A vegetarian gestational diabetic's breakfast

Mediterranean Omelet

Breakfast is probably the hardest meal of the day for me. People on a lower carb diet will tell you to carb load in the morning so your body has all day to process them. That is probably the worst advice for a diabetic. I belong to a great online support group full of women in my predicament and we all need to be so careful at breakfast. After a night of fasting/sleeping our bodies just aren't equipped to handle to carbs, complex or simple, in the morning. Fruit is typically a no go as well. For me personally, anything over 15 carbs for breakfast and I chance spiking my sugars. If you take a look at the bread currently on your counter, chances are likely that it has just about that many carbs per slice. So what is a diabetic that doesn't eat meat supposed to do? The answer is eggs, eggs, and more eggs.

Goat Cheese, Sausage, & Veggie Omelet with Avocado

Eggs deserve their own paragraph I think. Here is a funny story. When I was pregnant with Fletcher I completely lost my taste for eggs. I used to eat them all of the time and then one day the thought of them made me want to vomit. I continued to dislike eggs for almost 2 years. Boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, over easy, quiches, and omelets all made me gag. The only way I could tolerate them was well hidden in baked goods. However, sometime early in my 2nd trimester of this current pregnancy, I started to crave eggs again. After an almost 2 year hiatus my body said, "Hey, these things aren't so bad". Boy I am ever lucky it did because I have to eat eggs every single morning until this baby is born. Of course, being pregnant I cannot have any runny parts of my egg so I need to eat them fried, boiled, scrambled, and well cooked. I am totally sick of eggs by the way. I did make those ricotta almond meal pancakes but they are high in fat and slightly time consuming to make therefore not ideal for those hurried weekday mornings.

No Crust Vegetable Quiche

I have become quite adept at making omelets though. This morning I had a Mediterranean themed omelet, some mornings I go festive with a south of the border flair, and sometimes I just steam some spinach with fresh garden veggies and toss them on top. During our vacation I got to eat hotel scrambled eggs AND hard boiled eggs in the same meal. Hotels across middle American serve the most carb and meat heavy breakfasts ever! Needless to say, after this baby is born I want to have a huge stack of buttery pancakes with syrup, fresh fruit, and maybe even whipped cream. I will still continue to eat healthier, but that is the one indulgence I am really looking forward to.

Anyway, here are some of the breakfast recipes that I am basing some of my breakfast meals from:

Asparagus - Cheese Omelet

Breakfast Skillet - This with veggie sausage and tofu instead of real meat and potatoes. It also brings the carb load to an acceptable limit.

Huevos Rancheros - No tortilla chips and watch the portion control on the black beans as the carbs can add up.

Mushroom Scrambled Eggs

Poblano Tofu Scramble

Provencal Omelet

Father's Day projects and pancakes!

I meant to post this awhile ago. On Father's Day I experimented with an almond meal pancake recipe. Although I am typically a savory breakfast person, we usually have a pancake/waffle day on the weekends. Since I cannot have more than about 15 carbs for breakfast without spiking my blood sugar, pancakes are out for the most part. I found a recipe for almond flour and ricotta pancakes. They are high in fat and protein b/c of the egg, almonds, and ricotta but they actually kind of fulfilled my pancake craving. Since I didn't have coconut flour or lemon seltzer water I used coconut flakes and sparkling lemon lime water that I had in the fridge. They are no substitute for the huge pancake stack I am planning on devouring after this baby is born, but they will hold me over!

For Dave's Father's Day gifts I busted out my Silhouette Cameo. Since I haven't had too much time for scrapbooking, it is nice to get some craftiness in every now and again. The card idea just kind of came to me and I was glad that I still had some vellum laying around b/c it turned out really neat looking. Archer colored the paper before I cut it with my Cameo. I used Archiver's new Memory Lab to edit the photo on the inside of the card. The little box on the bottom I found in the Silhouette Studio shape store and then filled it with Dave's favorite candy. I also got him a cord organizer from Amazon. 

We are getting stuff done!

The last two days have been pretty productive around here. I am not sure that I would call it nesting b/c my baseboards are still dirty and I don't care, but things are getting done. Yesterday Dave and a co-worker/friend drove down to the Springs and emptied out our storage unit. A lot of the baby stuff was down there along with a majority of our DVDs. I was really missing my Pride & Prejudice! While they were gone, our sitter came over to watch the boys while I was able to work without interruption. I cleaned the kitchen, baked some mini muffins, sanded and painted a nightstand, worked on art for the babies room, and cleaned some more. The boys were having a ball with their sitter which was nice too. 

