Hello 2019 And How The Hell Is It Already Friday?!

I’m not sharing all my goals for 2019 - at least not right away ;) 

#### 

First - HAPPY 2019! 

It’s been a hard week getting back into the swing of things. 

I’m still on holiday time  - meaning I’m still having difficulty getting to bed at a decent time and I’m thoroughly shocked that it’s Friday. Seriously, how the hell did that happen because it feels like freaking Tuesday?  

I can relate. 
image via the interwebz. 

And of course, getting back to normal food and blood sugars - but I’m doing it. 

And instead of New Years resolutions, I have goals. 

For starters - I want to go up a few levels in certain areas of my life and have my a1c go down a few notches. I want to exercise my body and brain more - which means writing more. 

I want to embrace change, doing what I fear first and with gusto.

And like everyone else, drop some pounds (10 lbs by May,) and get back to eating healthy after the holidays. 

The last one has been easy - mostly because I normally eat healthy and I actually really like eating healthy. Also, I’ve reached my wall of Enough, when it comes to big dinners and Christmas cookies multiple times a day. OK, that last part was only the last two weeks of December :)  

I’m craving healthy meals - I’ve been snacking on veggies for the past few weeks and more so than usual. Organic Rainbow Carrots have become a staples in my house for almost a year. 

Also: Give them a try because they are fabulous! 

And btw, I’m not the only one who thinks they are fab - so does Time Mag. 

And I believe the same thing will happen with mini Persian Cucumbers - which have less seeds and more flavor and crunch - also they are hydrating.  Also since November I’ve been digging Green Giant’s riced veggies.

All of the above make it easier to eat healthy - but more on veggies and healthy eating in another post. 

Embracing Change: After my last a1c, I had a talk with my Endo and agreed give Dexcom a try - and I’ll be starting on it soon - like very soon. 

I have mixed feelings about it - being attached to something else - sharing my info with loved ones … or not, embracing something different.  

But my Dr. and I agreed that Dex doesn’t have to be a full time and or permanent thing. 

We need to work on getting my a1c in a better spot and he feels dexcom will help us  troubleshoot. So I'm trying it for 3 months and taking it from there - and I will share my experience with you guys. 

And I will also ask your for advice an support because you guys ROCK - so thanks in advance!

Diabetes & Self Care

Little things that help us to practice self care mean a lot - diabetes or not~ 
######
Living with diabetes means practicing self care - and not just when it comes to blood sugars, doctors appointments,labs, carb counting, and the likes there of. 

Self care means logging off and reading a good book or watching a movie. 
Self care is taking a walk or making time for the gym- not only for friendly blood sugars, but to clear your mind and help maintain the temple that is your body. 
Self care is carving out time with friends because these days everyone is busy with being busy - Life is short and we need our friends and family to survive. 
On the flip-side, self care also means choosing to going to bed early and not feel like you're missing out or disappointing your friends and family. 
Self care means coming home from a work trip after 4 accelerated days, and taking a beat on Sunday to do things that will keep you both sane and healthy for the work week ahead. 
Things like sleeping late; unpacking, catching up on laundry, and making a Moroccan red lentil, ginger, sweet potato, curry & lemon soup from scratch so I can work like a boss and still eat healthy throughout the week.
For me, making soup from scratch once a week is one of the ways I practice self care. 
I find creating amazing soups relaxing - not to mention delicious -  it helps me to decompress and gives me comfort. 
The act of making soup from scratch opens up my mind - especially when it feels cluttered. 
Also: It also helps clean out my fridge :) 

And my Moroccan red lentil soup is deceptively simple; easy on my blood sugars and fantastically delicious!

Embracing Low Carb Dinners - And Trying Not To Over Bolus

If at first you don't succeed..... 

Since Monday (OK, really since Sunday, but that was because I had big lunch and didn't feel like eating much dinner,) night I’ve been consciously trying to eat low carb dinners for a multitude of reasons . 

Better blood sugars, trying to drop a few pounds, upping my veggie intake - all that stuff. 

Plus, low carb is easier to cook and requires less clean-up - at least in my kitchen. 

