Here there be diabetes

The other day, the reasoning center of my brain took a vacation.  It could have been that I wasn't quite recovered from FFL.

Or that upon our return from FFL, Fred had to go out of town. And due to that, I had to take all three littles to the grocery store to buy food, and the whole experience kinda numbed me.

Whatever the reason, I decided to take the kids for sno-cones on the way home.  Elise was trending kind of low, it was hot, and I like sno-cones.  PURE SUGAR FOR EVERYBODY!

Did I mention it was only an hour or so before bedtime?

I thought that surely, the carb info would be on the bottles.  I could eyeball what they poured and make a pretty good educated guess. Except when I stepped up to order, neither Beavis, nor Butthead could figure out what I was talking about (I nicknamed them this for their uncanny inability to form a complete sentence, or talk without snickering).

I ended up calling a friend, who posted on our support group FB page (since I'm not on FB, I can't access). Within 5 minutes, she called me back with a bunch of responses.

I SWAG'd like a boss, and as happy as Elise was with her full-sugared, grape-flavoured "icy-pop" (as the kids dubbed them), I was even happier to see this a few hours later:

Gave her a small, uncovered snack to get her a little higher before she fell asleep

But the part that made my night was finding this right next to the sno-cone stand:

Finding a little "same-same" in the land of sugar and ice.  

***I forgot to add the best part of the story... when I was explaining to B & B that I needed the carb information; Elise, who was standing next to me, put her hands on her hips and said, "yeah, I have type 1 diabetes and my mom needs to know the carbs so she can bolus me!" So cute!

D-Feast Fridays: Makin' Bacon

Bacon.  It's yummy, but let's face it, a total pain to make.  I hate the cleaning up that comes with cooking bacon.  Or the painful burns if you get hit by some grease.  Even the lingering bacon smell wears on me after 5 hours.  That's why I love this method of makin' bacon!

Bacon in the oven... it's easy, a breeze to clean up, and I've found it doesn't stink up my house for hours afterwards.  Here's how you do it:

Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Arrange your bacon on the sheet like so:

Set your oven to 375 degrees F.  No need to pre-heat, I turn the oven on and put the cookie sheet in at the same time.  Cook for about 15 minutes, depending on how crisp you like it (and how hot your oven cooks).  My advice is to keep your eye on it after about 12 minutes. 

Bacon!  After you remove the bacon, let the cookie sheet sit for a bit until the grease solidifys a bit.  Then you just crumple up the foil and throw it away... so easy!

Or you can keep the foil and you'll be left with some nice bacon art... I think I'll call this one "Ghosts of Bacon Past".

He likes to dip his bacon in Nutella

As does she... maybe they're onto somthing?

Now go... enjoy some bacon. You know you want to.

My KIND of bar

I don't know about you, but I am ALWAYS on the lookout for great-tasting, healthy snacks that my kids will actually eat.  The problem is, those two adjectives rarely go together when it comes to kid-friendly food.  I'm also not a fan of food dyes and HFCS, so that rules out a majority of snacks right there.

And let's not forget about the D-factor either.

So when the good people at KIND Healthy Snacks contacted me about trying some of their product, I couldn't help but be a bit skeptical.  It's been my experience that most of these types of bars taste like sawdust held together by some type of sweet goo, masquerading as honey.  But they sounded pretty good, so I thought I'd give them a try.

The verdict? So far I have been blown away by how GOOD these are.  Even their names are mouth-watering. 

Madagascar Vanilla Almond?  Yes, please!

Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt?  Yum!

Those are just a few of the tasty snack bars they offer.  Each bar falls into one of three categories; Fruit and Nut, Nuts and Spices, and Plus.  The Plus variety has the added boost of nutrients like protein, fiber, antioxidants or omega-3 fatty acids.

The day they arrived, we waited until afternoon snack to try them out.  I chose the Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt, and Elise wanted Almonds & Coconut. Both of them looked amazing and they didn't disappoint.  Elise's was a perfect blend of almonds and sweet coconut (yes, I stole a bite), and mine paired the yummy goodness of dark chocolate with just the right amount of salt to satisfy my sweet and salty craving.