Today we cleaned some more. I sprinkled the basement carpets with baking soda and let it sit for an hour. Dewey has been peeing down there and upstairs as I discovered today. Dave is going to make a vet appointment because this is not typical behavior for him and if he has an infection I want it to get taken care of ASAP. Also, this means we will need to get the carpets cleaned before the baby arrives. I spent half the morning scrubbing six different pee spots that I found. The joys of pet ownership. 

 Dewey the Menace

Anyway, today Dave worked in the yard a bit but his allergies were really acting up. I am so glad that I don't have seasonal allergies! He looked miserable poor guy. I finished painting the nightstand for the nursery and now need to wait a few days before putting on a few coats of polyurethane. It was an old Sauder telephone stand that my Grandma gave me years ago. Solid a rock, but an awful faux wood finish. It looks fantastic already plus I bought a cute little owl know for the door. 

A work in progress

For dinner I made a lentil loaf, mustard greens from our garden, and chopped up a watermelon. My blood sugar levels have been great so I am doing something right. We took a walk afterwards in the 80+ degree heat. I was definitely dragging, but the only time my sugar spiked was when I ate fruit with dinner and did not take a walk. Yesterday I made two mini muffin recipes. One was from the diabetic living and it was vanilla cake donut muffins and the other was a healthy mini muffin recipe I found online. The vanilla cake donuts I made in my mini muffin tin and I used regular brown sugar, but I did not put the cinnamon and truvia mix on top. The other mini muffins I used applesauce in place of the juice, added about 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk to thin the batter, and did 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup diced apples. I also replaced one egg with egg beaters and baked them in a mini muffin tin at 350 F for 15 minutes. Neither of them spiked my sugar either! It is so nice have a glucometer so now I can be a little more adventurous in my eating. Before I got it I had absolutely no added sugar for over a week and I am a dessert girl. 

my mini muffins

In the past 2ish months we have been making changes with how we handle the boys' tantrums, eating habits, and general behavior. They are eating their meals much better since we switched to only 1 snack in between meals. The snack is also way more healthy than before. They now get cottage cheese with fruit, yogurt with cinnamon and flax, apples with peanut butter, pretzels with hummus, cheese and crackers, etc.. Gone are the days of processed foods for snacking. This also means they are eating their breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. They are eating lentil loaf, quinoa with tahini and spinach, beets, and all the other healthy meals I have been cooking. It is a far cry from Archie throwing up food that he didn't like and Fletcher running away from the table after two bites. 

I also read the book "1-2-3 Magic" by Thomas Phelan. It's funny because I talked with Grandma about it and she was like, "Isn't counting how everyone does it?" I am surprised at how effective it is and how i am yelling far less than I used to on a daily basis. Most times they stop at the count at 2 and they usually only get time outs when they physically hurt someone because that is an automatic 3. We have seen the biggest improvement in Fletcher. He is still a handful, but at least I don't feel like I am constantly treading water with him anymore. They are both good boys though. Right now Archie is sharing his most favorite toys with his baby brother. They are very sweet with each sometimes. 

 Fletcher is allowed iPad access again. 

"drink like a big boy" 

Playing at the new park

He is getting so big!

Say hello to my little friend...

...the Glucometer!

 

I finally met with my Dr. a week and half after getting my gestational diabetes diagnosis. It turns out that 2 of my 4 blood draws during the 3 hours test were abnormal. My fasting was high and my 2 hour draw was high. The 1 hour and 3 hours were withing normal range though. We talked about my diet, the fact that I had lost 4 lbs., and the size of the baby, which is right on track for 30 weeks. She told me it sounds like I am doing everything right and that my diagnosis shouldn't be a huge concern if I keep up with my current lifestyle. She gave me a glucometer, but only wants me to test twice/day and will call me in a week to see what my numbers have been. Based on that information she will decide what to do after that. If the numbers look good then she will only have be testing my blood sugars every other day to make sure they are on track.

