OH MY GOODNESS, another very precious book by Amanda King (author and photographer) who has Type 1 diabetes and remembers the overwhelming feeling she had as we was being admitted to the hospital, at age 14.She saw the need for a book that explained Diabetes on the appropriate age and developmental level for a young child … and has handily filled that need. With Cody and his Type 1 Diabetes. I am in love with Cody!
Cody Gets an Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitor is the second book in the series. It is written to help children feel proud and brave wearing their insulin pups and CGMs. And, take it from me, it’s even soothing and adorable for non-children people with Diabetes.
It’s short, colorful and easy to read with the most wonderful photos of Cody with his diabetes supplies and going to the doctor. It’s all so cute, even the page numbers are found in little paw prints! You have to check this one out!!! THANK YOU Amanda for your wisdom and heart … give Cody a snuggle for me!
Click here to buy the book!
6 Common Nutrition Myths Around Type 1 Diabetes was written by Christina Crowder Anderson for DiabetesMine.com, 26 April 2020.
- MYTH: It doesn’t matter what you eat to treat hypoglycemia. It just has to be carbs. FACT: Carbs with fat are a bad choice for treating hypos.
- MYTH: You should go gluten-free with diabetes because that’s ‘healthy.’ FACT: Most gluten-free products contain high calories, sugar, and fat.
- MYTH: Going ultra low carb or ‘keto’ means you’ll never have a post-meal glucose spike again. FACT: Carbs are not the only macronutrient that breaks down into glucose.
- MYTH: You should favor snacks that have really low ‘net carbs.’ FACT: Net carbohydrate counts are misleading.
These myth-busters are GREAT … and I’ve highlighted my favorite in red, because I hear it so often. Low BG is not the time to eat a snickers bar!
Follow the link for more myths and facts: 6 Common Nutrition Myths Around Type 1 Diabetes
Simplifying Vegetables was written by Mark Bittman on Bittman Basics for Medium, 4 May 2020.
You can cook a different vegetable every day of the week and go a whole month without eating the same one twice.
There are so many varieties that even an expert can’t know everything about all of them. To make vegetables more manageable in the kitchen, I lump them into three groups — greens, tender vegetables, and hard vegetables — based on how fast they go from raw to mushy.
Think of vegetables in groups
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- Greens
These vegetables cook in a flash — anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. In addition to salad greens (you can even cook lettuces!) and greens like chard, watercress, collards, kale, mustard greens, and different bok choys. They all cook the same way. What varies is the time: The more delicate the leaves, the faster they soften. You can separate firm stalks from the leaves and give them a head start. Boiling, steaming, stir-frying, and sautéing are the best cooking methods. Check them frequently and immediately remove them from heat when they reach the softness you want. - Tender
The vegetables in this group are firm but pliable when raw. The cooking time ranges from a couple of minutes to 30 minutes or more, depending on how high the heat is. Celery, green beans, asparagus, snow and snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms are examples. I also count vegetables that are pliable when you chop or slice them, like eggplant, zucchini, cabbage, onions, leeks, shallots, and fennel.
- Greens
You have more options with tender vegetables than with greens; boiling (in some cases), steaming, stir-frying, and sautéing are all good choices, as are frying, roasting, grilling, and broiling. At high temperatures they soften quickly, so you still need to keep a close eye on them. When you lower the heat and let them progress more slowly, they can brown and become downright silky.
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- Hard
This mix of root vegetables, tubers, and winter squashes (including potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, celery root, and pumpkin) take much longer to become tender. Figure 5 to 10 minutes if they’re grated or cut small and up to an hour if whole or in big chunks.
- Hard
Like tender vegetables, you can boil, steam, stir-fry, sauté, fry, roast, grill, or broil them. Hard vegetables tend to work particularly well cut or sliced, then roasted or deep-fried, where their outsides will brown and crisp while the insides get soft. All can be roasted whole until soft (a knife or skewer can be inserted easily when they’re ready). Then, after they cool a bit, it’s easy to peel them and remove any seeds. (Winter squashes are great cooked that way.)
And more …
One of the reasons to love vegetables is that you can cook them as much or as little as you like. Recipes often offer ranges of time for proper cooking, but it’s more valuable — and fun — to learn to recognize doneness by cooking and tasting. Here’s how:
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- Raw vegetables are crunchy and hard; they’re colorful but become brighter as they cook.
- Barely cooked vegetables are less crunchy, easier to eat, and often brighter in color than raw. If you’re pan cooking, they’ll start to get golden.
- Crisp-tender vegetables are bright and mostly tender, with just a little bit of pleasant crunch at the center. (If pan-cooked, they’ll start browning.)
- Soft vegetables have lost all their crunch, and their color has faded slightly. (Pan-cooked vegetables will get more brown.)
- Super-soft vegetables will mash easily with a fork. This is how you want vegetables for pureeing.
- Mushy vegetables are dull in color and grayish, and they’re so soft that they break apart when you try to pick them up; there’s no reason to cook them to this stage!
Read more: Mark Bittman Website
