Every day we’re bombarded with messages to limit the amount of processed foods in our diets and instead eat more fruits and vegetables.
But that advice can be harder than it seems since processed foods are abundant and convenient. So we asked our friend and colleague, Nationally Recognized Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, and Best-Selling Author Jill Weisenberger MS, RDN, CDCES, FAND, and CHWC, for creative ways to add more vegetables to our meal plans. Lucky for us, she also shared a delicious, easy-to-make mushroom pizza recipe!
Q: Small changes often have big rewards. Can you advise us on how to add more vegetables to your meals – like breakfast and lunch?
Jill Weisenberger (JW): For breakfast, you can add veggies to something you’re already eating. For example, top your eggs with salsa or scramble your eggs with any veggies you like. Alternatively, you can simply add vegetables on the side. I learned a lot of ideas from traveling. Roasted mushrooms and grilled tomatoes are often served in some European countries. In Greece, I sat down to stuffed grape leaves, Greek salad, and a bowl of olives. And in Israel, every breakfast included raw chopped tomatoes and cucumber or something similar.
I get vegetables at lunch by reaching into my fridge for anything raw and tasty: jicama, snap peas, radishes, carrots, etc. Plus, I usually have leftovers from the previous night’s dinner that I can heat up.
Q: Can you share some tips and resources to make eating more plant-based meals easier without sacrificing food and restaurants?
JW: Start with the plant-based foods you already love. Do you have a favorite lentil soup or chickpea salad? Put them into the rotation more often.
You don’t have to give up meat if that’s what you’re used to. Simply add plant proteins. Can you add white beans to chicken soup, red beans to beef chili, or canned chickpeas to a salad with leftover baked salmon?
In restaurants, double up on any vegetable to tame your appetite for a smaller serving of meat.
And try some new recipes based on your favorite flavors. Italian? You can get some ideas simply by entering “healthy Italian bean recipes” into your internet browser. Or, if your family loves tacos, create bean or lentil tacos and omit the beef.
Jill shares her simple portobello mushroom pizza recipe that you can personalize for a fast lunch or snack. Each member of your family can create and enjoy their own personalized pizza. There’s no portion distortion!!
Jill Weisenberger’s Stick With It is a self-paced video course that guides you step-by-step to the healthy habits you want. You’ll learn why your motivation and willpower move up and down like a roller coaster and what you can do to keep them up higher and longer!
Divabetic’s special guest, The Diabetic Pastry Chef at the upcoming Sugar-Free Baking Party knows ways to transform decadent desserts so they’re no longer off-limits. By using blended flours and a combination of sugar and sugar substitutes, reducing milk carbohydrates, and eliminating trans fats, Stacey Harris can convert almost any recipe into a lower-carb alternative without compromising taste or quality.
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Swerve Confectioners
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients except walnuts and Swerve Confectioners to the mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well combined.
Line an 11×15″ jelly roll pan with parchment paper or wax paper. Grease the paper and add the batter spreading evenly. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts. Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
Invert the cake onto a thin linen dish towel sprinkled heavily with Swerve Confectioners (about 1/4 cup). Remove parchment paper or wax paper and gently roll the cake. Let cool for a minimum of 2 hours.
Unroll the cake and evenly spread with filling. Reroll cake. Freeze for 1 hour before serving. Thaw, sprinkle top with Swerve Confectioners to cover, and slice. Enjoy!
Filling Ingredients
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup Swerve Confectioners
2 Tbsp. butter softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Mix ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth.
Note: The Diabetic Pastry Chef’s choice of sugar substitute for this recipe is Erythritol.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Are you interested in baking tips and recipes?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris,The Diabetic Pastry Chef, on Thursday, September 28, 7-8 PM, EST.
Looking for a Summertime treat that won’t put your diabetes wellness at risk? Enjoy this wonderful Blueberry Ricotta Cake recipe from our friends at Splenda.
Packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, blueberries are also high in potassium and vitamin C, making them the top choice of doctors and nutritionists. Not only can they lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, but they are also anti-inflammatory.
