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



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!

Recipes: Citrus Smoothie

I love smoothies. Love them. In fact, I could probably go on an all smoothie diet and not miss solid food at all. Maybe I'm just too lazy to chew my food. Anyway, if I were to buy my smoothies at those fancy-schmancy smoothie places, I'd go broke in a hurry. But they are so easy to make at home. Here's one of our family favourites.

Joanne's Citrus Smoothie:
(all measurements are in weight grams... because that's what I use to figure out the carb factor)

What you need:
*approx. 170g of plain yogurt. I use my homemade recipe that can be found here. (carb factor = .05)
*200g strawberries - I use both fresh and frozen (carb factor = .08)
*65g bananas (carb factor = .20)
*65g frozen pineapple (carb factor = .13)
*125g (about 1/2 C) of orange juice. I use Tropicana w/ added calcium (carb factor = .108)
(I have been known to do a 50/50 juice to water mix too)

Approx. carb factor when using the above measurements = .09
These measurements make enough for a small glass for Elise and a tall glass for me... YUM!

To Make:
*If you don't know how to make a smoothie, I just don't know how to help you.

Why it's so great:
*So easy to make.
*Cheap, cheap, cheap!
*Healthy, because you control what gets put into it
*A great meal idea (or part of a meal) when you are on the go. I just pour it into a plastic cup with a lid and straw for Elise, and she can drink it while we're in the car.

A few notes about his recipe:
*I sometimes throw a handful of blueberries in there too (carb factor = .145)
*By no means should you follow my exact measurements... I love more strawberry taste than the rest, so I use a lot of strawberries. My husband would probably want me to put two whole bananas in there. It's all up to your taste buds!
*The best (and cheapest) way to have a good supply of frozen fruit on hand, is to buy it fresh when you find a good deal. Then just wash it, cut it up, put it on a cookie tray in your freezer, then put it in a Ziploc bag when it's frozen. Don't just put it into a bag before you freeze it, or it will freeze all clumped together.
*If you don't use frozen fruit in this recipe, you will need to add ice.

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!

Meal Ideas: Best Apple Butter EVER!

I know the title is misleading... I would never advocate the eating of apple butter as your meal. Except if you are me and your husband is out of town and you are too tired to make a "real" meal.

But really, this is the best apple butter I have EVER tasted. And I should know. I've eaten apple butter on TWO separate occasions, which in my mind, makes me an expert.

Seriously, you should make this.

What you need:
8 - 10 apples, or approx 900 - 1000 grams. (carb factor for apples is .13)
(I used a mix of honey crisp and gala... it was what Kroger had on their clearance fruit shelf. I paid $2.00 for 14 apples... score!)
1/2 c (or less, depending on how sweet you want it) agave nectar (carbs for that amount came to 134)

or (but not both)

2 C white or brown sugar (sorry, don't have a carb count for that)
3 tsp ground cinnamon (5.4g of carbs)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (.325g of carbs)
1/2 tsp ground allspice (.7g of carbs)
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

To Make:
*Core, peel and dice all of the apples.
*Combine all ingredients in a crockpot (at least 4 Qt). Set on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
*Set crockpot to low and leave for 12 hours. My big crockpot cooks a bit warmer than my smaller one, so I had it on low for about 4 hours, then set it to keep warm before I went to bed. As a added bonus, your house will smell AMAZING. You know, if you like apples and spices and stuff. And if you don't, well then you are just weird.
*Puree with a hand blender or some other similar contraption.

Why It's a Great Meal:
*The whole family can enjoy the apple-y goodness
*I like that I can use the agave nectar to sweeten it and it tastes just fine.
*Ummmm, did I mention that it is so, so good?
*I mix the apple butter in with some of my homemade yogurt and top it off with some homemade granola (recipe coming soon) for a quick, healthy breakfast.

The carb factor for the batch I just made came in at around .28. This, of course will vary depending on how many apples you use, or how much and what type of sweetener you use.

If you're unsure of what apple butter is, you can read all about it at Wikipedia, here.

Meal Ideas: Low-carb Pancakes

The first time I made pancakes for Elise, she hated them. I can't remember if it was pre or post diabetes, but I was crest-fallen. I thought it would be a great food for Elise to gum, since at the time she didn't have teeth.

Since then, I've found a healthier, low-carb pancake recipe that Elise LOVES! I made them for her this morning, and she when she was done she asked for more (the only thing she's eating well right now). So I thought I would share the recipe. The recipe I use is cut in half from the original, but I know the carb factor for it, so that's how I'll post it.

What you need:
2 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese - I use 4% fat (carb factor = 0.04)
1/8 cup whole wheat flour (cf = .725, or 9g of carbs)
1 tbsp sugar (cf= .998, or 12g of carbs) - I used agave nectar instead, maybe half a tbsp (8g of carbs, sorry, I don't know the carb factor)

***I'm still trying to figure out how to substitute the agave nectar for sugar. The batter came out a little runnier than normal, but otherwise cooked and tasted fine.

Carb factor when made with sugar = .12
Carb factor when made with agave nectar = .105

To Make:
*Throw all ingredients in a blender, or use a hand blender and mix.
*Cook in a pan, or on a griddle just like you would any other pancake.

Why It's a Great Meal:
*Elise will eat it.
*It's a lot healthier than a normal pancake recipe.
*Protein, protein, and more protein!
*Agave nectar has a low glycemic index and won't cause BG spikes like granulated sugar will.

I have also blended some banana into the batter, or added blueberries when it was all mixed. But of course that will alter the carb factor, so I wrote out the base recipe to make things easier. Enjoy!

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.

Bed time snack ideas?

