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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Cooking... hmmm Recipe for diabetic "Almost Mince"

My sweet DH and I have decided for health reasons to change our diet to eliminate as much meat and sugar as possible.  Counting carbs (diabetes) and also counting cholesterol and fats (heart) means having limited choices.  Yesterday I found that I had a couple of apples that I needed to either eat or cook.. I also had a package of   3½ inch squares of phyllo dough.  So.... here is what I did..  I call it "Meatless Almost Mince"....

2 medium Delicious apples
1 cup chopped pecan/walnut mix
2 tsp. cinnamon (I did this to taste... )
1 tsp. cloves  (I did this to taste..)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg  (I did this to taste .. also.. ;o)
4... 1grain Necta Sweet saccharin tablets 
1/2 cup water
36... 3 1/2  inch phyllo dough squares

I cut the apples (unpeeled)  in quarters and cut them into about 1/2 pieces.  These I placed into my tiny little electric chopper  and chopped until about the size of large grains of rice.  I also chopped 1/2 cup of pecans and then 1/2 cup of walnuts.  I crushed the Necta Sweet tablets between 2 spoons. All of these I placed into a large stainless bowl.  While mixing everything, I added the spices.. a little at a time and tasting as I went to see if I needed to add more. 

I placed the finished mixture into a medium size pan, added 1/2 cup of water and simmered over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When it was finished cooking, I set it aside for a bit to cool slightly and laid out single squares of phyllo dough on a plastic cutting board.  I moistened all edges of the phyllo square, placed a really heaping teaspoon of mixture in the center and then folded the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle.  I used a fork to press and seal the edges.

I placed the triangles in a Baker's Joy sprayed baking sheet and baked at 350° oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.  ( I could only use one piece of phyllo because of the carbs.  If you don't have that worry, you can use 1/2 cup sugar instead of the NutraSweet, add butter to the mixture and use 2 phyllo sheets that have then brushed with margarine to make a more golden, flaky crust.)

Now... what we found.  He could not eat the triangles because of the carbs in the phyllo.  But... he can eat 3/4 cup of the apple/walnut mix as a side dish for chicken, turkey, fish or just plain Eggbeaters and toast!  (I think next time I will add some Rum or Brandy to the mix and a little lemon juice.  That will give it a more Mincemeat flavor than it already has!  And I LOVE mincemeat! )

Today is Easter and I am wishing for all of you a really lovely day...whether you can be with family or not.  ;o)

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Today In My Life.... April 7, 2011











Today is:  Thursday, April 7, 2011

I got up this morning:  and it was 4:40 am.  My back and  shoulders have hurt so badly over the last 10 days that I find it difficult to go back to sleep after I wake up.... so here I am with a cup of Apricot/Peach tea, my buddy laptop and you this morning.  ;o)

As I look out my window:  it's quite dark out thanks to Daylight Saving Time.  The light of the cars shine bright red as they recede down the hill out front.  I have always loved DST because the evening is so much longer and my children had more time to play in the summer.  That was before they moved it up so much that now kids have to stand at a bus stop in pitch black to get to school.  I don't like that.  At all.

I am hearing:  the slight noise of the very first clock my sweet DH made.  It's a pale country blue. I have painted roses on it and it hangs in the kitchen.  It's one of my favorite things.

I am thinking:  that it's a wonderful thing to know that things are much better for my sweet DH.  His cardiac cath showed an almost 100% blockage in one of his coronary arteries.  The stent was placed and there could be no better news than that!

Also: exactly one month ago I posted here that I was very grateful that Steven was coming home from Iraq.  Today.... well, see for yourself. 

This can also rank up there with the best of the best that I am thankful for.  It was such a joy just to put my arms around him (on tiptoe, no less) and hold him.  We went  to IHOP and were going to sit in the same seat that his brother Jeff and  I would sit in years ago... but the smoke was wayyyy too much for both of us.  So we sat somewhere else and talked.

I love you, Steven.  It's so good that you're home.

The one thing I've learned during the past week:
It's much easier to be the "patient" than it is to be "waiter"My sweet DH had a CT scan this week for reduction in blood flow to his feet.  This comes only a couple of weeks after his coronary cath with stent placement.  Now... being a nurse one is aware that for the most part all is well...but being a wife is entirely a different thing.  Not fun being the "waiter".....

Also.....Even if you are near crying with pain, a new chiropractor will not adjust your back on the first visit.  That's why I'm still in pain.  While I really liked her, we are having to wait for the orthopedist that cost a fortune and did no good about anything to send my MRI results to her.  May have to go and hand carry them from him to her... ;o(


Creatively:  all things have just come to nil.  I've tried knitting, card weaving, crochet.... nothing seems to work out just right.  Couldn't be pain related, could it?  I've spent more time frogging and just plain ripping out than accomplishing anything... ughhh

But I have to say that our Red River Fiber Arts group continues to grow and is more fun with each meeting.  We are planning to have a booth at Arts Fest this September.  So far, there is not a web site for this year, but there is one for last year.   Here it is and we can only assume that it will be very much the same this year.  Everyone is working on projects and we have built up quite a lot already.  Should be great fun!

Plans for the rest of the week:  include buying all the little things to finally finish up the new house.  Had to buy a couple of lights yesterday that we had missed on our first trip to Lowe's.  Things are finally finishing up, but even though I've said "should be done in a couple of weeks"  at least 3 times now... what was supposed to be done mid to late March will now be done about late April or early May.  But considering the winter weather that's not too bad ... even if we are in a hurry... ;o)

Just a thought:  Unless I did something very wrong, I've found that I cannot paint the tile to go behind the stove in the new house.  I did a quick and dirty painting on 4 of the tiles, cooked them in the oven like the instructions said.  I then waited overnight and washed them.  The regular wash was great, but when I tried the scrub with a mild abrasive it scrubbed off.  I decided not to paint them after all since the replacing of tiles in 4 or 5 years is not something I wanted to look forward to... 

I hope you all have a really good day.  And I hope some part of it is filled with a great bit hug!  ;o)