Brummel and Brown Spread

When I was 3 years old, I got myself into the kitchen and painted the wall with butter. It was the first manifestation of both my artistic bent and my love of butter. For a diabetic, indulging in an extremely high-fat treat containing butter might not raise your blood sugar, if the ratio of fat to carb is much higher in favor of the fat. (We’re all different, so we just have to test.) But we have to watch the fat, too. My primary physician told me that if you’re diabetic, physicians automatically treat you as if you have heart disease. And she does.

So of course I can’t have butter. Of course. I can’t have it in the house, because I will eat way too much. So I did some research into substitutes and have found a workable option. A friend recommended Brummel & Brown, and I can use it. I can’t say I’m happy about the taste, but I use it. It’s low in fat and calories, and passable in flavor. And it really comes out favorably compared to other popular options. Here’s a table, but before you peruse it, let me just say that I list original brands only, and light spreads (yuck) aren’t included.

Brand, 1 Tablespoon	Gimmick	Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Sodium
Brummel & Brown Spread	Contains yogurt	45	5g	1g	90mg
Butter, salted	Needs none	100	11g	7g	95mg
Butter spread with canola oil	Less cholesterol	100	11g	4.5g	95mg
Country Crock Spread	Been around awhile	60	7g	1.5g	110
Smart Balance 67% Spread	No hydrogenated oil	80	9g	2.5g	90mg
Promise Buttery Spread	no hydrogenated oil, vitamins and omegas	80	8g	1.5g	85mg

 

Crockpot Chili

Chili is yummy, filling comfort food. And it’s surprisingly good for you with the high protein and fiber content, plus all the lycopene from long-simmering tomatoes. Watch out for canned chili: it’s extremely high in sodium. Try making your own in the crockpot. It tastes wonderful and smells great cooking all day. Plus it’s much lower in fat and sodium than the canned versions. This low-sodium, low-fat recipe makes about 6 servings.

Chili
1 pound round steak
2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 14.5-ounce cans no salt added diced tomatoes (we use Del Monte)
1 medium yellow or white onion
1 tablespoon chili powder

Canned pinto beans are always high sodium, so rinse them thoroughly in a colander and let drain while you’re preparing the meat. You should be able to cut about 30% of the sodium in the beans by rinsing them. Remember that many commercial brands of chili powder typically contain sodium; McCormick’s contains 240mg per tablespoon. The generic brand we use does not contain any, so they’re out there and worth the search. Prepare the steak by freezing it slightly so it’s easier to slice. Then trim and slice into bite-size pieces. In a non-stick frying pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and saute the meat until well done. Push to the side of the pan and saute the onion that’s been sliced fairly thinly. Spray the crockpot with olive oil and add the meat and onion mixture. Pour the drained pinto beans over the meat mixture, and then add the two cans of sodium-free tomatoes. Add chili powder and stir. Simmer all day and enjoy. The tomatoes count as a vegetable serving, and their lycopene is released by long simmering. Approximate nutritional content in this recipe per serving: 240 calores, 6g fat, 320mg sodium, 13g net carb, 8g fiber. If you used sodium-free chili powder: approximately 80mg sodium.

Crock Pot Roasts – Beef, Pork, Turkey

Crock-pot roasts are the easiest meals you could possibly make. They’re good for either summer (you don’t use the oven) or winter (smells good all day) meals.

Pot Roast
1 2-3 pound boneless round roast
1 medium white or yellow onion
small white potatoes
baby carrots
red wine
beef buillon (1 packet or about 1 tsp)
If you have chuck roast, you can just put it in the crock pot for 8 hours, and it turns out perfectly. But a serving of chuck roast, even trimmed, is still about twice the fat as a round roast. So…here’s a way to have delicious pot roast and keep it lean. Using medium-high heat and a non-stick pan, brown the roast on all sides quickly. Spray the crockpot with olive oil spray and put the roast in it. In the pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and brown the onion slices until they just start to get tender. Mix in the bouillon and then pile the onion mixture on top of the roast. Pour in about 1/2 cup of red wine and throw in a bay leaf or two. Simmer on low all day. About two hours before serving, cut off any bad parts of the potatoes, and throw them and the carrots in the liquid. A 4-ounce serving of top round is about 240 calories and 10g fat.

