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ORIGINAL: barelynangel

Thanks needlesandpins --

My crock pot has a timer.  So i start it on low in the morning before leaving for work and then it should be done by the time i get home?

Can you explain why it is better to dethaw so i know in the future the whys?   Also, how do i dethaw two frozen solid loins quickly without cooking them in the microwave dethaw lol.

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ORIGINAL: Ninebelowzero

I make sticky rice, fuck knows why.

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ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

Most, but not all. Healthy choice steamers has a lot of healthier tv dinners, I pick the ones low in sugar, low in carbs, and not a lot of calories, between 300 sometimes less, a reasonable amount of sodium, and has a lot of potassium and some have a ton of fiber, and they're not expensive, they're 1.48 a piece. If they're high in carbs or sugars like say 70 carbs and 28 or more grams of sugar, for one dinner, I do not pick those, I stay 17 grams and under for sugar.


My dr even approves of me eating them, because I pick the most healthy ones out of the bunch. Things like chicken and carrots and green beans with a bit of rice, and then water chestnuts. Yes rice is not the greatest for diabetics but that depends on you and how you process rice, and how much you're eating, some D's can have it and not spike or spike badly, and some can't.

home cooked would still be preferable I just don't like to cook. I don't find it enjoyable, or relaxing, or satisfying , and I get no help in the kitchen, as Daddy is at work all day, in a kitchen doing food prep and what not , and when he gets home wants nothing to do with kitchen work, or cooking, plus he gets home so late I have to cook while he's gone , most the time if I do cook, cooking a meal at 8 pm and then eating at 8:30 or 9 or 10, depending on what it is and how long it takes it just to late to eat.

So, I don't find it as fun or joyful as a lot of people find it, in fact I find it stressful and I find unless the time on my feet is very very minimal the time spent cooking sets off pain flare ups, as I have a slipped disk pressing on a nerve that causes leg pain and weakness.

I really wish I did find being in the kitchen and being domestic-y as joyous and enjoyable as many other people do, it's an enviable thing.



One of the many reasons to love your crock pot I suppose. And I almost spelled it cock pot, I should of left that typo in, it would of been funny.

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I'm a foodie, I like to eat well and I like to eat lots, we don't drink a lot but if we drink we drink nice wines or single malts, the meat we buy is all organically raised and we eat well, but I bet we spend a lot less than people who buy crappy ready made food and we eat better and are healthier.

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Ready made food, especially on a budget might be calorie reduced and seemingly healthy, but they will add a ton of things that are hell for your health, but improve the taste and make manufacturing easier and cheaper. You simply can't beat a healthy, home cooked meal made from scratch, after eating that for a while, you will realize how much your taste buds have changed and how much more sensitive they are.

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ORIGINAL: barelynangel

LL, lol i was having maybe 3 over a course of a week and not even full ones just slices for lunch.  Completely freaked me and my doc out but they saw the A1C and that was the only thing i changed -- going from no apples to that.  So they think i am really sensitive to fructose as i normally don't eat a lot of fruit.  I stopped eating them and my A1C went back down to 6.3 in 3 months.  So i am a little wary of fruits with higher fructose now.

Yeah i need to learn to drink coffee without sugar but i haven't been able to do it yet.  I used to in my 25 oz cup full of coffee add 6 splenda packets  which averages out to about 2 per cup and i drink about 3 of those a day more if i am stressed.  I have gotten that cup down to 3 packets a day.  They say coffee is one of the best things for diabetics but they mean black coffee. 

I don't test my blood sugar, we just do A1Cs when i visit the doc every 3 months.  He believe i should be able to get off all meds by July of next year if i keep doing what i am doing.  He continued my visits from every 3 months to 6 months now.

Thanks regarding the crockpot, i am only cooking the meats and don't really want to have to stick around to thaw them and then cook them in the oven, so i figured the crockpot would free me up to come and go whenever today and tomorrow.  They do have baking instructions on them.

angel

No, i wasn't saying i would put pineapple in my coffee, but use it as a sugar substitute in other things lol. 

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ORIGINAL: Duskypearls

Barely, while I cannot speak with any authority on this, I have heard Splenda, aside from other problems with it, is NOT good for diabetics. Some recommend Stevia, "Just Like Sugar," Agave Syrup, Xylitol.

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ORIGINAL: gungadin09

Cook w/ acid, spices, chile, herbs.  They make otherwise bland food more interesting.
Make use of unami foods like mushrooms, tomatoes, parm, anchovies.
Consider ethnic cuisines, especially those that stretch meat by cooking it w/ pasta or rice.

pam


ETA:  ooh, ooh.  You can usually find salmon collars for really cheap.

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ORIGINAL: stellauk

Oh wow.. nine pages?

I'm not even going to try and go through this post by post (I tend to screw up or kill threads when I try that) but I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who's posted so far for making this such an interesting and enjoyable thread to read, and also to Fornica for coming up with the idea of a recipe book or collection.

