Can you change the name of everyone favorite pasta dish, comfort food from "spaghetti and meatballs" to "meatballs and spaghetti?" By rearranging the name, you convert the dish from a high carbohydrate meal of spaghetti, to a high protein meal of meatballs. This little trick of thinking, what psychologists call "reframing" can help a person change their perspective which leads to a behavior change. If you are thinking about eating meatballs, you will eat meatballs, and the spaghetti becomes the side, which is where it needs to be for people living with Type 2 Diabetes.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Vegetable Soup
If you're like me, you buy fresh vegetables that you don't get around to cooking. Our good intentions, to eat healthy food, do get side-tracked. At one time or another, all of us have thrown away fresh vegetables that have gone bad.
French cooks have a use for vegetables hanging around the refrigerator. Those limp zucchinis and wilting greens may not be pretty, but they are still edible. Of course, you must throw out vegetable that are moldy or rotting. But, before they get to the un-usable stage, they look unappetizing, These are the vegetables that a French cook will use to make soup. Even lettuce goes into the soup. I've tried it. It's tasty.
Vegetable Soup is a simple, tasty way to get your veggies and sooth your conscience about wasting vegetables. Here's how to do it.
First, make the stock:
Add to a large pot:
1 carton chicken stock or broth, optional
1 can diced tomatoes, optional
Water to fill pot half full
2 carrots, scraped and cut into bite-sized chunks
3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Any fresh herbs hanging around your refrigerator, chopped
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to keep the water simmering until carrots are brightly colored and give slightly to pressure from a fork. Add water to keep vegetables covered. Timing depends on size of pot, size of carrots and your stove's ability to simmer.
Taste the broth and adjust salt as needed. You adjust salt by adding more water if its too salty or adding a little more salt if its too dull.
While the stock is cooking, peel and cut up vegetables, any vegetables you have or like. When the carrots are ready, add your vegetables in the order of their need for cooking time.
Start by adding the hard, root vegetables or winter squash that need time to cook. Let the stock come back to a simmer and cook them for a few minutes, until almost tender. After the hard vegetables cook, add vegetables like green beans, bell peppers, cabbage, broccoli, that need less cooking. Let them simmer awhile until they are bright colored and tender.
Last to go into the pot, the delicate vegetables that cook very quickly. Mushrooms, chopped greens, chopped lettuce, scallions, summer squash, tomatoes are examples of quick cooking vegetables. Toss them into the simmering pot. Stir and give them a few minutes to cook.
If you have leftover vegetables in the refrigerator, add them to your soup with the delicate veggies. They will heat while the the others are cooking.
This is also a good time to add seasonings. Dried thyme, basil, oregano or your favorite seasoning mix will taste great. A Cajun spice mix, Italian or French herb mixtures will be good, too. I like spicy food, so I add a few dashes of cayenne pepper.
When the vegetables are cooked to your liking, taste for seasoning. Adjust salt, pepper and spices to your taste.
Serve your soup hot. You can add a protein exchange by topping the soup with an ounce of grated cheese or a quarter cup of cottage cheese sprinkled with a little Parmesan.
French cooks have a use for vegetables hanging around the refrigerator. Those limp zucchinis and wilting greens may not be pretty, but they are still edible. Of course, you must throw out vegetable that are moldy or rotting. But, before they get to the un-usable stage, they look unappetizing, These are the vegetables that a French cook will use to make soup. Even lettuce goes into the soup. I've tried it. It's tasty.
Vegetable Soup is a simple, tasty way to get your veggies and sooth your conscience about wasting vegetables. Here's how to do it.
First, make the stock:
Add to a large pot:
1 carton chicken stock or broth, optional
1 can diced tomatoes, optional
Water to fill pot half full
2 carrots, scraped and cut into bite-sized chunks
3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Any fresh herbs hanging around your refrigerator, chopped
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to keep the water simmering until carrots are brightly colored and give slightly to pressure from a fork. Add water to keep vegetables covered. Timing depends on size of pot, size of carrots and your stove's ability to simmer.
Taste the broth and adjust salt as needed. You adjust salt by adding more water if its too salty or adding a little more salt if its too dull.
While the stock is cooking, peel and cut up vegetables, any vegetables you have or like. When the carrots are ready, add your vegetables in the order of their need for cooking time.
Start by adding the hard, root vegetables or winter squash that need time to cook. Let the stock come back to a simmer and cook them for a few minutes, until almost tender. After the hard vegetables cook, add vegetables like green beans, bell peppers, cabbage, broccoli, that need less cooking. Let them simmer awhile until they are bright colored and tender.