Roast Pork Loin
1 2-3 pound boneless pork loin
Rosemary
Spray the crockpot with olive oil spray and place the roast in the crockpot. Sprinkle liberally with rosemary.  Cook all day. That’s it! Serve with a salad and fresh bread (I buy small sourdough flutes so we don’t eat too much bread). A 4-ounce serving of pork loin is about 240 calories and 10g fat.

Roast Turkey Breast
Our WalMart Supercenter now sells Butterball boneless all-white turkey breasts. I was so happy until I had already purchased 3 and read nutrition lablel. They’re infused with lots of sodium (and who knows what else). I’m still going to use them, because they’re so convenient for dinner and then sandwiches. But beware the sodium on these! We used to stock up on the bone-in kind around Thanksgiving, but that meant using the oven. Now I can just put one in the crock pot (spray with olive oil spray first), sprinkle with Mrs. Dash lemon pepper seasoning, and 8 hours later we have turkey! I make instant mashed potatoes and gravy (which are fairly low in sodium) and serve with no-salt-added canned green beans for a real comfort meal. And it’s so easy you can have it on a weekday, with enough turkey for sandwiches the rest of the week. A 4-oz serving of white turkey breast is about 180 calories and 3g fat.

Mimi’s for Lunch

Yea! Mimi’s now posts their own nutrition information off the online menu. My mom and I meet for lunch about once a week, and we love to meet at Mimi’s. Our favorite lunch is the petite salad. They serve it with a muffin! I manage to stop after eating about half of it. Yum. You’d think we were being good, right? Not necessarily. Here’s a breakdown, comparing my other favorite Mimi’s meal, the Classic Beef Dip sandwich. (I couldn’t find the coleslaw information on the Mimi’s site so I used other web sources.)

	Petite Crispy Chicken Salad + ½ Carrot Raisin Muffin			Classic Beef Dip + ½ Serving Coleslaw
	Salad	Ranch dr	½ Muffin	Sandwich	½ Slaw
Calories	356	194	303	521	95
Fat	29g	20g	17g	15g	2g
Net Carb	7g	2g	34g	38g	4g
Fiber	1g	0g	1g	5g	1g
Sodium	266mg	321mg	340mg	3928mg	160mg
Protein	15g	1g	4g	49g	<1g

Well, the salad lunch is unbelievably high fat, but the sandwich lunch is REALLY unbelievably high sodium. I tell myself that the sodium count has to include all the au jus in the cup, and I only use a little, so it must be OK. If it is, then the sandwich is a much better all-around choice. I guess all I’m trying to say is that appearances and pre-conceived notions can be deceiving. But now that Mimi’s posts their nutritional information, they don’t have to be. Check it out.

Hawaiian Pizza

People either love Hawaiian pizza or they hate it. I happen to love it: sweet, salty, cheesy, crispy. To me, it has everything. If you like thin crust pizza, you’ll like this one. It’s really cheesy and satisfying. It fits all my criteria: delicious, easy, and not too bad for you. Plus, you get a fruit serving. You can adapt this recipe to any toppings. Makes a single serving pizza.

1 Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco Tortilla
Olive Oil Spray
1 scant tablespoon spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Libby’s crushed pineapple with Splenda
1 slice Canadian bacon, sliced into small pieces
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Italian cheese

Heat a non-stick frying pan and spray with olive oil spray. Using medium heat, crisp the tortilla on both sides. This gives it the sturdiness it requires to hold the sauce and toppings. Spread the spaghetti sauce thinly and then top with toppings and cheese. Bake on a greased pie crust or cookie sheet in regular oven at 410 for about 10 minutes, or you can even cook it in the microwave on a regular dinner plate for about 3-4 minutes on high.

Approximate nutritional content: 367 calories, 13 net carbs, 11g fiber, 18g fat, 850mg sodium