Sometimes I say yes

It often seems to me that I am constantly saying “no” to myself when it comes to managing my diabetes.  “No, don’t eat that.”  “No, you can’t skip exercise.”  “No, eating peanut butter pie for dinner is not a good idea.  Honestly Kate, what are you thinking?”  (I really do talk to myself a lot.)  I’m beginning to feel like the mother of an inquisitive toddler again; a toddler who is constantly doing things they shouldn’t.  It sucks to always say no.

I’m really not feeling deprived, at least not to the point where I’m angry or sad or depressed, but I do wonder if I’m not doing myself some sort of harm by denying myself things that I want; things that seem important.  At least they seem important at the time.  It feels as if, every time I tell myself no, that I’m adding pressure to some big balloon that will eventually explode all over me, raining regrets and prompting a rebellion that would most certainly be ugly.  What’s the best way for me to fix this without totally derailing my efforts?

Sometimes I say yes.

Today is a prime example.  For some unknown reason, I found myself pining for cereal.  I don’t know what it is exactly that makes me want to eat cereal.  Maybe it’s harking back to my childhood; comfort food.  Maybe I’m just lazy and want something quick and easy to eat.  Maybe I just like the way it tastes!  It doesn’t really matter why; the desire to eat cereal is there but it’s been a loooong time since I’ve eaten any.  I always tell myself no, for obvious reasons.  My body can’t handle carbs in the morning, as I wrote about here, so it seems ridiculous to even consider cereal.  Call me ridiculous; I had raisin bran for breakfast.  Today I said yes.

I know that you’re dying to know how it turned out, so I’ll tell you.  (You’re welcome) It was a complete and utter disaster.  Big surprise!  I spiked to 198 at 1 hour after eating 1 cup of raisin bran with almond milk.  Oh my.  So how am I feeling now that this episode has ended?  Liberated.  Satisfied.  Content. (and hungry).

First of all, I didn’t freak out when I saw the 198 on my meter.  In fact, I expected it.  (This is a huge difference from my reaction to spiking after spaghetti squash back in July.  Silly me.)  I power walked for 30 minutes and 2 hours after eating, my glucose was 98.  (I <3 powerwalking).  The fact that I was way too hungry, way too soon after eating is a reminder that I need protein for breakfast.  Cereal just doesn’t cut it.  These are good reminders to me of why I do what I do, so I’m happy.  I gained some insight, yet again, and I slayed the “I want some cereal” dragon.  I won’t be wanting any more for quite some time and that in itself was worth it all. 

Sometimes when we allow ourselves to “splurge” we gain so much more than we might lose.  This morning’s spike was just one number in a vast amount of numbers that I’ll look at throughout my life with diabetes.  One higher number doesn’t mean anything.  Repeatedly eating foods that cause higher numbers means a lot; it can be destructive.  I let myself give in to the nagging want and now it’s gone.  I can quit thinking about cereal and move on to more important things…like cheesecake or chocolate…or both of them together. 

Sometimes I say yes, and my world is just a little better for it.

Scary Moment

You know that moment when you suddenly realize that something is happening that you feared would happen?  It’s like realizing that a bad dream is actually happening and you aren’t sleeping.  Scary.  This happened to me yesterday.  It wasn’t the “oh my word, this horrible thing is actually happening and now I’m freaking out, running around in circles and screaming” kind of scary.  It was the “tingling on the back of your neck like someone is behind you and staring, slow and creepy, and I don’t want to turn around” kind of scary.  It just snuck up on me.

Plants vs Zombies

When I began to lower my carb intake and truly get a grip on my eating habits, I was so pleased.  I seemed to be able to shun “bad” food choices and curbed my snacking frenzies without much issue.  It was almost too easy.  In the back of my mind I was concerned that the “frenzied snacker” would return, especially during the winter months when I’m stuck in the house more often. You know: that gotta have the comfort food season. I think I even blogged about it at some point. I hoped that I would have lived this new way of eating lifestyle long enough before winter hit to be able to handle that part of my previous eating habits without a problem.  Then came yesterday.

