Tacos for Diabetics and Bariatric patients

How about a spicy little dish with fewer than 15 grams of carbohydrate per serving?

Can we up the ante by making it light enough and with enough fiber to make it easily digestible for Bariatric patients?

Let's take it a step further and make it high in B vitamins and Iron.

The hardest part of my preparation for the 12 hour cookathon at Harlem Hospital last Saturday (Thank you all for coming) was the recipe development. What appeared to be effortless represented 6 months of preparation and study. Some Dieticians will take a recipe and make 'healthy substitutions' and give you something that tastes like sawdust. My goal is to create recipes that hit you with a wham of good flavor without the fat and sugar. One recipe equals anything from 6 to 30 hours in the kitchen.

And today I have one.

One area I did not touch last Saturday was Mexican food. I was asked specifically by one of the attendees if I would take it on. She told me she LOVED Mexican food but those corn shells and tortillas were a killer. She's right, white flour and corn are two substances to be avoided.

So...I got to work.

This recipes serves 4.

1 lb ground pork (beef, chicken, turkey can be used)
1 large onion minced
1 Roma tomato
A splash of water as needed
Cumin (a lot)
Cinnamon(a touch)
Chili powder (go for it)
Garlic powder (Yes)
Red Pepper (as much as you can stand)
Oregano (a few good shakes)
Smoked Paprika ( for that smoky flavor)
Hot sauce (how hot do you want them?)

1/4 cup mashed pinto beans. (re-fried without fat or mash them with a fork, canned are fine)

Don't panic if you don't have all of those seasonings, use what you have and keep an eye for sales, 99 cent stores and other places to stock up. Diabetics need to have seasoning on hand to keep food from being boring. If all you have it hot sauce start with that.

If you have a food processor buy the inexpensive pork loin chops. They are usually cheaper than the ground pork and you can grind it yourself and save money while getting less fat. This is true for any meat. If you don't have a food processor get the pre-ground but keep an eye out for sales. You don't need a 100 dollar Cuisinart, a 17 dollar chopper from Walgreen's works just fine (It's what I have at home)

Once the meat is removed throw the onion in the pan and turn low stirring to make soft. Water can be added to keep from burning. When the onion is soft add the tomato and the meat back in and start to season.

Shake what you have and taste. You don't have to measure seasoning, most of you have to be careful of too much salt but cumin won't make you retain water.

Add water as needed, you want it a little saucy. Now the beans, mix those in fully.

4 oz cheese

Grate it and put 1/4 on each plate, then put it back into the refrigerator so you are not tempted to go back.

1/4 cup unsweetened yogurt

This is your sour cream substitute, it contains good probiotics which help in digestion.

4 large lettuce leaves (these are your shells)

Divide the meat into 4 portions and spoon onto the leaves, Let each person garnish with the cheese and cream. You can also add 1/2 raw tomato to each plate if you want fresh tomato, and fresh cilantro or even acacado if you have it.

Roll into the leaves and hold carefully. If you eat too fast the filling will fall out, small bites please.

Enjoy, crisp lettuce, cooling cream, tangy cheese. This is dinner perfection.

4 fat lettuce leaves will bring you 478 satisfying calories.

Final day...food stamp/Diabetic challenge

 

I have an extra 2.71, that with my 4.35 gives me 7.06 today.

And thus I had an opulent breakfast.

2 eggs .40
2 Rye Toast .40
4 slices bacon .76 (I got cheap bacon)
Cup of strawberries .50 (Bless the street vendors in NY.)
Total 2.06

I feel so good. Sharp, energetic and ready to take on the world. All because of a good breakfast that any food stamp recipient might want but could not have without making reductions from other meals. 38 grams of carbohydrate and 500 calories. I could use coffee but unless one of the people I am seeing today offers me some it is not on the agenda.

I had soup for lunch. I bought 1 lb of soup bones with some actual meat attached. They stewed and stewed and with a lot of salt became some kind of broth. I added a handful of spinach and 1 oz. of rice noodle.

Worked for me...but I am hungry again and it is only 3:30.

Bones .99
Rice noodles .20
Spinach .39

Total 1.58

I see my tiny surplus melting away.

Dinner was a pear and endive salad. I killed my surplus realizing it was the last day. of my pledge both on the food stamp and diabetic diets.

Pear .89
Endive 1.89

Total 2.78

...and yes at 12:01 a.m. I ate again. A bowl of pasta with fresh tomatoes. I thought I could eat a lot of it, but managed only a few bites with a glass of wine.

Before the pasta only 781 calories with a poor ratio.

Can you live as a Diabetic on a food stamp budget and get both adequate nutrition and calories? Probably not.

Protest the upcoming cuts in programs like this. Demand extra funding for those with medical conditions. WE ARE the United States, the only power the politicians have is the power we give them. 

And do come up to Harlem on Saturday the 19th. I will be blogging and twittering live at the site.

 

Living on a foodstamp budget, the kindness of others

Just a reminder of why I am doing this. Come join me in Harlem on Saturday as I cook for 12 hours. Bring a can of food or a donation to the Harlem Hospital Diabetes program.

I begin my day with 7.56. As hungry as I am I know better than to blow the money. It disappears so quickly.

I cannot explain this, but California early cherries cost less in New York than they do in California. I got 1/4 pound to go with breakfast.
 

Cherries .60
Rye Bread (2).40
Egg .20

Total 1.20

I was given coffee this morning. Roxie made me some and I gladly accepted the kindness of friends.

That small innocuous breakfast blew my carbs out of proportion, though at under 45 grams (barely) they were 45% of my breakfast.

I was shopping for the event with the supervising physician Rhonda Trousdale and missed lunchtime. When we got back to the hospital I was STARVING. I went to the grocery and checked the deli sandwiches 4.95...not happening.

I know from living in Harlem that many of the stores sell bread by the slice. A lot of seniors won't buy a loaf because they eat little and it would mold and go bad. So you can buy a slice for ten cents.

After looking at all the prices I asked the Deli man to sell me a slice of bread and 1/8 pound of liverwurst.

"You want a sandwich?"

"Yes but I have to keep it under 1.48."

"I got you buddy." He carefully weighed out the 2 ounces of liverwurst and put the price on the package then added several more slices to the paper, got the bread slathered it with mayo, cut it in half added lettuce and made me a huge half sandwich that cost 1.40. I must have eaten 6 ounces of liverwurst.

That wonderful, beautiful life giving sandwich bumped my calories way up, (needed calories) and made me feel wonderful, not only because I needed the food but because of the extreme kindness of the Deli man.

That is what I love and miss about Harlem. Folks here know what hard times mean and they always put a hand out. The Deli man didn't know anything about this project when he did that for me. He only knew I was hungry.

Of course I then told him briefly what was going on and left some postcards.

Pool you resources, have a potluck. This can be a great way to eat more on less.

I had dinner with a friend, my total expenditure was 2.25. WAY more than I normally would have had, but my lack of food for the past couple of days allowed it.  I don't know how much he spent, but dinner was wonderful and nutritious and met diabetic guidelines.

We had a warm Kale salad with yellow peppers and two slices of bacon in the warm vinaigrette. This was followed by Atlantic Char with a clam sauce on a bed of Portabello mushrooms. Fish is ideal for people with many health concerns, it is also expensive. Thus the problem. If my friend had not outspent me 5 to 1 I never would have had it.Total 4.85 for the day with 91 grams of carbohydrate, no meal was out of line in any big way. My calories were 1,544.

Check out my nutrition today, compared to yesterday. Without a friend pooling with me and way overspending me I never would have eaten this way.