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.   Todd loves pork and as he hasn't been feeling very well, I thought it would be a real treat for him.  I love pork tenderloin.  It's like the filet mignon of the pork world . . .  so long as it isn't overcooked.  It's tender and lean and quite adaptable to most flavours.

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!

Hi there peoples!  I wanted to tell you about some of the equipment I've been using in my kitchen over this past month.  You know a cook is only as good as the tools she uses and I have been very blessed to have nice things that are really useful.

A few years when I was over in Canada, the Toddster wore out our tin opener and had to buy a new one. I have never been fond of the new one he bought.  (Sorry Todd!)  I recently got this new One-Touch Automatic Can Opener.



I've never had a battery operated can opener before.  At first I wasn't quite sure how to use it.   The handy instruction leaflet which came with it soon dispelled any mystery.

 


You simply place the can opener on top of the can with it's rim positioned in the groove between the cutter and the drive wheel.  With the tin on a flat surface you press the button for about one second and release and then it goes to work, cutting the can all the way around.  You then press the button again to reverse the cutter and it reverses and stops.

 


You then lift the cutter off the can, and the magnet on the can opener will pick up the lid for convenience.  Easy Peasy, lemon squeezy!  I tried to take a video of it in action, but I need a teenager around to show me how to use my camera.  Sigh . . .  all I got was the picture you can see at the top with the opener on top of the can and my finger going in to touch the button!




I've also been using these Colour Works Utensils.   The  Masher is made from Nylon and is dishwasher safe and suitable for nonstick surfaces.  Heat resistant to 210*C/410*F.,  it carries a five year warantee.

The Silicone Spoon Spatula is also dishwasher safe, hygenic and very flexible.  It's stain resistant and suitable for non-stick surfaces.  It is heat resistant for up to 260*C/500*F and also comes with a five year warantee.

What can I say?  They do their job and I love that they don't scratch my pans and are dishwasher safe.

All of these items can be purchases at Next Day Catering, a leading online catering supplier providing a range of high quality catering equipment and hotel supplies in in the UK. They have been the UK’s favourite catering suppliers for 20 years now, supplying quality products from top name brands including KitchenAid, Dualit, Panasonic, Samsung Victorinox and more. Their next day catering supplies are used across the UK by bars, hotels, restaurants, cafés, bed and breakfasts, schools, office canteens, bistros and other professional kitchens and hospitality businesses.  With a quick delivery,  great prices, and a full stock selection, they are my first port of call when it comes to finding the right tools to do what I love to do, and that is  . . .  cook.

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.