Quick Tip

  Here's just a quick tip for the night.  When you're trying to keep your blood sugars steady try to eat several small meals throughout the day.  They should all contain some complex carbohydrates, protein and fat.  One of my favorites is and apple with peanut butter.  Goodnight.

Yummy Veggies

  Here are a few recipes to make vegetables a little bit more interesting. They are very easy to make and no one will complain that their vegetables are boring anymore.

Roasted Winter Squash

   You only need three ingredients to make the roasted squash. You can use almost any smallish variety of winter squash..  Butternut, acorn, buttercup or small pumpkin all work well.  Some examples are in the picture to the right. Half of a squash per person is usually enough.

   winter squash
   2 tsp. light buttery spread per half squash
   2 tsp. sugar free maple flavored syrup per half     
            squash


   To make the squash preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Slice the squash in half and remove all of the seeds.  Place the buttery spread and syrup in each half of the squash, facing up and place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven. Every ten minutes or so use a basting brush to brush the butter, syrup mixture over the surface of the squashes flesh.  Cook the squash until they are tender. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour.




Roasted Asparagus

  This recipe is also very easy to make.  It is great in the oven but in the warm weather in works just as well on the outdoor grill.



  1 bunch of asparagus
  1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
  2 or 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
   salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 400 hundred degree. Trim the bottoms off of your asparagus and place them in a large bowl.  Gently toss the asparagus with the olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.   Transfer them to a large baking sheet and lay them out in a single layer.  Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook the asparagus until they are just slightly golden brown. This will take about 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus.


Sauteed Broccoli


  This is one of my favorite ways to make broccoli.  It comes out nice and crisp-tender and just a little bit spicy.  If you want to use the stems as well as the florets use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer husk from the stems and they will be tender and delicious too.

  2 heads of broccoli crowns
  3 Tbs. olive oil
  4 to 5 cloves garlic chopped
  1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes or to taste
  3Tbs. water
  salt and pepper
  balsamic vinegar

 Cut your broccoli crowns into bite size florets.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil and garlic.  Heat the oil and garlic for about 30 seconds then add your broccoli and saute it with the oil and garlic until it is evenly coated.  Add the red pepper flakes and saute the broccoli a little bit more.  Add the water and cover your skillet for about 1 minute to steam the broccoli just slightly until it is crisp tender.  Remove the lid and saute the broccoli until it is just slightly golden-brown and all of the water is cooked off.  Transfer the broccoli to a serving dish and drizzle with a little bit of balsamic vinegar.

Better Late Than Never

   I'm sorry I haven't gotten anything posted in a few days.  Things have been a little bit crazy here and our internet connection has been a bit screwy.  Today I will post the recipes that I had intended to post over the last few days. They are all healthy, low calorie, diabetes friendly and most importantly, D-licious. Here they are.

Venison Stew

  This stew is very easy to prepare but it does take several hours in a crock pot or large pot on the stove at a simmer to really get the meat tender.  It would work just as well using beef but I happened to have venison on hand and it's much leaner.  You will want to brown your meat in a skillet on the stove before you add it to your crock pot. It will have much more flavor this way.  Turn your crock pot to high before you start your meat on the stove.

  2 lb. venison or beef stew meat
  3 Tbs. canola oil
  1c. beef stock
  1 c. dry red wine or beer
  2 bay leaves
  2 cloves of garlic
  2 large onions
  5 carrots
  2 ribs of celery
  2 large sweet potatoes
   salt and pepper
  cornstarch ( if necessary to thicken)

  Place canola oil into a large skillet over medium high heat. As the oil heats dry your meat with a paper towel then salt and pepper your meat and add it to your skillet when the oil is hot.  You may need to do this in more than one batch depending on the size of your skillet.  You don't want to overcrowd your skillet or the meat will steam instead of browning. You want to brown your meat quickly on all sides then transfer it to your crock pot.  Once your meat is in the crock pot add your wine or beer, stock, garlic and bay leaves.  Cook the meat on high for one hour then turn the crock pot down to low.  Let it simmer for about two more hours.  When the meat starts to feel tender turn the heat back to high and chop your onions, carrots and celery.  You want them fairly chunky.  Add them to the meat and cook on high for about another hour, until the vegetables begin to get tender.  Once the vegetables begin to feel tender cut up your sweet potatoes into bite size pieces and add them to the rest of the stew.  Once the sweet potatoes are tender, about a half hour, your stew is ready.  If you feel that it is a little to watery then in a small bowl mix a rounded tablespoon of cornstarch with a little bit of cold water and stir until the cornstarch dissolves  Add the mixture to the stew and bring the stew to a simmer.  This will thicken your stew.  Serve the stew in deep bowls with some crusty whole grain bread.
 Enjoy!


