Better Breakfast Oatmeal

As I’ve indicated in an earlier blog, my first hand experience with a very medical issues has caused me to change my way of looking at my diet. This resulted in looking at the benefit of eating oatmeal. Since eating oatmeal alone by itself without adding something does not seem possible, I began to look at what I could add that would be benifitual (without the salt and sugar) and taste good. I am also eating a good amount of protien to enhance my metabolism. Since I like meat loaf, I started to looking at make a variation of oatmeal that would taste more like a meat loaf.

It only takes about 10 min. to cook. I start with a quart pot and bring 4 cups of pure water to boil. I then add ½ an onion (this can also be dried onion which I use about a tablespoon worth as measured in the cup of my hand or just dice a regular onion). The next thing I add is the protien (I’ll take anything in the frig. that I need to get rid of; hot dogs, sandwich meat, ground beef, hamburger patties, chicken brest pieces, and so on… I like to also add a little of the Armor Bacon for salads that I can buy pre-cooked from the grocery store), which is usually about a pounds worth and cut into small chunks. I then add a small can of tomatoe soup (if you’re concerned about the salt just use tomatoe sauce, but you’ll need to support your thyroid (with an iodized substitute or another nutrient like kelp)), and boil for a couple of minutes to ensure that the meat will be cooked thoroughly. I then add enough oat meal to thicken and stir until I’m sure it is done, and remove it from the heat. I then mix in pepper and other spices (like crushed red peper) to taste (sometimes I’ll crush a vatamin or calcium tablet and add it in as well.) I then add in a chopped fresh or canned tomatoes. Once in awhile I add a couple of egg whites, or maybe just one whole egg and poach it with a lid on the pot.

A diabetic on a 1600 calorie diet should get 50% of these calories from carbohydrate. This would be a total of 800 calories or 200 gms of carbohydrate (at 4 calories per gram) spread out over the day. At 15 grams per exchange, this would be about 13 exchanges of carbohydrate per day.

The amount of food you eat is closely related to blood sugar control. If you eat more food than is recommended on your meal plan, your blood sugar goes up. Although foods containing carbohydrate (carb) have the most impact on blood sugars, the calories from all foods will affect blood sugar. The only way you can tell if you are eating the right amount is to measure your foods carefully. Also, it is important to space your carbohydrates out throughout the day to avoid sugar “loading.” Measuring your blood sugar regularly also provides important feedback on how high your sugar went based on what you ate and your level of activity.

More on the benifitial ingrediants:

http://health.learninginfo.org/benefits-oatmeal.htm (Six Health Benefits of Eating Oatmeal)

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/news/20080111/heartier-benefits-seen-from-oatmeal (Cholesterol benifit of oatmeal)

http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_heartHealthy/leadHearthealthy/heartHealthyEating/index.cfm (Heart benefit info on Oatmeal)

http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_livingWell/managingDiabetes/article.cfm?articleid=294&ArticleName=Heart_Health_for_People_with_Diabetes (Oatmeal benifit for diabetics)

http://www.essortment.com/all/healthbenefits_rbdh.htm (Health benefits of tomatoes)

http://home.howstuffworks.com/tomatoes4.htm (Health Benefits of Tomatoes)

http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/227/10/845 (Tomato Carotenoids and Their Impact on Health)

http://www.endocrineweb.com/ (Understanding how thyroid issues relate to diabetes)

http://www.endocrineweb.com/diabetes/treatment.html (Treating diabetes)

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/vitaminsupplement/a/iodine.htm (About thyroid iodine requirement)

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/a/howtotake.htm (Taking Kelp)

http://www.thyroid.org/patients/notes/march04/04_03_19.html (Kelp study)

http://next.thyroid.org/professionals/publications/statements/ki/02_04_09_ki_qa.html (Answers about Potassium Iodide)

http://healing.about.com/od/herbaltherapy/a/weightlossherbs.htm (Is seaweed ok for weight loss?)

My Favorite Protien Bar Recipe

http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/healthyrecipes/ht/proteinbar.htm

How To Make Your Own Protein Nutrition Bars

From Adapted from Stella’s Kitchen

Looking for a good protein bar recipe? This makes a meal replacement bar at a mere fraction of the cost of packaged protein bars and none of their glycerin, preservatives, or sugar, these low-fat bars are rich in fiber and taste great with a light spread of natural peanut butter across the top. Served with a protein drink, they make a well-balanced meal.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 20 Minutes

What You Need:

• 3 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 1/2 cups powdered non-fat milk
• 4 scoops low carb chocolate or vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup sugar-free maple syrup (Cozy Cottage, Cary’s or Howard’s)
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 c. natural applesauce

Here’s How:

1. Preheat over to 325 and spray a baking sheet or 9×12 baking dish with non-stick spray. The 9×12 baking dish will yeild thicker bars.
2. Mix oats, powdered milk, and protein powder in bowl and blend well.
3. In separate bowl, combine eggwhites, orange juice, applesauce, and the sugar-free syrup and blend well.
4. Stir liquid mixture into dry ingredients until blended. The consistency will be thick and similar to cookie dough.
5. Spread batter onto pan and bake until edges are crisp and browned.
6. Cut into 10 bars and store in airtight container or freeze.

Nutritional Information Per Bar: Calories-157,Carbs-23g,Protein-15g,Fat-.5g,Fiber-4g

Tips:

If you find you want a moister bar, use 1/2 cup of natural applesauce.

Kitchen Tip for Lowfat Baking:

Did you know you can replace the oil in a recipe with an equal amount of applesauce? Applesauce will add the same moisture of fat but not the added calories and it won’t alter the flavor.