Sometime during the afternoon I realized that I was constantly thinking about food and wondering what there was in the house that I could snack on.  I kept grazing, eating “whatever” and not for good reasons, ie: I wasn’t hungry but I just wanted something to eat.  I decided to try one of the snack bars that we purchased for Ray even though I knew that they had more carbs than I should eat for a snack.  One of them is dipped in chocolate and Ray isn’t fond of chocolate (how can that be?) so I figured I’d eat one since I didn’t want them to go to waste.  See what a good doobie I am?  The problem was that I picked the wrong one and didn’t get the chocolate dipped variety.  Oh well, I ate it anyway…then I grabbed a chocolate one on my way to my mom’s house and ate it too.  Not only did I eat one of the too-many-carbs bars, but I ate two of them!  When it dawned on me what I was doing I felt awful and sneaky and defeated.  I was afraid that all the hard work I had put in to revamp my eating habits had flown out the window.  I know, one splurge does not mean the end, but I know myself and it seemed as if I was slipping.  Scary.

“Slip sliding away, slip sliding away

You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away”

There are a million reasons why yesterday happened.  Well, maybe more like several reasons. Hormonal?  Maybe.  Weather change?  Meh.  (Yesterday was rainy and dreary and about 15 degrees colder.  It felt like fall had arrived.) I think it’s more that nothing is ever easy or simple and we will always be faced with food choices for the rest of our lives.  Sometimes we’ll fight the good fight and other times we’ll slip.  So what?  It’s life, folks.  Life isn’t perfect and neither are we.  That might sound depressing but today it feels empowering. “It is never easy…it is a choice.” Colette Nelson, body builder.  I read this in an article on Diabetes Daily and it really stayed with me.  I have a choice.  I may not always make the right choice but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.

Today I’m shaking off the bad dream I experienced yesterday and chocking it up to “one of those days”.  One day does not make a trend but the months I have put into changing my eating habits does.  I’m going to focus on that and just let yesterday slip slide away. I’m not nearing my destination, I’ve arrived.  I am living a healthier lifestyle now, one that I’ve chosen.  It’s never easy but the struggle won’t cause me to quit.

The Great Zucchini Experiment

Yesterday, in an effort to reduce the carbs I’ve been eating and still eat some of my favorite foods, I experimented with some zucchini recipes that I’ve been eyeing. I thought I’d share my observations and results with you.

First, I miss pizza…A LOT.  As unhealthy as it is, I still crave Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust, veggie lover’s pizza.  MmmmMMMMmmmm.  All that carby/greasy goodness in the crust!  My mouth is actually watering while I type.  Even though I occasionally dream about pizza, I haven’t eaten any in a long, long time.  Today I made pizza with a zucchini crust.  I’ve heard about making a crust with cauliflower but I had never tried it, mostly because Ray doesn’t like cauliflower and I’d prefer to find something that we would both enjoy.  I followed this recipe to the letter.  Once I baked it for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, I added my sauce and toppings and cooked it for another 10 minutes at 425.  The pizza was too “soft” to pick up and eat so it was eaten with a fork.  I’m not complaining, it was yummy!!  Ray liked it too.  I think next time I make it, I will turn the crust over and put the toppings on the brown side and let the other side brown while the toppings cook.  That might fix the “gooiness” of the crust.  My glucose before eating was 111 and 1 ½ hours later it was 114 after eating about 1/3 of the pizza.  Score!  The entire crust only has 9 grams of carbs and there is no way I could eat more than I did.  In fact, I was stuffed but it tasted sooooo good!  This recipe is a complete success.  I will have pizza for breakfast tomorrow!  Double Score!!

I fixed Ray something for dinner that I don’t normally eat so I decided to try out the other zucchini idea that I’ve read about.  I bought a julienne slicer and used it to make zucchini “pasta”, ie: using strips of zucchini in place of pasta.  I julienned 1 zucchini and placed it in my sauce along with 3 turkey meatballs.  Simmer and eat!  Pretty damn simple. My bg before eating was 100 (woot!!) and 1 ½ hours after eating it was 129.  I’ll take that any day of the week!  (Side note: it was the sauce that caused the increase this time.  I used the same sauce as I did on the pizza but, of course, I ate much more.  I have this same issue when I eat sauce on spaghetti squash.)  Did it taste like pasta?  No, silly people, it’s zucchini.  The thing is that the pasta is just a vehicle for the sauce, right?  This method worked just fine.  The texture was nice and I really enjoyed the meal.  In fact, I was stuffed all day.  I need to pare down the portions in the future.  If I was making this for more people I would sauté the zucchini in garlic-infused olive oil instead of heating it up in the sauce.  Just a couple of minutes should do the trick.  I wonder if I could use strips of zucchini in place of pasta in a lasagna…hmmmm.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the Great Zucchini Experiment.  I just wish I had actually planted some squash this year.  :/  I hope you enjoy these meals as much as I did.  They are definitely now on my list of go-to foods. Bon Appetit!

