Foodie Friday - Candy Popcorn

So, here it is...my first Friday recipe.  We will be making this "candy popcorn" for Taylar's 8th birthday party next week so I figured I'd start off easy by posting this sweet snack. I do have original recipes that I plan to share, but this one actually came from dLife.com under the "recipes" tab.  If you want to go directly to the site, click here.  I use that website quite a bit actually whether it's for a low carb food idea or for the message boards.  Back to the food!  Here's the recipe:


Candy Popcorn
Makes 10 Servings
Serving Size: 2/3 Cup
Carbs: 13g

Ingredients:

13C popped popcorn

1 egg white

2T molasses

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4C Splenda

1/2C dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Coat 11x13 pan with cooking spray.  Place popcorn in a large bowl.  In another bowl, add egg white, molasses, vanilla, salt, and Splenda.  Whisk very well.  Add peanuts and stir until coated.  Pour over popcorn.  Toss until popcorn is coated. 

Place on baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes.  Stir occasionally until crispy.

Remove from oven, cool on wax paper.  Enjoy!


This is a great alternative to fiddle faddle or other sweetened popcorn treats.  It saves you about 10g carbs in comparison so it's worth it to me.  Before diabetes, I never gave my kids artificial sweeteners, but now I feel sometimes there's no choice.  I've since gotten over it and use Splenda occasionally in baking... and making this popcorn.  Everything in moderation I say.  Enjoy!

Foodie

I've been trying to think of something different to add to my blog.  I do treat it as my diary for when I need to get something off my chest, but I think it needs a little bit of fun too.

One passion of mine is food.  Whether it's cooking or baking or looking at one of the very many cookbooks I have in my collection, I never tire of good food.  I guess that makes me a self proclaimed "foodie"!  I can't tell you how many Rachael Ray shows I have on my DVR right now.  Actually, I enjoy watching just about anything on the Food Network. 

Part of my cookbook collection. There are more on top of

this shelf, but it looked too messy to post!

When diabetes first become a part of our life I had a hard time cooking and especially baking for my family.  It kind of took the joy out of it when I had to get out the Calorie King to look up the carbohydrates in every recipe ingredient.  And making casseroles... it wasn't worth it. 

It's been just about nine months since my daughter's diagnosis and I've just recently gotten back in to making cookies and banana breads and things.  I didn't realize how much I missed it!  With our pump start date right around the corner, I imagine letting my daughter eat "normal" foods will be easier to manage.  Right now we're on such a strict eating schedule it's tough.  And we're still learning that not all carbs are created equally.

Anyway, I've decided to add a food section to my blog where I will feature a tried-and-true recipe on Fridays.  Well, I will try my best to make it every Friday!  Oh, and don't worry, I will certainly provide the serving sizes and carb counts, so you can put that Calorie King down!

The Omni Pod

Almost a month ago I mentioned receiving a rather large package from Inuslet Corporation containing the OmniPod insulin pump starter kit.  I have since opened the intimidating box and familiarized myself, husband, and Taylar with the system.  The OmniPod does not have any tubing like other insulin pumps which is a feature that my daughter was drawn to.  The pod will be adhered to Taylar's abdomen, arm, leg, buttocks...just about anywhere, and will give her spurts of insulin (basal) 24/7 delivered through a soft cannula automatically inserted under her skin.  We will also use the Personal Diabetes Manager (PDM) to deliver quick doses of insulin (bolus) to cover carbs she eats.  The site she wears the pod will have to be changed every other day.  If you want to see how it works, OmniPod has a great interactive website and you can check it out here.

Before switching from injections to a pump there is some training involved, thank goodness.  On May 1 a representative from OmniPod will come to our house to set us up.  Or should I say to set Taylar up?  She will first wear the pump filled with only saline for about 10 days in order to get used to it and to troubleshoot any issues that may come up.  I have to say that I'm pretty nervous about this.  Not only is Taylar going to have to wear the pump but because it's only saline at first, we will still have to give her injections as well.  Ugh.

