Tag Archive for: low carb

Grain Free Breakfast Recipes x 11

Recently, there’s been one burning question I’ve gotten from you.

“Hanna, I understand and can feel the benefits of going gluten and grain free, but what on Earth do I do when it comes to breakfast? I have no ideas, and it preferably has to be done within 3 seconds. Thanks!”

Well, I’m not sure I can help you with the 3-second rule, but I do have tons of yummy and (relatively) quick breakfast options in mind.

The key, as always, to keeping your healthy routine going, is to P R E P A R E. Prepare and be prepared for those 3 second breakfasts.

All these 11 breakfast recipes are gluten- grain-, soy- and yeast free. I’ve included the carb count for my fellow diabetic out there, so you know how much insulin to take.

Coconut Porridge

2 eggs

1 tbsp coconut flour (I use desiccated coconut, works just as well)

1 dl coconut cream (or coconut milk or almond milk)

vanilla powder

(Apparently you can make this without the eggs too, adding some coconut oil instead)

Whisk in a pot on low heat until there is a porridge like consistency.

Carbs: 6.7 grams

 

Baked Avocado

Halve an avocado and put one half per serving in an oven form. Crack an egg into where the pit was, and bake it in the oven for ca 10 minutes at 175 degrees (or until the egg is cooked).

Carbs: 9 grams

 

True GREEN Smoothie

2 fistfuls of kale, spinach, or other leafy green

1 apple

1 cucumber

0.5 tbsp coconut oil

fresh lemon juice to taste

fresh ginger, grated

Put all ingredients in a blender, blend, drink, feel amazing.

Carbs: 25 grams

 

Ham Rolls

This is a super quick one, you can even eat it on the run (although I really don’t recommend eating while on the run)

Take sandwich ham, roll a piece of cheese and some vegetable (cucumber, bell pepper, avocado) in it to make a roll.

Carbs: barely 2 grams per roll

 

Apple & Almond Butter

Slice up an apple. Spread almond butter on it. Enjoy.

Carbs: 20 grams

 

Greek Yoghurt with Homemade Muesli

You can find the muesli recipe in my recipe book you can sign up for below.

Carbs: Yoghurt 5 grams, muesli depending on what you put in it.

 

Chia Pudding

2,5 dl coconut or almond milk

0.5 dl chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla powder

A pinch of salt

This can be endlessly varied with a few berries, cinnamon, cocoa powder, some nuts (pistachios, perhaps?), some lemon juice,

Mix this in a bowl, and let it stand in the fridge over night. Ready for breakfast the day after!

Carbs: 20 grams for the whole thing, but it’s enough for about 3 or 4 servings, at least, making it 5 grams of carbohydrate per serving.

 

Energyballs

Click here to get my Energyball recipe! 

Carbs: 55 grams for all of them, so if you make it into 10 balls, it’s 5,5 grams of carbs each.

 

EGGS

Eggs have endless uses: Scrambled Eggs with smoked salmon or bacon and vegetables, Omelet, or

Bacon Egg Muffins

Line your muffin form with one or two slices of bacon. Either crack in the eggs whole or whisk them together as for scrambled. Put the muffin forms into the oven at 175 degrees until it’s all cooked (ca 10 mins)

Carbs: eggs only have trace carbs, but 13 g of protein each. Remember that if you find you need to bolus for gluconeogenesis.

 

The Grainbrain Bread

Click here to get the recipe for the awesomest GrainBrainCh bread, gluten- and grain free, of course! 

Carbs: 35 grams for the whole thing. Depending on thickness, about 2 grams per slice.

 

BPC

If you’re anyways going to chug some coffee in the morning, why not make it a Bullet Proof Coffee?

And, it’s really simple: you add coconut oil and butter to your coffee. Stir or make it frothy in a blender, however you like it, you’ll be full. I guarantee it.

Carbs: Zero, or extremely close to it.

 

I hope this helps inspire you a little for the highly coordinated morning rumble.

Did I miss anything on my list? Is there a breakfast food you’re wondering about? Let me know in the comments below!

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Green smoothies – why I don’t recommend them.

Ah, the rave about green smoothies!

Green smoothies to heal this, green smoothies to clear that infection, green smoothies for brighter and clearer skin.

The list is endless of what green smoothies can (apparently) do!

Yet, I might be the only nutrition specialist that doesn’t recommend drinking them. Especially not for people with diabetes. 

Have you ever thought of the ingredients in these smoothies?

