I have to say I am really enjoying my healthier eating lifestyle these days.  I have not had a piece of chocolate in over three weeks now, nor have I had any cookies, cakes, candy bars, wine gums, etc.  I have banned sugar from my life along with white flour . . . it's been a bit of a challenge, but it can be done and putting on a pair of trousers today that is two sizes smaller than I was wearing a month ago feels good.

Coming to terms with and learning to live with Type 2 Diabetes is a real learning curve for sure.   I know I am not alone in feeling somewhat discouraged at times and at a loss at others.  But I am determined to stay the course and do what is the best things to do for my health.  Healthy eating and regular meal planning is all a part of that.  No more flying by the seat of my pants!

I found a nice looking piece of Pork Tenderloin in the freezer yesterday and since we hadn't had any pork in a long time I decided to do something with it for our supper today. My husband loves pork and as he hasn't been feeling very well, I thought it would be a real treat for him.  

I have to admit that prior to my recent medical diagnosis, I really wasn't eating very well.   I only ever very seldom ate any fruit and my veg intake was way down as well.  Oddly enough when I was working full time, I always got my veg and fruit in, but being retired and on a limited income . . .  I hadn't been doing very well with any of that.

This recipe is not diabetic friendly.  Todd isn't a diabetic and I can't punish him constantly for my sins.  Sometimes I have to treat him to something he enjoys.  He can't eat raw apples and we had a bumper crop from our tree this year.  He does adore cooked apple anything however, and this is a dish he really enjoys.

According to my Diabetes handbook, you need to have breakfast, lunch and evening meals each day.  No skipping, and there are really no foods that are forbidden, but one should aim to keep empty calories at bay . . .  so no snacking on potato chips, cookies, pies, etc.   But there is no reason why a high fibre whole grain muffin can't be a part of a healthy diet or breakfast on occasion.

I've always liked to pull the boat out a bit at the weekend . . .  a nice leisurely breakfast, usually something which we wouldn't have any other day of the week.   Having been diagnosed as a Diabetic I thought those days would be over, but I'm happy to say that they aren't in the least.  They're just different.

I love chicken.   Next to fish, it is probably the meat/protein I choose to eat most of the time.  Oddly enough it wasn't something we had very often when I was a child.  Maybe once or twice a year my mother would roast a chicken and as a real treat, once in a blue moon she would do her Maryland Fried Chicken, which was chicken breasts rolled in egg and cracker crumbs, and then fried in butter.  We loved it!

I'm really happy to be able to show you today my latest cookbooklet, entitled "When Life Hands You Lemons."   Yes, a cookbooklet totally devoted to all things lemon!   This is my largest cookbooklet today and is composed of no less than 53 pages of recipes which use Lemons.  With hints and tips for using lemons and Chapters including Delicious Beginnings, Something Savory, Let's Eat Cake, Tangy Tarts and Pies, Puddings and Custards and Cookies and Slices.  Some forty recipes in all, most of them including photographs of the finished dishes.  Interspersed between the recipes are little bits of my own artwork and I have also included  my  Lemon Curd Recipe Art Poster suitable for printing and framing.

  

There are recipes for delicious main dishes and beverages, condiments, delicious pies, scrumptious puddings, cookies and tasty bakes, all using that most lovely of all ingredients Lemons.  If you are a lemon afficionado like I am you won't want to miss out on this tasty booklet.   If you have already collected my other cookbooklets, you will want to add this latest one to your collection.

 

It comes as a downloadable PDF file direct to your e-mail box within 24 hours of your payment clearing, ready for you to  print out and use as you desire, and all at the same price as the rest of my cookbooklets,  of only £5.  (You will want to add my e-mail address to your list of safe e-mails.)  You will also want to have the latest version of Adobe Reader Enabled on your computer.

To order simply click the button below:

  

Cuting out sugary foods and high fat snacks is an important way to improve your diet and help maintain good blood glucose levels.  It helps to have alternatives available when you are feeling that urge to snack on something or when your levels dip and you just don't have time to make a meal. Having alternatives at the ready and achieving a balance are really important for long term success!  It's okay to have an occasional sweet treat, but in all reality, those need to be kept at a minimum, and it's best to develop a taste for nutritionally sound snacks.

