Nuts & chocolate

Pecans, shelled peanuts and Lily chocolate. BG was on the lower side, so peanuts will bring him up a tad. I do shelled to slow the kids eating down some.

Note:  BG was low'ish, but not truly low.  When truly low, I only correct with glucose.

Chocolate Avocado Cookies

A few thoughts after making these a few times...

1) I use Walden Farms pancake syrup - 0 carbs
2) I used the optional vanilla and extra sweetener. I don't like stevia, so I used 2 Tbsp of birch xylitol. I thought it was too bitter without.
3) I put half the chocolate chips in the batter and sprinkle the rest on top. I use KNOW chocolate chips.
4) The recipe calls for 6 giant cookies. I made 12 smaller cookies, but still baked for 12-14 minutes.

https://www.sweetashoney.co/chocolate-avocado-cookies/

Simple Breakfast

3 scrambled eggs, hot "cereal", full-fat plain yogurt. 

6 net carbs and 31g protein.

Colton's Steakhouse

Steak - no sauce, cauliflower, broccoli and a few carrots.  Colton's also has buckets of peanuts on the table.  We let Samuel partake, but we include that in his meal/bolus and limit it to just a few.

No Corections!

Love days with no glucose or insulin corrections. And a super tight Standard Deviation to boot. Finished out a respectable week. On to tomorrow and next week...

 

Great Day

Love days with no glucose or insulin corrections. And a super tight Standard Deviation to boot. Finished out a respectable week. On to tomorrow and next week...

Wine Spritzer

5 oz of cold white wine
5 oz cold seltzer
3/4 oz sugar-free fruit-flavored syrup

Shake and pour over lots of ice. Perfect for a hot, sunny day.

* I used Riesling, which is 5 carbs. My T1 friends may want to use a drier, lower carb white wine.

Snack with bacon

Bits of bacon (no sugar), pecans, olive, 1 piece of Lily's chocolate.

Skinny Girl Dressing

Low carb, sugar-free Balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I found it at Walmart.

Roasted turkey

Roasted turkey with Walden Farms BBQ sauce, Peas, Guacamole, and Swiss cheese.

7 net carbs

New and Improved - Stay-Soft Lower Carb Ice Cream

I've tweaked my ice cream recipe to reduce the amount of heavy cream and eliminate the half and half - both have a lot of calories and excess fat, and half and half can spike some T1's.

I replaced the half and half with almond milk, but it has a tendency to freeze rock hard and have more of an ice milk consistency. A secret ingredient...ok, not really secret, but very important, allows it to get super thick and creamy, but stay scoopable! This is such a TINY amount of vodka for the amount of ice cream it makes, I have no concerns about feeding this to the kids once per week (at the most).

I play around a lot with flavor add-in’s. This version used almond extract and about 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg. It was SOOOOO good!!!

Basic vanilla recipe is posted, but the sky's the limit on varieties!

Italian sausage

Italian sausage (4.5 oz), Southern-style smoked green beans (90g/3oz), and "Corn" bread.

7 net carbs.

Sugarfire BBQ

First time taking the kids here. Lots of meats, burgers and salads to choose from. Sides are the toughest part to stay low carb - only viable option was cole slow. I tested with Diastix and got some definite glucose detection, but not horrible. We proceeded since that was his only carb.
Underbolused just a tad (he had more protein here than he normally would at home)- spiked about 2 hours after eating to 114 so did a tiny correction and he settled in the 70's.

You may be able to tell from the 2-handed shoveling that he liked it. 

Virgil's Zero Soda

Virgil's 0 carb/calorie soda. Stevia sweetened. Several flavors.

 

 

Bear Foot Cafe Breakfast

Low carb breakfast with these cuties...

🧒 Samuel = breakfast skillet with sausage, ham, bacon, green peppers and 3 eggs. (Hold the potatoes, onions and toast)
👧 Evie = 3 eggs & 2 sausage patties. (Hold the hashbrowns and toast.)
👩 Me = 3 egg omelet with sausage, ham, bacon and cheese. (Hold the hashbrowns and toast.)

BG at breakfast was 76, 11am was 68, 12:40pm was 63 (1g glucose).

⚠️Omlelet Tip⚠️ Many restaurants use pre-made omelet mix that includes wheat, sugar and even pancake batter. Always make sure they use whole, fresh eggs! IHOP is an example that puts pancake batter in their omelet mix!

Low carb Margarita

2 oz. Lemon juice
2 oz. Tequila
1.5 oz sugar-free vanilla syrup
1/2 tsp orange extract OR orange oil

Shake over ice and pour into salted glass (if you like salt). This isn't a super-sweet Margarita. If you like sweeter Margarita’s, I'd reduce the lemon juice to 1.5oz.

