A little known solution if you are pre diabetic that will amaze You!

January 12, 2012 at 6:44 PM (Balanced meals, Diabetes, Health, pre diabetes)

Well everyone I know it’s been a long while since I last wrote but I’ve had some trials and tribulations I’ve been going through and I thought now would be a great time to give you some new found information I came across.

As you know I turned 50 this year UGH and of course the blood work now seems to come up with many different issues then it did a few years ago. I feel better then I had in years, my stress level is down considerably yet all of a sudden they started testing me for pancreatic cancer, since my mom had it. what a great 10 days that was waiting for that result! Thankfully nothing, but my doctor nonchalantly brought up well let’s check anyway better to catch it early… WHAT catch it early? It’s a death sentence, I felt, and nothing I want to think about now that I have my life back!

Anyway, that was clear, but it did say that I am pre diabetic something that shocked me because I ate really well all my life. Once I got out of my funk about it I listened to my girlfriend and tried gluten-free baking using almond flour and coconut flour, not the potato, brown rice or other kinds of flours. The almond flour, since it’s nuts contains a lot of protein and little carbs, the coconut flour contains little carbs also, so it’s a win-win for the blood sugar.

I found 2 books that are really easy to follow and all about these 2 flours and whola it fun and working! One is “The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook” and the other is “Gluten Free Cupcakes” both are by Elana Amsterdam and her website is www.elanaspantry.com

The true test came when my aunt started trying it also and her blood sugars were unbelievably good after eating not 1 but 2 muffins and have continued to stabilize this week enabling her to decrease 5 mg of her medication, needless to say she is ecstatic!

So I wanted to let you know if you find yourself in this predicament that there is something that is so easy to do along with limiting your carbs.. I found another book I follow for my meals called “The Insulin-Resistance Diet” and that works like this.. 15 carbs is balanced with 7 proteins at any meal you eat. You can go up to 30 carbs and 15 proteins but thru trial and error I have kept it in the 20 carb range for my self and using the protein muffins (until I get more savvy at it, then I will expand) as my snacks, giving me a small amount of carbs and more protein during those times.

So in a few months I will see what the blood work says but with my aunts sugar levels coming up so good I can’t imagine I’m not on the right track. Check this stuff out we feel it’s a little know secret that could be the matter of small changes that add up to big ones for your health!

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How do you get dinner back into those crazy nights?

September 28, 2011 at 6:52 PM (Balanced meals, Family, organizing)

The other day I was talking to my husband about all the craziness football lends to the nighttime. With 3 boys in football, one coming home at 6:30 and the other two leaving at 6 and Dad coming home at 7 it’s really tough to have dinner together at the table but it’s not impossible to get a good meal cooked so they have energy and power before or after their workouts.

We talked about how practices don’t end at any particular time and I hear parents saying that at 8:30 (in the evening) the kids have to go home-eat,do homework and shower yet! It must be hard on these families where the mother works; by that time of night everyone is tired but still has to keep moving and we realized how lucky we are that I’m home and making dinner by 4:00 and the kids are starting their homework so there is less to do later.

I have always worked hard to get dinner made under 30 minutes and I am now able to help a friend of mine learn to do the same thing. I’ve given her 2 recipes that are either made in the crockpot, something she is now coming to love and the other is on the stove within 15 minutes, they both happened to involve chicken and really can be both made on the stove within minutes. The key to these 2 recipes are chicken thighs, they are juicy and cook quickly because they are so thin.

Recipe 1: Take the thighs (thawed for on the stove -frozen or thawed for the crockpot) put salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika on them and voila, they are seasoned and ready to go.
Add some potatoes if you’d like to the crockpot, set it on low and when you get home you have dinner! If you are home and put it in about 1:00 even if it’s frozen set the crockpot on high and it will be done for dinner at 5! Add a vegetable which take all of 10 minutes and you have a balanced meal.

For the stove – Add some olive oil to the pan, cooking on medium heat, brown the chicken then lower the heat to low and cook thru for about 5 minutes, add a salad or chop up some celery and carrots or cucumbers, put in bowl with some oil, vinegar, salt and celery seed and you have a quick vegetable dish.

Recipe 2: In a frying pan or cast iron pan swish some olive oil on the bottom, enough to coat with a little extra, add rosemary, about a palm full, and 4 cloves of smashed garlic. Let that brown, add defrosted chicken thighs and brown them. once they have browned add frozen or defrosted artichoke hearts, found in a bag in the freezer section of your grocers add juice from 3/4 of a lemon, turn heat down to low and let cook for 10 minutes. Done!

She loved both recipes and felt great making something good. We will start to work on other meats next week!

Another thought; I watched a new show yesterday called THE CHEW and they have a segment on called “5 in 5”, you will see it on their site, and they make a meal in 5 minutes with 5 ingredients under $5.00. So there is possibilities out there to help all working moms get something done quickly either when they get home or in the morning.

If you feel overwhelmed and need to organize things because that’s holding you back from getting dinner on the table look at this blog and Evelyn will be sure to help!

Let me know if you have any great tips and I’ll will be sure to include them in a follow up blog on this!

As always, Until next time…. all the best

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