Even better is how each bar has listed buzz words right on the packaging that are important to a lot of people that are concerned with what we are putting into our body.  For example:

• Non GMO
• Gluten Free
• No Sugar Alcohols
• Low Glycemic
• Dairy Free
• No Trans Fats
• Low Sodium

We were also given some granola to try, and so far I am loving the Maple Walnut Clusters.  It is the perfect breakfast with a bit of milk with a few cut-up strawberries thrown on top.  It's also great sprinkled over yogurt.

Note that the bag is open... I kinda couldn't wait to try it out!

So far the entire family has loved everything they've tried.  Now Mattias, who picked the Fruit & Nuts in Yogurt, ate about half before he lost interest.  But I chalk that up to the fact that he's two, and has rather eclectic tastes for a toddler.  He loves spring rolls and will steal them from your plate, but will sometimes refuse to eat fries.

Yes, my son wears pink, hand-me-down bibs... I'm totally cool with it

Now, you may be wondering how the bars affected Elise's BG.  The first bar she tried, Almonds & Coconut, she was at 180.  She ended up in the 300s, but that's not a fair test because I had *just* changed her pod and we are still doing battle with post pod-change highs.

The next day, she selected a Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan.  She was 70 pre-bar, and 103 a few hours later.  And she thought the bar was, "awesome-chawsome!"  I took that as a good thing.

Most bars have between 14-26g of carbs, 3-5g of fiber and 3-7g of protein.

She's a bit of a clown

So, here's my final thoughts on these bars from KIND Healthy Snacks...

All natural ingredients?  Good!

A healthy snack that won't spike Elise's BG?  Good!

Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt?  Goooooood!

If you go to their website at www.kindsnacks.com, you can find a list of where to buy them, and approximately how much they retail for. 

Check out their website.  KIND isn't just their name; it's their philosophy.  They even have a section devoted to encouraging people to go out and "do the kind thing" by partnering with KIND to help out in their community. I love doing business with companies that give back, and I can't wait to stock up my pantry with more KIND Bars.

And you can stock up too!  The kind people at KIND (see what I did there?), sent me a box of extras that I am hiding from my family, to give to one lucky reader!  To enter, just go to their website by clicking here, and scope out all the yummy goodness that they offer.  Then come back and leave a comment telling me which you think you would like the most.  I will pick the winner by a random drawing on Monday, March 4.  Good luck!

***As with all reviews, the opinions are solely mine.  While I did receive free product to review, I was not asked to write about it, and did so of my own volition.  No, I cannot be bought, even with food.***

Food Ideas: Frozen blueberries in milk

I'm going to bet that pretty much all of you reading this will not try this "recipe", which is a shame, because if you love blueberries, you are missing out.

I don't know what it is that weirds people out when I tell them about one of my favourite breakfasts to eat in the summertime, but the looks I get when I explain it always make me laugh.  I have been eating this since I was a kid, and I think only one person (hi Liz!) responded enthusiastically to the idea.

Have I intrigued you yet?

The recipe is a simple one.  Two ingredients: frozen blueberries, and milk.  That's it. I think my mom used to sprinkle sugar on hers, but I enjoy the tartness of blueberries, so I leave it as it is.

There are a couple of tips I use:

1. Use fresh blueberries that you have frozen.  I'm not a big fan of store-bought frozen fruit.
2. Before you freeze the blueberries, make sure you wash them, let them dry, and then put them in the freezer. 
3. Before you make this, the blueberries have to be FROZEN solid. Usually overnight will do it.
4. Let the blueberries sit in the milk for about 3-5 minutes before you start to eat your concoction.

What happens is that the blueberries freeze the milk around them, giving you a fun slushy breakfast that is so refreshing to eat in the hot summer months.  Seriously... this is good.  You need to try it.

I double dog dare you.

The Steps:


Pour frozen blueberries into a bowl



Pour milk over blueberries. Let sit for about 5 minutes



What the frozen blueberries do to the milk



I cannot tell a lie

It happened. I knew it would. Hoped it wouldn't. We have a long way to go on this journey, and I thought maybe we'd be able to skip this.

Elise snuck food.

Then lied about it.

We have an open door policy about food. If you want something, just ask... but I reserve the right to say no.

We had a bowl of M&M's (left over from Christmas), sitting on our island counter in the kitchen. Elise was helping me make dinner and I had turned around to stir something on the stove. When I turned back around, she whipped her hands behind her back and had a guilty look on her face. The following conversation ensued:

Me: Elise, what were you doing?

