Back in late August of 2009, I was diagnosed with diabetes. Panic ensued, frustration was right on its heels, and anger followed–I had NO idea what to eat, what not to eat, how to shop, what to cook. I found this web board, and since then my life has changed dramatically. A myriad of emotions have lead me to this point, right now, posting on this site.
The latest emotion is joy. Pure, sugar-free, unadulterated joy.
I now shop weekly, around the outer perimeter of the store. I know what I can eat, and what will spike me to the moon. Thanks to the folks on this board, I have tried a hundred different foods I would NEVER have considered eating before last August. I have lost 40 pounds, and I eat more regularly now.
Some things do not change, though, and for me, I still hate to cook. I hate to shop. But I have found a way to get low-carb nutrition into me with the minimum of fuss.
Every Sunday (one of my days off of work) I go shopping for ingredients to make the tried and true recipes I have found here, and a couple other places on the net. I spend about two hours cutting, chopping, sauteing, roasting and nuking things before portioning them into seven containers for my lunches, my largest daily meal.
Today’s menu was as follows:
Roasted butternut squash
Sauteed chicken breasts (two pounds, divided up and cooked with different spices)
Roasted red, green and orange peppers with olive oil
Sauteed onion
Homemade alfredo sauce (thanks, Granny Shanny, for the awesome recipe!)
Sauteed mushrooms
Portioned out, each 4 cup container holds:
1/2 cup squash
4 oz. chicken breast
1 c. roasted peppers
1/4 c. onions
1/4 c. mushrooms
1/4 c. alfredo sauce
I have packed in separate containers 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1 slice low carb bread (EarthGrains) ready to be snagged from the fridge on my way out the door. For the rest of the week, I don’t have to waste any brain time on what I will be eating. I don’t have to risk temptation.
I love it. The recipe for the Alfredo sauce (Granny Shanny’s) is as follows:
1/2 c. butter (I use unsalted)
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese
2 oz cream cheese
1 c. water
Smidge minced garlic
Smidge white pepper
Melt it all together. With the unsalted butter, it has about 135 sodium per 1/4 cup serving, and something like 1 carb, and it is so good, it would even make a deep-fried tennis shoe palatable.