Balsamic Pot Roast with Onions and Carrots

3 to 4 pound beef roast….I used a chuck roast

1 lb of baby carrots

1-2 medium or 1 large onion, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil

1 cup of beef broth

1/2 cup of tomato sauce

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle (optional)

Place the baby carrots in the bottom of your crockpot. Place the slices of onion on top of the carrots.

Drizzle the olive oil inside a large stockpot or pan. Turn the heat to medium and while the pan heats up sprinkle the roast with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. If you have the Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle you can add that as well. Place the roast in the pan and brown it on both sides. It will take a few minutes to do each side.

Remove the roast and place on top of the onions. Keep the heat on the pan used to brown the roast. Add 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of water and deglaze the pan. Use a spoon or spatula to get all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan up. In a bowl mix the beef broth, tomato sauce,balsamic vinegar and the water used to deglaze the cooking pan. Mix well and pour over the roast. Set the crockpot to low and cook for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender. 

Remove the roast from the crockpot. The onion slices and carrots will have turned a bit brown from the balsamic vinegar and they will taste delicious. Remove them and then skim some of the fat off the top off the liquid that remains in the crockpot. Once removed pour the liquid out and use as a sauce to top your roast and veggies. It tastes great over cauliflower mashed faux-tatoes.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

Ever tell anyone you eat low carb or paleo and they think you eat something strange? Let me know and I’ll make another one using your suggestions.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     Here’s an interesting video about how eating a low carb diet reducing glucose levels in mice and has reversed kidney disease. They do point out something that is often not said in other studies that do not involve humans – results noted in mice many not be applicable to humans. Always something good to remember. However, I think there are enough humans out there who have reduced their carb intake (which in turn reduced their glucose levels) and have seen incredible results in reducing/control their health related issues such as kidney disease and diabetes.

     As you watch the video you will hear one of the scientists say that they don’t exactly want to put people on a low carb/higher fat diet. They just want to figure out how exactly it works so they can produce a drug that duplicates the same effect. Why? They don’t give a reason but my guess is the main one is changing your diet is free. The drugs that would be produced will cost money and those who produce the drug will be earning a huge profit. Don’t wait for drugs to do what small changes in the way you eat can do for you NOW and for FREE!

   Complaints aside, check out this video and then, if your diabetic, think about how reducing the carbs in your diet could help keep your kidneys healthy.

Video: Science BytesEpisode: A Life-Saving Diet?

Why do our bodies wear out as we grow old? Meet Charles Mobbs, a scientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. By trying to answer this mysterious question, he and his team have found what could be a way to do something long thought impossible: reverse kidney damage caused by diabetes.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     My mother called with a simple request. “Tell your father he’s eating too many baked beans. I told him they’re loaded with sugar but he won’t listen.”

     Dad unhappily gets on the phone and I ask him about the type of beans he’s eating. “They’re baked beans. I already looked at the label and it doesn’t say sugar so they’re ok.” I told him to read the label to me. “Small pea beans, water, molasses, salt, maple syrup, corn starch modified, spices, blah, blah, blah. See….no sugar.”

     The only problem is there was plenty of added sugar. Sure it didn’t say sugar but molasses and maple syrup are both sugars. Combined they added 12 grams of sugar (carbs) to each 1/2 cup serving. My father was doing what we all have done at one time or another. When we think of sugar we think of the white stuff and forget there are many other types of sugars that show up on ingredients labels. Often in products we would never think have added sugar such as salad dressings or soup.

So I thought I would post a list of the various names that might be appearing in the products you eat that are actually sugar:

Agave nectar
Barbados Sugar
Barley malt
Beet sugar
Blackstrap molasses 
Brown sugar
Buttered syrup
Cane crystals
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Caramel
Carob syrup
Castor sugar
Confectioner’s sugar
Corn syrup
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose
Date sugar
Demerara Sugar
Dextrin
Dextran
Dextrose
Diastatic malt
Diatase
D-mannose
Evaporated cane juice
Ethyl maltol
Florida Chrystals
Free Flowing
Fructose
Fruit juice
Fruit juice concentrate
Galactose
Glucose 
Glucose solids
Golden sugar
Golden syrup
Granulated sugar
Grape sugar
Grape juice concentrate
HFCS
High-fructose corn Syrup
Honey
Icing sugar
Invert sugar
Lactose
Malt syrup
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Mannitol
Maple syrup
Molasses
Muscovado sugar
Organic raw sugar
Palm sugar 
Powdered sugar
Raw sugar
Refiner’s syrup
Rice Syrup
Sorbitol
Sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Sugar
Syrup
Table sugar
Treacle
Turbinado sugar
Yellow sugar 

