Recipe - My Corned Beef Hash

I really like Corned Beef Hash, but given that it uses tinned corned beef and potatoes it's not really that good for me.  As a result I experimented quite a bit to get something that satisfied the craving for corned beef hash whilst trying to lower the glycaemic load.  It tastes pretty good and it doesn't seem to send my blood sugar into the stratosphere although a key point here is that portion control does need to be managed.

Serves 3
1 tin Corned Beef (refrigerated for easy chopping)
1 large onion
1 large sweet potato, squash or swede
200g or so of mangetout, snowpeas or green beans
pinch of oregano
black pepper

Peel and chop the sweet potato and microwave for a couple of minutes until its reasonably soft.  If you're using squash or swede, the same approach applies.  Swede takes a bit longer to cook and can remain quite firm even when fully cooked.

Peel and coarsly chop the onion and fry in a large pan in a little oil until transparent

Add the chopped, cooked sweet potato/squash/swede and continue to fry

Chop up the corned beef (it's much easier if it's been kept in the fridge first) and add to the pan.  Make sure that it's given a good stir and leave to cook through.

Add in a pinch of oregano (or thyme) and some black pepper to taste - it shouldn't need salt because of the corned beef.

Depending on how much you like the crusty bits where things stick to the pan keep it cooking until you're happy you've got all the crusty bits that you want.

Add in the mangetout and stir until they're bright green and 'al dente'.  Leave them too long and they become soggy and less appealing.  Should take no more than a couple of minutes.

Serve and enjoy. 

Recipe - Sunday Morning Breakfast Pancakes

Normally I have multi-coloured breakfast first thing in a morning, but ever since we visited the US a few years back, my wife has a hankering for the big fluffy style pancakes - not the thin crepe things, the monsters that usually arrive in a 'short stack' coated with butter, syrup and dusted with icing sugar.

Over the last couple of years I've had a number of attempts following various recipes and finally settled on this, the Sunday morning special - it produces about 8 pancakes, but that's because I'm limited by the size of frying pan that I have available.

Ingredients:
135g wholemeal flour
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp of Splenda
2 tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil
1 egg (lightly beaten)
grated zest of 1 lemon or lime (to give it a little kick)
150ml of milk
1 tbsp of Greek Style Yogurt

To serve:
Blueberries/strawberries
Light syrup
A little butter

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add in the wet ingredients and whisk.

Leave to stand for 10 minutes - wholemeal flour means needing more liquid so if it ends up too thick (which can happen), just loosen it off again with a little more milk.

Heat oil in a pan and get cooking.  Cook until the underside is set and a light golden brown and then flip and continue until cooked through - nothing worse than a pancake that's not quite properly cooked.

Serve with blueberries and/or strawberries.  Any type of berries really as most of them are low GI.  The challenge is usually the syrup - it's not possible to have pancakes without syrup.  I've found that a light syrup is usually the best as it goes slightly further.  I quite like Clarks Maple Syrup with Carob which meets most of my requirements.

Initially the pancakes could be a bit heavy - seems to depend on the type of wholemeal flour being used (I always use stoneground wholemeal flour because I bake bread as well).  I'd avoid rye - it doesn't work nearly as well.

Enjoy. 

Made it to 'normal'

After 18 months my latest blood work came back with an HbA1C of 41 which is actually classed as normal.  Which feels pretty good - it's the lowest it's been for 3 years which means that whatever I'm doing is definitely working.

Update:  July 2015 down to 38 which is pretty good.  

Recipe - A simple cheesecake

I've always liked cheesecake, especially the baked variety.  This is a combination of several recipes that I've pulled together to give me something that I like and even better it doesn't cause my blood glucose to go through the roof.  What's really good about this recipe is that there is no biscuit crumb base to consider, which is the main source of starch.

Heat the oven to 180C

250g Mascarpone cheese

250g Quark

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons of flour

zest of one lime or lemon

150g of sweetener (I use Splenda)

200g fruit - blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or cherries all work well

Put all of the ingredients except the fruit into a bowl and mix together - you should be able to use a whisk rather than electric blender

Distribute the fruit evenly over a large (23cm) silicone sandwich 'tin' that's been sprayed with a little oil first.  Pour over the cheesecake mixture evenly, trying not to re-distribute the fruit too much.  Give it a little shake or tap it on the work surface to get rid of any bubbles.

Put in the oven for approx 30 mins (fan oven) or until it's risen and starting to brown - it should come over the top of the tin.  

Let it cool and then remove from the tin - I usually use the two plate technique for getting it out of the silicone 'tin', but it's up to you.  And that's it.  

Recipe - Multi-coloured breakfast

1 x Apple
1 x Pear
Strawberries
Blueberries

Natural yogurt

Wholegrain muesli
Linseeds
Pumpkin seeds

Serves 2

The recommendation for diabetics is no more than 2 portions of fruit in anyone sitting.  This is my normal breakfast start up.  It's very easy to prepare and allows quite a lot of variation, so long as you keep in mind the GL of the fruit and adjust the portion sizes accordingly.

Preparing the muesli

If you take a look at the packets of just about any muesli, you'll notice that it's rammed out with sugars of various sorts, so probably best avoided.  And if it's got raisins or chopped dates in it, definitely give it a miss.

1 cup Barley Flakes
1 cup Rye Flakes
1 cup coarse Porridge Oats
1/2 cup Malted Wheat Flakes

Measure out and mix together.  Store in a large plastic container for use going forwards.
I get the majority of the flakes from Holland & Barrett.  The malted wheat flakes are a bit more challenging but can be found at Wessex Mill, which is also where I get most of my flour from for baking.

