Sweet Stuff: Cars and Zombie Apocalypse

This week had as much bitter as it did sweet. Starting out with our local getaway canceled because of car issues. Our Camry went up in smoke while we stopped in San Francisco for some yummy brunch at Zazie's with some friends. Engine up in smoke as soon as we parked. Thankfully it turned out to just be steam! Kinda scary.

We were fortunate to be surrounded by lots of helpful and wonderful people in Cole Valley. We made it back home safely and full of gratitude.

Car shopping then became the agenda as well as discussing our next little getaway since we will be needing it even more now than before. Although it put a damper on my spring break, much less stress than if it had happened during the work week!!! It also meant we got to spend a lot of time with family locally this week. We had dropped our dog off with them and she was having the time of her life. We hung out there a few times this week and also had the time of our life with family. It was worth coming home and remembering to make the little things priority too. 

After pouring over computers and spreadsheets neurotically, I dragged my husband out for some hiking/trail running. We talked cars a bit, but we were also able to take in the fresh air and relaxing surroundings! At one point after some great conversation we were both silently walking side by side. 

Reading my husband's mind I said, "We are both quiet because we are both thinking about cars right now" He responded, "Yes, and the difference between what we are thinking right now is that you are debating which cars will better fit dogs, groceries, and future children....whereas I'm more concerned about which car will be able to go further on one tank of gas when the zombie apocalypse occurs and there is no gasoline left." Hysterically true. Love him so much!  

That weird thing I'm holding onto I fondly refer to as a "bumbag" aka a fanny pack for my type 1 diabetes plethora of goods. I'm trialling this bag and probably going to stick with a backpack Camelback.

Jicama Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Jicama Salad

1/2 a large jicama, peeled (about 12 ounces)
1/2 medium zucchini, sliced
2-3 thin slices red onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Lettuce leaves, as garnish-optional

1. Cut jicama into desired sizes either small sticks or cube sizes. Combine jicama, zucchini, and onion in a bowl. Pour dressing (see below) over it and toss; season to taste with salt and pepper. 

2. Arrange lettuce leaves on salad plates; top with salad

Cilantro Lime Dressing
2 tbsp lime juice
1 small roma tomato finely diced *(see variation note)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
4-5 drops liquid stevia *(see variation note)

1. Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until serving time; mix before using. 

Makes 6 side dishes about 2/3 a cup each. 

**Variation note: This recipe is alkaline as written. If you like you can add 1 small orange cut into segments to the salad. The variation for the dressing would be to substitute 2 tbsp orange juice for the tomato and 2 tsp sugar for the stevia. 

  

Estimated calories/carbs per serving (best estimations I could do!):
Tomato version:  64 calories and 10.5 carbs
Orange/sugar version: 77 calories and 13.5 carbs

It is a colorful salad. I added orange as garnish for the sake of more color! 

 I originally bought zuchinni with the idea of making these flourless zuchinni muffins. Then felt inspired to make the jicama salad. Turns out still had enough to make half the recipe, which was more than enough.

  I've made these before and they were scrumptious, made a few of my own adjustments this time. Less honey, less chocolate chips, added a little almond flour, and a little cocoa powder. Thankfully I didn't ruin them, still sweet and chocolatey goodness. Clearly cut out a lot of the sugar because I had about 10 of these mini muffins and my blood sugar went DOWN. So I had more. 
 

Jicama: Snacking, Salads, and more!

Jicama is one of my favorite snacks. I discovered jicama when I took a four week vegetarian cooking course from my college dietician. A jicama salad was one of the dishes we made, I'll post the recipe for that later this week!

Fun facts/benefits of jicama:

• Jicama is a root vegetable often found in Mexico, Central America, and South Asia. 
•  I often joke that jicama tastes like "water and fiber" because it has a crisp refreshing flavor and definitely a high fiber content. 
• How high is that fiber content?! 6 grams of fiber in one cup!
• Great snack for keeping blood sugars in range. I see very little to no affect on my blood sugars from snacking on jicama. There are 12 grams of carbs in a cub, but with 6 grams of fiber, the net effect on blood sugar is 6 carbs per cup.
• High alkaline food
• Anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory  
• Keeps you full with all that fiber and very low in calories!

Storing and Preparing Jicama:

•  Choose the smoothest jicama you can find with no blemishes or dark spots. Jicama is in season fall, winter, and spring.
  