 

Crispy Low Carb Pizza

This is my take on a fathead-style pizza.  My husband says what he dislikes about most LC pizza is that it's trying too hard to be like wheat pizza when it's obviously not.  Of all the pizza I've made, this is his favorite. (He grew up just outside NYC and is picky about his pizza, so I take this as a compliment, lol!)  This pizza gets quite crisp if rolled thin, but still has a little chew.  I included some pics to try to help guide the thickness.

NOTES:
1) I never use pre-shredded cheese.  I grate my own.
2) You can cover the edges of your pizza with aluminum foil after your toppings are on to prevent over browning.

RECENT EDIT /VARIATION:

I was recently making this and as I was dumping in the almond flour (because I bake by weight, not volume) I accidentally added too much.  Instead of trying to scoop it out I decided to leave it and see what happened. Turns out we lived it!  The original amount (85g) makes a more cracker-like crust. The "oops!" amount (110g ~ a little less than a cup) makes for a breadier dough.  Both are good... just a little different.

Flavored Yogurt

I've been using flavored oils a lot more to add flavor to foods (baked goods, yogurt, ice cream, etc). 

Yesterday the kids had "banana" yogurt for the first time with no added carbs.
I used Walden Farms pancake syrup as my 0 carb sweetener, but stevia, monk fruit, etc would work just fine. I add about 8 drops of the oil per 1/4 cup (56g) of yogurt and mix well.

The sky's the limit on flavored oils... there are a 100+ flavors out there.

B&B Breakfast

Fantastic low carb breakfast at the quaint B&B I'm staying at.

 

Crown Valley Brewery - Ste. Genevieve

At a brewery with friends with limited bar-type foods. Got a pastrami sandwich minus the bun. Topped with sauerkraut and lots of Swiss cheese.

 

Audubon's Grill & Bar - Ste. Genevieve

Cordon bleu-style chicken breast stuffed with local goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, ham, herb oil, and a tomato basil cream sauce. I knew this would be breaded, but it's really easy to just peel that off (I keep my salad plate to discard).

Served with 2 sides - I selected snap peas and a salad.

This was a really fantastic meal!

Cheesy salmon & broccoli

✔ Cheesy salmon & broccoli
✔ Riced cauliflower (with Walden Farms maple walnut syrup & cinnamon)
✔ Rustic Faux Wheat bread with swiss cheese spread.

8 net carbs

Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken w/Walden Farms 0 carb BBQ sauce
Mozzarella cheese stick (homemade)
Peas
Broccoli w/ cheese

7 net carbs

Turkey & Cheese Sandwich

Turkey & Cheese on Rustic Faux Wheat bread
Cole slaw
Raw carrots
Fried "apples" (zucchini)

35+g protein, 8 net carbs

Sausage

4oz sausage
4 oz garlic, mash cauli faux-tatoes
2 oz dill pickles
40g (1.4 oz) peas

7 net carbs (although carbs from dill pickles have no BG impact so I bolus as if 6 carbs.)

Ginger sesame chicken

Ginger sesame chicken*
Hard boiled egg w/smoked sea salt
Peas (40g)
Dill pickles
Homemade kiwi watermelon jello

6 net carbs. 32g protein.

* I used the Asian dipping sauce from my Asian Potstickers recipe and mixed it with rotisserie chicken.

Type 1 Diabetes Cell Wallpaper

For all my T1 friends here is a pic you can save to your/your child's cell phone in the event of an emergency to alert emergency personnel.

Save the blank pic below to your phone. Use a photo editing app that allows you to add text (I like Phonto for this). Add your/your child's name to the top white box and a contact number to the lower box. 

I saved that and texted it to Samuel's phone and saved it as a pic. Then add that as your wallpaper/home screen pic. I moved all of Samuel's app icons to the other screens so nothing else is showing on the screen. How it looks on his phone below.

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs, cole slaw, dill pickles, raw carrots, fried "apples" (zucchini). 6 net carbs.

Strawberry Watermelon Daiquiri

Add the following to a blender:

2 1/2 oz rum
1 1/2 oz Jordan's sugar-free strawberry watermelon syrup
1 oz lemon juice
2 handfuls of ice

Blend well & enjoy.

Low Carb Whiskey Sour

Why in the name of all things holy haven't I thought of this before now?!? Whiskey Sour's were my absolute last hold out when going low carb. Most people probably hold onto potato chips, or fries, or ice cream. Not me. I'm a Whiskey Sour girl and this just popped in my head about 5 minutes ago.
3 ingredients, SO GOOD and about 1.5 carbs.

2 oz whiskey (good quality)
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz sugar-free vanilla syrup (I use Jordan's).
Shake with ice and strain over lots of ice.

