Mid-Weekend Catch-Up!

I got "adventurous" with dinner last night.  We had a pound of hamburger (7% fat) that needed to be used up this week and I didn't feel like broiling Hamburgers.  Our Gas Grill is in serious need of being replaced (the grills at minimum need replacing, they are literally falling apart), so that isn't an option at the moment for us.  Otherwise, this time of year, I rarely cook anything indoors!  But, back to the burger...  Call me crazy, but I like Meatloaf!  I especially love it cold, the next day, thin sliced, and stacked up high with Mayo (gobs of it) and Ketchup on White bread!  Talk about a complete no-no for a low-carber!  Good thing I still enjoy it hot!  But, the only way I've ever made meatloaf in my life is with Oats!  Okay, I have used crushed up Saltines, but that's with ground Turkey in the best Turkey loaf you'll ever have!  So, off I went on the trusty Internet, to find me a low-carbed version of a Meat-glob.  I even found one!  Or more like several, but this was the first one I clicked on and I had all the ingredients already sitting around the house (kitchen)!  I have tried many of the recipes on Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes, most have been really good!  Most, if not all, have required "tweaking" on my end to make them how I like them too, but that goes pretty much without saying!  My favorite "cookie" at the moment is my variation on the Meringue Surprises.  I use the basic recipe (egg white, salt, Splenda), but instead of Vanilla, I use other extracts and even a little Da Vinci's coffee syrup!  If you use the Syrups though, remember to cut back on the Splenda.  I have a bottle of "Coconut Essence" that packs a real coco-nutty punch and turns these into wonderful little balls of yum!  I'm still working on a "butter" flavored one that I can sprinkle a little Nacho flavored popcorn salt on for a terrific movie time snack, but haven't really been motivated to try a "salty" snack recently.  Also, rather than make large cookies, I stuff the whole mixture into a Ziploc bag (I usually make a triple batch), snip the tip and pipe "large marshmallow" sized bits onto my parchment paper.  I make mine bite-sized...easier to eat that way!  The cook time stays the same for large ones or my bite-sized ones though.  They are a "crunchy" snack for sure!  Several months ago I went to our "out on DVD" movie theater that has movies on Wednesdays for on;y $1 (these are movies that are coming out on DVD soon or movies like The Princess Bride)!  I took them in a Tupperware container and had Coconut flavored "popcorn" for the movie!  Since it's basically just egg white and sweetener, my friend on WW could also snack on the guilt free!  But, I'm off topic now... 

My dinner of Meatloaf was a "half order" of the original recipe (I only had 1 pound on hand), but since there are only two of us, that was fine.  First, I made the Seasoned Salt recipe (linked from the Meatloaf) and read all Linda's comments on the dish...more salt and more cheese said Linda!  So, I upped the salt by half of what she recommended (so 1 1/2 teaspoons instead of only 1) and then, well then....there was the Cheese!  I never can make a recipe correctly the first time...I think it's in my genetics!  I knew I was supposed to halve the amount of cheese and then add a little extra in,  but what does a girl do when given a bag of cheese, a scale, and a recipe calling for 4 ounces of cheese (and then add a little more) do?  If you're this girl, you dump the bag in the bowl on the scale, and sigh in relief that you in deed have the 4 ounces the recipe calls for!  But wait!  It said to add extra didn't it?!?  Good thing I have 5.3 ounces then, right?  Well, back to dumping everything in the mixing bowl...  In goes the meat, can't have Meatloaf without that!  In goes the Egg...yeah for a binder!  Yup, then the Seasoned Salt...and the Sugar Free (1g net carb Heinz) Ketchup..and whatever else the recipe called for.  Of course, it's easier to mix the "glaze" if you measure all that at the same time...so Ketchup in another bowl, followed by...oops!  Yep, I added the Dry Mustard to the Meatloaf instead!  So, I added the Mustard to the glaze too and then added the Splenda to the proper bowl!  Then I dumped the bowl of Cheese into the burger and started mixing away happily clad in Surgical Gloves!  So much easier to just toss the gloves than it is to get Burger out of under your fingernails...  Then and only then dd I realize the Cheese "oops"!  It actually turned out very good though!  In her comments, she did say she was thinking about doubling the Cheese...I doubled it and then added a little more for good measure!  And, you use what you got, right?  My cheese happened to be the rest of the bag of Mexican Shredded Cheese, the one marked with "Real Jalapenos"!  Good thing the other half has developed a liking to all things spicy!  This was a spicy Meatloaf that was oozing cheese!  Oh so good with a side of (mostly) green and wax beans!  We did each have 2 baby carrots from the mix, I do try to limit our carrot use though!

Splenda, and a dash (who measures?) of "Vanilla, Nut, & Butter" extract!  I let this all cook down (covered) until very soft.  The chunks of Rhubarb fall apart into a stringy mass when stirred, so don't be alarmed if you've never cooked with Rhubarb before!  After it was cooked, I added 1/4 teaspoon of Xanthum Gum to try and thicken things up just a hair as I wanted to use this to top another experiment I had going on in the freezer, Ice Cream!  I was vaguely following a recipe I came across on another low carber's blog.  I didn't want to bother actually looking it up, so I just dumped a little cream in a bowl, added Vanilla, Splenda, and a little Stevia, and then whipped it until it was doubled in size, but nowhere near "whipped cream" yet!  I then poured it into an ice cube tray (this is supposed to be a "quick" ice cream) to freeze.  It took about 2 hours for the cubes to solidify, but I still had to use a butter knife to get them out of the tray.  Into my blender they went where they were supposed to become a nice creamy ice cream!  Instead, I got a half runny mess.  However, it still tasted good topped with my Rhubarb sauce!

