Standing out in the freezer case

I heard I’m not the only one with food on the mind come Fridays! By picking up where I left off on the Friday Food File, I’m certainly keeping with the theme of D-Feast Friday that is being explored on blogs elsewhere in the DOC, but I’m going to keep doing what I had initially intended before I went on hiatus, which was a little different from that. As I understand it, D-Feast Friday is a concerted effort to share recipes that the poster deems “diabetes-friendly”, in quotes because we all seem to have approaches to dietary management that range from, “That’s how I do it!” to “ZOMG, I could never eat like that!” I plan to share recipes sometimes, so I’ll be conforming to the format on those occasions, but when I concocted the Friday Food File, mostly I had wanted to share new food products. Thus, I intend to make that the staple for now. I’m also staying with the name, Friday Food File, because, well, I like it, and you know how strangely delighted alliteration makes me.

I do like to cook, but as I’ve said on many prior occasions, I don’t do it as often as I’d like because it can be an exercise in frustration. I have about two square feet of counter space, which is probably a generous estimate, and without a proper work surface, cooking becomes more of a chore than a pleasurable pastime. All of that being said, I have found some new inspiration to do a little slicing and dicing and making and baking, but I’m saving that for another day.

Since I don’t cook often, but we still have to eat, that obviously means we resort to other tactics around my house. Furthermore, Jason likes to eat a lot of stuff that I try to avoid, so we typically make separate meals, even when we eat together. Thus, since I’m often cooking for one, I eat more than my fair share of things like canned soup and frozen dinners. As you probably know, that kind of processed food often has some faults, namely concerning amounts of sodium, and a ridiculous list of unpronounceable, questionable ingredients. I do try to buy the healthiest versions of processed foods that I can find, I do try to keep an eye on the sodium content, but I freely admit this is an area of my current dietary regimen that needs some work. I do like the ease and convenience of foods that only need a few minutes in the microwave though.

Ingredients I can pronounce and identify

In my quest to continue keeping some frozen meal options on the menu while making an effort to fine tune my diet, I’ve been experimenting with some brands of frozen foods suitable for people who are conscious of their nutritional needs, but don’t always want to cook. In my search, I found the LightLife brand of frozen meals that come with the tag-line, “veggie goodness for you and the planet”. I’m not vegetarian, but I enjoy vegetarian cuisine because I love veggies, so I was intrigued. According to the package, “since 1979, five percent of our net profits have gone to protecting children, the environment, and human rights”, and the meal comes in a tray that “contains at least 25% post-consumer recycled plastic”. Frozen food for wacky liberal hippies. It’s like they put it in the freezer case just for me.

I first saw these LightLife entrees in the freezer case at my regular local supermarket, so mind you, this wasn’t at Whole Foods or Wegman’s, supermarkets where they devote prime freezer real estate to foods like this. I stopped, and looked through the glass, making that initial assessment of whether or not I’d open the door to inspect more closely. They passed that test so I reached in to grab the Indian entree, and studied the package. Relative to other brands of frozen meals, the ingredient list was short with ingredients I could identify, and I only raised an eyebrow at “natural flavors” which I will forever find a suspicious ingredient.

Ready to eat

The carbs were on the high end of the range for which I ordinarily aim. With the sauce, it had 62g, and I try to keep frozen entrees below 60g, knowing that I usually add a bowl of veggies or fruit as a side dish. I do like Indian food though, and 2g carbs over what I try to eat is totally inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. After all, my policy is that if I like it, as long as I keep it to a serving size and I’m not over-indulging, it’s fair game.

I found the meals on sale, so I bought four of the five varieties that were in the freezer case, certain enough that I would like them. I don’t remember how much I paid for them, but I want to say the regular price was like $3.99, so they are comparable to the regular price of the more conventional brands of frozen meals. I have eaten two of the four varieties that I bought so far. I’ve eaten the Tuscan Portobello, which was grilled portobello mushrooms, spinach, red peppers, and asparagus with whole-grain barley and a slightly spicy sauce. That clocked in at 40g carbs with 400mg sodium. Pictured here is the Indian Veggie Masala, which was cauliflower, chick peas, and sweet potatoes with whole-grain brown rice in a masala sauce. This was the one with 62g carbs and 350mg sodium. It’s worth noting that for frozen meals, these ones aren’t too bad as far as the sodium content goes, although I think I opted not to buy the Asian Teriyaki one because the sodium was a little higher than I’d like, but that’s what I expect from teriyaki.

