‘Mazing Monday Meal

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My first day back at work from a week off for Thanksgiving, and I did not feel like cooking. Fortunately, Seth had an idea (this can go several ways. He calls it the Hews-Surprisio! Sometimes, I get nervous.). 🙂 I will say that we make a pretty damn good kitchen team, as his specialty is meat/seafood and mine is fruits/vegetables.

He bought some sustainable canned tuna, packed in olive oil recently (because he happen to look at the ingredients in the tuna we’ve bought for years-hydrolized soy protein. WTF, there is no need to add soy to canned tuna. Another fine example of unnecessary ingredients added to food we eat. Think corn starch in your tea.) that we had yet to use. He thought he’d make tuna cakes. They were friggin fabulous.

Tuna Cakes

  • Tuna
  • Diced bell pepper
  • Diced onion
  • Halved cherry tomato
  • Drizzle olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp almond flour
  • Dash kosher salt/pepp

Mix above ingredients until well incorporated, and form into patties. Pan fry them on the stove in the oil of your choice. They were really nice for a change and sooooooooo good. We’ll definitely be adding them to our rotation.

For our sides, I added some roasted spaghetti squash with a little organic marinara and a wee bit of freshly grated asiago cheese. Dessert-fresh raspberries.

Nom!

Chocolate Bacon Bark

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I was cooking and baking up a storm last week while I was on vacation, because nothing relaxes me more.

I threw this together, and wasn’t sure how it’d turn out as I used ingredients in a new way (allergen free chocolate chips, that actually taste like chocolate!) for the first time. It ended up going over better than the other bark I’d started making at the time, and takes very little time or effort. My favorite kind of recipe!

Chocolate Bacon Bark

  • 1 bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (see http://wp.me/p2zSoO-2R)
  • 1/2 package uncured cooked bacon, cut into pieces
  • Fresh ground sea salt

Melt the bag of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips in the microwave, in a pyrex dish until smooth. Pour melted chocolate into a greased 8×8 glass backing dish, lined with wax paper. Generously grind sea salt over entire square, sprinkle with bacon pieces. Place in the refrigerator until hard, then break into pieces.

Voila!

T1D, Treating Lows, and Paleo

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I’ve received a lot of inquiries about how I treat low blood sugars when they occur, living the Paleo lifestyle, with T1D. Not easy, and something that I was fearful, of prior to starting Paleo. Now, I’ve become so comfortable with it, I don’t give it a second thought. Honestly, this was one of the biggest hurdles for me, and the thing I was most nervous about.

Living Paleo, I have far fewer low blood sugars than I used to as a result of being far more stable (props to the Dexcom CGM too, as it makes me aware when I am randomly dropping, or whatever, (T1D is lame)), but we all know T1D, and how psychotic it can be-so I do still encounter them here or there without notice or warning. When I do, this is how I treat them:

  • Honey Stinger, Gold Energy Gel (1 pouch 29g carb)
  • Chocolate Agave #9 Slo-burn Energy (1 pouch, 14g carb)
  • Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Milk (8oz, 15g Carb)
  • Lara Bars (depends on kind of bar, but typically 19-24g carb)
  • Revolution Foods, Organic Mashups (1 pouch 13g carb! Organic too)
  • POM Juices (~74g carb per bottle)
  • Naked Juices (varies, anywhere from 30-60g carb)
  • Fresh fruit (varies depending on the fruit)
  • Home dried fruit (pineapple, grapes, strawberries)
  • GlucoLift all Natural Glucose Tablets http://www.glucolift.com/ (proudly, a part of the Non-GMO project, they rock, and so does their creator, Chris Angell, also living with T1D)

The honey stinger, vanilla almond milk, organic mashups, POM Juice, Naked juice, fresh fruit, and GlucoLift are fast acting carbs, for me (you might be surprised how fast acting they are for you, too, especially, red seedless grapes). The Chocolate Agave #9, and Lara Bars, are slower acting. It depends on how fast I’m dropping, if I have insulin working, if I’m performing some type of activity, etc.