 Rice Pudding

  This is a fairly typical rice pudding recipe except that I swapped a couple of regular ingredients for lower calorie/carb ones.  Almond milk has less than half of the calories in skim milk and has only 2 or 3 grams of carbs (depending on brand) per cup. While it's cooking you can add different flavors if you prefer. I used vanilla but it would work well with almond or coconut flavors too.  Whatever appeals to you.


    1/3c.  medium or short grain rice (brown rice works as well as white rice it just takes longer to cook.)
    2 c. unsweetened almond milk
    1/4c. sugar substitute. I like Splenda or other sucralose sweetener
    a few drops of vanilla

  Bring your almond milk to a boil in a saucepan then add your rice and reduce heat to a simmer.  Add your sweetener and simmer, stirring frequently until the rice has absorbed most of the milk and the rice is very tender and the mixture is thickening and creamy.  If most of the milk has absorbed and the rice isn't quite soft then add a little more milk and continue to simmer.  This process will take about a half an hour for white rice and about an hour and a half for brown rice.  Once the pudding has reached your desired consistency remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl.  Add your vanilla and stir to combine.  Let the pudding cool for about a half an hour on the counter then move it to the refrigerator to cool completely.


 Pico de Gallo

  This recipe is a fresh salsa that is very easy to make and is great served with baked corn chips, veggies or atop a chicken breast or baked potato.

   2 large tomatoes
   1 onion
   1/2 green bell pepper
   2 large cloves garlic
   1 or 2 serrano peppers, depending on how spicy you want it
   juice of 1 lime
   2 Tbl.  chopped fresh cilantro
   salt and pepper to taste

  Finely chop the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, serrano pepper and garlic and place in a large bowl.  Add lime juice, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper.  Stir mixture together and place in refrigerator for a few hours to chill and for flavors to combine.



  Guacamole

  This recipe combines a couple of mashed up avocados and some of the Pico de Gallo from the recipe above.

  2 avocados
  1/2 c. Pico de Gallo

  Halve two avocados. Remove pits.  Remove all of the avocado flesh from the avocado skin using a spoon.  Mash the avocado flesh (a potato masher works great) then add the Pico de Gallo and mix to combine.  Serve as a dip or sandwich spread.  It's fantastic.

My Bad!

  Here's a thoughtless move I made last night.  I was watching a show on Hulu.com and as often happens when I watch TV, I wanted a snack.  Did I want something sensible like carrot sticks or an apple?  No way!  I wanted something warm and soothing.  I wasn't especially hungry but did I let thet stop me?  Of course not. 
  We had some leftover white rice in the fridge (white rice is never a great choice, especially eaten on it's own) and it was calling to me.  Warm rice with a little bit of butter. Yum!  In my sleepy head it seemed perfect.  My blood sugar was good so I figured what the hell.  I use an insulin pump and thought I knew how many carbs  were in the rice I was going to eat.  I took a few extra units of insulin. settled back into my show and ate my rice.  With my belly full I then headed for bed. 
  Well, I was way off on my carb calculations. Completely off!  I should have measured my rice or even more intelligently skipped it all together.  But it was late at night and I had a craving.  Damn those late night cravings!  When I got up this morning my blood sugar was over 350.  Major oops!  When I got up I was still tired and crazy thirsty (no surprise there) and I felt like a jerk because I know better than that. Way better than that!  I've done this before and I'm sure I'll do it again. Will I ever learn?

Here's the plan

  I haven't written my blog for a while.  I realized shortly after I began that I needed to come up with a game plan for how I want to do this.  I will make a schedule for when I plan to write certain types of articles.  I will make Mondays and Thursdays recipe days and  Tuesdays and Saturdays specifically diabetes related.  The other three days will be a bit of a free for all depending on how things are going. If I've had any big successes or failures, I'll share them. I'll answer any questions and try to help you with specific issues any of you may be having.  This way you'll know when to look for the articles you're most interested in.

