Not So Sweet Success

This week, Stephanie and I are back, and we are taking on blood sugar. This is especially important to me for two reasons, 1) I have a few family members who have to watch their blood sugar and 2) I eat a gluten free diet, which can elevate blood sugar. Now, I could sit back and say, “gosh, it’s in my family, what can I do?” And just expect to have problems as I get older. Ooooor, I could do something about it now, and watch what I eat. And maybe I can come up with some things that are easy to make, delicious, and some members of my family (who shall remain nameless) will try them.

I know I sound like a broken record with the processed foods thing, but the more you eat, the more sugar you think you need in your food in order to taste it. I know it’s convenient, and that is the draw. So I try to make things here that reheat well.

Lets start with breakfast!

I wanted to experiment with buckwheat groats. They are gluten free and can be very versatile, but I’ve never even so much as had it, let alone did I know how to prepare it.

They cook just like rice, only easier. They are a 2:1 ratio, water: groats and they will keep in the fridge for a bit. You can eat them for breakfast, put them on a salad, put them in a burrito, whatever. Just make extra because they are a filling little fruit. (Yep, it’s a fruit)

Take a 1/2 cup of the groats warmed up, and add:
4 diced up strawberries (or 3 and slice the 4th for garnish)
1 mashed up very ripe banana (if you want to reserve a couple slices for garnish here too that would be good)
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt

I will admit, when I made this at first, I didn’t add the banana and the dish just didn’t seem right. I wanted it to be creamier and sweeter. This is where I would normally add milk and sugar, but instead I remembered a conversation Stephanie and I had, where she mentioned bananas as sweeteners. We had talked about it, because I feel like I NEEEEEEEEED sugar. And cheese, milk, cream, etc…. But anyway I asked about honey or what I could use that is not a fake sweetener. That other stuff scares me. Sugar may give you diabetes, but that other crap will kill you too. So I put in the naner, and guess what? It worked! It made everything creamy, smooth, and sweet.

After that, I made a grilled chicken and potato salad.

Most chicken breasts you buy today are very large. It’s like they have created a breed of Dolly Parton chickens out there, and depending on where you get your chicken, they can be large. Just remember, just because it is one piece of meat, doesn’t mean you have to eat it all. In fact,they are roughly two to three times the side of portion you need. Cut those puppies up and have some leftovers! You will stretch your dollar, and your pants will feel bigger too!

By now, you’ve read all about how potatoes can drastically change how they affect your blood sugar over on Stephanie’s page, so you are going to think ahead and made a potato salad for tomorrow, or later today, right?

So boil your potatoes, I used new potatoes I got at the farmers market. Roughly 8 cups, and now I have it in the fridge if indeed a snack any time, or if I want to serve it with a meal that I just don’t feel like making a side for that night. While those are going, get the dressing together:

2 tsp paprika
1tbs cumin
1tbs onion powder
1tbs granulated garlic
1 & 1/2 top olive oil.
Salt to taste

When the taters are tender, take them out and drain them, then dress them while they are hot. They will accept the dressing better, and the flavor will cover better. Then, spread them out, let them cool, and pop them in the fridge.

Don’t put them in there until they’ve cooled though, unless you want everything else in there together warm for a bit, then cooled.

When you are ready to eat them, add 2 yellow squash sliced up, about 2 tsp fresh thyme,and here is where you can warm it back up, or eat it chilled, or at room temp. For each serving take 1/4 cup of spinach and slice it up, then mix with a 1/2 cup of potato mix

Now for the chicken:
Take your chicken breasts and cut them up into smaller pieces.
Put them I to a marinade made from:
The juice and zest of two limes
1/2 tbs cumin
3tbs olive oil
2 tsp salt

Let this marinate for an hour or so, and then grill.

Are you ready for an easy dessert?

All those strawberries I keep pushing on you? Take about 15, slice them fairly thin, and then mash with the juice and zest of a lime. Now, you can add as much or as little lime as you’d like, I happen to like a little pucker. Mash this all up and pour into a glass pan and freeze. Every 10-15 mins, go in and scrap until you have the texture you’d like. Or, do like me, stick it in the freezer, forget, and let it sit on the counter long enough to mash it into the texture you want.

The last dish is my favorite, which surprised me.

I made a Moroccan chicken in class a while ago, and while I am opposed to gratuitous cinnamon, this worked for me. It was served over cous cous and so I took the idea and made a fusion with it, we also studied Asian food so I had a little influence there too.
Here’s what idid:
I made a paste out of
2 tbs cinnamon
1tbs anise seed
1 tsp cayenne
(I toasted these then added)
Enough olive oil to make a paste and some salt.

I then took two chicken breasts (cut not smaller portions like we talked about earlier) rubbed them down with the paste and baked them.

Take 3/4 cup of spinach and remove the stems, and make a bed on your plate, then take 1/4 cup of brown rice noodles, the Asian kind, not the gluten free wannabe spaghetti kind. – these are cooked like regular noodles, but they don’t cook as long, and when they are done, run cold water over them.

Then slice up your chicken and place it on top.

Now head on over to 3squarenutrition.com to check out what else you can do for your blood sugar, and see the nutrition labels for these dishes!