• Store jicama unpeeled at room temperature. Mine usually last up to a week unpeeled in my fruit bowl. Some say they can last longer. 
• Once peeled and chopped store in the refrigerator, it will spoil/turn brown if left out. 
•  I store my jicama in rubbermaids, you can add water, olive oil and/or lemon to help keep it fresh. I occasionally do this.  
• Do not eat the skin. Peel it off or chop it off (This is easier for me). Then chop into desired sizes. I chop into long sticks or small cubes.  

1. This side of my jicama is smooth and blemish free. 
2. This side is not as pretty. A little damage to the white meaty part underneath may need to be cut off as well. My grocery store never has perfect jicama. As close as you can find!
3. I cut off the skin and rinsed it off with water. 
4. Chopped into small pieces and ready for snacking or throwing into a salad. A second jicama standing by, as I plan to finish the first by the end of the week!
   
Eating it:

• Raw nothing on it! 
• Olive oil and lemon
• Lemon and Tajin (yummy chili pepper seasoning)
• Throw it in a salad
• Dip it! Hummus, guacamole, or anything you fancy!
• Some ideas I have yet to try: Boil/mash as substitute for mashed potatoes, roast it, add to stir fry or to soup! I'm looking forward to testing a few of these out in the near future!

On more than one occasion the cashier at the grocery store has asked me "what do you do with this?" while holding up my jicama with a puzzled expression. The most simple response: "Just cut it up and eat it!"

Sweet Stuff

It's Friday and no better time like reflecting on the highlights from the week and embracing another well deserved weekend!

1. I had an amazing Easter with my husband's family (sans my working husband). Full of good Filipino food (hello lumpia!) and the best family! I had so much fun I completely forgot to take any photos so hopefully Aunt Ev doesn't mind that I stole one of hers. 

2. Easter also came with it's type 1 diabetes mayhem. My 5 year old insulin pump broke. It got a little wet during a morning run because my Camelback leaked on it. Thankfully it was working up until dessert. Then I became quite the entertainment for a few minutes with my alarming insulin pump. My pump company has the most awesome customer service. One great phone call and two days later, replacement pump in my hands! Thank you Kenya from Medtronic! Also, I didn't mind a few days doing the insulin shot thing. It was a nice reminder that switching back and forth is not so hard. 

3. The pump broke just in time for my new Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to get here. I was able to learn how to start using with only the tutorial videos and my paramedic husband supervising. I watched TONS of youtube videos including this cutie: Superhero CGM. In case you don't know, this amazing piece of technology measures my blood sugars from the tissue under my skin and sends the information to a receiver I carry with me. The receiver graphs the blood glucose trends. I can see if my blood sugar is rising, falling, or stable. I can track changes and make well informed adjustments.  

In the picture below, it shows a low blood sugar in the red zone in the middle of the night. The receiver's alarm woke me up and I treated the low with carbs. However, you can also see that I actually over-treated the low and immediately had a high blood sugar right after. I would not have woken up so soon for the low or had known that I'd over-treated it because my blood sugar was back to normal in the morning! Just awesome. Maybe a whole post on this life changer in the future, but if you're curious now learn what CGM is here or visit Dexcom's website.

4. Found the best almond butter brand at Whole Foods this week. I don't care for almond butter by itself because it is usually chunky and tastes bland to me. I usually just use almond butter in baking recipes and put it in smoothies. However, this stuff I could eat by the spoonful. Hoping this "Barney Butter" will help wean me off of my peanut butter addiction. Unfortunately it costs almost twice as much as regular almond or peanut butter. I find this brand to be much more satisfying and therefore I haven't been tempted to eat the entire jar or even half as much of it as I normally would. Hoping it slows down my consumption enough to be worth the cost!  

5. Last and best of all, not only is it Friday, it's SPRING BREAK!! Looking forward to relaxing and soaking in some good weather. Waiting patiently this favorite California flower to start blooming, Lily of the Nile. They look like giant dandelions/pom poms. 

Blogging Round 3!

Giving the blog another chance! Looking forward to sharing thoughts on speech pathology, type 1 diabetes, healthy recipes, and all other adventures!!

Thanks to many friends for inspiring me to get back to writing. Especially a special quick visit from Erin!!

We had a wonderful Tuesday night together this last week when she needed to be in the area for work. The adventure started with picking her up and making great time into San Francisco! 

A walk along the Marina, through the Palace of Fine Arts, and off to dinner at DeLaRosa! Complete with Gelato for dessert, well earned with all our walking!