Wearing my earrings with my type 1 son Jake
Foodie Gang! I’m now making jewelry in the kitchen (no joke) from my diabetic son’s old diabetes supplies. They’re upcycled! A whole slew of earrings are done and I’m working on bracelets, necklaces, and more. Here’s a preview pic. If you’re interested, 100% of the profit (which is $9.50 of the $10 charge) goes to the JDRF.
Check out my Jake’s Jewelry page here for all the goods and details.
Earrings made from old Accucheck glucometer chips
Today is our first Thanksgiving with Jake (nearly 3 years-old) and his diabetes. We’re pretty psyched and THANKFUL for his new insulin pump (no more shots!). It’s not only awesome all around, but it’s definitely going to make today easier. He can have dinner, we’ll count the carbs he ate, dose him his insulin with the pump. And then an hour later, he can have dessert, we’ll count the carbs, and dose him with more insulin. When he was still getting shots (which he HATED, understandably!), he would’ve had to get 2 shots, and it was advised that you wait 2 hours between shots. The pump tells you how much insulin is “on board” so you can give insulin doses super close to eachother. Woo hoo!
Just to give you an idea of how meals go with a diabetic child — and the ultimate annual meal at that! — I’ve posted a link below (after the videos) to the chart I made to count Jake’s Thanksgiving meal carbs. No need for a Sudoku book to prevent Alzheimer’s in OUR house! We’ve got all the math and calculating exercises we need 3 or more times a day 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving and Carb Day, everyone!
Here is Jake *practicing” wearing his pump before we went “live” 3 weeks ago:
And here is our very first insulin “shot” we gave him with his pump (video also served as an instructional video for Jake’s caregivers):
And the chart (plus calculator and food scale) that will come in handy later today.
Five super-simple, blast-from-the-past, feastalicious dishes to complete your table:
Loafin’ Lentils from Skinny Dish!
Sesame Greens from Skinny Dish!
Crave-Worthy Brussels Sprouts from Skinny Dish!
Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes from Skinny Dish!
Oh My Stars Pumpkin Pie
Lentils in a flash!
Step aside, split peas! This experimental, transcontinental lentil stew is now on the go-to dinner list. It’s quick (2 main ingredients, no chopping needed), cheap ($2.50 for the whole pot), and such a totally delicious way to warm your heart and soul. And, it’ll please your bean-pushing, fiber-focused dietitian. With 9 grams of fiber and 17 grams of protein per serving, you won’t be hungry for days!
Accidental Lentil Stew
Makes 8 hearty servings (about 1 cup each)
4 cups filtered water
1 16-ounce (1 lb.) bag dried red split lentils
(newly available at Trader Joe’s for $1.69)
1/2 of a 16-oz bag organic frozen chopped spinach (or other dark leafy green)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2 Dorot frozen garlic cubes)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste)
Place all ingredients in a medium-size soup pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with bread, multigrain crackers, or nothing at all.
Nutrition Info Per Serving: 222 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 340 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 17 g protein, 19% vitamin A, 3% calcium, 18% iron.
Top with hot sauce for a more fiery experience. Happy stew season!
Ran into this Almond Plus single-serve almond milk by So Delicious at Whole Foods the other day and couldn’t resist the spontaneous purchase. Most non-dairy milks–except soymilk and to some degree oat milk–are devoid of protein, making them simply a great calcium and Vitamin D source, but a less-balanced addition to a meal. Ta da! So Delicious Inc. rocks the boat! Their new “Almond Plus” comes in Unsweetened (40 calories, 1 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein/ cup), Original (70 calories, 8 g carbs, 5 g protein), and Vanilla (70 calories, 8 g carbs, 5 g protein). Get it in the half-gallon or get the single-serve vanilla for lunches. The Vanilla is as you would expect: SO Delicious. And for the carb-conscious, it’s lower carb than skim milk and tastes like a milkshake. Magic! And btw, it has pea protein. That can only be good.
Look for it at your local Whole Foods Market or health food store. Bottom’s up!
As a child, 1982 was the year I yearned for a Chia Pet. I wanted the ram. I didn’t even know what a ram was, but I wanted it. It was the commercial that won my heart, with it’s catchy tune and fancy time-lapsed photography. Who knew that 30 years later, Dr. Oz’s team and even Nuts.com (one of my favorites) would be all over their nutritional benefits.
Chia seeds (‘chia’ is actually Mayan for “strength”)–which were used widely by the Mayans and Aztecs as early as 3500 BC to increase stamina and energy–are a SUPER superfood because they have a crazy high amount of nutrients for a crazy low amount of calories. And unlike chia’s friend the flax seed (also a Super), they don’t have to be ground to reap the benefits.
