It’s Not Im•pasta•ble!

REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

March 4, 2021

Who doesn’t love pasta?!  Lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli, cannelloni, penne, fettuccine.  You name it, I love all noodles!! 

The problem is that pasta is high in carbohydrates. It tends to spike my blood sugars – all night long, and even into the next morning.

I have found some pastas that do not spike my blood sugar, and actually taste like pasta.  I have experimented with whole wheat noodles, and those are pretty good. 

We’ve tried the chickpea pasta, butternut squash spirals, zucchini spirals, and spaghetti squash.  I wasn’t too keen on the chickpea pasta.  The veggie noodles are ok, but the zucchini and butternut squash spirals tend to get mushy. 

What works for me ~ 

BUT… I have found some pasta that I really love, and it doesn’t create an outrageous blood sugar spike, so I can work it into my Type 2 diabetic diet.  The pasta that I really like the most is called “carba-nada” by a company called al dente Pasta Company.  

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

These noodles are high protein, high fiber, with lower calories and carbohydrates.  Amazingly, there are 14 kinds of fettuccine! Additionally, al dente offers pappardelle, bonnet, farfalletti, linguine, and some plant based pastas. 

 

Some of their pastas have gluten.  Al dente also offers plant based pastas, so if gludent is not right for you, fortunately, you. still have options.

I thought that life as a Type 2 Diabetic would limit me to never eating pasta again. The best part is that I have discovered (with a lot of trial and error) it’s not IMPASTABLE!  (See what I did there?) 

Recently, I made a delicious meal of chicken scaloppini with carba-nada roasted garlic fettuccine tossed in basil pesto.  It was super delicious!  

Carba Nada Noodles Nutrition
Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

Got your skillets ready? 

It’s very easy to make.  You just split a chicken breast in half, and pound it out with a your meat mallet. About 1 – 1½ inch thickness is good. 

Dip the breast in a beaten egg (or not, if you don’t like or can’t eat eggs). Lightly coat it with Panko bread crumbs.  Heat a skillet with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Cook the chicken breast for about 4 minutes on each side, on a medium to low heat. (It should be 165° in the center, to be fully cooked. Be careful not to overcook, or it will be tough.) Place the cooked chicken on a plate to rest while the noodles finish cooking.

The carba-nada noodles should cook for 4 minutes in boiling chicken broth, a nice little trick to give the pasta more flavor.  

Save that broth to use in the next step!  Using tongs, take out all the noodles. Place in a low to medium heated skillet, with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  

Get ready for delicious!

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

I use basil pesto that I get from Whole Foods Market. Toss the fettuccine around in the skillet (using tongs), adding the pesto a spoonful at a time. I totally eyeball it, as some people like more pesto, others like less.  

Add a quarter cup of the broth at a time. It will keep the pasta and pesto from drying out in the skillet.  This takes all of about 3 minutes.  Don’t toss it too long in the skillet. I’m sure you’ll agree with me, that you don’t want to overcook your pasta.  

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

Put about a cup of the pesto pasta on a plate. Place the chicken breast on top, and garnish with a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano.  I like to serve this with a small spinach side salad.  

This is a great way to satisfy my craving for pasta, without sabotaging my blood sugars.  

 

Finally settled in… 

I know it’s been some time since I’ve posted.  I’ve been pretty busy, but also have had a writer’s block.  Now that things have found their place in our new house, I’m able to sit down to think and write more.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the blog post, and that you’ll take a look at all the pasta options that are out there.  

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. I love to get comments and hear what you have to say. Feel free to leave me a comment below.  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.

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!

REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

May 15, 2020

I don’t know about you, but I can’t start my day without my ritual of morning coffee.  It’s my coffee and a protein bar.  Every. Morning.  And I have favorites.  I can’t help it.  Some people are addicted to things like their bazillion calorie frozen margaritas for lunch or dinner, but me?  I have to have my coffee.  If it’s available in an IV, hook me up!

It would be a close race if I was in a coffee drinking competition up against Lorelei Gilmore!  (If you’ve never watched Gilmore Girls, you should!) 

via GIPHY

I get you, Lorelei Gilmore! 

I come from a family of enthusiastic coffee drinkers.  My parents were big coffee drinkers.  My dad drank coffee up until bedtime.  Both of his parents were coffee drinkers.  My dad’s father, “Pa” as we called him, drank his coffee out of a little bowl.  I always thought that was funny.  He drank his coffee like I like mine – with a little sweetener and some cream (stevia & fat free milk, in my case).  He passed away when I was young, but he would let me sneak a sip from his bowl when my parents weren’t looking.  

