Bruschetta makes everything better.

I learned to like brown rice because of bruschetta.  The irony here is that once upon a time I used to HATE tomatoes. I'm sure they felt the same way, until my friend Lindsey introduced us properly. Since that glorious day when she force fed me a piece of her homemade Tomato Basil Bruschetta we have been close friends.
I now keep a batch of the tomato topping on hand at all times and it has been used on everything from omelets at breakfast to fish at dinner.
So when I got the news that I had to cut calories, I knew that I wasn't going to lose my friend bruschetta. No way... not now...not ever. They can pry the goodness from my cold dead... well you get the picture.

The classic recipes usually contain more olive oil than balsamic vinegar, but that doesn't work for me now.  Because I wanted the ability to closely monitor the fats I chose to make my Hypo Bruschetta without oil. Instead, I add it in if necessary on bread but I use a sprayer from Pampered Chef that has olive oil in it.

So here's my recipe for
Hypo Bruschetta Topping
(Keep in mind that I NEVER measure this. )
5-8 roma tomatoes, chopped
6 leaves fresh basil, roll them together and slice (it's called a chiffonade if you want to sound fancy)
1 few glugs of really good balsamic vinegar2-8 cloves fresh garlic (the amount varies depending on how many people I may have to talk to after I eat it)
1-2 tablespoons onion, chopped
Mix all of this together and let it sit for a little bit before devouring.

Here are a few things I like to do with it
1) Do the classic thing. Use it as a topping on whole wheat bread. Add a slice of fresh mozzarella on top and pop it under the broiler until the cheese is melted.
2) Cook up a few egg whites to top a toasted whole wheat english muffin and put this on top.
3) Use this instead of pasta sauce.
4) It's very good with leftover chicken on a lettuce salad.
5) Saute it with some olive oil and whole wheat ravioli.
6) Add it to steamed green beans.
7) It tastes great on grilled chicken, tilapia, salmon and beef.
8) Stuffed peppers! Use bruschetta, brown rice/wild rice blend and ground turkey to make an amazing stuffed pepper. (I really ought to blog about this one sometime cause it is sooo good.)
9) Add a few pieces of mozzarella and some bruschetta to brown rice or pasta. I take this to work a lot. About a minute and 30 seconds in the microwave gives me a delicious lunch.
10) Use it as a topping on a baked potato.

Denny's for the breakfast win?

Making smart breakfast choices is easy on the weekdays when I take my usual half of a whole wheat English muffin with 1 tbs peanut butter, 8 oz skim milk and piece of fresh fruit.
The weekends are hard though. I was known and loved for my breakfast skillets and homemade waffles. None of those things, including the pumpkin and cinnamon roll waffles have made an appearance in this household since the diagnosis, but someday I will modify them to meet the rules.
Anyway, last Saturday when I overslept and we needed to run errands, my husband suggested we just grab breakfast on the road and I reluctantly agreed. We dropped the car off for service and walked to Denny's. As we took our seat I was ready to break the rules because obviously this place was full of grease and had nothing to offer someone with dieting and sugar issues.
WRONG!!
The place mat on the table was meant for me. Beautiful picture of pancakes to get my attention and the words "whole wheat pancakes" to keep it there. HOORAY! I won't totally break the rules (too badly)!
So I settled on the Grand Slam with egg whites, whole wheat pancakes with sugar free syrup, turkey bacon, a chicken patty and orange juice.
Clearly this was more food than I was allowed, but I can justify almost anything. (This meal was ok considering the time we finally got our food, the fact that I counted it as a breakfast and a snack, I planned on doing some exercise later, my jeans felt loose, it was a full moon and I avoided coffee all week so a slight splurge was allowed.)
The chicken patty was left untouched after a nibble and the egg whites were pretty greasy, but those pancakes hit the spot.  They were so good, and I wanted to finish them so badly but there was no room in the Inn. It's funny to say that because not long ago I was the girl that could finish off a large pizza by herself.

Calorie wise, it wasn't toooooo bad. Each whole wheat pancake has the following:
Calories: 155, Total Fat: .75g, Total Carbs: 32g, Protein: 5g I was able to finish about 1 and a quarter of the pancakes (193cal) with more sugar free syrup than I needed (46cal), plus the egg whites (50cal) and the 2 pieces of turkey bacon (70cal) and glass of orange juice (140). It was definitely more calories than I am used to consuming in the morning, but at roughly 500 calories, I could have done MUCH MUCH worse.

Now after reading this if you are as hungry for whole wheat pancakes as I am, take a click over to the American Diabetes Association's recipe and let me know what you think.

Shopping for a multivitamin

See the hypo girl shop.
See the hypo girl read labels.
See the hypo girl throw bottles of multivitamins at the heads of helpless store clerks.