Develop a Healthy Lifestyle for Type 2 Diabetes, a guest post

Diabetes is a serious disease that can be the source of a wide variety of complications. If you've been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, you should have been informed of the risks by your health care professional. So, you've been given the bad news, but here is the good news: There is a lot you can do to minimize the effects of this disease and help ward off its potential complications. By learning the basics of diabetes health, you can become skilled at managing diabetes, rather than letting the disease manage you.

Eat Well

The first step in developing a healthy lifestyle for type 2 diabetes management or prevention is a healthy eating plan. That means limiting some things in your daily diet, such as sugars and starches, to maintain healthy blood-glucose levels, but also saturated fats and salt, in order to reduce the risk of some of the more dangerous potential complications of diabetes like heart disease and high blood pressure. 

Processed foods, like canned or frozen meals, tend to be high in salt, fat and sugars, so avoiding them in favor of fresh foods is wise. Among the foods you'll want to eat more of are fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and complex carbohydrates. These foods are nutrient dense and low in calories — the perfect combination for the person striving to gain consistent control over diabetes or pre-diabetes. Seeing a licensed nutritionist can help you devise a sound eating plan for optimal diabetes health.

Get Active

Physical activity offers a wide range of benefits for diabetes health, as well as enhancing overall health and well-being. Regular exercise can lower blood glucose levels, decrease blood pressure, fight insulin resistance and reduce your risk of heart failure and stroke. It will also give you more energy, improve mood and reduce body fat. Reaping the benefits of regular exercise doesn't mean you have to join a gym and spend your days sweating it out on machines. Choose activities that you enjoy, and you'll find it easier to stick with your daily exercise goals. Walking, bike-riding, swimming — it doesn't matter what you do, so long as you get moving. However, it is important to talk to your health care provider before you begin any new exercise plan.

Medications

If you have been prescribed medications, it is essential that you take them as directed, since they are necessary to keep your diabetes under control and minimize its effect on your overall health. However, many people with type 2 diabetes are able, by sticking to a healthy eating plan and getting regular exercise, to reduce or even eliminate the need for diabetes medications. This is a goal that everyone with diabetes should strive for, since these medications, as helpful as they are, do not come without risks. 

For instance, Actos, a widely used diabetes drug, carries the risk of several serious side effects, such as increased risk of heart failure, bladder cancer and vision problems. These side effects are most prominent in patients taking larger doses over a longer period of time, so using diet and exercise to reduce your dependence on medication can significantly reduce the risks of harmful effects.

The most important thing to remember is that, while it is a serious condition, diabetes or pre-diabetes is not the end of the world. It just means that you'll have to set your mind on taking better care of yourself. Learning about diabetes heath and making some simple lifestyle changes can help you control diabetes and avoid those complications you've been hearing so much about, ensuring that you can go on living a healthy, active life.

Elizabeth Carrollton writes about defective medical devices and dangerous drugs for Drugwatch.com.

The sea did not part, no water to wine

Back in July I wrote about how I’ve lowered my carb intake and have actually had great success without feeling deprived at all.  It is time in the plan that I’ve been following to begin to add carbs back into my diet in a slow and controlled way.  Yay!!  I began this phase on Monday and I was so excited to be able to eat some of the carbs I’ve been missing.  Last week I wrote about how I’ve been expecting perfection and I felt it was necessary for me to get past that before I began this next phase.  I needed to realize that a post prandial reading of 140 is ok!  It didn’t take me very long to change my thinking and relax about my glucose readings, which is a good thing because this week has been a rollercoaster ride!

I decided that I wanted to know exactly how the addition of carbs was affecting my glucose so I tested like a maniac, about 10 times per day.  Even though I was eating foods that I had previously been able to tolerate, the playing field had changed and I needed to again determine how my glucose would react.  

Let me insert here that it is extremely important for people with T2 to occasionally retest meals.  Even if you are able to tolerate a certain amount of pasta or bread or an apple now doesn’t mean that you will always be able to tolerate them.  Diabetes can progress and either your insulin production can decrease or your insulin resistance can increase.  It’s important to spot check from time to time.  Don’t assume!

