BCG's (Bacon, Cheese, and Guacamole)

These sandwiches are SO good! On Rustic Faux-Wheat Bread, Green beans, and Hot Buttered Sweet "Rice".

6 net carbs.

Chocolate PB Protein Shake

It's 3pm and I realized I didn't eat lunch. Not because I was hungry, but because I was thinking about my protein macros for the day and realized I would be way short. D'oh!

I try not to use protein powders and bars often, but there are times they come in handy. I just threw this together... it's not thick, but it is delicious!

Disclosure: I wouldn't give this to Samuel - he spikes from whey protein, but I decided to still post because 1) some T1's do fine with it and 2) lots of people reading this just choose to be LC/Keto that aren't T1. This would be great for those people.

1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop LC chocolate protein powder (vanilla is good too!)
2 Tbsp (32g) PB
Pinch of salt
Splash of SF salted caramel syrup
I blended with an immersion blender. Or use a regular blender.

6 net carbs and 36g protein (depending on your PB and protein powder).

Jordan's Skinny Syrups

Sugar-free syrups in a ton of flavors!  

You can find these locally at some store.  You can order online directly from Jordan's, but the best price I've found is from this bar supply company...

Being a Kid

Found a new photo app that's really fun! Photo Grid. For another T1 project... an article that our family will be featured in.

T1 Project Collage

Just a cute collage I made for a T1 project. 

Pork Roast

Pork? Yes please! And enough for leftovers all week. LC made easy.

Fresh ham roast brined for 24 hours and then smoked on the charcoal grill.

Blueberry Hard Seltzer

12 oz lemon lime seltzer (or plain)
2 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz (or to taste) sugar-free blueberry syrup

Gently stir.

Fried Halloumi Cheese Sticks

Halloumi cheese is pretty cool. It's semi-soft like mozzarella, but made from sheep's milk and it has a high melting point which makes it great for frying into cheese sticks. If you can't find Halloumi, look for Bread Cheese - it's made from cows milk but nearly identical and often available in different flavors

Just cut it into sticks, drop in hot oil (I use lard) and fry a couple of minutes per side. The outside gets crispy while the inside stays a little gooey. Great as a side or snack! I make a spicy ranch for dipping or heat up some LC marinara sauce.

Available at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or other places that carry artisan cheeses.

Hot dogs, green beans and fried halloumi

Grilled hot dogs, green beans and fried halloumi cheese sticks with spicy ranch. 

(I have a post with instructions on frying halloumi. Just search "halloumi".)

6 net carbs.

Library Excitment!

Take THAT library adrenaline!

Corner Pub & Grill in St. Louis (West County)

We tried a new restaurant really close to my kids dentist office (5 minutes away). Pre-bolused as we were leaving the dentist. I set a stopwatch on my watch as soon as I bolus when we're out to keep close tabs on elapsed time. By the time we got there, ordered, etc, the salads were served 33 minutes later... perfect for us! Rest of the food served at 40 minutes. I have to admit this takes some practice to do. And sometimes there is a delay and I have give him a Sweetart or two to buy some time, but it doesn't happen often. I find this works so much better than waiting to bolus at the restaurant.

I bolused just a tiny bit more than I would at home (0.5u of Regular vs. 0.4u) to account for the unknown and he did great. Very pleased for a new restaurant trial. I think Samuel's face shows he liked it... haha.

Pic of graph is from lunch bolus until we got home. 2 small snacks included too.

Meat & Cheese Snack

Found these at Wal-Mart today. I was shopping and hungry (bad combo!), but didn't feel like stopping at a restaurant... I just needed a something to tide me over until I got home.

The sopressata has a tiny bit of sugar, but only 1 carb for the whole pack. 2 carbs for both and 23g of protein. Not too shabby... definitely could do worse when in a pinch while out.

Herb Pastry Cones

How cute are these!?!