Our official pump start date, however, is Tuesday, May 11, which happens to be 2 days after Taylar's 8th birthday.  The pump is by no means to be thought of as a birthday present though!  It just happened to work out that way.  We have a two hour appointment at Children's Hospital, Boston, to start this whole process with real insulin.  We will have an hour break for lunch and then another appointment with the social worker.  I have to say I am looking forward to the social work appointment both for Taylar and me.  This has been such a huge life changing issue but we haven't been able to talk to many people about it.  I have found a lot of support online though which has been helpful at least for me.

So that's what's going on with the pump!  I mentioned it but then got scared and tried to forget about it.  We did have a while to wait in between receiving the package and actually using the pod but now it's here! 

Marathon Monday

Today was the famous 26.2 mile Boston Marathon run.  To those who live around here it's dubbed Marathon Monday.  Each year on this day, Taylar's elementary school holds their very own "Barrathon", named after her school.

This one mile run is enjoyed by all the kids because it means they are out of the classroom, get extra recess, and are rewarded with a popsicle afterwards. Nothing sounds complicated here, does it?  Well, when you have a child with type 1 diabetes, it is.

The last thing I wanted to happen is to have Taylar collapse with a low blood sugar.  It's something that I fear every day.  So the run was scheduled for 1:45pm which is 15 minutes before Taylar's usual 2:00 snack. (No one else has a snack in her class at that time)  The questions I had to ask myself were;
Did she eat all of her lunch?
Should she test before the run?
Should she eat her snack before it?
Save it for after?
Skip the popsicle?
Let her have the popsicle?
Have her test after the run?

Nothing is easy but I have learned how exercise, even just a little bit, can cause Taylar's blood sugar to lower so I had to consider all things.

Now, I know I should have contacted the school nurse this morning before the run but I just didn't want to.  I don't know what it was but I just didn't want to be bothered by this disease this morning and have to talk about how to handle the Barrathon.  This wasn't very responsible of me, however, luckily, the school nurse is wonderful!  She was right on top of things.  She had Taylar do a finger prick test at 1:30 and because she was in her target range she ate her snack.  After the run she had her popsicle too.  When she came home she tested at 199.  A little high after the sugary, red popsicle, but it wasn't in the 200s so I was very happy with that.

This is just an example of how something so minor can become so much more.

Rollercoaster ride

The name of my own blog made me laugh because today we've seen just that... highs, lows, and in between! With spring finally here we certainly have been spending more time outside and being more active than in the cold winter. Because of that, the extra exercise has caused a couple of low blood sugars for Taylar. Even when we treat her (with sugar/juice and a snack) her number comes back up but it seems to only be temporarily because the benefits of exercise seem to catch up with her hours later sometimes. The thing I hate most about these lows is how unrecognizable my own daughter can become. When you see a 47 on her glucometer (the device to test her blood sugar with) you never know what you're going to get. Her behavior is just uncontrollable and almost scary. Has your child every had a nightmare at night and was crying but never really woke up when you went to comfort them? It's kind of like that. This crazy behavior that you point out to her and she just looks at you with crazy eyes and has no control over her body. Not to mention that her skin goes pale. That is a sign that I have learned to recognize. *sigh*

Here's our rollercoaster ride from breakfast to bedtime.  Picture a graph connecting the numbers. 

171 - 47 - 109 - 62 - 280 - 139 - 86 - 127 - 219

The target number we try for is 130.  Each number is obtained by doing a finger prick.  9 times in one day.  Some days it's just plain wrong.

On a happy note...
Yesterday I took Taylar to the Boys and Girls Club for a 1/2 hour "free swim". She had a blast of course and I'm proud to say that we managed to stay "in between" for that short swim. Every time since her diagnosis that she has gone swimming, be it at a hotel or club, she has had a low. This time I was prepared. It helped that it was only going to be a 1/2 hour, but still. About 3 times, every 10 minutes, I had her swim over to the side and sip a bit of juice from a juice box. The usually forbidden juice box savored only for low blood sugar treatment. She didn't seem to mind and it kept her nice and even through her swim. Happiness.