She: Ummm, nothing?

Me: Elise, what were you doing?

She: Maybe I ate an M&M?

Me: Just one?

She: Yeah, only one.

At this point, I though a BG test was in order, and surprise, surprise... 364. I told her that *just one* M&M wouldn't not make her BG that high, and I would appreciate the truth from her. She then replied that she "maybe ate 4. Or more. I can't remember."

I then explained to her about why it is important for her to ask me when she wants to eat something. And why it's important to tell me the truth. We talked about trust, not sneaking food, and when I say no, it's not to be mean... it's for a good reason.

The whole incident surprised me. Elise has always been a very compliant child; quick to listen and obey. I never saw this coming, and I hope I handled it properly. I don't want food to become an issue and cause problems later on.

Has your child snuck food before? How did you handle it? And I'd love to hear from adult PWD who went through this when they were kids. What do you wish your parents had done?

Meal Ideas: Steel Cut Oats

One of my favourite breakfasts is steel cut oats. I. Love. Them. What I don't like is the cooking time.

Steel cut oats are less processed than quick-cooking or rolled oats and thus take a longer time to cook. I don't know about anyone else, but I really don't have 25 minutes in the morning to throw this meal together.

Enter the crockpot. With this recipe, you can assemble everything the night before, and the oats cook through the night. A warm, yummy bowl of goodness awaits with very little fuss!

How you do it:


1. Take aluminum foil and roll them into little balls. This is what you'll be setting your bowl containing the oats and liquid on. It's important that water is able to circulate underneath the bowl. Place them into the crockpot (I use a 6 qt.) comme ça:




2. Fill a pyrex (or some other comparable bowl that will not shatter when heated) with the oats and liquid. The ratio is 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of liquid. I usually put 1 cup of milk and 3 cups of water in mine. Place bowl onto aluminum foil balls (he he he - balls).




3. Fill the crockpot with enough water that is is level with the level of liquid inside the inner bowl. Cover and set on low.

4. And voilà... your oats await you! I love to top mine off with a bit o' brown sugar and some milk. Or if I have them readily available, I simmer some blueberries and blackberries in some water until they are liquidy and put that on top. Anyway you fix them, steel cut oats are YUM!

Mattias doing his, "please sir, I want some more" impression. He LOVES this stuff. This morning he ate 4 bowls full and polished off the rest of mine.

Unfortunately, Elise is not really a fan... I think it's a texture thing. The one time I did figure out the carb factor, it came out to .15 (without any added milk or brown sugar).

Enjoy!

Featured!

As you know, food plays a very important part in diabetes. I am forever trying to figure out how certain foods affect Elise, find foods that won't spike her BG, and come up with fun and interesting food ideas.

I am very blessed to know (in real life) Angela Lemond. She is a registered and licensed dietitian who has worked in pediatrics. She is also the author of Mommy Dietitian and my go-to gal when it comes to food advice. Plus she's a just plain lovely person!

She is starting a new series on her blog called "The Mom Chronicles"; featuring stories of people with chronic illnesses, and how food plays a role in their treatment. We are honoured to be the inaugural family featured! Click here to read it.

Thanks Ang, for asking us to be a part of your new series, and aswering all my crazy questions over the years!

Now head on over to Mommy Dietitian... what are you waiting for?

Food glorious Food

Thursday - To carb or not to carb

One thing I vowed to myself when Elise was diagnosed, was that she would be allowed to eat what we eat, and there would be no "forbidden foods".

Having said that, I do know that there are some foods that Elise should avoid. But we tend to eat healthy, natural, non-processed foods; so most of what we eats fit into her "diet".

There are some foods that we try not to eat anymore (as a family) because of what they do to Elise's BG; pizza, mac & cheese, ice cream... anything that is high in fat and will cause lows and then horrible, horrible highs later on.

I know there are many people who believe in the low/no-carb diet, but bread and pasta remain some of Elise's favourite foods. With a lot of trial and error, we have learned how these foods will affect her BG, although thankfully, pasta does not seem to have any adverse affects.

Some of Elise's Favourite Meals:
Breakfast:
Granola with fresh strawberries, plus toast (whole wheat) and almond butter. Lately I've been putting cinnamon on her toast instead and she LOVES it.

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich (ugh), yogurt or a homemade smoothie w/yogurt and some fruit (usually cantaloupe).

