Gotta have the chocolate!

After my diagnosis, there were many things that I craved... but I think that one of my biggest initial cravings was for chocolate chip cookies. So simple. So delicious. I never realized how much I'd taken them for granted! And thus began my search for a cookie recipe that didn't produce sandpaper rocks... Here's what I found and created!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup Splenda (or other sugar substitute) 
• 1/4 cup Splenda/brown sugar blend (or you can use 1/2 cup of regular brown sugar)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 5-6 oz. Ghiradelli's bittersweet chocolate chips (my personal favorites)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat butter on medium/high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugars, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Slowly beat in as much flour as possible, although you may have to stir in some by hand. Stir in chocolate and pecans.

Drop by spoonfuls 2" apart on an un-greased cookie sheet. I use a cookie scoop to make sure that all of my cookies come out to be the same size so I have a consistent carb count in each cookie. Bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes, until edges are lightly browned and cookies have set up.

Yield: 36 cookies      Carbs: approx. 10 per cookie

Gotta love the cookie scoop!

Finished product... delicious!

Sugar... the sickeningly sweet truth

American's are sugar addicts. No, really!!

According to WebMD, the average individual consumes 22 tsp. of simple sugars a day, which is a total of 355 calories. This is in comparison to the recommended amounts of 6 tsp/day for women and 9 tsp/day for men. Good grief!! That adds up to... approximately 129,575 calories of SUGAR per year. Women.. based on the recommended amounts, you should only get about 35,347 calories from sugar per year; men, 53,020 calories. We're consuming between 76,555-94,228 extra calories per year on sugar alone, on average.

Gag. Disgusting. And we wonder why America is fat???? Not to mention the fact that many Americans are completely inactive couch potatoes.

But sugar does more than make you fat. Eating excessive sugar causes a dangerous increase in blood fat levels and can triple your risk of heart disease, whereas low sugar diets actually protect against heart disease by lowering triglyceride levels and elevating HDL levels. Additionally, it greatly increases your risk of developing Type II diabetes later in life. Sadly, because of our eating habits, there is an increasing number of obese children being diagnosed with Type II diabetes... children who should have been able to avoid it had they been fed more nutritious meals and less sugar. A recent study revealed that 1 out of every 4 children is obese, and of those children, 70% of their parents thought that their child was healthy or even underweight. We don't even recognize healthy weight anymore!

I find that absolutely heartbreaking. As a kid, I was forced to eat my fruits and veggies, and I spent my days playing outside. I'm so thankful that my parents didn't feed me junk all the time!

Whether you are diabetic or not, it's time to wake up to the reality of our dreadful eating habits and do something to change the trends! No, you don't have to cut out all simple sugars, but please start considering the amount that you consume each day! One can of regular pop usually exceeds the recommended amount of daily sugar intake. Find ways to cut out excessive sugar, and practice eating fresh fruits for snacks and desserts, rather than candy, ice cream, and Little Debbies. Start using  sugar substitutes in your baking. While many tout the excuse that sugar substitutes cause cancer, they have been approved by the FDA. Some are less controversial than others, including Stevia and Truvia, which are natural sweeteners, and Splenda. One cup of Stevia has zero calories.. Splenda has 95.. and white sugar?? A heaping 770 calories.

Do yourself, your family, and friends a favor by exercising control over your diet. Our obsession with food and sugar is not only destroying our health, but it's also become an idol of our hearts. Wait. Did I just say idol?? Yep, I did. If you think that you can't live without that can of pop or daily piece of chocolate, think again. What are you truly depending upon? So-called "comfort food" or our Almighty, Holy God who has called us to excellence in all things, even eating and drinking??? (I Cor. 10:31).

Next time you're tempted to have a little coffee with your sugar, think again! Make a conscious effort to glorify God through the way you take care of your body... find your satisfaction in Him!Joy in Christ.... is truly the sweetest thing you will ever find.


http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/health-effects-of-sugar

Keepin' it simple... even with snacks

I'm a "snacker". Always have been, always will be.... unfortunately, we tend to snack on foods that are high calorie, high fat, and high carb (chips, cookies...... you know). So here's a couple of my personal favorite snacks!!