I enjoyed both, and have no doubt that I’ll like the other two still in my freezer. The vegetables were big chunks. The spinach in the portobello entrée wasn’t that shredded stuff; I could tell it was actual leaves, which is not typical for frozen spinach. The ingredients, minus the sauces, were whole, identifiable, and as fresh as you can get with vegetables that have been frozen, and I thought the sauces complemented the veggies and grains well. I didn’t have any issue with the portion size, which I know is one thing about frozen meals that can draw complaints from some people, and because it was veggies and whole grains, I thought it was filling. I ate the portobello entrée last night, and had 20g of dark chocolate for dessert, and I was good until I got up today.

So I give these thumbs up if you’re not opposed to eating frozen meals, and it doesn’t bother you that they’re vegetarian. For the evenings when Jason is making Kraft mac & cheese, which I don’t touch because I’d rather eat a cookie or ice cream if I’m going to have a bunch of carbs that are void of any nutritional value, I think this will be a better option than Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine meals. If you want to read more about these meals, the company’s website is bepro-veggie.com.

Label reading

On Sunday, Jason and I had a heart to heart. Mostly he listened, mostly I talked, or rambled as the case may be, and I got a little teary eyed too. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, like I’m trying to go in a hundred different directions, but since that’s not possible, I’m really just running in circles, although even that doesn’t quite describe it because at least if I were doing that, I would be going in some direction. Too many irons in the fire. Too many pots on the stove. You get the idea.

I do think part of my problem is related to my father’s death, but I don’t think I’m far enough away from it to really have enough perspective to grasp how it’s impacted me. Yesterday, I got papers in the mail from the lawyer, something about an inventory of assets since the estate was probated. I don’t know exactly because I glanced at it, and set it down with the distinct thought that I don’t want to be bothered with any of it anymore. I’m tired, all the work I’ve put into managing his estate has ultimately been thankless, and since he wasn’t particularly interested in me during his life, there’s not even a sense that he would have been appreciative of how I’ve stuck my neck way out for him through all of this…

Needless to say, I have some strong, unresolved feelings that I need more time to process. It’s this waiting and not knowing how to go about it that gets to me.

That’s probably the only truly bad thing that’s seeped into my spring, and although I can’t say I really knew what to expect as the initial turmoil of his death passed, it’s not a surprise that I’m feeling as I do about it now. Luckily, the rest of the chaos in my life hasn’t been morbid, and some of it has actually been good, although it’s what’s had me feeling like I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, although with a better outcome I hope.

Diabetes Robot

As April came to a close, I was the guest facilitator at our local hospital’s support group for teens with type 1. I brought my big plastic container filled with art supplies along with several boxes of diabetes trash, courtesy of many of you (thanks!!), and the kids went into a frenzy of creative goodness. Many of them collaborated to create a big diabetes robot, some of them did their own thing, but overall, it was a great success.

The CDE who runs the group relayed to the diabetes education department how well the group had gone, and as a result, I was invited to speak at a workshop for school nurses about eating disorders. A local clinician who is both a dietitian and a social worker was the headliner, followed by a CDE from the hospital who spoke about diabulimia. That nurse invited me to give the patient perspective, so I talked about my experience, recovery, and what I do now.

In addition to sharing how well the teen group had gone with the colleagues in her department, the nurse who runs that group also told another CDE who works at a local pediatric hospital about the art therapy group I did. That CDE invited me to participate in a summer camp program she’s starting for lower-income urban kids with type 1. As many of us know, diabetes camp can come with a high price tag, and although all of the camps with which I’m familiar do their best to offer financial aid and scholarships, that doesn’t mean all the families with kids who would benefit from such opportunities know to apply, or are in a position to buy things their kids would need for camp, or are even able to transport their kids to camp.

This new camp will be for 4 days in August, including a Saturday family day. The CDE is still trying to nail down a location, so this is in the very early stages of planning. She said my position will be a volunteer position, as the funding is bare bones, but it’s her hope that should it be successful this summer, that she’d be able to attain enough funding next year to pay me. Right now, the tentative plan is to have 3-4 art therapy groups per day, with one 1-day project, another more involved 2-day project, and then have the art on display for family day. Needless to say, I’m super excited to be a part of this. For several years, I’ve wanted to do something like this, but wasn’t really sure how to bring my vision to fruition. Of course, as with anything, I’d love to get a fat paycheck, or any paycheck for that matter, to go with it, but since I love what I do and I’m able to volunteer my services, committing to the project was only a matter of checking my schedule to make sure I was available. And I am, so I’m in!

