining my family for dinner to celebrate the birthdays of my two nephews. They are young adults whose schedules prevent us from seeing them too often. But we managed to find a day in between their birthdays, which are a month apart, to have them over, cook a meal and shower them with . . . okay, gift cards. Yep, how creative is that. But in our defense, they are young men and trying to figure out what gift to buy them is damn near impossible.

Coming up with an idea for dessert, however, proved pretty easy. I knew that the younger of the two nephews also has been trying to steer away from sugar in his diet. I had baked a low GI lemon cheesecake a couple weeks before and thought about doing another cheesecake. The lemon cheesecake--I love anything lemony--was topped with homemade blueberry sauce. And it was a big hit at Easter dinner. But the crust, ohhhh the crust. The crust on that cheesecake was unbelievably yummy. Roasted, salted almonds ground up into a coarse meal, combined with oat flour and butter and just a touch of Stevia Blend to give it some sweetness. By the time the cheesecake was cooked through, that crust was a deep dark toasty color and was soooo much better than your run of the mill graham cracker crust. The crust was truly the star of the cheesecake.

So I started to think about what else I could do with the crust and came up with this fruit tart idea that was incredibly simple to make and absolutely delicious. Berries are high in fiber so they're a good fruit for diabetics. Also, the use of a little Stevia Blend gives the base of this tart the little bit of sweetness I'm looking for without jacking up my glucose level. And the fact that I use oat flour instead of wheat flour in the crust also ensures that my sugar doesn't get a big spike.

First, the crust . . .

1 1/4 cups roasted, salted almonds
1/2 cup oat flour
4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into cubes
1-2 tablespoons Stevia blend, depending on how sweet you want the crust
1 egg yolk

Throw the almonds into a food processor and pulse until ground into a coarse meal. Add the flour and Stevia Blend and pulse again. Add the cold butter and pulse until it's a coarse meal. Then add the egg yolk and run the food processor until it starts to come together like a dough. You don't have to wait until it's one big ball. You can stop when it starts clumping all around. Then you know it's moist throughout and you can work with it.

Dump it onto a lightly greased tart dish (I use a quiche dish with fluted sides) and start pressing it down on the bottom and up the sides. This is enough crust to cover the bottom of an 8 inch quiche or tart dish and go up the sides of it. It can also easily cover the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.

Since the ingredients of the tart are not baked you need to bake the crust. If you were using this crust for a cheesecake, you wouldn't need to par-bake the crust at all. I set the oven at 350F and baked the crust for 45-50 minutes. When the top edges get brown, cover them with foil for the last few minutes of baking while the bottom gets brown. You can do this by ripping off a couple long strips of foil and folding them down around the top edges of the pan. Believe me, the browner this crust gets, the yummier it is and the more it will melt in your mouth. So be patient! It takes awhile for the brownness to happen.

And now for the simplest and most delectable dessert ever . . .

Berry Fraiche Fruit Tart - Low GI and Gluten-Free!!
8 oz of creme fraiche
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Stevia blend
assorted berries
1/4 cup chocolate chips or other dark chocolate bits

First, make sure the crust is completely cooled!! Can't stress that enough. You don't want a warm crust to melt your creme fraiche.

Blend together with a spoon the creme fraiche, vanilla and Stevia blend until well blended. Pour the mix into the prepared crust and spread it around evenly. Put the tart with the creme fraiche back in the refrigerator for an hour. Or you can do what I did and put it in a subzero freezer for 10 minutes until it sets.

Take your cleaned berry assortment and arrange them decoratively and densely on the top of the creme fraiche. I sliced the strawberries but left the blueberries and raspberries whole. You could stop right here and this tart would be fabulous. It doesn't absolutely need the chocolate on top. And it would be slightly lower in sugar without it, depending on how dark your chocolate is. But I've been known to take things too far, and this tart is no exception. So, on with the chocolate topping!!

Put chocolate bits in a Pyrex measuring cup and zap them in the microwave for a minute. Stir to make sure they are melted. If not, zap them for 10 second intervals just until melted. Then transfer with a spatula into a plastic zip lock bag. Cut a small tip off of one corner and squeeze chocolate onto the top of the tart.

