TSA Diabetes Challenge

I'm in a secret Diabetes Challenge with the TSA. They don't know it. But it's happening.

I'm constantly testing to see how much stuff I can actually get on the plane in the name of diabetes.

Going through security at the airport as a diabetic is a very weird experience. The first few times I was pretty nervous about it. I'd have the letter from my doctor front and center, out of the envelope, fully unfolded. I'd put all my diabetes supplies right on top, my syringes, the mysterious vials of insulin, the oddly sexual looking site injector for my pump. Plus, whatever juice boxes, apple sauce packets, honey packets, all ready to go.

The next part is the controversial 3D body scanners, which I use the D-card for. "Oh no, I'm sorry. I can't walk through that violation of our personal freedoms because I'm a diabetic," flashing them my insulin pump as if it were a badge. Confused, they usually pull me over to the side. I am always pulled over to the side. I have yet to get through security without a pat down or my bags searched.

Because of this, I figured, fuck it. Let's see how much I can get through. Once, I've tried to make it through with a PB&J sandwich, a Chobani yogurt, a pack of almonds, and two apples. Yes, that was all for one flight....that was approximately four hours in duration. I get hungry! The Chobani didn't make it!

This week, I'll be taking a trip out west to Colorado. I'll be visiting a friend who I imagine is missing New York bagels, breads, and pizza pretty hardcore. Of course, being the amazing person I am, I want to bring bagels. But not just any bagels, the best bagels in Astoria, which are Brooklyn Bagels.

This is the challenge! How do I convince a TSA agent, that yes, as a diabetic, I need a half dozen bagels for the trip. No, no sir, juice boxes aren't going to cut. When I have a low blood sugar, I have to shove a bagel or two in my face. Yes, I'm sure. Call my doctor!

Wish me luck. And promise to bail me out TSA jail because I will throw down for these bagels!

Oh, Crockpot!

I loooove my crockpot. Like a high school girl loves Justin Bieber kind of love. Love.

It's not a word I throw around lightly. It has real meaning when I say it.

One of the things that I especially love about my crockpot are the unique things I can make in it. Crockpots aren't just for soups and stews anymore. Oh no, my friends, it is capable of a whole lot more. Besides the amazing ability to make fresh bread, crockpots can also be used to make yogurt. Whaaat?! Yes, yogurt!

I have wanted to make my own yogurt FOREVER! Besides being far too cheap to spend $5 on a 16 ounce container of Chobani, I just think it seems cool.

With my beautiful new crockpot fresh from its wrapping, yogurt was to be made.

Now, I'll admit it. I got a bit overzealous. When I saw that most recipes called for a half gallon of milk to be used, I balked! Half gallon?! I can get a half gallon of yogurt anywhere! If I'm coming to play, I'm coming to play hard. Give me the gallon, baby!

Do you know how much yogurt a gallon of milk makes? You would be correct if you said a GALLON OF YOGURT! Yes, a gallon of yogurt! I swear I prepare food as though I am a family of five.

What's worst is that I had apparently prepared something very peppery in my crockpot previous to this yogurt-making, which tinged the entire gallon of yogurt with a slight bell pepper flavor. Now, I have a gallon of pepper flavored yogurt!

Lessons Learned from Yogurt Making:
1. No, you do not need a gallon of a yogurt
2. Sterilize your crockpot as best you can to prevent unwanted flavor profiles from popping up in your creamy goodness
3. Do this again because (in spite of its mishaps) it is freaking awesome!

Homemade Yogurt topped with Chai-spiced Granola

Here are the step-by-step directions on how to make your own yogurt at home.

Homemade Yogurt

by Bonnie Graham

6045828

Ingredients (1/2 gallon)

• 1/2 gallon milk
• 1/2 c of plain yogurt (for a starter)
• 1/4 c powdered milk, optional if you'd like a creamier yogurt
• Crock pot
• Thermometer
• Blanket
• Colander and cheesecloth (if you want to make a more greek yogurt consistency)

Instructions

1. Pour your milk in your crock pot and set it on high.

2. Heat milk until it reaches 180° (this took about 2 hours for me)

3. When 180° is reached, unplug crock pot, take the lid off and let cool until it's around 110°.

4. In a separate small bowl, mix together plain yogurt and powdered milk (if using)

5. When the temp is around 110°, add yogurt mixture and stir well.

6. Place the lid back on, and wrap crock pot in a blanket and let it sit on the counter for about 8 hours or overnight. You now have yogurt!