Chia seeds are high in:
So how do you eat them? How DON’T you eat them is more the question! You can literally toss a tablespoon or two into anything. They’re tasteless and simply contribute a fun, crunchy texture to your food. Here, I added them to a dessert and a pina-colada-type smoothie with only positive feedback. Here are 40 more ideas. Chia Cheers!
Chia Blondie Ingredients
Chia Blondies
Makes 16 small squares or 9 large squares
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 flaxseed meal
1/2 cup filtered water
1 15.5-ounce Trader Joe’s Blondie Bar Baking Mix (or other blondie or brownie mix that bakes in a 9″ X 9″ pan)
1/2 cup melted Earth Balance margarine
1 medium zucchini squash (green or yellow), shredded
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Soak chia seeds and flaxseed meal in water in a medium bowl for 5 minutes, until a thick gel forms.
Stir remaining ingredients into chia flax mixture until well mixed.
Spread mixture into a lightly greased 8- or 9-inch square or round baking pan.
Bake for 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Feel your cholesterol dissolving, one bite at a time.
Chia Blondies, made with green zucchini
Nutrition Info Per Small Square (1/16th of recipe): 178 calories, 9 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 1.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 1.5 g monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 232 mg sodium, 39 mg potassium, 22.5 g carbohydrate, 3.2 g fiber, 13.3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 5% vitamin A, 1% vitamin C, 2% calcium, 6% iron.
Nutrition Info Per Large Square (1/9th of recipe): 317 calories, 15 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 2.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 412 mg sodium, 68 mg potassium, 40 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 23.5 g sugar, 4 g protein, 10% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, 4% calcium, 10% iron.
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Husband: “If I have a second, will my hair grow green?” (Ha ha, Funnyman)
6-Year-Old Daughter: “Two more please!”
4-Year-Old Son: “Mom! You never gave me dessert!” (Trying to get another)
2-Year-Old Son: “I not like this.” Two minutes later: “Why you eat my dessert?!?!”
Chia Colada
Chia Colada
Makes 3 1-cup servings
Chia seeds are rich in soluble fiber, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, & help to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, & promote heart health. Salud!
¼ cup chia seeds soaked in ½ cup filtered water for 5 minutes
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 banana
2 cups refrigerated coconut milk
(or 1 cup canned coconut milk plus 1 cup water)
Blend and do the hat dance.
Nutrition Info Per 1-cup Serving: 202 calories, 10 g total fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrate, 10 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 8 g protein, 11% vitamin A, 52% vitamin C, 15% calcium, 34% iron.
Light, Fluffy, Rich, Lower Sugar!
Looking for a sweet dessert without the chemicals, weird artificial flavor taste, and without added sugar? Impossible! Forget it! Oh wait. Enter: Monkey Cake.
Sugar–with it’s highly inflammatory, blood sugar-spiking, acne-growing, and teeth-rotting attributes, combined with the fact that it doesn’t even do your laundry–has sent me on a dessert mission. A mission to create a lower sugar baked good that’s not only highly tolerable, but bordering on cravable. This one does it, especially if you’re part monkey. The sweetness comes from bananas and a touch of Truvia, a natural calorie-free sweetener from the stevia plant. The coconut oil–gaining new health praise–adds a subtle tropical kick. Give it a whirl–it’s easy as pie!
Money Cake (Low Sugar)
Makes 12 hunks
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
2 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup filtered water
3 Tablespoons Truvia Baking Blend (or other stevia leaf extract for baking)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted, or vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (like Bob’s), or 2 1/2 cups brown rice flour (like Bob’s)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mash banana, water, and stevia together, and stir in oil and vanilla until well-mixed.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. Combine flour mixture and cinnamon with wet mixture by stirring in gradually.
Pour mixture into a greased 9″ x 9″ square or 9″ round baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes, until top is golden brown. Let the cake cool before cutting.
Nutrition Info Per Hunk: 150 calories, 5 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 202 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 3 g protein, 7% Iron.
The trick with using stevia baking blend in recipes is to substitute it at a 1:2 ratio for sugar. The stevia is sweeter and has a nasty aftertaste if overdone. The original version of this recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar (8 Tablespoons), and 3 Tablespoons of stevia baking blend does the trick without any nasty.
Is it possible? The following combo comes up all too often: The desire to get healthy challenged by an extreme dislike for veggies. It’s possible that the right veggie experience just hasn’t happened yet. But until then–and also handy to know when your favorite veggies are out of season–here are a handful of ways to get closer to your 40-gram daily fiber goal without veggies in the picture:
Breaking Down the 40-Gram Goal:
10 grams of fiber per meal (3 of those) + 5 grams of fiber per snack (2 of those)
Happy fibering!
