Normally after having a turkey dinner I would be treating myself to a turkey sandwich with two slices of bread,  mayo, stuffing and cranberry sauce.   And enjoying it.   My new lifestyle means that is a no no and so today I made myself something different.   A Turkey Taco Pizza.   Sounds hedonistic, but it really isn't . . .

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian family and friends!  I hope you all have a wonderful weeend filled with lots of love, gratitude and plenty of good eats.   Family dinners, they're the best!  I've been working hard for the past few weeks to figure out a dessert recipe that I could eat that would be just as satisfying as Pumpkin Pie (traditional at Thanksgiving feasts!) and here I am down to the wire and guess what!  I figured one out and it's fabulous!

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!