I have tested my BSLs (blood sugar levels) 6 times so far. Only 1 draw has been over the recommended limit by 7 mg/dl. The others were in the 70s and 80s. The high draw came after a meal in which I normally wouldn't have had an apple with, but I cut one up for the boys and ate the other half. I also didn't take my walk immediately after dinner like normal either. Knowing what certain foods are doing to my body is quite fascinating. However, knowing how much additional test strips cost, even with insurance, has limited my curiosity to two times/day. I am testing my fasting level in the morning and then alternating which meal I test 2 hours postprandial (after eating). With my levels being so much under the recommended 120 mg/dl at 2 hours postprandial, I am thinking that I have been too conservative with my carbs.

Despite things looking pretty good, I am still going to be getting NSTs (non stress tests) at every bimonthly appointment, 1-2 more ultrasounds to check the growth of the baby, and my Dr. doesn't want me to go past 39 weeks. If I don't go into labor naturally before then, however, I may fight her on that because if the size of the baby is looking normal then I don't see a need to be induced. Since my boys were born at 37 and 38 weeks, respectively, I am not too worried that this LO will wait much past 39 weeks anyway.

I am finding some great recipes for diabetes online and am thoroughly enjoying some of these new dishes I never would have found otherwise. For dinner last night I made Penne with Walnuts and Peppers and wilted mustard greens from our garden. They were delicious! My night time snack was a ricotta cheese spread in 1/2 a roll up with blueberries. Dinner two nights ago was Black Bean Salad in a pita with hummus with Roasted Snap Peas. We have been eating so well since this diagnosis!

30 weeks

Mid May Roundup

So we are officially into our second cycle of meal planning and already we are seeing the benefits. I spent less money on the 2nd shopping trip of the month. Dave said he saw a difference in the amount we had leftover from the previous paycheck. The best improvement for me, however, has been cooking one meal that we all eat together as a family. My kids are getting better at eating what I put in front of them and the food I am giving them is nutritious, healthy, and hopefully not terrible tasting. Yesterday they ate their entire dinner which consisted of peas and lentil pancakes. Fletcher got seconds! The lentil pancakes were courtesy of an old issue of Vegetarian Times. Following is just the copied and pasted recipe for Jack Burgers, which was a reader submitted recipe.

Jack Burgers

Makes 10 patties  |  30 minutes or fewer

“Working with children and youth is my calling, so most of my cooking experiments are kid-friendly,” says Mary Jane Wagner. “My husband and I have five children of our own (three grown, two teenagers), plus two teenage boys from Ghana live with us. I make these for my family, and four teenagers can eat quite a lot! They enjoy them with ketchup or barbecue sauce.”

1 15-oz. can Eden Foods lentils with onion & bay leaf, rinsed and drained
1/2 large onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
2 medium carrots, shredded (1 cup)
3/4 cup prepared marinara sauce
3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free pancake mix
1  Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill nutritional yeast

1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.

2. Spray large skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Scoop batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto hot skillet, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until bottoms of patties have browned. Flip, cover pan, and cook 5 to 7 minutes more, or until browned on both sides and vegetables have softened.

I couldn't find the Eden Lentils so I used Eden Brown Rice and Lentils instead. We put a little mustard on them when they are done and called it a meal. They ended up making more than 10 patties though so I have leftovers to give the kids for lunch. I added this one to our tried and true recipes spreadsheet. I also started a Meal Planning Binder, but cannot get much further on it until we get more ink for our printer. I plan on printing out my spreadsheets, scanning some recipes from cookbooks, and printing our more used recipes off of Pinterest and Keep Recipes. 

In other news, I have officially hit the 3rd trimester of this 3rd pregnancy. Scary to think that in less than 3 months we will have newborn around these parts. He/she still moves around all the time and those kicks are powerful! However, this is my favorite part of pregnancy. I love feeling that little one and knowing they are safely growing inside of me. It is once they are born that I have far less control! The nursery is finally cleared out and ready to get painted. I chose Behr Dolphin Fin Grey for the walls b/c I feel it is a color that handle a lot of different styles as our children grow. For right now, I plan on decorating in oranges, blues, and greens to match the Skip Hop Treetop Friends bedding I bought.

Skip Hop Treetop Friends

The nursery in progress

I am slowly going through the 6-8 bins of clothing and purging what they boys haven't really worn too much. It only took having two kids to realize that they really don't need massive amounts of clothing especially with the amount of laundry that I end up doing on an almost daily basis. If this baby is a girl, I will probably get rid of a lot more since we are pretty much content with having 3 kids. Having less space for storage also makes it easier for me to get rid of things.

