Easter 2018

My kiddos non-food themed Easter baskets. Filled with stuffed animals, stickers, trinket-toys, What's in the Bible DVD's, t-shirts & art supplies.  There's a small bag in there of 7 homemade 0-carb chocolates.

Reality Check

I've "felt" like our control has been off. Colds, flu, growth, winter blues, etc. I decided to do a home A1c to see if how I feel has any validity.

A1c is up a tad at 4.8, but still fine. Standard Deviation not as tight as it has been so hopefully being past sickness will help that. Not as bad as I feared.

This is his 6th straight A1c in the 4's. 10th in a row at 5.0% or less.

Low Carb Easter Chocolates

We try not to make food the focus of celebrations, but I do like to include special treats so 1) my kids don't feel left out or deprived and 2) to teach them that just about anything can be made delicious and still be low carb. 

The kids Easter baskets are primarily non-food items, but I did want them to have a few pieces of chocolate. I made these 0 net carb chocolates by melting KNOW brand chocolate chips (sweetened with allulose) in a bowl over simmering water. Put in an Easter mold and threw it in the fridge for the day. Popped them out and put in little baggies. I'll put them in their Easter baskets Sunday morning. 10 - 15 minutes of work and no blood sugar spikes. WIN!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Martini

5 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz Jordan's Sugar-free Peanut Butter Cup syrup
1/2 oz heavy cream

Shake above with ice and strain into martini glass. You can either prep martini glass with sugar-free chocolate syrup and/or peanut butter sauce.

To make peanut butter sauce, at VERY low heat, microwave 1 tsp creamy PB with a few drops of water (stirred) for a few seconds, stir, then drizzle in glass.

About 1 - 1.5 net carb(s).

Low Carb Irish Coffee

Today was beautiful and sunny and then it quickly turned cold and gloomy, which made me want something warm to drink. This hit the spot!

8 oz hot coffee
2 oz Irish Whiskey
1 oz Jordan's Sugar-free Irish Cream syrup

Add above to coffee and stir. Top with homemade whipped cream sweetened with more of the Irish Cream syrup. 💋

Heath Bar Martini

1 oz Jordan's Sugar-free Toffee syrup
1/2 oz Jordan's Sugar-free Mocha syrup
1 1/2 oz vodka (or chocolate vodka!)
6 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Prep martini glass by drizzling a little sugar-free chocolate syrup in the glass. Shake over ice and strain into prepped glass.

Less than 1 net carb! 

Bread Baking Tip

The next time you have your ingredients out to make low carb bread, take a few extra minutes to pre-bag the dry ingredients for several loaves. Then all you have to do each time you want to make bread is to mix up the wet ingredients and bake!

The dry ingredients for 3 loaves of my Rustic Faux Wheat bread fits in a quart bag. I make up 4 of these bags at a time.

Five Guys

Five Guys double pattie, double cheese burger bowl. Lettuce, tomato, pickle, grilled mushrooms (for me; none for Samuel), green peppers, mayo and mustard on the side.

Hardees 1/3 lb Thickburger with Cheese Combos

✅ No bun - subbed a low carb lettuce wrap. No ketchup, no onions.
✅ Subbed a side salad instead of fries.
✅ Diet Coke - a special treat for them.

Happiest 2 kiddos in the restaurant despite no fries, cookies or milkshakes.

Iced Chocolate Mocha Martini

🔸🔸This can be made alcoholic or virgin! 🔸🔸

Holy moly, this might be my favorite drink concoction yet! 1.5 net carbs!

1 Tbsp Jordan's Skinny Mocha Syrup
1 Tbsp Hershey's Sugar-free Syrup
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 - 2 oz vodka (optional, omit to make virgin)
2 oz cold espresso or strong coffee
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

Prep martini glass by drizzling a little more Hershey's Sugar-free Syrup inside. Shake well over ice and strain into chocolate-prepped martini glass.

Apple Martini

2 parts Jordan's Skinny Appletini Syrup
1 part vodka
Shake well with ice and strain into martini glass.

0 carbs!

 

Low Carb Corn Dogs

We've been having lots of fun lately with low carb corn dogs (and other fun fillings).
I most frequently fill with hotdogs, sausage links, mozzarella cheese and cinnamon "apple" zucchini. 

