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Cook'n with Betty Crocker 
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Introduction |
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Print this Recipe Introduction to the Brand Name Cookbook Our grandmothers made all their meals from scratch-hot bread at every meal-and there was always a pot of something simmering on the stove. Perhaps our grandmothers had more time than we do now, but we have supermarkets and many more foods to choose from. The supermarket is where we can go for help when we have little time for cooking but still want the great taste of homemade meals. We can buy foods that will give us a head start. Many food products-from chicken broth to frozen entrees-can save us time in the kitchen. It's just a matter of learning how to fit these products into the menus for the day. This cookbook can help. In this book you will find taste-tested recipes from the kitchens of several corporate sponsors of the American Diabetes Association. The brand name food products in these recipes can give you a head start on tasty, healthy meals. In this book you will also find menu suggestions and a shopping list you can copy and take to the grocery store with you. The more time we can save for you, the easier it will be for you to meet your healthy eating goals each day. Why is what you choose to eat important? Every healer since Hippocrates has said that food is our best medicine. We may not be able to buy good health, but we can buy good foods. And "good" foods are the same for everyone! If you have diabetes, you don't need to eat different from everyone else. In particular, eating well helps you to o Gain more control over your blood glucose levels. o Keep your blood fats in a healthy range. o Keep your blood pressure levels in a healthy range. o Lose weight or maintain the weight that's right for you. o Enjoy a variety of foods that give you all the nutrients a healthy body needs. You see, food is powerful medicine indeed. You'll notice from the list above that food affects more than just blood glucose levels. Healthy levels of blood fats and blood pressure are important, too. People with diabetes are more likely to develop heart and blood vessel disease. Cutting back on the amount of fats and oils in your meals and controlling your weight is the best way to keep cholesterol levels within a healthy range. Many of the recipes in this book have been adjusted to give you a lower amount of fat without losing the taste and texture of the dish. People with diabetes are prone to high blood pressure, so one thing you can do is watch how much sodium is in the foods you eat. Of the sodium in most meals, 1/3 comes from processed food, 1/3 from the salt shaker, and 1/3 occurs naturally in foods. Some of the recipes in this book contain more sodium than usual. These recipes have been flagged with a little salt shaker. You can always cut back on the amount of table salt in a recipe and use more herbs and seasonings for flavor. Salt is not used in the water whenever you cook rice or pasta for any of these recipes. What else can you do to be healthy? Hippocrates also said, "Eating well will not, by itself, keep well a person who does not exercise, for food and exercise being opposite in effect, work together to produce health." Eating right and exercising every day help you control your blood sugar, blood fats, and blood pressure. For most people, eating well and exercising daily also bring about weight loss or help you to maintain your weight at a healthy level. Even small weight losses (5-20 pounds) can make a big difference in your blood sugar control. Exercise generally o causes blood sugar to drop, o burns calories, o reduces stress, o improves the way you feel about yourself, o builds and maintains muscle mass, and o improves circulation That's why exercise helps with all of the special health concerns of people with diabetes. (And of everybody else, too.) Do you know what to eat? You should have a meal plan designed for your personal food likes and to fit your daily schedule and exercise. The best way to find out what to eat is to consult a registered dietitian (RD). The RD can help you develop a meal plan to fit you. Your sex, age, weight, and the amount you exercise will influence your calorie needs. The RD can show you the correct sizes of servings and help you practice choosing different foods to fit into your meal plan. Your RD can help you adjust your meal plan if there's been a change in your schedule or lifestyle. Your RD can also help you learn to use the Diabetes Food Pyramid or Exchange Lists of foods to plan your meals. (Pyramid servings and exchanges are given for each recipe in this book.) The Pyramid and You If you want an easy way to remember what foods to eat, use the Diabetes Food Guide Pyramid. It was adapted from the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, and both tell you how to choose your foods for good health. The pyramid idea is simple. Each day choose most of your foods from the larger sections of the pyramid-on the bottom-and a few servings of the foods from the smaller sections on the top. That means that you want to eat more grains, beans, and starchy vegetables than anything else. You add generous helpings of vegetables, and sweeten the day with several pieces of fruit. Servings from these three groups are the foundation of a very healthy pyramid-and good health for you. Sprinkle in a few servings of meat, cheese, or eggs for protein, and 2-3 servings of milk or yogurt each day. You'll notice that sweets, fats, and alcohol are in the point of the pyramid. That's for a good reason. They can be part of your meal plan but you want to have just a little of each. They contribute very few of the nutrients that your body needs. You'll do fine if you try to eat a wide variety of foods each week. High-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans, fill you up and keep your body working as it should. And you want to be aware of how much fat, sugar, and salt are added to your meals. Below