Quick and Easy Portobello Mushroom Pizza Recipe by Jill Weisenberger

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!!

Portobello Mushroom Pizza Recipe by Jill Weisenberger MS, RDN, CDCES, FAND, CHWC

Ingredients

  • Large or medium-sized portobello mushrooms
  • Tomato bruchetta or jarred spaghetti sauce
  • tomato slices or any veggies on hand
  • Cheese
  • Fresh or dried herbs or a combination of both

Click HERE for the Full Recipe

Jill Weisenberger is the author of Diabetes Weight Loss Week by Week is a bestseller and can help you manage your weight and blood sugar at the same time, The Overworked Person’s Guide to Better Nutrition offers solutions to your everyday food and nutrition problems – no matter how busy you are, 21 Things You Need to Know about Diabetes and Your Heart gives you specific actions to take to improve your health right away, and her newest book Prediabetes: A Complete Guide featuring dozens of concrete steps to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other chronic health problems.
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!

Sugar-Free Pumpkin Roll Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

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.

Sugar-Free Pumpkin Roll Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

Ingredients

1 cup sugar substitute of your choice

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.

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Blueberry Ricotta Cake Recipe by Splenda

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.

Blueberry Ricotta Cake Recipe by Splenda

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

4 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

⅔ cup Splenda® Stevia Granulated Sweetener

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1¼ cups low-fat ricotta cheese

¼ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

1½ cups blueberries, rinsed and dried

See FULL RECIPE

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.

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.

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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.

His hits included ‘Ain’t That a Shame’ and ‘Blueberry Hill.’ In the 1950s his records were only outsold by those of Elvis Presley, according to Rolling Stone.

Less Sugar Peach And Blueberry Cobbler Recipe

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

Peach Cobbler by Max Szadek
verse
I was crying so hard
when I crept home
didn’t see mama
standing by the stove
 
she was cooking peaches
but her pot got cold
the minute she saw 
my teardrops rolling 
 
down my cheeks
when I tried to speak
she hushed me
saying, Oh, Child, Please!
 
you know, I wasn’t born this old 
back in the day, when I was your age 
I met a few Romeo’s
had my share of heartaches
now it’s your turn to learn 
what your grandma told me
when my heart was first broken 
 
chorus
you can’t hurry love
any faster than you can 
speed up a pan,  cooking cobbler
 

so don’t bother with fools

who promise the moon
to get you to do
what you don’t wanna
 
they’ll steal your stars 
leave your nights a whole lot darker 
take it from me
I wasn’t any smarter
 
until my mama taught me 
you can’t hurry love
any faster than you can 
speed up a pan, cooking peach cobbler

 Sugar-Free Banana Pudding Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef 

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.

Sugar-Free Summertime Strawberry Pie by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef was 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.

Sugar-Free Summertime Strawberry Pie by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

Pie Filling Ingredients

12-oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup Swerve Confectioner’s sugar substitute

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

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.

The Diabetic Pastry Chef

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.

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Patriotic Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe by Splenda

Our friends at Splenda have been graciously donating Baking Kits for our free Baking Parties with the Diabetic Pastry Chef on Zoom.

Patriotic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe from Splenda 

Ingredients

3/4 cup vegetable oil spread, room temperature

2 small eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup Splenda® Monk Fruit Granulated Sweetener

1 cup almond flour

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup stevia-sweetened semisweet chocolate chips

Red food coloring

Blue food coloring

Star sprinkles (optional)

Click HERE for the Full Recipe

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.

REGISTER NOW

Divabeitc Summer Baking Party & Recipe

Our friends at Splenda have been graciously donating Baking Kits for our free Baking Parties with the Diabetic Pastry Chef on Zoom.

Mini Strawberry and Cherry Upside-Down Cake Recipe from Splenda

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ cups Splenda® Original Granulated Sweetener, divided

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

¼ cup coconut oil

½ cup fat-free milk

1 ½ cups frozen pitted dark sweet cherries

2 cups small strawberries, cut into ½-inch thick slices

½ cup fat-free whipped topping

2 tablespoons fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

Click HERE for the Full Recipe

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.

REGISTER NOW

 

 

Double Crust Peach Cobbler Recipe by Splenda

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.”

Double Crust Peach Cobbler Recipe by Splenda

Ingredients

1 box of refrigerated pie crusts, softened

10 cups sliced fresh peaches

1 3/4 cups Splenda Granulated Sweetener

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup pineapple juice

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly spray an 11” x 7” baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Unroll one piecrust; roll out and trim to an 11” x 7” rectangle. Place in prepared baking dish. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Click HERE for the full recipe

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.

REGISTER NOW

 

Baked Stuffed Peppers Recipe from Walden Farms

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.

REGISTER NOW