Ok, beginning on Monday I was supposed to eat roughly 15 grams of carbs at each meal and before bedtime.  These carbs would be in addition to any non-starchy vegetables I was eating, ie: whole wheat bread, fruit, beans etc.  It was interesting to me that it was a bit difficult to figure out what to eat!  I didn’t really want the carbs…I know, weird.  I won’t bore you with all the gory details but let me say that my glucose did not perform as it should, based on what this plan says.  I was prepared to be ok with 140 after breakfast but I was not prepared to deal with 198!  Yup, my glucose spiked to 198 an hour after eating 2 pieces of low-carb toast with cream cheese and ham.  I started at 119.  I exercised for 30 minutes and it dropped to 80.  It was a rollercoaster of the worst kind.  I stuck with the plan all week but soon came to the conclusion that this just isn’t working for me.  I know, it takes a sledgehammer to the head for me to wake up.

I’ve decided to can the plan.  Beginning today I’m going to go back to eating what I know I can eat to maintain good glucose control.  Here’s the cool thing: if I hadn’t tried this plan I would never have realized that I can eat low carb and be satisfied!  This experiment was done to lower my fasting readings, which it did not do, however I still gained some invaluable experience and knowledge about myself during the process.  From today forward I will eat “no carb” breakfasts because, obviously, my body can’t handle morning carbs.  I will eat beans and fruit and low carb bread or tortillas throughout the day…if I want to.  I will not fear the carbs but I will control how many/what kind I eat at times that my body can handle them.

This has been an interesting experiment that I hope some of you will also learn lessons from, as in: 

·       There isn’t any one way to control diabetes that works for everyone.  This plan probably works really well for some people but it didn’t work for me.  That doesn’t make it a failure (or me either, for that matter).

·       No one can tell you what to eat or how to exercise in order to control your diabetes.  Only YOU can decide based on your own experimentation and glucose testing.  It’s ok to try out different ideas that you’ve researched but don’t expect them to be miraculous.

·       If something isn’t working for you, then STOP!  I could have continued this plan thinking that maybe things would straighten out eventually but I realized that I have no desire to deal with such high glucose readings that I know aren’t good for me.  I’ve had enough.

From today forward I am again in control of what I will eat.  No plan is dictating to me how many carbs I will eat or when I will eat them.  Kate is again free and it feels damn fine.  I am in control and I’m confident that I will steer this ship on a reasonable course and still allow for a few side trips that include a splurge now and then.

What I do, because I have to

It happened again today, twice.  That frustration I feel when someone belittles type 2 diabetes; that emotion that comes over me when I feel like I have to defend myself and my condition.  The anger that transforms me into something akin to The Hulk; the beast who goes about trying to educate the uninformed and setting straight the idiots.  I’m tired of it.  In fact, I was so tired of it today that it made me just want to quit trying, but I can’t.  The bottom line is that it doesn’t effing matter why/how I got type 2 diabetes and it doesn’t matter how anyone else got it either!  We have it.  It’s here.  We have to deal with it just like anyone who has type 1.

I have the utmost respect for people who are dealing with type 1 diabetes.  I ache for those children who live with it and can barely understand what their parents are going through each and every day.  I know that without insulin these people will die.  I fully understand the severity of their disease.  The problem is that there is such a stigma attached to type 2 diabetes that our struggles and needs can often be underplayed.  There are real consequences for us when we don’t toe the line.  No, we aren’t going to die today if we don’t follow our plan but we are faced with very real complications down the road if we don’t pay attention, just like someone with type 1.

I can’t stop blogging and advocating for people with diabetes, no matter the type.  What I can do is attempt to educate and inform through this blog and my contact with others on social media.  The best thing I can do is to be the best damned type 2 I can be and show the naysayers what someone with T2 can look like.

I don’t use insulin, although I may need to someday.  There are many PWD, T2 who do use insulin so they are just as able to have to deal with scary lows and other issues associated with insulin use, just like someone with T1.  Those of us who are attempting to control our diabetes with oral medication, diet and exercise still have stuff we have to do each and every day.  It’s certainly not just avoiding soda and popping a pill.  As I said before, if we flub it up we won’t die today, but that doesn’t negate the necessity to be cognizant of what we’re doing and why.

Someone who uses insulin must calculate their carb intake and bolus (inject insulin) accordingly.  After they eat, they have to test their blood glucose to be sure they calculated correctly or that their activity level didn’t muck things up.  If they experience a high glucose reading they can bolus to correct it.  It’s so important to keep blood sugars from rising too high and staying there or complications could arise.  So what can someone who doesn’t use insulin do if their glucose rises out of range?  Not too damn much.  We can drink mass quantities of water, like Rachel talks about here, or we can quickly start exercising…if we aren’t at work or in the middle of a meeting or any of the other myriad of situations where exercising isn’t an option.  That’s about it.  Our options are very limited. 