     I’m sure there are some names I’ve missed. If looking through the ingredients still leaves you wondering then just check the nutrition label to see how many total carbohydrates and how many grams of sugar the product contains. Total carbohydrates includes not only sugar but also starch (which convert over to sugar) as well as fiber (which does not convert to sugar). The listing for how many grams of sugar is just for the various types of sugar that have been added such as the maple syrup and molasses in the baked beans.

     If the food contains a certain number of grams of total carbohydrates but shows as 0 grams of sugar then the carbs all come from starch and fiber. There would be no added sugar. This does not mean however that the product won’t raise your blood sugar levels. Remember that carbs will be converted to sugar and that is what brings your blood sugar levels up.

     Am I missing any other names for sugar from the list above? If so then leave a comment and let me know what I’ve missed.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     Well, I guess that all depends upon what we are talking about when we say “natural”, “good” and “safe”. People often argue over exact definitions of such words. Natural could mean that the sweetener is produced by nature such as honey. For other people natural means that it is found in nature but needs some method of extraction or processing before it is used. Granulated sugar, palm sugar, beet sugar,corn syrup, sorhgum syrup, maple syrup and agave are found in nature but require some processing before we find them sold in our local grocery store.

     Is one type of sweetener good or better than another? Some will argue that the various types of processing are what determines whether or not that particular sweetener is good. Personally, I’ll stay out of that argument for now. The question that I focus on is whether or not a sweetener is “safe” for someone who is diabetic or prediabetic. If someone asks this question what they usually mean is will this spike my blood sugar levels?

     Let’s start by looking at regular granulated sugar. Here’s a nutritional label for 1 teaspoon of sugar:

One teaspoon of sugar contains 15 calories. If you look down the list you’ll see one teaspoon of sugar contains 4 grams of carbohydrates. It’s the carbohydrates that affect blood sugar levels. A tablespoon of sugar (3 teaspoons equals 1 tablespoon) would contain 12 grams of carbohydrates.

Now let’s look at some “natural” sugars. Here’s the nutritional info for honey. That’s about as natural as you can get since it doesn’t require any type of processing. You even find honey still sold inside the honeycomb where the bees put it for storage.

One tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories. Total carbohydrates for a tablespoon is 17 grams. So, even though honey is natural, the fact that it contains carbohydrates means that it will affect blood sugar levels. How about maple syrup? That’s pretty natural too.

Here’s the nutritional information for maple syrup:

One tablespoon of maple syrup contains 52 calories. It contains 13 grams of total carbohydrates. Again, that’s what affects blood sugar. How about agave syrup?

Here’s the nutritional label for agave syrup:

     Hmmm…..one tablespoon of agave syrup contains 60 calories. Total carbohydrates – 16 grams. So, when you think about it, agave actually contains more carbs/sugars that will affect your blood sugar level than a tablespoon of white sugar. No wonder my mother’s blood sugar levels spiked up after eating the dessert sweetened with this “natural” sweetener.

     To answer the question is agave “safe” for diabetics – it is no safer than regular white sugar. Since it contains more carbs when compared to an equal amount of white sugar it could even be considered worse for you. Sugar is a sugar is a sugar. They will all be processed by the body and raise your blood sugar levels. Keep this in mind when buying and using products labeled as “natural” or “diabetic friendly”. Always check the label to see what they consider a serving size and how many carbs it contains.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

Meat, butter and lard were regularly consumed. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease rates were low. As sugar and flour consumption increased so did the problems. Hydrogenated vegetable shortening was introduced and replaced butter. Disease rates began to rise. Yearly sugar consumption rose from about 15 lbs a year (around 1830′s) to 150+ lbs currently. Not surprising but the life time risk of diabetes went from 1 in 30 in the early 1900′s to currently 1 in 3.