If you're not serving it right away, refrigerate it. Once the chocolate turns hard again, you can cover it with plastic wrap.

This tart was gone by the time the family left my house. That never happens! I'm always left with some dessert. Note to self: make 2 next time!

I'm springing into these parties:

Feelin' Kinda Crabby

I was in the mood for fish.

Soooooo, here's my little diatribe about eating fish this far inland. Better to purchase the fish flash frozen in your grocer's freezer than to buy whatever has been THAWED and stuck in a window for who knows how long. Most fish sold in these parts has been frozen to be shipped here anyway. If you're buying it from the fish case at your grocery, you're only buying thawed frozen fish. I won't argue with those of you who live on the coast. I've been there, and it's true there's nothing like eating fresh fish caught that morning. But unless it's Walleye during Great Lakes Walleye season, we're not likely to see anything in Ohio that was caught same day.

Usually when I'm in the mood for fish I end up with some salmon or some shrimp or even some whiting fillets out of my freezer section. But while I was looking for my usual suspects, I noticed some small plastic jars of lump crab meat.

Light Bulb!  CRAB CAKES--the delicate, rich, crabby morsels of scrumptiousness, topped with a little Cajun or Asian heat and served with some dressed greens or sweet slaw or something similar.

Everybody has their own crab cake recipe. Mine is adapted from my buddies on Block Island who have owned countless restaurants over the years and who served a delicious crab cake eggs bennie at their most recent venture.

Going low-carb doesn't meant giving up our favorite foods. It just means modifying recipes so they are carb-friendly. This recipe doesn't use any bread crumbs in the cake. But the crab cakes at the restaurant were rolled in Panko. Panko being white bread is not exactly what I would call a low-carb, high-fiber option. 

So I had to make my own Panko using the high-fiber bread I buy at the grocery store. It was simple really. I just toasted one of the end pieces, let it cool for a bit, then pulsed it in the food processor until it was coarse like Panko bread crumbs. It doesn't matter that they aren't completely toasted and are still soft. They're only going on the outside of the crab cake and then getting fried in oil, so they will create a deliciously delicate crunchy coating nonetheless. Promise.

CRAB CAKES

8 oz jar lump crab meat, drained

1 stalk celery, diced small

2 Tablespoons diced onion or shallots

1 egg

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise

High-fiber Panko breadcrumbs (as instructed above) tossed into a shallow dish

1/4 cup canola oil

Spice Blend:

1 Tablespoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon smoked chipotle pepper powder (or more if you like the heat)

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves ground up in  your hand

1 teaspoon cumin 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

MIX all the spices into a small bowl. Set aside one to two teaspoonfuls of the spice blend for your dressing.

MIX the crab meat with the celery and onion. Toss with the remaining spice blend. Then add the egg and mayonnaise. The egg and mayonnaise will hold this all together without adding additional breadcrumbs. 

SCOOP out a small amount that can be squeezed between the palms of your hands. Because there are no breadcrumbs, these crab cakes are a bit delicate, so as you squeeze gently, form the ball into a hockey puck shape then roll the hockey puck in the Panko, gently pressing the breadcrumbs into all sides of the crab cake.

To make a simple dressing, MIX 2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise with the remaining spice blend and add the hot sauce of your choosing.

Fry these in properly heated oil in a non-stick pan. It won't take long, roughly 2-3 minutes per side. You can transfer them to a paper towel to absorb the excess oil when they're golden brown on each side.

Since there are no fillers in these, the 8 oz jar made 5 small crab cakes. My boyfriend and I ate them all. It was a main course so that's 1/4 lb. serving per person. I served mine with a simple salad of greens dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. They were delish!!!

I'm sharing some low-carb love with following:
Flour Me With Love Mix it Up Monday

Comforting My Blood Sugar

Food is not a replacement. It's not a replacement for love; it's not a replacement for exercise; it's not a replacement for self-esteem; it's not a replacement for anything. Food cannot fill the hole in my soul. 

Nonetheless, 

Food is sustenance.

