Happy Indepence Day!

May your Independence Day be filled with love, light and laughter.  Have a wonderful night!

Love,
The Naturally Sweet Sisters

by Carl Sandburg (from Smoke and Steel, 1920)

Many ways to say good night. Fireworks at a pier on the Fourth of July       spell it with red wheels and yellow spokes. They fizz in the air, touch the water and quit. Rockets make a trajectory of gold-and-blue       and then go out. Railroad trains at night spell with a smokestack mushrooming a white pillar. Steamboats turn a curve in the Mississippi crying a baritone that crosses lowland cottonfields to razorback hill. It is easy to spell good night.             Many ways to spell good night.

by Carl Sandburg (from Smoke and Steel, 1920)

Many ways to say good night.

Fireworks at a pier on the Fourth of July
      spell it with red wheels and yellow spokes.
They fizz in the air, touch the water and quit.
Rockets make a trajectory of gold-and-blue
      and then go out.

Railroad trains at night spell with a smokestack mushrooming a white pillar.

Steamboats turn a curve in the Mississippi crying a baritone that crosses lowland cottonfields to razorback hill.

It is easy to spell good night.
            Many ways to spell good night.

Summer Vacation Tricks AND Giveaway Day with PortionMate

See Contest Below for Details

Now that type 1 diabetes camp is over, I can officially declare it to be SUMMER in the Naturally Sweet Sisters house.   Living in the northern part of the US, with school ending mid-June and camp following closely after, it seems like we can't really get a good start on vacation until July.  Which, ironically is about the same time back-to-school supplies appear.  But who wants to think about that?

Did I mention that I LOVE SUMMER???????  Whoot!

Let me tell you what I think the greatest part of summer is.  To me, this is the one time of year that we are not forced to adhere to a rigorous school schedule and I can actually stop stressing about my children's blood sugars.  If they feel low, they can test their blood sugar and grab a snack without interfering with anything.  If I feel like they might be low, it is less daunting that trying to text or send the aide a note, all we need to do is look at Sigums (CGM) and see which direct the arrow is going. 

It is so relaxed that I can almost feel the tension melting and the years rolling back. 

Well, OK.... it isn't that magical, but you get the idea. 

Best of all, we can spend the days making it up as we go.  Want more time at the beach?  Not a problem, dinner can be a few minutes later than normal.  After all, summer is a very short season around here.  We might as well make the most of it that we can!

One way to shorten up the time spent on type 1 diabetes care is to employ a few summer vacation helpful tricks:

1.)  Pre-measure snacks into plastic 'to-go' baggies that are labeled with the amount of carbs using a Sharpie marker.  This is perfect for impromptu zoo, hiking or beach trips.  Even on bike rides around the block.  Snacks keep kids safe!

2.)  Keep one or two emergency infusion set changes, extra needles or testing supplies in the car, the beach bag or even at the office.  Having supplies ready to go in a pinch is a great asset that reduces stress and time!  Makes me remember the time we were on our way to visit Cedar Point Amusement Park and realized that we had left behind the diabetes bag.  Not a problem as my husband was smart enough to keep a bag of goodies at his work.  What a super hubby!  He literally saved the day!

3.)  Consider using a PortionMate measuring tool for dinner.  Hand the colorful, fun cylinders to your children before dinner starts and let them calculate the amount of carbohydrates that they will be eating.  Kids (or adults) can simply spoon in the meal items into the pre-measured PortionMate cylinders and be ready to go before you are even seated. 

PortionMate, A meal and snack measuring tool.

4.)  Swimming or playing outside all day?  Think ahead to easy to grab and eat bedtime snacks.  Have things like yogurt, individual 1/2 cup icecream servings or single serve peanut butter tubs ready to go.  Allowing the kids extra outdoor time means that they will be asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Well, from one parent to another... we hope that happens, anyway!

Win a Free PortionMate!!!!

To help make your summer more enjoyable, PortionMate, INC. has offered to provide TWO Naturally Sweet Sister Readers with a free set of PortionMate, INC. cylinders and recipe/guidebooks. 

Two lucky readers (US and CANADA) will win via a random drawing that must be entered by Saturday, July 6th, 2013, by 11:59 a.m.. 

TO ENTER THE PORTIONMATE, INC CONTEST:

1.)  Head over to PORTIONMATE's FACEBOOK PAGE AND "LIKE" THEM.  CLICK HERE.

2.)  LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE WWW.NATURALLYSWEETSISTERS.COM BLOG PAGE.  CLICK HERE.

(You may enter only 1 time.  Please be sure to leave the comment on the blog page as that is how we will determine the two lucky winners).


Naturally Sweet Sisters will contact the winners on Sunday, July 7th, 2013 after the contest has ended.  You will be asked to provide a shipping address so that we may send your FREE PortionMate. 

From PortionMate and Naturally Sweet Sisters, we wish you all a very happy Independence Day!!!!!

Diabetes and Crafts: Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix

Last week, I shared that I have been performing a dietary science experiment on my own body.  The experiment involved removing gluten from my diet. 

I know this can skew blood test results but I wanted to see how I felt before I went any further.  Several good friends who were recently diagnosed with both Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity, shared their symptoms with me.  As I listened to the list of issues that they were finding, I mentally ran through my own list of symptoms.  Fatigue?  Check.  Stomach issues?  Check.  Nausea?  Check.  Digestive issues?  Check.  Unexplained aches?  Check. 

All of this from gluten?  I thought it might be from turning the magic 4-0.  Could it be that this was all in my head?

Almost immediately, I felt better after removing gluten.  My energy improved and most all of the my symptoms started to go away.  Of course, none of this is proven to be a result of Celiac Disease, especially since I removed gluten before I had blood work performed. 

I would not recommend this to anyone as I am now faced with the daunting task of having to resume eating gluten and feeling possibly even worse than before just to confirm my hypothesis. 

It makes me wonder why anyone would eat gluten, though.  And why the heck is gluten in virtually everything we eat or use daily?  As my dear friend Angela pointed out, it is even in the sticky part of envelope adhesive. 

Good grief!

During my gluten free adventure, I discovered a delicious bread mix from Hodgson Mill.  I am calling this a craft because this is something fun that you can do with your children as well as by yourself.  Wrap it up in cellophane, add a pretty ribbon and you have a gift for a neighbor, relative or friend!

 


The bread mix reminds me a little of my beloved beer bread.  The consistency is thick and the bread is heavy, with a good crunchy crust.

 

 

We made our version in a bread machine set at medium brown crust for breads that are 1 1/2 pounds.

The ingredients:
1 package of Gluten Free Hodgson Mill Bread Mix
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 whole eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 packet fast rise yeast

Starting with wet ingredients, layer into the bread maker pan.  Add dry ingredients and finish off with the packet of yeast.  I believe our cycle took about three hours to make.

 

 

The girls and I sampled this and while it was delicious warm with a smear of 'butter', we decided to try a little fruit jelly too.

 

I had just made freezer jam during strawberry season, so we tried that as well as a jar of Georgia peach preserves that we had picked up from a farmer's market on the way back from Disney World this spring.

 

 

Both were delicious.  As would be nut butters, honey or on the savory side, herbed cheese or olive oil with spices. 

Anyway that you choose, it is nice to know that if you are going gluten-free, there are choices for bread that tastes much like any other variety that you are currently eating.  Without a bread maker, consider trying UDI's breads. They even have bagels, hotdog and hamburger buns! 

Wish me luck on blood testing!  We've got some work to do to find out a few more answers.