So what can we do?  We can be extremely careful about what we eat.  We have to test, test, test to find out how our bodies handle certain foods so we can avoid eating something that will cause our blood glucose to spike.  There is much talk about how people with diabetes can eat anything in moderation but that’s not necessarily true for those of us who have T2 and wish to have tighter control over our glucose.  I was once one of those people who thought I could eat anything, just read my early blog posts to see that.  But I’ve come to realize in my quest to educate myself that I actually can’t eat just anything in moderation.  If I do give into temptation and eat something that I’ve previously determined will spike my sugar then I’m stuck with higher glucose running through my veins, doing damage; killing me slowly.  Sounds peachy, doesn’t it?

I know that those of us who don’t use insulin can splurge now and then.  I even encourage people to do that, within reason.  However, I have come to a point in my life with diabetes where staying healthy as long as possible is more important to me than eating something yummy.  So each and every day, I test multiple times, I carefully plan what I’m going to eat, I exercise for 30 minutes and I hope that what I’m doing will help me have a happy, healthy old age with all my appendages intact and my sight good enough to enjoy life.  So tell me please, how is that any less important than what someone who has type 1 has to do?  The consequences may not be immediate but they’re no less important.

Expecting Perfection

We’re only human.  All we can do is our best.  It’s only a number.  Perfection isn’t possible.  These are all things that I’ve either said on my blog, in one way or another, or agreed with on Twitter or used to encourage someone else on Facebook and I truly believe them all.  That makes it difficult for me to understand why I seem to expect perfection when it comes to my own diabetes.

I’ve been following a plan for the last two months that has me experiencing wonderful glucose readings.  I’ve lost some more weight and I feel great most of the time!  Yay!  I’m about to begin the next phase of this plan which will have me slowly introducing carbs back into my diet.  Up until now, the only carbs I’ve been eating come from non-starchy vegetables and an occasional slice of bread or bit of couscous.  A week ago I was honestly afraid of this next phase.  I figured that my glucose would again be “out of control” and I’d lose the wonderful ground that I’ve gained.  I’m a little calmer now and ready to again eat berries and beans (but not together).  I know that I can do this and I have a plan.  I will prevail!

I’ve done a lot of soul-searching today, for some reason, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been treating my D, and the tight control of it, almost like a religion.  I eat and breathe carb control and glucose testing.  I am constantly thinking about it!  I don’t like what I’ve come to realize today.  I don’t like this “fanatical Kate”.  I’ve been inwardly seeking perfection.  I’m a dolt.

One of the reasons that I’ve been looking forward to the second phase of this plan is that I don’t want to lead a restrictive life.  I want to be able to eat a sandwich or pepper stuffed with beans.  I want to have an occasional enchilada.  I want a little more freedom.  Yes, I’ve been perfectly satisfied with the low carb diet I’ve been following but it feels too restrictive.   Along with the increase in carbs I’m about to pursue I am hoping to find a better attitude toward my D control.  My D control is controlling me.  Kate feels restricted.  Kate needs a bit of freedom.  Kate needs to relax.

I’ve become too concerned about my glucose readings and have actually felt stress when the numbers were higher than I thought they ought to be.  I think that deep down inside I felt that my glucose should always be normal because I wasn’t eating a ton of carbs.  That’s just stupid.  Hello!  I have diabetes!!  Like I said: a dolt.  The only way I’ll be able to be successful during this next phase is if I realize that a reading of 140 after dinner is perfectly acceptable.  I will be testing more in order to see how my body is handling the added carbs, but I need to relax and just let the numbers be what they are.

It’s time to take my own advice. I’m only human.  All I can do is my best.  It’s only a number.  Perfection isn’t possible.  Are you listening Kate?

♫ We Have Diabetes ♫

with a nod to Helen Reddy

We have diabetes, hear us roar in numbers too big to ignore, and we won’t give up and let it get us down.

We check our glucose and take our meds, we count the carbs that’s in our bread and we take charge of our health because we care.

Yes, we are sweet but it’s not sweetness from anything we did.  No we didn’t eat too much sugar, just listen while we explain.  If we have to, we can do anything!  We are strong.  We are individuals.  We have diabetes!