I've always been a big lover of vegetables.  There are not too many I don't like with the exception of tinned peas.   This goes back to when I was a child.  Other than carrots and turnips, we mostly had tinned vegetables at home, and my mother found a dead cricket at the bottom of a tin of peas once, after we had already eaten half the tin.  You couldn't get me to eat a tinned pea after that.   In fact, in all truth I am very fussy about my peas.  I only like tender small ones.  Once they get big and woody textures, I can't stand them, and I don't think I am alone in that!

Ahh . . .  Pumpkin Season is upon us.  Autumn.  That time of year when we start to long for food that is a bit stodgier than the summer fare we've been eating the past couple of months.  Bring on the bonfires and . . . the Pumpkin delights!

I have to say that although I found the prospect of ever being able to eat anything delicious a little bit daunting at the first of my Diabetic journey . . .  a week later and I think I am finally beginning to understand things a bit better.  I am a long ways from an expert by all means . . .  but I've learned a lot.  I am looking forward to the class I am going to take at the hospital which will hopefully teach me a lot more.    I have also discovered that there is a wealth of information on the www that is very helpful and informative.

I really do get sent the nicest things.  I was recently sent a box of some really delicious cracklecorn from Portelbay Popcorn.  Portlebay is a small company in the depths of Devon,which creates all of their products by hand.   I was sent both the Chilli & Lime and the Wasabi & Sweet Ginger flavours to try.

 

These are really unsual flavours.  I am not normally that fond of overly spicy things.  What would I think of these???


Chilli & lime: I was a little bit unsure about this flavour on the approach.  I normally find red chillis much to hot for my taste, and even the sweet chilli sauce can burn my taste buds, but I have to say I was pretty amazed. It was sweet yet spicy from the chilli, with an almost salsa like taste which the lime cut through, ensuring that it wasn’t too sickly sweet.  I found the heat not at all unpleasant.  It was crunchy and just sweet enough, with a bit of a nice but not overwhelming heat.


Wasabi & Sweet Ginger:   I have a special fondness of Wasabi Peas.  It's the one snack I can eat that the dog doesn't beg me for, so I can enjoy them without being stared at the whole way through.  They can be hot, but not so hot that I don't like them.   I have to say that this is most deliciously different and exciting popcorn I’ve ever tasted. It really was unusual, but quite tasty.  The Wasabi wasn't overwhelming, but there was a really nice Ginger taste which I would say was the predominent flavour in this. It wasn't quite as sweet as the Sweet Chilli and Lime. I quite liked it as well.

Both would be fab snacks to break out for watching the footie or rugby!



Of course these are only two in the wide range of flavoured Kracklecorn that Portlebay produces.   There are also Applewood Smoked Cheddar, Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup and the Original Cracklecorn flavours.

There are a quite a few companies out there at the moment who are trying to bring something new to the world of popcorn, but it's been my experience that most of them don’t deliver on flavour.  It either gets lost as a mere dusting over the corn, or drowned in a candy coating.   Portlebay Popcorn, on the other hand,  is without doubt packed full of flavour.  Popped in the pot with raw cane sugar to give it a more brittle, crunchy texture, and then sprinkled with  a little sea salt along with their specially developed natural seasonings, this Krackle Corn is designed  to tingle your tastebuds in a really special way!  I highly recommend this if you are looking for a snack which is delicious, wholegrain and naturally  high in fibre.

They also do a range of sweet popcorns, which I have never tasted but which sound really scrummy, with flavours such as Lemon Sherbet, Cinnamon Swirl, Very Berry and Cappuccino!

They come in small packs which are made for snacking, or  big bags which are perfect for sharing with friends. Available at Tesco's, Booths and Budgens across the country as well as a network of independant shops and stockists.

To find out more check out  http://www.portlebaypopcorn.com/
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