I wasn’t feeling bad, back when I went for my yearly physical. I’d gained a few too many pounds, and had headaches, but attributed those to stress and enjoying sweets way too much. So when my doctor told me my HbA1c, or A1c levels were 7.6% and thus firmly in diabetic range (normal A1c is below 5.7%) I was surprised, but knew this was a possibility as I’d been told I was prediabetic 4 years ago. I put the biology PhD to good use and read as much as I could on the subject, and within a month had a blood glucose meter and was testing my blood sugar regularly (the cost of said materials will be the subject of a separate diary; this one is for the food :-)).
What I discovered through testing after eating a variety of foods is that while the American Diabetes Association has guidelines of what a diabetic should be able to eat, no one had told my pancreas or liver about those amounts. Those “small amounts” of wholegrain bread, pasta, legumes and brown rice? They sent my blood sugar into a spike well into Actively Doing Damage To My Organs range, and I am determined NOT to do that if at all in my power. So I quickly accepted that bread, pasta, oatmeal, beans, grains, rice and most fruit are all generally off limits for me. What does that leave me to eat? It turns out quite a bit, actually. What I follow primarily is a low-carb — I stay under 100g/day, including fiber (which does not affect blood sugar), moderate protein, higher-than-you’d-expect fat diet, with said fat being so-called ‘healthy fats”. There are a zillion recipe blogs, Facebook groups, and the like and slowly I’m finding new foods to love. Which brings me to…
One of Casa Brillig’s favorite meals is homemade macaroni and cheese. I needed an alternative that gave me all the gooey goodness of melted cheese, without the mood-altering (I have learned I am a biotch when my blood sugar is high), damage-inducing carbohydrate hit from pasta. The surprise substitute… Cauliflower. Per 100g (about 1 cup chopped) it has a mere 25 calories & 5g carbohydrates, of which 2g is fiber. And it is VERSATILE! I can eat it cooked as florets, chopped roughly and used as a base for pasta sauce and meatballs, and run through a food processor it becomes a couscousy faux “rice” great for stirfrys and other uses.
Tonight, I made macaroni and cheese for everyone else, and cauliflower and cheese for me. I haven’t mastered putting multiple pictures into a diary so I’m trusting you to follow along :-).
1. Take one head cauliflower and chop into bite-size florets. You want them big enough to hold together, but not so big you’ll need a knife to eat them! I weigh everything, so if you have a scale you should have between 500-900g (1-2lbs) cauliflower. If you don’t have a scale, imagine 5-10 cups of chopped cauliflower.
2. Steam the cauliflower until it’s cooked but not mushy, and remove from heat. You want it to dry out a bit while you prep the rest.
3. Using a box grater grate as much cheddar cheese as you like (or use pre-shredded cheese). I like a mix of cheeses, so tonight’s was half Kerrygold Dubliner and half Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar. I aim for 1oz cheese per 100g cauliflower (so 5-9oz total depending on your cauliflower). More is definitely better :-).
4. Mix 1Tbs coconut flour, which is half fiber, far fewer carbs than wheat flour, and soaks up liquid like nobody’s business with 1/2-1cup unsweetened soymilk (I don’t use cows milk because of carbs). Mix with the cheese and stir, then add to cauliflower and combine.
5. Top with a bit of almond meal if you like the breadcrumb topping look of regular mac and cheese, and bake at 350F for 20’. Devour.
I log every bite of food I eat to keep track of carbohydrates into the app/website myfitnesspal.com. It allows me to input recipes, and so I arbitrarily set 125g/~4oz cauliflower as One Serving (although I generally eat two servings as a dinner portion). The nutritional breakdown per serving comes out to 186 calories, 12g fat, 12g protein, 8g carbohydrate, 4g fiber. This means my two serving dinner is 16g of carbs, but half of that is fiber. In comparison, a 2oz serving of rigatoni (or 1/8 of a standard box) is 42g carbs/2g fiber. Does it taste exactly like my former comfort food? Of course not, it’s made with cauliflower. But do I get my cheesy bubbly goodness? Yes, yes I do. And a satisfyingly low blood sugar reading an hour afterwards!
Talk food, politics, music or whatnot in the comments, after you read what you really came here for- the trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures! Shower my wonderful collaborator BeninSC with mojo and all the chocolate I can’t eat (although if any of that chocolate is Lily's, I want a share!
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
Note: Especially during this passionate primary season, please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
For Monday, May 16, 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on the subject.
1) I wasn't on this side of things, but am leaning … by KC2669 +213
2) It is a start. However, there was a lot more tha … by SantaFeMarie +208
3) This isn’t a person struggling to be heard this … by Herticalt +209
4) You know, every time I start to relax and think … by ChasingOrion +185
5) ….the price tag ...without including the premium … by Choco8 +175
6) Every Sanders diarist who was spreading false in … by Herticalt +151
7) Sanders has nothing bigger to deal with. His own … by SantaFeMarie +149
7) What an idiotic statement. Your candidate is off … by CanyonWren +149
9) The threats against the Nevada Party Chair are o … by Susan Grigsby +146
10) Thank you for your two cents. Nothing like the o … by FischFry +140
11) This is not the way to be heard. This will only … by glen55 +139
12) I should point out that Sanders endorsee Lucy Fl … by souvarine +136
13) thank you Lucy Flores.. finally some leadership… … by hardart +130
13) I may be old fashioned, but being a registered D … by Wee Mama +130
13) I look forward to someone explaining that bizarr … by SantaFeMarie +130
16) A group of Sanders delegates did the following: … by SantaFeMarie +129
17) Family Medical Leave Act … by linc +125
18) My point is that their out-of-pocket expenses wi … by Choco8 +124
19) Note this bit: … by souvarine +123
19) Can’t wait to hear how he didn’t do that. Someon … by hnichols +123
21) Heh. Thank you for the kind words. … by MBNYC +122
22) That’s nonsense. Angela Marx made up a conspirac … by Armando +121
23) Well, you shouldn't take the Sanders Campaign vi … by brooklynbadboy +119
24) That was one supporter online. These were Sander … by JoeW +118
25) Good Morning to all. Thank you swiffy for the HN … by cazcee +117
26) Most lucid report I’ve seen yet: … by SantaFeMarie +116
27) “So you feel Sanders really would have tied Hill … by FischFry +114
28) Also too, this disproves UTTERLY the Angela Marx … by Armando +112
29) BNR #343: by LieparDestin +111
29) 2 days have passed since this incident and still … by Rosalie907 +111
Top Pictures
2016-05-17, courtesy of jotter!