In addition to that, Children’s Mental health Awareness Day was a couple of weeks ago. In honor of that, the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association joined the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, a museum for children, to provide a day of art-making that was titled, “My Feelings Are a Work of Art”. I’m now on the board of DVATA as the newsletter chairperson (another project that’s had me quite busy), so I volunteered to help with that. The museum liked it so much that they’ve asked us to come back next year and do it again.

Of course, if you weren’t actually there, then you’ve likely already read other posts about the big D meet-up in NYC that was a little over a week ago. In honor of Cara’s yearly trek to see more musicals in the course of a few days than I’ve seen in my life, many diabetics in NYC and the surrounding areas gathered at a bakery-restaurant on the Upper West Side, just a block or so from Central Park. If the whole menu wasn’t organic, most of it was, so it was very environmentally-friendly, chemical-free food, which is good because I’ve been trying really hard to steer my diet more in that direction – although I was sad there was no diet soda. I have to say the bakery counter was filled with some beautiful treats, and had it not been for the long line as we were departing, I would have at least gotten some cookies. Also, as a side note, I had to chuckle because the original plan had been to meet at a little restaurant that specialized in pizza and mac & cheese, and I was totally prepared to arrive with a full cartridge of insulin, but Allison, our trusty organizer, discovered that restaurant had closed, so organic, sustainable plan B was quite the 180 degree turn!

The other biggish thing that’s happening is that I’ve decided to apply to a doctorate program. I have a lot of work to do to get my application together, so that’s taken precedence over blogging. Next week, I’m taking the Miller Analogy Test, which is a standardized exam that I need for my application. Honestly, I think my chances of getting accepted are a little skimpy. My qualifications are kind of marginal, but research to show that art therapy could be valuable for helping people with diabetes needs to be done, in my humble opinion, and although I might not have the best pedigree, I’d bet there aren’t too many people who are as motivated and invested as I am in doing that research. I debated sharing this here because I loathe the day when I might have to report that I wasn’t accepted, but I’ve posted about it on Facebook, so I figured I’d share it here too. Whatever ends up happening, you will be some of the first to know.

Finally, I’ve already blurted this all over the place, but my proposal to do a workshop at the American Art Therapy Conference in Sacramento this November was accepted. Before I go, I’ll be packing up the diabetes trash to ship to the conference site so the workshop participants can get their hands dirty in the discards of diabetes management for the purpose of creating something magnificent. I still have a good many leftovers from all that was sent to me in the fall, but if anyone has an inclination to send more, I do love offering the variety. Plus, I think it means a lot to tell people about the DOC and how the artistic creations made in my workshops are made possible by you.

So that’s the long and short of what’s been happening, or at least the highlights. It’s had me busy, it’s had blogging on the back burner, it’s had reading other blogs on the other back burner, and it’s had Twitter falling clear off the stove. Living life is about making priorities though, and with so much going on, there just hasn’t been time to sit and write a proper post. I think I’d be lost without my little home base here to vent the bad, share the good, and ponder the in-between. Just because I’m not writing as often doesn’t mean I’m not here. It just means I’m knee-deep in other projects that I hope will ultimately benefit the diabetes community, and you can be sure, as soon as I get time, I’ll always come here to share it with you.

I had to laugh when Allison left a comment on my last post about how she’d still read my blog even if I posted about the delight of graham crackers with peanut butter, an absolutely marvelous treat that I haven’t had in quite some time. As it turns out, a couple of nights earlier, I went snooping around the kitchen in search of a snack. I looked in the fridge, knowing there was chocolate, but decided that didn’t strike my fancy. I looked in the freezer, and fittingly, it was a frozen wasteland, void of proper snacks. I made my way to the pantry next. Chips? No. Crackers? Not so much. A granola bar? Meh. Nothing looked especially tempting, but as soon as I saw the peanut butter, I couldn’t think of anything better to eat than peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon. Perfect.

Once upon a time, this was a favorite snack of mine. There were many nights when I was young that I’d wake up in the middle of the night, sweating from a low BG. I’d trudge into the kitchen, double dazed from both the low and being half asleep, grab the peanut butter, get a spoon from the silverware drawer, slump into a chair, and eat it until I started to feel human again. I guess it goes without saying that peanut butter is not the best choice to treat a low, but there’s something about low BG’s that makes me wish the peanut butter jar was wide enough for me to just stick my face in there and go to town. I couldn’t begin to say why I didn’t choose something with faster absorbing sugar. We didn’t habitually keep juice in the house, so maybe there wasn’t juice. Glucose tabs were not the diabetic staple that they are now, and glucose tablets didn’t even existed until I was like 13-years old or so anyway. Maybe I went right to the peanut butter jar simply because I was a kid with low BG in the middle of the night and I ate what I was craving. At the time it seemed an obvious and logical choice.

