Dag nab it all. Hubby’s blood sugar is elevated. It’s because of stress and insufficient regular exercise. This time of year is difficult for him; he prefers exercise outdoors and it’s either too sloppy or too cold. He hates going to the gym, end of discussion. Compound this with stressful situations that demand a lot of traveling and irregular eating and it’s a mess. He knew his blood sugar was going off kilter because of abnormal fatigue; thank goodness he doesn’t blow off this kind of symptom.

His cholesterol is probably out of whack, too. It usually is when his sugar’s off.

Time to tighten up the eating habits again. There are usually a few carbohydrate-dense snacks around here because of the kids (they need the extra calories and have been going through growth spurts), but they’re not safe right now.

I started with a menu for the week and shopped according to the menu:

Sunday: Kalua Pork with tossed spinach salad, brown rice (NOT "Kahlua", but "kalua")

Monday: Chili, mixed greens salad

Tuesday: Pulled pork wraps, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Wednesday: Grilled chicken, fried rice, mixed greens salad

Thursday: Tacos, corn-rice-bean salad (add 1/3 cup corn in lieu of cheese in salad recipe; use brown rice)

Friday: Egg FooYung, brown rice

Saturday: Take out (since I won’t be home to cook)

Shopping/pantry list:

Pork loin, lean
Ground beef, extra lean, 1 pound
Textured Vegetable Protein (a.k.a. TVP), equivalent to 1 pound processed
Eggs
Chicken breast
Tofu
Diced tomatoes, canned low salt
Tomato sauce, canned low salt
Brown rice
Red beans, canned
Black beans, canned
Corn, frozen
Low carb tortillas (regular flour or corn tortillas for the kids)
BBQ sauce (optional – for kids)
Vinegar & olive oil, seasoning (for vinaigrette)
Taco seasoning, low salt (make your own if preferred)
Parsley (you may prefer cilantro for salad – I don’t)
Ripe tomatoes (fresh)
Romaine lettuce
Baby spinach leaves
Spring greens
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Mushrooms (fresh, if they look good and don’t cost an arm and a leg)
Bean sprouts
Napa cabbage
Scallions
Ginger root
Garlic
Lime juice
Onions, green pepper, cumin, chili powder (for chili)
Low-fat cheese, shredded and low-fat sour cream for taco garnishment

Be sure to cut away all visible fat from the pork loin before roasting kalua style. Recipe link provided calls for pork butt; a pork loin will work fine if pains are taken to keep meat moist during cooking. If you do not eat pork, try an eye round roast or a brisket; you’ll need to allow more time for cooking since these typically take longer. Serve pork sliced or shredded with a small amount of defatted pan juices.

Use leftover kalua pork on Tuesday, shredding pork and reheating with a small amount of defatted stock. Serve in low carb tortillas as a wrap, seasoning with BBQ sauce (low or no-sugar for spouse, regular for kids). Store any remaining kalua pork in freezer in portion-sized container, covered under defatted stock to prevent freezer burn.

Brown the ground beef into crumbles, rinsing off any fat under hot water. Prepare the TVP using beef broth instead of hot water. Combine both the ground beef and TVP; use half of this mixture for the chili on Tuesday, put the remainder in the refrigerator for the tacos on Thursday. This will reduce the amount of cholesterol in both the chili and tacos. (Hubby will probably skip the cheese, low fat or otherwise.) This early prep work will free up time on Thursday night on my schedule too, reducing cooking time so that I can go to an evening meeting.

Be sure to rinse the beans thoroughly if you are using canned; this will wash away some salt and a lot of extra carbohydrates. Go easy on the corn in the corn-bean-rice salad since it is dense in carbs; use brown rice and not white rice for more fiber and nutrients. Add more tomatoes for fresher taste, lower carbs and another dose of

If you are observing Lent and are not consuming meat on Fridays, prepare the egg foo yung using cubed tofu instead of meat or omit meat. If you would like, you can add any left over grilled chicken or thawed kalua pork to the foo yung. Recipe link to egg foo yung is provided for your use; I make mine without a recipe, using shredded Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, tofu, ginger, scallions and garlic for vegetables. I use oyster sauce thinned with rice wine and broth for a sauce; go easy on the oyster sauce since it is VERY high in sodium. Hubby’s personal egg foo yung will be made using cholesterol-free egg substitute.

That’s as much as I can do personally on the blood sugar and cholesterol front for my hubby. The rest is up to him, including finding a way to squeeze in more exercise.

4:30:57 PM    comment []