Awesome Amazon Finds for Diabetics!

 REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

June 28, 2020

Image created on WordArt.com

Since we’ve been dealing with COVID19 for the past 3 ½ months now, I’ve been doing a lot of my shopping online, so that I don’t have to get out and mingle with anyone. It helps with my stress level to not have to get out and about so much. 

I decided that I would write a blog post about all of the awesome finds that I’ve found on Amazon, that benefit diabetics.  Clicking on the images or links in the post should open the item directly in your Amazon app or account when using your mobile device or your computer.

So I’m just going to dive right in, and tell you about some of the things that I’ve personally bought for myself, as well as some other items for diabetics that I have found while browsing Amazon. If I’ve not gotten it yet, it is definitely on my wish list.

First, are glucose meters. For those who’ve been following my blog, you know I use the Dario meter.  I’ve said it before, but I’ll say again, that I love my Dario glucose meter because all of my information is stored in the cloud, via the app on my phone.  (Don’t worry, Dario complies by all HIPPA law requirements, so your info is safe.) Click the image below for the Amazon link.

And I love the Dario case for my meter!  Click the image for the Amazon link.

They have two types of Dario cases.  I have both, but I like the smaller case best.  I can put it in my pocket if I’m not carrying my purse. If I travel somewhere overnight, I use the larger case. Click the image below for the larger case.

There are many other meters that you can buy on Amazon, and usually, the prices are better on Amazon than you find other places.  Here are some of the others that you can get from Amazon.

There’s also the Bayer Contour Next EZ meter – click the image.

And there’s the One Touch Ultra 2 – click the image.

There’s also the Auvon DS-W – click the image.

You can check out the Easy Touch glucose monitor – click the image.

And then there’s the Prodigy Pocket glucose monitor – click the image.

And one many have heard of, the FreeStyle Lite meter – click image.

And then there are insulin coolers. There are many different kinds of insulin coolers available. Here are a few – click on the images below. 

   

Working out is a key factor in controlling blood sugar. So finding the right tools for home workouts is really important. 

   

ALERT! ALERT! I’ve also been told to buy a medical alert bracelet or necklace, so I’ve been looking for ones that I would like.  Here are a few that I’ve found. Click image.

   

Yummy!  There are also many kinds of foods that you can get from Amazon.  Here are some of the things that I buy from Amazon, as well as some items that I plan to try.

I love everything from Diabetic Kitchen’s line. I’m adding some of my favorite products from them here, as well as other favorites that I use.

                                

Diabetic readings and cookbooks are also plentiful on Amazon.  

    

Vitamins and supplements are important to everyone, not just diabetics. Here are some links to ones that I’ve purchased, but not by any means the only ones.

    

I will continue to update and add things to this list.  If a link does not work, let me know in the comments, so that I can correct it.

You can also search foods through Amazon Pantry, using this link:

Amazon Pantry

And depending on where you live, you can get fresh foods through Amazon Fresh, using this link:

Amazon Fresh

Also, if there’s a product that has been helpful to your diabetic journey, and you think I should try it, drop me a note in the comments section. I love trying things that help keep me on track with my diabetes.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  I hope that you’ll subscribe – top right corner of the page if on a desktop, and bottom of the post if using a mobile device.  

In the meantime, live well, and be well!  

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

Searching For the Holy Grail — what low carb ingredients are in my future?

REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

February 17, 2020

I grew up in Texas.  From the the time I could sit up in a high chair, my palate was refined through consuming delicacies made with white flour, lard, whole milk, and bacon grease, and usually made in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. Low carb wasn’t even a phrase when I was growing up.      

I love all things carby, fattening, and flavorful.  Saturday morning breakfasts included things like biscuits and sausage gravy, pancakes, biscuits and jelly with a side of pork bacon or a slab of ham,  fried eggs, breakfast casseroles, and of course boxes of sugar coated cereals and whole milk.  

Lunch might be a sandwich with super soft and fluffy white bread slathered with mayo, some greasy potato chips (because “fat is where the flavor is,” right?), and of course something sweet to top it off.

