My Grandma is a Genius

This weekend, I went and spent a day and a half with my grandparents, who live about two hours away. My grandma has been my inspiration for MANY things over the years; she taught me to sew and encouraged my creativity; her incredible cooking, baking, and gardening skills taught me to appreciate the home-made and experiment in the kitchen for myself; and her love and care has always supported me, especially over the last few months since my diagnosis.

I'm not sure how long it's been since I just spent an entire DAY with my grandparents all on my own.. in fact, I'm not sure if it's ever happened before. It ended up being one of the best weekends of my summer, and I can't wait to do it again sometime!

So let me dive into the eclectic elements that made this weekend so wonderful:

ONE. Fresh peach pie surprise.
Although I love all desserts, fresh peach pie is probably one of my all-time favorites. When I arrived at my grandparents on Friday evening, my grandma pulled out a mini-pie that she'd made special just for me!! It was a complete experiment on her part, and it ended up, hands down, being the best thing I've tasted all summer! Let me share how she concocted this sugar-free marvel....

First of all, she used a small pie pan, only about 5" I'd say. She took a low-carb tortilla and trimmed it to fit into the pan like a pie crust. She buttered it lightly, sprinkled it with cinnamon and Splenda, then baked it in the oven at 350 for a couple of minutes until it was just barely starting to brown.

Once it was cool, she filled it with slices of fresh peaches. For the glaze, she mashed up one peach and cooked it over the stove, mixing in less than 1 tsp of corn starch and less than 1/4 c. of Splenda. She let it cool just a bit, then poured it over the pie and refrigerated it.

Now, I wish I had a picture to show you, but I don't. It was so good that I'll confess to eating the whole thing in 2 sittings. This marvel ended up being maybe only 12-14 carbs for HALF of that little pie!! (And that's with Light Whipped Topping!) I actually even liked it better than a normal fresh peach pie. The glaze was SO good, and even more flavorful than the sugary gel that you normally use.

TWO. My grandma's sewing haven.
I love to sew, something that both of my grandma's taught me from a young age. This grandma has an incredible sewing room built in her basement, complete with more fabric than any normal person would use in an entire lifetime ;-) We spent much of Friday evening and Saturday afternoon in this lovely little room; she quilted, and I made a new tote bag. I don't care if you're diabetic or not. ALL girls love and need big purses!! Anyway, it was completely relaxing and therapeutic, and I now have a Vera-Bradley-ish purse that was inexpensive and one-of-a-kind!

Amy Butler Birdie Sling Tote Bag Midwest Modern Sewing Pattern

THREE. Home-made berry jam.
After growing up with all home-made jams, I'm rather biased against store bought preserves. Using some sugar-free pectin given to me by a friend and a combination of red and black raspberries, my grandma and I made several jars of delicious, healthy, and sugarless jam! Hello breakfast love.

Natural ingredients and no preservatives! 

Nothing so beautiful as fresh jam!

So that was my lovely weekend. Not to mention feasting on fresh garden veggies, visiting the world's cutest antique/vintage store, and lots of coffee. Thank you, God for family and creativity!

Circumstances do not define you

What defines you? If you had to describe yourself to someone that you just met, what would you tell them... or better yet, what would you not tell them?

After being diagnosed as a T1 diabetic, I felt like my diabetes was beginning to define who I am. It definitely has changed many habits and the way I have to live each day. Some days, I find myself in a little pity party where I feel undesirable because of my diagnosis. Perhaps you're not diabetic, but can you relate? I think we all can share in this feeling... everyone has insecurities in certain areas. Not talented enough? Not attractive enough? Limited by physical conditions or finances?

I didn't realize how much this was harming my thinking until my pastor asked me about it directly. He challenged me then with this phrase: "You are not broken. You are not less of a person." 


Although I didn't realize it initially, I had begun to believe that I was broken, and thus limited in my ability live life and serve God. But it's not true!! My joy and purpose is rooted in Christ alone, not in my health, my relationship status, or my abilities. This truth, if fully grasped, is freeing and beautiful! Why focus on my human limitations, when there is a heavenly purpose to pursue??

And you know, my diabetes really doesn't have to ruin my life (as I'm discovering). Proof of point.... this past weekend, I was able to spend hours hiking through beautiful mountain scenery in Colorado... conquering mountains, discovering breathtaking views. My approach to hiking is slightly altered, as I have to plan food, snacks, insulin, etc, in advance, but the result was the same, and perhaps even more rewarding.

Praise God for reassuring me of this truth!

Routine Check-ups

     Some thoughts on my current health... both physical and spiritual.. hope it's encouraging.

     For those of you aren’t diabetic, you probably don’t even know what an A1C test is, so let me first provide a very brief explanation before I dive in. An A1C test reveals the average level of your blood glucose for the past three months. Healthy individuals tend to have an A1C that is below 6; at 6, you may be cautioned  that you are pre-diabetic; at 6.5, you are classified as diabetic.

