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)