Food gives us life

Food should be ENJOYED!

For more than 50 years, I have eaten whatever the heck I wanted. I have had more than my share of cakes, candy, corn chips, popcorn, pretzels, Reese's cups, Heath Bars, mashed potatoes, crusty french baguettes, and a host of other things I can no longer eat now that I've been diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic.

And the conclusion I have come to in the year since I was diagnosed is this:

If I can't have another Krispy Kreme donut ever in my life, 

it is not the end of the world.

While my friends and family tried every diet imaginable over the years, everything from 70s grapefruit diets and Mayo Clinic diet to Weight Watchers and South Beach, I paid little or no attention to them. I would always say I eat what I want, that our culture is much too weight conscious and I refused to buy into it. I used to tell people I don't know how much I weigh and I don't own a scale because I think it's unhealthy for women to have that number rattling around in their brains all the time. I have fluctuated between a size 14 and 18 most of my adult life. And to tell you the truth, I just didn't worry about it.

As you might imagine, being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes was like a big slap in the face. When my doctor's office called me, I literally was standing in the buffet line at a casino looking at all the desserts and thinking to myself, which of those delectable items will end up in my tummy today, while somewhere in the back of my mind I was planning to go home and bake something because, after all, I didn't have any baked goods in the house. 

Well it's been almost a year since that fateful day. There was a steep learning curve for me and my boyfriend because we both love to cook and I, particularly, love to bake. But we cook and eat fabulous food with fresh ingredients that do not screw with my blood sugar. 

For instance, with high fiber options at my local grocery store, I am still eating pasta and bread, I just don't eat them as often and I watch my portion size when I do.

So what do I cook on a cold winter's night when there's hardly anything in the pantry but some good cheese, bacon and eggs? The ultimate comfort food, of course, a low-glycemic mac-n-cheese you are going to absolutely love!

Bacon & Eggs Mac-n-Cheese!

adapted from a recipe from The Mac & Cheese Cookbook, by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade

• 1/2 lb of uncooked high fiber pasta (I use Barilla whole grain rotini)
• 1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup water (you can use 2 cups of whole milk or half-n-half to replace both the milk and water)
• 1/4 cup oat flour (oat flour has little or no affect on blood glucose levels and I have found it's a fabulous thickening agent instead of flour or cornstarch)
• 1/4 cup butter (don't use margarine; you're making a rue so you need it to be real butter)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2-3 cups of shredded cheeses, I used a really good Parmesan, white cheddar and some Monterrey jack
• 1/2 lb of bacon, cooked then crumbled
• 4 eggs

Cook up the pasta in salted water according to the directions, but take the pasta out of the water 1 or 2 minutes before the prescribed cooking time for al dente pasta because this goes in the oven and will cook the rest of the way there. Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray and toss the pasta into it.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter, then add the oat flour, whisking and cooking over medium heat until it starts to thicken. The oat flour will bubble up the butter when it hits the pan, but it's fine, keep whisking while it thickens for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a Pyrex measuring cup in your microwave until it is warm.

Gradually add the milk to the butter flour mix, whisking all the time. Add the salt and whisk. As it begins to thicken, start adding the shredded cheese a little at a time, whisking to blend as it melts until all the cheese is blended in with the mixture and melted. Then add the crumbled bacon.

Pour the cheesy bacon mixture over the pasta and bake in the oven. You can bake it fast, like I do, for about 12-15 minutes on 400 degrees F, or you can go the low and slow route at 350 for 30 minutes. Whatever you prefer.

If you want to add bread crumbs to the top of this, like many people do, make sure you make your own high-fiber bread crumbs to make this dish retain its low glycemic load. I prefer my mac-n-cheese to be gooey and creamy throughout.

Dish out small portions and top each portion with a poached egg. 

When the gooey egg yolk flows out over the cheesy pasta you will find it very hard to believe that this is a diabetic-friendly dish. The portion pictured here is the portion I ate. Yummy, yummy, yummy! And my blood sugar was back down to under 115 within 3 hours. 

With dishes like this, I can truly say I have fully embraced my low-carb lifestyle and am keeping my promise to myself that I will endeavor to avoid taking medication for as long as I can by eating right. So far so good.