Dinner:
I make this pepper and sausage pasta dish that Elise LOVES. She would eat it every night if I would make it for her. I serve it with garlic toast, and she also drinks milk (actually it's a 70% white milk/30% chocolate milk mix... she's not a fan of plain milk). For dessert it's usually some sort of fruit.

Snacks:
Bread with almond butter
Banana
Grapes
Bagel with cream cheese
Goldfish crackers
yogurt (homemade or Yobaby)
Smoothie

Elise is also really good about eating veggies; broccoli, squash, carrots, celery, asparagus, peppers... I am so thankful that she's pretty easy-going when it comes to food.

I haven't been good about it lately, but I have posted recipes on my blog complete with carb counts, in the past. When Elise was first diagnosed, I was practically pulling my hair out trying to figure out what to feed her. This post has been the kick in the pants I needed to start posting those recipes again!

Recipes: Drinkable Yogurt

I was reading Leighann's blog post the other day on all the horrible unnecessary ingredients that are found in everyday products at the grocery store, and in several comments, people were lamenting the cost of things like yogurt that are made by companies that don't use high fructose corn syrup, or dyes.

And it got me thinking about the drinkable yogurt that I make for Elise. I know it's healthy because I know EXACTLY what I put into it, it's cheap (when I can find good prices on the fruit I use), and Elise LOVES it. I've never written down the exact amounts I use (I always weigh all the ingredients, I just never bother to remember), but I did when I made some today, so I could share it with you!

If you haven't checked out my post on making homemade yogurt, go here. It is so, so easy and will save you even more money. This is the yogurt I use when making this recipe.


Joanne's Strawberry/Banana Homemade Drinkable Yogurt
(all measurements are in weight grams... because that's what I use to figure out the carb factor)

What you need:
*approx. 450g of plain yogurt (carb factor = .05)
*200g strawberries - you can use fresh or frozen (carb factor = .08)
*85g bananas (carb factor = .20)
note: substitute any of your favourite fruit... Elise just loves strawberries and banana
1 1/2 Tbsp. agave nectar (total carbs = 24g cho)

Approx. carb factor when using the above measurements = .10

To Make:
*In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, simmer the fruit on low/med in enough water so it covers the bottom of the pan (don't use too much water, it will dilute the taste). It usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
*When fruit is completely cooked down, add to yogurt and blend using a blender or hand blender. If you do this while the fruit mixture is still warm, it helps to thin out the yogurt, making it more liquidy.
*After completely blended, add agave (or other sweetener). I add it at this stage so I can judge the sweetness after each 1/2 Tbsp. I add. You may need more or less, depending on your taste buds.

Why it's so great:
*So easy to make.
*Will save you money on the store-bought stuff.
*Healthy, because you control what gets put into it
*You can also freeze this recipe and make yogurt popsicles... YUM!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does!

Sugar vs. sugar-free

I grew up in a house where pretty much every meal was made from scratch. My Mom was not a big fan of sugary cereals, and I honestly cannot remember ever seeing pop in our fridge. There were always a lot of fresh fruits and veggies available. I was taught at a very early age what healthy eating looked like.

And it is something that has followed me into adulthood. Don't get me wrong, I have my junk food moments, but I tend to shop in mostly the outer perimeter of the grocery store, and try to stay away from the processed foods you find in the inner aisles.

And I have a list of no-no foods that I try to keep out of my house at all costs; high fructose corn syrup, all those crazy dyes you find in foods these days, enriched bleached flour, and every and all sugar substitutes.

By the way, this is just my own opinion for me and my family. If you use products with sugar substitutes and it works for you, then I'm glad it works for you. This post is not meant as a judgement, just merely my own little opinion that doesn't really count for much in the grand scheme of things.

I made the decision very early on in Elise's diagnosis that I would not use sugar-free products. I would never eat them myself, so why would I feed them to my child? Perhaps I'm lucky that Elise was diagnosed so young that she never developed a taste for pop, juice, jello or other sweet treats (because she had never had them!). In fact, I tried to give her a chocolate chip cookie the other day and she took one bite and said, "don't like it!"

This is how I look at foods that fall in to the sugar-free category; jello for example. There really isn't anything redeeming in jello. Even the full-sugar versions are not really good for you. Take out the sugar and replace it with aspartame, now it's doubly not good for you (just my opinion). I would rather Elise eat a small amount of the full-sugar version, then a lot of the sugar-free. Does that make sense?