7. You'll notice a watery substance on top, this is whey. You can mix it in and put your yogurt in the fridge. If you'd like a thicker consistency, pour yogurt into a fine mesh strainer covered in cheesecloth. Drain in the fridge until desired consistency is reached.

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Game Day

I did it.
It's done.
I rode my bike 40 miles through all 5 boroughs of New York City.
It was pretty fucking awesome.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures to share. You know....because I was on my bike.

But it was incredible. In fact, it's what I imagine the apocalypse to be like....before the zombies come in and start trying to eat our faces. Riding my bike up 6th Ave with not a single car on the road as if I (plus 32,000 others) was the only person awake was surreal.

Diabetes management was not nearly as difficult as I would have thought either. Here's how I managed.

First, rather then buy a "too-cool-for-school (or Sizzler)" fanny pack, it was cold enough for me to wear a light fleece with plenty of pockets. I loaded myself up with a snacks, including granola bars and applesauce packets plus what ever additional freebies were given out at the rest stops.

I ate a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, sliced banana, and soy milk eaten with a little less insulin then normal. I figured it was better to go into the tour with a slightly elevated blood sugar then low. When I checked my blood sugar right before the race, it was 168. I lowered my basal insulin to 50% of its normal dosage. Ah, the wonders of the insulin pump never cease to amaze me!

About 5 miles in, my riding partner needed a potty break, where I checked my numbers again. In 5 miles, I had dropped to 98 BG. I ate a mini Larabar without insulin (only 8g of carbs). After another 7 miles, my riding partner needed another break, which gave me time to eat some raisins and half a bagel. This time, I gave myself the proper dosage of insulin, figuring the bagel was going to keep me even (high carbs, high activity rate). At mile 15, we stopped again (she had a very small bladder). This time, I ate a banana, more raisins, and a dose of insulin.

Things were going pretty well until about mile 35. It was the longest stretch we had gone without stopping and snacking. It also happened to the hardest part of the tour, which was the BQE and over the Verrazano Bridge. About midway through the bridge, I was feeling a little shaky and not just from the uphill climb. Luckily, I came prepared with snacks and was able to quickly suck down a GoGo Squeez apple sauce packet (Apple Grape!), a diabetic's best friend.

By the time I arrived at the finish line in Staten Island, I was spent! And hungry! And had a 125 blood sugar! Which meant I could go to town on the free samples and eat an amazing vegan black bean burger with vegan cheddar cheese and relish from Bareburger at the tour's finish line festival.  Holy crap, I'd bike another 40 miles just to eat another burger!

So....that's how it went.

I didn't die. I made through all 40 miles without keeling over from exhausted or hypoglycemia (always a success in my book). I experienced the city in an entirely different, glorious way. I ate a delicious burger. And now have a much better sense of what to expect during the zombie apocalypse (sans zombies).

All and all, quite the happy experience!

Fanny Pack City

The 5 Boro Bike Tour is quickly approaching (this weekend EEK!) and I have to say that my "training" has been less then stellar (if we can even call it training). I'm sure 40 miles is NOT going to go quickly. One thing I have been considering as d-day approaches is diabetes management.

How am I going to bike for 40 miles and not pass out from hypoglycemia? Conversely, how am I going to manage my diabetes so that my blood sugar doesn't get so high that it dehydrates me? It really can be such a delicate balance.

Up until this point, my planning has been....light. In that I hadn't been doing very much at all. Mostly because I figured the day before, I'd throw some applesauce packets, juice boxes, and granola bars into my backpack and consider myself responsible.

Except, recently, the 5 Boro Bike Tour people sent an e-mail with new security precautions as a result of the tragedy of the Boston Marathon. While I appreciate the increased security, it has led to a bit of a diabetes dilemma. New security protocols state that there will be no backpacks, saddlebags, or hydration packs allowed. Well, piss in my Cheerios, what am I going to do now?

It's time to start Plan B-ing it. Which is really Plan A-ing it. Because I hadn't really started planning at all.

Fanny Pack City, here I come!

For My Consideration

I have been neglectful in sharing that I will be doing the NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour in less then a month!

