Brussel Sprouts with Walnut-Lemon Vinaigrette

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 8 mins
Total Time: 13 mins
Ingredients

* 1 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
* 2 tablespoon oil, walnut
* 1 tablespoon shallot(s), minced
* 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, freshly grated
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon mustard, Dijon, or whole-grain
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* pepper, black ground, to taste

Preparation
1. Place brussels sprouts in a steamer basket and steam in a large saucepan over 1 inch of boiling water until tender, 7 to 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk oil, shallot, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the sprouts to the dressing; toss to coat.
Servings

Contains Nuts
Vegetarian
Heart-Healthy
Diabetes-Friendly
Nutritional Info (Per serving):
Calories: 108, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 188mg, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Total Fat: 7g, Carbs: 10g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Protein: 3g
Carb Choices: 0.5

Type 2 Diabetes: Who Should Get Screened?

The American Diabetes Association recommends that all adults age 45 or older be screened for diabetes. If you are younger than age 45, talk to your doctor about diabetes screening if you are overweight or obese and you have one or more of the following risk factors:

* You exercise fewer than three times a week.
* A close relative (sibling or parent) has type 2 diabetes.
* You had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes).
* You gave birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds.
* You come from a Native American, Hispanic, African-American, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, or Asian-American background.
* You were diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome — a hormone imbalance in women.
* You’ve been told you had higher-than-normal blood sugar levels before.
* You have a history of heart disease.
* You have high blood pressure at 140/90 mm Hg or above (or are taking medication to lower blood pressure).
* You have HDL "good" cholesterol below 35 mg/dL.
* Your triglyceride level is above 250 mg/dL.

Because diabetes can damage your body for a while before you even realize you have it, it is important in order to make good choices about your long-term health. Ask for a screening if you are at risk.

Type 2 Diabetes - Red Flags

Type 2 diabetes can cause lots of damage before it's diagnosed.
By Madeline Vann, MPH
Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

Type 2 diabetes begins as a "silent" condition, because before it does noticeable damage to your body, it has no distinguishing symptoms, other than high blood sugar levels that can be found with a blood test.

But there are signs that diabetes is present, although they are easily ignored. In fact, of the nearly 21 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, about six million don’t know they have it.

Possible symptoms of type 2 diabetes include:

* Being more thirsty than usual
* Feeling more hungry than usual
* Feeling more tired than usual
* Needing to urinate more than usual, especially at night
* Blurry vision
* Unplanned weight loss
* Sores that don’t go away

"There are a lot of people who don’t have symptoms," says Vivian Fonseca, MD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and chief of the section of endocrinology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

Dr. Fonseca says that many people believe a "silent" condition like diabetes is nothing to worry about because they don’t feel any different. However, higher-than-normal blood sugar levels do damage at the microvascular level (affecting the smallest of your blood vessels), even if you can’t feel it.

"Even milder diabetes with no symptoms can continuously do damage over the years, so that’s where the problem lies," says Fonseca. "When sugar goes from 115 to 130 [mg/dL], you have diabetes. So for example, you can have eye damage, but no knowledge of that happening."

Diabetic retinopathy, which is the result of damage to the blood vessels in the eye that causes progressive vision loss, is one physical change that is most closely linked to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Data from the Diabetes Prevention Program suggest that this gradual damage to the eye occurs in about 12 percent of people within three years of the diagnosis of diabetes.

Although early damage to your eye can be seen using the equipment at your eye doctor’s office, many people will not know they have diabetic retinopathy until it has progressed far enough to interfere with their vision.

Lime Strawberry Dip

Total Time: 10 mins
Ingredients

* 8 ounce(s) sour cream, light or fat-free
* 2 tablespoon sugar, powdered
* 2 teaspoon lime peel
* 1 tablespoon lime juice
* 3 cup(s) strawberries

Preparation
1. For lime dipping sauce, in a small bowl, stir together sour cream, powdered sugar, lime peel, and lime juice. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

2. Wash strawberries but do not remove stems or caps. Drain strawberries on several layers of paper towels. Transfer to a covered storage container.

3. Tote lime dipping sauce and strawberries in an insulated cooler with ice packs. Serve berries with lime dipping sauce.


