3 posts tagged “recipes”

Thanks to all my ranting about Google Docs and Outlook, I’ve gotten behind on some of the other stuff I usually post here, so here’s a diabetic friendly recipe that I think anybody will find tasty.

Diabetic Friendly Spaghetti

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2-3 packets Splenda, or Equal

1/2  teaspoon salt

1 cup water

Brown the turkey in a large, heavy bottomed pot, then drain off the fat. Add the onion, green pepper, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, seasonings, and water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool. The sauce will keep for several days covered and refrigerated.

Serve with spaghetti or your favorite pasta (diabetic can use 100% whole wheat, or 100% whole grain pasta)…or

Cook  and drain 1 ½ cups  whole wheat macaroni and add fold it into the sauce when it has finished simmering. Makes a good faux beef-a-roni.

The whole wheat macaroni makes it more friendly for those attempting to go low-carb. The whole wheat macaroni and Spenda or Equal make this diabetic friendly, as well.

Remember to test when you’re supposed to.

One of my very dear friends asked me to post some of my diabetic friendly recipes and food ideas.

Hopefully, these ideas are friendly to non-diabetics as well.

And lastly, I always encourage my diabetic friends to test their blood sugar levels after trying something new. Different people react differently.

One of the first things I started making for my self instead of buying was salsa. I did this not so much for my diabetes, but because home made salsa is easy to make, healthy, better tasting and cheaper than the stuff you get in the store.

Rick’s Salsa

Ingredients:

1 - 14.5 oz. can Mexican style stewed tomatoes, coarsely chopped (sometimes you can find the Mexican style canned tomatoes in the diced variety. Also, regular diced canned tomatoes work fine since you’re going to add some flavor anyway. If you live someplace where you get good fresh tomatoes, do it up. Here in Hawaii we get junk fresh tomatoes, so I opt for the canned ones.)

1/4 cup Chinese parsley, stemmed and chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced (1/4 tsp garlic powder = 1 clove real garlic)

1/2 small Maui, or other sweet onion, chopped

1/2 small lime, juiced (1-2 Tbs lime juice from the plastic lime)

½ teaspoon salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp Coriander (optional)

½ tsp Cumin (optional)

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded, cored, and chopped (optional)

In lieu of the fresh jalapeño pepper, you can use chopped jalapeño nacho rings, or 1-2 canned chipoltle peppers. Different peppers will give you different and interesting variations.

Drain the liquid from the tomatoes, but keep it in case you want to adjust the consistency of your salsa.

Chop (or food process) the tomatoes to desired consistency and combine with all other ingredients.

Adding the coriander and cumin give the salsa a real southwest flavor. The hot stuff adds heat. Leave out the coriander, cumin and hot stuff for a very good mild, neutral salsa.

I eat this with tortilla chips, whole grain Tostitos, slathered over home made burritos, or as a topping for a Mexican style salad. I’m sure you’ll come up with other uses.

This may seem like a lot for some salsa, but you’ll realize once you whittle down your options, you’re left with a pretty quick and easy recipe, and maybe the only thing you’ll need to out and get will be some fresh Chinese parsley.

Enjoy!