I no longer make a habit of eating peanut butter from the jar. It’s definitely a sometimes treat now, only for the rare occasions when the mood is right. If you were to find me with a spoon in the peanut butter, my ability to enunciate temporarily suspended, chances are good that there would still be a low BG involved, so that’s not changed, but these days, I’m sure to have a glass of juice or some hard candies first. When I have lows in the middle of the night, I’ve very deliberately made it so I don’t even have to get out of bed. I keep both glucose tabs and juice boxes on my night table, so I can treat the unwelcome low, and get back to sleep, glorious sleep, as soon as possible. It’s an added bonus that I don’t have to go to the kitchen since a type 1 diabetic with a low blood sugar in the middle of the night with an entire kitchen at his or her disposal is a dangerous thing. Very dangerous.

As it turns out, there was no low BG associated with my Saturday night peanut butter craving, but regardless, I enjoyed my peanut butter so much that it inspired me. It was late, Jason had already gone to bed, I wasn’t all that tired, but I was bored, so while I don’t normally just sit and write poetry, for inexplicable reasons, I decided I wanted to write a poem about peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Poem

Peanut butter paired with a tart apple
Peanut butter washed down with Snapple

Peanut butter mushed with banana
Peanut butter with my mom in Savannah

Peanut butter and strawberry jelly
Peanut butter filling my belly

Peanut butter slathered on bread
Peanut butter keeps me fed

Peanut butter on celery for some crunch
Peanut butter for breakfast, snacks and lunch

Peanut butter right from a spoon
Peanut butter at midnight or noon

Peanut butter stuck to my fingers
Peanut butter fragrance lingers

Peanut butter cookie dough
Peanut butter cravings when my BG is low

Peanut butter on toast gooey and warm
Peanut butter in my pantry is the norm

Peanut butter candy is sugary sweet
Peanut butter with chocolate is a mighty fine treat

Peanut butter gift from heaven above
Peanut butter poem to express my love

Crackers!

Back to Nature Organic Stoneground Wheat Crackers

Welcome to the first official Friday Food File! As I said last week, my approach to diabetes dietary management hardly looks like management from an outsider’s perspective, and certainly isn’t what most people envision when they hear “diabetes diet”. I eat what I like, and I can count on one hand the foods I don’t like, so for all practical purposes, it’s all fair game as long as I’m counting carbs so I can calculate my insulin, and controlling my portions so I can keep my weight reasonably stable. There are people who will tsk-tsk and shake their heads in disapproval at a diabetic diet that includes a lot of grain-based foods, but I’m not one of them. Portion control and carb counting are critical to enjoying starchy foods without destroying one’s BG though, and it’s important to recognize that starchy foods exist on a continuum, from good-for-you to special-treats-in-limited-quantities.

I’ve always been fairly selective about the baked goods, cereals, crackers, etc. I’ve bought in the past. I was raised on wheat bread, which seemed pretty lame to me when all the other kids at the lunch table had doughy white bread. I’m not sure if my mom ever actually said, “One of these days you’ll thank me for this!” in regards to her insistence on buying products made with wheat flour, but I am quite thankful now because wheat and whole grains tend to be my preference.

As good as I like to think I’ve been at choosing good-for-you grain-based foods, lately, I’ve tried to be even better about it. I want to make a more conscious effort to minimize the high fructose corn syrup and other questionable ingredients that I’m consuming. I also want to tame the implicit support I give to the giants of the food industry every time I buy their products because I don’t think they have anyone’s best interest in mind but their own, and that really bothers me.

Towards that goal, I went in search of some new crackers last month while I was in Texas. After studying the options in the healthy food aisle at Kroger, I settled on Back to Nature Organic Stoneground Wheat Crackers which come in a box of about 11 servings of 5 crackers at 11g carbs and 70 calories per serving. They obviously contain wheat and they also contain soy, so if you have issues with those, these crackers won’t be for you.

These crackers have a good, rich flavor relative to other organic/natural/healthy crackers I’ve had, some of which have been disappointingly flavorless. They’re not light, crispy crackers; they’re a little heartier, as far as crackers go anyway, and I’d describe them as thicker and crunchy. I could definitely eat these crackers plain from the box, but I’ll be the first to tell you that eating just about anything straight from the box usually doesn’t end well, so thus far I’ve either crumbled them into soup, or I’ve eaten them with tuna salad as a light lunch after counting or weighing as much as I planned to eat.

