Tinfoil Chef

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Ever wonder how some foods got their names? This recipe is one such case. Not having made these before I actually assumed from the name that they would be something bright and somehow sunny in appearance, though I couldn’t see how the recipe could work out that way.

Partly out of laziness and partly out of not having several ingredients on hand I decided to search out a picture of them just for the heck of it. I found one quickly enough on flickr (I’d have included the pic here but it had ‘all rights reserved’ for it’s usage terms).

That pic confirmed that these don’t LOOK sunny at all. Instead they remind me of home made chocolate chip cookies that were packed across country because somebody forgot to get ‘em out of the kitchen before the moving companies took over.

However, regardless of how they look, they still sound great. Not only that but they’re also diabetic friendly as well.

Start out sifting together 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, a teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Cut in 1/2 cup of shortening until the mixture has a crumbly consistency. Then, all at once add 1/2 cup of rasins, an egg, 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 2 teaspoons of grated orange rind and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Sucaryl. Mix well and then make into 1 inch balls and flatten them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 375.

Technorati Tags: orange sunbeams, treat, cookie, recipe, diabetic friendly, snack

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I honestly would not have expected that a good cake could be made without sugar but then again, I’m probably thinking about the frosting that usually is loaded with sugar. This one looks interesting although I’d probably want to change out the prunes for something else. Maybe I could take a hint from the video in the previous post and just as they used post-it notes in place of butter, I could use erasers or some other office supplies in place of the prunes. (can you tell I’m not really thrilled with prunes? [grin])

Boil a cup of dates and a cup of prunes in the one cup of water for 3 minutes; add 1 stick of butter (melted) and a cup of raisins and let that cool.

While it’s cooling Mix a cup of plain flour, a teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 2 eggs, a cup of chopped nuts, 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Add that to the fruit mixture and stir until it’s blended. Pour it into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes

Technorati Tags: recipe, diabetic, dessert, diabetic friendly, baking

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Here’s a diabetic friendly dessert that’s sure to be a hit once you assure everyone that they’re not going to have to spend an extra hour hitting the ellipticals to burn it off. Although diabetic friendly or not, too much of this and you’ll still be needing to burn it off.

Line a 13″x9″x2″ baking dish with a layer of graham cracker squares. Make up a 6 oz package of instant sugar-free chocolate pudding according to package directions. Then spread the pudding over the layer of graham crackers.

Let it cool in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes or until it’s set and then add another layer of graham cracker squares over the pudding. Then make up a second package of pudding and spread it over the second layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate until it’s firmly set.

Top it with whipped cream before serving

Technorati Tags: chocolate, diabetic friendly, recipe, dessert, torte

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The first thing I have to say here is that this recipe is NOT a “Snickers” candy bar. It is however something that does a reasonably good job of approximating the famous treat. The big difference is that this one is diabetic friendly. Peanut butter lovers should especially like this. Since I don’t care for peanut butter myself, I’ll pass on this treat and you folks can have all of them.

Use a mixer to combine 12 oz of a soft diet ice cream, a cup of diet Cool Whip, 1/4 cup of chunky peanut butter and one (dry) package of sugar free butterscotch pudding. When all this is well mixed, stir in 3 ounces of Grape Nuts cereal.

Pour the mixture into an 8 x 8 pan, cover and freeze. Cut the frozen treats into four servings and you’re ready to go. If you make up several batches you can keep the bars in the freezer until you’re ready to use them.

Technorati Tags: diabetic, snack, diabetic friendly, treat, dessert, recipe, frozen treat, snickers

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I’ve seen several recipes recently that called for “Fruit Sweet” in place of sugar or other sugar substitutes but honestly, until recently I’ve personally never heard of it. After doing some time on a search engine it turns out that Fruit Sweet is to diabetic cooking what DeWalt tools is to woodworking implements.

It’s made by Wax Orchards from a blend of pear, peach and unsweetened pineapple syrup. It contains all three fruit sugars, mostly fructose. It’s Rich tasting with a warm, slightly caramel flavor.

Not only that, but it’s apparently a better choice on several fronts. Because it’s sweeter than sugar you don’t need as much, you can use 2/3 cup of Fruit Sweet for every cup of sugar. You can also reduce the liquid in a recipe by 1/3 the amount of sweetener used.

It’s also a better choice calorie-wise at 280 calories per 100 grams compared to sugar at 385 calories per 100 grams. Finally, these fruit concentrates are humectants which keep baked goods fresh longer.

Technorati Tags: concentrated+fruit+syrup, diabetic+cooking, Diabetic+friendly, fruit+juices, natural+sweetener, sweetener

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Here’s a cake that while it’s diabetic friendly, looks good enough that you could still think about needing prescription weight loss pills if you were to have as much of it as often as you wanted. Of course, the best answer is always moderation in things food. (yeah, I know that this is often easier said than done.)

