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D-liciously Diabetic

Deliciously Diabetic: Unicorn Cauliflower Mash

I used to love mashed potatoes as well as mac and cheese. Now don’t get me wrong, if I want to eat either of those things, I bolus for it and eat it. When I got diagnosed though, I found that they just weren’t worth the insulin I had to take to eat it.

Cauliflower seems to be the in vegetable these days but then saw purple cauliflower in the grocery store.  I had to have it!  And since unicorns became the in animal…I thought I’d name my cauliflower mash after the magical being!  Anyhow enjoy!

Here’s the steps I take to make some awesome Unicorn Cauliflower Mash!

1. Pick a cute head of purple cauliflower. And wash thoroughly:

2. Chop it up into pieces. I found out after taking these pictures that it is easier to cut them into big pieces, microwave it and then chop it into smaller pieces. I find that chopping it up into tiny pieces has been therapeutic for me so depending on your level of time or patience you’d like to spend on this piece…go for it!

3. Add 2 tablespoons of water and heat in microwave about 4 minutes.

It’s crazy how dark the cauliflower gets when it cooks!

Next thing we do is we mash that bad boy up!!! I like it lumpy so I don’t mash it up as much as others.  Or if it find that we will have super mashed up cauliflower mash when I’ve had a particularly stressful day!  Makes for a great win win situation…yummy food and the release of stress!

Then, add the good stuff that you love adding to mashed potatoes; sour cream, cheese, etc.  I love adding cream cheese to cauliflower mash, although I don’t think I’d ever add cream cheese to mashed potatoes.

And boom…done!!! Now-a-days, I’d probably add some chopped up fresh green onion or chives on top to give it some contrast…or maybe to get your peeps that don’t like unicorn things to eat something that is Joker themed!

Here’s the throwback picture of me back when I was using Afrezza!

Thanks for reading and let us know in the comments below if you tried making this dish and how you liked it!!!

Remember to…

Eat well.

Laugh often.

And always, Cut the BS!

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D-liciously Diabetic inSOULin

I’ve Never Done This Before…The Diabetes Mistake I Made Today


This morning I made the epic mistake of taking my fast acting insulin, Humalog, in place of my long acting insulin, Lantus.

What does that mean?  It means that I have given myself an accidental overdose of insulin.  It means that I now have to consume 150 grams of carbohydrates this morning when I typically eat 25-60 or else I may suffer from extreme blood sugar lows that can result in shakiness, crankiness, coma, or death.  

Why this is so frustrating for me: My family had plans today.  I had plans today.  And now, we have to rearrange stuff because I’m not sure how my body will react.  In addition, I am making efforts to lose weight, exercise more, and be better at my eating.   I have to take added quick sugars to this morning’s meal.  Added sugars equals added calories.  In addition, because working out can lower my blood sugars, I will have to table my plans and wait out the result of my stupid mistake.  

Another frustrating thing, I just wasted about 20 units of precious insulin on a boo-boo. Costly.

I was making breakfast at the time.  Waffles.  So now I have added every syrup we have in the house and am drinking a glass of orange juice.

So when someone looks at a plate like this and labels it, diabetes, they may be right.  But this plate of sugary waffles will probably be what saves my life today.

Ok, I know that I will probably bounce back from this setback by lunch and can work out then.  I am just extremely frustrated with myself and quite frankly, I’m embarrassed that I’ve made this mistake.  (I’ve had diabetes for almost five years at the time of this post.)  

As embarrassed as I am to make this mistake, I cannot keep it a secret.  This is one of the many reasons I fundraise and work to bring awareness.  I know will be ok.  I know what I have to do to get myself to baseline.  But there are others out there who will not be ok due to these accidental overdoses and complications with diabetes treatment. 

I’m hopeful that one day I won’t have to worry about making mistakes like this.  

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D-liciously Diabetic Uncategorized

The First Time I Went Out to Eat With Diabetes


Actually, I went out to eat with my husband, Diabetes came along uninvited, the schmuck!

My husband and I have gone on mini-honeymoons for our anniversary every year since we got married.  Every year, we take turns surprising each other by picking the destination.  He took the odd years, I took the even years.  The year of my diagnosis, was an even year, and about 2 weeks after my diagnosis.   As apprehensive as I was to go, and as apprehensive as everyone else probably was, I had already booked our mini staycation. We were going.

We packed our bag.  That was the first time I experienced this feeling:

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We checked and double checked for everything I would be needing. Insulin, pen needles, test strips, my meter, sharps container, alcohol pads, and one lancet. (Just kidding, that was when I changed the lancet every time, so I brought many lancets-I know better now!)  In hindsight, I highly recommend doing a staycation after diagnosis before your first huge trip-it gives you some peace of mind the second time around.