Dinner was usually a meat and potatoes thing, because my dad was a meat and potatoes guy.  I hated iceberg lettuce (still do to this day) because of a certain daycare that I attended as a very small child.  (That’s a story for a whole different blog, so I’ll just leave that one alone.).  Family meals included yummy things like squash, green beans, peas, and other vegetables.  Along with a healthy dose of pastas, breads, fried foods, gravies, and lots of sugar filled desserts like cakes, fried pies, baked pies, and homemade ice cream.  

Here’s a recipe that I found in my grandmother’s old cookbook – a prime example that nutrition wasn’t at the forefront of cooking when I was a kid. 

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©
Old recipe from my grandmother

I have been on the hunt for all things low carb (and low sugar, but I’ll save that for another day and focus on carbs in this post), whether it be some sort of low carb flour substitute, or vegetables.  

The big question is how to decipher the carbohydrate content of all these foods I love, and also to figure out what I can eat, and what I should limit, as well as what I should stay away from.  I am learning what causes my blood sugar to spike, and what doesn’t, by testing a couple of hours after I have a meal.

I’ve learned from the Mayo Clinic Diabetic Diet how my plate should look at a meal.  It hasn’t looked like that in the past.  (Especially if we went out to eat, where so many times, a meal was served on a serving platter, rather than on a dinner plate!)

Diagram of how a Type 2 Diabetic’s Plate should look.
Image:  The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet Book

I also often look at the American Diabetes Association website for ideas of what to make for our meals.  Here’s a nice list that I found from the ADA that lists healthy foods for diabetics.

Best food choices for diabetics. (1 of 2)
Images:  American Diabetes Association

Best food choices for diabetics. (2 of 2)
Images:  American Diabetes Association

Flour is one source of carbs that I have to really watch. There are so many different types of flour that claim to be low carb.  I am working my way through them to see which ones that I like. I’ve had to make myself some charts so that I can see what I should try and what I may want to steer clear of. 

Flour comparison chart 
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

So far, I have tried coconut flour, almond flour, flax meal, and cauliflower flour.  One thing is for sure.  They are NOT CHEAP like your typical all-purpose white flour.  I’m spending $7 to $10 for a 1 pound bag of these, as opposed to $3-$4 for a 5 pound bag of all-purpose white flour.  The nut flours seem good for baking things like cookies and dessert breads – they help add a sweetness and allows me to use less Truvia (stevia/sugar substitute).  However, so far, I think I like the cauliflower flour the best for making things like pizza crust and garlic breads for dipping.

Flours that I might try
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

Even though I really didn’t cook very often with white flour, I did use it for things such as thickening graves, and the occasional batch of cookies or cakes.  But we were still consuming it though eating various fast foods – pizzas, hamburgers (love those soft buns!), sandwiches, and such.  We also love pasta – and I really do miss it – which is also made from white flour.  All these were adding lots of carbohydratesto our meals, which translates into higher blood sugars.

There are many other options that I will be looking to try out.  Here’s a chart that I’ve been using to give me ideas of which alternative flours I want to try.  There’s even a flour made out of ground CRICKETS!  Yes!  And GROSS!  No thank you.  But if you’re into eating bugs, let me know how that turns out for you.

Flours that I’ve tried
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

Fresh herbs make spaghetti taste so much better!
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

I have recently learned how to cook a spaghetti squash in my Instant Pot, so that we can eat spaghetti with meat sauce – one of my favorite foods. I love adding fresh vegetables and herbs to my sauce, as well.   Whenever we make this, my glucose levels are always in the low range of normal – 70s – 80s.

Spaghetti squash with ground turkey meat sauce is delicious!  I was planning to add some tasty diabetic friendly garlic bread sticks, using cauliflower flour.  It was a fail.  Let's just say that I can cross off the cauliflower flour for now.  It really didn't have any taste to it, and it made my kitchen stink.  So I'm still experimenting, and when I come up with a good recipe for some low carb garlic breadsticks, I will post how I made them.

I tried to add my recipe, but it wouldn't format correctly.  If you'd like it, just comment below, and I'll try to get it to you.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by to read the blog!  I would love for you to subscribe and follow along, as I document my journey. If you have questions or comments, please post them in the comments section below.   

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. 

