Low Carb Adventures

So, I've been struggling with diabetes for decades. I guess I've been in denial for most of them. But since I've gotten older, it's gotten harder and harder to control my blood sugar levels. I'm not a fan of medications, but it seems like it is the only way to get some measure of control lately. But between injections and stomach pain inducing pills, I finally decided to see what dietary changes I could make that would help lower my glucose levels.

Amazingly, I didn't realize how vital it is for diabetics to count their carbs. I've always been advised to count calories, watch my sugar intake (what does that mean really?) and to lose weight. And I even stumbled upon low carb eating years ago when the Atkins diet was popular. But, I was so interested in losing weight that I went on Weight Watchers and lost weight successfully and didn't really give low carb eating a real chance, until now. So recently, I cut out the carbs for a day and the results on my blood sugars was astounding! Normally, after a meal my sugar spikes to the above 300 level. After eating a low carb meal, my numbers were in the 200s. This is all without meds or exercise. In just a week of eating like this, I lowered the amount of medication and feel much better. I used the free Atkins carb counter app on my Android phone and have no trouble keeping my carbs down. The only downside is figuring out how to keep variety in my meals.

So began my low carb adventures. It all started with pancakes. My husband and I love to have pancakes and bacon on the weekends. Pancakes are carb bombs. I didn't think I would be able to enjoy my pancake and bacon weekends with my hubby anymore because I wanted to cut carbs.  But, before giving up, I went on a search for a low carb substitutes and found a world of low carb alternatives. There are banana pancakes, cream cheese pancakes, even beet pancakes! But, so far my favorite pancakes are ones made with Almond flour. I tried the cream cheese pancakes, but while they taste good, they don't have the pancake consistency I was looking for (they look and taste more like crepes to me). So the almond flour pancakes are super easy to make and only need almond flour, almond milk, Stevia, eggs and vanilla for them to taste great. The original recipe called for salt, two eggs and some pancake syrup, but I didn't think the salt would be a good idea and I wanted some sweetness from the Stevia and not the pancake syrup. One of the best things about these pancakes besides the taste is the fact that they leave you full longer than regular pancakes do because of the amount of protein in them. And, you don't feel sleepy or sluggish after eating them the way you can after eating a high carb and sugary meal. They also have more flavor than regular buttermilk pancakes.


Here's the recipe in a nutshell:
In a small bowl, mix a half cup of almond flour, one egg, one table spoon of Stevia, 1/4 cup almond milk (I used vanilla flavored reduced sugar) and 1 teaspoon of Vanilla together. In a pan use 1 table spoon of oil and ladle the batter into the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes per side. Make sure that you wait until the pancake edges have firmed and the centers have changed from a dark yellow to a lighter yellow before flipping as these pancakes will break if you turn them too soon. I enjoyed mine with pancake syrup and bacon. I'll post a video in an update to this post. Enjoy!

Marinade Escapade

I've always been a fan of the combination of sweet and savory. I once bought gourmet short ribs from Costco that were prepared by renowned chefs. I guess I thought they would be available forever, but alas, when I returned to get my sweet and saucy short ribs, I was sadly disappointed. So, of course I scoured the web looking for them, but to no avail. So, tonight we're having pork chops...shh, don't tell! FYI, I've made pork chops before. I've pan fried them, baked them, and grilled them, but surprisingly I have never marinated them. I mean, I've seen the marinades in the grocery store, but can't tell if they're great or ghastly just by looking at the bottle. I ask you, who wants to waste good money on bad marinade? Not me.  So, I decided to make my own marinade from 'scratch.' Okay, mostly from scratch.

Here's the recipe in a nutshell: 
Mix 1/4 cup of pancake syrup with molasses (straight molasses is more expensive) with 1 tbs mustard, crushed red pepper flakes, and 2 tbs of canola oil. Salt and pepper both sides of 4 thin sliced pork chops with salt and black pepper. Dredge the chops through the marinade on both sides and place in a plastic container. Cover the chops with the remaining marinade and let sit for at least one hour (more if you can). Grill or pan fry chops on each side in oil until the pork chops raise up off of the pan.

Okay, so I haven't made this yet, but I tasted the marinade before adding the oil and I believe it has promise. Hey, this might be the start of a new venture! I'm open to name suggestions :) Anyway, I'll update this post with a picture and taste results when dinner's ready. If you're feeling adventurous and make this before the verdict's out, please comment and let me know!

Update: So, I made dinner early so I could taste everything and I made the following discoveries. It tasted a bit too sweet for me, so I added more salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to the chops as I was frying them and then they were great. I also made my take on fried green beans, but I'll share more on that recipe in a separate post. Happy eating!