salads can be fun!!

So as most of you know I am a type 1 diabetic.  So I have to get my food kicks from healthy sources. Luckily for me I do not have a big sweet tooth so that's easy for me to avoid. Unfortunitly for me Carbs are everywhere even in healthy stuff I love....Like potato and pasta and oranges and white rice and sourdough bread,ohh and grapes.  Grapes are like little sugar bombs to my G.I numbers.  Also, even eating very healthy and low carb I can not eat a lot in one sitting, so I have had to really trick myself into thinking I have a lot on my plate specially at dinner. That is suppose to be my smallest meal.

any who....I find using a smaller plate helps. I also try to slow down to let the brain and tummy connect with feeling full.  With the wonderful holidays approaching I thought I would try to motivate us all to stay on track and keep health in to the New Year.

With out further ado.....Week 1...of  Eat this not That!

I use balsamic dressings or just oil and vinegar a lot.  Dressing can really turn a healthy salad into a calorie pit.
This salad has apples, mandarin oranges, almond slivers and goat cheese.

Another exchange I do is I love a good french fry and No body makes better fry's then In-Out.
So I get a cheese burger protein style so that I can eat the fry's.  ( they wrap the hamburger in lettuce)




Honestly little changes can make a huge difference and before you know it it becomes a habit.


So what is your favorite healthy Exchange?

good eats!!

You know that I am married to an Italian.  Like I have said before that means FOOD. You also may know I am a type 1 diabetic so me and food are enemies. I am rare in the fact that my diabetes was recently diagnosed at age 34. Yes u can be a type 1 at 34 but it is very uncommon.

Anyways back to the food, one of my favorite easy dishes is antipasto. I love to make a large platter filled with meat, cheese and peppers, olives and sausage. we usually enjoy it outside with a good bottle of vino. You know that I am married to an Italian.  Like I have said before that means FOOD.



antipasto is something you can throw together in 10 mins. I just go to my local deli (fry's) and get thin slices of salami, prosciutto, hot cappy, cappy, pesto ham and provolone. I also gut up thin slices of Parmesan and then add peppers and olives from the olive bar they have there.

I like boar's head meat. I also make a salad and sausages to go with it. It is great meal for me because its low in carbs and low in fat. I also love it because it give Mr. loveletters and I a chance to slow down and communicate with each other.

Tommarow I will show u my dresser I have started......

the dr.'s watching!!

So since I have to go to the endo today, I thought I would post some recipes for all you diabetics or really anyone trying to eat a little better.  Everyone assumes that being a diabetic means no more candy and sweets.  In reality it has to do with portion, fat and carb consumption.  For us TYPE 1, we no longer produce the insulin needed to turn food into energy.


Before the invention of insulin in the 20's people literally wasted away or starved to death.  You could eat and eat and the body could not turn food into energy.  You would become so dehydrated and your body would eat away at all your fat until you had nothing left to give.

one of my favorite salads....tomatos  mozzarella and basil....with some balsamic and olive oil

So its important to give the body the right amount of protein, carbs and fat.  Like I said it's really something that everyone should try and live by.  For me, I don't just gain weight if i eat bad.  I slowly start damaging my eyes and nerves, kidneys and heart.  

this is dream feilds whole wheat pasta with roma tomato's and goat cheese and basil with olive oil as a light sauce

I do eat pasta.  I just have to make sure its after a good workout, always whole wheat and in moderation.

   Next on my list is learning to bake, high fiber low sugar yummy treats!!!

yummy salad

I loooove salads.  That is a good thing being a diabetic. This salad was inspired by what i had in my fridge. That's pretty much how i cook, unless i am super organized and prepare a specific meal....yeah right.  I also cook smaller portions then i used to and use lower fat meats.

This salad was made with artisan lettuce, blue cheese. raspberries and a little granola for crunch.

I made the dressing using a store raspberry dressing that only had 4 grams of carbs...then thinning it out with a little rice vinegar salad dressing and a little balsamic, it was little sweet for my taste.

I love pretty food...

and this salad was like a dessert.

for the love of food

I am married to a Italian man. That means FOOD and a real clean house. The really clean house part, no problem. One of the first comments everyone makes when they come into my house is, "how do you keep your house so clean."  I respond with, "You do not want to know my secret," because its not as much of a secret as a mental illness. I started cleaning up after my family at the age of 12. I would spend Saturday mornings vacuuming and dusting....I still clean my moms house when I go to visit. Like I said its my sickness and it doesnt control my life but I think it helps me feel more IN control of things, and I like Control.

procuitto and melon...turkey meatballs and whole wheat pasta and sausage and peppers.

Like I said married to Italian man means learning how to cook.  I think over the past 12 years I have become a great cook, but now I have the new element of the d word ( diabetes). That word has really made cooking no fun at all.  I have no problem using turkey instead of beef and whole wheat instead of white. I have always been a healthy eater. Its the everyday ups and downs with the numbers and feeling like I try so hard and eat so good and you never know what the meter is going to say....ahggggg... sorry for my little rant.  Lately food just has me all twisted up inside.


On to the positive....I still love cooking a big meal to fill E and G's tummys.  And i love that four out of seven days a week we gather around the table and eat as a family.

turkey meatballs and wheat pasta in olive oil and red pepper sauce

                                       
                                         E and G
 One day you will love my meatballs and pasta (with sauce) not just butter. One day you will Love that you grew you with great family traditions of being an Italiano. You will always remember grandma linda's amazing cooking..( and how she never sits down because shes to busy taking care of all of us) You will hopefully pass on the love of the meal to your kids. Gia, I think you will have cooks in that castle you plan on living in but, hopefully you will still manage to sit down at the table every night.
                  


  disclaimer...I cook by taste and intuition and not by measurements .....sorry




recipe: turkey meatballs are made with turkey meat grounded, whole wheat bread crumbs, garlic crushed, sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes and a egg to bind the meatball.


pasta sauce is just olive oil heated with garlic and crushed red pepper flakes....the Italian sauce staple.


the melon...is cantaloupe and prosciutto..( a Italian ham)