But while cooking/preparing low carb meals have been easy (tuna salad loaded with raw veggies, yogurt and fruit, eggs with 1/2 a baked sweet potato and lots of veggies, Bastard Homemade Chicken Soup,) I tend to over bolus for meals that are considered low carb. And then 9 times out of 10, I end up running low either a few hours after my meal, right before bed (and right after I've put my night-guard on,) or in the middle of the night - all of which negates the whole “trying to eat low carb dinners,” thing. 

So for the past 3 days I’ve been working hard on my bolusing skills for low carb.

As in actually looking up carb counts (which by the way - I’ve been freakishly spot on with,)  and not counting the carbs in my animal protein ( I always count the carbs in legumes or quinoa) at dinner. 

Animal protein is where I usually make my mistake when it comes to bolusing. 

As always, your diabetes may vary.

To be balls out honest, it was weird to see such a small amount of insulin flash up on my Omnipod PDM. 

On Tuesday night I had a meeting with myself and was like: If the 2.20 units don’t work out for my eggs,1/2 a medium size sweet potato, and green beans with hot sauce, no big deal - that’s what a correction bolus is for. 

Things went well. 100 blood sugar two hours later with insulin onboard, a very small glass of cranberry apple juice and a 130 bg blood sugar before bed.  

Cut to Wednesday morning, a blood sugar of 120 and no middle of the night lows. 

I ROCK. 

Wednesday dinner blood sugar was 111 and I made a tuna salad loaded with raw veggies and served with gluten free crackers. 

1.75 units did the trick and again - a little freaked out by the small dinner bolus - but I went with it. 

Went to bed with a bg of 135 and woke up at 116. 

And as I was drinking my coffee I may have uttered: WHO’S YOUR F^CKING DADDY, DIABETES?!

Pickings are officially slim in my fridge, and last night's dinner was a repeat performance. 

Eggs over medium, the other half of baked sweet potato, and the last of the green beans. 

2.75 units to cover my meal and 153 bg - all seemed right with my world. 

178 bedtime bg. 

hmmmmmm and interesting. I chalked it off as being tired - considered a full correction dose - but only gave 0.90 unit instead of the 1.50 correction because I was going to bed and I was worried going low. 

Sidebar: I don’t wear a Dex. I need to be careful with bedtime corrections  because nighttime is the right time for my blood sugar to drop.

Blood sugar this morning: 297

Clearly - diabetes was sending me a message and that message was: WHO’S THE F^CKING DADDY NOW, KELLY!!? 

And sometimes diabetes likes to f^ck with me.... because it can. 

Also, I should have known something was up when I woke up at 4:30 to go to pee and then couldn’t go back to bed.

This morning required a 6.25 correction bolus in the form of a shot and including insulin to cover the carbs for copious amounts of coffee. Then like we all do every damn day when it comes to living with our diabetes, I forged ahead. 

By lunchtime my blood sugar was 159. 

Current blood sugar: 131 as of 1 minute ago.

Takeaways

I was once again reminded diabetes is never the same disease two days in a row - and will prove that too you - and just when you think you’ve figured it out.

Diabetes can do whatever it wants - so can I. And want I want to do is to continue trying and fine tuning when it comes to managing my diabetes. 

And I’m going to take it one day... one carb... and one number at a time. 

Bastard Homemade Chicken Soup~

Cooking - makes me happy - cleaning up - not so much. 

I always keep my pantry stocked with meal basics - spices; pureed tomatoes, garlic, onions, beans, organic, Low Sodium Vegetable and Chicken Broth - enough to make a simple meal. 

 FTR, stores like Target and ACME have tasty and reasonably prices organic store brand broths. 

#######

Comfort food - we all need it, we all crave it. 

Food evokes memories of people we love and times and places we wish we could go back to. 

For me, soup is  one of my comfort foods - I like the the act of creating/making soup. 

 It makes me feel better when I’m feeling under the weather and it makes me feel good when I’m feeling down. 

The act of making soup has a beginning, middle, and an end. 

I find zen in slicing and dicing veggies, the smell of spices - fresh or dried, and adding them to a concoction that will eventually turn into a delicious bowl of something fantastical - I LOVE IT. 

I make soup for friends and family and my Soup Registry expands yearly - I think I'm up to 15 different soups.