 

KNOW Foods

Low carb pre-made foods are a rare find. I recently ordered a variety of things from KNOW foods to try. KNOW foods are non-GMO and FREE of grains, wheat, gluten, dairy, peanuts and soy. They're made from things like almonds, coconut, eggs whites, flaxseed and chia. The sweetener is allulose which isn't supposed to be digestible. I bolus for the net carbs and have had no spike.
Here's my thoughts on what we've tried:

Vanilla marshmallows - not much flavor and weird texture. Kids like though. I keep in freezer and cut into 8 mini marshmallows for hot cocoa.

Cracker thins - at first thought they tasted burnt, but decided it's actually a nutty almost gingery taste. We like with ranch dip or a sweetened cream cheese dip.

Cookies - 4 flavors - not sure why they're called cookies - they're really like muffin tops. Not a ton of flavor. The kids like these, but hubby and I don't at all. These are HUGE - kids have only had a 1/4 if one.

Mini Chocolate Chips - really good. I like these way better than Lily's chips!

Wraps - good texture and feel. Minimal taste, but that's to be expected so you taste what's inside. These don't really "wrap" or they break. More like a folded pita.

"Maple" syrup - No one likes this, not even the kids. And my kids like almost everything!

The biggest issue is price - $10 for each of these small bags, but I had a 20% off coupon and got free shipping so look for deals! https://knowfoods.com/

Diabetic Alert Seatbelt Cover

I've been meaning to get one of these for a long time. Samuel wears a diabetes alert bracelet or necklace 24/7, but in the event of a car accident where he and I are unconscious, I wanted something very visible.

I ordered this from a company called HelpBelts.com on Etsy for $12 that included shipping. If you search something like 'diabetes seatbelt' on Etsy you'll find a few different sellers/styles. This one is a faux-suede, snaps closed and has a pocket inside to store a medical info sheet. I don't love the medical sheet that came with it, so I'll make/print my own customized one.

This is the "standard" wording, but they also customize. They also make them for autism, epilepsy, etc.

Teaching Willpower

Teaching willpower to my 6 yo... Lol.

We both had taco salads at a Mexican restaurant - ate just the insides - not even a nibble of the crispy, crunchy wheat flour shell. 💪💪💪

And Evie ordered an "Unsweet" tea. The waiter made us clarify 4(!) times that she meant Unsweet. I guess kids don't order that a lot in our town?

Starbucks in a Can

Found this little gem at Wal-Mart while running errands this morning. I've since found it at several gas stations.  Most Starbucks drinks have 36+ carbs. Even the other varieties of these little Doubleshot Espresso cans are 18 carbs. But this one is only 5 carbs!

Hardees/Red Burrito

Fast and low carb. 5 tacos from Hardees/Red Burrito dumped out of their shells. This was way more meat than I was expecting, probably a good 6-7 oz. Decent if in a pinch.

A1c From a Different Perspective

A friend of mine made this great graph for us. The horizontal dotted lines are blood sugar/glucose (BG) averages - the green line is a healthy BG. Notice the T1D Exchange average A1c is 8.4%. T1D Exchange is the largest repository of T1 data - meaning the average T1's BG average is 8.4% when it should be about 5.0%.

All the numbers on the squiggly blue line are Samuel's A1c's since diagnosis 6 years ago - our journey. The vertical lines are major milestones on our journey. Some were better moves than others - but we learned from them all. I don't compare Samuel to any other T1 - his journey is his unique story.

One thing to keep in mind about diabetes is that having diabetes doesn't by default mean you'll have complications. High BG and sharp high/low swings are the cause of damage. When your pancreas stops working a memo ISN"T sent to the rest of the body telling it start slowly failing. Your body doesn't know if BG is being maintained by the pancreas or insulin injected via a syringe.

Being a human pancreas isn't easy. But I can't think of anything more important for my sons long term health than keeping his BG as close to a non-diabetics as I can.

 

Low-carb Roll-out Pie Dough

It looks a little intimidating, but it's really easy and a very forgiving dough. It can also be made ahead of time.  "Apple" pie is shown, but could be filled with whatever you want.  You could even use to make savory pies (you might want to omit the sweetener).

