Holy Coconuts!

This weekend is my last CNA class before 2 weeks of clinicals! The CNA class is one more "thang" to check off my list of things to do for my ADN.

Dreams/ visions are powerful motivators. They make the seemingly impossible, possible. They give me emotional, physical, mental and spiritual muscle. They make taking vitals an exciting part of my day. To think I used to see nursing as an impossible feat... Maybe I kinda-sorta-maybe-sorta still do BUT I've resolved to throwing out the mindset that I am not studious and I am easily distracted. It's hard not to blame it on the Diabetes. Once my sugar goes just out of range I zone out. Plain and simple. My sister (also a type1) did it. She graduated from UCSD, deans list, with a degree in Biology and a minor and a focus. If Jessica can do it, I too will not allow my disability become a boundary. My husband got similar grades to me in high school and too had little to no experience with biology and chemistry until college where he graduated with a degree in Marine Biology, deans list. If He did it I can do it.

School Essentials

• I cannot eat carbs mornings when I have class or eat any kind of carb snack when I have studying to do. 
• I watch Greys Anatomy when I feel unmotivated. 

Holy cow (&coconut)! Once again, thank you Sam Talbot! 

Frozen Coconut Yogurt with Cinnamon

3 cups 2% plain organic Greek yogurt

Granulated Stevia extract inequivalent to 1/2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons coconut milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

In large bowl combine yogurt, sweetener,  coconut milk, cinnamon, and coconut extract. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let mixture chill in fridge for at least one hour or overnight. For the chilled mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions for frozen yogurt. In the last five minutes of the maker cycle add shredded coconut.

Per serving: 80 cal, 1G protein, 17 G carbohydrate, 6G total fat (5G saturated), 0 MG cholesterol,1 G fiber, 3MG sodium

Juicy Sour Strawberry Cobbler

I found a little gem at the library yesterday in the form of 

The Sweet Life: Diabetes without Boundaries. The author, Sam Talbot, has competed on Top Chef and is living with Type 1.  The book is filled with lots of eye candy and to me, sweet comradery. Many of the recipes are not whipped up with items I have on hand, but I am glad this cobbler recipe was an exception. SO juicy, SO friendly to my blood sugars, and SO popular with the hubby.

 

 

Sour Strawberry Cobbler

Filling

2 Pints thinly sliced strawberries

1/2 cup oat flour

3 tbs granulated stevia extract, or to taste

1tbs agave nectar

Grated zest of 1 lime and juice of 3 limes

Topping

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup oat flour 

1 tbs baking powder 

1 tea ground cinnamon

8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup almond milk

3 tbs agave nectar

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 2-quart baking dish.

To make filling: Combine strawberries with the oat flour, sweetener, agave nectar, and lime.

To make topping: Using your fingertips, combine the rolled oats, oat flour, baking powder, sweetener, cinnamon, and butter. Add the almond milk and agave and continue mixing until dough forms. 

Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish and spoon on the topping. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.

Calories 243, 4g protein, 29g carb, 13g fat,31mg cholesterol, 4g fiber, 195mg sodium

• The changes I made to the recipe include: I used honey as my ONLY sweetener. I used whole wheat flour in place of oat flour, and I did not add zest as I only had juice on hand.              

Mama Mia Pasta Salad

Mama Mia! I was inspired by the Hyvee pasta salad the hubby brought home the other week. The items that inspired me were the whole cherry tomatoes, whole green and black olives, and three variety of cheeses. I was grocery shopping at ALDI's and they were having a sale on all of the Italian inspired ingredients. Cha-ching! now the cherry tomatoes that I used were gigantic, so I cut them in half. 

• To make it more diabetic friendly than I did, use whole wheat pasta and add only half of the box.

Chop up the onion and bell pepper into small dices.

 Cut in half the olives and the cherry tomatoes if too large. The frozen peas will unthaw on their own.   

 I had some light balsamic in the frig that I used for the dressing.

Pasta Salad

I box pasta of choice (I used Rotini) 

1 can black olives 

1 pint cherry tomatoes 

1 red onion

1 bell pepper (any color)

 1/2-1/3 cup each Mozzarella and Colby cheese 

1/2 cup frozen peas

Dressing

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper, to taste

• This yields 1/2 cup but you should add dressing in to taste (I prefer a wee bit of dressing)

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (it is best to have firm pasta). Drain and let it cool. I added some ice to speed up the process. Prepare your veggies and cheese.  Once pasta is cool mix all of your ingredients. I added 1/4 cup of light balsamic dressing.