   

This past Sunday I was feeling under the weather and wishing I had my mom’s homemade chicken or turkey soup - but I would have been just as happy with her hearty beef veggie soup - which was my absolute favorite mom soup, happier still if my mom was here to make it with me. 

Sunday was gray and damp and I dragged my but off the couch checked in my pantry ,and saw that I had organic chicken broth, awesome spices, pastina stars, onions and garlic. Carrots, celery,  and lemons were in my fridge and tricolored flash frozen green beans and white corn in my freezer . 

The only thing missing was chicken. 

I didn’t feel like roasted a chicken from scratch - lucky for me/us, there are other options and Bastard Homemade Chicken Soup is damn tasty!
Sidebar and new edit: Read this great recipe for turkey stock over at Wilted and Wild! 

I jumped in my car, drove to the grocery store and picked up an oven roasted, lemon pepper chicken on sale for $7. 

I grabbed it from it’s perch, still hot from the oven. 

I did a quick drive-by through the produce department and I stumbled upon an herb bomb,(Italian parsley, thyme, leek, and a spicy, tied together with twine and ready to be stewed. 

I was immediately taken back to my childhood and watching my mom cook. 

My mom referred to herb bombs a "potherb," and it was a key ingredient to her soups and stews. She'd send me to the store to buy one and I always new that something delicious was going to happen in a few hours.

I LOVED the flavor herb bombs add and I took it as sign from mom to proceed with gusto! 

I grabbed an herb bomb,, rang up my purchases,and rushed home to make my Bastard Homemade Chicken Soup . 

My Bastard Chicken Soup ws both delicious as comforting - as was the act of making it. 

Here’s the recipe - I hope it brings you comfort and love. 

Bastard Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 Oven Roaster Chicken 

4 or 5 cups of Low Sodium Chicken or Veggie Broth

Fresh lemon - one or two slices

Olive Oil

1 small or medium Onion

1 or two stalks of Celery

1 or 2 Carrots 

2 cloves of garlic

two handfuls of frozen green beans 

1/4 a cup of frozen White Sweet Corn

Sea salt

black pepper

dried basal and oregano 

1 herb bomb

Take roasted chicken, pull all the meat and if you'd like some skin and bones  (I hate chicken skin, unless it’‘s a  kick ass hot wings - and then I only eat the little kick ass  hot little drumsticks,) and set a side in a Pyrex container.
Dice the carrots, celery, and onion, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and dried spices (as much or as little as you want,)  and saute in extra virgin olive oil for  two minutes.
Add chicken broth, chicken and consider adding more pepper, salt, and dried spices to taste. 

Add diced/smashed garlic and squeeze two lemon wedges into the broth mixture.

Drop in the Herb Bomb. 

Herb Bomb of Italian Parsley, Thyme, Leeks and hot pepper doing its thing~

Simmer on low to low medium for 20 to 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, grab a small pot, fill it with cold water and some salt or a dash of EVOO, and bring to a boil. Add two tablespoons of pastina and cook until it’s alldente . Drain pasta and keep in a separate container. DON’T ADD TO SOUP, YET. 

5 minutes before you’re ready to eat, add the frozen green beans to the bubbling soup. 

Grab a bowl, add a few teaspoons of pastina and then add soup. 

Top with Parmesan or Locatelli cheese, group an spoon and enjoy! 

So delicious~

Let leftovers cool, store in Pyrex containers, and put in the fridge.

Soups tend to taste better the second day - I add fresh frozen green beans with each bowl. 

Diabetes Blog Week Day 5: More Than My Diabetes

Sandbar at sunset.
Photographed as found.

Today is the last day of Diabetes Blog Week (THANK YOU KAREN,) and it's all about our passions besides diabetes. 
#########

I am more than just my diabetes and I certainly have other interests besides diabetes. 

I love cooking and love cooking for others.
I love traveling and I need to do more.
Children and animals make me smile and I try and spend as much time as I can with both.
Like my mother and her mother before her, I love gardening and growing things. 
Getting my hands dirty and growing veggies and flowers from seeds, to sprouts, to full bloom and on the vine make me feel accomplished, peaceful and whole.
Books have been my life long friends, going to the movies is and attending plays are important to my my emotional well-being. Speaking of, I love performing and I miss it. 
Yours truly is a fan of all things sparkly because I am my mothers daughter.