Skin-Healthy Fruits & Veggies
Battling acne, worried about wrinkles, skin looking blah, or wondering what to do to prevent skin cancer? Foods to the rescue, of course! Here are 5 nutrition tips to help you tackle them all:
1. Dairy foods (milk, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, ice cream, frozen yogurt, etc.) and refined carbs (sugar, candy, soda, white pasta, white bread, white rice, etc.) with their resulting insulin spike are really, really good at making pimples. Drop both for 3 weeks and see your skin clear up. More on the whys here.
2. Get enough protein, and get it from plants to help prevent and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Skin is made of protein, and an adequate supply is needed to prevent its deterioration. Your daily protein needs are based on your body weight and are equivalent to your body weight in lbs X 0.36. So, a 180-lb. person needs 65 grams of protein a day. But, you can’t eat it all at once — it should come at 15-20 gram increments throughout the day. Plant proteins are best because they’re moderate while still being sufficient in protein (too much protein harms your kidneys, bones, and encourages weight gain), and some are rich in another wrinkle-destroying diva: Vitamin E. Vitamin E is highest in sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, and spinach. Vitamin E also protects your skin from melanoma. Eat up!
3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids aren’t just important for heart health. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a eating Linoleic Acid-rich foods (walnuts, flaxseeds, and flaxseed meal) greatly reduces wrinkle formation and may even help eliminate wrinkles that have already formed. Use flaxseed meal as an egg substitute in baking and French toast, or toss it into smoothies or cereal. Wrinkles be gone!
4. Upping your intake of Red, Orange, Yellow, and Dark Green fruits and veggies by just 1 serving a day is likely to make your skin look healthier and more attractive in just 6 weeks. A study done with Scottish college students showed exactly that. The antioxidants and rich pigments in colorful fruits and veggies — specifically beta-carotene an lycopene — greatly affect skin tone and encourage rosier, healthier-looking cheeks and skin. A Bonus: These veggies and fruits are also rich in Vitamin C, which helps prevent the free-radical damage responsible for most skin cancers. As a goal, try for 4 servings of veggies and 3 servings of fruit each day. Rainbow power!
5. Aside from wearing your SPF while all the while still getting adequate Vitamin D, Caffeine may actually help you prevent skin cancer. Research from Harvard’s Nurses Health Study showed a 20% decreased risk in women who drank 3 or more cups of coffee a day. Research still emerging on this one, but coffee drinkers may just be ok afterall.
See recipes here for ideas on including all these tips in your food day.
French Toast for Gods and Goddesses
And we’re back! Apologies for the hiatus… Life got hyperbusy in selling and then buying a new house. ‘Tis tough to sell and then refind the perfect bitchin’ kitchen!
So this recipe has become a twice-a-week staple chez “under contract.” It’s from SKINNY DISH!, but if you don’t have the book, you have got to at least have this one in your arsenal. French toast was originally created as a way to revive old, stale bread (more on its origin here), and I like to think that this cholesterol-free, soluble fiber-full version is not only effective in helping you conquer life with ease and grace, but also a way to revive old, stale breakfasts.
French Toast for Gods and Goddesses
Makes 6 slices (about 3 servings)
Prep and cooking time: 30 minutes
Traditional French toast can be loaded with calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol, weighing you down as you’re taking names and organizing galaxies. Enjoy this cholesterol-free, lower-calorie version, and rule the universe with grace and ease. This recipe uses grapeseed oil for pan-frying because it has a high smoke point—meaning it takes a lot of heat for it to burn. You will add less oil and fewer calories to get the same crispy toast effect.
1 ¼ cups (10 oz) vanilla soy milk, or other non-dairy milk
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds), or Trader Joe’s (or other) Just Almond Meal
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
6 slices of whole wheat bread
1 Whisk milk, flour, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, and sugar together in a mixing bowl until well-mixed. Pour into a pie dish, or 9-inch square or round baking pan.
2 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dip each slice of bread into the milk mixture on both sides and place in the skillet. Reduce heat to low, and cook until golden brown, about 20 minutes total, flipping every few minutes to prevent sticking.
3 Serve with pure maple syrup, agave nectar, powdered sugar, or nothing at all.
4 French Toast should be eaten immediately or can be frozen for up to 2 months and toasted for a quick breakfast or snack any time.
NUTRITION SNAPSHOT
Per slice: 195 calories, 10 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 6 g protein, 2% vitamin A, 0% vitamin C, 10.5% calcium, 6% iron
Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten-free bread and almond meal in place of flour
Let’s have a toast for toast!
Delish & Healthy-ish With Jen Reilly, RD 