This pie is built in a few stages, which also makes it easy to prep for a busy holiday.

I made the bottom crust, baked it and put in the fridge overnight. I also made the "apple" filling the day before. 

On serving day, I put the "apples" in the crust. I pulled the top dough from the fridge, rolled it out, covered the filling and baked again.

 

Sausage Gravy & Egg Breakfast Pizza

• Crispy Low Carb Pizza Crust. Used sage as the spice (search blog for pizza crust).
• Top with sausage gravy. I cook it to reduce it down so it's quite thick. (search blog for sausage gravy)
• Bake at 400° for about 8-10 minutes until sausage gravy is a bit bubbly.
• Top with over easy eggs (or however you like your eggs) and crumbled bacon.

I make the pizza crust and the sausage gravy the day before to make quick assembly in the morning.

Ruby Tuesday for the Win

My dinner date. 

We started with a salad and raw veggies - dressing for his salad was just vinegar & oil.

He had grilled chicken (no sauce) and grilled zucchini.

I had blackened fish and baked brussel sprouts with white cheddar, bacon and sauteed onions. He had a few of my brussel sprouts, but I was careful to avoid onions (spike city for him).

I mostly just ate the salad l so I had enough leftover for a light lunch too.

A1c = 4.7%

Yesterday I posted that I was reviewing data to prep for our Endo appt today. All went really well and my A1c prediction was spot on - 4.7%.

The best parts about today's visit...

Our Endo...
📌  had no issues and only praise.
📌  spent a good amount of time with a med student in the room explaining what we do, why, & our results.
📌  agreed that I can refer her as a pediatric doctor that supports low carb, alternative insulins - Regular, Tresiba, etc.
📌  she's VERY excited to read a soon-to-be-released Harvard study done on low carb diabetes management to share with colleagues.

Low Carb Angel Food Cake

My husband is an angel food cake snob. Or perhaps I should say connoisseur. Last year for his birthday I made 7 (yes, 7!) different low carb angel food cake recipes and we honestly didn't like any of them. He came to me last week asking if I'd try again. This time I decided to try my hand at developing my own recipe. Since there isn't regular flour in it, I needed to find something for the structure of the cake so I turned to protein powder. I thought my snob, er, connoisseur would object, but he really liked it!

T1 Friends - this is LC, but high in protein so take that into account when bolusing. Protein powders vary so recalculate for yours. For reference, mine is 3 carbs and 27g of protein per scoop (35g), so with the egg whites that make each slice of cake <1 carb and 9g of protein!

This recipe is really simple! But you do need to be patient. Angel Food cakes are known for deflating (even flour ones) so follow the baking and cooling techniques to hopefully keep falling to a minimum. And even if it does, it still tastes great! Besides, whipped cream covers a multitude of sins! 

In order to get a good rise and avoid deflating, be sure to not over beat the eggs/protein powder mix in step 6!

Here are a few step by step pics.....

Vanilla already added. Now adding the dry ingredients a bit at a time...

 

The egg whites will deflate some from adding the dry ingredients... that's okay.  Just get the dry ingredients incorporated... don't over-beat at this point!!!...

 

After 40 - 45 minutes of baking... you want a deep golden brown. If in doubt, let it go the full 45 minutes so the inside gets done.  It will deflate some as it cools!...

 

Then invert and finish baking like this.  If your pan doesn't have "legs" the cake doesn't rise higher than the pan edges so you should still be able to invert - the cake itself shouldn't fall out. If you have 2 or 3 little ramekins (or anything oven-proof) you could place them on the stone/cookie sheet and set the pan on those so air can get underneath...

Low Carb Eclairs

I used my handy-dandy corn dog maker to make some fun desserts!

I didn't fill with cream like a traditional eclair, but that would be delicious too. These are filled with cinnamon "apples", Walden Farms 0 carb strawberry jelly, and 0 net carb KNOW chocolate chips. Topped with melted KNOW chips and powdered Swerve. 

I added 1/8 cup Walden Farms pancake syrup (to the recipe below) to sweeten up the batter, but you could just added extra sweetener of your choice.