I have a large collection of antique jewelry (some real, mostly costume, all sentimental) spanning the decades and I love learning about and finding new pieces. 
My collection adds flair to my most basic outfits - as well as my most fab.

Native American jewelry are stories in silver and stone and I love learning and wearing those stories. 

The beach and the ocean bring me peace  - I love being in and on the water - along the shore and in the waves are where I feel most free and centered.

Same goes for art in all mediums, though photography is the one I actually work in.

I LOVE  photography. 
Taking photographs is way for me to see the world through different lenses and perspectives - it’s also my therapy.

There was at time I loved to have my picture taken - now I like to be the one taking the pictures.
Some of my photos are in this post and I hope they make you smile!

Stormy seas.  

Autumn on the beach~

Rodin's "The Thinker."
Philadelphia, PA
The Women's March/1/2017

Architectural Details

Salad Days~

LAUGHING

The three amigas

Magnificent Black Bean, Sweet Potato, Veggie, Lime Soup

I love to cook and I love to make soup - especially when it’s cold and nasty out. 

After 5 days of cold and 2 days of cold and nasty, you know I made soup last night! 

And I made one of my favs - Black bean, sweet potato, veggie, and lime soup. 

This recipe is a combo of several different ones I’ve found over the years - It’s a meal and it’s truly magnificent! 

After I made/ate my Magnificent BBSPVL soup, I posted its magnificence on facebook  - and a lot of my friends asked for the recipe.

So, here it is. 

Sidebar: I don’t use carrots in this recipe... usually. But In the past, and when I’ve had a couple raw carrots that needed to be used sooner rather than later, I’ve added them - you can’t go wrong either way - the choice is yours.

 Magnificent Black Bean, Sweet Potato, Veggie, Lime Soup - ENJOY  

SO YUMMY 

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil - maybe a little more?? I don't know because I usually don't measure the oil - I should but I don't. I use enough to get a good sautée going without the veggies drowning in oil

1 large onion chopped - I prefer vidalia onion - but whatever you have on hand works

2 large sticks of celery, chopped - FYI: Celery has salt, which means you don’t need a super amount of salt for this soup

1 sweet pepper, any color your want - I used yellow, because that's was what was in my fridge

Jalapeno - The amount depends on you - but I HIGHLY suggest you start slowly and use sparingly. A little bit goes a long way. Start out with a quarter jala, chopped

If you prefer another hot pepper, go for it! 

Also, you can use substitute sriracha sauce, instead - it's awesome!  

And if you don’t like hot peppers, - DON”T USE THEM

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1- 2 tsp. ground coriander (less or more depending on your taste) 

1 -2 tsp. ground cumin (less or more - depends on your taste)

1/4 tsp of turmeric 

1/4+ tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp of oregano 

 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

Himalayans sea salt to taste  - your salt requirements may vary

2 bay leaves - 3 if they are small leaves

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut into half and or one inch chunks

2 cans (15 oz. can) black beans, rinsed and drained (I use Goya low sodium beans) 

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock (bought or homemade - your choice)

juice from 1/2 a small lime fresh

Chopped Cilantro and Italian Parsley - as much as you want

Diced avocado or guacamole  

Directions

1. Rinse of your beans until there is no more foam, and leave in the colander until ready to use. 

2. Peel and chop your sweet potato (you can use a food processor to chop,) into half and or one inch chunks and put aside until needed.

Sidebar: You can buy sweet potatoes already diced -Target, Trader Joe’s and other grocers sell them that way in and they can usually be found in the fresh refrigerated veggie section. 

3. Chop your onion (I prefer sweet onions,) and celery, saute both in olive oil, on medium low for 7 or 8 minutes. 

4. Immediately add 1/2 of the cumin, coriander, sea salt and oregano to the onion/celery mix and stir baby, stir. 

While the onion/celery are sauteing, chop your sweet pepper, your garlic, and a very little bit of your jalapeno. Add five minutes later, add along with the garlic 

6. Wait a few minutes, add the 4 cups of veggie broth, black beans, bay leaves, (bay leaves help re: remove the musicality from the beans,) and chopped sweet potato, the remainder of the spices to the mix. Stir and simmer on medium for thirty minutes. Occasionally stirring things up. 

