Just as cute as I imagined.
love Aunty BG
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Things that make me happy right now- FOOD
I love cooking. And I particularly love it at the moment, where I have the energy, free and lead up time to do it properly. Not to mention plenty of time to look at food-blogs for suggested recipes!
There are certain food related things that are making me really happy right now:
Jacket Sweet Potato
About 3 and half years ago I was diagnosed with Pre-diabetes, or "Impaired Glucose Intolerance" as it's more medically known. Basically, my pancreas has to work alot harder than most people's to keep my blood sugar levels in check, so I am a real risk that one day it's going to say "That's enough, I can't take it anymore, I QUIT". And when my pancreas quits, that is when I will officially have diabetes. I had my regular glucose tolerance test to make sure that hasn't happened yet (NOT FUN!), but it turns out I am still in possession of a working pancreas. Yay! And given that supposedly 1 million Australians have diabetes and don't know it, then I'm feeling like I've moved back into the healthy camp, at least for a little while :)
But I digress. Jacket Sweet Potatos. Well, around the time when the doctor and I first started talking about my diabetes risk, I began upon a low GI diet. Now, I was definitely more stringent then than I have been since, but that was because I was needing to loose weight (a very important process in avoiding diabetes). Low GI diets in my book are the best diets! They are all about swapping things. You use different rice, different bread, and keep sweets as a sometimes instead of an everyday treat. I was self-controlled with food, loosing weight, feeling healthy and I was loving it. But there was one big, messy problem. Potatos.
Potatos are just about the worst thing you could have. And swapping to Sweet Potatos (lower GI) just wasn't the same. The thing I missed most was jacket potatos. Jacket potatos were so easy and good.
Anyway, this week, I found out I'd have 3 and a half years of a unnecessary jacket potato ban, because Jacket Sweet potato is awesome!
Basically, just wash (with a little scrub, don't worry if some skin comes off), wrap in foil, and put in an oven at 200 deg C for 45 minutes. I did it with a little one, and I recommend that. Tim and I had one each with our roast for that night and it was awesome. You would have to choose your topping carefully given that sweet potatos do have that strange sweet taste that doesn't match the bland potato, but overall I've found a winner! And so much easier than peeling and chopping :)
Jamie Olivers Easy Raspberry Sorbet
I don't know if I should give Jamie full credit, since I saw him make it on TV once, but had no idea or memory of proportions so just worked it out myself. Basically what you do is get Frozen Raspberry's in your blender with some natural yoghurt and honey, blend it until it looks a bit like sorbet. I found I started with just a little bit of yoghurt, then kept adding until it took the consistency that I wanted. Then put it in the freezer for half an hour then it's done.
Okay, I admit, this is a stock standard Internet photo of sorbet and not the one I made because I never remember to take photos of food. But this is seriously what it looked like.
It is very tart. Yoghurt is tart, Raspberries are tart, and I was hesitant to add too much honey. It was too tart for Tim. But I loved it. I think in hindsight I would also keep adding honey until the taste worked.
It kept pretty well, although it needed thawing time after it had been in longer than an hour. And a super healthy and quick dessert option which was the point.
Frozen Pastry
Okay, Pastry isn't exactly high on the Low GI/keeping-my-overworked-pancreas-happy table. But every girls gotta have her weakness. I've recently purchased some 2 cup ramekins and am celebrating by experimenting with different pies. And usually I only put a pastry top on, so they are actually alot healthy than pies you get at a pie shop. I make a pie every two weeks, and so far Tim's been a fan, although he keeps commenting that my pies aren't as good as the First Pie I ever made for him. He has such fond memories of that first pie, that though I've tried and almost succeeded in making one better, I think I need to just admit defeat and make him his favourite pie again! Frozen Pastry is also great for when Tim asks beseechingly "Is there anything for dessert" and I have the time and inclination to say "Give me 45 minutes and I'll figure something out!" Last night I made a raspberry and white chocolate tart, just with things that happened to be in the kitchen. Again, no photos, but just imagine it. Raspberry. White chocolate. Tart.
