Felt like writing a bit about some new low-carb stuff I've been doing.

I was diagnosed in 1991 at the age of 3 as a Type 1. Somehow my mom (who is also a Type 1) managed to keep my A1C's around 6 throughout my childhood, which gave me a good head start. By the time I hit my teens, I lost the good numbers through a blend of becoming resistant to the type of insulin I was on and hormones, as well as the desire to experiment with foods.

At 20 I switched insulin to Humalog and Lantus, which was supposed to help. At first it did, then Lantus proved itself to be even worse than my old long acting. I had times where I would take it, and within 15 minutes my blood reading would drop 4 mmol/L (and continue dropping), which was quite scary considering the amounts I had to take the doses in (22 units). I finally escaped this phenomena by getting an insulin pump which runs just Humalog.

However much I play with settings, I have a lot of trouble getting my insulin to cover my carbs. I have a 1 unit:10 carbs ratio (which I believe is wrong and am trying to figure out), and a 1 unit: 2 mmol/L correction factor, which seems to be good for the most part. My sensitives constantly fluctuate throughout the month, and there are times where I take a dose and it will 'disappear' with no effect on my reading.

So of late I've been trying out some low carb ideas, and have finally begun to see the drop in numbers that I have been working very hard for but not attaining. I thought I would share a few recipes here that are working nicely for me :-)

Here are a few to start!

Coconut muffins
modified by me (from http://guidetoglutenfree.com/2011/03/01/stevia-sweetened-coconut-fl... )

2/3 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 cup butter, melted*
1 cup eggwhites
4.5 packets of Stevia
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Water as needed

* Going to try virgin olive oil for next batch....also using eggwhites instead of eggs makes this low in Cholesterol

1) Blend together eggwhites, butter, stevia and salt.
2) Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Add water if needed for a bit
more of a batter texture. I usually add about 3/4 cup, but do it slowly to make sure it's not too loose.
3) Drop batter by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet or drop in muffin pan (makes 9-12 muffins).
4) Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

CARBS: caloriecount says there are 1.5 grams of effective carbs per muffin. The coconut gives a naturally sweet taste, they are pretty delicious!


SUSHI

Good link to check out first if you're not knowledgeable about creating sushi (like me, but I am learning!):
http://www.makemysushi.com/

"Rice" recipe: (modified from http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-70174.html)

2 cups grated cauliflower
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 packet splenda/stevia
Guar Gum (to make everything stick together)

I highly suggest cutting the cauliflower into chunks, then BLENDING it with your food processor. Not to juice; go to a lumpy texture, so it's reminiscent of grains of rice.

1) Put cauliflower in microwavable bowl, and nuke for 90 seconds.
2) Allow to cool, 3 minutes
3) Add rice wine vinegar, sweetener and sprinkle a little guar gum (I tried about a tsp, but play with this just to make the mix
sticky. Stir with a wooden spoon. Taste the mix; if it seems too sweet, add a little vinegar; too sour, add sweetener.

I find this mix tends to be a little damper than rice. I've been considering straining the cauliflower after nuking; like with cheesecloth or paper towel or something. Also, using two sheets of nori helps the roll to not sog completely.

The contents of the roll are up to you! California rolls are great...imitation crab meat, avacado, cucumber. Or BC Salmon rolls-smoked salmon, Philadelphia cream cheese, avacado....I hear tomato works as a filler...tuna...etc!

CARBS: The 2 cups of cauliflower contain somewhere between 2 and 4 grams of effective carbs, from what my research has provided me with; and you can make 2 rolls from the mix. Nori (the seaweed sheet) contains about 1 gram carb, and you use only half a sheet per roll. The fillings are up to you, but in sushi, don't overload the roll...so it's usually very low in carbs too. So each roll for me has been about 3-4 grams of carbs...not bad! Usually have two rolls for dinner.

Hope others enjoy those recipes! Will post more as I try them.