Check out this blog that has a great timeline that shows the illustrated history of heart disease and see what you think. While it is the history of heart disease it could also be the history of type 2 diabetes as well. The two seem to go hand in hand. Here are some interesting maps that show rates of heart disease and diabetes across the country. First the heart disease map:

Now the diabetes map for the year 2008:

Notice any similarities? The darker colors on both maps indicate higher rates. They are fairly similar in the distribution of increasing rates. Here’s a a link to a great interactive map that shows the spread of diabetes county by country across the country. It only contains information from 2004 to 2008. Watching the increased numbers spread in such a short time really drives home the point that what we are currently doing and what we are being told to eat just isn’t working.

Whether you want to believe it or not – reducing the amount of carbs and passing on all the fake fats works! Please do what I did and actually read the studies yourself. And not just the abstract or the little info blurb put out in the media. Actually read the whole study.  Many times they don’t actually show what the media claims that they do.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

Herb Vinaigrette

2 garlic cloves

1 small shallot

1/2 cup of fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried tarragon or 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

6 fresh basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

6 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Splenda or other sugar substitute

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3/4 cup olive oil

Place the garlic and shallot into a food processor and mince them. Add the fresh parsley, tarragon, basil and rosemary. Process until they are well chopped. Add the wine vinegar, Splenda, salt, pepper and Dijon mustard. Pulse several times to incorporate them. Start the food processor and slowly begin to drizzle in the olive oil until well blended.

Serves 8 or more depending upon how much you use. Nutritional info is for 8 servings.

Calories: 187.6

Fat: 20.3 grams

Total carbs: 1.4 grams

Fiber: 0.1 gram

Protein: 0.2 grams

We used this dressing over a salad made of romaine lettuce, baby spinach, thinly sliced red onion, red peppers, tomato, cucumbers, diced chicken and feta cheese. The usual food complainers in the house only complained about the vegetables but never said a word about the “green” dressing.  Here’s a close up of the herbal goodness:

What’s your favorite low carb homemade dressing?

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     Many of the low carb sugar substitutes out there claim to contain zero carbs. According to U.S. labeling laws,  if it contains less than 5 calories per serving the product can be labeled as containing zero or no calories? It’s true. So if you decide to use something other than sugar in your baking or cooking it’s best to check on how many carbs it REALLY contains. One small packet in a cup of coffee might not be something to worry over. But, a cupful of the stuff might actually contain a good number of carbs/calories than you thought.

     One of my favorite sweeteners is Splenda granular. It’s easy to find, doesn’t require ordering from a specialty store if I need more and it can easily replace sugar cup for cup in most recipes. To me it actually tastes sweeter than sugar so I tend to cut the amount called for in a recipe but 1/4 to 1/2.

     Splenda is suppose to have zero calories per packet but, when your using a larger measure, it does contain carbs. If you’ve always wondered exactly how many carbs or calories was in Splenda here’s the answer.
SPLENDA (R) Granular contains sucralose and maltodextrin. Sucralose has no calories but the maltodextrin (a form of sugar) does have some calories. Maltodextrin is included in the blend to give it enough bulk that it can be measured cup for cup as a sugar replacement. This means 1 cup of granulated sugar in your recipe can be replaced by 1 cup of Splenda Granulated.

1 teaspoon = 0.5 gm carb = 2 calories
one half cup = 12 gm carb = 48 calories
1 cup = 24 gm carb = 96 calories

Splenda in the little yellow packets also contains some carbs/calories. Here’s the info on the packets:

Packet of SPLENDA (R) contain sucralose, maltodextrin and dextrose so they also have some carbs/calories in each packet. 1 packet has the sweetness of 2 teaspoons of sugar.

1 packet = 0.9 gm of carb = 4 calories

How does Splenda stack up against regular granulated sugar in the carb/calorie department.

White/Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon = 4 gm of carb= 16 calories
one half cup = 96 gm of carb= 385 calories
1 cup = 192 gm of carb = 770 calories

If your looking to do some baking then using a sugar substitute can help to seriously reduce the amount of carbs in a recipe. I’ll be posting soon about some other low carb sugar replacements as well as some info about “natural” sugar replacements such as pure maple syrup, honey and the one that I’ve been asked about the most recently – agave. Let’s just say that natural does not automatically mean good for a diabetic.

