A Thanksgiving Review

Well we survived our first, low-carb thanksgiving meal and it actually went really well! My brother-in-law didn't even realize he was eating cauliflower mashed potatoes! Win!

We celebrated Thanksgiving, today, so this post is coming to you a little late. Our menu included: 


-Turkey 
-Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes*
-Brown Fried Rice*
-Green Bean Casserole 
-Sweet Potato Soufflé*
-Mixed Green Salad with Granny Smith Apples walnuts, blue cheese & dried cranberries tossed in a lite balsamic vinaigrette 
-Rolls 

Pumpkin Pie*
Pecan Pie
Peanut Butter Pie*

* low(er) carb 
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and Peanut Butter Pie recipes can be found in earlier post.

So I tired out some new recipes and stuck with some old faithfuls. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law made some super yummy fried rice that was low sodium and lower carb thanks to the jasmine brown rice and their talent in Asian cuisine. I'm not even going to attempt to recreate what those cooking masters have created! But below are the two new recipes I created from inspiration from the web and a little experimenting. 

Sweet Potato Soufflé
-3 sweet potatoes, mashed 
-3 eggs 
-3 tablespoons butter
-1/4 cup almond milk (I would use probably 1/2 cup or more) 
-Splenda if desired (I used about 2-3 tablespoons)  
-1 cup coarsely chopped pecans 
-cinnamon and nutmeg to taste 

Mix all together and place in casserole dish

For topping:
-1 cup Almond Meal
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans 
-Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste 
-3 tablespoons Spelnda or your sweetener of choice 

Sprinkle on top of sweet potatoes and cover with dollops of butter or butter substitute 

Cook at 350 F for 30-45 minutes or until top has browned nicely. 



This actually surpassed my expectations in the flavor department, but did come out a little dry. I would add a little more almond milk next year. BUT It sure beats a ton of added sugar and a fast blood sugar spike! 

About 15 g of carb for 1/4 cup serving for the lower carb version (regular recipe is about 30g carb and 27g sugar)

Pumpkin Pie:
I saw the Pumpkin Whip recipe on Pinterest and thought I might "low carb" it and try it in pie fashion. This turned out better than expected, as well!

1 Can Pumpkin 
1 Container Lite Whipped Topping 
1 Package Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding 

I added these to taste:
Cinnamon 
Nutmeg
Cloves (a little goes a long way) 


Mix together and place in cooked, Almond meal pie crust (please see post about peanut butter pie for recipe) chill in fridge for at least 2 hours. 



It tasted great, doesn't exactly hold together perfectly, but 1/8 the of the pie is about 18 g of carbs and you get the flavor of a good ol' pumpkin pie. A regular slice of pumpkin pie will run you about 45g of carbs. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with the ones they love and thank you to all my nursing buddies for taking care of those that spent this holiday in the hospital. 

Christmas time is coming and that means sugar cookies and Christmas Candy baking will commence. I can't wait to decorate the house and make sure it looks like ol' Saint Nick threw up Christmas everywhere. I'll be trying my best to take it 1 Drop at a Time, but sometimes that sugar cookie is just too tempting and the faithful Dexcom will just have to hide under a pillow for a couple hours.

-MJS 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Silence of Chronic Illness

Image
Today was rough. I know social media allows you to show you at your best, today I was not at that baseline. So here is the back story...My Tandem tSlim pump provided this amazing update for a program called Control IQ. Overall, the update has been great, but ...why the hell does there always have to be a but ? So bear with me, this update comes with different activity settings like Sleep or Exercise . Today, I ate my protein bar like usual and went for my walk. When I say walk , I walk about 15 minute miles. Go ahead and imagine an older woman power walking--it is shamelessly me. Basically, after eating the protein bar, my blood sugar levels increased so the algorithm with the Control IQ update said "woah...we need to give you insulin to keep you in range." 1 whole damn unit was given, and I didn't realize it. Well, I'm rounding the corner and almost to my house when my Dexcom (the device that tells me what my blood sugar levels are) alerted me that my blood sugar le
Read more

Diagnosis Day: 8/14/15

 *Some slight profanity below, sorry mom*   "Oh sh*t" doesn't quite capture my emotions but it comes close. I have always wondered how I might die and it sort of feels like I have been handed a quasi death sentence. I am faced with this totally manageable but tough, chronic illness and I have to make a choice, will I   be a victim or a survivor? Of course I say "SURVIVOR," with the enthusiasm of a teenage girl at a pep rally, but this is before the doctor starts talking about the number of finger sticks I   will require, managing deathly lows and highs. I'm like dang, I'm a nurse. I'm supposed to take care of people with this, not be this. But am I this? Does this illness define me? A long pause ensues in my brain, my fingers stop typing-well kind of, I'm still typing but you catch my drift. I don't know the answer to this. I don't think there is a right answer and I don't know if I will ever be able to answer that question.
Read more

Pump Life

Image
I have a pump! I know in time it will be great, but right now, it makes me feel a little uneasy and unsure. It is hard to let go and trust a little box, but technology is a wonderful thing that I am thankful for. Currently, I am working through finding the "perfect" basal rates and insulin-to-carb ratio. I'm quickly learning this isn't something that happens overnight. That being said, the t:Slim G4 is quite the device. I talked a little bit about it in my last blog, but here is some updated info. The touch screen makes it user friendly, especially in this smart phone world we live in. The pump walks you through most steps, and security measures are in place so you don't "butt bolus" on accident. T:Slim and Dexcom (continuous glucose monitoring) came together to provide an integrated system that empowers you to make better choices, thanks to the ability to see your glucose levels in real time. I didn't say blood glucose levels because the Dexcom port
Read more