Here are some real life examples:

If I’m sitting at my desk and it’s 2:30 in the afternoon, with just a faint memory of lunch bolus left, but I’m on the lower side, I’ll eat an apple or other fresh fruit, free of charge, sometimes a Lara Bar. If I am at home, getting ready for bed, after a walk with my Lucy dog, and I’m hovering a little lower than preferred, I’ll pour and drink 6-8oz of vanilla almond milk and call it a night. If I’m hiking and at a good level, but with a lengthy distance, I’ll have a Chocolate Agave #9 (OMG, DARK CHOCOLATE AND AGAVE), tastes like the best dark chocolate frosting, ever, with only 2 ingredients!

Depending on the patterns I’ve seen, I will adapt. I take my lunch to work almost every day, and when I don’t, I pack extra fruit, juices, etc. just in case I need them. Sometimes, it may be a sip, and other times, it might be the whole bottle; either way, I’m prepared.

At first, it really didn’t seem that convenient to me, but it is more convenient than you’d think, healthier (vitamins and minerals, instead of high fructose corn syrup, etc.), and actually pretty easy (can you throw a banana in your purse, grab an apple out the door? Probably!). Apples, pears, bananas, grapes, etc. are just as “fast” as starburst, smarties and caramels.

Is it 100% Paleo, no. Do I always have a choice with T1D? No. I do the best I can.

Giving Thanks

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I think I fail to realize on a regular basis, just how lucky I really am, taking for granted all the richness I have in my life. I have a wonderful husband, supportive and loving family that I wouldn’t trade for the world, among many other things. Life is busy and stressful on a daily basis, and I feel like I get sucked into it, failing to realize the more important things. I really do have so much to be thankful for, every day, not just one day of the year.

Things I’m thankful for:

  • My husband, and the awesome life and marriage that we’ve created together
  • My family, their support and love, and for always being there no matter what
  • My friends, see “family”
  • My furbabies, they’re unconditional love, makes me smile daily
  • My health, a challenge, but one that can be met
  • My job, I love what I do, the company I work for and the product (it’s changed my life)
  • My home, in Iowa, where I was born and raised
  • Medical technology, for helping me live a successful, healthy productive life
  • Medical insurance, I have been very lucky with wonderful health coverage that has made chronic disease, very affordable
  • The way that I was raised, with values, ethics and tough love
  • My childhood, I had such a fun childhood, and my happiness and well-being were always put first

There are so many things I’m thankful for, but these are the ones that are on my mind today.

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you have as many things to be thankful for as I do.

Wilted Kale Salad

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Whew! It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, but boy have I been busy experimenting with things to blog about! I arrived early evening last Saturday in Iowa, for some much needed family time and visit home. How much do I love food? We went straight from the airport to Whole Foods 🙂

Kale has been the subject of many dishes lately, so I thought you’d like this recipe. It’s a twist on an old classic from, you guessed it, the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, circa 1968 from Meredith Corporation: Wilted Leaf Lettuce. My mom mentioned that her mom (my awesome grammy!) used to make wilted lettuce, so with extra kale, she decided to look up the recipe, the result, wilted kale salad that is pretty much to die for (although healthier and paleo friendly).

Wilted Kale Salad

  • Kale, cut into pieces
  • Bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • Diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 4 teaspoons 100% pure maple sugar

The bacon was cooked and crumbled first. Then in the same bacon fat from the bacon, we added the diced red onion, and cooked until tender. Next we added the vinegar, water, sugar, kosher salt and bacon; and stirred until boiling. Last, we added the kale to the boiling mixture and cooked until it became soft.

Holy shmoly! My mom and I INHALED.

We excluded radishes and one hard-boiled egg (didn’t think they sounded too fabulous, also, didn’t have, ha). We used apple cider vinegar instead of white, red onion instead of green and 100% pure maple sugar. These sounded better than the plain, and healthier.

Enjoy!