Here I Go Again

 So.... as you may have read about earlier in the summer, I recently switched General Practitioners.  I had my first in-person appointment in May and was told to come back in July to get my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels.  Well, I didn't go in July-- I waited til the first week of August because SUMMER.  At the blood draw, the phlebotomist took twice the amount of blood I thought she was going to take.  I assumed this meant that the doctor wanted a new CBC on record since I was a new patient.  I was correct.  

A couple days later, I called to find out if my thyroid medicine dose needed adjusting and was told "yes, and we'll call you next week with what the dose needs to change to" and that's a whole other story in and of itself.  However, she began to tell me the results of the complete blood count.  Most things were great.  One thing slapped me in the face and I could've earned an Emmy with how hard I worked to keep the tears back while she finished reading off the results of everything they had checked.  Despite the overall good report, it's the combination of the thyroid dosage change and this new bombshell that have me rattled and apprehensive and sometimes just downright sad. 

This receptionist on the phone told me "Your A1C is 6.5 and this means you are borderline diabetic.  You will need to follow a low carb/ low glucose diet, and the doctor wants to see you again in three months." The wind was slightly knocked out of me.  I was ashamed (although this was for no reason because sometimes, Type 2 happens to people who are relatively fit and know a thing or two about carbs).  I'm raising my hand because I am the mom of someone who has Type One Diabetes and I know a thing or two about carbs.  I also see myself in the mirror every day and know that I'm not astronomical in size.  Therefore, it serves great purpose to say that we have stigmatized a disorder and we assume that anyone who gets it must have self-sabotaged and should've been paying closer attention.  That's so not it at all.  Sometimes, genes are a factor.  Other times, environment can play a role.  Sometimes, and I'm just so certain of this, stress can wreak a myriad of havocs on oneself.  

Whatever the causes of my borderline diabetes, I am knee deep in walking this "low carb/ low glucose" diet and I WILL NOT STRAY (much) because I want to look the doctor in the face come November and say "I really did try my hardest."  For now, the onus lies with me.  I am on no medication right now because we are seeing if I can handle this disorder with diet and exercise alone or if I'll need medication or further help.  I am committed to this low carb diet.  In November, if my A1C has lowered, then we will know that diet can fix it and I'll stay the course.  If in November, my A1C has not improved, then I will probably receive the official Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis and will try out some form of oral medication (similar to what I had to be on when I had gestational diabetes with Avery).  If my A1C has risen to higher levels than what should occur after a committed diet change, then it could be possible that I'm in the early stages of Type 1 Diabetes and will soon produce none of my own insulin at all, which would require injecting artificial insulin like my son has to do daily.  

No matter the final outcome, I have found that the low-carb diets really aren't terrible.  I'm including some recent pictures of things I've found that I enjoy eating or drinking that fall into the low carb category.  I wrote extensively about this in 2017 when I was undergoing gestational diabetes for the second time.  Very recently, I have gone back to this point to remind myself of the variety of things that I really can eat or drink that will fill me up without overdoing it in carbs.  That post can be found here. 

Here's my most recent compilation. 

Chocolate Fairlife milk (about a cup) plus peanut butter powder.

I use a blender bottle metal ball and shake it up, then stick it in the freezer for 10-30 minutes and it tastes (kind of) like a milkshake!  The Fairlife brand of milk offers a lot of protein, so it helps fill me up as well. 

Target's "Good and Gather" brand offers sparkling water for pretty cheap and it tastes all right. I have tried the Cranberry Citrus and the Coconut Pineapple (this is heavy on the pineapple, and I wish it was heavier on the coconut). 

Salads have been my favorite side dish and/or meal option.  I made sure to order salad supplies on my recent grocery orders and I included Reduced Sugar craisins also.  

The craving for something sweet is real, but I'm able to stave this off by eating a couple of sugar-free wafer cookies.  The longer one is Publix brand (Vanilla flavored) and the shorter one is Voortman (chocolate flavor).  We also have the Voortman lemon flavor which Avery and Aaron prefer. 

This was my lunch from yesterday.  Half of a turkey sandwich, salad, Diet Dr. Pepper (or Diet Dr. Thunder as it were), and a couple wafer cookies.  This meal was under 30g of carb, and to be considered "low carb" a meal must be under 45g of carb.  (Side note: we'll talk about this book in another post.  I just finished another book by this author and it was phenomenal. I just started this second book yesterday).  

Thanks for keeping up with me on this journey!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Egg Cooker Review

 For a few years now, I've been seeing blog posts about a rapid egg cooker.  I previously have brushed off the idea that this might be a useful tool and instead convinced myself that it was much better to just boil eggs on the stovetop.  Even after getting an InstaPot and an airfryer and hearing about how people use those appliances to cook eggs, I did not bother looking up how to do so myself.  My main problem with this line of thinking is that I actually do not know how to boil eggs on the stove.  Yes, my mom has told me 73 times, and I've looked up the recipe on Google about 14 times, but still... it doesn't stick and  becomes a chore to always ask or look it up.  This means that I never boil eggs in my home.  Never.  Which also means that we do not receive the benefits of the easy protein-filled snack that is the hard-boiled egg. 

