What's for dinner?

What's for dinner?
It's time for me to start thinking of healthy eating habits. I'm back to USANA shakes, but really the family can't eat those with me and they still expect something on their dinner plate.
I found this recipe on my diabetes online cookbook. It's still cold here and this sounds like a good warm meal.
Bon Appetite!!
Tuscan Bean Soup With Spinach Recipe
Diabetes-Friendly
Nutritional Info (Per serving):

Calories: 169, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 608mg, Dietary Fiber: 8g, Total Fat: 3g, Carbs: 22g, Sugars: 4g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Protein: 13g

Exchanges: Vegetable: 1.5, Starch: 1, Lean Meat: 1

Carb Choices: 1

Recipe Source:

More Diabetic Recipes

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 2 h

Rest Time: 1 h

Total Time: 2 h 30 mins

Ingredients

8 ounce(s) beans, white kidney, dry

6 cup(s) water

1 pounds beef, crosscut shanks

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper, black

1 tablespoon oil, olive

3 medium onion(s), chopped

3 medium carrot(s), chopped

1 cup(s) fennel wedges

2 teaspoon garlic, minced

12 ounce(s) ham hock

1 tablespoon bouillon, beef, instant granules

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried, or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 teaspoon rosemary, fresh, or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

14 1/2 ounce(s) tomatoes, diced, undrained

4 cup(s) spinach

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Rinse beans. In a 4 1/2- or 5-quart Dutch oven, combine beans and 6 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or place beans in water in Dutch oven. Cover and let soak in a cool place for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.) Drain in colander; set aside.



2. Sprinkle beef with the 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. In a 4 1/2- to 6-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook about 5 minutes or until brown, turning once. Transfer to a plate.



3. Add onions, carrots, fennel or celery, and garlic to drippings in Dutch oven. Cover and cook about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Return beef to Dutch oven; add drained beans, 6 cups water, ham hocks, bouillon granules, bay leaf, dried thyme (if using), dried rosemary (if using), and the 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in undrained tomatoes. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes more or until beans and meats are tender.



4. Remove ham hocks and beef; let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones. Cut meat into bite-size pieces; return to soup. Discard bones and bay leaf. Skim off fat. Stir in spinach and fresh herbs (if using). Heat through.

Be healthy, be happy, live well,
~Jean
http://www.jeanhartartwork.com

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies
My Chinese cookie said I was stuck in a Chinese bakery!! I'm thinking that there are worst places to be then in a bakery.
My Blood Sugar number for today was 106. Not too bad. But the holidays are here and baking is something I love to do. I found this recipe on diabeticlivingonline. I think this will satisfy both my need to bake and not get my to far off track.

Peanut Butter Cookies Diabetic Recipe
 There is no flour in this cookie. A good thing.
servings: 36 cookies
Carb Grams per serving: 7
Calories 66
Total Fat 4g
Saturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 6mg
Sodium 35mg
Total Sugar 6g
Protein 2g

Diabetic Exchanges
Other Carbohydrates .5
Fat .5

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.F. Grease cookie sheets and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the 1 cup sugar, and peanut butter, and egg until well mixed. Using your hands, roll peanut butter mixture into 1 inch balls/ place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each ball slightly with a drinking glass that has been lightly greased and dipped in sugar. Lightly grease a small star-shaped cookie cutter; dip in sugar. Press into the center of each cookie.
2. Bake about 9 minutes or until edges are set and bottoms are lightly browned. Makes 36 cookies.

What's Cooking

Wednesday, What's Cooking
I am still having camera issues, so I am unable to show you a pictures of this. I am on a new program, USANA Shakes. It's a low glycemic diet program. So even though I can't eat desserts I do like baking them. And with Thanksgiving coming up, who doesn't like to bake new items for the big entertaining coming up.
I have a new book I will be cooking from, next week. It's called , "Outsmart Diabetes" by Prevention. It has desserts too!!! So starting next week I will be sharing Diabetes recipes.
Bon Appetite
~Jean


Pear and Apricot Tart

Serves 8
Hands-On Time: 20m
Total Time: 1hr 45m



Ingredients

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

* 1/2 cup raw almonds

* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

* 1 large egg

* 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

* 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

* 2 pears (such as Bosc or Bartlett)—peeled, quartered, and cored

* 1/2 cup dried apricots, halved

* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

* 1/4 cup apricot preserves



Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch removable-bottom fluted tart pan.

2. In a food processor, process the almonds and ½ cup of the sugar until finely ground. Add the butter, egg, and almond extract and process until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse a few times just to combine (the dough will be soft).

3. Spread the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan.

4. In a small bowl, toss the pears and apricots with the lemon juice and the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Arrange the pears in the dough. Scatter the apricots over the dough, pressing them in gently.

5. Bake until the pears are tender and the center is firm, 50 to 55 minutes (cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly).

6. In a small bowl, combine the preserves and 1 tablespoon water. Brush over the warm tart. Let cool in the pan before unmolding.