A Southern Girl Learning to Cook – All Over Again

REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

February 5, 2020

My grandmother and her sisters, in their childhood kitchen.
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

As I mentioned in a previous post, I learned to cook from some of the most fabulous Southern cooks around!  My grandmother could make a chocolate pie with a magnificently beautiful meringue on top!  When it was cut, you could hold a piece of it in your hand without it falling apart!  And it was as delicious as it was beautiful! 

Me and my grandmother
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

So I grew up eating all things Southern – chicken & dumplings (put some extra butter in that while it’s cooking!), turnip greens with cornbread dumplings, fried cornbread, baked cornbread (add some sugar to it before you pour it into the hot skillet!), chicken fried steak, new red potatoes in a cream gravy, pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes with full cream whipped in them, turkey and dressing, chicken and dressing, brown sugar and Coca-Cola glazed ham, hot rolls or white bread with every meal.  Peach cobbler, fluffy yellow cake with chocolate icing (FROM SCRATCH!), that chocolate pie… You get my drift, right?  

I never read labels on boxes – and in fact, it wasn’t until 1990 (after I was already an adult) that nutrition labels became mandatory.  I didn’t even really read them then, either.  I glanced to see how much salt was in something, maybe.  Or if there were weird words of ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce, but I never looked for carbohydrates or sugars in anything that I bought.

And let’s face it, like most of America, my family was eating things that came out of a box. It was convenient and easy for a household that had two parents who were both working.  It was easy to throw in a pound of hamburger meat and packets of seasoning and noodles that came out of a box.  BAM!  Dinner was served and the kitchen cleaned in less than an hour.  The rest of the evening was spent grading papers or later, going through office discipline referrals for the next day of work (teacher and school administrator 🙋‍♀️), while watching Netflix or Dancing With the Stars.  And part of the time was also given to our kids, helping them with homework.  (How I hated science fair time!)

As I said before, when my kids got into middle school and high school, we actually started working out at the YMCA.  It was fun and I felt like I was living a healthy life.  We were eating pretty well – even though we were still eating out frequently, because as a high school administrator, I had quite a few night time activities, and didn’t get home to cook all the time.  So when we went out, I would order something like grilled fish or chicken and veggies.  

But after I retired, instead of thinking I have more time to cook at home, my husband and I, as empty nesters, fell into the habit of “let’s go out and grab something because it’s easier and will give us more time to do something fun like binge watch something on Netflix or Hulu.”  When I did cook, because I had more time to do things, I would cook heavy, high calorie dinners – Southern Style and TexMex Style.  (See the list of foods in paragraph 1.). 

So fast forward to this past November, when I am diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.  Suddenly, I felt this urgent need to learn all I could about reading nutrition labels, and figure out how I could apply that knowledge to my cooking.

No more going out to eat, and no more boxed foods for convenience.  We are now trying, as much as possible, to use all fresh ingredients when we cook.  And as I said before, we also have eliminated refined sugar in our diet.  No sodas, no cakes or cookies.  I use Truvia in my coffee – it’s made from the stevia plant.  No calories, and it does not spike my blood sugar.  

I am learning to look at recipes and substitute things like Truvia in place of sugar, and almond flour or flax meal in place of all purpose flour.  I do a lot of research about how to cook low carb and low sugar.  Then I just try to revise recipes that I have liked over the years, or even when I know what I want, look back at all my grandmother’s recipes and work on recreating them using my new low carb food products. Yesterday I saw a bag of cauliflower flour and I got giddy – until I saw the $10.00 a bag price for a 10 ounce bag! I’ll continue to use the fresh riced cauliflower for now, until the cauliflower flour goes down in price!

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life

So with all this being said, I’m going to share with you one of my family recipes that I have adjusted.  I took a banana nut bread recipe, and have created banana nut bites.  Small, cookie size bites that can be a small part of breakfast, or a healthy snack. It’s like bite sized cake.   

And the very best part of the recipe is that it is low calorie, low carb, and low sugar.  (Remember that Truvia baking blend?)

And here’s the nutrition label for this recipe, created on Very Well Fit. 

Happy baking everyone!  If there’s a recipe that you’d like to see on here, let me know in the comment section, and I’ll see if it can be reworked to be diabetic friendly.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.