One day, I mean meal, at a time...oh yeah, and Lemon Pie

And so, another 10 days has passed, and I've learned a lot more about gastroparesis and diabetes, and the combinations thereof.

1. I learned that eating sugar is like a "gut bomb" to me that paralyses my stomach and swells it up to twice its size. I have tried to avoid sugar, but failed miserably last weekend. Randy was here (the sweet thing he is, I am so lucky) and I ate WAY too much of a low sugar lemon meringue pie (recipe to follow).

2. To much of a white carb also freezes up my stomach a lot. I ate rice for dinner Friday, with some GF Sushi Saturday, and in a GF pizza I made Saturday.I also made a low sugar banana bread (recipe ALSO to follow) and ate two pieces. It's NOT that I'm exceeding a calorie intake of 1400 or so calories a day (most days, it's lower than that). It's just sugar and carbs don't set well.

Which brings us back to the question, "So what DO you eat?" The other day, I thought of a book I used to love when I was little -- called "Cheese, Peas, and Chocolate Pudding." I was never the kind of kid who wouldn't eat anything, of course, See picture above -- that's me as a cute lil four year old butterball...mascot for the Pepperall High School Marching Band...

Anyway, my diet kinda feels like that now. I eat a lot of cheese (Laughing Cow Light and Cottage Cheese,) peas and carrots are one of my only solid veggies, and I just love sugar free Jell-O chocolate dream pudding. YUM. That, baby food fruit, and the occasional bowl of soup. I really tolerate a mild chicken salad well, and last night I discovered that my local Chinese joint makes a fine Shrimp and Lobster Sauce GF for me. I had it last night with 1/2 cup of rice (Jeffrey loves rice so he ate the rest).

And so, like my favorite high school show, "One Day at a Time," THAT is how I am taking it, only I'm really doing it "One Meal at a Time." I realized Wednesday I can't eat pork BBQ any more (but baked sweet potatoes are A-OK). And a whole chicken breast half is OK, but not with lettuce, black beans, or corn (I thought...there's just a bit of this. But turns out, no no no. I was some powerful sick Thursday night into Friday morning.

And so, I promised two new recipes: GF Lemon Meringue Pie with a low-sugar custard, and GF low-sugar banana bread. I'll save the banana bread for my NEXT post, so you can put some bananas aside to ripen....

The lemon meringue pie is because Randy brought me a ton of lemons, and I was just dying for a lemon pie. I have since been eating the lemons with my water and diet sodas. YES, I eat them. Soak them then eat the pulp. Anyway. I used a Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakeshop Pie Crust (quite a favorite, GF, low sugar and all that). And Randy and I ate it, and I didn't look book. But because it really had so little sugar in it, it didn't tear up my blood sugar.

Low Sugar Lemon Meringue Pie
(adapted from a recipe by Nancy Primus in "Good Eatin' from Jack Daniel County," circa 1982

I baked GF pie crust, blind baked and cooled

Four eggs, separated into yolks and whites
3/4 cup each sugar and Splenda (if you have no sugar issues, it's 1 1/2 cups sugar)
PLSU six additional teaspoons Splenda (or sugar, if you can)
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1 t. vanilla
5 1/2 t. GF cornstarch (I use a nonGMO brand)
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups water
1;2 stick butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

Separate eggs into separate bowls. Set whites aside for meringue.
You are going for something the consistency of a thick custard.....
In a saucepan, mix sugar, Splenda, salt, cornstarch and water. Cook stirring constantly until very thick. Remove from heat and add lemon zest. In the separate bowl, beat the four egg yolks and slowly temper them into the cornstarch mixture. Return this to heat, bring to a bubble, cook one minute, and remove from heat. Add butter and slowly add lemon juice. The mixture should be a thick custard. Let cool completely (which could take an hour, but it's OK to set it aside and go off and do something else for a bit.

In the other bowl with the four egg whites, beat them till frothy and add Splenda a spoonful at a time. Add cream of tartar and vanilla until it forms a moist, soft peak.

Immediately place cooled filling in cooled GF pie crust, and place meringue over filling, sealing the edges to the edge of the piecrust. Bake in a 350 degree over for 15 minutes until top of pie is lightly browned. Cool thoroughly before serving.

Much love, and Viva La Vida (I love that song...)
Ging

P.S. A big shoutout to my dear friend Jen O'Brien, who convinced me to buy some baby food BANANAS. All my former students with babies on baby food, HOW to you resist this delectable treat? YUM. Jen, you made me search out baby food bananas in the store yesterday, and I loved them. To me, they're better than the real thing.