We kiss the girls goodbye and head to our hotel.  We check in and go to dinner.  Johnny Rockets and my mind starts to wander and get sad. “No, milkshake for me.” Sadface.  I was under the impression that I couldn’t have any carbs or the Diabetes Police would send me to Diabetes jail…oh wait, I’m already in Diabetes Jail not being about to eat any carbs. (Please excuse the sarcasm.).

We order, I probably got something along the lines of a burger, no bun, no cheese, a salad, and an unsweetened iced tea.  My husband promises me a few fries off of his plate.  I excuse myself to test my blood sugars in the bathroom.  My husband says I should just wash my hands and test at the table.  Really? At the table? What if people are watching me?  What if I gross people out? These are all thoughts that are going through my head.  He assures me that no one will stare.  Ok here goes.

I test my blood sugars and guess what?  No one cared.  No one noticed.  Everyone was so busy at their own tables to even care about what was going on at our BS checking table.  I worried about all that for nothing.  I’ve been testing my BS at the table ever since.

It’s been  years since this has happened, and I now know that I can order that milkshake if I want it as along as I dose myself with enough insulin.

I feel so fortunate that I have someone to champion for me even when it didn’t occur to me to champion for myself.  A huge thanks…about the size of that backpack from earlier to my husband!

Do you remember the first time you ate out with Diabetes?  What thoughts went through your mind? How did it go?

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D-liciously Diabetic getting eDucateD inSOULin

One for the Soul

I was working as a greeter/brand ambassador at a tradeshow when I saw their CFO, this slightly older, but extremely glamorous and successful woman walk between the two showrooms drinking a glass of green juice.  This was my second season with them and so I felt a little more comformatble speaking with the higher ups of the company.  She walked by again snacking on something.  

“Lane, what healthy thing are you eating now?  I noticed you with your green juice earlier.”

She quietly opened her hand to reveal a colorful and tiny handful of…M&Ms.  She winked at me then graciously and equally glamorously said, 

“That was for the body, these are for the soul.” 

She then strolled into the next room to meet some international contacts of hers.  I almost felt like I was in a White Diamonds commercial with Elizabeth Taylor.  I stood there grinning, feeling like she had imparted some huge secret of the world, in our brief interaction.  I continued welcoming and  scanning in tradeshow attendees with a little more wisdom. 

I just loved that.  Something for the body, something for the soul.  I find that this is a great lesson in life and an even greater lesson in diabetes life.  

When we get newly diagnosed as people with diabetes, we face fears and stigmas of losing our vision, losing our kidney function, losing our limbs.  As a result, it is very easy to shut down, I know I did for a bit.  I don’t blame anyone else for shutting down either.  But if someone told me during those early days of diabetes learning, that I can still have something for the soul, things I like to call “shot worthy,” I wouldn’t have been as scared as I was of the life ahead of me.  I wouldn’t have tried to shield myself so hard from people who stay things like, “Should you be eating that?”  I could have confidently said, “Why yes, sweetheart, it’s for the soul. You should try it sometime.”

What an awesome rule to live by.  I sooooooooo want to to be her when I grow up!

  
What things do you do for the body? I’m more curious about what you do for the soul.  Tell us in the comments!

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D-liciously Diabetic

Enjoy these Cut the BS Carb Free-Sugar Free-Fat Free Muffins!

Want my secret receipe to these Diabetes Friendly Carb Free, Sugar Free, Fat Free Muffins???

Sure you do…

Here’s what you need  and what you need to do… 

 

April Fools!  They don’t exist! These are the full carb, full, sugar, full fat versions of Banana and Blueberry Streusel muffins!  My family loves them!

Here’s where the myth comes in…can People with Type 1 Diabetes eat them? Oh the horror…

The answer is:

Absofreakinloutely! 

We just have to dose our insulin appropriately and like everyone else…we too have to chain ourselves to a treadmill to burn it off!

Happy April Fools!

Your Cut the BS Girl 🙂

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AttituDe of GratituDe D-liciously Diabetic

D-rinking Diabetic

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Ok the girls are in bed…come to Mama!!! It’s a Cut the B.S. appletini powered by Crystal Light and vodka (please don’t ask me which one as it is a cheap one…as in, it comes out of a plastic bottle! Ha!)

Now I feel I can still be diabetic and sassy! So thankful for these options! Now, if only they can carry these crystal light mixers at the bars!