• Kroger's carb-master yogurt with ground flax seed. Don't be so skeptical! Each cup of yogurt is only 4 carbs and 60 calories, and mixing in a bit of flax adds a great nutty flavor (instead of topping it with, say, granola). Love flax seed.. only 2 net carbs in 2 T., and because it's high fiber, it'll help you stay full much longer. You'll see flax showing up again in other things.. I use it frequently! I like 
Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal Organic -- 16 oz, available at Amazon and health food stores. (Haven't checked Kroger yet)

• Low-fat string cheese (like Weight Watchers) - Carb free :)
• 1/4 cup of peanuts - 5 carbs
• 1 Pickle spear - Carb free!
• Baby carrots... depends on how large they are, but it's a satisfying crunchy snack, and very low carb
• Sugar-free popsicles (carb content varies)

There's just a few things... if you don't mind going for a few more carbs, I also enjoy FiberOne 90 calorie granola bars (17 carbs), pretzels, and fresh fruit (especially berries!! They're also very low-carb in comparison to apples, bananas, melon, etc.)

Happy munching!

Tortilla Calzones

First of all, a quick apology for my absence of late. School and travelling drew me away....

But meanwhile, I have been capturing several recipes that I'd love to share with you! So let's get started...

I love pizza. What good American doesn't? But as a diabetic, the rules have changed a bit, and the days of mindlessly devouring as much grease and carb-laden crust as I could handle are over. (Yes... I've been known to eat half of a LARGE pizza at a time.) No matter how you choose to bolus it, pizza just is tricky.. and it's one of those that likes to come back and bite you a few hrs later!

So here's my little invention to satisfy my cravings. We'll call it a tortilla calzone. Unfortunately, I don't have an exact recipe, because every time I make it, I just chop up whatever is on hand, weigh it on my super hand Salter food scale that gives me the exact carb count for any food item (available at Amazon.. check out the link!), and then add it to my tortilla.

Basic Instructions:

1. Use a low-carb tortilla ( I like La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat, with 6 net carbs
2. Place on cookie sheet and use whatever toppings you desire... I did cooked chicken (cubed), green pepper, onion, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, oregano, and a dash of salt
3. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes or until the tortilla and cheese are just beginning to brown
4. Fold the tortilla in half, cut into triangles, and enjoy! I believe that just one of these totaled about 11 carbs! If you desire, serve with marinara, just remember to count those extra carbs :)

Baked tortilla, before I folded it in half

Here's the tortillas I use... love them! I also use them for wraps, burritos.. etc.

Crispy Peanut Butterscotch Pie

This little recipe caught my eye one day as I perused several cookbooks from the library. I quickly copied it down, but didn't have time to try it until tonight. We'll be having family in town for the holiday weekend, so I thought I'd test this out in advance to see if it would qualify as good "party food".

It's safe to say that I've found a new favorite dessert!

So... without further ado.. here we go!

• 1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 T. honey
• 1 1/2 c. Rice Krispies
• 1 (1 oz.) package of sugar-free butterscotch instant pudding mix
• 2 c. 1% milk
• 1 c. frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

Combine peanut butter and honey in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 30 seconds, stirring until mixture melts. Stir in cereal. Line an 8" cake pan with wax paper and press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Making the crust

Still on the crust...

Prepare pudding mix according to package directions, using 2 c. milk; fold in whipped topping. Spoon pudding mixture into pan. Cover and freeze until firm. Let stand at room temp 10-15 minutes before serving. (Now, I'll confess, we left it out longer than that, and while it got really messy, it was actually better than if it was frozen solid!)

Yield: 6 servings  

Carbs: 23 g per serving

Calories: 175 per serving

Seriously, you gotta try this.. the perfect blend of cold, sweet, and crispy!

When life gives you lemons...

Make Lemonade.
You know the saying.

Today, I decided to take this catchy little phrase literally. Diabetes can sour life if you let it, but with a positive attitude and willingness to learn, any situation can be sweetened.