I actually brought up the sugar/sugar-free issue with the NP at our endo's office (he happens to be a T1). All I asked him was for his opinion on sugar-free products. I didn't mention mine, as I didn't want to sway him. To my surprise, he pretty much said exactly what I wrote above. The funny thing is, he said it in a way like he was saying something that he wasn't supposed to.

I am not saying that I will never change my mind. I don't want Elise to grow up feeling different. So if at some point she decides she wants to try diet pop (at a reasonable age), I will let her. I also hope to properly equip her to be able to make "good" food choices.

I have a very sweet tooth, and happen to looooooove Pepsi. It's been even worse since I've been pregnant (I've been craving Pepsi Icees). But I gave up pop when I had Elise 2 1/2 years ago. I didn't want the caffeine to go through my breast milk, but I also realized something; there was nothing redeeming about drinking it. It added nothing good to my body. I try to make a good choice by drinking water instead.

I hope this post doesn't offend anybody. Again, this is just what works for my family. It's just something that's been tumbling around in my head for awhile, and I felt the need to write it down.

"I HUNGY" Part 2

Remember how I said in a previous post that we figured out how to quell Elise's cries of, "I HUNGY"? Well, we didn't . I mean we did for a few weeks. But now they're back. And with a vengeance.

I don't get it. I look at the amount of food she's eating, and it looks like enough. But not 30 minutes after she eats, the cries begin. She's even waking up at 2:00 in the morning and saying she's hungry.

I don't know who to ask for help on this. We have zero relationship with the dietitians at our endo's office, and the few times I have talked to them, we don't really see eye-to-eye. They have a very cookie-cutter way of approaching things. They don't know Elise and they don't know me.

Plus, this might not be diabetes related. I wonder if there could be another issue that's causing the extreme hunger (I know when I was dx hyperthyroid, I was STARVING all the time). Could it be the mother-of-all growth spurts? I even wonder if she's doing it for attention.

We were at a party last night, and after getting her in range after a low BG of 62, we gave her a bedtime snack. Even as she was eating, she was moaning that she was hungry. And after she ate. So we gave her some chicken, and after she was done that, she was STILL asking for food.

It continued during the car ride home, and even as we were putting her to bed. Throughout all of this, her BG was around 145.

Has anybody experienced this with their kiddos? I just don't know what to do for her anymore, and I feel like I'm punishing her by withholding food. Any advice you have is welcome...

Never again

Okay, this is the last cheesecake post, I promise!

After Elise woke up with a BG of 320, we gave her 2.5 extra units of DH. That should have been more than enough to take care of her high BG. To our surprise, she was 363 at lunch, and after we corrected her with 2 more units, she was 426 before nap time... yikes!

After her nap she came down to 226 and was 147 at dinner and 108 at bedtime.

Now, I don't know if the cheesecake is really to blame. We did go to a fall festival at a nearby farm (pictures here if you'd like to see them), but she doesn't usually spike like that due to excitement.

But it's the only thing that makes sense, so for now, cheesecake is a bad word in our house.

Boo to the cheesecake

Thanks to everyone who chimed in about the glucagon and the cheesecake. I love that I can ask all my crazy questions and you are so quick to help out!

We thought we had figured out the cheesecake pretty well since Elise was 103 at bed time. But at midnight check she was 303, and 320 at wake up this morning. I have no idea if the cheesecake was the culprit or not, but I think we'll stay away from it until we get it figured out better. We only go to the Cheesecake Factory once or twice a year anyway, since just looking at their food can cause you to gain about 50 pounds!

Cheesecake and carbs

Hopefully someone can answer this for me... what would be the carb factor for plain cheesecake without the crust?

Fred and I (plus Elise, if course) had our date night at the Cheesecake Factory tonight, and Elise reeeeeeally wanted to try the cheesecake we ordered for dessert. I gave her some tiny bites, figuring it can't mess her up too bad, especially since most of the carbs should be in the crust.

To say she loved it would be a gross understatement, so I'd just like to know for future reference.

Someone out there must know, right?

Time to celebrate!

Wow. That last post was a doozy. I'm feeling much better now, thanks to some perspective, a few days with much better numbers, and some sweet comments left by you guys. Thanks for the love!

