by Marilyn Helton
Starting with Halloween in October, through Super Bowl Sunday
in January, there's one eating event after another: Halloween, Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Hannukah, Kwaanza, New Year's Eve/Day and finally, the ultimate tailgate
event, the Super Bowl! The average weight gain over the holidays ranges from
7 to 10 pounds. If there were ever an Olympics for Eating, this would be it!
Who wins the Winter Food Olympics? Those who maintain their weight and good glucose control! Start training now so these eating events don't weigh you down. To help you prepare, and maintain your dedication to efficient diabetes management, I've selected several terrific cookbooks for this issue's Book Reviews. I think you're going to enjoy your training for this year's Food Olympics!
THE DIABETES HOLIDAY COOKBOOK (YEAR-ROUND COOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES), published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, (c) 2002, is the perfect starting point. It's about time someone wrote a holiday cookbook specifically for us!
The Diabetes Holiday Cookbook is bursting with flavorful recipes for every occasion in a month-by-month guide to healthy holiday cuisine. Written by Carolyn Leontos, MS, RD, CDE, Debra Mitchell, CEPC, and Kenneth Weicker, CEC, this book is a must for your cookbook collection. (If you remember from past reviews, Carolyn Leontos is the author of WHAT TO EAT WHEN YOU GET DIABETES.) Debra Mitchell, an Executive Pastry Chef at Treasure Island, a Mirage/MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and Kenneth Weicker, Executive Chef of the Suncoast, a Coast Resorts Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, join Carolyn Leontos to bring their collective talent and culinary expertise together to produce this worthy book.
The Diabetes Holiday Cookbook will provide you with more than 100 appetizing recipes for festive holiday dishes, complete and easy-to-put-together menus for 21 holiday celebrations, creative suggestions for enhancing flavor without adding calories, alternative ingredients suggestions for low-sodium and alcohol?free diets and helpful notes on holiday traditions and activities (which is a bonus for food editors).
I like the fact that this cookbook offers serving sizes and complete nutritional analysis, including dietary exchanges for those of you who have not yet advanced to counting carbohydrates for control. The ingredients are not exotic, and are easy to find in your local grocery store or supermarket -- an important consideration.
You definitely won't feel left out of the "holiday loop" with a copy of THE DIABETES HOLIDAY COOKBOOK, friends. Very highly recommended!
If you "eat out" on a regular basis, you'll appreciate the GUIDE TO HEALTHY RESTAURANT EATING, 2ND EDITION, by Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE. This is a very thick little book, packing a wealth of information on more than 3,500 menu items from more than 55 chain restaurants.
Hope Warshaw, one of my favorite cookbook/reference book authors, has put together the best restaurant guide available for people with diabetes. In her thorough and meticulous style, she's been able to present you with all the facts you need to choose your meals intelligently, whether you're enjoying "fast food" or making selections from a restaurant menu. You'll find complete nutritional information AND exchanges for every menu item listed in this book (it's rare to find a guide of this type which includes dietary exchanges). The author has included the basics about today's diabetes nutrition management and meal planning goals and strategies, common restaurant pitfalls, and strategies for defensive restaurant dining, in the section titled "Put Your Best Guess Forward." Further, if you can't find a particular restaurant chain in this book, or if there's a new menu item introduced for a restaurant that IS included, there's a handy list telling how and where to get the nutrition information you need.
This is the best guide to eating out I've seen to date. Published
by the American Diabetes Association, (c) 2002 by Hope S. Warshaw, GUIDE TO
HEALTHY RESTAURANT EATING, 2ND EDITION makes an excellent stocking stuffer.
Highly recommended!
THE JOSLIN DABETES HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATE COOKBOOK, by Bonnie Sanders Polin, Ph.D., and Frances Towner Giedt with the Nutrition Services Staff at the Joslin Diabetes Center, is a cookbook I've coveted for some time. I recently switched from the traditional "dietary exchange system" to counting carbohydrates, and when I finally received a review copy of this book, I was one happy camper.
