The Food Police

Any Type 1 diabetic can tell you that one thing they hate almost as much as the constant needles is the "Food Police." These are usually well-meaning friends and sometimes even complete strangers who think they know better than you. They're everywhere: at church, on Facebook, at school, shopping centers and especially at restaurants. Tired and cranky with a low blood sugar coming on, I snapped at my 8th-grade teacher at a church pancake supper once because she offered me sugar-free syrup. No matter how many times I tried to explain to her at previous suppers that I'd rather have the real stuff and that the sugar in the one tablespoon I was going to use was planned for in my carb count, she continued to insist that she knew more than I did- a diabetic of over 30 years. At 48 back then, I thought maybe I should be trusted to know what I was doing. It's maddening and a little exhausting. Well, now I've become that person. The dreaded Food Police times ten. I'm the Food Police on steroids. I weigh, I measure, I portion and I figure carbohydrate amounts.

Paying careful attention to everything we put in our bodies is what every new diabetic starts out doing; usually, the doctor sends the new diabetic to a nutritionist who teaches them about food servings and carb counting. After a while, they've done it enough that instead of counting up the carbs, they just know. People get into food habits. They eat basically the same foods from week to week. Instead of adding up all of the carbs in their favorite sandwich and the little bag of chips for instance, after a while they just have the carb count for that meal ingrained in their brain, "a grilled ham & cheese with chips. That's 7 units of insulin." In Judy's case, since she's having to find new dishes to try, we are having to be like a new diabetic starting this journey from scratch. We count everything.

I've been scrambling to find different recipes to try on Judy to see if she'll like them. She's been very good about trying pretty much anything I fix. There are ground rules of course. She hates arugula, for instance. Several weeks ago she said she could eat chicken every meal. A week later, she said she was sick of chicken. Thank goodness I predicted it and had other meals prepped for some variety. Recently, it was breakfast. In an attempt to mix it up, I decided to try out a frittata recipe and see how she liked it. 

My Frittata

• 4 eggs
• a handful of fresh baby spinach
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• chicken broth or 1 packet of Herb-Ox
• 2 tablespoons of minced shallot
• sliced mushrooms (to taste)
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 3 turns of fresh ground pepper (it helps us absorb the turmeric)
• 2 shakes of turmeric (it fights inflammation)
• 2 shakes of Cavendar's Seasoning (salt-free)

I sprayed my non-stick pan with a spritz of EVOO and sauteed the sliced vegetables with the Cavendar's, pepper and turmeric, adding the spinach near the end. About halfway through, I added a generous splash of chicken broth for them to finish cooking. When they were almost done and the broth had cooked out, I added the eggs and cheese. When they were well mixed together and just starting to firm up, I poured the mixture into a pie dish and put it in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes, being careful not to overcook it. It came out great and the whole thing was gone by the end of the day. She ate every bite and insisted that I add this one to the blog. It really was delicious and I didn't even miss the salt. I hope you enjoy.

Signed,

The Food Police