Mother's Day was this past weekend and it was quite a nice day. I got to sleep in, the boys gave me picture frames that they made at a Lowe's Build and Grow clinic, and we went to out for breakfast at one of my favorite places. The boys were pretty well behaved and we took them a park afterwards.  All good things must end though and Fletcher ended up getting croup again and then Archie got it a few days later. At least the weather has been lovely so we can play in the backyard while they are sick. The last time we were sick  we were cooped up inside and it was cold and snowy. 

Me and my boys on Mother's Day

Well I am going to straighten up before the handyman gets here to fix a pipe and install a fan. With all this money we are saving meal planning we can finally get someone in here to get a lot of our odds and ends sorted out!

Also, I am going to try and keep this blog updated more often from now on. My lovely sister and brother-in-law will be moving to Japan soon and I want to be able to keep her updated as often as possible. Living away from family hard, but thankfully with blogs, social networking, VOIP, etc.. it can be a little easier. 

Meal Planning

Dinner time had become somewhat of a challenge around here. 5:30 pm would roll around and I would be looking in the pantry thinking, "What can we have for dinner? What am I going to make the boys for dinner? Will they even eat that?" etc.. and so forth. We were having a lot of easy microwave items and the boys would always get something different that they most likely would pick at anyway. With a 3rd kid arriving in 3 months, something had to change. Lots of things had to change actually.

I would end up either going to the grocery store 3 times/week and buying $100 worth of crap or going once every 3 weeks and still buying a cart full of randomness. I started to do a little research on meal planning. I didn't want to be a crazy coupon lady, but saving money on groceries and saving time and headache at meal times seemed like a good idea. There are numerous blogs and articles out in Internet land on the subject. I also turned to the trusted women in my Moms Group on-line. Between them and Internet land I was ready to start. I grabbed a notebook that the boys haven't yet managed to draw all over and started a list of meals that I have made in the past with success. I also got about 4 of my cookbooks and jotted down recipes that seemed easy enough, but still nutritious.

I guess I should list some goals I am hoping to achieve with this new experiment into meal planning.

• Save money on groceries. If I only buy what I need and use what I buy then I should ultimately save. 
• Make fewer shopping trips throughout the month. With a meal plan I hope to have 2 major grocery shopping trips per month with maybe 2-3 small trips to get what I may have forgotten or ran out of too soon. 
• Get the boys away from filling up on processed snacks in between meals. I have stopped buying cereal bars, protein bars, and processed sugar filled snacks. If they are not in the house, then the boys cannot eat them. Instead, I have found recipes to make my own granola bars, cereal bars, and other healthier snacks
• Granola Bars
• Cereal Bars - I added flax and a dollop of fruit spread on top then baked them in muffin tins. 
• Not having to stress about what to make for dinner. I have a calendar on the fridge that has all our meals planned out for 1/2 the month. No guesswork come dinnertime.
• I want to make one meal for the whole family. No more short order cook. Sometimes the boys don't like what is on their plate, however, with less snacking in between meals they have been more inclined to try what is on their plate. Archie gets a timer set as well b/c he lollygags at meal time. What he doesn't eat in that allotted time he just doesn't get. However, he also only gets his dinner leftovers if he complains about being hungry later. Basically, if he doesn't eat his dinner then he doesn't get anything else before bedtime. 
• Buy more fresh fruits, veggies, and bulk items and less prepackaged, processed foods. 

So far I have been working in this experiment for 1 week. I spent around $240 between 2 stores for 15 days worth of meals. I do not plan what we will have for breakfast or lunch, but I was sure to include some of the usuals on our shopping list so we would have enough for 3 meals/day. My lunch usually consists of leftovers, sandwiches, salads, and soups. The boys will also get some leftovers, but they typically get soy dogs, yogurt, cheese, mac 'n cheese, quesadillas, etc.. with fruit and veggies. 

I found this great template online of an easy way to create a menu plan calendar for the month. You can actually edit it before you print, but I chose to hand write our meals. I prefer pen and paper. I am hoping that I get into a good meal planning routine before #3 arrives. 

cereal bars

a lunch I made with leftover quinoa

Whole wheat pear pancakes

I have been enjoying cooking and baking again since we've started eating healthier over these last few months. I have been regularly using ingredients like flax meal, chia seeds, agave nectar, and nutritional yeast in our foods. It is fun trying new things and seeing if we can incorporate them into our daily diets. Since the beginning of June I have lost almost 20 lbs. by exercising and eating better and Dave has lost 15 simply b/c of the diet change. My kids are also reaping the benefits of whole grains, lentils, and good role models. Archie will stretch with me before my workouts and he knows that we I leave with my tennis shoes on that I am going to exercise.

