You know the story. A mom teaches her daughter how to roast a ham and cuts off one end before placing the meat in a pan. The daughter asks why it's necessary to cut off the end, and mom explains that this is how grandma always did it. An inquiry into grandma's method reveals that grandma always snipped the end 'cause her pan wasn't big enough! Not exactly a tradition worth passing along after all.
Sometimes patterns need re-assessing. Just a few blog posts ago, I described the zen-like state I acquire when creaming butter and sugar to create certain sweet masterpieces like chocolate chip cookies. I've been baking since high school and basically drool at the prospect of tasting the warm gooey mess of a freshly baked cookie.
Enter a very strange illness a few weeks back that had my doctor and two of her colleagues stumped. Two different rashes and nausea had me thinking for a moment that I might get to be the subject of the New York Time's Sunday magazine section called Diagnosis. For Grey's Anatomy wannabees, this is the opportunity each week to piece together a string of symptoms so that you can help cure what are often very debilitating illnesses. Only at the end of each article is the true diagnosis revealed and normalcy returned to the patient.
Honestly, my symptoms were way too wimpy to be written up, but in trying to figure out what was going on, my doctor ordered a blood draw to make sure I had neither MRSA nor shingles among other potential diagnoses. In the end, every test that was run came up empty. The nausea went away and the rashes are slowly fading. But the blood test did reveal one thing: my glucose levels are higher than they should be. I had received the same results a year ago after my annual check-up, and my doctor sent a note saying, "Everything looks great. Just make sure you get regular exercise and eat healthy foods." Check and check.
For the past six months I have truly double-checked the exercise box, so why are my levels still high? Perhaps I needed to really look at this sugar thing in my diet. According to the American Health Association, most females should consume no more than 20 to 25 grams of sugar a day. Men get a bonus 10 added to their total. Moments after reading that fact, I went to make a sandwich and learned that two slices of the bread in our pantry (the whole grain kind that LOOKS really healthy) would already use up 10 of those grams! Whoa, maybe I really do need to look at this sugar thing because those little "-ose" molecules (think sucrose, glucose, fructose) are EVERYWHERE. That innocent freshly-baked cookie I drooled over a few moments ago? 10 grams. And does any baker truly just eat one? No need to answer that one.
So right now I am on a self-imposed very low sugar binge. Notice I didn't say NO sugar. I am not that much of a glutton for punishment. For the first time ever, I baked a small batch of cookies (for my husband -- I hope he recognizes the extreme sacrifice) without eating a single one. I have never done that. And I have lived to tell the tale. I have to say that my metabolism is a lot more stable these days. My 11am/4pm hunger crash is just a mere dip, and I have shed a few pounds. More surprisingly, though, I really don't crave sugar as I used to. This was a rumor I thought could not possibly be true, but it is. Now I admit that after a particularly hard workout the other day, I had visions of blueberry muffins dancing around my head, but I resisted. How virtuous art I. In truth, it's just curiosity about my one-subject study that makes it much easier to resist. I have my annual physical in a few weeks, and I am so curious to see how my glucose levels are fairing in my taste buds' new environment.
As a result of this dietary shift, I can't exactly offer much in the way of new cocktails or baking feats. No, I must stick to a healthier path at the moment. But I can share a tasty egg muffin recipe that has not an ounce of "-ose". The recipe makes 12 eggy muffins but could easily be doubled for a crowd. The best part, honestly, is that the leftovers can easily sit in the refrigerator for up to a week. Microwaved for roughly a minute, they are a tasty breakfast or mid-morning snack. Enjoy!
Green Chili Egg Muffins
Makes one dozen
8 eggs
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles, drained
3/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground pepper
1 cup cooked sausage or bacon, broken into small bits ( meat is optional, of course, but spicy Italian sausage is a delicious addition)
1/2 diced green onion
Preheat oven to 375.
If your muffin tins are on the older side, spray or butter them lightly so the muffins don't stick.
In each muffin tin, add the green chiles (about 1 t in each) and then sprinkle the cheese and green onion evenly among the muffin cups.
In a large bowl (preferably one you can easily pour from) combine the eggs, thyme, salt, pepper, and cooked sausage or bacon. Mix well and then pour this mixture into the muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake for 25 minutes (until lightly browned on top) and then allow them to cool for 5 minutes or so before serving.
As I mentioned, you can save the extra in the refrigerator for up to a week for a tasty treat sans sucre.