Sidebar: Visually, look for gentle bubbling and foam from the beans. 

7. After 30 minutes, check to see if the sweet potatoes are soft, if so fish out the bay leaves, ASAP. 

8. Then, take a slotted spoon and removed 3 drained cups of beans and veggies, put aside in an empty bowl. 

Take an immersion blender ( IF you don't have one, get one - it will change your life,) and place it right in the soup pot and blend. 

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a large measuring cup to remove the contents in the pot into a regular blender. That option gets messy and the soup is hot - BE CAREFUL!

10. After blending, add the 3 cups of strained veggies and beans back in the pot, squeeze 1/2 a small lime into the soup, add the tsp of apple cider vinegar, give everything a good stir and simmer on low for 10 minutes. 

11. Chop the fresh cilantro and Italian parsley and wait. 

Lastly, pour some delicious soup in the bowl, sprinkle copious amounts of chopped cilantro, Italian parsley, some more spicy pepper deliciousness, avocado or guacamole and enjoy!

FYI: If you make the soup too spicy - add another teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a tsp or two of honey to the soup pot - trust me, it works! 

As far as carbs and fiber counts - I don’t have an exact number. 

I usually bolus between 28 and 35 grams of carbs for this soup, because I find I need more coverage with legume based soups -your diabetes may vary~ 

**The ingredients I used to make this soup were dairy and gluten free. 

Cookabetes: Grilled Asparagus Salad

It's pretty simple, I love to eat and I love to cook - not a huge fan of the cleanup. 

I especially like cooking for other people because.. well, I just do. 

But, I've been making a concentrated effort to make tasty meals for myself with as much zest as I do when I make meals for my friends. 

And with the advent of smart phones; facebook, twitter, and instagram, I've been known to post pictures of some of my creations online. 

And a lot of people have reached out and asked me to post more recipes on the blog  - which is very flattering and most incredibly cool.

Ironically, all who have requested more recipes on the blog have expressed that they don't want "diabetes friendly," recipes - which is one of the reasons that they like my food posts.

And I totally get that. 

Personally, I don't set out to make "diabetes friendly," recipes - I set out to make foods I'm interested in eating - many of those meals are healthy - and some, not so much. 

But as long as I'm being honest, I've been known to refer to my cooking as "cookabetes," 

because: 

 1.The person cooking these meals,(me,) has diabetes 

2. You all know how much I dig a good diabetes play on words.

Anyway, here's a recipe for a really tasty roasted asparagus salad. 

Was it easy on the blood sugars? 

Yep, it was. 

But this salad was even easier on the taste buds...some might even say it was diabetesalicious~ 

I made this and it was effing amazing~

Ingredients for the Grilled Asparagus salad

Grilled Baby asparagus or regular asparagus - as much you feel like eating
and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic.

Lettuce that you like and will eat

Raw red and or sweet onions

Tomatoes -diced or quartered 

Sweet and spicy peppers 

Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Ingredients For The Vinaigrette 

2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of red, white, or balsamic vinegar 

1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice 

1 or 2 tablespoons of diced raw onions - FTR, I used 2 tablespoons red onions

2 or more tablespoons of pitted and chopped kalameta olives 

3 tablespoons of crumbled french feta cheese 
Sidebar: I find French feta to be much creamier than Greek Feta and I prefer it.

 ** for those who are dairy free, Trader Joe's baked savory tofu is an excellent replacement for the feta 

1 clove of chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of honey 

1 teaspoon of dried oregano/ 3 or four stalks of fresh oregano 

1/4 a teaspoon of dried parsley - make sure you make it powder like - I think it tastes better that way
Dill to taste

Sea salt and pepper - as much or as little as you like. 

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake like you just don't care. 

Take the grilled asparagus and place on a plate of clean lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. 

Pour some dressing over the salad. 

EAT. 

PS: The leftover vinaigrette also tastes really good on grilled chicken. 

I don't believe that there's a lot of carbs in this salad - Personally, I bolused for 20 grams of carbs, but I also added a small italian roll to the mix - that's what the majority of my bolus went towards.

But as always, your diabetes may vary~

Hope you enjoy like it!