Today we will FINALLY be celebrating Elise's second birthday... only a few weeks late! It's going to be a little bigger and crazier than we anticipated, but perhaps we can combine it with her one year D-Anniversary to justify the blood, sweat, tears, and cost that has gone into it. Next year her birthday will be much smaller.

It will be very interesting to see what all the activity, excitement, and foods she doesn't eat very often will do to her blood sugar. We were going to grill some hamburgers and hot dogs, but due to the amount of people that RSVP'd yes, we decided to order pizza. Elise has never eaten pizza before. I've heard horror stories about what it does to blood sugar, but I figure her BG will be all over the place anyway, so what harm will a little pizza do. From the research I've done, it looks like I should be using a carb factor of .25 to .32. Does anyone have insight on this?

Can't wait to celebrate my sweet, little girl's life!

Getting better

Elise seems to be doing a bit better. We took her to the pedi and they ruled out the flu and strep. They did do a urine culture, since Elise is prone to UTIs. It was so horrible watching them catheterize her. She's had it done more than 10 times in her young, little life; but this was by far the worst. She kept calling my name and saying, "all done, all done, please?"

It brings tears to my eyes just typing it. I can't wait until she's potty trained.

We're still waiting to hear back, but meanwhile Elise is waking up in the 300s and with ketones. She was 1.4 today, but yesterday she woke up with 2.6 on the blood ketone meter. I think that's the highest she's ever had.

I think she's also teething, it looks like something on the bottom is trying to pop through next to her two front teeth. The poor girl, as if she's not dealing with enough right now.

And I can't tell if her tummy may still be bothering her, or we've entered into the "picky toddler domain", but feeding her these last few days has been a beating. She doesn't even want yogurt, which has always been a favourite. But I'm wondering if that has anything to do with the fact that we were feeding her yogurt when she threw up.

I still can't eat Thai food after a rather unfortunate incident in my first trimester when I was pregnant with Elise.

But she's getting a bit better each day, and I am thankful for all the tips, sweet comments and prayers.

Meal Ideas: Homemade Yogurt

Would you believe me if I told you that you can make yogurt at home, in a crock pot? It's true, and I do it all the time; saving a bunch of money. It's not a labour-intensive project, but does take the better part of a day. The recipe is from the website A Year of Slow Cooking, but I've slightly tweaked the method (I find my version comes out a bit thicker than if I use hers). By the way, that website has a ton of gluten free recipes on it as well.

What you need:
*8 C of whole milk (88g cho)
*1/2 C of store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt. This is your starter yogurt. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter. (8g cho)

To Make:
*Using at least a 4-quart crock pot, set on low and add milk. Cover, and let it sit for at least 3 hours. I'm sort of lazy on the timing thing and last time I made this I think I left it for about 3 1/2 hours. It still came out fine.
*After 3 hours have passed, turn off crock pot and let sit for 3 more hours (again, I've let it sit a bit longer, maybe by 30 minutes).
*After the next three hours are done, open up your crock pot, scoop out 2 cups of milk and put into a bowl. Add the 1/2 C of plain yogurt and whisk together. Add the mixture back into the crock pot and stir.
*Cover and wrap the crock pot in a thick towel. Let sit for at least 8 hours (when I make this recipe, I usually start at about 3:00 pm. That way I'm wrapping the crock pot to let it sit for the 8 hours right before I go to bed).
*At the end of the 8 hours you will have a HUGE batch of plain yogurt! YUM!

Why It's a Great Meal:
I'm still selling Elise on the plain yogurt, but she's getting there. I suppose she's just been too spoiled eating Yobaby all this time. What I love about this is I can use it for all sorts of other recipes and it is so much cheaper than store bought plain yogurt. Today I simmered some strawberries and banana together, then blended them with the yogurt to make some yogurt pops for Elise to enjoy this afternoon.

I'm also hoping to add granola to Elise's repertoire when she finally gets more of her teeth in, and I think the yogurt would be great over fruit, with some granola sprinkled on top.

The plain yogurt has a very low carb factor, usually coming out to .05, and keeps for about 7-10 days.

***edited to add: It took some convincing, but Elise came around and really likes the yogurt pops I made for her. There's no added sugar, so they are a bit on the sour side. I bet I could get away with adding a tiny amount of sugar, but I'd rather Elise get used to the no sugar added variety.