This is my Crispy Pizza dough recipe wrapped around pastry cones and baked. They're pretty crispy on the outside, but pastry-like in the middle. I plan to make tuna salad to fill the inside... all kinds of things would be fun though!

Camping food

Truth be told, camping trips are A LOT of prep work and stress me out a bit. Add the fact that we're camping with a 5 and 6 year old and well, it's not necessarily relaxing. But, I know the kids will remember these trips when they're older so I soldier on. 

☆Hot dogs, brats, burgers & T-bone steaks.
☆Cottage cheese, tomato cucumber salad, cole slaw, Greek zoodles, grilled zucchini, pork rinds with gualamole and ranch dip.
☆Enlightened low carb ice cream and German chocolate brownies.

Sweet Bread with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

A friend modified my Rustic Faux-Wheat Bread recipe to make a sweet bread and made a yummy pumpkin cream cheese spread to go on it. She sent it to me and we tried it today - delicious!

A few differences I noticed between this bread and the original:
 
1) It uses all almond flour, so it's more cake-like.
2) The protein powder is heavier so it causes the egg whites to deflate some. It just makes for a denser loaf.
3) Protein powders vary in carbs so make sure you modify the carb count for the powder you use. I listed what I thought an average would be.
4) This bread is considerably higher in protein than the original. Make sure you count for that when you bolus.

 

 

CGM Experiment #2. Non-D daugher, 15 months younger than my T1 son

After my CGM experiment a month ago, I was feeling pretty good about Samuel's fluctuations because I saw similar on myself. However comparing a 40 year old female to a 6 year old child wasn't apples to apples. So, Evie agreed to wear a CGM and endure finger pricks to see how a child with a fully functioning pancreas works.

Honestly, I was a little bummed about the results. Not because of her results... they're awesome!! But because I realized I'm not as good of a human pancreas as I thought I was. BUT, Samuel is stable - he has the lowest A1c and Standard Deviation that we can achieve and I have to humble myself and remember... I am NOT a pancreas.

So with all that disclosed, here are her results. Remember, she eats IDENTICAL to her brother... 18 net carbs per day.

The first report shows all of her stats for the whole 2 weeks. Black info are actual finger pricks, blue are CGM sensor readings. Data at the bottom shows highs, lows, and standard deviation. Her 2 week average was 83 (finger pricks) /77 (CGM) mg/dL with a standard deviation of 6/10.

As a comparison, Samuel's stats for this same 2 weeks, eating the EXACT same foods, were 86/82 mg/dL with a standard deviation of 23. Interesting overall BG is pretty close, but not nearly as tight of control.

 

Evie's week 1 CGM sensor readings.

 

Evie's week 2 CGM sensor readings.


  
Samuel's 2 week summary eating identical foods to Evie.

  

 

Cheese-stuffed, Bacon-wrapped Hotdogs

Cheese-stuffed, Bacon-wrapped Hotdogs, grilled zucchini and green beans.

▪Slice cheese stick into 4 thin slices.
▪Slice hotdogs almost all the way through not quite to the ends.
▪Stuff cheese in and wrap with bacon. Use toothpicks to hold it.
▪Fry in pan until bacon is done to your taste. Tip: start frying with cheese side down. Turn hotdog to cook on all 4 sides (remove or move toothpicks as you go). By the time the cheese starts melting it should mostly be cheese side up so it doesn't ooze out.

We just eat these as a finger food.

Pepperoni & Cheddar Stuffed Peppers

Split a sweet pepper in half, put 1 or 2 pepperoni inside and top with cheddar. 

Grill or bake in toaster oven for about 5 minutes.

Camp Food

Mother's Day weekend kicked off our camping season. Although I use the term "camping" loosely.

About a year ago we realized we really hadn't taken any vacations since Samuel's diabetes dx and it was really taking it's toll on us as a family. My husband and I decided we needed to find a way to get away without compromising quality LC food and still be cost effective.