Oh yes, and that part where I said that food cannot fill the hole in my soul . . . uh . . . you didn't really believe that, did you?

I'm supping with these talented chefs:
Flour Me With Love Mix it Up Monday
Creating My Way to Success A Round Tuit
C.R.A.F.T. Monday Funday

Celebrating Change with Chocolate Bread Pudding!

Okay so it's been awhile. To my 142 followers, thank you so much for not "unfollowing" me despite the fact that I haven't posted since March.

All I can say is, it's been a heck of a year! So many changes I have barely had time to think, let alone write.

The biggest changes are as follows, and these are in no particular order . . .

I met and fell in love with the man of my dreams.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
I took a part time job as the principal cookie baker for a gluten-free bakery.
My new love and I bought a house together and combined households after knowing each other about 10 months!

How crazy is that?! 

I have so much to share about my journey over the last few months but since getting diagnosed with diabetes is one of the biggest changes I've been coping with, I thought my first post should be my latest recipe adaptation.

So, if you are type 2 diabetes, and you've been looking for a holiday--or any day really--dessert to serve, try my . . .

Chocolate Bread Pudding
adapted from Alton Brown's Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe 

2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup Splenda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons Stevia Blend
1 1/2 cups half-n-half
1 to 1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 ounce strong coffee or espresso
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
10 ounces stale high fiber bread, or about 8 or 9 slices
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 72-85% cacao, broken into 1/2 inch pieces

Alton Brown makes all this in a blender and I thought that worked really well. First the eggs, then the sweeteners and cocoa, then the milk, coffee and vanilla. Blend each ingredient for a short time as you go. It only takes a few seconds for each ingredient so it's really a low-fuss dish. I used leftover coffee and I thought it turned out really good. The darker the chocolate, the less sugar in it, so stick with a 72% to 85% cacao and you should be able to keep the overall sugar content low in this dish.

My recipe is for a medium size bread pudding in a deep glass 9 inch casserole. I buttered the dish, threw the bread in it, tossed the chocolate pieces on the top and then poured the egg mixture over the whole thing. Then I refrigerated it for 8 hours. The bread really was stale so refrigerating allows the bread to soak up the egg mixture.

Then it goes in the oven for about 45 minutes at 325 degrees F.

Alton Brown instructs that you spritz the thing with melted butter and then stick it under the broiler for a couple seconds. I found this step totally unnecessary and burdensome. I ain't got all day to stand around watching things in the broiler. I served this with a brunch and I had a frittata to worry about. So at the last minute, we whipped up some fresh whipped cream with a little bit of Stevia Blend to serve with the bread pudding.

And let me just say . . . OMG this was so stinkin' good! I've been experimenting with a variety of desserts that are low in glycemic load, but this one turned out FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!!

So here are my DIABETES DISCLAIMERS:

1. I am not a doctor, nurse, or nutritionist. I manage my type 2 diabetes (which, btw, was really bad because I had an A1C test that put me at 12.2!!) completely by diet.

2. The high fiber bread in this bread pudding recipe is no sugar added 100% whole wheat high-fiber store-bought bread that anyone can find in the grocery store. These are breads I've been eating for awhile so I know they do not make my glucose spike significantly.

3. There is lots of info about artificial sweeteners, but from what I have read, Splenda and Stevia do not increase glucose levels. The Stevia Blend, however, has sugar in it, so I use it sparingly as a flavor enhancer, not as the primary sweetener. Since it has sugar in it, it could affect glucose levels if you used a lot of it.

4. I check my glucose level 2 and 3 hours after eating one of my recipe adaptations, just as I did with this one. Two hours after I ate the bread pudding, my glucose level was at 127, which means there wasn't a significant spike and I was back down within a reasonable amount of time after eating.

I hope to write more about my journey over the last year, sharing low glycemic load recipes I've either found or created, maybe sharing some pics of our new home and getting back to some crafting and jewelry-making. 

I'm celebrating change with the following leading ladies:

Our Delightful Home Show Me What You Got Linky
Skip to My Lou Made by You Monday
Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday

Happy Spring Equinox!