Last to go into the pot, the delicate vegetables that cook very quickly. Mushrooms, chopped greens, chopped lettuce, scallions, summer squash, tomatoes are examples of quick cooking vegetables. Toss them into the simmering pot. Stir and give them a few minutes to cook.
If you have leftover vegetables in the refrigerator, add them to your soup with the delicate veggies. They will heat while the the others are cooking.
This is also a good time to add seasonings. Dried thyme, basil, oregano or your favorite seasoning mix will taste great. A Cajun spice mix, Italian or French herb mixtures will be good, too. I like spicy food, so I add a few dashes of cayenne pepper.
When the vegetables are cooked to your liking, taste for seasoning. Adjust salt, pepper and spices to your taste.
Serve your soup hot. You can add a protein exchange by topping the soup with an ounce of grated cheese or a quarter cup of cottage cheese sprinkled with a little Parmesan.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Soup: How to make the best comfort food of all
Diabetics do best when they cook for themselves. When we cook for ourselves, we can control the ingredients and make the food to our tastes and to our needs.
It's been cold, so naturally thoughts go to warm, comfort food. Most comfort foods are starchy or sweet.. bread, pie, donuts, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy. They are also high in fat. For diabetics, the comfort these foods give is dangerous. Even soup can be dangerous comfort with cream and thickeners. If it comes from a can, it will also slam your system with salt.
Homemade soup is easy to make and tasty. Soup for diabetics has four main components: broth, the liquid part; vegetables, like onion, carrots, celery; protein, usually meat, but also soybeans, dried beans or peas or cheese; seasonings, you know, salt and pepper, herbs and spices. Soup can be made from canned, frozen or fresh ingredients. Here are soup making techniques.
Easiest Chicken and Mushroom Soup Ever
Anyone can whip up this soup in minutes with a few ingredients you can keep in your kitchen cabinet. Serve with a small salad and you have a tasty, diabetes healthy meal.
1 carton chicken stock
1 can mushroom stems and pieces
1 can chicken
Empty contents of all ingredients into a medium sized sauce pan. Add your choice of seasonings from the list below. Heat over medium heat. Stir to break up chicken pieces. The ingredients are all cooked. So, just heat them. No need to salt, but you might want to add pepper.
Jazz it up with your choice of spices. Here are some seasonings to experiment with. The amounts are starting points. You can always add more of seasonings you like:
Change the protein from canned chicken to canned shrimp, 1/2 carton of cubed firm tofu, or 1/3 c of canned chickpeas. Use the same soup making technique to make an entirely different soup. Think about adding 1/2 tsp of dill weed to this soup made with shrimp. With chickpeas, top the soup with a teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese.
Tomorrow, I'll continue with soups that take a little more effort, but are still easy.
Fresh Vegetable Soup
Cioppino from the Freezer
Clam Chowder
Beef Stew
It's been cold, so naturally thoughts go to warm, comfort food. Most comfort foods are starchy or sweet.. bread, pie, donuts, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy. They are also high in fat. For diabetics, the comfort these foods give is dangerous. Even soup can be dangerous comfort with cream and thickeners. If it comes from a can, it will also slam your system with salt.
Homemade soup is easy to make and tasty. Soup for diabetics has four main components: broth, the liquid part; vegetables, like onion, carrots, celery; protein, usually meat, but also soybeans, dried beans or peas or cheese; seasonings, you know, salt and pepper, herbs and spices. Soup can be made from canned, frozen or fresh ingredients. Here are soup making techniques.
Easiest Chicken and Mushroom Soup Ever
Anyone can whip up this soup in minutes with a few ingredients you can keep in your kitchen cabinet. Serve with a small salad and you have a tasty, diabetes healthy meal.
1 carton chicken stock
1 can mushroom stems and pieces
1 can chicken
Empty contents of all ingredients into a medium sized sauce pan. Add your choice of seasonings from the list below. Heat over medium heat. Stir to break up chicken pieces. The ingredients are all cooked. So, just heat them. No need to salt, but you might want to add pepper.
Jazz it up with your choice of spices. Here are some seasonings to experiment with. The amounts are starting points. You can always add more of seasonings you like:
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp each onion and garlic powder
- dash of cayenne pepper, more if you like heat
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- all of the above
Change the protein from canned chicken to canned shrimp, 1/2 carton of cubed firm tofu, or 1/3 c of canned chickpeas. Use the same soup making technique to make an entirely different soup. Think about adding 1/2 tsp of dill weed to this soup made with shrimp. With chickpeas, top the soup with a teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese.
Tomorrow, I'll continue with soups that take a little more effort, but are still easy.
Fresh Vegetable Soup
Cioppino from the Freezer
Clam Chowder
Beef Stew
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