My kids love pretty much anything in the blender - which means along with my homemade salsa and spaghetti sauce they love smoothies and 'shakes.' With the summer temperatures soaring, they begged me recently for a smoothie. What I made for them was a fairly healthy kid-friendly smoothie - low fat milk, crushed ice, frozen bananas, and chocolate syrup for sweetness. While this is great for growing, athletic kids, unfortunately having more than a sip of their bananna-laden, chocolate syrup-sweetened smoothie is not ideal for someone like me with gestational diabetes.
So, not content with my ice water after making their smoothies, I decided I needed to make a 'fake shake' milk shake that was more gestational diabetic friendly. Alter this to fit your tastes!
Fake Shake for Gestational Diabetes Diet (1 carb option)
*Start with one cup of skim milk
*Add 1/2 to 1 cup of ice to blender depending on ic-y you like your shakes or smoothies
*Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and/or nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
*Add about a teaspoon of vanilla
*Add 1-2 packets splenda or other sugar free sweetener of your choice
*Blend approx. 2 minutes using ice crush, smoothie, or shake setting on your blender
*Enjoy!
What you get is a yummy, creamy fake shake that is light and minimal on carbs.
If this is too bland for you, you can also alter it to get different tastes. One option I like is using a teaspoon or so of sugar free jam or jelly. This gives it a big flavor punch, especially the berry variety jams, like blackberry.
You can also add in a small amount of frozen fruit to boost nutritional and add flavor. Blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries are great choices as a whole cup of these fruits is only one carb choice. Use a quarter cup of fruit and the additional carb count is very minimal.
You can also try a sugar free chocolate or other syrup instead of the splenda for taste, or substitute light vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt for a slightly thicker frozen yogurt shake.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Sample Lunch for Gestational Diabetes: BLT Salad
Having gestational diabetes doesn't mean you can't eat well, and have delicious food. Sometimes it just means being a little bit more creative with your meals.
Here's a sample lunch for gestational diabetes that is perfect if you like BLT's!
While BLT's are traditionally served on white bread with full fat bacon, this salad gives you all of the taste with less fat and none of the carbs.
BLT Salad:
1 1/2 cups lettuce (you can use any kind, but the greener varieties offer more nutrition. I used romaine).
1/2 cup chopped tomato (use garden tomatoes or the on-the-vine variety for a really fresh tomato taste)
3-5 slices of turkey bacon
1 tbsp. light or regular mayonnaise (add more or less mayo to taste)
*Cook the turkey bacon in the microwave between two paper towels for about 2 minutes (depending on the package directions and the strength of your microwave.
*Mix lettuce and tomato gently while bacon cools.
*Crumble bacon and add to salad, then gently toss all ingredients with mayonnaise.
*Enjoy!
Since the ingredients in this salad have virtually no carbs, you can add sides to suit your tastes and personal food plan. The International Diabetes Center allows 4 lunch carb options for its general guideline. For me, I find that more than 2 or three carb choices at any one meal can often spike my blood sugar - (less true with denser grains, like a mix of wild and brown rice, and more true with many fruits). So add what works for you. Some great options would be a piece of fresh fruit, whole grain crackers or a whole wheat roll, and light yogurt or a small smoothie. (And if you think smoothies are off limits for gestational diabetes diets, check out my 'fake shake' blog entry for a yummy recipe).
Here's a sample lunch for gestational diabetes that is perfect if you like BLT's!
While BLT's are traditionally served on white bread with full fat bacon, this salad gives you all of the taste with less fat and none of the carbs.
BLT Salad:
1 1/2 cups lettuce (you can use any kind, but the greener varieties offer more nutrition. I used romaine).
1/2 cup chopped tomato (use garden tomatoes or the on-the-vine variety for a really fresh tomato taste)
3-5 slices of turkey bacon
1 tbsp. light or regular mayonnaise (add more or less mayo to taste)
*Cook the turkey bacon in the microwave between two paper towels for about 2 minutes (depending on the package directions and the strength of your microwave.
*Mix lettuce and tomato gently while bacon cools.
*Crumble bacon and add to salad, then gently toss all ingredients with mayonnaise.
*Enjoy!
Since the ingredients in this salad have virtually no carbs, you can add sides to suit your tastes and personal food plan. The International Diabetes Center allows 4 lunch carb options for its general guideline. For me, I find that more than 2 or three carb choices at any one meal can often spike my blood sugar - (less true with denser grains, like a mix of wild and brown rice, and more true with many fruits). So add what works for you. Some great options would be a piece of fresh fruit, whole grain crackers or a whole wheat roll, and light yogurt or a small smoothie. (And if you think smoothies are off limits for gestational diabetes diets, check out my 'fake shake' blog entry for a yummy recipe).
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