My mother used to tell me “it will stunt your growth” if I asked for a sip of her coffee when I was a kid.  Her mother, “Grandma” as she was known, drank a LOT of coffee.  Black and super strong.  Her father, “Grandpa” was his moniker,  was never a coffee drinker in my lifetime.  He was a penny-pincher, and the story goes that he declared if coffee became priced over $1.00 a can, then he would never drink another cup.  That price came and went, and he stopped drinking coffee cold turkey.  

So I guess I inherited that love of coffee from most of my family.  I love my Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee, and my Think Smooth Peanut Butter protein bar.  As the Jonas Brothers sing “We go together… better than birds of a feather, you and me…” 

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life © 
Using WordArt.com

Every morning I make my coffee and have my protein bar while I’m getting ready for my day.  Then I have another cup of coffee late morning, and often a cup of decaf after dinner.

I have tried coffee many ways – I’ve tried the Bulletproof method, and it tastes pretty good, but I don’t like the idea of all of the high fats that are consumed in that style of coffee – MCT oil (or coconut oil) and grass fed clarified butter… that was the only way that I’ve ever been able to drink a coffee without some sort of sweetener.  But I just couldn’t get beyond the idea of the high fat, since I am already watching my cholesterol.  

I don’t like the overly sweet fancy versions of coffee you get at some of the fancy coffee shops.  Just the regular drip is my preference.

When I make my coffee, I make a cup of my Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee, I use a packet of Truvia (stevia), and a splash of ultra-filtered lactose-free, fat-free milk.  

I like the ultra-filtered milk because in an 8 oz serving, it has 13 grams of protein, 6 grams of sugar, 450 mg of calcium, and no lactose – the nutrition facts say that there are 6 carbohydrates in a serving, which is attributed to the sugar content of milk.  

A regular milk 8 oz serving has 8 grams of protein, 12 grams of sugar, 276 mg of calcium, and contains lactose.  There are several brands of ultra-filtered milk.  Many people are familiar with Fair Life, which I have tried before, but I use MooTopia, which is produced by the same corporation, but for a grocery here in our region.

I was worried when I was diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic, because I have read in a few places that caffeine could cause blood sugar spikes.  So I was not ready to quit coffee cold turkey.  

I began to purposefully check my blood sugar levels at 30 minute and one hour intervals after having my morning coffee, so that I could make sure I wasn’t sabotaging myself. 

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

My waking blood sugar has recently been hovering between 87 – 97 every morning for the past few weeks.  My endocrinologist, Dr. Folb, told me that my fasting blood sugar goal needs to be 105 or below.  Yay!  I’m an over-achiever!

Thirty minutes after drinking my morning coffee and having my protein bar, I have averaged a blood sugar between 118-124.  One hour after drinking my coffee and having my protein bar, my blood sugar has averaged 112-118.  Dr. Folb told me after a meal, it’s ok if my blood sugars get up to 140, and then come back down by the next meal.

Blood sugar check 1 hour after last drink of coffee.

Image: My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

I’ve not gained any weight back, and my blood sugars have remained in the ranges that my endocrinologist has set for me.  So luckily, I am able to continue drinking my coffee.  

My afternoon and evening coffees are averaging the same numbers.  I’ve asked other Type 2 diabetics what their experiences with coffee are.  I’ve gotten a range of responses.  Some are like me, and it doesn’t affect their blood sugars.  Others have said that they get serious spikes in their blood sugar after just one cup of coffee.  

The most important thing that I would tell another Type 2 Diabetic is to talk to your endocrinologist, and ask them first. Like any food or beverage that you put into your body, always check your blood sugar.  I am always watching what I eat and drink, and checking my blood sugars – if there’s a spike, then I’m all over it like Nancy Drew, being the detective to find out what spiked my sugars, so that it doesn’t happen again.

Let me hear from you in the comments.  If you’re a Type 2 Diabetic, please tell me (in the comment section here) your thoughts on drinking coffee.  

• Does it spike your sugars?  
• How long have you been a coffee drinker?  
• Could you stop drinking it if your doctor told you that you had to stop?  

I’m curious.  

And for those of you who are not diabetic, what are your thoughts on drinking coffee?  I’ve read studies that suggest that if you drink several cups of coffee a day, that it can possibly prevent diabetes.  Obviously, not my case… but I would still love to hear from you in the comments section. 

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, continue with your social distancing, live well, and be well!   

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.