Ingredients

I do have a couple of minor criticisms though. I wish they had just a touch less salt. They aren’t overly salty, but I’d prefer the salt taste be just a bit more subtle. While one serving only has 6% of the sodium RDA, I’ve been eating two servings at a time, and throughout the day the sodium in foods can really tip the scales – not a good thing for anyone, especially people with diabetes.

Also, just because I’m a nut for flax, I wish they contained flax meal, either in addition to flax seeds or instead of flax seeds. Flax is a fabulous source of omega-3, and I buy as many products as I can find that contain it because it’s good for heart health and also helps with depression, but only in digestible meal form. The seeds can’t be broken down by our digestive systems so we miss out on the omega-3 goodness. At least that’s my understanding, so if someone knows better than me, please correct me on that.

Since Earth Day was yesterday, and for anyone concerned about the environment, the cracker box is made of 100% recycled paperboard. Their “carton manufacturing facility reuses and recycles more than 95% of the solid wastes from the process.” And the inks for the package printing? Well, they’re “derived from vegetables.” Additionally, Back to Nature supports The Nature Conservancy. (What do you expect from me? You know I’m a crazy hippy tree-hugging liberal…)

I don’t remember what I paid for these crackers, but I think it was around $3.50. When I did an online search, Amazon has a 6-pack for $17.40, which works out to $2.90 a box, but that doesn’t include tax, if applicable, or shipping. They are eligible for free super saver shipping as part of a $25 order though. Basically, they aren’t as economical as other crackers, which for me, is really one of the biggest hurdles to buying the healthier food I’d like to keep in my house. You can get a box of Ritz crackers for about the same price with a lot more servings, however, you’re also getting a serving of more calories, fat, sugar and high fructose corn syrup. If you need incentive to keep HFC out of your house, check out King Corn some day. When you have to stick to a food shopping budget, it just flat out sucks that the crap food is the most affordable.

A small brand like this isn’t going to be available everywhere. As I said, I found them in Kroger while I was away, but there are no Kroger stores in my area. I haven’t adequately checked the regular supermarkets where I normally shop, but when I took a trip to Whole Foods, I found them. I rarely go to Whole Foods because I can’t afford to shop there regularly, but when I do venture there to get My Cheese, I imagine I’ll also make an obligatory stop in the cracker aisle now too. I can’t afford to eat only organic foods with ingredients that are all pronounceable and found in nature all the time, but I’m trying to eat more of that food, one cracker at a time.

Nutrition Info

1 Serving

What's in the bag?

I like food and I like to eat. To me, a “diabetic diet” is what you’d find if you took a trip in a time machine to 1980 or earlier. Today, there’s really not anything significant that sets apart the way a diabetic should eat from the way someone with endogenous insulin production should eat. I do like my goodies, I do enjoy dessert, I do eat hamburgers and french fries, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with indulging here and there. It’s very rare that you’d see me feeling guilty for doing so either. Been there, done that, bought the souvenir snowglobe. However, I also love salads, veggies, fruit, almost anything whole-grain, and just about any kind of dairy product, and I try to stick with low-fat meats, and healthier fats and oils.

I appreciate the relationship between what we eat and physical health. I always take that into consideration when I’m poking through the refrigerator looking for something to nosh, studying a restaurant menu, or searching for a recipe, but my life experience has given me a keen awareness of the relevant emotional and social issues, and I try to take all of that into account as I meander through my day choosing what and what not to eat. I am nothing if not dedicated to my dietary approach and dedicated to advocating for it because I don’t think diets that severely limit or completely eliminate broad categories of food is healthy from a holistic perspective, especially if following such a diet leaves someone feeling deprived or different or affects their social life or becomes a gateway to even more extreme dietary habits. It can be fine line, and I assure you that once you’re on the wrong side of that line, it can be very difficult to find your way back to the other side.

In the spirit of a balanced diet that keeps you physically healthy, emotionally sound, and socially active, I wanted to start the Friday Food File. It’s nothing fancy, and for now, consider it a work in progress for which I will gladly accept suggestions and feedback. As someone who enjoys food, I like to try new food products, new recipes, and new restaurants. There have been many times when I’ve found something I wanted to share here, and there have been a few times when I’ve actually done that, but I want to do it more regularly. My intention is to emphasize healthier foods, but that wouldn’t be the most accurate reflection of how I eat. Thus, you might find a few less than healthy options which as always, should be eaten in moderation, but enjoyed with the utmost intensity. So Friday Food File will be my opportunity to share my food finds. I hope you find a suggestion for something to add to your supermarket cart or try in your kitchen, so check back next week for the first official food find, a pantry staple that’s both healthy and environmentally conscious.