Turkey & Cheese Rolls

Turkey & Cheese Rolls (with a little mayo, mustard and herbs inside)
Sauteed "apples" (zucchini), riced cauliflower with a tiny bit of peas. Green beans for one kiddo, cole slaw for the other.  6 net carbs.

You may notice the turkey in each looks slightly different (same weight though). The turkey on the left is from the deli counter - it has 1 carb per serving and has dextrose as the 2nd to last ingredient. Samuel CAN eat this, but it's not ideal, so just my daughter and I eat this. The turkey on the right is Samuel's - it has no sugar and is 0 carbs.

Tuna Salad

Tuna salad on mixed greens, topped with cheddar cheese. Dill pickles, raw carrots, and a hard boiled egg. My son has guacamole and my daughter has green beans. 5 net carbs.

Sonic

Thursday night is my daughter's dance class so we eat out. This is my one night of the week I don't cook. We alternate picking and tonight was her night. She decided she wanted to go home to eat because she wanted my Hot Buttered Sweet "Rice" (aka cauliflower). Say what?!? But, but... I don't wanna cook! And I have a headache. Sigh.

We compromised. We went to Sonic for burgers - our first time there trying to do low carb. I learned you ask for your burger with "no bun - put in a boat instead, please". Sweet! We got 1/2 lb double bacon cheeseburgers and added our low-sugar ketchup at home. And the Hot Buttered Sweet "Rice", of course.

Yes, my 6 yo really ate a 1/2 lb burger, 2 pieces of cheese & 2 pieces of bacon...and a big bowl of cauliflower. And at the rate she's growing, she's gonna be 6+ ft. tall.

 

Fluffernutter sandwiches

Fluffernutter sandwich (my Rustic Faux Wheat bread, almond butter and Walden Farms marshmallow fluff), raw carrots, cheese stuffed olives, swiss cheese, & green beans.

6 net carbs

Country Skillet at Bear Foot Cafe

This skillet per the menu has bacon, sausage, ham, potatoes, green peppers, onions, cheese topped with eggs, and served with toast. 

I ordered it without potatoes or toast for an awesome low carb, high protein meal. And it was delicious!  They also have a Mexican version with ground beef I'll try next time.

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade

This is so good and refreshing! Almost 0 carbs (just a small amount from the lemon).

✳ 3 Tbsp (40g) Jordan's Strawberry Watermelon Sugar-free Syrup
✳ 2-3 packs of True Lemon (or 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice)
✳ 8 oz cold water
Stir well, pour over ice.

Optional...
Add 1-2 oz of vodka or rum for an adult beverage.

Olive Snack Packs

These little olive packs make great on-the-go snacks for the kids and help develop their palattes for non-sweet things.

Wedding Excitment

My kids were in their first wedding today so we had a lot of "firsts", excitement and some nervousness. I honestly didn't know what all this would equate to blood sugar-wise.
We had to arrive at the church at 11:30am for prep/photos, but the wedding wasn't until 3pm. And because of Samuel's shirt being tucked in and his suspenders, he couldn't wear his "gear belt" that holds his CGM and phone which shares to my phone - meaning Mama was flying blind because he was often in one part of the church and I was in another.

I brought our own lunch so we ate our normal foods. I broke away to check on him, but much of the day he just had instructions to come get me if his CGM beeped. I simply had to trust the process - we do what we do because it gives as predictable results as possible.

They had a taco bar at the reception (how cool is that?) so I think we could have chosen wisely, but there were about 400 guests and while I know our friends would have told me to jump the line to make his plate, that many people made me a bit nervous with his pre-bolus timing. So we went out to eat instead. It turned out the only small spike of the day was because the restaurant served the food quickly so his pre-bolus was cut a little short. But, in all, I'm REALLY happy with today's control.

 

Kids Coffee

The kids really like coffee and I like the idea of them learning to like bitter flavors (something I still struggle with). I don't want them having a ton of caffeine so I give them about a quarter cup of coffee, a tsp of coffee extract to up the coffee flavor, a drop or two of liquid stevia and add unsweetened almond milk.

Samuel is working on his English and sipping on his coffee. 😂❤☕

Bear Foot Cafe - Local Restaurant

My daughter and I tested a new restaurant in town. I'd previously dismissed it - I just assumed it was all breaded bar food (I have no idea why I thought that!). A lot of course was high carb and wheat-laden, but I think we found more here than at many restaurants. She had a bunless burger (I forgot to say "cheese"burger...whoops!) and a salad with no croutons and I had a gyro salad minus the pita bread (totally surprised to see this in our small town!).

✳LC Planning Tip✳
I took a picture of all menu pages so I can study it at home. I'll need to ask the restaurant some specifics when I take Samuel (ex: bread crumbs in the burgers?, sugar in sauces?, etc), but I find leisurely looking at the menu at home and forming a plan allows me to make better choices when I'm there.

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.