Many of the recipes I make are found online and I just modify them to make them better. This morning, however, as I was looking for a whole wheat pear pancake recipe I couldn't find one that I liked so I made one up. I enjoy making pancakes on the weekends b/c there are infinite possibilities and it is really easy to make them healthier. Of course once Dave douses them with maple syrup they become slightly less healthy, but I try. Anyway, my recipe for whole wheat pear pancakes is as follows.

Whole Wheat Pear Pancakes

Dry Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup flax meal
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 tbsp brown sugar (I may use agave nectar next time though)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (I use King Arthur bread salt for all my bread goodies)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• cinnamon to taste or 1/2 tsp

Wet Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
• 2 heaping tbsp of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 ripe pear, grated

Instructions

1. In a medium sized bowl beat together egg and soy milk. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well.
2. In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed and let sit for 10 minutes while griddle is heating. This will give the chia seeds times to gel. 
4. Fry em up like you would any ol' pancake. I use our Cuisinart griddle with a little bit of Pam when making pancakes. Makes 9-10 pancakes.

Nutritional Information per serving (I gathered this info from Spark Recipes and it is based off making 9 pancakes)

• calories: 98
• fat: 2.7 g
• cholesterol: 20.6 mg
• carbohydrates: 16.7 g
• sodium: 236.4 mg
• fiber: 3.3 g
• sugar: 3.6 g
• protein: 4.1 g

This is what my counter looks like when I am cooking complete with monster trucks and coffee.

I wish my pear would have been more ripe.

Collection of utensils that help make wonderful food. 

This is what Fletcher thinks of my creative process.

The greatest wedding gift we didn't register for. The surface can flip to become a grill.

Banana Flax Muffins

I had some bananas that were going bad and I wanted to make some healthy muffins for my kiddos. Many of the recipes I came across that called themselves "healthy" were a joke. White flour, canola oil, granulated sugar, and bananas do not a healthy muffin make. I finally found one that provided a good base to work from. I modified a few of the ingredient amounts and came out with a dozen muffins packed with good stuff and only 167 calories a piece. 

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL RECIPE and below I will add my modified version. I reduced the amount of brown sugar and canola oil, increased the amount of applesauce, and added agave nectar. 

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/8 cup canola oil

1/8 cup agave nectar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 12 cup muffin tin with Pam baking spray. In large bowl combine all dry ingredients, including sugar. In smaller bowl, whisk all wet ingredients and bananas together. Make well in dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in. Stir slowly and gently until flour mixture is just incorporated into the wet mixture. Scoop muffin batter into muffin tins 3/4 way full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a muffin. Cool 5-10 minutes before removing. 

I baked mine for 25 minutes, they came out perfectly and taste delicious!

Kid tested and approved

Next up I will be trying  a protein ball recipe that I found on Pinterest. I haven't baked in a long time, but today has me back in the kitchen. Today in Aurora, CO a gunman opening fire in a movie theater killing 12 people. Living in CO means that this news is everywhere and on everyone's minds. When I get stressed I bake. There is nothing like making tasty, healthy treats for my kids and good smells throughout my house to help calm a person and remind them of the good things in life. My heart goes out to the people affected by this tragedy and to the people of my state who have dealt with fires and death already this past month. Hopefully we will all come out stronger on the other side. 

Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day around here always means chocolates and flowers and for me and something sweet, but not entirely necessary for Dave. He never buys those sort of things for himself so I make it a point to do so at least on this Hallmark holiday. This year, Dave did the pregnancy sized chocolates and got me two different chocolate collections from Costco! I got him a 3 cup french press with Illy coffee, biscotti and a sampler of his favorite chocolates.

Since my idea of cooking these days is anything that takes less than 10 minutes, I decided to let Whole Foods make our dinner. I did, however, make chocolate chunk bread pudding! It was surprisingly easy and there was Kahlua in the recipe so I was all over that recipe. It was from Cooking Light too so not terribly over the top in calories. RECIPE.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! I am now off to enjoy my fully caffeinated cup of coffee for the week.

Bread Pudding before toppings.

Bread Pudding after toppings!