Diabetic recipes

[Svadhisthana]

My mother is a diabetic and has to restrict her diet. I would love to try out some sugar free treats that I can bring with me to family gatherings. I usually bring dessert and hate for her to be left out. TIA.

[nancya]

Finally, a topic on which I actually am an expert! Or, at least I am a diabetic and love dessert. What kind of treats does your mother like? I have many recipes from several different sources and could probably find you something she would like...

[Svadhisthana]

Oh, gosh. She likes everything. I would say her favorites are pies and cookies. Anything really would be a welcome treat.

[Mezzaluna]

Try some low carbohydrate recipes. Many of them are sugar free, although I'll admit you need to watch the fat content! I can recommend wholeheartedly using Splenda (sucralose). It is approved for use by diabetics, and tastes like sugar. It is heat stable, unlike Equal, so you can bake and cook with it. Good luck!

Try these links: http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/diabetic/ http://www.diabetic-recipes.com/ http://www.kitchenlink.com/cgi/publi...?page=diabetic

[nancya]

A couple of things...most of us don't have to eliminate sugar completely from our lives, but we have to watch carbohydrates. Mezz is right, Splenda is a good substitute for sugar, essentially no calorie, no carb. Replace 1 cup sugar in a recipe with 3/4 cup Splenda (despite the claim of 1:1, this ratio works better). Recipes, such as cheesecake, which don't have a strong flavor of their own may have a bit of an artifical flavor with Splenda. I have had no problems with an off flavor in chocolate cake or cookies. Cookies do tend to come out a little cake-like with Splenda. Knowing what the diabetic exchange is helpful for any diabetic when balancing carbs in our diet and many recipes have this nutritional information now. (15 grams carbohydrates = 1 carb exchange) Lowfat recipes have a tendency to be high carb, but you can adjust many low carb recipes to be lowfat, if you want.

Joanna Lund has a lot of recipes available at www.healthyexchanges.com - but she uses a lot of sugar free jello and/or sugar free pudding in her recipes and I find them REALLY sweet. I prefer to use regular recipes and modify them.

Here are a couple of recipes from the Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook:

APPLE TARTS

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough
1 6-ounce tart apple (Gala or Granny Smith)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
butter flavored cooking spray (or go light on the real butter )
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Cut the pastry dough into thirds, wrap and freeze 2 thirds. Cut the remaining third into 2 pieces.

Pare, quarter, and thinly slice apple, sprinkle with lemon zest and lemon juice.

Lightly roll the dough pieces to form two 4 1/2 inch squares. Place the dough pieces on a nonstick cookie sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. Lightly spray the dough with cooking spray. Top each piece with the applesauce, sugar, nutmeg, and apple slices, leaving a half inch border. Coat once again with cooking spray.

Bake for 10 minutes, check and lower the heat to 425 F. Bake for 5 more minutes or until the crust is golden brown and some of the apple edges have browned. Serve warm.

2 servings, 178 calories (1 carb, 1 fat)

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

butter flavored cooking spray
1 tsp reduced calorie margarine (heck, use the butter, it's not that much)
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, in juice - drained
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup evaporated skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat a 2 cup baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine the margarine and brown sugar, spread evenly over the bottom of the baking dish and top with pineapple.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Combine egg, canola oil, vanilla extract, and evaporated milk. Stir into the dry ingredients, beating until smooth. Pour batter over the pineapple. Bake 25 - 30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and immediately invert on serving plate. Leave the baking dish on the cake for at least 15 minutes to allow the sugar and pineapple mixtures to drain onto the top of the cake as it cools. Serve warm or at room temperature.

3 servings, 191 calories, 2 1/2 carbs (2 starch, 1/2 fruit)


I actually go ahead an use the real butter, these are once in a while foods and the real thing tastes better.

p.s., pies are really easy, just use Splenda in place of the sugar in your fruit pies. Remember however that both the crust and the fruit are carbs

[ May 31, 2001: Message edited by: nancya ]

[Svadhisthana]

Thank You!