Kung Pao Chicken

This recipe is da' bomb! There's not much that goes into it, but what ingredients are there pack a real punch! Soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, crushed red pepper. All these elements have the ability to wake up your taste buds on their own; imagine how happy your mouth feels when you put them in there all together. Simply divine!



Ingredients
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2 boneless skinless chicken breast -- diced into bite sized chunks
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
4 green onions -- chopped
2 large garlic cloves -- minced
1 tsp fresh ginger -- grated (1 to 2)
1 tsp crushed red pepper
3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Splenda -- (1 to 2)
1/2 cup peanuts, dry-roasted

Combine chicken and cornstarch in a bowl and toss until evenly coated. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce and in another bowl and set aside. Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok with sesame oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot add the chicken and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the green onions (leaving a few for garnishing), garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes to the pan and stir fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce/vinegar/Splenda mixture to the pan along with the cooked chicken and peanuts. Coat the chicken and peanuts with sauce and heat thoroughly. Top with remaining green onions.

Source: "http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com". The original recipe can be found here.

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Notes: This makes 3 Cooking Diva-Dieting type servings; two normal people servings. Nutritional info is based on 3 servings.

Per serving: 379 Calories (kcal); 17g Total Fat; (40% calories from fat); 44g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 91mg Cholesterol; 1333mg Sodium

Diabetic-Friendly Thousand Island Dressing

This recipe can easily be altered for those who are not quite so insulin-challenged.

Ingredients
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1 cup mayonnaise (you can use low-fat or non-fat if you prefer)
1/2 cup Heinz Reduced-Sugar Ketchup (hurry up and buy this stuff before your grocer stops selling it!)
1/2 cup Mt. Olive No Sugar Added Sweet Pickle Relish
1 hearty pinch of salt
1 pinch ground pepper

In a small bowl, mix together ingredients until thoroughly combined, and serve.

Serves 6.

Adapted from allrecipes.com


Notes: If I did my calculations correctly, the entire recipe has 16 grams of carbohydrates.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I have been craving pancakes ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes so I was excited when I came across a recipe for whole wheat pancakes at diabeticpastrychef.com. These were delicious and will become my new standby.


Ingredients
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1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter -- melted

Sift the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and whisk just until combined. Over mixing will cause the pancakes to be rubbery. Spray heated griddle or skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto griddle or skillet. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip pancakes and cook on other side until golden brown.

The creator of the original recipe recommended that this recipe not be doubled. Why, I have no idea, but if you want more pancakes just make another batch.


Source: adapted from diabeticpastrychef.com


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This recipe makes 7 pancakes. Nutritional info is per pancake.

Per serving: 115 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (35% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 488mg Sodium

Diabetic-Friendly Sloppy Joes

I've never been a fan of Manwich.

Don't get me wrong. I love sloppy joes. I have fond memories of eating the tangy, sweet, burger-like concoction with tator tots in elementary school. I had thought that Manwich would recreate that experience for me but it always tasted like something was missing, like there was a distinct lack of depth of flavor.

This recipe is not lacking in flavor at all. The fresh onion and the bell pepper add a complexity that you won't find in a can of Manwich. And the mustard, ketchup and brown sugar provide just the right combination of tang and sweet.

You will find so much comfort in this recipe that you'll want to eat all your meals on rectangular compartmentalized trays.


Ingredients
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1 pound ground chuck
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
3/4 cup reduced sugar ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons Splenda brown sugar blend
salt or Season All to taste
ground black pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion and green pepper. Season with salt or Season All. Drain off liquids.

Stir in garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with pepper. Serves 6.

Note: Use 3 teaspoons of light brown sugar and regular ketchup to make this less diabetic friendly.

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Per serving: 260 Calories (kcal); 16g Total Fat; (66% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 57mg Cholesterol; 443mg Sodium

Diabetic-Friendly Banana Nut Muffins

Damn these were good! I wasn't expecting a baked good substituting Splenda for sugar in its entirety to be this tasty but it was. After sticking the muffins in the oven, I had considered reducing the amount of whole wheat flour by 1/4 cup because the batter seemed rather dry, but the recipe turned out great as is. If my local grocer ever decides to sell sugar-free chocolate chips, I'll add a cup of those. Then maybe I'll reduce the flour. If you want to make these non-diabetic friendly, replace the Splenda with 1 cup of regular sugar and cut the baking powder back to 1 teaspoon.

Ingredients
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1 cup Splenda
1 egg
1/2 cup butter -- melted
1 cup bananas -- mashed (about 3 bananas. Bananas should be overly ripe)
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour -- sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup pecans -- chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degress.

Cream Splenda, egg and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and creamy. Set aside

Combine bananas, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a small bowl.

Add flour mixture (alternating with banana mixture) to sugar mixture, stirring by hand until moistened.

Stir in pecans.

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use muffin liners.

Fill muffin cups two thirds full. Fill any empty muffin cups with water.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 11 muffins.


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Per serving: 219 Calories (kcal); 13g Total Fat; (49% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 336mg Sodium