Food

Type 2 Diabetes and Inexpensive Meal Planning

by CZeitler

I try not to talk about my health journey, however I feel that there is some information I should share. I am a type 2 diabetic with Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) formerly PCOS. I just learned about the new name for PCOS, and love that it is being taken more seriously. Because of this I do need to pay attention to my feet more than I would prefer, but whatever. I was trying to get the bunion on my right foot to stretch out a little more since I started wearing Doctor Martens Sandals and have built up some new callouses on my foot. Somehow during this process I managed to strain the muscle or tendon in the arch of my right foot, which is making it a little painful to walk on. A couple days of icing and trying different types of arch support later and I had to admit that I need to take a day off and rest it. Since I am teaching a class at another library tomorrow, Saturday, and cannot cancel on that I am spending the day resting my foot, I ordered some Gel arch supports to get the support in a gentle way and hope that they will make a difference.

One of the other things that I have been doing in any free time I have this week is attending Get Organized HQ free digital conference this week. I am always trying to get myself more organized and this annual seminar tends to give me more tips and tricks to help get organized and understand why I am the way I am. Every year I get more tools and take the time to focus on something that is going to help me in the year to come. This year I watched a seminar on how to get organized when you grew up in chaos. It was a hard watch, however I believe it will help me. One of the other topics that I have been trying to work on is meal planning. I am a full-time public librarian, and my director has been trying hard to get our salaries to catch up with inflation however the truth of the matter is that we are essentially public servants since Librarianship is almost always a non-profit endeavor. This might be fine if I did not have crafting of all sorts as my only hobby/distraction. Crafting tends to be expensive so I am trying to save money where I can, unfortunately, as a diabetic carbohydrates and sugars are the enemy and the cheapest options. As you can probably tell already, my body needs to set up obstacles around any part of my food plans so I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which makes my healthy food choices limited. This means that my meals should be Low Carbohydrate, Low FodMap, and inexpensive.

Rice and Pasta are the least expensive fillers that are Low Fodmap however, they do tend to be high in carbohydrates and spike blood glucose. I had heard something about day old rice being better, if refrigerated since Bacillus cereus is a concern for improperly cooled rice. Upon doing some research it appears that the UK medical community has done some research that finds that day old, cooled, and reheated rice and pasta significantly decreases the glucose spike to almost non-existent. They speculate that the starch has been converted to a starch that is insoluble in the stomach. Cold pasta does lower the sugar spike but not as significantly as the reheated version. Fortunately for me my cousin in law introduced me to Congee. This is a delicious Chinese comfort food that I have modified for how I am used to cooking. The relevance is that what I make is essentially chicken soup with rice thoroughly cooked in until it essentially breaks down. The texture is not pleasant for some, however I find it satiating and versatile. Mostly I eat it throughout the first week and freeze portions for later lunches, as you can tell one pot makes a huge amount. This means that I reheat the rice, which can greatly decrease the glucose spike while allowing for a great deal of seasoning since chicken soup and rice is a perfect base. Often I do add black beans to up the protein, though they are not a low fodmap food and may mess with my IBS.

Chicken soup can easily be made with a rotisserie chicken carcass/bones since they already have significant flavor. I often use the breast meat and thighs for various meals and then the skin, bones, drumsticks, and wings, are either cooked into soup or frozen for soup later. My personal recipe is to put the chicken, water to cover, onion and garlic powder, some salt, and boil it until the broth stops tasting like chicken water and starts tasting like chicken soup. You can add water if it starts to get low since adding water does not affect how the soup tastes. I do not know how to describe it except you will know it when it happens. I have not found a single shortcut for this, you have to just take the time and let it boil until it is broth. This does not have to be done in a single day. I often start making it before I go to work, turn the burner off about 90 minutes before I am going to leave so I can put it in the fridge before I leave, then take it out and start heating it again when I get home. I know several people, chefs included, say that you can add bullion cubes as a short cut, I refute this. I often cook this until it is soup then let it cool down to remove the bones. I have never been able to get all of the bones and cartilage out since there are a lot of very small bones. Once I think I have all of the bones out I start heating the soup back up and put a couple of cups of rice and any vegetables I want to add, usually I add a couple more cups of water to make sure that the pot will not boil dry…burning the rice will effect the whole pot. Any flavor you want can be added, soy sauce, ramen soup base, Indian curry spices, Japanese curry sauce cubes, or anything else you like can be added to this. If it is bland I add in flavored vinegars when heating it up as they add a lovely zing.