Whaaaaaat?!?! I know, right?

It is 40 mile bike ride through the 5 boroughs of New York City, where you're able to bike over a number of the amazing bridges all over the city. It should be awesome. I love to ride my bike and this has given me a great excuse to get on it as much as possible.

What was pretty amazing about the registration experience is that diabetes did not come up at all. Not for me. Not for the good folks who manage registration. It was just a straightforward "I want to do this. I am signing up for it. Oh, look, done." There was no debate about whether I could/should do it with diabetes.

Yay for being over diabetes!

But then the reality set in. It was great that diabetes didn't play a role in my decision making AT ALL in doing the bike tour, but now it definitely has to be part of the training plan. My longest ride so far has been 10 miles. A far cry from 40, I know. Each time I've gone riding, I have come home with a low blood sugar. As I move forward in my training process, and on the day of the tour, I definitely need to do some planning.

I'll let you know how it goes.

MIA

For the three of you who read this blog, you might have noticed that I have been MIA these last few days. That's primarily because we have been without power since Monday evening as a result of Hurricane Sandy. No power means no cooking. Or so one would assume.

But not I. I can't go  more then a few days without cooking! When we had finally given up on preserving what was left of our freezer goods, I got to cooking. Thankfully, our stove top is gas! Probably the only time I've been truly grateful for gas in our apartment. That was a Jerry/flatulence joke in case you didn't get it.

To reward us for not going completely insane without power or real running water for three days, I made us as delicious a dessert as one can make in the pitch black. Nothing like cooking by camp latern!

Black-Out Berry-Peach Dumplings

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: dessert berries peaches cinnamon

6035996

Ingredients

• 1 bag of mixed frozen berries, de-frosted
• 1/2 bag frozen peaches, de-frosted
• 3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 c rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 c sweetner (or more depending on your taste)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 c milk or water plus 1 - 2 more tbsp depending on consistency

Instructions

1. Add your berries and peaches to a skillet over medium-high heat. Allow to come to a low simmer.

2. Meanwhile, add all dry ingreidents to a bowl and mix well.

3. Slowly add in liquid, mixing as you go. The amount of liquid added will depend on the dough consistency. You want to be able to form the dough into dumplings, but they shouldn't be stiff.

4. Once the berry/peach mix has started to bubble, form your dumplings using a spoon on drop on top of the berry mix. Cover pan with a lid.

5. Lower to medium-low heat to allow the dumplings to cook.

6. Allow to cook 15 - 18 minutes or until the dumplings are firmed up.

7. Serve and enjoy!

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Things I Already Miss

It's been less then 24 hours since arriving home from Spain and I'm already in deep longing for the shores of Cadaques and tapas of Barcelona.

Here are a few of the things I already miss.

The Meal that Saved France

As part of our trip, considering how close to the border we would be, we decided to spend a few days in the South of France. Having just fallen in love with Barcelona, Perpignan was going to have some stiff competition as Barcelona had just become my most favorite place ever...in the world!

When we first arrived in Perpignan, it was cold and windy and raining. Not a good start. On top of that, the streets are insane, which is particularly difficult when you don't speak, understand, or know a glimmer of the language. Riddled with anxiety about not knowing the language, assuming that all French people would hate us, nerves a little frazzled from being completely lost, our first few hours in Perpignan weren't good ones.

After a few hours of isolation in our room due to embarrassment at our complete lack of understanding and knowledge of the French language besides "soup du juor" and "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" (gotta love Lady Marmalade), we finally ventured out in Perpignan. Where it was dead. The place was a ghost town. It was like they announced tasteless Americans had arrived and everyone boarded up their windows to await our celebrated departure. Which I guess is what happens when the only question you know is "Would you like to sleep with me?" It would certainly make us popular in New York!

However, the more we wandered, the more Perpignan grew on us. Maybe this place was cute, despite the wind....and rain....and French people?

Pictures taken our first night

 

Then dinner happened. Ah, food cures all, doesn't it? 

After wandering around a bit, there was a row of restaurants right outside our hotel that seemed to be the only ones opened. Luckily, our waiter spoke English, so we didn't have to resort to grunting and pointing as our primary way of communicating. He was also very pleasant and friendly as were most people we met.