Sure, they’re packed full of good stuff like spinach, kale, cucumber, various other veggies and sometimes even spirulina and other gently detoxifying stuff.

Have you noticed that most recipes contain an enormous ratio of (high sugar) fruit, though?

So much so that it becomes closer to the American Diabetes Association’s outdated recommendation of 60% carbohydrate to every meal?

And, a smoothie should probably not even be considered a full meal! (Unless you’re doing a juice cleanse, in which case I wish you good luck if you have diabetes.)

 

Let’s have a look at some of the recipes I’ve seen recently:

1. Avocado Coconut Smoothie (from: finerminds.com)
1 large avocado
1 large banana
3/4 cup organic pineapple juice
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 can organic coconut milk
1 tablespoon flax seed oil3 tablespoons melted extra-virgin coconut oil.
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sounds super yummy! But what’s the carb count?

1 large avocado has about 17 grams of carbohydrate (fiber 14 g), 1 large banana about 31 g (3,5 g fiber). ¾ cup pineapple juice has about 25 g crabs (0 g fiber). 1 can of coconut milk has 10 g carbs. The rest of the ingredients aren’t too carb-filled.

The total? 83 grams of carbohydrate. In one drink. Even if you discount the fiber count (which I only heard that you can do recently, and doesn’t work for me) you still get 65.5 grams of carbs.

Although this smoothie has a lot of good fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants, I’m honestly surprised at just how much carbohydrate there is.

 

Let’s have a look at another one.

2. Pomegranate Citrus Punch Green Smoothie (2 servings) (from simplegreensmoothies.com)
2 cups spinach, fresh
1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
1 cup water
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 banana

OMG, get in my belly! And the title sounds so carb-innocent, too, right?

Well, 1 banana has 31 g (3,5 g fiber), and 1 cup orange juice 26 g carbs (0.5 g fiber). 1 cup pomegranate seeds has 32 g of carbohydrate, with 7 g fiber

This gives us a grand total of 89 grams of carbohydrates, 44.5 g per serving. Without the fiber, it’s still 39 grams of crabs per person. Yikes!

 

Third time’s the charm, right? Let’s take a really simple one, with only 3 ingredients. How bad can that one be, really?

3. Basic Balance (from: rawfamily.com (Victoria Boutenko))
1 mango
1 cup kale
1 cup water

1 mango has 39 grams of carbs, 4 g fiber. 1 cup of kale has 6 grams of carbohydrate, so not very much at all!

Still, 45 grams of carbs in one drink is way too much for me…

 

Do you notice just how much carbohydrate these drinks contain? (AND WHAT IF YOU DON’T LIKE BANANAS?!)

In comparison, a can of coke has 39 grams of carbohydrates. Granted, there’s no fiber (or any other nutrition for that matter) in a can of coke, so it’s not exactly the same. But comparing the pure carb values? And what carbohydrate, in whichever form, does to your blood glucose levels in the end? Ouch, that’s going to hurt in the morning.

Yes, the type of carb in fruit and vegetables is infinitely better than eating 100 g of pasta, as it’s more nutritious and filling. But: there are simply too many carbohydrates turning into sugar in these smoothies to be able to include them in a low(er) carb lifestyle.

With the carbohydrates, fibers and occasional fat added too, it can get very tricky to get the insulin dose right for a diabetic, as well. Let alone if you buy it from a healthy store/juice bar and haven’t even made it yourself, meaning that you therefore have very little clue of exactly how much banana (or other high sugar fruit) is in that smoothie.

It’s not all gloomy days when it comes to green smoothies, though.

I have two suggestions for you so that you can still enjoy these bombaliciously nutritious powerhouses!

My first suggestion is to make your own, at home. This way you have the best possible control of what’s in it, making sure to use the freshest and most organic ingredients you can possibly find.

There are some really neat (and cute!) carrying/take away options you can use. I’ve even seen mason jars with a special lid for straws, like this one.

My second suggestion is that you make sure it’s a GREEN smoothie. What I mean by this is that you use about 90% vegetables in your smoothie. Please avoidmaking a “fruuitie”! What I mean by that is to avoid using mostly fruit with some added vegetable and think that it won’t affect your blood glucose.

Here are some excellent, low(er) carb green smoothies that won’t send your blood glucose and insulin requirement on as much of a rocket ride.

I want your opinion; am I being too harsh? Have you tried green smoothies? What are your experiences?

 

(Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to do a HAPPY DANCE for the first blog post with the new web page design! Woohoo! )

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