Combine a couple well beaten eggs, a half cup of melted butter and a cup of apple butter.
Then sift a cup and a half of flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda. Add a half cup of chopped walnuts and a half cup of raisins to the flour mixture and mix well.

Combine the flour mixture, 1/2 cup of Fruit Sweet, and the egg mixture. Pour the resulting batter into a greased tube pan and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn out and cool before serving. Serve with whipped cream.

Technorati Tags: cake, dessert, Diabetic+friendly, recipes, Treats

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I’ve always been a seafood lover. I honestly can’t remember a time that I didn’t like fish and I’d say that one of the only seafood dishes that I would hesitate to even try is sushi. I’m sure it’s just wonderful for those who like it but somehow I just can’t wrap my mind around the idea of eating raw fish. I wouldn’t do that anymore than I would eat raw beef. The entire concept is just plain unpalatable.

Anyway, back to the seafood. My enjoyment of seafood started with the basic, not very fancy tuna salad and progressed to just the tuna and it’s gone on from there. I’ve had a variety of different kinds of fish ranging from things like catfish and trout to cod, sole, halibut, lobster, crab and a bunch more. One time I even had a shark steak. Of course, living as far away from the places where seafood is plentiful and less expensive, I sometimes feel like I’m undergoing a kind of addiction treatment only the addiction in question is seafood.

The basic tuna salad starts out with a 6.5 oz can of tuna (the kind packed in water! Fish don’t live in vegetable oil, they shouldn’t be packed in it.). Drain the tuna and add a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs and a quarter cup of chopped celery and 2 tablespoons of reduced calorie mayo. Mix well and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

It’s great by itself or on sandwiches. I personally prefer a good multi-grain wheat bread or a hearty dark pumpernickel and some mustard.

Technorati Tags: tuna+salad, seafood, fish, recipe, diabetic+friendly, sandwich

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No, I’m not talking about browser cookies. I’m sure you’re getting entirely enough of *those* in your day to day surfing. These cookies are part of a celebration of the fact that this post is actually seeing the light of day because I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have yet another day of not getting something posted. So actually getting this published merits a bit of a celebration. Now, While somebody runs out and gets the party invitations made up and sent out, the rest of us can make up a batch or six of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Start with 1/4 cup of margarine and 1 tbsp. granulated fructose, beat in an egg, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and a tablespoon of water. Mix this together until it’s a creamy consistency.

For the dry ingredients combine 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 tsp. of salt in sifter. Sift dry ingredients into creamed mixture, stirring to blend thoroughly. Stir in about a 1/2 cup or so of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Drop teaspoon sized balls of cookie dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. This should make 30 cookies or so per batch of dough.

Technorati Tags: chocolate, chocolate+chip, chocolate+chip+cookies, cookies, diabetic, Diabetic+friendly, recipe

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I’ve heard of carrot cake before but I have to say that this is the first time I’ve run across carrot pie and I have to say it sounds interesting enough to advise making more than one of them at a time.

Mix a couple of eggs with a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger, a pinch of salt and a dash of ground nutmeg. Beat this until thoroughly blended. Stir in a cup of cooked carrots that have either been riced or mashed.

Add a half cup of heavy cream and a half cup of your favorite sugar substitute(the original recipe called for something called “fruit sweet” but I expect most sweeteners will work here.) and stir until everything is blended. Pour this filling into a nine inch pie shell and back at 350 for about 35 minutes or until it passes the knife test.

Technorati Tags: carrot, carrot+pie, dessert, diabetic, Diabetic+friendly, pie, recipe, treat

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Looking around the local recipe collection I ran across something called “Banana Split Pie” and since I’ve always appreciated a good banana split (who doesn’t?!?!) I just had to share this one even though we’ve not made it yet. What’s great about it is that it’s what I call “diabetic friendly”, meaning it’s got all the flavor and just plain downright goodness that a sugar-loaded version would have.

Next time somebody thinks that diabetics need to eat bland, tasteless, boring food, make up one of these and them tell ‘em what it is *after* they go on for a few minutes about how good it is.

Start out with a 4 oz. package of sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix and mix in 2 cups of low-fat milk and a teaspoon of vanilla. Beat this with your preferred instrument .. whisk, fork, electric (or hand crank) mixer, until it thickens and then pour it into a graham cracker crust. Take a couple of bananas and slice them up and use them to cover the top of the pudding.

Now open up a 15oz. can of crushed pineapple and use the can lid to squeeze out all of the juice (just don’t throw it away! Pineapple juice is great stuff. Not only is it used in some recipes, it’s also great in a glass anytime.) Sprinkle the crushed pineapple on top of the bananas.

Cover this with a layer of Cool Whip, chop up a half cup of pecans and sprinkle ‘em on top. Chill the finished pie for a few hours until it’s firm and enjoy a Banana Split Pie

Technorati Tags: banana+split, banana+split+pie, dessert, dessert+recipe, diabetic, Diabetic+friendly, diabetic+recipe, pie, recipe

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