I will be trying to make turkey broth in my InstaPot this holiday season since I do not have a soup pot large enough, and a glass stovetop that I do not want to shatter. I do have some other recipes I will be sorting through so that I do not get too bored with this dish, however I wanted to share it since you can add so many different flavors to make it unique and it makes great lunches.

That is all I have for today, not crafty at all, however I hope it might help someone else with similar concerns. Until next time I hope that you Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Totally Off The Wall

by CZeitler

In response to absolutely nothing, I decided that I want to try the new Starbucks Snacks. I will confess that this is a rare luxury for me, they are often too expensive for me to justify. But with a coupon I was able to try all of the treats I wanted and get a strawberry shortcake frappuchino for under $20. I am so happy that I decided to try these, this way I do not feel as though I am missing out on anything. The Frappuchino was nothing too special, I prefer the strawberry frosty from wendy’s.

I tried the Cinnamon Apple Pull Apart Muffin next. If you are looking for something like a pull-apart bread in a smaller form…with just a hint of sweetness…and no apple that I could find, then this might be a good choice for you. I was especially excited to try the Dubai Chocolate Bite, since I have seen the bar everywhere for about $20.

This pastry was a strong chocolate flavor with a very pretty green cream inside. I enjoyed the slight crunch of the filling. I tried, but I was not able to taste much of the pistachio that made up the filling, for a crunchy chocolaty treat with a little something extra this is a good buy.

Admittedly I was surprised by the Cookie Croissant Swirl. It is everything that you want from a croissant with just a little hint of sweetness and the occasional crunch of the cookie topping. I am so happy that I tried this, if I was craving a croissant this would get me about 85% of the way there.

Yuzu Citrus Blossom is something that I was really looking forward to trying since I love Ponzu Sauce with Yuzu in it. This was just amazing! The pastry was delightfully crispy and flakey with a lovely citrus filling. I don’t know how to describe Ponzu to someone that has not tried it, it is something like the sweetness of mandarin with a tiny bit of lemon/lime sour. If I were to get another pastry this is one that I would seriously consider.

The Strawberry Matcha Loaf is so exciting! The beautiful green and pink swirls in the cake with a lovely pink frosting on top. This may be worth getting just because it is so pretty. The taste was just lovely! More strawberry than matcha for sure, the strawberry frosting was very strong in strawberry flavor and bites with that overwhelmed everything. The pound cake like base was lovely, a good crumb, buttery, and not at all dry.

There are two in the lineup that I did not try, the berry blondie and the chocolate pistachio loaf. They both look good, again I think that the chocolate would overwhelm the pistachio, and blondies to not often appeal to me.

Pleasures Great & Small

by CZeitler

This is a good time of year for reflecting on the blessings that we have, both great and small. I’m not sure how to define each of the blessings I am grateful for, because those that are considered essential are the most expensive so it is hard to call them ‘small’. Given that I will start my thanks with my ‘essentials’ and then work my way through to what happened yesterday. There is not going to be any crafting content, though I am very grateful for the supplies, tools, and physical ability to work with my crafting supplies.

The essential blessings I am grateful for are the home I have to live in, reliable transportation, food in my fridge and freezer (I love this time of year for the $.99/lb Turkeys). I have a full-time job that pays me enough to cover my bills, gives me over 22 days of vacation/floating holiday each year, and is a positive environment to work in (occasional patron problems notwithstanding). I have my health, pretty much, and my hands still work.

