Well let’s see, where do we start?  It seems that food always evolves in one way or another.  By this, I mean that there are new healthy substitutions, new research and new innovative ideas to help us in our food-making adventures.  We are not your average blogger, in fact, we purely and simply love food.  We throw a twist into the mix because food has helped us to progress to a whole other level of health.

I, Erica am Diabetic and have found that through healthy substitutions, I can (almost) eat everything that I want!   Through changing how we prepare our meals, and the types of ingredients we include, it has changed my life.  After taking a series of lab tests and using what is called a Medtronic iPro Diabetes Monitor for four days, my endocrinologist and I reviewed the results together in August of 2013.  She looked at the paperwork and said to me, ‘This is a chart of someone who’s hardly diabetic.  This is fantastic!’.  Music to my ears.  I knew I had done something right!  For me, it was adjusting the simple things and knowing how to use them in your cooking!

For Tom, about three years ago he was in an incredibly sickly state due to his Ulcerative Colitis.  After recovering, and gaining his strength back, he took it one step at a time to get himself to where he wants to be.  When I met Tom, I am pretty sure Chipotle was almost an everyday trip, and eating out for lunch as well.  Granted, Tom is a great cook, but life is busy and we all know how that goes!  Now, as of last July, Tom’s Colitis is in remission due to diet and exercise.  Win!

Here are the ‘rules’ we follow:

1.  You are what you eat. 

I realize this may sound cliche, but it is true.  Eating real, true, unprocessed foods is what is going into our bellies.  ‘Natural’ foods can have multiple meanings.  Does it contain a lot of preservatives?  In the ingredient listing, do you have trouble pronouncing what’s listed?  Do you commonly say, ‘I have no idea what that is!’ when reading it?  Then it is not ‘real’ or ‘natural’.  Foods with the most simple ingredients are safe.

2.  Cooking with healthy alternatives

There is truly a alternative for EVERYTHING these days!  I absolutely love Asian noodles.  It’s a very, very, strong weakness of mine.  I suppose being Chinese-American has something to do with it!  In any case, as much as I would love to eat them every day for every meal, that’s not realistic.  I have found so many different types of alternatives such as tofu noodles, zucchini noodles, of course spaghetti squash.  Some other examples include using coconut oil instead of canola or olive oil, coconut sugar in place of brown sugar, honey instead of white sugar, applesauce instead of oil (baking), almond/coconut/wheat flower instead of white flour – and the list goes on!  Check our our Healthy Alternatives page for pictures and ingredients that we use!

 

3.  Splurge

Honestly, who can stick to a ‘diet’ or regime so strict that it has you craving the worst foods all the time?  There’s no way.  I mean come on, we are human.  I’d be lying to you if I said we never splurge or treat ourselves.  We really do try to eat well during our normal work week – Monday through Friday.  Weekends we allow ourselves to eat out, eat something we don’t normally.  The ONLY requirement here is that we have to eat something we wouldn’t normally prepare – or simply don’t know how to prepare.

4.  Keep reading

Keep up on the news.  Research, do your homework.  I know it may be hard to know fact from fiction but there are many trustworthy resources.  I tend to start my reading from the American Diabetes Association.  Check out www.diabetes.org.

5.  Have fun

Make your cooking and food experiences fun.  Experiment.  Cook with friends and family.  The more the merrier!