All About Diabetes

Fruits have always been my favorite breakfast option. Give it a different twist with the addition of cottage cheese and a sweet-sour calamansi dressing. Mix it up with other fresh fruits in season.

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon splenda
• 1/4 cup calamansi juice
• 1 piece mango, cubed
• 1/2 piece melon, cubed
• 1 piece small papaya, cubed
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Procedures:

1. Combine splenda and calamansi juice and set aside.
2. Combine fruits.
3. Before serving add cheese and calamansi mixture.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 173
• Carbohydrates (g) 34
• Protein (g) 8
• Fat (g) 2

A savory breakfast starter, you can prepare this in advance and just reheat in the microwave for breakfast

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped nuts
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup spinach leaves
• 1 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 piece egg, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons spring onions, chopped
• 4 pieces tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven at 300F. Grease 4 holes of a muffin pan or 4 ramekins.
2. Mix tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Set aside in a roasting pan.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Cook nuts and garlic.
4. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Let cool.
5. Mix spinach with cheese, egg and chives.
6. Portion out into containers.
7. Bake cheese for 15 minutes or until browned and tomatoes for 10 minutes.
8. Serve cheese and tomatoes together.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 96
• Carbohydrates (g) 1
• Protein (g) 6
• Fat (g) 2

What makes a smoothie different from a shake? Shakes have ice blended in whereas smoothies are all chilled healthy ingredients. Kickstart your day with this hefty and healthy drink that is filling down to the last drop. Use other fruits in season but remember to chill them all first for a great cold start.

Yield: 4 – 6 glasses

Ingredients:

• 1 piece banana, chopped
• 4 pieces peach, halves
• 1 cup strawberries
• 3 cups cold low fat or skimmed milk

Procedures:

1. Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor until smooth
2. Serve cold.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 100
• Carbohydrates (g) 19
• Protein (g) 6
• Fat (g) 0

Toasted bread for breakfast has always been a default for everyone. Make it a tad more exciting with a healthy ham and cheese variation.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces wheat bread
• 4 slices lean ham
• 2 pieces tomatoes, sliced
• 4 pieces eggs
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped herbs (basil or parsley or even spring onions)
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedures:

1. Toast bread on both sides then top with ham and tomatoes
2. poach eggs by boiling water and adding vinegar. Stir rapidly before adding egg in center. Allow whites to wrap around yolk and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm. Repeat with remaining eggs.
3. Mix cottage cheese and herbs. Season to taste.
4. Serve toasts with the cheese on the side

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 179
• Carbohydrates (g) 23
• Protein (g) 27
• Fat (g) 7

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and not just because it is what you start your day with. Breafast comes from two separate words meaning to “break” your “fast from the previous day’s meal. It only makes sense to put some thought into what will get you through the following 24 hours. Dig into these healthy starters that are healthy and delicious to boot.

• Breakfast Ham and Cheese Toasts
• Peachie Smoothies
• Baked Cheese
• Fresh Fruit Salad

Combining leafy and fruit vegetables, beans, root crops in one dish provide excellent nutrition that mothers need to recover from the rigors of pregnancy, birthing and sustain breastfeeding. Indigenous foods are also known to help mothers produce more breastmilk. Read more… »

This is a different version of crab cake, sinice it is baked instead of fried. The flavors come out, especially with dollop of catsup or your favorite dipping souce on top

Portions: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Margarine

1/2 cup Onions, finely chopped

500 grams Crabmeat, all cartilage removed

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

4 pcs. Egg Whites, tiffly beaten

2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Catsup

Read more… »

In today’s fast-paced world, we usually try to think of meals that can be whipped up in a jiffy. And more often than not, these can also mean dishes that have higher fat content or are laden with cholesterol, in pursuit of tastier meals. However, cooking can always be done faster, if one is armed with some handy tips that can help diabetics and non-diabetics alike enjoy great-tasting and healthy dishes in half the time.

Tips:

1. Secret’s in the Sauce: Always prepare some extra sauces in your free time. It is easier to prepare big batches of pesto or tomato sauce that can easily be stored in the refrigerator. In emergency meal situations, just bring it out for great pasta meals, sandwich spreads or dips for chicken and fish.
2. All Stocked Up: In the same vein as making extra sauce, stocks are handy meal enhancers, that can be used for instant soup and in our recipe for this issue, a savory Brown Rice Risotto.
3. Salad Time: Salads are one of the easiest meals to prepare, especially with the advent of bagged lettuce leaves which save up time on washing and picking leaves. Add more fillers such as fruits, chicken slices, fish fillets – all of which can be prepared in no time.
4. To make cooking meat items easier, buy prepacked meat cuts. Buy boneless chicken cuts if possible, to make the stewing time shorter.
5. Try to prepare things in advance such as cooked rice and pre-cut ingredients so that actual cooking is much faster, with all the ingredients prepared ahead of time.

Enjoy preparing your short-cut meals in half the time…

• Basil Pesto Fish Pasta
• Mushroom Brown Rice Risotto
• Fruit and Prawn Salad
• Hungarian Chicken Goulash Stew

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Basil leaves
• 2/3 cup walnuts
• 4 pieces garlic cloves
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, for gilling
• 4 pieces tilapia fillet
• 8 cups whole wheat pasta cooked

Procedures:
Basil Pesto:

1. Combine basil, walnuts and garlic in a food processor or blender and blend until ingredients are chopped finely. It may be necessary to clean up sides two to three times to get everything chopped evenly.
2. Add 1/3 cup of oil slowly and blend. Add remaining oil and blend.
3. Transfer mixture to a bowl and add parmesan. Stir to mix.
4. Taste and add salt only if necessary.

Basil Pesto Fish Pasta:

1. Reheat pasta in salted hot water and set aside.
2. Coat fish with 1 tablespoon pesto and grill both sides until done.
3. Transfer to paper towel to drain oil from fish.
4. Slice fish into strips.
5. Combine pesto and pasta. Top with fish strips and serve.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 546
• Carbohydrates (g) 36
• Protein (g) 24
• Fat (g) 34

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups brown rice, washed
• 6 cups low sodium vegetable stock
• 2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups button mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Procedures:

1. Cook rice in rice cooker with 5 cups of vegetable stock. Set aside. Rice may be done ahead of time and set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and saute.
4. Add rice and stir to coat it with mushroom mixture.
5. Add wine and cook until absorbed.
6. Add remaining stock. Make sure it is hot.
7. Add soy sauce. Season with pepper if needed.
8. Just before serving, add butter and mix.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Calories (kcal) 344
• Carbohydrates (g) 57
• Protein (g) 8
• Fat (g) 9