Our solution was to make an investment in a 31' RV, so we have a full kitchen- freezer, fridge, microwave, stove so we can take everything we need. We get away about 6 long weekends now and have lots of fun (well, as much fun as you can have with a 5 & 6 yo) and still stay on top if T1 diabetes.

A few foods from this weekend:
Sausage, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches
Hot dogs, brats, burgers, steak & zucchini kabobs
Egg salad, coleslaw, chips, guacamole & dip
Desserts I pulled from my freezer stash.
Fun drinks like Bai, diet soda, chocolate almond milk

Breakfast On-the-Go!

Sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches.

☆ I use my Rustic Faux-Wheat Buns, sliced. (Two pieces of my herbed flatbread works well too!)
☆ Make up some large 4oz sausage patties (tip: grill them outside to keep your kitchen clean!)
☆ Top with a fried egg and cheese.
☆ Wrap up in foil and throw in the freezer. Pull out as needed and microwave for a couple of minutes (sans foil, of course).

Great for camping breakfasts too, which is mostly what I make these for. Very filling since each Rustic Faux-Wheat Bun is equivalent to 2 slices of bread.

3 net carbs.

My Non-D CGM Experiment

Thought some might find the results of my CGM experiment interesting. I'm a 40 yo Non-D, but wore a CGM for 2 weeks to see what it was like for my son and see what type of numbers I'd get.

Background: I'm LC at all times (actually Keto). My typical macros for a day are: <20 carbs, 100+g protein, 75g fat. This first report shows all of my stats for the whole two weeks. Black info is actual finger pricks, blue are CGM sensor readings. Data at the bottom shows highs, lows and standard deviation.

My 2 week average was 98/95 mg/dL. This is consistent with my last A1c of 5.0% too.

 

First week of CGM sensor readings per hour. (Ladies - this week also included my monthly cycle.)

(Note regarding CGM lows... I think they were all compression lows. I never experienced a finger prick as low as the CGM showed at times. The longer I wore it, the less compression lows I got... probably just a learning curve.)

 

Second week of CGM sensor readings per hour.

  

CGM Experiment #2 Underway!

Samuel's Non-D little sister is only 15 months younger than him. In theory, she is our best example of what his body would/should be doing if it weren't afflicted with an autoimmune disease - Type 1 Diabetes.

The day my husband and I finished reading Dr. Bernstein's book Diabetes Solution, we knew we had a long term goal. That goal was to give Samuel normal blood sugars mimicking his sister as closely as we could. We've gotten close... her A1c is 4.4 ... his is 4.5. But we don't know what happens with her blood sugar on an hour-by hour-by basis. We don't know what her standard deviation is. There is a lot we can learn from her.

After much discussion and waiting (and after seeing me wear a sensor for 2 weeks recently) she has agreed to wear one to help us learn more about what bloood sugar activity looks like on a 5 year old with a perfectly functioning pancreas.

I'm really excited to see the results of this experiment and for her to experience a tiny bit of what her brother has to deal with each day.

She can be a bit of a drama queen (go figure!) so I'm hoping she'll keep this sensor on for 2 full weeks. Wish us luck! 

Local Cafe

I've been wanting to try a new restaurant in our small town (Black Bird Cafe). I looked at their menu online and found a few things that looked promising. I called and explained my son is T1 and we don't eat sugar. I asked about their burgers (do they contain bread crumbs?) and their grilled chicken (is it brined/marinated in sugar or orange juice?) And they assured me they didn't, so we tried it.

I pre-bolused Regular as we were leaving the library (5 minutes away) and headed there. We each got 1/3 lb double cheeseburgers with no buns and a grilled chicken salad that we split. 

Lunch was delicious and the restaurant is adorable like a cottage tea room. I was a little worried he'd get a protein spike a few hours later, but all was well. The graph at the bottom shows from the time I bolused for lunch until I bolused at dinner. He averaged 78 all afternoon. He had a brief rise to 92, but then came down on this own. I ❤ having new restaurant options!