Sometimes patterns need re-assessing. Just a few blog posts ago, I described the zen-like state I acquire when creaming butter and sugar to create certain sweet masterpieces like chocolate chip cookies. I've been baking since high school and basically drool at the prospect of tasting the warm gooey mess of a freshly baked cookie.
Enter a very strange illness a few weeks back that had my doctor and two of her colleagues stumped. Two different rashes and nausea had me thinking for a moment that I might get to be the subject of the New York Time's Sunday magazine section called Diagnosis. For Grey's Anatomy wannabees, this is the opportunity each week to piece together a string of symptoms so that you can help cure what are often very debilitating illnesses. Only at the end of each article is the true diagnosis revealed and normalcy returned to the patient.Honestly, my symptoms were way too wimpy to be written up, but in trying to figure out what was going on, my doctor ordered a blood draw to make sure I had neither MRSA nor shingles among other potential diagnoses. In the end, every test that was run came up empty. The nausea went away and the rashes are slowly fading. But the blood test did reveal one thing: my glucose levels are higher than they should be. I had received the same results a year ago after my annual check-up, and my doctor sent a note saying, "Everything looks great. Just make sure you get regular exercise and eat healthy foods." Check and check.
For the past six months I have truly double-checked the exercise box, so why are my levels still high? Perhaps I needed to really look at this sugar thing in my diet. According to the American Health Association, most females should consume no more than 20 to 25 grams of sugar a day. Men get a bonus 10 added to their total. Moments after reading that fact, I went to make a sandwich and learned that two slices of the bread in our pantry (the whole grain kind that LOOKS really healthy) would already use up 10 of those grams! Whoa, maybe I really do need to look at this sugar thing because those little "-ose" molecules (think sucrose, glucose, fructose) are EVERYWHERE. That innocent freshly-baked cookie I drooled over a few moments ago? 10 grams. And does any baker truly just eat one? No need to answer that one.So right now I am on a self-imposed very low sugar binge. Notice I didn't say NO sugar. I am not that much of a glutton for punishment. For the first time ever, I baked a small batch of cookies (for my husband -- I hope he recognizes the extreme sacrifice) without eating a single one. I have never done that. And I have lived to tell the tale. I have to say that my metabolism is a lot more stable these days. My 11am/4pm hunger crash is just a mere dip, and I have shed a few pounds. More surprisingly, though, I really don't crave sugar as I used to. This was a rumor I thought could not possibly be true, but it is. Now I admit that after a particularly hard workout the other day, I had visions of blueberry muffins dancing around my head, but I resisted. How virtuous art I. In truth, it's just curiosity about my one-subject study that makes it much easier to resist. I have my annual physical in a few weeks, and I am so curious to see how my glucose levels are fairing in my taste buds' new environment.
As a result of this dietary shift, I can't exactly offer much in the way of new cocktails or baking feats. No, I must stick to a healthier path at the moment. But I can share a tasty egg muffin recipe that has not an ounce of "-ose". The recipe makes 12 eggy muffins but could easily be doubled for a crowd. The best part, honestly, is that the leftovers can easily sit in the refrigerator for up to a week. Microwaved for roughly a minute, they are a tasty breakfast or mid-morning snack. Enjoy!
Green Chili Egg Muffins
Makes one dozen
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles, drained
3/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground pepper
1 cup cooked sausage or bacon, broken into small bits ( meat is optional, of course, but spicy Italian sausage is a delicious addition)
1/2 diced green onion
Preheat oven to 375.
If your muffin tins are on the older side, spray or butter them lightly so the muffins don't stick.
In each muffin tin, add the green chiles (about 1 t in each) and then sprinkle the cheese and green onion evenly among the muffin cups.
In a large bowl (preferably one you can easily pour from) combine the eggs, thyme, salt, pepper, and cooked sausage or bacon. Mix well and then pour this mixture into the muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake for 25 minutes (until lightly browned on top) and then allow them to cool for 5 minutes or so before serving.
As I mentioned, you can save the extra in the refrigerator for up to a week for a tasty treat sans sucre.
Thanks for your efforts. I must say that sugar is something I also enjoy and have been considering some type of sugar reduction. People ask if you are a savory or a sweet person and my answer has always been the latter. So, your recent experience has made me recognize a next step too. I have taken for granted my low blood pressure and overall good health but the ten extra pounds are not "sitting" well. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI, too, fall into the sweet category, so this experiment is not always easy. But I was surprised the other morning to find a bowl of Kashi cereal WAY too sweet! It felt like a small victory.
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