The sun is struggling to peak through the clouds here in central Ohio, and it's only 31 degrees outside.

But I'm not letting that get me down! I'm celebrating Spring with some great finds at my local thrift store.

First off, you should know that part of my jovial mood is a direct result of a new man in my life. Yes, this crazy thrifty crafter is falling hard. This is how bad it is . . . I often picture this scene from Elf in my mind . . .

.

I love Will Ferrell.
So anyway, with that in mind, what better way to celebrate Spring than with a new outfit, or two, or three!

Banana Republic wrap-around dress

Forever 21 lightweight cotton print skirt

These leather wedges go perfect with the dress!

black and tan leather wedges just for fun

A cream-colored poncho will be perfect with almost everything.

Lime green and sporting some shorts underneath, this skirt looks fabulous with black tights and boots!

BIG FIND OF THE DAY, BORN LEATHER SANDALS FOR FRIGGIN' $8!!!! The soles look like they've barely been worn. The most comfortable sandal I've ever owned by far. Woohoo!!! As my friend Kay says, I do like me some fugly shoes. I'll be wearing these babies all summer long!

I'm hitchin' my wagon to these bright shining stars!

From My Front Porch to Yours Treasure Hunt Thursday

Not Just a Housewife Show Me What You Got
Beyond the Picket Fence Under $100 Linky Party

New Work and New and Old Friends

I had a couple of bad days this week. Not that anything bad happened. It's just that I was down in the dumps, feelin' the weight of the world, all of that. I think my mother would characterize it as feeling sorry for myself.

A cheerful 70s brooch complemented with
ceramic and glass beads and vintage faux pearls.

A day like that messes with my motivation. It derails all my plans to get things accomplished. Suddenly I feel like all I can do is the bare minimum, go through the motions.

So I taught my students, I went to my metal fabrication class, and I practiced guitar once or twice. At night I read a little and watched Downton Abbey on Netflix (I've just started watching the first season). I didn't make any jewelry at all, so the pieces I'm posting today were made in the last few weeks because I just didn't have it in me this week.

And Tuesday and Wednesday were kinda just dragging along. I just felt lonely and useless and stuck in this house, and . . . well . . . you know the feeling, right?

But in the course of those two days, here's what else happened.

Tuesday, my buddy from Rhode Island calls. He and I have been friends for 30 years and we spend way too much time on the phone talking about politics, relationships, music, you name it. He can converse on almost any subject fairly well and we, usually, enjoy one another's company immensely.

Rustic and romantic with rose quarts and glass beads on a leather cord.

Wednesday, one of my dearest and oldest friends calls from further north of here. She's another one I talk with regularly. I confess to her about how the last couple days is going for me. She doesn't berate me, she doesn't try to motivate me, she just listens to me and then tells me that some days are like that and she understands how I feel.

Wednesday night rolls around and the phone rings again, and it's my new friend who lives in southern Ohio. Since he's kind of a new friend, I don't burden him with my troubles, but we're talking about this and that and he suddenly says the sweetest thing in the world and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. After a couple seconds of silence, he sensed something and commented that I must be in deep thought. I managed to laugh and told him that I was just struck by how sweet he is.

An amber earring anchors this charm necklace
filled with vintage baubles.

So Thursday rolls around and I wake up to the sun shining in central Ohio. If you live anywhere near here, you know how long it's been since the sun shone for any length of time. And I'm still kinda feelin' sorry for myself, but I manage to get up and get moving, get some work done and head out the door to buy new glazes for my ceramic pendants.

And as I'm getting through the checkout line with six new pots of glaze--all cheery Spring colors, I promise--my phone rings again. This time, it's a new friend I met on Block Island last summer. And his voice is joyful and soothing, encouraging, affirming, and grateful. He makes me smile and I am forced to realize that I have such wonderful friends who care about me and want me to succeed and be well and be happy and I have no good friggin' reason to be feeling sorry for myself.

So enough of that! Let's make some more jewelry!

An old key, tigers' eye and czech glass hanging randomly on a ribbon.