Smoked sausage lunch

Smoked sausage (with Walden Farms 0 carb BBQ sauce), Grilled Zucchini Caprese Roll-up's, and Hot Buttered Sweet "Rice".

6 net carbs.

Grilled Zucchini Caprese Roll-up's

These were really good! I used jalapeño cheese snack sticks and just cut it into little bits. I also added salt, pepper and herbs to the zucchini before rolling it up (I like veggies REALLY well seasoned). I didn't make a dipping sauce and didn't think it needed it... zucchini stays really moist when grilled.

Recipe and a video!...

http://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/2015/06/grilled-zucchini-caprese-roll-ups.html

Huddle House

I have to admit I've always had this thing against Huddle House. I always has this idea in my head that the place would be full of chain smokers and I'd slip and fall from greasy floors. I have no idea why I thought this.

The kids and I tried it for the first time about a month ago because it was a last resort. And while they don't have a lot of LC items, we did find a few. And the staff (at least at ours) is super friendly and accommodating!

This is 2 Grilled Chicken Salads - no onions and tomatoes on the side so I could portion out - that we split 3 ways (staff did this for me!). And 2 sides of bacon (but they gave me 3 because the waitress said the pieces were too small, lol). And yes, I really did bring my own dressing into the restaurant. They have packaged Italian that is pretty LC though (4 carbs).

If we had this at home, this would be a 4 carb meal, but here I have to bolus more... approx 8-10 carbs. But it works for us and the meal is simple, but really good!

Be Prepared!

I wasn't a Girl Scout, but I am prepared! Or wait, was that the Boy Scouts? 

Oh well, it doesn't matter. The point is.... I was prepared... for dessert. 

Sunday is our family dessert day, but I'm out for some Mommy-alone-time again. Eating LC food while out is pretty easy, but dessert? Not so much. So I brought a German Chocolate Brownie with me and stopped to get some coffee to go with it. Delicious and no bad temptations!

Cheeseburger on a Rustic Faux-Wheat Bun

Cheeseburger on a Rustic Faux-Wheat Bun, Italian zoodles & cherry tomatoes, deviled egg.

6 net carbs and 40g protein.

Rustic Faux-Wheat Buns

My Rustic Faux-Wheat Bread recipe made into buns. They were nice and firm - they'd hold up to a juicy burger well.

The recipe would make 1 loaf and 8 buns or 16 buns. So each bun is equivalent to 2 slices of bread... 2.5 net carbs.

They don't spread much so form them into the shape/size you want before baking. I baked in a greased, glass pie dish. Bake at the same temp as the bread recipe states for about 30 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool in the oven just like the bread.

Tip... if you make a loaf and buns at the same time, put the loaf in, let it bake for 30 minutes, then add the buns, bake for another 30 minutes, and then turn the oven off.

Here's a link to the bread/bun recipe:
https://happyhealthythriving.blogspot.com/2017/10/rustic-faux-wheat-bread.html?m=1

Jimmy John's Unwich

Order any sub as an "unwich" - a lettuce wrap with lettuce leaves as big as your head and always super fresh and crunchy. Big dill pickles for a side. (I sometimes sneak in a bag of Quest protein chips too).

Their website has an awesome nutrition calculator to play with ingredients to see carb and protein content.

Diluting Insulin

So what exactly is diluting?  It's simply making insulin weaker. Why would you want to dilute?  Because insulin in its full-strength form is often too strong for infants, recently-diagnosed kids, or even some adults that are very sensitive to insulin.