I am also grateful for the non-essential blessings that I get to celebrate. I have an amazing family that I know I can speak to, visit, and enjoy in so many ways. I was able to visit my sister yesterday, she was looking for a pegboard and I just happened to have taken the same pegboard off of my walls a few days earlier to put up a new bookcase. I was able to purchase new bookcases a couple of months ago so that I can get my supplies organized in a way that is useful to me. I have the creativity, skills, and supplies to create ornaments and other presents for my family.

I was able to purchase tickets for a livestream of my favorite YouTube channel, participate, and laugh along with Sorted Food. I will also be able to rewatch this stream as well as those that I have purchased in years past. I was able to take the time off so that I could watch and rewatch the streams at my leisure.

Yesterday when I visited my sister I was able to purchase lunch, gas, and a few treats and snacks for both of us to enjoy over the holiday season (and hopefully beyond depending on how hungry I get). I purchased a prickly pear fruit from an Asian Market my sister found. It was lovely to try, tons of seeds that I am going to try to dry, and a slightly sweetly mild flesh that I was able to eat. It tasted like a very light kiwi fruit, with a little sour tinge that was pleasant as I got very close to the skin. We went to Ikea where I found the Vintersaga Ginger Thins cookies were a dollar less than they have been, so I purchased two tins for myself and two for my sister. These cookies are amazing, I had to hide a tin from myself in the freezer or they would both be gone before the week is out.

Finally we went to Grandpa Joe’s Soda store. I had looked up the prices online, and was pleasantly surprised to find that many of them were slightly less since they do not have to worry about shipping. I did not get the Grizzly Energy Drinks though I was very tempted, I did get a Jones Select Zero Sugar Rootbeer, which was just as lovely as I thought though I drank it on the way home so I do not have a photo. There were several candies that I decided I could not resist. I bought two different Cherry Mash treats, and tried one today, It was lovely, the milk chocolate was a thick shell that tasted lovely and smooth. I expected some juice, like a chocolate covered cherry, instead there was a dense sweet nougat-like cherry flavored filling.

The other cherry mash is ‘Big Cherry Milkshake’ and will live in my freezer with the Brachs Swirl Gumdrops, until I rediscover them in a frenzy for something sweet, hopefully a few months in the future. I do have an extreme sweet tooth, horrid when you’re a type 2 diabetic, however I have been low key craving some of the sour candies that I enjoyed when I was in my early 20s. This store had them, though I admit I cannot remember which flavor I enjoyed. I guess I’ll just have to try all three of the flavors I purchased, sigh!

I do think that the Mango version is what I really enjoyed since I can remember the tin colors, however I hope that all three flavors are good. I was also very lucky to be able to purchase some sweets to share with my colleagues. Originally I was going to pick up a huge bag of tiny sweets that was under $10, however the bag admitted that in could be cross contaminated with tree nuts, to which one of my colleagues is allergic. Instead I found some bags of freeze dried treats that were $1 per bag, I could not resist. There are five different types and the bags to not fess up to any kind of nut tree contamination so they should be safe for my colleagues.

I am safe, warm, loved, relatively healthy, and able to feed myself. I have the freedom in my budget to send presents to my family and treat myself and my sister to a few treats to enjoy over the holiday season. I was able to purchase a few supplies to support my joint health and ability to keep crafting for years to come during the Black Friday Sales. I plan on putting a post up about those very soon.

Along with all of these small blessings, I have a supportive outlet for me to remind myself of these blessings. Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope that you all have a lovely holiday season depending on what you celebrate.

Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Driving to H&H Americas

by CZeitler

So, the drive from Western New York to Chicago without any stops would’ve taken me nine hours. Not stopping is very unreasonable for me, plus I was passing very closely to an IKEA. This means that my trip was a lot longer than nine hours, but I had so much more fun than I thought I would.


