Posts (page 2)

I stumbled upon this blog today:  A Year of Crockpotting

It features a recipe a day, all designed for your slow cooker.  She makes some pretty interesting things in her crockpot that I never knew you could.  Stuff like chex mix and chocolate mousse!  I thought crockpots were only good for stews and soups.

Personally, I don't own a crockpot, but I've heard many good things about how convenient and simple it is and how tasty-delicious the results are.  Now that Baby Champuru is on the way, I'm thinking more about quick, easy, and convenient ways to feed the family.  Crockpot cooking seems like the perfect solution for a sleep deprived mommy.

I also did a quick search on Amazon.com and found that they have a nice selection of crockpot recipe books.  Now if I could find a crockpot book of recipes for the Asian/local palate, I'd be totally sold.

Do you have a crockpot?  Do you use it often?  Any recommendations on the type/size of crockpot I should get?  Can you share a favorite slowcooker recipe with me?

All these months (during my in vitro treatments as well as the first 2/3 of my pregnancy) I have been intentionally steering clear of artificial sweeteners.  Now that I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, it may be what gets me through the last two months of my pregnancy.  I asked my doctor and did some research on the Internet and found that artificial sweeteners are not harmful to the baby.  With that assurance, I started to introduce artificially-sweetened foods into my diet.

Breakfast:  Glucerna Crunchy Flakes n' Strawberries cereal with milk
Snack:  Glucerna oatmeal raisin mini snack bar
Lunch:  Grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread
Snack:  Carb Watchers ice cream stick
Dinner:  2 pcs. of shoyu chicken, brown rice, beets, string beans, salad
Dessert:  Glucerna chocolate peanut mini snack bar, Coke Zero  

I went shopping today and bought snacks designed specifically for carb-watchers and diabetics.  Until I go to the gestational diabetes class on August 6, I'm groping around in the dark.  Hopefully they'll tell me that that this stuff is acceptable (sugar-free pudding, jell-o, ice cream, glucerna bars and cereal)...

Breakfast:  Carnation Instant Breakfast with soy milk
Lunch:  Quarter pounder with cheese, a few french fries, and a diet coke (I know... not the best choice, but I was eating on the run.)
Snack:   Healthy Choice sugar-free ice cream fudge bar
Dinner:  Fried fish, brown rice, beets, string beans, and salad
Dessert:  Sugar-free dark chocolate pudding

It's only day #3 and I was already jonesing for a hot fudge sundae.  This isn't going to be easy.

Breakfast:  2 pieces of whole wheat toast with margarine, 1 hardboiled egg, 1/2 papaya with lemon juice & wheat germ
Snack: String Cheese, iced green tea
Lunch:  None
Dinner:  Garden salad, hijiki, pickled vegetables, misoyaki butterfish, a few bites of white rice, diet coke (Kyoto Ohsho)
Dessert:  Vanilla ice cream cone from McDonald's (I skipped the dessert bar at Kyoto Ohsho - with the chocolate fountain! - and opted for a more reasonable dessert.)

I went to the doctor today, but only got a very broad overview of what a diabetic diet encompasses.  

Breakfast:  Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal
Lunch: Turkey Chili, brown rice
Snack:  String Cheese
Dinner:  Garden salad with vinaigrette dressing,  8 oz. New York Steak, 1/2 portion of mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and a few bites of Joni's mudpie

Exercise:  Bon dancing all night :)

Went to the Jikoen bon dance tonight and managed to ignore all of the no-no foods being offered, only going to the food booths to buy water.

Today is day #1 of my food/exercise log.

Don't bash me too much, since I haven't met with a dietitian or attended the "Sweeter Choice" class yet, so I am running without any guidelines to manage my gestational diabetes.  Cut me no slack once I am educated though!

Breakfast:  Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal, a bowl of ripe mangoes (this was before I got the news)
Lunch:  Corned Beef & Cabbage, brown rice
Snack:  String Cheese
Dinner: Turkey Chili, boiled beets, sauteed asparagus with garlic, and garden salad, hoji-cha
 
Exercise:  2-mile walk
 

At 9:22 this morning my cell phone rang. The caller ID on the screen indicated that it was my OB/GYN's office calling.  With my appointment only a day away, it could only mean one thing: my 3-hour fasting glucose tolerance test came back positive for gestational diabetes.

I answered the phone and steeled myself for the news.

"Your results came in this morning," the nurse began.  "Your levels were elevated..."

She went on to tell me that they scheduled me for an appointment next week with the Fetal Diagnostic Center at Kapiolani Medical Center and enrolled me in the Sweeter Choice Program which includes a 4-hour class on how to manage my gestational diabetes.  One thing I am grateful for is the support and education that is available to expectant mothers these days.

From the Kapiolani Medical Center website:

What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition that impairs the body's ability to use sugar and as a result increases your risk for health problems, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and atherosclerosis. As a diabetic, you should be under a doctor's care and should regularly monitor your blood sugar levels.

Prenatal Care
Prenatal care is important for all pregnant women. As a woman with diabetes, it is particularly important for you because you are at increased risk for complications during pregnancy. Diabetic women tend to give birth to larger babies, and therefore are more likely to need a Caesarean section. There is also an increased chance that your baby will be born with low blood sugar levels and may need to be treated in the intensive care unit following delivery.

Can you minimize the complications associated with diabetes?
You can prevent many of the complications associated with diabetes simply by controlling your blood sugar levels during pregnancy. To control your blood sugar levels you will need to modify your diet, exercise regularly, and you may need to take insulin.

Needless to say, I'm bummed.  Truthfully, I'd rather become a vegetarian than have to adhere to a diabetic diet.  Taming my sweet tooth is going to be the toughest part of this ordeal, but perhaps this will force me to make wiser eating choices and prompt me to exercise more often (i.e., daily).  Now it's not going to be something that's just good to do, but it's now something that I MUST do.

I'll be keeping a daily food diary and exercise log here on this blog.  Perhaps this will keep me from cheating (too much) on my diet. :)

July is national ice cream month! What's your favorite flavor?
Submitted by LittleWiseOne.

This is quite the appropriate question for me.  It seems that the only thing that I'm "craving" during my last trimester is ice cream.

Mainly for the convenience factor, I have been indulging in M&M McFlurries and Hot Fudge Sundaes from McDonald's. 

But as for real ice cream, my favorite flavors are mint chocolate chip, green tea, and rocky road -- depending on my mood. 

What's your favorite time of day and why?

I love summer sunsets and the twilight hours.  The light is diffused and soft, the air is cool, it's just a beautiful time to enjoy the outdoors.  This is one of the reasons why I enjoy going to bon dances so much -- it gives me a reason to be outside during these magical hours during the day with good friends, food, music, and dancing.

What's your favorite type of donut?
Submitted by tomatshonino.

I'm not a big fan of donuts, but I do enjoy a fresh Krispy Kreme glazed donut when I can get them. (Which isn't often since we don't have a Krispy Kreme on Oahu ~ and the fundraising ones are never the same as the ones right off the conveyor belt.)