Thursday, December 30, 2010

Definition of a Fat Kid

Fat kid /fAt kId/ n. a state of mind where one's primary focus is food, whether it be eating, cooking, or thinking about all things food. Total enjoyment of said food is a requisite to this state of mind.

I often refer to myself as “a fat kid.” Usually, I’m met with rolling eyes and snickering as people typically assume that I’m neurotically referring to my actual weight. But really, I use the term “fat kid” to refer to much more than someone’s physical state. No, my friends, “fat kid” is a state of mind!

Fat kid is when, after you have eaten breakfast, you’re already thinking about lunch. And after lunch, there’s dinner. And in between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner, there are snacks. Fat kid is planning an entire vacation itinerary around where you eat (i.e. my New Orleans trip where we had a list of over 20 restaurants to eat in). Fat kid is eating until you feel like you can’t possibly eat another bite...and then eat more! Fat kid is when questioning friends  about their dates, vacations, weddings, etc, you ask not about the actual event, but what did they eat!

I am a fat kid. I like to surround myself with other fat kids. If you're not into food, then you can't be my friend.

Ok, so now I've got to sneak the diabetes in here. 

Being a type 1 diabetic doesn't necessarily lend itself to being a fat kid. Diabetes definitely changes one's relationship to food. The monitoring and logging of everything you eat is enough to suck the fun right out of food! Right now, I am working on reconciling these two divergent lifestyles, managing everything I eat while enjoying, savoring, gorging myself on my beloved grub. It's been rough. 

Diabetes sucks. 

True story.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

How Should a Diabetic Start Off Her Christmas Holiday?

With booze and pizza, of course!

Here's the menu:

Orange Carrot Ginger Mimosas


Ingredients
2 - 3 oranges
1 lb of carrots
2 inch piece of ginger
1 bottle champagne - we bought the cheap stuff. Andre is good enough for me!

Juicer


Method
1. Put carrots, ginger, and peeled oranges* in the juicer. 
2. Add 1 part juice to 2 parts champagne. Or whatever your taste is.

*Make sure to peel the oranges no matter what your juicer says! They're liars and the peels make the juice taste like citrus floor cleaner!

Breakfast Pizza #1 (with Eggs, Prosciutto and Potatoes)


Ingredients
2 eggs
3 - 4 slices of prosciutto
1/2 thinly sliced red potato
1 chopped garlic clove
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup of tomato sauce (always homemade!)
1 tbsp olive oil
whole wheat pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Thinly slice potato using a mandoline or very sharp knife (if you're that skilled). Chop up garlic into small pieces
3. Roll out pizza dough onto a cookie sheet and coat with olive oil. Using parchment paper is also helpful when baking. 
4. Layer on tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and scatter slices of red potato and chopped garlic around the pizza. 
5. Place pizza in oven and bake about 15 - 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the crust is browned. 
6. Remove pizza from oven and crack two eggs on the pizza. Bake for 5 more minutes and then add the prosciutto. Bake until eggs appear to be done and prosciutto is slightly crispy.

Breakfast Pizza #2 (with Eggs, Potatoes, Smoked Salmon, & Capers)



Ingredients
2 eggs
1 thinly sliced red potato
1 chopped garlic clove
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 - 2 tbsp capers
6 oz smoked salmon
whole wheat pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Thinly slice potato using a mandoline or very sharp knife (if you're that skilled). Chop up garlic into small pieces
3. Roll out pizza dough onto a cookie sheet and coat with olive oil. Using parchment paper is also helpful when baking. 
4. Layer potatoes in a single layer with slightly overlapping pieces. Sprinkle potatoes with dried dill. Add the mozzarella cheese and scatter chopped garlic around the pizza.
5. Place pizza in oven and bake about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the potatoes are slightly browned. 
6. Remove pizza from oven and crack two eggs on the pizza. Bake for 5 - 7 more minutes, or until eggs appear to be done. 
7. After removing the pizza from the oven, add smoked salmon slices and capers.  

Then enjoy your mimosas and pizza while watching Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer! Yay!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

First Recipe: Kale Chips

It was a difficult decision, figuring out which recipe should be the first recipe of my blog! I turned it over in my head again and again...and realized it wasn't that big of a decision. Just post something already!

For the most part, I’m not much of a potato chip eater. But it’s amazing how once you’re not able to eat something, you really, really want it! Then, suddenly, potato chips become your absolute favorite food! In fact, they are the best thing that you've ever eaten! You can’t live another day without having another salty, yummy chip!

Ok....first, I know I can eat potato chips if I would really like them. Second, I don’t really feel that passionately about potato chips. I just like the drama of it all and needed a snazzy intro to what some may consider an uneventful recipe. Third, regardless of whether I can have potato chips or not, kale chips are a tastier, healthier, carb-friendly alternative to the tater chip. Lays’ Original potato chips are 15g of carbs per serving versus kale, which you have to eat an entire cup in order to make it to 7g of carbs (thank you, Calorie King)! 

As an aside, diabetes is all about carb counting and matching my insulin intake to my carbohydrate intake. It's important to know/guesstimate how many carbs are in the foods I eat.

Back to food...this recipe is super-simple and the results are very yummy. 


Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 head of kale
Olive oil spray
Sea Salt
Pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 350.  
Wash and remove kale leaves from the stem.
Tear and spread on a pan.
Spray with olive oil, salt + pepper.
Bake for about 20-30min, turning every 10min, until desired crispiness is reached. You’ll see the edges will start to get brown and crispy!

Sorry for the crummy photo! I'm working on it! 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Goodbye Pancreas!

Being a foodie AND a diabetic? What?! How’s that possible? Well, I’m making it possible, my friends!

Being a new diabetic, I assumed that my foodie lifestyle was over. No more good food. No more going out for meals. No more enjoying that glass (or bottle!) of wine. Can’t even have cake on my birthday! Come on people! No cake on my birthday!

Really, telling me that I couldn’t eat the way I want was like telling me I was going to lose my vision. That’s how close food is to my heart. Never mind that this new diabetic lifestyle means blood testing, insulin shots, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia, etc. In some ways, it feels a little bit like a death sentence.

Ok, so maybe it’s not that dramatic. Needless to say, it’s upsetting!

But, the more I learn, the more my misconceptions about type 1 diabetes are exposed. The idea that it only affects children, that insulin is to be avoided, or that I’m doomed to eating a bland, sucralose-laced diet are all wrong. Type 1 is really about doing the work my pancreas is refusing to do, that lazy motherfucker! I’m learning that life isn’t necessarily going to be about restrictions, but more about management. My foodie lifestyle doesn’t have to disappear like my beta cells (har har – that’s some diabetes humor right there, kids!)!

So, why write a blog about it? Well, obviously, the first reason is because I’m self-indulgent. Who doesn’t want to read a blog about me?!?! :)

Another reason is because I scoured the internet in search of useful information, support, etc, and I came up a little short. Sure, there’s tons of information about diabetes out there, but it’s mostly for type 2 diabetics and it’s not really information that supports my lifestyle. I eat a healthy, all-natural, practically vegetarian diet. I hate putting chemicals, processed, or unnatural substances in my body. I actually enjoy exercising. Most importantly, I cook! I eat! I love food!

Lastly, I hope that writing a blog will help keep me on track. I am constantly overwhelmed by this new life. I am hoping that this blog will give me the outlet I need as well as keep my focus on what I need to do as I start this journey. Even if no else ever reads this, I think it will help me. And maybe, one day, it can help another newly diagnosed type 1 in search of some information and support.

So there it is.

A final fuck you to that lazy-ass pancreas as I move forward to living a long, healthy diabetic life!