I have been eyeing the Trofast storage unit for a while now. Not only were they on sale, but they had several of the drawers that would go with it. That were also on either sale or clearance. Plus they had purple. I knew that I needed another storage unit and I believe that this is going to serve me quite well. Since I’ve come home, I’ve already assembled it, and I’ve started filling it with items that I purchased at the expo. I intend to switch items around as I use them. I picked up some other odds and ends and a couple of things that were on clearance however, I think the most interesting for me is the Trofast unit.

I did need to stop somewhere for gas, and I noticed that there was a Kroger’s nearby. I had never been before, so I decided to give it a shot, imagine my excitement when I found out that they had 2 L of diet red pop. I grew up going to visit family in Western Pennsylvania so red pop and diet Red pop are very nostalgic for me since I can’t have the full sugar version. I’m unable to get it in my area. While I was in the area. I decided to get some lunch and see if the JoAnn fabrics that I saw nearby was still open. Imagine my shock and surprise when not only were they still open but they still had a lot of merchandise very good clearance prices.

Before I even started on the trip I had placed an order from a company called snuggly monkey, and they had some amazing felt and stitching designs that I am excited to get started with. I loved that this Joan’s had a ton of inexpensive craft felt that I can experiment with before getting started with the good.

The remainder of this post is going to be about the food that I ate in Chicago and along my trip.

There was a restaurant near Joanns called Rally’s, the food tasted amazing.  I got a meal deal which was a very small drink. Very small fries a strawberry pie and a double cheeseburger for $4.30.  Spilled part of the drink, but that’s life and the fries have a spice on them, but they are not spicy unlike Arby’s fries.

When I was at IKEA I grabbed a bite in the form of meatballs, potatoes, veg, lingonberry jam, and a diet soda. Lovely, though not really anything too special.

That night once I got to the room, I ordered a Philly Madres chicken sandwich. I usually enjoy the flavors of cuisine from India. However, this sandwich was a little bit spicier than as comfortable for me. I still finished it as it was not intolerably spicy.

I stopped at Speedway for breakfast because I couldn’t hold out until 711 and didn’t want to wait in line for the continental breakfast. I had a corn dog which was actually good. The dog itself was juicy much to my surprise but not in a bad way, I also had an empanada which I was quite afraid of because usually in Hispanic communities Mexican food is quite spicy, however, this was amazing.  They did also have some local donuts so I purchased four of those because they had two of an apple kind a raspberry one and a strawberry filled one that looked fascinating, heavenly.

At the convention center the first day I had a lovely boneless barbecue rib sandwich for lunch. My dinner that night was crab filled eggrolls, along with crab topped french fries. I ordered this through DoorDash to my room. It arrived and tasted delicious. There was plenty of crab throughout.

The final day that I attended the conference was Thursday and I did not feel very hungry so I did not purchase food there. I did get a drink called a strawberry bubbler which I later found out is made with a lotus energy, drink soda, water and sugar-free strawberry syrup. I am looking into buying myself a bottle of the lotus flower energy drink, but it’s going to be a little bit because I have to pay off this trip and some of the things that I ordered after I came home.

I left the convention center to head home at about 3:30 on Thursday, unfortunately that means I ran into traffic. It took me two hours for a drive that should’ve taken about 20 minutes. This means that by time I was done I was very hungry and so I stopped at Dairy Queen, hoping to get one of their meal deals. Unfortunately, it was a treats only Dairy Queen so I did get a delicious coffee blizzard, but I had to stop at the nearby McDonald’s to both go to the bathroom and grab some chicken sandwiches.

The rest of my trip home was fairly uneventful, I did get tired enough to stop and grab an hour nap before I finished my drive. I would much rather look stupid and or have to explain myself to a police officer then drive drowsy, I would rather live.

Since I’ve come home, I’ve been mostly sorting and organizing, though I did ensure that I have all of the supplies that I need to work on the next few projects I plan on experimenting with.

I came back from this conference with a renewed interest in my passion, as well as a renewed appreciation for good food. Until next time, please remember to Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!