We stand united in our cause because we’re more than worth the fight and we’ll keep trying to educate as best we can.  We’re all unique, and yet the same, we handle life and deal with pain.  Our paths are different but the goal is still the same.

Yes, we take shots but we’re not to be disdained.  Yes we’ll pay the price if we don’t do what we need.  If we have to, we can do anything!  We are strong.  We are individuals. We have diabetes!

Blame our pancrei, blame our resistant cells but don’t assume it’s all our fault, we don’t deserve to be looked down upon.  We know what we need to do it’s not your job to see us through.  Stand by us but let us deal with it our way!

No, we aren’t sick and we do live good lives.  Yes sometimes it’s hard but we’re worth all of the fight.  We are awesome, we can do anything!  We are strong.  We are individuals.  We have diabetes!

Revamped Recipes

I apologize for the wonky margins in this post but adding all the links caused havoc and I'm too lazy to figure out why.

I’m fond of taking recipes and tweaking them to either make them healthier or fit better into our tastes.  Since I have been eating very low carb for the last couple of months I decided to look at a couple of my favorite recipes and see if I couldn’t make them friendlier to my new carb levels.  I’ve had some success so I thought I’d share with you.

I’ve written before about my love for this quiche recipe that was originally posted by Kim at Texting my Pancreas.  I have made some changes to this recipe as follows:

·       In order to make it lower in carbs I eliminated the crust all together.  If you spray your pie plate with cooking spray, it doesn’t stick and comes out just fine.

·       I use roughly 1/3 cup bacon bits instead of cooking the bacon and crumbling it.

·       I use 2% sharp cheddar cheese.

·       I replaced the low-fat milk with unsweetened almond milk. (also lowers the carbs)

·       I add spinach.  You can use fresh spinach leaves or frozen chopped spinach that you thaw (be sure to squeeze out the water!)

This remains one of my favorite recipes.  Thanks Kim!

Almond-crusted chicken

I found a recipe for Almond-crusted Chicken on Yahoo and tweaked it like this:

·       I replaced the panko bread crumbs with ½ cup of almond flour.

·       I baked it in the oven for 45 min – 1 hour at 350 degrees instead of pan-frying it.

I used the buttermilk, egg, chopped almonds and rosemary as directed and skipped the rest.  This chicken was good!  It was very moist and tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside.  The only “downside” to this is that almond flour is freakin expensive! However, I’ve decided that the lower carbs are definitely worth it.

Speaking of almond flour…A woman named Jeanne Wagner on the Diabetes Daily website forums posted a recipe for low carb pancakes.  I made them and really enjoyed having a “bready” breakfast for a change with hardly any affect on my blood glucose.  I did tweak it slightly.  This recipe makes roughly 6 pancakes.  Jeanne says she makes a lot and keeps them in the fridge.
 

2 eggs, 4T unsweetened almond milk, 1T vanilla extract, 1T Davinci syrup (any flavor), 1 cup almond flour, 1/8 tsp salt, ½ cup ground flaxseed, 1/8 tsp baking soda.  Mix everything together.  Spray your griddle/pan with cooking spray.  They do take longer to brown than conventional pancakes.

When I made these I decided that this would also make great muffins, so I tried them today.  It worked!  I used the same ingredients and measurements, adding about ½ cup of walnuts.  I baked them at 400 degrees for approx.. 12 min. and it made 8 muffins.  The neat thing about making them into muffins is you can add whatever you like and make them different.  They would be really good with cinnamon and raisins, or berries, or whatever sounds good to you.  They remind me of bran muffins, but without all the sugar and stuff.  Only 5 carbs per muffin as listed.

I wrote here about my love for this Peanut Butter Pie.  It’s too good. (original recipe) I decided to try to lower the carbs and I’m not convinced it was successful.  There is a slight “bitter” taste and I can’t decide if it’s coming from the Stevia or the type of peanut butter I used.  I’m gonna share it here anyway and you can decide for yourself.  Here is how I tweaked it further:

Low Carb Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz. cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat variety)

1 cup Peanut butter (I use crunchy).  It should be the no sugar added variety.

1 cup unsweetened almond milk.

½-3/4 cup sweetener (I used Stevia but Splenda would work)

Mix it all together with a mixer until well blended.  Put into ½ cup plastic containers w/lids and freeze.  Makes 7 servings. approx 10 carbs per serving.

Bon Apetit!