A weekend of firsts!

On Friday Elise had ice cream for the first time, and on Saturday she got to try strawberry shortcake! You should have seen her chow down, it was so cute!

Some friends had a 4th of July barbeque, and were sweet enough to plan it around Elise's meal schedule (I LOVE people who do this for us - the husband is a PA, so her "gets" the medical stuff). I volunteered to bring the dessert so I would know exactly what was in it and Elise could have some.

She also had hamburger for the first time (we usually make turkey burgers), but she wasn't a huge fan. In fact, she liked the steamed broccoli a lot better!

It was a little sad to see her watch the other kids eat whatever they wanted, especially when she would turn to us and say, "want some?" We'd try to offer her some meat or cheese, but she'd refuse and start getting upset.

If you had a child that was dx very young, how did you deal with this? Obviously, she doesn't understand that she can't eat whatever, whenever. And she's too young for us to explain it to her. I've started to not eat in front of her at home, or only eat when she is, but out in the "real world", it doesn't work that way. Any tips on how to handle this?

And I know I forgot to say it yesterday, but Happy 4th to my American friends!

Meal Ideas: Pumkin Soup

Sure it's about 90 degrees here in Texas lately, and fall is 5 months away; but I make this soup often for Elise because she loves it so much! I've put all the carb amounts (and fiber too) in brackets next to the ingredients.

What you need:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour (5g cho)
3 C chicken broth
15 oz can pumpkin (39g cho, 5g fiber)
1 tbsp honey (or agave which has 16g cho) (17g cho)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (<1g)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk (36g cho)

To Make:
*Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes *Gradually add broth, stirring constantly until thick.
*Stir in pumpkin until combined. Add honey, salt, and nutmeg. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
*Stir in milk and heat for 3 more minutes.

Carb Count:
The total carb count for this recipe is 97g of carbs. It usually has a carb factor of about .08 (so to figure out how many carbs are in Elise's bowl, I just weigh it in grams and multiply it by .08. For a more detailed explanation of carb factors, click here).


Why It's a Great Meal:
*Elise will eat it. In fact, Elise LOVES it. In fact, Elise cried the other day when I took her not-quite-finished bowl away to re-heat what was left. "Waaaaaaaah! Soup!" She said.
*I can make a bunch and re-heat the extras for another meal. I also freeze amounts that I pre-measure in a muffin tin. After it freezes, I pop them out, wrap them in saran wrap, and put them in a freezer bag labelled with what it is, when I made it, and how many carbs are in each serving.
*Lunch for me, too!
*Cheap and easy to make.
*The pumpkin has lots of fiber as well as cancer fighting properties, vitamin C and potassium.

I usually pair this with some yogurt, crackers or whole wheat toast and some fruit. It's a nice, light meal that Elise loves.

***Edited to add: don't just take my word on the carb counts, check your labels! I made some more soup today with a different brand of pumpkin and evap. milk, and both carb counts were different from the ones I had used previously.

Of Nanas and Pish

When Elise wakes up from her nap, she has two things on her mind... Nanas and Pish. She starts asking for them almost as soon as I take her BG. "Nanas, Mãe? Pish? Nanas e Pish?" This is how she greets me after emerging from her 1 - 2 break from me.

I should probably translate that for you. Nanas are, well, bananas. That one was easy. As for the word "Mãe", that's Mom in Portuguese. One of these days I'll write a post telling you more about this crazy family of mine, but here's the short version... my husband is Portuguese and speaks to Elise only in Portuguese. So her vocab includes a smattering of both languages. Pish are goldfish crackers and that word is a mix between fish and the Portuguese word for fish, which is peixe.

Bananas and goldfish crackers are her snack of choice, and I'm only to happy to give them to her. Except on days like today, when she wakes up with a BG of this:


Which means, all she gets is this:

That is about 3g of carbs worth of nanas and pish. Pretty sad, eh? And that's probably more carbs than she should have with a BG of 191. But she looked at me when she asked for it! With her eyes and everything! I think she even batted her eye lashes too! That's not playing fair.

(Plus history shows she usually starts dropping before dinner, so this should keep her BG in range before I test her again at around 5:15)

I also gave her some cheese so she wouldn't starve. And ignore the time on the scale... stupid Daylight Savings Time!

Just thought I'd share what snack time can look like at our house.