Assembling the dish

Chop the fruit and divide it between two bowls.
Add 2 tablespoons of natural yogurt per bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of muesli per bowl.
1 dessert spoon of linseeds.
1 teaspoon of pumpkin seeds.

And that's it.  The fruit should be sufficiently sweet to carry the dish and the flaked grains means that you won't be feeling hungry about 10.30, they get you through to lunchtime.

Variations

If you need things a little sweeter then try Persimmon or Sharon Fruit as a substitute for the apple or pear.  These are quite sweet but still better than loading the thing with sugar.  Over the course of the last year, I've used just about every combination of fruit that I can think of and continue to experiment because otherwise it can become rather boring having the same thing day in, day out.  You can also use frozen berries available from every supermarket to change things around and during the winter months.  

Introduction

Hello.   I was diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic in December 2013 - it wasn't the greatest surprise, I've been overweight for some time and my father was also a diabetic I just hadn't planned on it happening this early on in life.  When I was diagnosed I had an HbA1C of 54 with a fasting blood glucose of 7.5.  At the time of writing this, I'm 49 years old and have a little boy who will be 4 next birthday.  Having a son happened quite late in my life, but as a proud dad of a bundle of energy I intend to be around for him for as long as possible.

I'm managing my diabetes through diet and lifestyle choices although I could have gone the route of a few people I know and started on Metformin and not made any choices at all.  I decided that I didn't want to take pills if I didn't have to and so changing my lifestyle was the way to go.  So far it seems to be working my fasting blood glucose is usually in the 4-7 range and my last HbA1C was 48 or 6.5% and I'm now down to 85 kg from a rather larger 103 kg in December 2013.

I've noticed at clinics a lot of people complain about the difficulty of losing weight and I'll be honest and say it hasn't been too much of a problem - my biggest challenge is in keeping it stable so I'm not constantly buying new clothes.  I've pretty much replaced my entire wardrobe this year which starts to get costly.

I haven't followed a diet as such, certainly not any of the faddy diets that crop up regularly, although clearly I do focus on low GI/GL foods to ensure that I am managing my blood glucose level.  Here's what worked for me - it may not work for you, but I thought I'd share it:

Ditch processed foods

Breakfast cereals are often portrayed as a healthy way to start the day.  If you want to put this in context start comparing what you consider a normal portion with the recommended portion on the packet.  If that doesn't convince you that it's not particularly healthy then start taking a look at the sugar and salt levels even in supposedly organic muesli.  It doesn't take long to reach the conclusion that they're not that good for you.

For years I've been a big fan of yogurts, those 'corners' and rice along with all sorts of different desserts - they're convenient when you've had a busy day and need something to hit that sweet spot.  A quick look at the ingredients and calories should be enough to convince anyone that they can be lived without.

The list of highly processed foods goes on and on.  The more of these that you get rid of the more likely you are to lose weight.

Ditch Fast Food

I've never really been a fan of fast food and living in a small town, the nearest of the big chains is at least 10 miles away, this hasn't been a challenge.  If you've never watched Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me then you probably should.  

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables

Fresh fruit and vegetables can be more expensive than buying packaged and processed food.  The main thing here is to keep in mind the GI/GL of the fruit or vegetable.  There are a  few things that I keep in mind with this though:

1. Use local markets - you can get some great bargains
2. Be experimental - sometimes you just have to buy stuff and then figure out what to do with it later
3. Be aware of the seasons and buy stuff that's in season.  Don't be afraid to vary the fruit and vegetables that you buy
4. Grow some of your own - can be very rewarding and once things mature you can get some pretty phenomenal crops out of not very much space.  Minarette trees are a great way of growing your own fruit

Portion Control

Sometimes its worth taking the time to measure out portions just to understand what is the right sized portion and what's not.  I always used to use my own measures for rice - about 85g per person (uncooked).  Then I switched to brown rice and discovered that it takes forever to cook and so I took a look at the prepared brown rice microwaveable packets.  Suddenly my old portion size seemed quite large in comparison.

Exercise

I've always done a fair amount of exercise although I can't stand team sports - exercise should be enjoyable and ultra-competitive team sports generally forget that small point.  These days my routine is pretty well established:

1. Walking 2-3 miles each weekday
2. Cycling 15 - 20 miles each day of the weekend

If this seems excessive, then it's important to point out that I used to cycle prior to being diagnosed - I enjoy mountain biking because I can do it straight from the house.  What made the difference was the walking during the week.  I don't just go for a stroll, it's definite power walk - my approach was to create a playlist of tracks which had a speed of 125-130 BPM and use these to keep a fairly steady pace.  

Be in control

At clinics we're always told to take control of our diabetes, don't let it control you.  What always seems to be lacking are the practical tips on how to do this.  As something of a control freak this doesn't really do if for me.  My approach was quite simple.

1. Buy a blood-glucose testing machine.  They're relatively inexpensive and I test myself at 06.30 when I get up everyday which gives me something akin to a fasting blood glucose measure.  I doubt it's perfect, but it lets me see where I am.
2. Blood pressure cuff.  I suffer badly from white coat syndrome.  I'm not hypertensive because I had a 24 hour monitor on, but put me in front of a doctor and it's not good.  Having my own allowed me to become more comfortable with the whole thing and my readings are now much more consistent.  

At a recent clinic, I was struck by how many people who considered testing their blood glucose to be the preserve of those using insulin or glyclazides and I was perceived as a bit 'odd' for being somewhat obsessive and maybe I am, but without information, it's not possible to be in control.