I'm calling these my buttony-button wrist wraps. 

These will be my summer staple.

I'm off to glaze ceramic pendants with cheery Spring colors!

A vintage brooch combined with contemporary glass beads.

I'm springing over to these fine ladies' parties:

The Dedicated House Make It Pretty Monday

Winter Bounty

There are those who feel that being deprived of sunlight during the winter months makes them depressed and generally unable to get motivated.

As you might have guessed, I am not one of those people. Instead . . .

I find the cold winter months to be exhilarating!

I get to use my 4-wheel drive in the Jeep, I am forced to bundle up in order to walk the dog or shovel snow, and I get to relish indoor work like making soups and hearty one-pot dishes that warm the body and comfort the soul.

Another reason I am energized by winter is the fact that I love snow. Yes you heard me right . . .

 

I LOVE SNOW! 

There is something incredibly energizing about waking up to a blanket of snow on the ground. The light it reflects, even when the sun is not out, renews my spirit and motivates me in a different way than the sunny summer days do.

Today in central Ohio, I awoke to another new dusting of snow on top of a couple inches we got yesterday,

so I'm a happy girl!

This past month I've kept myself busy indoors cooking, baking, and creating new jewelry pieces for my upcoming show. But I remind myself to take time to go outside and enjoy the snow. Having a dog that loves snow and doesn't mind cold is a gift and it helps me remember how much I have always loved this time of year.

Whether you are one of those people who enjoys winter or not, I highly recommend taking time to enjoy the quiet wonder of the winter season.

Daisy's little paws get packed with snow after a winter walk.

Daisy and I on a winter hike at our favorite Metro Park.

Avant Garde Art and Craft Show

I've hooked up with this fabulous new series of art and craft shows happening all over Ohio. This will be my first show with them but I attended their last one and this is a creative bunch of contemporary crafters. You'll get lots of inspiration and gift ideas at this show. This is where Pinterest, Etsy, and the crafting blogosphere all come together under one roof!

 

 

 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

11:00am-5:00pm

St. Agatha Church (Parish Hall)
1860 Northam Road

Columbus, OH 43221

Come see all my latest buttony-button jewelry, ceramic pendants and upcycled vintage costume refinery!

 

You can check out my info on their blog here.

Hope to see some friends there!

 
 

Comfort me with mac 'n cheese

I woke up with a sore throat in the middle of the night about a week ago. It was bad. I felt like crap the next day and ended up cancelling my lessons (I teach piano and voice in evenings) so as not to get any of my students sick.

DAY 2, still sick in bed, no fever, but throat is getting really bad and it's difficult to swallow.

DAY 3, very painful to swallow so it's off to the doc-in-a-box to get diagnosed.

Long story short, it's not until DAY 5 that I finally get the strep throat diagnosis and some penicillin, only to discover on DAY 6 that I'm allergic to penicillin!

Anyway, having eaten mostly applesauce and soda cracker for 4 days, I woke up on DAY 5 starving and decided to make myself some comfort food. Taste buds were still pretty dormant and the throat was still a little sore so I needed to make something that wouldn't have too much spice in it and would be easy to swallow.

So for my first post in many weeks, it's recipe time!

Peg's homemade mac 'n cheese and turkey meatloaf

 

This is mac 'n cheese the old-fashioned way, making a bechamel and the whole nine yards. I know, I said "bechamel" but just cuz it's french doesn't mean it's difficult. This is the easiest thing in the world so don't cheat yourself and make a wanna-be mac 'n cheese. 

 

Peg's Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

 

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1/4 cup butter (it's gotta be the real deal, folks)

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk (you could use 2% but this dish is supposed to comfort you so why would you)

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups shredded cheese, give or take (I probably used more like 2 1/2 cups, a combo of cheddar and monterey jack)

1/4 teaspoon salt

extra cheese for on top

 

Preheat oven to 400 F.

 

Cook the macaroni in salted water according to the directions on the box. When it's done, immediately strain it and rinse with cold water. You don't want your macaroni over-cooked on the stove because it's gonna cook some more in the oven.