With most doctors pushing massive amounts of carbs and insulin, diluting insulin has long been forgotten. However, it's a super useful tool for low carb eating, especially for small kids. Diluting allows you to give as small as a 0.1u dose accurately. It also allows you to do tiny corrections much sooner to avoid spikes.  For example, if 1u (unit) of Novolog/Humalog drops your child 300mg/dL, how would do correct a high of say 140mg/dL?  You couldn't safely without diluted insulin.  But with diluted insulin, you could safely and accurately dose 0.2u which would drop your child down to 80mg/dL which is EXACTLY in the middle of normal range for a child (normal for a child is 60 - 100mg/dL).

 

NovoNordisk makes a diluting medium (also called diluent) for Novolog, Novolin-R (aka "Regular"), and Levemir. Here is the NovoNordisk diluting medium:

Some of you with a keen eye will notice the diluent above states for use with Novolog only. But above I stated it can also be used for Novolin-R and Levemir too.  What's up with that?!  This took a TON (and I mean a TON!) of research to figure out.  The long story short is that the diluent they make isn't "marketed" to be used with Novolin-R and Levemir in the US, but it CAN be used. All 3 NovoNordisk insulins have the same pH therefore can all be diluted.  In fact, it is "marketed" as such in other countries and the box clearly states so.  Below is a picture I received from a friend in Australia that also lists Levemir.  Dr. Richard Bernstein confirmed this with NovoNordisk also!

Lilly makes a diluent for Humalog and Humulin-R. To my knowledge there is NO way to dilute Lantus basal insulin.  Here is the Lilly diluting medium:

For Novolog/Novolin-R/Levemir your pharmacist/doctor/RN calls NovoNordisk and asks for a "Diluent Form" to be faxed over (or print the copy I have below). They fill it out, fax it back, and NovoNordisk sends it to the pharmacy. It takes just a few days to get. 

 
For Humalog/Humulin-R, the pharmacist/doctor/RN can email a request to lilly_distribution@lilly.com or call 800-821-0538.  (Note: patients used to be able to email asking for the diluting medium to be sent to their pharmacy, but Lilly has stopped this practice and states a pharmacist, doctor, or RN must do it.  Every once in a while I hear of a patient still successfully doing this, but not very often anymore.)
 

Be prepared... you may have a hard time finding a pharmacy that even knows what diluent is because of today's massive insulin doses. Local, Mom & Pop type pharmacies are often the most accommodating. Compounding pharmacies will also usually know what it is.  Be persistent!

You can dilute right in the diluent bottle, but if you don't want to waste diluent, sterile empty vials can be provided by your pharmacy (mine does), you can order from medical supply companies, or even from Amazon. Ordering these doesn't require a prescription so you can get them from whatever source you choose.  Here's what they look like:

Once you have diluting tools in hand, you can dilute insulin to whatever strength you want.  My favorite diluting ratio is 4:1, which means you have 4 parts diluent and 1 part insulin (5 parts in total - remember this "5 parts"... it will be important later).  Or another way to think if this ratio is that it's a 20% strength.  This works particularly well with syringes with half unit markings because each half unit that you draw up into the syringe, you're actually only dosing 0.1u of insulin.  So for example if you want to give a dose of 0.3u, then you'll draw up 1.5u into the syringe (0.3u x 5 parts = 1.5u).

 

The math to make a 4:1 ratio in a vial looks something like this:  Inject 400u of diluting medium into your empty vial.  Then inject 100u of insulin into the vial. (That's 4 parts diluting medium and 1 part insulin = 5 parts total.)  Gently swirl around to mix.  Depending on the size of your empty vial, that will make about a 1/4 of a vial of diluted insulin.  To make larger batches, you would inject 800u of diluting medium and 200u of insulin. Or 1200u of diluting medium and 300u of insulin. Get it?  It's not really about how much insulin or diluting medium you put in.  It's about keeping each to a 4:1 ratio.  You can make as little or as much as you want following this ratio.  Note: my pharmacy gives me large 3mL syringes to transfer this much insulin quickly.  Otherwise it will take a while.