It's not easy to shop for a vitamin, or to choose which one is best. Shopping for clothes is easy. Clothes fit, they make my body a little more bootylicious, I buy them. Shopping for sinus medicine is easy. Find card that says the good stuff is behind the counter, surrender drivers license into state database, buy it. If I feel better I repeat that choice the next time I have those same symptoms.
But how do you really know if you are benefiting from a multivitamin? There are so many variations on the market, and they are not mandated by any manufacturing rules. Basically this means that a multivitamin may not contain what the bottle claims or it could be contaminated with something from the manufacturing plant, or might have tainted ingredients.
So how do you know....
Well you can look for bottles containing a seal from the United States Pharmacopoeia or NSF International. Both of those are nonprofit groups that offer checks to companies that volunteer for them. They make sure the goods aren't contaminated with bads and offer a pretty seal of approval if it is all good.  The other option is to ask your doctor to recommend a good multivitamin.

In doing my homework online (and trying to avoid a breakdown in the vitamin isle) I have found a wonderful article that told me what I knew, but didn't want to hear. I need more than just a one-pill wonder here.
The following vitamin cocktail is recommended by the University of Maryland Medical Center in their article about Hypoglycemia.

• A daily multivitamin, containing the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, the B-complex vitamins, and trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, and selenium.
• Omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, 1 - 2 capsules or 1 - 2 tbs. of oil daily, to help decrease inflammation and help with immunity. Omega-3 fatty acids can have a blood thinning effect. People taking blood thinning medications should speak to their doctor before taking omega-3 fatty acids.
• Vitamin C, 500 - 1,000 mg daily, as an antioxidant and for immune support.
• Alpha-lipoic acid, 25 - 50 mg twice daily, for antioxidant support.
• Magnesium, 250 - 750 mg daily, for nutrient support. If you are taking blood pressure medication or other heart medication, speak to your doctor before taking magnesium.
• Chromium, 250 - 800 mcg daily, for blood sugar regulation.
• Probiotic supplement (containing Lactobacillus acidophilus), 5 - 10 billion CFUs (colony forming units) a day, when needed for maintenance of gastrointestinal and immune health. Some acidophilus products may need refrigeration -- read labels carefully.

It makes sense to me, especially all the things about immune support because I have literally spent a 1/3 of this year sick with something. It's a bit ridiculous. The news about chromium and how it is being researched with diabetes is pretty interesting. According to a great article by drlera.com "Studies have shown that chromium supplementation is helpful with hypoglycemia and can improve glucose tolerance test results and increase the number of insulin receptors on red blood cells."

So now I know what I want to do and I'll fax a copy of this vitamin plan to my doctor before I purchase all of the cocktail ingredients. It would be great to find a mix that helped combat the illnesses and helped me stay on track to becoming a healthier me.

Vegetable Mind Games - Butternut Squash

I will trick myself into liking every vegetable... some how...

This week's nemesis is Butternut Squash.
I know it is good for me, but I am not a fan. Because of that, I sought out a recipe to trick my mind into enjoying it and landed on Parmesan Squash Cakes from Eating Well. For those of you that haven't checked out EatingWell.com I highly recommend it. You can search by eating restrictions such as diabetic recipes, gluten free, high fiber, low sodium...etc. And while their recipes look amazing, I really love this site because of their exchange lists on the bottom of each recipe. As someone learning new ways to combine my 1 oz of protein, with the 1 veggie serving, and 1 carb in interesting ways it is extremely comforting to know someone has done the calculations for me.

The first change I made to their recipe was using Butternut Squash instead of a summer squash like the recipe suggested (because it is winter). The second was using only half the Parmesan cheese because I didn't realize we were almost out of it.I'm really looking forward to summer because summer squash counts as a veggie. This butternut squash is a starch.
Prep time took a lot long then I planned and I nearly lost a finger in the Squash vs. Grater round-off. If you have a food processor, USE IT. The recipe says it takes only 35 minutes to make, but grating time took at least that long.  Don't try and be a hero and grate it all by hand.


From the beginning my family was not on board with this dinner option, but they agreed to taste it. My husband and daughter both choked down a bite before they gave up and hid like cowards. I powered through because I was starving, it was my only option, and I had to prove that I was braver and tougher than them.
It really wasn't that bad. The leftovers were really good and easy to grab and heat up at work. I put each one in a little  fold top sandwich bag, and heated it for 30 seconds. it was perfect. Really my only complaint is that I am not a huge Butternut Squash fan, but I'm working on it.

I will try this recipe again when it isn't winter, and it isn't rainy, and I have guarded the Parmesan from the refrigerator goblins.  Until then I will continue to steam or saute the chopped butternut squash with cayenne pepper and garlic because that seems to be the only way I can handle it.  If you have a butternut squash recipe that you love please send it my way.