I'm sure my pancreas will understand.
Love BG
There are certain food related things that are making me really happy right now:
Jacket Sweet Potato
About 3 and half years ago I was diagnosed with Pre-diabetes, or "Impaired Glucose Intolerance" as it's more medically known. Basically, my pancreas has to work alot harder than most people's to keep my blood sugar levels in check, so I am a real risk that one day it's going to say "That's enough, I can't take it anymore, I QUIT". And when my pancreas quits, that is when I will officially have diabetes. I had my regular glucose tolerance test to make sure that hasn't happened yet (NOT FUN!), but it turns out I am still in possession of a working pancreas. Yay! And given that supposedly 1 million Australians have diabetes and don't know it, then I'm feeling like I've moved back into the healthy camp, at least for a little while :)
But I digress. Jacket Sweet Potatos. Well, around the time when the doctor and I first started talking about my diabetes risk, I began upon a low GI diet. Now, I was definitely more stringent then than I have been since, but that was because I was needing to loose weight (a very important process in avoiding diabetes). Low GI diets in my book are the best diets! They are all about swapping things. You use different rice, different bread, and keep sweets as a sometimes instead of an everyday treat. I was self-controlled with food, loosing weight, feeling healthy and I was loving it. But there was one big, messy problem. Potatos.
Potatos are just about the worst thing you could have. And swapping to Sweet Potatos (lower GI) just wasn't the same. The thing I missed most was jacket potatos. Jacket potatos were so easy and good.
Anyway, this week, I found out I'd have 3 and a half years of a unnecessary jacket potato ban, because Jacket Sweet potato is awesome!
Basically, just wash (with a little scrub, don't worry if some skin comes off), wrap in foil, and put in an oven at 200 deg C for 45 minutes. I did it with a little one, and I recommend that. Tim and I had one each with our roast for that night and it was awesome. You would have to choose your topping carefully given that sweet potatos do have that strange sweet taste that doesn't match the bland potato, but overall I've found a winner! And so much easier than peeling and chopping :)
Jamie Olivers Easy Raspberry Sorbet
I don't know if I should give Jamie full credit, since I saw him make it on TV once, but had no idea or memory of proportions so just worked it out myself. Basically what you do is get Frozen Raspberry's in your blender with some natural yoghurt and honey, blend it until it looks a bit like sorbet. I found I started with just a little bit of yoghurt, then kept adding until it took the consistency that I wanted. Then put it in the freezer for half an hour then it's done.
It is very tart. Yoghurt is tart, Raspberries are tart, and I was hesitant to add too much honey. It was too tart for Tim. But I loved it. I think in hindsight I would also keep adding honey until the taste worked.
It kept pretty well, although it needed thawing time after it had been in longer than an hour. And a super healthy and quick dessert option which was the point.
Frozen Pastry
Okay, Pastry isn't exactly high on the Low GI/keeping-my-overworked-pancreas-happy table. But every girls gotta have her weakness. I've recently purchased some 2 cup ramekins and am celebrating by experimenting with different pies. And usually I only put a pastry top on, so they are actually alot healthy than pies you get at a pie shop. I make a pie every two weeks, and so far Tim's been a fan, although he keeps commenting that my pies aren't as good as the First Pie I ever made for him. He has such fond memories of that first pie, that though I've tried and almost succeeded in making one better, I think I need to just admit defeat and make him his favourite pie again! Frozen Pastry is also great for when Tim asks beseechingly "Is there anything for dessert" and I have the time and inclination to say "Give me 45 minutes and I'll figure something out!" Last night I made a raspberry and white chocolate tart, just with things that happened to be in the kitchen. Again, no photos, but just imagine it. Raspberry. White chocolate. Tart.
I'm sure my pancreas will understand.
Love BG
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