     On May 13, when I was officially diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, tests showed that my A1C was at an incredible 13.4… indicating that my average blood glucose for the prior three months was around 350 mg/dL! (Remember, healthy blood sugars range from 70-110 mg/dL.) And that was my average, which may have included some time before I was actually diabetic. My fasting blood sugar was in the 300’s at diagnosis, and I went to the ER that night due to a blood sugar in the 600’s. Honestly, with blood sugars that high, I should have been feeling nauseous and faint. In fact, it’s a miracle I never passed out or went into diabetic shock (a coma). I’m so thankful for God’s protection, especially considering that I had been living completely on my own in an unknown area right up until I was diagnosed!

     Anyway… that was then. Three weeks ago, my A1C was retested, and just 7 weeks after being diagnosed, it had come down to 8.4. Woohoo! Big progress! Obviously still not optimal, but you have to remember that this test was still including some of the incredibly high numbers in the weeks before my diagnosis. In talking with my doctor this week and examining my latest BG numbers, he said that my average BG is currently closer to 111. If I continue to maintain these numbers, my next A1C in 8 weeks should be somewhere around 6!!! (For a diabetic, 6-7 is GREAT.)

     Now, allow me to make a little jump here. Perhaps you’re not diabetic and thus unconcerned about A1C’s.. but what is your spiritual A1C??? Granted, this is not a perfect analogy, but bear with me. My mind thinks in terms of all things food, numbers, and health these days! We’ve been studying Hebrews in church this summer, and I’ve been really challenged to reevaluate my faith. A couple of weeks ago we took a break and looked at 1 Corinthians 11: 23-32, which provides instructions for the Lord’s supper. But more than instructions, it is a call to believers to examine, examine, examine our hearts. Pastor Jim made the statement, “You come to the table (of the Lord’s supper) unworthily when you no longer have the vision of the righteousness and holiness of God before your eyes.” That hit me hard. The last few months, my time has been consumed with figuring out how to eat differently and manage my diabetes. At the same time, I was also fighting to survive several challenging online accounting courses. Frankly, I’ve been in “survival mode” all summer, and in the busy-ness of it all, I’ve lost “the vision of the righteousness and holiness of God”. Now, I’ve cried plenty of tears this summer over things “lost”, such as freedom to eat whatever I desired, freedom from excessive meds, etc. But that day, as I sat in church, I cried over the greatest loss of all… my loss of wonder, passion, and trust in God. While I could see how God was working through the situation, I somehow still ceased to truly depend upon God for daily strength. My “Spiritual A1C”, as it were, revealed alarmingly dangerous levels of self-dependence. We’ve been instructed to live “in, but not of” the world; but instead of allowing my soul to be saturated with the Scriptures, the things of this world are making me spiritually sluggish. The Bible is the nourishment that my soul needs, and without it, my spiritual health starves.

     The solution is simple: make a daily plea to God to reawaken my soul to the joy and satisfaction of His gospel (because I can’t force that according to my own will). Hebrews 6:1-3 makes it clear that we must actively “go on to maturity”, although ultimately it is only if “God permits”. And we must never allow ourselves to think that we’ve arrived spiritually. Philippians 3:12 says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” We press on because of Christ.

     My challenge to you is to step back with me and take a close look at your heart. Consider what things fill your day and consume your time. Are those things pushing you closer to God, or away? Just like my physical A1C, a “spiritual” A1C also requires consistent work and maintenance to remain healthy. Flee apathy, and join me as I seek to improve the health of my soul, which is the only thing that is truly lasting!

A Possible Cure for Type I Diabetes??

Fascinating new study that may have some great implications for diabetics in the future! Check it out...

http://www.emaxhealth.com/

Coffee love

Coffee.

One of the first thoughts to cross my mind when I was diagnosed with diabetes was "Oh no! Can I still drink coffee?!?"

Answer: YES. Coffee and tea have essentially no carb content! (Just don't drink too much, because excessive caffeine dehydrates your body, which will lead to high blood sugars.)

Ahhh.. sweet relief. I'll be honest, I HAVE to have my daily bit of caffeine, and that usually comes in the form of a cup of high quality, dark roast coffee. (Fortunately, I've never liked pop/soda.. and that's definitely out). I also love tea, so on days that I miss my morning coffee, I usually end up with a cup of tea in hand by 10 a.m. 

While I'm usually content with my one cup of tea or coffee per day, and that being sugar-free or just lightly sweetened, sometimes a girl's gotta have something purely delightful... such as a cappuccino. Even after learning that I could still have coffee, I was convinced that I'd kissed the cappuccino days goodbye.

Until this:

I may have done a slight "happy dance" over this. Did you know... a cappuccino made with low-fat milk and sugar free syrup is, on average, only 9-12 carbs? Most specialty coffee shops, like my personal favorite, Stoney Creek Roasters, offer a variety of flavors of sugar free syrups. In fact, even McDonalds has vanilla sugar free syrup!

Sometimes, I still mourn the loss of the days when I could drink a large mocha shake without fear or shame. But with artificial sweeteners once again to the rescue, I'm so excited that there are quite satisfying alternatives.

Diabetics, rejoice. You can still have your capp and drink it too.