 

Here is a video to show you how to do the actual diluting...  Diabetes University: Session 27 - Diluting Insulin

 

Now... what about those of you that use insulin pens/cartridges?  That can be diluted too!  You do have to do this a bit differently though.  Here's what I do:  

Draw out the amount of insulin needed from the cartridge (don't inject air) for whatever ratio you want to do. (I transfer what I draw out into my Novolog/Novolin-R vial to not waste it!). Then you inject the same amount of diluting medium that you drew out of insulin. When the syringe is still in the cartridge, pull the plunger out and it will release any extra pressure.

Roll and tip the pen around a few times to mix. A few air bubbles will get in there from the transfer process so you just do a few "airshots" to get excess air out.

 

Here are a couple of math examples.  Insulin pen cartridges are 3mL (which is 300 units) so keep that in mind as we do the math.  

 

If I want to make a 4:1 ratio for corrections (remember that is 5 parts total), I'll pull out 240u of insulin and put in 240u of diluting medium.  NovoPen Echo pens can dose in half unit increments, so just like in my example with vials above, for every half unit I dial, you're only dosing 0.1u of insulin.  So if I want to do a 0.4u correction, I would dial up 2u (because 0.4u x 5 parts = 2.0u)

Ok, now the Novolin-R Flex pens.  They unfortunately can only dose in 1u increments in the US.  But most kids aren't as sensitive to Regular insulin so being able to dose in half unit increments is usually small enough, so I'll do the math for a 1:1 ratio.  But if you need to dilute it more, by all means, do!  So to make a 1:1 ratio (2 parts in total), all I need to do is pull out 150u of insulin and put in 150u of diluting medium.  Now for every 1u that I dial up, only half a unit (0.5u) is being dosed.  So if I want to give a dose of 1.5u I would dial up 3u (because 1.5u x 2 parts = 3u).

Now... I acknowledge that having different insulins in different ratios can be confusing and it's important to keep them straight!  Our 'home' vials use a color coding system to visually keep them straight, so we use the same colors for our pens while we're on the go.  Since implementing this system, we've never accidentally mis-dosed!  Fingers crossed!

These are our "home" insulin vials:

 

And here are our "to-go" pens:

 

Here is the form your Pharmacist will call to get, fill out, and fax back to get your free NovoNordisk diluent and steps on what they must complete. (Updated 3/16/22)

When In Doubt...

Sometimes I'm not confident we'll have a LC option when it's time to eat. When this happens I just pack a simple LC meal and take it with us!

Bread Pudding w/ Vanilla Cream Sauce

I'm SO happy with how this came out! I looked at a bunch of recipes and couldn't find exactly what I was after, so I set out to make an original recipe. The base of this recipe is Rustic Faux-Wheat or Swedish bread, so it's of course grain-free and low carb, but you have to make that first. Then you can make bread pudding! The kids declared it their favorite dessert!  4 net carbs.

Easter Bunny Cookie Sandwiches

Shortbread cookie recipe cut into bunny shapes. Filled with my chocolate espresso mousse (sandwich cookies recipe) and frozen. Decorated with butter cream icing (birthday cake recipe halved) and more chocolate espresso mousse. Super rich and very big! Only 5 net carbs! (Kids could only eat half.)

Use the search feature to find each recipe in this blog.

Easter 2017

We had a great day that was focused on Jesus, family, and fun; not food. That's not to say we didn't have great food, it just wasn't the focus.

Easter baskets contained no candy. Easter egg hunt had small toys and money, no candy. Lunch was our normal LC fare, but with super cute LC Easter Bunny Chocolate Espresso Cookie Sandwiches! Afternoon was dying eggs and playing games. The evening was spent focusing more on Jesus... we watched a kids "What's in the Bible with Buck Denver" and read from the Bible about Jesus' resurrection. After the kids were in bed, Daddy and I watched a sermon online for us.

A fantastic day with fantastic BG. BG was between 74-105 all day. That's a blessing alone!

Happy Saturday morning!