are suggestions for foods you can choose in each pyramid group and the correct serving sizes. Following these lists is a chart of the number of servings from each pyramid group you might eat to get a certain number of calories. Of course, your RD will help you adjust the number of calories and meal plan to fit you. We have included the number of pyramid servings in each recipe for you, too. Grains, Beans, and Starchy Vegetables (6 or more servings). A serving of grains, beans, and starchy vegetables can be: 1 slice bread 1/2 small bagel, English muffin, pita bread, hamburger or hot dog bun 1 6-inch tortilla 4 to 6 crackers 1/2 cup cooked cereal, pasta, bulgur, or rice 3/4 cup dry cereal 1/2 cup cooked beans, lentils, peas, or corn 1 small potato 1 cup winter squash 1/2 cup sweet potato or yam Vegetables (3-5 servings). A serving of vegetables can be: 1 cup raw vegetables 1/2 cup cooked vegetables 1/2 cup tomato or vegetable juice Fruits (3-4 servings). A serving of fruit can be: 1 small fresh fruit 1/2 cup canned fruit 1/4 cup dried fruit 1/2 cup fruit juice Milk (2-3 servings). A serving of milk can be: 1 cup milk 1 cup yogurt Meat & Others (2-3 servings). A serving of meat or a meat substitute can be: 2 to 3 oz cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish 1/2 to 3/4 cup tuna or cottage cheese 2 to 3 oz cheese 1 egg 2 Tbsp peanut butter Fats, Sweets, & Alcohol. A serving of fat can be: 1/8 avocado 1 Tbsp cream cheese or salad dressing 1 tsp butter, margarine, oil, or mayonnaise 10 peanuts A serving of sweets can be: 1/2 cup ice cream 1 small cupcake or muffin 2 small cookies If you choose to drink alcohol, limit the amount to one or two glasses of wine, beer, or whiskey, and always have it with a meal. Alcohol can make your blood glucose drop rapidly, so it is very important that you eat when you have something to drink. Check with your dietitian or health care provider about a safe amount of alcohol for you. Does it matter when you eat? Timing your meals and snacks helps diabetes medications work better and keeps your blood sugar levels from rising or falling drastically. Here are some general guidelines for you: Spread meals and snacks evenly throughout the day. Eat at about the same times every day. Don't skip meals or save foods from one meal for another meal. One other important tip is: At each meal, try to eat the same amount of food that you ate at that meal the day before. (You don't have to eat the same food, but choose the same number of servings from that food group.) Eating a consistent amount of food makes it easier for you to predict what your blood glucose level is going to do. How much should you eat? This is probably the trickiest part of meal planning and the easiest part to do something about. First, eat all the servings from each food group on your meal plan. Second, do you think your servings are the right size? Only one way to find out-weigh or measure them. If you don't already have these, get yourself a set of measuring spoons and cups and an inexpensive food scale. You cannot know whether your servings are the right size if you don't measure or weigh them. Eyeballing only works after you practice measuring and eating the correct sizes for a few weeks. If you eat servings that are too large, you will not be able to control your blood glucose as well as you would like, and weight gain may puzzle you, too. Are these budget stretching meals? Any time you do your own cooking at home, you save money. If you use brand name products to help you get a meal together quickly, you're still saving money over eating in a restaurant or having carry-out food. If you use a lot of one particular product, it may be less expensive to buy larger size containers of that brand. Cooking in large batches and freezing meals to reheat later will save you time and money. Planning your menus to use up the foods you have on hand prevents waste and that saves you money. Ethnic foods, such as Chinese or Mexican dishes, with a lot of a grain like rice and a little protein--meat, beans, cheese, or eggs-will stretch your dollar, too. And they're right on target with the pyramid way to eat, too! How can you change the way you eat now? Take it one step at a time. Don't try to change the habits of a lifetime in one week. Focus on just one change, for example eating more grains each day. Over time try to eat a wider variety of foods. Let your motto be: Try it, you might like it. Don't avoid a food just because you didn't like it when you were 5 years old. Or you might like a food if it is prepared a new way. Be creative-experiment with different recipes and foods. You can only benefit from your discoveries. What about desserts There is no truth to the myth about people with diabetes and sugar. You can eat sugar. You won't upset your blood glucose levels, if you can modify desserts to fit into your meal plan. You could change one ingredient to reduce fat or use sugar substitutes instead of sugar. Or simply eating a smaller serving can help you fit sweets into your day. Wherever you are dining on the pyramid, take your time and enjoy! Tips to try for having dessert in your day. o Eat a smaller portion of your favorite dessert to enjoy the taste you love without overdoing the calories. And you will have leftovers to enjoy tomorrow. o When preparing desserts, use reduced-fat or no-fat substitutes for any sour cream, cream cheese, or whipped toppings. o Check the serving size for the recipe. Sometimes the picture with the recipe is quite a bit larger than the actual serving size. o Go fruity. Use more fresh fruits as toppings on frozen desserts or puddings. o You can sweeten fruit and other foods with sugar substitutes in place of table sugar. In conclusion Each of us needs to be creative. Preparing the food that you need to eat to live can be a very creative activity. So, get into the kitchen, get creative, and start enjoying your meals from start to finish just like Granny did. This recipe comes from the Cook'n collection. Try Cook'n for FREE!
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