Ricotta is an Italian curd cheese made from whey left over from the production of other cheese. Compared to most cheeses, ricotta is a healthier choice because it contains less salt and fat – 10 percent fat, of which 6 percent is saturated.
The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Partywith our special guest, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Thursday, September 28, 7-8 PM, EST.
During this Baking Party on Zoom, The Diabetic Pastry Chef prepares a Sugar-Free Dessert recipe, demonstrates her favorite kitchen tools, and shares expert baking tips for substituting sugar substitutes and alternative flours in recipes.
Win gifts courtesy of The Diabetic Pastry Chef, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes‘s Camper Cozy Mystery, and Peak 10 Skin’s Save My Sole Foot Rescue Cream during Mr. Divabetic’s random drawings. You must be present at our Baking Party to enter our gift drawings to win.
We’ve also been fortunate to offer a Splenda Gift Basket as one of our prize offerings at our previous Baking Parties.
Speaking of ‘blueberries,’ the first song that comes to mind is Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill.
In 1949, the musician and singer made one of the first rock’n’roll records, called The Fat Man, and instrumental in the early rock’n’roll scene of the 1950s and early 1960s.
My friend, Stacey Harris, known as ‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’, who co-hosts our Divabetic Sugarfree Baking Parties on Zoom has inspired me to experiment in the kitchen. Specifically, I’ve been replacing half of the amount of the sugar needed with Splenda brown sugar and substituting almond flour for white flour in dessert recipes. In most cases, I used a combination of sugar and sugar substitutes. Trust me, I won’t be appearing on The Great British Bake-Off show anytime soon but if I can do it, so can you!
Since I’ve been working on lyrics for a new song tentatively entitled Peach Cobbler, I decided to take on this dessert with my limited culinary skills. I started with the Original Bisquick™ Peach Cobbler recipe, like food blogger Karlynn Johnston, but added oatmeal (more fiber) and fresh blueberries and substituted some of the sugar with Splenda brown sugar. The result was surprisingly good!
Less Sugar Peach & Blueberry Cobbler Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup Original Bisquick™ mix
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 Splenda Brown Sugar
1 can (29 ounces) sliced peach, drained
1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 °F.
Whisk together the baking mix, oatmeal, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add in milk. Pour in the melted butter and mix again. Pour into an ungreased 8×8 pan.
Combine the peaches, and blueberries with sugar and Splenda brown sugar, tossing to coat them well. Spoon onto the top of the Bisquick mixture in the pan carefully, trying to keep them on top if you can.
Place in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown. You can insert a toothpick into the baked part and see if it comes out clean.
Oops, I added some Whipped Cream too!
From time to time I like to sprinkle my R & B playlists with country music. One of my all-time favorite country songs is Deana Carter’s Strawberry Wine. The song was released in August 1996 and became Carter’s first number 1 hit on both the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks. The song follows a young girl as she falls in love for the first time, and Carter drew inspiration from her own first love to sing it.
My new unfinished song, Peach Cobbler, is about a woman’s first experience with heartbreak and her mother’s comforting words. Here are the lyrics to the first verse and chorus that inspired me to get in the kitchen and alter the Original Bisquick™ Recipe.
This past Wednesday night, we presented another diva-style diabetes wellness program with our friend, Stacey Harris, who is known as The Diabetic Pastry Chef.
I love the way Stacey experiments and encourages others to experiment with different flours and sugar substitutes in recipes. For example, Stacey will substitute one cup of sugar for a half cup of Splenda and a half cup of Whey Low D or replace white flour with a mixture of almond, soy, or bean flour in her recipes. Her approach corresponds to leading experts’ belief that a ‘one size fits all’ diet doesn’t exist for people living with diabetes. They recommend that we should develop our own personal nutrition plans for diabetes wellness. Read MORE.