I'm in the market for some good bedtime snack ideas; reasonably healthy, and combine the carbs and protein needed to get Elise's BG up and keep it steady through the night.

The carb amount she gets depends on what her bedtime BG is, but she rarely gets anything above 8g of carbs. If her BG is too high, we give her deli chicken and some cheese. Her usual bedtime snack is goldfish crackers and banana, with some cheese for protein, but I want to change things up a little. I just need some good ideas.

She's on 2 units of NPH before bedtime, which brings me to another question... since we can piggy-back our Humalog in the same syringe as the NPH, is it reasonable to assume we could give her some H in her bedtime shot, so she can have a higher carb snack? Or is it a bad idea to give fast-acting at bedtime?

Thanks for any ideas you can give me!

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.

Meal Ideas: Chicken Soup

It's a balmy 31 degrees F as I type this (about 0 degrees C), and ice is threatening to fall from the sky. My mind keeps wandering back to last Friday when it was almost 80 (about 25). Texas has some weird, weird weather. So it seemed only natural to post a good, EASY chicken soup recipe.

What you need:
*A crockpot
*1 carton of chicken stock (32 oz), or you can make your own.
*1/2 C water
*1 C Boneless, skinless chicken breast (cooked) - chopped into bite-sized pieces. I'll sometimes use the leftovers from a whole roast chicken I've made the day before.
*2 cloves of garlic - chopped or minced.
*2 fresh basil leaves - chopped.
*1 C of fresh or frozen veggies - chopped (I use celery, zucchini, carrots, peas, beans, corn - whatever is in my crisper and about to go bad).
*1/2 C of elbow macaroni or any other pasta that would go well in a soup (if you have gluten issues, you could substitute rice).
*I also throw in a pinch or two of dried parsley.

To Make:
*Combine all ingredients except pasta (or rice) into crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. I usually add the pasta in the last hour.

Carb Count:
This is a tough one... it really depends on when veggies you throw in there. I've made it with as little as 3.5g of carbs per 1/2 C and much as 10g of carbs per 1/2 C (although that last one I think I used more pasta than I usually do). The way I figure it out is I add up all the carbs in the soup, and after it's done cooking, I weigh it. Say the total weight comes to 1550 g and the total amount of carbs is 90. I then see what a 1/2 C of the soup weighs, say for example it's 110 g. So using my fancy solving for x equation it looks like this:

1550 - 90

_________

110 - X

In this example, 1/2 C of soup has about 6.5g of carbs. If you totally didn't get how I came to that number, read this post.

Why It's a Great Meal:
*Elise will eat it.
*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 to make, and it's a great way to get rid of veggies that need to be used.
*It's healthy! You've got vitamins from the veggies, and protein from the chicken. Serve it with some whole grain toast and some yogurt for a good meal.

Meal Ideas: Sweet Potato Fries

I guess the title of this post is a little erroneous. I don't mean for this to be a meal by itself, but a good compliment to a meal. In any case, thanks to my Mom for giving me the idea!

What you need:
1 small Sweet Potato
Approx. 1 tsp olive oil
1 pinch of salt (optional)

To Make:
*Cut skin off of sweet potato.
*Cut sweet potato into desired length and thickness for fries. I prefer skinner, smaller pieces because they cook faster and are easier for Elise to eat.
*Put pieces into a bowl and toss with olive oil. The amount of oil you use may vary, depending on the size of your sweet potato. Add a teeny, tiny pinch of salt, if you want.
*I use a toaster oven to make mine. I bake them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the sweet potato can easily be pierced by a fork. Make sure you flip the pieces every few minutes or so, or they will burn. (I'm guessing the temp/time would be the same for a conventional oven)
*Let cool, and serve!

Carb Count:
It depends on how much you give to your child. Sweet potatoes have a carb count of 26.8g of carbs per 5.2 oz (according to calorieking.com). So if I give Elise 2 oz. of sweet potato fries, then she is getting about 10g of carbs, using the formula I talked about in this post. I always weigh them after they are cooked.

Why It's a Great Meal:
*Elise will eat it.
*I can make a bunch and re-heat the extras for another meal.
*Cheap to make.
*Easy to make with very little clean-up.
*Sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index rating. That’s because the sweet potato digests slowly, causing a gradual rise in blood sugar.
*Sweet potatoes are a good source of protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.

Meal Ideas: Quesadilla

Coming up with new and exciting meal ideas for an almost-toothless toddler is no easy task. But I have found a favourite by slapping some cheese and chicken together between two tortillas!

What you need:
Shredded Cheese (any kind - I use sharp cheddar)
Chicken (or any meat for that matter - I use Kroger's Boars Head Oven Roasted Chicken Breast)
Two tortillas (again, any kind - I use Mission)

To Make:
*Warm a skillet (or frying pan - something the tortilla will easily fit into) up on med/low heat. Put a tortilla in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some cheese on the tortilla.
*Layer some chicken over the cheese.
*Sprinkle a bit more cheese over the chicken (this is important because it helps the second tortilla stick to the chicken), and place the second tortilla on top.
*When cheese on the bottom has melted, flip so the cheese on the other side melts too. The quesadilla is done when all the cheese has melted.
*Use a pizza cutter to cut into bite sized pieces.
*Serve with a bit of sour cream for dipping.

Carb Count:
I give Elise 1/4 of the quesadilla, which is 1/2 of one tortilla. For the Mission brand of tortilla that I use, that comes out to 8.5g of carbs. The sour cream is 1g of carbs per 2 tbsp, but I never give her that much.

Why It's a Great Meal:
*Elise will eat it
*I can use whole wheat tortillas if I want a healthier option
*Add some fruit and it's a pretty balanced meal
*The 3/4 of the tortilla that she doesn't eat, ends up being MY lunch!