During the last decade, major changes in the approach to dietary "treatment" of diabetes have occurred. The standard "diet prescription" for diabetes control has disappeared. The Joslin Diabetes Healthy Carbohydrate Cookbook recognizes that meal planning today should match individual treatment goals and the lifestyle of each individual patient. Using the simple guideline of "eating healthy," people who have diabetes currently have many more options and opportunities to succeed!
Bonnie Polin and Frances Geidt show us how carbohydrate-containing foods are a significant part in diabetes meal planning, and how using carbohydrate counting makes improved glycemic control possible whether you're controlling diabetes by nutrition, insulin therapy or oral medications.
The Joslin Diabetes Healthy Carbohydrate Cookbook features a complete guide to stocking your healthy pantry; very informative sidebars including tips for cooking with artificial sweeteners, using ingredients which might be foreign to you (such as tofu), and a primer on lettuce and greens. Every recipe has a complete nutritional analysis and "Joslin Choices" (which will translate to your dietary exchanges). The 285?page book has 175 recipes from appetizers, soups and stews, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pasta, grains and tofu to delicious desserts. There's also a helpful three-week menu plan.
Don't let some of the long ingredient lists discourage you; the results are definitely worth it. Besides, this is how you learn to substitute natural ingredients for enhancing flavor without fats, sugars and calories! Published by Fireside (a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.), THE JOSLIN DIABETES HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATE COOKBOOK was definitely worth waiting for. Recommended with applause.
Is there a senior citizen with diabetes in your family or circle of friends? You might want to consider giving them a copy of DIABETIC COOKING FOR SENIORS: DELICIOUS NEW WAYS TO EAT WELL, EAT RIGHT, by Kathleen Stanley, CDE, CN, RD, LD, MSED, published by the American Diabetes Association, (c) 2001.
This is actually more than just a cookbook; it looks at some of the challenges faced by seniors with diabetes: Handling meal plan changes, reducing sodium, lowering fat and cholesterol, eating out, food and drug interactions, digestive difficulties, loss of appetite, emotions, stress and boredom, making food appealing (aging causes a loss of taste for many seniors, exclusive of diabetes), and weight loss/gain.
I love the fact that Diabetic Cooking For Seniors has recipes purposely designed to eliminate excess chopping, dicing and preparation, as many of us experience painful arthritis as we age. Each recipe includes a nutritional analysis and exchange information, and most are designed for cooking in small portions, ideal for the reduced size senior family.
The recipes are divided into 10 chapters: Breakfast Ideas; Quick Fixes; Low-Sodium Stuff; Flavor Powerhouse; Low-Calorie Concoctions; Fiber-Rich Foods; Super Snacks; Low or No Cholesterol; High-Calcium Choices, and Simply Great Desserts.
I've already ear-marked several recipes such as Instant Picnic (this one will surprise you), Smothered Baked Portobello Mushroom (so Italian), Sticky Muffins (you get two per serving), Hot Skins (definitely not X-rated), Cows in the Orchard Salad (I'll let you try to guess what that one has in it), Apricot Candy (only three ingredients), and Cinnamon Rice, Chocolate Pancakes, and Strawberry Cloud Pie -- which will be offered to our Cinnamon Hearts readers!
This is a delightful book, and you're going to be happy with your purchase. Go ahead and make your mouth happy with a copy of DIABETIC COOKING FOR SENIORS. You'll enjoy these exciting new recipes!
That's all, folks! Wherever you are when you read these reviews, I hope you're healthy, happy and living in the moment! Until we meet again in January, I wish you peace, hope and a joyous holiday season.
Marilyn Helton, diabetic since 1993, is the publisher of Cinnamon Hearts: The Art of Living a Winning Diabetic Lifestyle, a positive-power E-zine for diabetics and their families. Visit the Cinnamon Hearts Web site: www.cinnamonhearts.com.