In drinking, as well as in life, don’t forget to Cut the B.S.!

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D-liciously Diabetic inSOULin

Christmas Kisses

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I’m making these little tokens of appreciation for the crossing guards at my girls’ school. Since, I’m a sucker for chocolate mints I pop one of these dark chocolate filled with mint truffle Hershey’s kisses. At 2.78 grams of carbohydrates per kiss. I can still enjoy my holidays in my “cut the b.s.” manner.

How do you “Cut the B.S.” from your holidays? I could use some ideas. 🙂

Happy holidays everyone!
Love your “Cut the B.S…and I mean Blood Sugar” girl,
Arlene

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D-liciously Diabetic

Deli sticks

I was on Pinterest and repinned this link from Eating Well. It is a post about 100 calorie snack ideas. Great ideas, as they also happen to be diabetic friendly. I found myself hungry for a snack so I picked an idea that I had the ingredients to and so I picked the Turkey Rollups idea.

Here’s how it turned out.

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I used mustard because I love that flavor and it has no carbs so I can kinda go crazy with it. It was quite satisfying and I love the crunch of the pretzel stick in the middle.

Then I began to think…

Girl, we can have fun with this!

Here are a few ways I can think of to change it up:

  • Mix up a little whipped cream cheese & cranberry sauce in place of mustard. Baby thanksgiving sticks! Cranberry sauce can be rather high in carbs so just watch out for that.
  • Use vegetable sticks instead of breadsticks to lower the carb content or to splurge on higher carb sauces.
  • Feeling beefy? A1 sauce & roast beef baby!
  • Want some kick? Use buffalo wing sauce, Tapatío, ooooo or sriracha! Oh yea./li>;;
  • Want some Far East flavors? Use sweet and sour, teriyaki, hot mustard-like from the Asian market, or wasabi!
  • Clearly, I love sauces…I’m quite the condiment girl. Again, remember to keep I mind the carb contents of these combinations as some of the sauces are of the sweeter higher carb persuasion.

    What ways can you think of to change up this snack? Please share in the comments as I’m always looking for new ideas.

    Keep snacking.
    Keep counting the carbs.
    Keep it D-licious.
    Keep Cutting the B.S.! …and I mean Blood Sugar!

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    D-liciously Diabetic

    Goat cheese & Roasted Red Peppers on the good stuff!

    It’s your Cut the B.S. girl reporting from the official Cut the B.S. Kitchen. I’m here to remind you that diabetic dining doesn’t have to be boring and tasteless. It can be flavorful & D-licious!

    Today, I made myself a sandwich on the good stuff. And when I say good stuff, I’m talking about the artisan breads you find at your local grocer. Today, it’s all about my good friend rosemary! Rosemary bread is just super yummy.

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    Wanna know how to put this yummy sandwich together? Here’s how:

  • Take about 2 oz. of your fancy bread. Make sure to look it up on your favorite carb counter. Remember to use a food scale to measure the bread since that where most of the carbs are. If you buy it sliced in 1/2 inch increments its about 2 slices.
  • Smear some goat cheese on each slice.
  • Add roasted red peppers-about an ounce or 2. I’m lazy so I use the jarred stuff. I like to dry them off with a paper towel so not as to soggy my bread.
  • Throw in a leafy green or alfalfa sprouts.
  • Slap the two sides together.
  • cut at an angle. I don’t know, it feels fancier that way.
  • Enjoy!
  • So you’re looking at the picture thinking…

    “Cut the B.S. girl, you’re supposed to eat 45-60 of carbs per meal. Your picture says 32. You’re short!”

    Besides saying…”I’m not short…I’m fun sized.” I’d show you this:

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    Bam! You just ate healthy and you get to be bad-it’s not even the sugar free stuff. Boo-yah!

    Remember:
    Make it healthy.
    Make it D-Licious.
    Make sure to…”Cut the B.S.!” and I mean blood sugar!

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    D-liciously Diabetic

    Eating like a kiD again.

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    I just had half a sunbutter sandwich on whole wheat bread. (25 grams of carbs)
    A half a cup of fresh pineapple. (11 g of Cb)
    A half a cup of blueberries. (8 g of Cb)
    And a cup of coconut milk. (10 g of Cb)

    Total carbs: 54 g

    I might as well have eaten it out of a lunchbox, it was soooooo good!

    Speaking of, here’s a picture of the lunchbox I would have eaten it out of if I thought of it sooner. Thanks again, Anni!

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    Make it count.
    Make it D-Licious.
    And…
    Make sure to “Cut the B.S.!…I mean blood sugar.”