But back to the real lemons. Okay, the 4th of July weekend is nearly upon us, and I've been thinking through all of my favorite summer holiday foods, trying to plan a menu that my extended family will enjoy... and that I can enjoy as well! In my opinion, lemonade is essential to any and all picnics. We happened to have two lemons sitting in our kitchen, so I grabbed them and set out to discover sugar-free lemonade.

With the combined input of several websites, this is what I came up with! It's so quick and easy.. because you use Stevia (sugar substitute), you don't even need to heat water to dissolve the sugar into a syrup, like most lemonade recipes!

(Keep in mind.. this only makes about 1 qt. of lemonade since that's all the lemon I had to work with! This is easily doubled, tripled... etc.)

• 2 large lemons (to make about 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice)
• 1 qt. of cold water
• 2-3 packets of Stevia sweetener (It depends on how sweet you like it! I made it with just two, and loved the bit of tartness that remained)

Set the lemons out at least one hour before you want to use them to let them warm up. Before cutting the lemons, roll them on the counter top, applying firm pressure with your palms to soften them. Cut lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup until you have about 1/3 cup. Mix with cold water and Stevia, and enjoy!

Next time I make this, I think I'll serve it with crushed ice and some fresh raspberries or strawberries. I may even add a bit of lime juice for some extra tangy-ness! 

Happy summer!

Moussaka: A Lasagna Wanna-be

My sister introduced me to moussaka just a few weeks, ago, and I'll be honest.. I was pretty skeptical at the time. If you're like me, you probably haven't even heard of it before! So.. a quick description. Moussaka is a Greek dish similar to lasagna, the primary difference being that it uses eggplant instead of noodles, and it also contains cinnamon and nutmeg. (Thus my skepticism... eggplant? cinnamon? nutmeg? in one dish??)


It would seem that my sister had every right to rave over this dish. The eggplant is a great substitute for carb-laden pasta, although it has a slightly different texture. My favorite part of the dish, however, is the addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg. Delicious. Think comfort food. Think warm, cozy flavors. Moussaka was a hit with the whole family, and we'll definitely keep this one around!


Warning: this dish does take 30-40 minutes of prep time, as well as 45 minutes to bake, so make sure you set out on this venture with time to spare!


Serves 4, approximately 12 carbs per serving.

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants
•  olive oil (as needed)
•  1 lb lean ground beef (or can use ground lamb)
•  2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
•  2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic (or to taste, I use lots!)
•  1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
•  1 teaspoon dried oregano (or to taste)
•  1 teaspoon salt, divided (or to taste, I use seasoned salt)
•  1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 T. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 T. ground cinnamon  

Cheese Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
•  1/2 teaspoon salt (I use seasoned salt)
•  1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
•  2 tablespoons flour
•  1 cup half-and-half cream
•  1 egg
•  1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (can use more) 

1. Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan 

2. Peel the eggplants then slice 1/4-inch thick (or a little thicker won't hurt).
3. Lightly coat each side of sliced eggplant with olive oil then season slices with salt and pepper  4. Place the eggplant slices on a cookie sheet; broil under the broiler until brown; turn and broil the other side, brushing with oil if needed; repeat with all eggplant slices. (Don't go overboard with the oil.. you don't want it to be greasy!)

5. In the bottom of the prepared baking dish arrange half of the eggplant slices.
6. In a large skillet, combine beef and onions; cook stirring until the beef is no longer pink and the onions are soft; drain fat.
7. Add in the garlic, tomato sauce, oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper to taste; pour mixture over eggplant slices. 8. Arrange the remaining eggplant slices over the beef mixture.    


PREPARE THE CHEESE SAUCE: 
9. Melt the butter in a saucepan, whisk in flour, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste; gradually stir in half and half or milk, cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
10. In a small bowl, beat egg; stir in some of the hot sauce, then add egg to sauce mixture, mix well; add in Parmesan cheese, and stir again.
11. Pour the cheese sauce over mixture in baking dish.
12. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes.

 Note: If doubling this recipe to serve 8 it is best to make two separate casseroles instead of one larger one.


Voila! Dinner is served!