Experiencing life as a diabetic, well sort of......

  First I have to start out by saying, love technology when it works.  My internet has been down and have not been able to blog anything.  Sad day in the neighborhood. 
  So this past week I decided to practice what I preached.  Part of my job as a dietitian is to teach diabetics how to count carbohydrates.  Plus I wanted to try something with sun-dried tomatoes.  I find them fascinating and wanted to try out the flavor.

My recipe this week was mainly from Trader Joe's (they made a fortune off me)

        1) Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage
        2) Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta
        3) Classico Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic Pasta Sauce
        4) Julienne Sun Dried Tomatoes from Trader Joe's
        5) Zucchini

 I always tell my patients to use a 9 inch plate. So I got a ruler out and measured the plates we had in the cupboard.  Turns out, this little guy is exactly the size.  What I tell them is to cut the plate in half.  Fill one side with veggies.  The other half divide it again, one with protein & one with starch/carbohydrates.

I chopped up my chicken sausage, used 1 1/2 links.  Measured 3/4 cup of pasta sauce.  Then threw in the julienne sun-dried tomatoes for added flavor.  Cooked them till they were nice and hot.  Made sure to stir it frequently to avoid burning and I used medium heat.

My story on whole wheat pasta.  Before I tried linguine whole wheat pasta, that story ended in the bathroom.  The noodles were too thick.  Plus the flavor sticks to your tongue.  Oh it was awful.  But this time I decided to be daring and try the rotini.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It tasted very good even plain.  I would recommend trying this.  You get the added health benefits of whole wheat pasta but the flavor is not overwhelming.  It compliments the dish.

One of my favorite things to do is to steam vegetables.  Not as much of a fan of chomping on raw vegetables.  Instead of the health benefits I get a sore jaw and a way too full tummy.  Instead I cook them to be soft & crunchy. First I chop up the zucchini. Spray cooking spray on the bottom and then lightly spray the tops.  I cook it on medium-low heat, cover the pan with the lid to create steamed environment.  Check it every few minutes and move the veggies around.  Till they are just the temperature I want.

Put all the elements together, resulting in a beautiful, visually stimulating meal.  I enjoyed trying a new food, sun-dried tomatoes.  They are full of flavor and would go great on pizza.  Thanks for tuning in.  Look forward to sharing again.

Week Two: Check the Equipment First!

     So... This week I decided to make a butternut squash recipe.  Normally winter squash is in season in Autumn months.  But I had bought the squash in October or November.  They have a really long shelf life.  As you can imagine I wanted to create something using my squash. 
    I came up with the soup idea because it had been quite cold in California.  In addition to trying to create more vegetable to my diet in different forms.  This recipe comes from good old Martha Stewart who is known for her creativity, cooking, baking, to even how to host a dinner.

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 4 red or golden apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, plus 1 apple, finely diced and tossed in lemon juice, for garnish (optional)
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 1/2 cups water, plus more if needed
• 1 jalapeno chile, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)
• Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add squash, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add apples, salt, cumin, coriander, ginger, cayenne, black pepper, stock, and the water (just enough to cover). Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth, and return to saucepan. Heat over low, thinning with more water if necessary. To serve, ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with diced apples, jalapeno slices, and sour cream if desired.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Apple-Butternut Squash Soup - Martha Stewart Recipes

 

First, I had to cut the squash up, deseed it, & cook it.  I lined the pan with foil to prevent the sugars sticking onto the pan.  Used a cooking sheet which was about 2 inches deep.  Chopped it into pieces about 4 inch by 4 inches and filled the pan with 1/2 inch with water.  Cooked it for 25 mins and then 35 mins for the thicker pieces. (Tip: You can always use the pre-cut squash, it is a lot easier and quicker).

 

Changes I made to the recipe:

- green apples instead of golden apples

- 1/2 onion instead of whole

 

After I heated the soup and all the pieces were nice and soft.  I decided to move to the next step.  The recipe says you can use blender or food processor.  Well, I live in a house with my roommate who is a mom and has every imaginable gadget known to man when it comes to cooking.  She had both blender and food processor. 

 

So here comes blunder #1 Check the equipment for how to use it!  I started to put all my soup contents into the food processor, all my wonderful pieces, savory juices.  I was on cloud nine, until my hand became very warm.  Look down to earth and realized all my soup contents were spilling out all over the counter.  Yeah, I know, there goes another recipe down the drain.  Plus trying to balance the food processor over the pot to not lose any of the contents.  That was a fun one.

 

Victory #1 - I was able to use the blender next.  Pour all my contents into it plus the juice (what was left of it) and bingo!   Now there was beautiful soup.  It looked so pretty and smooth.  I loved looking at it.

 

Thoughts of the recipe:

This recipe I felt was very spicy.  It has quite a kick to it.  I enjoy spicy foods but it tasted as if it shouldn't have been there.  Next time I would cut out the cayenne pepper.  It does not balance well in the recipe.  Instead of complimenting the dish it overwhelmed the flavor.

 

I did not like the taste of green apples in the recipe either.  Maybe if I used the golden apples instead but I did not like the taste of sweet in the soup.

 

Overall, I would not repeat this recipe instead I would try to find another butternut squash recipe.  Because I really enjoy butternut squash but not in this form.

 

Nutrition:

Butternut Squash is rich in Vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, folate & fiber.

 

Thanks for tuning in, hope you enjoyed the cooking experience.

Week One: Split Pea Soup

My first attempt at cooking, I decided to make split pea soup.  So I took the recipe from the back of the split pea bag of the Safeway brand and got started.

Recipe:
6 cups water
6 cups chicken broth
6 cloves of garlic
2 carrots (chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 basil leaves (whole)
1 bag of split pea soup

The recipe called for ham hock (which by the way I had no idea what it was, asked the meat guy. Very helpful).  Per serving it was 11 g of fat.  A little too much for my taste.  I thought I could improvise.  So I substituted chicken broth, low sodium for the ham. 

Victories: 
1. It tasted really good.  Biggest concern was the flavor being bold enough to taste.  (Secret: stir-fry carrots, garlic & olive oil first till brown.  Then add water/broth bring to a boil then simmer for 1 1/2 hours)  Then add peas.

Blunders:
1. Underestimated to time for it to cook.  My stove's simmer was not enough heat to match the cooking time of the package.  It said 1 1/2 cook time.  Yeah right.  I ended up sticking it in a crock pot over night to cook.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience.  See you all next week.