Love Oatmeal but hate the glucose spike?! This one is for you!
I LOVE oatmeal in the winter, especially when it is snowing. That is a total throwback to my childhood when my grandmother would make it for me when I had a snow day from school (which were rare in Tennessee). Now that I live in Maine, those snowy mornings are much more frequent and when it is -21 with the wind chill, yogurt and fruit does not have much appeal. Due to having Dysautonomia, which messes with my glucose, I wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor from time to time. I noticed oatmeal alone spiked mine from a fasting level of 90 to 175!!
I LOVE oatmeal in the winter, especially when it is snowing. That is a total throwback to my childhood when my grandmother would make it for me when I had a snow day from school (which were rare in Tennessee). Now that I live in Maine, those snowy mornings are much more frequent and when it is -21 with the wind chill, yogurt and fruit does not have much appeal. Due to having Dysautonomia, which messes with my glucose, I wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor from time to time. I noticed oatmeal alone spiked mine from a fasting level of 90 to 175!! I felt awful. I tried adding in protein powder, organic peanut butter with no sugar, nuts and a great chia/ flax/ hemp seed blend that I LOVE. This still had my glucose over 160. So I started looking for alternatives and the WHY this was happening. Oatmeal has been a go-to for diabetics for a long time.. so why do some of us without diabetes spike so much? And some people with diabetes do too? If you are sensitive to gluten, like I am, oatmeal is supposed to be “safe” when sourced from a source that does not cross contaminate ( Like Bob’s Red Mill). There is a compound in oats called “avenin” which can trigger reactions in some people. So if you get a glucose spike from oatmeal, you may have some level of gluten sensitivity as well. I do, and so does my husband and his glucose also spiked from oatmeal. My mother was diabetic and no gluten issues and oatmeal was a staple for her keeping her glucose steady from breakfast to lunch. Maybe something to explore?! There is good news though, Tavia’s test kitchen has found a replacement!
So I discovered if you cook quinoa ( rinsed before cooking is critical for texture here) in Almond Milk, about 15 minutes longer than normal, it has a similar taste and texture. For us, I cooked one cup of quinoa and 2 cups of almond milk. You could do flavored almond milk, but that will add sugars so beware. You could also use coconut milk, that could be a cool flavor profile to add. I would avoid oat milk, if oatmeal is an issue, oat milk will likely also be an issue. I added a teaspoon of brown sugar to the mix once it was cooked to help it taste like oatmeal from my childhood. While the quinoa was cooking, I cut up an apple and in a bowl tossed the apple pieces with coconut oil and cinnamon ( I did a tablespoon of Coconut oil and a teaspoon of cinnamon per apple.. but I LOVE cinnamon, feel free to use less if that is a better taste for you. I used the air fryer feature on my oven and cooked the apple pieces for 12 minutes, but if you don’t have access to an air fryer, you can cook them in a pan or even just baked in the oven. Once everything was ready, I mixed about a cup of cooked quinoa and milk, apples to taste, pumpkin seeds ( great source of fiber!), the chia/flax/hemp mix and a few pecans. You could use any nuts you want to, I will list the benefits of a few options so you can choose the one right for you. If you seed cycle with menstrual your cycle, use the seeds for where you are at in your cycle in here instead of the mix I mention. This is a great way to get those in first thing.
Here are some nutrition facts ( these are averages ): oatmeal alone has 5.3 grams of protein and quinoa has 6 grams ( so very similar). Oatmeal has 27 grams of carbohydrates and quinoa has 21.3 grams. Oatmeal has 8.1 grams of fiber, quinoa has less at 2.8 grams ( adding the chia/flax/hemp mix brings this level back up to meet or exceed oatmeal). Calorically, Quinoa wins.. coming in at 120 calories and oatmeal is closer to 250-300 calories per serving, but I don’t count calories really and I don’t suggest my clients focus on calories solely. Those are just a few of the similarities and differences.
By cooking in almond milk, adding the pumpkin seeds, nuts and chia/flax/ hemp mix, you are kicking the protein up to closer to 26-35 grams, depending on how much of each you add. With all of that plus apples, you fiber intake just jumped from 2.8 grams to 25 grams ( or more.. if you add more of the extra ingredients.) You can also add crasins, a little cinnamon sugar, or other things ( these do add sugar, but a tiny bit for taste is ok!
Nutritional info for nuts:
Pecans- great source of fiber, copper (nerve cell function, immunity and red blood cell production), thiamine( energy) and zinc (immune function boost) ( Info from Healthline)
Walnuts- omega 3s and antioxidants (help with brain and heart health, cancer prevention) (info from Healthline.com)
Almonds- calcium, potassium and fiber: helps with heart health, blood pressure, digestion, cholesterol, diabetes management and weight loss ( info from Healthline.com)
Cashews: protein, vitamin K, magnesium and manganese (Info from Healthline.com)
Hazelnuts: gallic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid and quercetin ( may help reduce LDL) ( Info from Healthline.com)
There are others.. but I think that would taste weird in this apple/ quinoa combo. Feel free to experiment for yourself with this one!
Healthy PIZZA?! Yes, Please!
Who doesn’t love pizza and want a healthy option you can indulge in ANYTIME?
Who doesn’t love pizza? It is one of my favorite foods but can be pretty greasy, fatty and not so healthy. It is fine to indulge from time to time, but if you are looking for a pizza recipe you can have ANYTIME and not eat your entire days’ worth of calories at once, I have got you!
I start by making dough- this can be store bought, of course, but I am gluten free so it is more efficient for us to make it at home. It is a very simple recipe- start with 1/2 tsp of sale, 1 packet of instant yeast, 1.5 cups of water at 110 degrees, 3-4 cups of bread or pizza flour and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients. I start with 3 cups of flour and add slowly from there. Gluten free sometimes requires more water than the 1.5 cups, bit go slow. Mix until you have a non-sticky ball. Line a bowl with 2 Tbls of Olive oil, cover and let rise for an hour. I use the “proof” setting on my oven. Once its doubled, spilt it in half, cover and let it rise for 10 more minutes then roll out. We par cook it for 2-3 minutes in a 500 degree oven then add toppings. This makes a very rustic thin crust.
For this pizza, I used beet pesto from this summer rather than traditional red sauce. The pesto is SO easy to make. We had extras from our CSA this summer so we roasted them, then added them to a food processor with garlic, olive oil, parm cheese, lemon juice, and salt, to taste. We put it in jars and freeze it so we have it all winter. The roasting of the beets mellows them out so they don’t taste like clean dirt.
To make this pizza, I also baked a chicken breast with salt and pepper while the dough rose, then cut it into small pieces for toppings.
To build it: on the par-cooked pizza dough, add the beet pesto. On top of that, add chicken spinach and then goat cheese ( we used plain) or feta. We preferred goat cheese, but tried both. They were both yummy. We baked the pizza at 500 degrees for 8-10 minutes. When we pulled it out, we added arugula and a splash of balsamic vinegar on top. Next time, I will chiffon the spinach so it is in every bite instead of leaving it as a whole leaf, but otherwise, I would not chance a thing! This is a great meal full of protein, fiber and even fermented food with the vinegar. Beets are SOOOO good for you and this is a fantastic way to eat them without really tasting them.
These are super “rustic” but taste GREAT!
Before baking!
Ready to eat and enjoy!!