Just last week, Michael asked for a hard boiled egg and I happened to be reading a blog post by someone raving about their egg cooker.  Although I thought I had looked up the price on this appliance years ago, I was shocked to see how affordable it really was!  I also did not know that it could cook poached eggs and omelets as well.  I chose the white color although it was very tempting to choose the mint shade. It arrived a couple days later and we put it right to work!  It's much smaller than I thought it would be, which is nice because it doesn't take up too much counter space and I'll be able to store it in the cabinets without rearranging too many things around it.  Right now, we've used it at least once a day, so I've kept it on my counter. 

It's quite compact and comes with all the pieces tucked neatly underneath the lid. 

Inside the lid, it has the boiling-plate handle, the poaching plate, the omelet plate, and the boiling-plate stacked in one another. 

When boiling eggs, just attach the boiling-plate handle to the boiling plate.  The handle allows me to pick up the eggs when they're finished cooking, and place them in ice water without burning my hand.

 

If choosing to poach or make an omelet, those specialized plates need to sit on top of the boiler-plate so they don't get burned by the metal piece underneath the boiling plate. 

The lid locks in place to store it, but when cooking, the lid must be set on top of the device without actually locking it into place.  

When storing, you can slide the locking tabs under the handles of the egg cooker. 

It also came with a measuring cup to show proper water amounts for various levels of "doneness" for boiled eggs. I always choose hard boiled for myself or the kids.  Aaron prefers medium boiled for himself.  And whenever I choose to do a "Day in the Life of Downton Abbey,"  I'll choose soft boiled. :)  On the opposite side of this measuring cup are lines showing the water level needed for poached eggs and omelets. 

Underneath the measuring cup is a little push-pin like device.  This is to poke the rounded bottom of the egg before placing it bottoms up on the boiling plate. 

I placed it next to my 24 ounce cup to show the size of the egg cooker.  It's really compact and everything fits neatly under the lid when not in use. 

I'm really impressed by the egg cooker and am glad we got it when we did!  When it's done cooking, it sings a little song as its timer rather than just beeping, etc.  Avery LOVES the song it plays and frequently asks me to "play that song" even when the cooker is not in use!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Recipe: Kielbasa, peppers, and onions

One of the quickest weeknight meals we make is kielbasa, peppers, and onions.  Sometimes, we forget about this meal and once we bring it back into our rotation, we wonder how we ever forgot about it at all.

This is a recipe my mom and dad would make when I was growing up.  It's so easy and simple and Aaron loves it as much as I do.  With our kids, it's still hit or miss because of onions and our kids' semi-make-believe aversion to them based upon how they feel on any particular day. :)

Recipe:  Kielbasa, Peppers, and Onions

Ingredients:
-kielbasa (we buy the Hillshire Farm version)
-1 or 2 green bell peppers
-1 sweet onion
-sesame seeds
-egg noodles
-(butter for the pan)


Process:
-Start boiling a pot of water for the noodles.  When the water is rolling, drop in about a cup of noodles.  You'll serve the meat & veggie over the noodles or you can mix it all up together at the end.
-Cut the kielbasa on the bias.  We use the whole sausage roll but you can use half if you prefer.
-Add some butter to a skillet and bring it to medium-high heat.
-Chop the onion and bell pepper.
-If your skillet is big enough, you can add the sausage, peppers, and onions at the same time and cook until the onion is transparent.
-If your skillet is smaller, cook the sausage first until it's slightly charred and warmed all the way through (the Hillshire Farm brand comes pre-cooked).  Remove the meat from the heat and add in the veggies to the skillet and cook until the onions are transparent, then add the meat back to the skillet.
-When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, then return to the pot or you can add it straight to the skillet.
-Sprinkle sesame seeds all over the meat, veggies, and pasta.  This adds just the right finishing touch!

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Lunches for Michael

Preparing lunch for someone with Type One Diabetes is never as simple as throwing things in a bag and saying "good to go!"  Meal times are also never as simple as saying "yeah, sure, get anything you'd like from the lunch line at school and don't worry about measuring exactly what goes on your plate." Every meal and every snack take a lot of work to correctly prepare.

Michael has wanted to buy lunch at school on a few occasions this semester.  When that happens, the lunch ladies are supposed to measure the scoop of beans or fries or whatever, and Michael's tray is then brought to the nurse's office where they calculate the carbs and dose Michael for them.  Michael then takes his tray back to the lunchroom to eat with the rest of his class.

On days when Michael packs his lunch (which are most days), he takes his lunchbox to the nurse's office.  They calculate the carb amounts that I've written on all items.  They dose him for the carbs (ie, give him insulin), and he then takes his lunchbox to the cafeteria where he eats with his classmates.

I took a picture of the typical lunch he likes to bring to school.  I pack his lunch and his afternoon snack.  If his blood sugar ever drops to a point where he'd need a morning snack, I have provided snack options which are stored in the nurse's office.  These items include peanut butter crackers, shelf stable chocolate milk boxes, etc.

For lunch, Michael typically likes to have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, some type of chip (in this case it's Veggie Straws), something sweet, and a juice pouch (we use Capri Sun Roaring Waters).  For snack, I like to provide something with protein (Go-gurt, or a Greek yogurt cup, etc.).

For every items, I write whether it's for lunch or snack, and I write the grams of carbs.  This makes it easy on the nurses and also ensures that the correct carb amounts are dosed for, since types of breads vary in carb amounts, etc.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba