Thank you lynnekz for inviting me to the Kos Diabetes Group! She noticed that many of the diaries I write for Top Comments involve diabetic-friendly recipes, and asked if I’d be willing to write over here as well, and I’m delighted to do so!
I’ve read many of the Diabetes Group posts and comments, and want to give you a little bit of intro about me before I dive into today’s recipe, so you know a little about where I’m coming from:
I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic way back in 2012, but like many people did not fully understand the significance of that diagnosis and what I needed to do. So it should be no surprise that in January 2016 I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, presenting with an a1C of 7.6. My primary doctor is also a Diabetes Coordinator, and so when she told me to exercise more, lose 10% of my body weight, and to follow a diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association, I did. I lost the weight, exercised regularly, took my metformin, and ate my diet containing 150g carbohydrates per day… and my a1C didn’t budge.
I’m a scientist and live for data, so I tested my blood glucose a lot trying to learn what made it rise. And what I learned is, unsurprisingly, that carbohydrates make it rise. I decided to try a keto diet and keep my net carbs to ~25g/day to see what it would do, told my doctor, and got the expected pushback. Because she’s been my doctor for decades, we came to an agreement: I try it for three months, and we test my a1C and my lipids again. If they’re not good, I go back to the ADA diet and we add more meds. If they’re good, we continue.
As you’ve probably gathered, my experiment with a keto diet was exactly what my body needed. My a1C dropped to 6.0 in three months. My lipid panel normalized. My energy levels rose, I dropped more weight, and I was healthier than I’d been in a decade. Five years later, my a1C hovers around 5.6 and while I’ve gained back some weight, I am still in fairly good shape for someone my age. I’ve learned how to eat fantastic, lowcarb food and no matter what way of eating sustains you, I hope you’ll enjoy what I offer up in these diaries!
So… let me bring to you the recipe lynnekz noticed and asked me to share with you today!
I needed something easy to go with sausage for dinner one evening when the rest of my family was having pasta (while I eat keto, the rest of my family doesn’t need to and so we all eat whatever parts of each meal work for us). I had my keto diet staples of cheese, eggs and cauliflower in the fridge. So I fell back on a favorite recipe from the website Gimme Delicious Food, which I have nicknamed Keto Cheesy Cauliflower Bites. I’ve made some adaptations from the basic recipe, but definitely check it out first!
First, preheat your oven to 375F and gather your ingredients:
The hardest part of the entire recipe is prepping the cauliflower. Only three steps, less if you use packaged riced cauliflower! If you can squeeze water out of wet things, you can do this!
I eat them straight but the recipe originally suggests serving with your favorite dipping sauce (I know marinara sauce is a traditional tasty pairing).
How are the numbers? In my hands this recipe serves 6; I usually get about 72 Bites and a generous gee-I’m-really-hungry serving is 12 nuggets of goodness. That roughly works out to 300 calories, 22g fat, 19g protein, and 6.4g total carbs (4.2g net carbs once 2.2g fiber is subtracted). Significantly less than pasta!
The highest form of praise I can hear on a recipe I make that isn’t “standard non-keto regular people food” is “whoa, that’s good. I’ll eat that!”. I make this for appetizers (well did, when we could share food with people and all that in the Before Times) and they’re often the first item gone.
I hope you enjoy!!