Servings
Contains Dairy
Vegetarian
Diabetes-Friendly
Nutritional Info (Per serving):
Calories: 44, Saturated Fat: 0g, Sodium: 41mg, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 10g, Sugars: 5g, Cholesterol: 3mg, Protein: 1g
Exchanges: Fruit: 0.5
Carb Choices: 0.5

Site Changes

I've been asked to create a site that caters to diabetics. Right now I work with 5 sites. Stir, Laugh, Repeat is the "mother" site where I post tips, some recipes and activity updates for all other sites. My site A Book and A Dish is made up of book reviews for books I've read as well as the author's favorite recipe. Stir, Laugh, Repeat Cookbook consists of reviews received for my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat. Martha's Recipe Cabinet stores recipes that will go into one of my next cookbooks. And this site Martha's Kitchen Korner consists of recipes that I'm still working with and may or may not make it to a book. I hope you will all continue to follow this site as I make my changes. I would like for all of you to contribute recipes and/or tips related to diabetic cooking and health. To do so, email your recipes/tips to me at marthacheves@bellsouth.net and I will copy and post them to the site. Please remember that you are always welcome to follow any and all of my other sites.

Thanks in advance for your help with this change.

Broccoli/Corn Cornbread

1 box Jiffy corn/mix (8.5 oz.)
1 pkg (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 stick butter, melted
4 eggs
8 oz. cottage cheese
3 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 onion, chopped
1 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Pour into an 8 x 8" baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake 45 minutes.

The original recipe called for the broccoli to be cooked. I decided to use it raw and let it cook in the oven. Reason - to keep it from being too mushy. The recipe didn't call for the cheese nor corn, I added those and am glad I did. For changes, use chopped squash. This would also be good with a cup of cooked chicken added to the mix.

Grandma's Cheesecake - 1960s

1 lb. ricotta cheese (or dry cottage cheese)
1 lb. cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, milted
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 pint sour cream

Mix cheeses well with beater. Add butter and eggs. (I added butter, beat to mix and then added eggs). Add remaining ingredients; fold in sour cream. (Note that this says add remaining ingredients - don't add sour cream yet. Also, the next time I make this I'll add the flour and cornstarch before adding the eggs. I believe they will blend better and smoother.) Thoroughly grease 12" Bundt pan and dust with fine zwieback crumbs. (I used just enough graham cracker crumbs to barely cover the bottom of a spring form pan sprayed with non-stick spray with flour.) Pour batter into pan and bake for one hour. Turn off oven and allow to remain in oven for one additional hour. Glaze or top if desired. Refrigerate. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes: This recipe came from my wonderful friend Lillian. She ran across it in a little paper cookbook that she bought many years ago at the cost of 10 cents. It dates back in the 1960s.

I used the graham cracker crumbs because I haven't seen Zwieback crackers since my kids were little. For those of you who don't know what they are, back then they were used for teething cookies for babies. Also, I read the recipe before beginning but didn't keep in mind that you include everything BUT the sour cream. I added that with the other ingredients. It did turn out fine so I have no idea as to what difference it might have made. This is a delicious cheese cake, a little different from what you may be accustomed to. I don't like a glaze on my cheese cakes but you can add strawberries, cherries, etc. and a little glaze. Don't go very heavy, weight wise, with your toppings. This is a delicate cake and a heavy topping will cause it to break up. It might even be best to serve a topping on a piece that's been cut and plated. No matter how you eat and serve this, it's delicious!

Sausage Rice Balls

1 lb. lean sausage, browned
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup shredded cheese
flour
buttermilk
bread crumbs
cooking oil
white gravy (optional)

Mix cooked sausage, rice and cheese. Form into golf ball size balls. Roll in flour, then buttermilk, then bread crumbs. Slowly place them in hot oil and cook until outside is brown and crispy. Serve as is or with gravy.

Changes - You can use hot sausage, the rice will cool it down some. You can use long grain/wild rice for added flavors. This can be made with well seasoned turkey or chicken sausage. When I worked these up I made about half of them coated with the flour/buttermilk/crumb crust and the other half with no battering. Both are great. Those battered had a nice crispy crust whereas the ones without had just a slight crisp on the outside. These are perfect for breakfast but are good any time.

Pecan Pound Cake

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 butter pecan cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cup oil
1 can coconut pecan frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Bundt pan with non-stick spray. Evenly sprinkle pecans in the bottom of the pan. Mix cake mix, eggs, water and oil until smooth. Scoop in frosting and mix until blended. Pour into pan over pecans. Bake 60 minutes. Cook completely before slicing.