Sugar-Free Banana Pudding Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef
Ingredients
1 pkg. Sugar-free Vanilla Wafers
1- 1-oz. box Sugar-free Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 cups Whole Milk, Almond milk, or a combination of the two
1-2 ripe Bananas
1 cup of Sugar-free Whipped Cream or Sugar-free Whipped Topping
Directions
Prepare pudding per package directions using the 2 cups milk, almond milk, or a combination of the two; set aside. Line a small casserole dish, parfait dish, or trifle bowl with a layer of vanilla wafers. Top with a layer of prepared vanilla pudding. Add a layer of sliced bananas, and spread the top with a full layer or dollop of whipped cream. Garnish as desired (toasted coconut, raspberries, lemon twists, or cherries.
Do You Know?
Cup for cup, whole fat milk contains fewer carbohydrates than low-fat or skim because more of its volume is made up of fat, which does not contain lactose. It also has slightly less protein.
Stacey Harris has a blog full of great recipes. Click HERE.
Personally, I feel the kitchen is a great place to stretch, your creativity. It’s been widely reported that baking has the benefit of enhancing creative expression – which has been found to have a strong connection with overall wellbeing. Lately, I have been having fun creating fruit platters to glamorize good health!
The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic talks to divas living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes about their favorite forms of exercise at NYC Summer Streets.
Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chefwas training to become a pastry chef at the Bidwell Culinary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Rather than abandon her pursuits, she began experimenting with dessert recipes to make them healthier and diabetes-friendly.
Directions: In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and add the Swerve and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add the cream at low speed and once combined, turn the speed to high and continue beating until the mixture is thick but fluffy; set aside.
Strawberry Topping Ingredients
6 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
3 Tbsp. sugar-free strawberry jam
2 Tbsp. boiling water
Directions: Add the cream cheese filling to a 9 -10-inch sugar-free graham cracker pie crust and smooth. Arrange strawberries overlapping on top of cream cheese filling. Combine jam and boiling water and brush the top of the strawberries. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Splenda Baking Kits are just one of the many wonderful prizes you can win when you join us for Divabetic’s free Baking Parties with the Diabetic Pastry Chef on Zoom.
Our recent winner, Anita W. from Buffalo, NY found some inspiration along with a rolling pin, apron, measuring cups, and various Splenda products in her Splenda Baking Kit! She wrote back to us, “I received the prize and I loved all of it. I made some peanut butter cookies with the Splenda and the cookie cutter.”
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Linda B. from Pennsylvania won our Walden Farms Prize package at last week’s Divabetic Baking Party with the Diabetic Pastry Chef.
Linda received several flavors of Walden Farms Calorie-free Salad Dressing, USA Today Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes cozy mystery, and Peak 10 Save My Soles Foot Rescue Cream. Made with culinary-inspired blends of herbs and spices, the finest kinds of vinegar, and a wide variety of natural flavors, Walden Farms Salad Dressings add the perfect flavor to your salad faves – without adding calories, carbs and fat. Try some today!
Enjoy this lighter twist to a tasty classic recipe:
Baked Stuffed Peppers Recipe from Walden Farms
Ingredients
2 medium yellow bell peppers
2 tsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 cups priced cauliflower
6 slices of turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1/4 cup Walden Farms Raspberry Vinaigrette
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp mint, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top off each pepper and scoop out the seeds and the white membrane.
Heat a small skillet, add oil, and shallot, and cook for a few minutes. Add cauliflower, raisins, salt, and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and add bacon, mint, and vinaigrette. Toss to combine and stuff the peppers. Transfer stuffed peppers, uncovered, along with the tops, into a small, sprayed baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When done, cover peppers with the tops and serve.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2
Walden Farms kitchens develop the world’s only comprehensive assortment of calorie-free products with zero calories, fat, net carbs, gluten, or sugars of any kind! Since 1972, Walden Farms has created delicious tasting zero calorie and zero fat Salad Dressings for healthy eaters. Today, their offerings also include syrups, coffee creamers, condiments, spreads, dips, sauces, and a full line of specialty condiments and food enhancers.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.