Tag: type1diabetes

Traveling diabetic

The Table
De Meye Estate, Stellenbosch

Hi,

Jan here.

The utmost care is taken to source the highest quality organic ingredients for the country cuisine served at The Table restaurant. Limited seating under ancient oak trees ensures that the service matches the care taken with food preparation.

While the Beetroot Tarte Tatin starter wasn’t an option for me, the green and sour-cream salad was tasty, and the olives delicious. It’s accompanying stone-ground bread very tempting!

I didn’t understand the slow roasted Karoo lamb, with a cold aubergine tagine and roasted veg dish. While perfect for my diabetic needs, the cold veggies made the tender lamb ‘soapish’. Something even the delish Merlot couldn’t sort.

The panna cotta with raspberry gelato looked amazing and there were a bunch of takers to ensure my serving wasn’t wasted.

Blood sugars

Low 5.0 mmol/L (Fasting target 4 – 6mmol/L)

High 5.8 mmol/L (2 hours after meal target, less than 7.8 mmol/L)

Weight 86Kg

Diabetic Carbs 45g (target, less than 50g)

BEETROOT TARTE TATIN (serves 4)
ingredients:

  • 8 – 10 small to medium sized beetroots
  • 60g butter
  • 120g brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • fresh thyme leaves or oregano
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • ready rolled puff pastry
  • sour cream to serve

method:

  1. Place the beetroots in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmering boil over medium heat and cook until a knife pierces through the beetroots easily. Drain from the water and allow to cool before peeling and cutting in half.
  2. Preheat oven to 200C. Melt the butter in a heavy based 24cm pan or skillet. Add the sugar and cook until golden and caramelised. Add the red wine vinegar (be careful of hot steam!) as well as the garlic and fresh herbs,
  3. Arrange the beetroot halves evenly over the caramel. Season with salt and pepper. Trim the pastry into a disc or square big enough to cover the beetroots. Tuck in any excess pastry edges, and prick the pastry lightly with a fork.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then carefully turn out onto a serving plate. Top with sour cream.

Traveling diabetic #26

Kommetjie

Hi,

Jan here.

There is something special about being on the road at sunrise. How to deal with fingers that get increasingly frigid on the steering wheel while driving something I will need to think about. Particularly as winter approaches.

Road works added an extra hour and a half to the trip. Fortunately, Terry had packed a box of cold braai bits so we could eat at one of the long ‘stop-and-go’ points, which kept my blood sugars from plummeting on the six hour trip.

Bistro 1682 at Steenberg. Mouth watering options. The risotto with pecorino cheese and Steenberg Sauv Blanc too tempting to resist. It didn’t disappoint. Terrifyingly morish. I did limit the damage to the starter portion and didn’t succumb to the equally tempting dessert menu

Blood sugars

Low 5.3 mmol/L (Fasting target 4 – 6mmol/L)

High 6.9 mmol/L (2 hours after meal target, less than 7.8 mmol/L)

Weight 85Kg

Traveling diabetic #25

Johannesburg

Hi,

Jan here.

Larger than normal jump in my blood sugars after my morning run. Body screaming for extra energy to cope with the hills and unaccustomed altitude?

Some good news as elevated blood sugars only seems to kick in when exercising above ones VO2 max (maximum or peak volume of oxygen consumed in exhaustive exercise). Although this does make me wonder if I’m only ‘coasting’ the rest of the time!

Jenny made a delicious diabetic sensitive meal on the Weber with boereworse wrapped in cheese and bacon. Served with cold grilled veggies and a tomato and avocado salad. Mum’s cream and strawberry cake not an option.

A lazy Border Collie puppy.

Blood sugars

Low 5.3 mmol/L (Fasting target 4 – 6mmol/L)

High 7.3 mmol/L (2 hours after meal target, less than 7.8 mmol/L)

Weight 86Kg

Traveling diabetic #20

Emirates, Business Class

Hi,

Jan here.

Spoilt with Business Class lounges and lights in Emirates, thanks to accumulated miles on UN missions.

Salmon gravlax, cheese and a stir fried steak with seasonal veggies the easy choices. Scallop tartare. Bresaola with Parmesan and more smoked salmon the in-transit options in the revamped terminal B lounge. 

A very good Hermitage red wine irresistible.

Blood sugars

High 5.0 mmol/L (2 hours after meal target, less than 7.8 mmol/L)

Low 4.7 mmol/L (Fasting target 4 – 6mmol/L)

Weight 84Kg

Traveling diabetic #19

Hi,

Jan here.

Can Tho City – Mekong Delta

An organised tour, with nothing in our control, other than being ultra cautious.

Elephant ear fish, presented whole, on a rack, with all the pride of a prize catch. The flesh is peeled from the fish and wrapped in rice paper with greens and more noodles than anything else. Served with a chilli sauce, it didn’t taste like much. Ginger chicken bits, spring rolls and a plate of green beans and carrot. The dressing the worry.

Particularly after a morning of being shown through the other delicacies of the Mekong Delta. Coconut candy made from caramelised coconut juice, sugared ginger, rice popcorn, sticky rice cakes with honey and peanuts, jasmine tea with honey and kumquat, rice flower and sesame seed cake. Fortunately they were happy with small, polite samples.

A modest supper of green mango salad and pork spring rolls.

Blood sugars

High 7.3 mmol/L (2 hours after meal target, less than 7.8 mmol/L)

Low 5.6 mmol/L (Fasting target 4 – 6mmol/L)

Traveling diabetic #18

Hi,


Jan here.

HCM

Terry has figured out that Pho, without noodles, is on the menu as ‘Chen them’ and when ordered with ‘Tai’, it comes with small pieces of beef. The only problem being that they serve it in a ramekin type dish, which means that I’m not only perched on a tiny chair at a low table, but trying to eat soup from what feels like a thimble! Etiquette being that you do not lift the Pho dish from the table. It gets messy.

Our default salad of bamboo stalk with sea food has been removed from the menu. Shredded chicken with cabbage the next best option. Or rather it would be if they didn’t drown it in a dressing loaded with sugar. 

Back to cashew nuts.

Blood sugars

High 10.7 mmol/L

Low 4.5 mmol/L

Traveling diabetic #16

Hi,

Jan here.

Saigon 

Sugar. The seemingly key ingredient to cooking in the South of Vietnam. Braised, pepper pork. The no rice questioned by three waitrons to ensure something hadn’t been lost in translation, looking forlorn in its lay pot. Eating the ribs with chop-sticks the amazing part. As sticky-sweet as can be imagined.

Kiri cheese squares and roasted cashew nuts providing stability and an easy, non-sugar, eating option. 

Blood sugars

High 8.4 mmol/L

Low 4.7 mmol/L