I admit that I've been debating for about two years now over whether to buy a small chest freezer or not. Part of me says that it's a good investment, but part of me says that it isn't for various reasons.

I have my own passage through poverty (homelessness) and also major issues with weight due to various eating disorders - bulimia, and both comfort and binge eating which were symptoms of depression. I have tackled these issues and lost quite a lot of weight, but still have some way to go, and understanding that I'm always going to be vulnerable I also made very major changes to my diet and lifestyle.

As part of my recovery I rarely keep much more than the basic foodstuffs at home and I discipline myself to go shopping every day and buy 'raw' foods - I try to eat as naturally as possible and cook everything from scratch. It was only last year when I bought a small food processor which for me was a major revolution and I can now make my own fruit and vegetable juices, soups, sauces and stuff like humus.

Most of my shopping is the cheapest supermarket 'budget' brands, partly because some foods I just don't see the sense of paying more for a brand. Also partly because I know that the cheapest quality Tescos instant coffee is actually Maxwell House, the drip coffee from Sainsbury's is made by Tchibo, even though I will spend two hours crossing London to a small Turkish shop and pay five pounds for a small tin of incredibly good quality Turkish coffee.

I am eternally gratefully to a couple of people who taught me how to make two dishes - curry and the Polish dish bigos.

I learned how to make curry years ago when I spent my teenage years in Bradford and worked part time for Pakistanis in a couple of shops, a clothing shop and also a restaurant. I washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen, but was taught how to make curry the way most Pakistanis make curry.

Curry to me is a dish which, like Polish bigos and spaghetti bolognaise - among others - isn't something you make but rather a dish you build.

Pakistanis start with frying onions in ghee, to which they add spices and curry and then whatever ingredients they want the curry to be made up from - such as minced beef and peas for keema, chicken for bhuna, and so on. Allergic to dairy I substitute oil for ghee, preferring either sunflower or groundnut oil and I tend to cheat and use Oriental curry pastes which I buy from the Chinese supermarkets in Soho.

Similarly too I make the Polish bigos, which is based on cabbage and to which you can add wild mushrooms and selected offcuts of cooked meat starting with a base of water, tomato puree, onions and fenugreek.

Not that this makes me that incredibly good as a cook.

I cannot make pancakes or crepes to save my life. Each time I try I end up with a sort of pallid, gunky mess which is inedible. Last year alone I had five microwaves and all five exploded due to my habit of cooking baked potatoes by microwave.

I have heard of pulled pork - but what is it?

And what are salmon collars? I admit that salmon is a word that leaps right out at me. It's perhaps my favourite food, rather expensive here in the UK, but it's a sort of 'cat meet salmon, salmon meet cat' sort of relationship with me. Such is my relationship with salmon that I would gladly sign my soul away to any Dominant as a slave if it meant me being collared with salmon.

But I don't think I have the right idea here.

But please, keep posting, as I'm learning quite a lot on this thread and I'm finding some of the things which are posted really interesting and informative.

quote:

ORIGINAL: stellauk
I have heard of pulled pork - but what is it?

A big chunk of pork shoulder or butt, braised until it's falling apart, and then literally pulled by hand into small shreds. You can then toss the shredded meat in BBQ sauce, or whatever.

And what are salmon collars? I admit that salmon is a word that leaps right out at me. It's perhaps my favourite food, rather expensive here in the UK, but it's a sort of 'cat meet salmon, salmon meet cat' sort of relationship with me. Such is my relationship with salmon that I would gladly sign my soul away to any Dominant as a slave if it meant me being collared with salmon.

A salmon collar is the bony ring (collarbone) of salmon, directly beneath the head, which usually gets thrown away when they cut fillets off the fish. There's still plenty of meat on it, but it's not a posh cut since you have to sort of suck the meat off, like you would from ribs. You will have to specifically ask your fishmonger for them, since they're not normally sold. But if you can convince somebody to save them for you, you should get a good price. You can stew them, grill them, whatever. The same applies to collars of other fish although a halibut collar, for example, would obviously be much bigger.

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ORIGINAL: Hippiekinkster
I am just now finishing off a pot of faux "Pho" w/ carrots, celery, broccoli, green peas, onions, a tomato that was on the verge, beef base (NOT bouillion or broth), chili-garlic sauce, lime juice (thought I had some lemon grass in the freezer but no), 1/2 off flank steak from Kroger, a touch of fish sauce, and some chinese noodles. I have snow peas and baby bok choy in the fridge, but I'm keeping them for something else (orange-sesame noodles, chicken w/ bok choy Cantonese style, and fried tofu w/ snow peas w/ homemade "satay" sauce.

I have always like Cajun Red Beans n Rice. And Gumbo. Fairly cheap to make if one omits seafood and uses chix, ham, andouille...

Potato-corn chowder w/ ham (or Kielbasa) with chipotle and mint.

Pasta w/ tomatoes (sundried if ya want), red bells, kalamata olives, fresh basil, and lots of shaved Parmigiano. A bit of carrot puree sweetens it.