 

Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan. Stir in the flour. Cook flour and butter, stirring, for 3 minutes or so on medium-low heat. Add milk slowly, stirring it pretty much constantly. When the milk gets plenty hot and is starting to thicken, add the cheese, stirring gently over medium-low heat the whole time until the cheese melts.

 

Now it should be getting a little bit thick. Add the yogurt. Stir it in til its blended well and then dump all the macaroni into the pan.

 

As soon as the macaroni is mixed in, dump the whole thing into a greased or buttered casserole dish.

 

It will look SOUPY. Don't worry. Don't add more macaroni.

 

Now, some people like a bread crumb topping on top of their mac 'n cheese. I do not. I think breadcrumbs encourage the top to get crusty and I want my entire mac 'n cheese experience to be moist and creamy and cheesy. So I put more cheese on the top.

 

Bake til it's bubbly on the sides and a little brown on top. It takes about 30-40 minutes depending on how deep your casserole dish.

 

Easy Turkey Meatloaf

 

I've been making turkey meatloaf for years. It's a little healthier than the beef version and, once chilled, slices really good for sandwiches.

 

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 egg

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup wheat germ or bran flakes

a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce

a good size dollop of ketchup

a squeeze or two of mustard

a pinch of thyme

salt and pepper

 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

 

Not much instruction on this one. It all goes in one big bowl and, with your clean hands, you're gonna mix it all up real good. I like to use half breadcrumbs and half wheat germ just to give it a little whole grain goodness. Sometimes I use nothing but wheat germ and bran flakes, but the bran flakes are not cereal bran flakes, they are raw uncooked bran flakes you get in the health food section.

 

No precise measurements on the condiments because I never use measurements for this recipe. I just use whatever I have in the frig to flavor it. It might be yellow mustard, it might be Dijon. It might be Worcestershire, it might be teriyaki sauce. It's just that the turkey needs a little bump of flavor that perhaps a beef meatloaf wouldn't require. Usually I make a simple sauce out of ketchup and barbecue sauce for the top and put it on before I bake it. This time, I made it plain and it turned out just as tasty.

 

I bake mine in a loaf pan to encourage the turkey to retain its moisture, particularly since it's a pretty lean meat anyway. It bakes for a good 45 to 50 minutes til the juices run clear. I'm a meat thermometer kinda gal, so poultry needs to get pretty well cooked. Consult your meat thermometer if you're unsure.

 

Bon appetit!


I'm partying with these fine ladies:
Made In a Day Made U Look Linky
 Full Circle Creations All Star Block Party
 Our Delightful Home Show Me What You Got Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday


 



Button, button, who's got the button?!

Thanks to Mod Podge Rocks, I was made aware this morning that it is . . . wait for it . . .

 

National Button Day!!

 

 

And this is how I'm celebrating . . .

 

 

 

This just arrived in the mail yesterday, a cookie tin full of old buttons I bought off e-Bay.

 

If you've been paying attention, you know that I've been making jewelry out of old buttons. Like this pendant necklace made from vintage mother-of-pearl buttons, vintage crystals and faux pearls, hanging from organza ribbon.

 

Or this bracelet made with super cool vintage brass buttons. (Not sure I can give this one up!)

  

And I'm probably getting a little carried away. I'm even making Christmas button necklaces and earrings.

As I started running out of buttons, I turned to my dear friend, Mr. e-Bay. Comfort me Mr. e-Bay. Let me know there is more junk out there for me. 

 

And as usual, Mr. e-Bay was happy to satisfy my needs. Ahhh, if only the rest of my life were this simple. 

 

 

First I have to sort my buttons by color.

 

 



Beautiful shades of blue. Something really beachy is gonna come out of this pile, huh!

 

Holy mother-of-pearl! These could adorn a bride's wrist as she walks down the aisle.

 

Pretty in pink!

 

Happy National Button Day, friends! Time to get my craft on!

 

 

I'm sharing my button obsession with these beautiful blogs!

 

C.R.A.F.T. Making Monday Marvelous

Skip to My Lou Made by You Monday 

 Kathe with an E You're Gonna Love It

Our Delightful Home Show Me What You Got