 

Halloween Mini-Cupcakes

This is my birthday cake & butter cream frosting recipe (search the blog). I just added 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and baked in a mini muffin pan for 20-25 minutes. I halved the icing recipe and it was plenty! 

This would have made 26, but I put the last 2 in a mini loaf pan (as a test). After cooling, I split the loaf in half and put some frosting in between. Both versions turned out great.
The stems are Lily's chocolate chips. 1 net carb each.

Kids Starbuck's Drink

Samuel's first time to Starbucks on the way to today's Endo appt.

He got a Passion Tea, minus the liquid sugar cane, with 3 pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup. We tested it before even a sip - Diastix sitting on top shows they made it correctly. He LOVED it.

I got a latte made with HWC and 6 pumps sugar-free cinnamon dolce syrup.

BG at Starbucks was 93. BG an hour later at Endo office was 93. YAY for no spikes!

 

Homemade Jello

This is a variation of my gummies recipe (recipe here). Its practically 0 carbs for a small serving.

I always add sugar-free syrup to this for added flavor and I use 1 less packet of gelatin (3 instead of 4) so its not as hard as the gummies. I let it cool a bit and then put it in disposable, lidded cups so I can pack it for lunches out. 

Endo Appt Prep

Prepping for our bi-annual Endo appt tomorrow. I like looking at all my data to get an idea of things our Endo might point out or have concerns about and to guesstimate his A1c. I don't see anything I think will concern her and guess A1c will be 4.7 - maybe 4.6.

Standard Deviation (SD) has been a challenge for us since summer - either from growth or sickness or who knows what. SD is still in the 20's, but too high - I'll continue to work on pulling this back down.

No matter what, this guy is still a Superman to me!
 

Peaches & Cream Cocktail

1 1/2 oz peach vodka
1 oz sugar-free peach syrup
1 oz heavy cream
3 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Shake well and serve over ice. 1 net carb.

Slow Cooker Chili

I simply can't do without chili during cool weather, but tomatoes can be a challenge for Samuel's blood sugar. I've revamped my recipe to include a reduced amount of tomatoes, but still has all the flavor. I use beef broth to up the flavor profile without adding any carbs. And no beans, of course.
I like to top with some cheese, sour cream and hot sauce. A decent size portion is only 3 net carbs. 

If I have both ground pork and beef, I like to mix it. But it's also great with just ground beef.

This can also be made in an Instant Pot!

we

Hubs Pub & Grill

Blackened catfish & grilled zucchini
Chicken kabobs & coleslaw

Rustic Faux-Wheat Bread

There are a lot of low carb breads out there.  The issue I had was that they were either bland, soggy, crumbly, gooey, or all of the above.  I set out on a quest to make a low carb bread that we didn't just like, but LOVED!  My requirements were that it needed to hold together for a sandwich, toast well, have good flavor and texture.  No small order!  This final recipe is the result after 18 test loaves of bread!

This is now my all-time favorite bread and the closest I've tasted to the real deal. Crunchy outside crust. Soft, but firm inside. Bigger size for sandwiches. Delicious toasted. I may be a little biased, but if I try to make a different bread, my kids ask "where is the real bread?".  That makes my ❤️ happy. 

I make 3 loaves at a time.  We eat one right away (store in fridge). I slice the other 2 loaves, put in freezer bags and freeze. You can pull a bag out to thaw in the fridge or just pull out a few slices at a time. Can be toasted when frozen.

 

No more stamp- sized, squat LC bread.  This bread really does get sandwich sized.  Here is a pic with a piece of American cheese... it's just about the same size!  This pic is also to show what it looks like made with all almond flour (no walnut meal).  This piece is toasted, but in general, it's lighter in color which might be more attractive to picky eaters.  

If you're new to low carb bread baking,or baking in general, read these tips and answers to frequently asked questions!

✔️ I PROMISE you... this bread isn't hard to make.  It's not exactly, dump, stir, & bake, but it isn't hard.  Just follow the recipe step by step.

✔️ Don't rush to make it.  I make sure I have about 30-40 minutes to make it (that's with 2 kids usually underfoot!).  I'm not a fast cook... that's okay.  Just take your time.

