Blog Entries With Tag: pasta

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp hemp seeds
2 cups fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
4 medium-sized zucchini or yellow summer squash
3/4 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), julienned

1. For the pesto, add walnuts, hemp seeds, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt to food processor; process until well combined.
2. Cut ends off zucchini then cut in half. Sandwich 1 segment of zucchini between mettle nose of spirooli and spiked handle; start spinning. Repeat with remaining zucchini segment. Voila, instant pasta!
3. Toss zucchini pasta with remaining ingredients and pesto, to taste.

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

It's been awhile since I posted a new recipe for D-Feast Friday  (can be diabetic friendly or not - we just all love good food) that Lorraine Sisto had started last year.  The list now is actually hovering around the 200 mark - do we love to cook up a storm or what? Sadly, due to the way Diabetes1.org is set up for embedded links - you will only be able to see the list of the recipes by going to Lorraine's website link above - and clicking on the link embedded on her page - trust me - you'll see all the great recipes posted by members of the D-OC (diabetic online community).

My contribution today is a favourite I like to make on the sailboat (which is going plunk into the water today and it's actually NOT raining today - has been all week here in Montreal).   Sadly I'm not there - suffering from a nasty cold since coming back from holiday in Spain - darn 9 hour flight with coughing folks sitting around you.

I did try making a sweet potato gnocchi one time - big mistake!!!  Sticky messy ordeal, I think some of it when forming the gnocchi may have ended up as artwork or wood filler on part of my old kitchen walls that are pine (check it out next time you visit - it will be hard to detect as it has become well blended in and adds extra character to my kitchen ).  I now buy ready made potato gnocchi made by Aurora - at $3.00 a pack - you can't go wrong for a 500 g package which serves 4 portions nicely - or if you aren't afraid of carbs - 2 people could probably eat the package (I'd be stuffed).  I tend to eat my pasta dishes similar to Italians - no more then 1/2 cup serving - followed by a nice side salad - and perhaps some crusty bread to mop up the sauce in your bowl.

The instructions to make up this meal are dead simple as it has to be in the small galley I have on our 30' sailboat.  Pour some olive oil (or your preferred oil to cook in - butter, etc.) - I use about 15 ml (1 tablespoon) into a saucepan with a lid - heat up the pan on Medium heat - toss in the gnocchi (I separate the gnocchi from the package with my fingers prior to tossing in as they tend to be stuck together).  Cook for about 3-4 minutes moving them around to ensure they are covered in the oil and cook evenly.  I then cover the pan with a lid for 2 more minutes, which makes the gnocchi nice a crispy.  Once they are cooked (total cooking time is about 4-5 minutes - fast food!!!) - I serve them up either with my own home made sauce - or a premade sauce with some added FatCatAnna ingredients to make it taste "home made".  Freshly grated parmesan, ground pepper (always have a grinder on our boat - I'm a pepper snob) and there you have a fast meal.

NB:  If you want to take the time to make your own potato gnocchi - in my search for a picture to post - since I didn't take a picture of my meal the other day - came across this recipe that actually looks easier then the one I'd used for my sweet potato gnocchi - I'm going to bookmark this link - and maybe give it a go one day!

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Last night we got together with friends that we don't see too often.  We were celebrating a few birthdays, so I being the dessert maker, made up a nice treat.  Only one person in the group is a diabetic (D) like myself, and I saw their eyes bulge out when they saw what I had made, and I could see their nonD wife giving me the evil eye, as if I was going to kill her hubby due to sugar overdose! He's on insulin by the way, so he can "cheat" from time to time like I/we D's do from time to time.

As I was sitting around the table sharing appetizers and chatting up with the guys on all the latest news.  I started to realise that I was wishing I was sitting with all my D friends that I've made contact with over the past year.  I only started to socialise in D forums recently, and have found them to be a God send for when I'm feeling down or see someone asking for help.  I  was having an inner struggle inside of myself with feeling the way I was last night.  The one thing  I realised, everything with that evening was revolving around all the good food that we were eating.  Not that this hasn't happened before, I  mean food is part of the "social" thing.  We had awesome brushetta, orange slices made up with sugar, olive oil and whole black peppers (really GOOD - here's a low sugar version I found) to share and the main course was pasta sauce and meatballs with penne - eccellente!  

The only little glitch, I was having to calculate how many carbs in the back of my mind for all the foods/drinks I was cramming into my body and how long to bolus my insulin so my blood sugars wouldn't spike like crazy.  I felt sort of a bit strange, telling some of my friends about the carb count in pasta, and my other Dfriend giving me that evil eye of "why are you telling them this?".  I guess I just can't shut up about diabetes sometimes - is that bad?

I was wishing at that pointin time that I was surrounded by my diabetic friends that would "get me" (can you hear me Danny?).  The ones that know what to do with carb/insulin ratio (my Dfriend doesn't really care - despite my giving him a few books).  I was having little thoughts in my head, still listening into my friends of course, but thinking that if we were all diabetic, we'd be sharing some of our  stories about diabetes.   I've never felt this way before at a get together with nondiabetic friends, and as you can see, it's sort of shocked me to be thinking this way.

So, my question to you, have you ever experienced this feeling before?  I'm thinking because I'm more in tune with my diabetes now then I ever was, that this was the reason for why I felt this way.

Blog: Omnipod Insulin Management System

From:

Anyone try Dreamfields "low-carb" pasta?  What a breakthrough in terms of taste, avoidance of carbo-overload.   The pasta is covered in a fiber, that "shields" most of the carbs from being digested.  What do you think of it?