Do you have a favorite sugar substitute? Hate some of the ones that are currently on the market? Leave a comment and tells us which ones you like and which ones you hate.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     Today was my food and nutrition lab day. The class baked the same cookie recipe but used various modifications. Some replaced the butter with margarine, oil or a soy spread. Other replaced some of the all purpose flour with various percentages of wheat. Some reduced the amount of sugar or fat while others added ingredients to boost the fiber content. There were a bunch of cookies that we needed to check out and taste tested. 10 different versions of the same type of cookie. Unfortunately not a single one used a sugar substitute or replaced some/all of the flour with lower carb ingredients. Knowing that I was going to be tasting quite a few high carb cookies I took only small pieces so I could write about them. I figured this would be ok.

     Class ended and I headed home. About an hour later the first signs of reactive hypoglycemia began. First the heart palpatations started. Then the hand shakes and yawning started. I just wanted to lay down and sleep. Too many carbs were hitting my system too quickly. My blood sugar must have spiked up and now was crashing quickly. I would have to eat something to keep it from dropping low and staying there for a long time.

     One way to bring your blood sugar up is to drink a small amount of fruit juice. The sugar in juice such as apple or orange is quickly absorbed so this is usually a good idea. For me, I’ve found just a small amount of juice does the trick. Small meaning 4 ounces or less. If I were to drink a huge glassful my blood sugar would just rebound again – go back up high again and then quickly drop down low.

     I’ve been told that eating high carb foods (crackers or half a peanut butter sandwich) will help bring my blood sugar level back up again. The only problem is these types of foods take too long to break down before they start raising the blood sugar level. So I stick with having a small amount of juice. Once some of the symptoms subside it’s time to eat some fat and protein to keep my sugar levels stable. Again, there’s no need to eat a huge amount of food even though sometimes I feel starving at this point. Thankfully I had made some hard boiled eggs yesterday to have with salad today. I ended up eating a hard boiled egg with a smear of mayonnaise and an ounce or two of baked chicken (also for today’s salad).

     If you have a glucometer handy and can test your blood sugar levels then check out this page at the Blood Sugar 101 site on how to use Smarties candy to bring your blood sugar up quickly. I don’t have a meter since I’m no longer pre-diabetic so I can’t use this method. But if you do have a meter then check it out. It’s a great method to bring your blood sugar back up without sending it back sky high again.

Do you have reactive hypoglycemia or have ever experienced hypoglycemia? What do you do to bring your blood sugar levels back up again?

Photo

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.

     For those who are watching their carb count this soup can be made with or without potatoes. It does contain a can of premade baked beans so the carb count per bowlful is 16.3 and that’s without potatoes. I’ll give a nutritional breakdown both with and without potatoes after the recipe.

     In order to make kale soup a type of Portuguese sausage called Linguica is needed. You can substitute a spicer version called Chourico if desired. I’ve been told that another type of sausage called Chorizo can be used in it’s place. I’ve never tried the stuff but it’s always worth trying if that’s what is available in your area.

Quick Portuguese Kale Soup

1 bunch of fresh kale or a 16 ounce bag of frozen, chopped kale

1 lb of linguica or turkey linguica (chourico can also be substituted), sliced into rolls about 1/2 inch thick

16 ounce can of Bush’s Baked Beans with Onion

4 cups water

2 cups beef broth

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1 large potato, peeled, quartered and cut into small pieces

If using fresh kale wash it and then remove the thick stem. Cut the kale into strips about 1/2 to 1 inch wide. Set kale aside.

In a large pot add the onion, garlic and the sliced linguica. Saute until the onions have softened a bit. Add in the water, beef broth and the can of baked beans. Add the kale to the pot and stir to moisten the kale. Cook over a medium heat until the kale has softened – about 20 to 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

If your adding a potato then add it to the pot with the kale. Continue to cook until the kale has softened.

Makes 8 or more servings

Calories: 208  / 244.3 with potato

Fat: 9.8 grams even with potato

Total Carbs: 16.3 grams / 24.4 grams with potato

Fiber: 3.3 grams / 4.3 grams with potato

Protein: 14.6 grams / 15.3 grams with potato

This post was shared on the Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday’s.

This is a post from: Plate by Plate. Stop by and check out our Resources, Tips and Tools page for lots of helpful information for diabetics, prediabetics and anyone looking to use a low carb diet to improve their health.