We ordered a bottle of wine, started with a cheese plate, and welcomed France with open arms.

You had me fromage!

Which means "cheese". See how much French I picked up! :)

One of the best cheese plates I ever had.

Duck

Shrimp

Tomato: To Eat or to Throw?

One of the experiences we were most looking forward to on our trip to Spain was La Tomatina Festival. It is an annual tomato fight in the town of Bunol, where locals and visitors alike prepare themselves to be pelted with tomatoes.

The experience was definitely intense, to say the least. It's basically a mosh pit with tomato juice.
Everyone pushes into a small square in the center of Bunol and wait for large trucks filled with tomatoes to plow through, leaving buckets of sauce in its wake. As the trucks come in, insanity ensues! The crowd pushes together to make room for the trucks, to get leverage, to cop a feel (which I was on the receiving end of, the downside of the festival), to catch a breath, grab a tomato, whatever else you can do in a crushing crowd of hundreds of people.

At one point, I had to yell for Jerry's help as I wasn't able to breath in the body crush of the crowd. Finally making it over to a wall that provided a little bit more stability, there was a lull in the onslaught of trucks, allowing me a quick moment to hold out my hands.

Shaking hands. Not a good sign.

Jerry looked at my hands and immediately asked, "You're low?!"

Tears began forming in my eyes. The festival had just started. There was no easy way out of this crowd and I had stupidly not brought in anything to treat a low. I checked for the other usual signs. Was I getting hot? Was my mind slowing down? Did I feel shaking anywhere else in my body? Was this just the result of an adrenaline boost to the system from being squeezed by tomato-soaked Spaniards? Should I just start eating tomatoes in the hopes that it rises my blood sugar?

I took a deep breath. Calmed down a bit and said no. I don't think I was having a low. Just a slight panic attack. I promised Jerry if I started to feel weak, we'd push through the crowd and get something to treat it immediately. We stayed in the center of the madness for another 20 minutes before we both agreed to call it quits. Once out of the pit, all feelings of hypoglycemia faded away.

We warned to not carry anything as things got a little crazy and would pretty much be destroyed. I took that suggestion too far, forgetting that, as a diabetic, the concept of "not carrying anything with me" just does not apply.

Eating Our Way Through Spain

On the second day in Spain, we went to La Mercat la Boqueria for breakfast. Which was really lunch. Because we had too much Sangria the next before to actually get out of the hotel to eat anything resembling a breakfast.

At the market, I ate the world's best fig. I never knew that figs could taste like that. I'm forever ruined as I will never be able to eat another fig unless its out of a plastic cup in Barcelona.

In the Mercat, there was an amazing looking tapas bar, where you could pick out fresh seafood that they cooked on the grill in front of you. There were all sorts of items to choose from.

Of course, we chose clams that look like penises for our first course.

And a plate of octopus and Pimentos de Patron - our favorite peppers, but I won't bore you with yet another picture of them.    

 Initially, when I saw these, I thought the were cupcakes. Really they're meringues! Don't they look amazing. 

For dinner, we went to Bilbao Berria in the Barre Gotic as my friend's, Erica, suggestion. Bilbao Berria is a serve yourself kind of tapas place. You walk around with a plate and choose whichever tapas looks good to you. At the end of your meal, they count up your toothpicks and figure out your bill from there. It was definitely a fun dining experience. Especially since we're gigantic fat kids who love variety!

Of course, every meal includes Sangria. It's pretty much the same as water here. 

Iberian Ham with fried quail egg and a stuffed mushroom with cheese

White fish with eggs, caviar, and a dollop of olive tapenade

Roasted zucchini and brie on herbed flat bread

Same as above, just a prettier angle

Sardine with roasted red peppers and stuffed mussel

Morcilla (blood sausage) with red pepper, Croquette with Pimentos, flatbread with roasted veggies and anchovies

So good. And so in love with Spain. 

Have Fat Kids Will Travel

Fat Kids in Spain - Day 1

Our first breakfast in Barcelona - Egg Sandwiches

Mercat de la Boqueria

Fresh almonds

Amazing fruits and veggies

Dragonfruit

Yes, those are hooves.

Drink of Choice

Pimentos de padron - so fucking good

Best peppers ever and Grilled Octopus

Seafood Paella

Meat Stick

Bottoms Up