✔️ Baking powder goes bad fairly fast.  If you want a good rise, make sure yours is fresh.  If it's been lingering in your pantry for more than 6 months, buy fresh.

✔️ My favorite sized pan is 8.5" x 4.5".  I've also tested 8" x 4" and 9" x 5".  All work fine.

✔️ Accurate oven temp is important.  If you've never tested your oven, I'd recommend getting an over thermometer to check it's accuracy.  If your oven is off, it can be calibrated.  Just Google how to calibrate your make/model of oven.

✔️ More about your oven. Did you know...
If your oven beeps letting you know it's done pre-heating, chances are very good it's not actually up to 350° yet. In fact, I've NEVER had an oven that has been. My current oven is only at about 300° when it beeps...it needs another 20 minutes to get up to 350°.

✔️ The dough consistency is thick!  Really thick!  It's supposed to be. (You'll get an arm workout mixing it.)

✔️ Some psyllium husk powders have a tendency to turn purple when cooked, giving your a bread a purplish color.  Nothing is wrong if this happens.  Here are some brands that DON'T turn purple though:  NOW, Anthony's and Organic India.  Also, you want powder, not whole husks!

✔️ You can find ALL of the dry ingredients and the egg white protein powder on Amazon.

✔️ What if you want both regular bread and cinnamon bread out of the same batch?  Add your plain dough to your loaf pan(s) like normal.  Then add 1 tsp of cinnamon (per loaf) to the remaining dough and mix to incorporate, and then add to your pan.  (Ex: if I'm making 3 loaves and I want 1 to be cinnamon, I'll fill my 2 pans with the plain dough. Then add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the remaining batter.)

✔️ You can make the bread with or without the walnut meal/flour.  Making it with makes the bread more like a 100% whole wheat consistency.  Making it with all almond flour gives it a lighter appearance... more like a regular wheat bread.  I make both to change it up.

✔️ If you can't test your oven, but think it runs a little cool or are having issues with the bread collapsing, the bread can bake (even truly at 350°) for up to 1 hour 30 minutes and turns out great. This extra baking times is like insurance.

✔️ Don't get scared the top will burn during the 2 hour cool down.  If your oven is 350°, it will be fine.  The top does get very dark and crispy.  And delicious!

✔️ The 2 hour cool down is a minimum.  You can leave it longer.  Heck, often I make it at night, then just leave it in the oven overnight!

✔️ Time saving tip!  While you have all of your dry ingredients out, make up bags of dry mix to speed up weekday bread baking!  Details here:  Bagged Dry Mix blog post

✔️ Bake like a European.  Most countries bake by weight, not volume.  This is actually my preferred method too.  You may have noticed most of my recipes include cups and grams... this is why!  I can make this bread using a kitchen scale and only dirty a 1/4 cup measuring cup.  Just place your bowl on the scale, add your almond flour to the grams on the recipe and tare.  Add your walnut meal and tare.  Add your psyllium husk and tare.  And so on.  The only thing I have to measure with a measuring cup is my egg white protein powder.

Ingredients can vary some, but here are the macros for each slice of bread (made with the walnut meal) using my ingredients. (For total carb counters, this bread is about 3g per slice).

AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... 

THE RECIPE...

Recipe for 2 Loaves:

 Recipe for 3 Loaves:

(exact same recipe; I've just done the math for the ingredients to make a third loaf)

Skillet "Corn"Bread

This "corn"bread is darker than traditional, but it has a very similar taste and feel. It's grain-free and only about 2 net carbs per slice.
This is Southern-style so it has a crispy outside and soft interior, but not cakey (or gooey) .
I added an option to add sweetness in case you prefer Northern cornbread.

I've only tested this with a cast iron skillet. I think it would do okay in a nonstick skillet as long as it has a high oven temp rating, but it may not get quite as crispy. Unfortunately I don't own a nonstick skillet to test this for you. 

 

Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding

Not necessarily the prettiest dessert, but it's fast and easy. I serve with LC whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I consider this a side dish when not serving with whipped cream/ice cream. Leftovers go in to-go containers for lunches.

2.5 net carbs per serving.