  Since today is Thursday I will share a recipe that my husband, a good friend and I have really loved.  It's a vegetarian/vegan chili that has all of the flavors and textures of a meat chili.


   1 package soy chorizo
   2 Tbs. olive oil
   1 lb. fresh or frozen broccoli
   1/2 tsp. cumin
   3/4 tsp. garlic powder
   1 tsp. chili powder.
   1- 15oz. can black beans
   1- 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
   salt and pepper to taste


   Add olive oil to a large high sided skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove casing from soy chorizo then add it to the olive oil. Saute the chorizo for 1 minute then add the broccoli and spices and saute for 1 minute more.  Add the black beans and tomatoes. Stir then let simmer for 20 minutes so all of the flavors come together.  Serve alone or over brown rice.

Sick Days

  Unfortunately the idea for this post came to me because I've been sick for the last several days.  My stomach was upset, I couldn't eat anything.  I was just miserable.  Then it occurred to me that when most people get sick, they probably have no idea how to help their stomachs feel better.

  The most important thing to do, as always is drink plenty of fluids. If you're having trouble keeping even just fluids down try taking in just a teaspoonful every five minutes or try sucking on a popsicle. When you feel up to eating a little bit of something try following the B.R.A.T. diet. Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.  These are all very easy to digest and gentle to your system.  This is one of the few instances where eating the "white stuff" is the best way to go.  Protein, fiber and especially fats are much harder to digest,  so save those for a little later.

The next time you're sick, talk to your doctor.  Drink as much as you can. Eat when you feel up to it. And be nice to yourself.  Curl up under a blanket. Watch a movie. Take a nap and give your body a chance to feel better.

Kale and Chick Pea Soup w/Chicken Chorizo

  Here is a recipe that we all loved at my house. It's my own healthy twist on a portuguese sausage and kale soup. If you want it to be vegetarian or vegan you can either leave out the chorizo or try one of the soy versions.  Then just swap chicken stock for veggie. It will still be really good. I promise!

1 med. onion- chopped
3 cloves garlic-chopped
1/2 lb. chicken chorizo
2 -15oz. cans chick peas
1 large bunch kale
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp.red pepper flakes or to taste
6 c. chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

  In a large stock pot add half of the olive oil over med. high heat. Remove chorizo from it's casing and brown it in the olive oil. While the meat is browning use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into crumbles.  Once the meat is fully browned remove it to a separate bowl.
 Add the rest of the oil to the pot. Place chopped onion and garlic into the same pot and saute over medium heat until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes and saute with the garlic and onion for about 20 seconds.  Pour the stock into the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the entire bunch of kale, finely chopped and stems removed.  Cover the pot and simmer until the kale is tender. Approx. 30 min.
  Once the kale is tender add both cans of chick peas, drained, and return the chorizo to the pot.  Simmer everything together for 5 min.  Once the soup is done serve with crusty whole wheat bread.

Welcome to d-licious Life!

Hi there,
  I'm Jena.  I'm 32 years old. In September I married a wonderful man named Tim. I have an incredibly supportive family and friends. I have diabetes. Last year I had a kidney transplant. ( Tim gave me one of his kidneys.)I love to cook. Most of all I love to eat.
  As you can imagine, these things do not always go well together.  In my early adulthood I did a terrible job of managing my disease and eating healthfully. I caused myself a lot of permanent damage during those years.   I studied a lot of nutrition both in school and on my own.  I learned to eat more healthfully. Splurge carefully and fit my health issues into my life.  I am writing this blog to help everyone eat better. Feel better. And hopefully help a few people before they wind up on the dangerous road I found myself on.
  I plan to share recipes, cooking tips and personal stories of both struggles and successes. Ask me anything you want. I will answer to the best of my ability. At the very least I will point you in the right direction to get the information you're looking for.
  Here's my first quick tip:  Don't think about the foods you need to remove from your diet, think about the ones you should add. Try adding one serving of fruit or vegetables to each meal.  You will feel fuller and will naturally begin to eat less of the food that isn't as good for you.