Well, that was yesterday....today has been a Horse of a Different Color all together!  I am trying to get back into the habit of taking my pills, Blood Pressure, Glucophage, Vitamins...I'm horrible at remembering to takes pills, heck, I even forget to take my insulin sometimes!  Anyway, I've been doing pretty well since mid-week.  My other half is now on a BP med, so he's helping me remember!  Last night I doled out today's pills into a little container (I can't seem to find my big pill thingy) and this morning, I took out all but what I thought was my evening pills (a second dose of Glucophage, two pills, and a second dose of BP med) and took them with my first sip of coffee.  This evening however, when I went to take my dose, I found my BP pill, one Glucophage, and a Calcium pill!  This might explain the rough day I've had blood sugar and health wise!  I took three of the pills that help to control my blood sugars!  I still can't explain what has made me feel nauseous all day (sometimes carrying a bucket from room to room with me), but the extra pill in the morning could help explain today's blood sugars!

Today's readings read as follows:

• 7:45a - 150 - 60 units Lantus
• 8:00a - 144 - I was starting to feel sick and wondered if it was sugar related
• 2:45p - 60 - treated this with a non-low carb friendly soda (6 ounces)
• 3:45p - 87 - Good enough not to treat!
• 5:30p - 58 - this was actually after dinner!
• 7:00p - 131 - Oh good!
• 8:30p - 109 - Starting to feel sick again this evening...

As a general (low carbing) rule, I don't need any Humalog (short acting insulin) for several days at a time.  I did take 11 units though before bed last night due to the amount of Ketchup, even the 1g net car, sugar free stuff does a number on my sugars in high quantities.

Somewhere in my day thus far, I hit my hand.  Apparently I hit it hard enough to bruise it too!  I vaguely remember hitting it, but if pressed, I couldn't tell you when, where I was, or what I hit it on!  Ah, the joys of low blood sugars and being alone at home...  Last Spring and Summer were pretty scary for me blood sugar wise, I had many, many, many low blood sugars to the point of we were keeping two Glucogon shots on hand all the time and we got to know all of the EMTs working all shifts at the fire station responsible for our neighborhood!  I even started having seizures due to the lows!  I have been a Diabetic for 20 years, up until that time, I have only had two events when Glucogons and EMTs have been involved! 

Once when I was 16, I took my AM insulin and promptly went back to bed (I had been up very late the night before) and the second was about 5 years ago when I took my dinner insulin and then dinner was delayed by someone other than me.  Last year's lows were unprovoked!  I would go to bed with a blood sugar around 170, and a few hours later be woken up by bright lights and 6 men in bed with me!  Yeah, not as fun as it sounds...  Especially when you consider a month later these same men were picking me up off the floor of my office after a low blood sugar while I was home alone.  I had passed out at my desk, apparenty had a seizure, fallen out of my chair (or rather took the chair down with me), slammed my elbow into the wall hard enough to put a hole in it, and...like anything else could be more embarrassing?  Wet myself!  And not just a little bit either!  I was drenched from my chest down, dripping even, and sitting in a cold puddle on the floor!  Luckily, I had also knocked my cell phone onto the floor as well as a tub of salt water taffy (the sugared kind)!  I was able to call my Mother (I knew my other half was busy at work and didn't want him to panic, but I couldn't get my legs to work), who of course, had my brother in law call my other half!  But, she was able to stay on the phone with me while I wiggled around in the cold mess that I had made and get to the candy and bring my sugars up.  Meanwhile, my other half had called the paramedics, but told them, she's awake and on the phone with her Mother, I'm on my way home DO NOT break in!  So, what did they do?  They tried to break in!  They actually succeeded in busting the door frame, but as I mentioned before, I was dared good at getting that lock set on the door, they couldn't bust it!  The poor guys and gals that make a living as paramedics!  They saw me in all sorts of embarrassing situations!  The night time lows were especially painful on me...I didn't have much on to say the least, and they want me to sit up and have a conversation with them in my birthday suit!  Um, no thanks....I just want to hide under my blanket till you lot go away and I don't have to look you in the eye, k thanks!  And at 2 am, who the hell cares who the secretary of the cabinet is anyway?!?  Yeah, they asked me that...I think my answer was "Who cares?!?"  Which got a room full of chuckles...I'm hilarious when I'm low, lol.

So yeah, lows scare the beejeezus out of me there days and I tend to overreact a little when I get them.  Which is hard to do without totally blowing my diet too!  What is currently a bright red spot on my knuckle will be black and blue by tomorrow or so and I'll have to explain that I wasn't in a fist fight (that I'm aware of) and that I believe I hit it on a door knob or something.  Which is the most likely thing I could have hit it on, but I did do a little hammer work on the coop today too, I just don't think I hit myself with the hammer!

And in other weekend news...the other half's pool team lost their first match, but won the second!  They are still in the running as it is a double-elimination tourney, meaning they have to loose twice before they get knocked out!  So, he just left to go play another match or two or three...leaving me home with my trusty bucket, hoping I don't have to use it!  And rambling on to you guys, lol!