BBq Sauce on the 10th anniversary of my 25th birthday

[possom813]

I'm diabetic, and look for recipes that won't screw me up too bad.

Today was the 10th anniversary of my 25th birthday and my birthday stuff is always a homemade dinner. I forgot to pick up my bbq sauce at the grocery store, and it's a half hour trip to the closest store that doesn't charge $8 for a bottle. So I made bbq sauce

2 cups of ketchup
4 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
A package of dry beef onion mix(not sure where to find it, wife bought it somewhere and I appropriated it)
Tbsp of onion powder
Tbsp of garlic powder
4 tbsp of liquid sweetener(sugar free)

Mix it up to where you like the flavor, pretty good and quick mix.


Before dinner, sugar was 105, 2 hrs later, 119.

Dinner consisted of

romaine lettuce salad with thousand island dressing

pork sausage, bbq sauce, onions mixed up together and fried with no grease except what came from the sausage fat.

One rather large sweet potato with real butter

4 red lobster biscuits(had to try the mix to see if they're close to the real thing, and they're pretty darn close, but not perfect, but we also used fiesta blend cheese instead of cheddar)

2 slices of sugar free cake and icing made from the betty crocker stuff



Granted, this is more grandiose meal than usual, but I've got my sugar well under control over the last few months and needed a splurge.

[MaryB]

Careful of the ketchup! It is 50% sugar in many cases!

[Shiloh]

What MaryB said.
What is the adverse reaction to artificial sweeteners if any??

Shiloh

[possom813]

I don't believe there is much of an adverse reaction, if any really. I try different foods to see how they act with me and if the artificial sweeteners had an effect it was minute.

My downfall, unfortunately, is tortillas for tacos. I have to be careful on which tortillas I eat because the carbs a ridiculous.

[shoot-n-lead]

Sounds great.

IF...there is only a 14pt swing in sugar after that meal...guess the ketchup is not much of a problem.

[Blackwater]

I'm diabetic too, and have always loved BBQ sauces. Mostly, I've tended toward those with a heavy brown sugar input, but that's not on the diet any more. Anyone tried Splenda or any of the other substitutes? Saccharine makes me crave sugars/carbs about half an hour after taking it in, and I don't need any more temptation than I already have. IF I ever drink a soft drink, it's always a full sugar one, but I sip on it only, over a period of an hour or two, so it doesn't spike my blood sugar that much, but keeps my energy level up.

My favorite involved brown sugar, Worstershire and soy sauces, a little (careful not to get too much) taragon, onion powder, garlic powder, some yellow or brown mustard, and either catsup or tomato sauce. Nowadays, it's just the tomato sauce, and occasionally, spaghetti sauce if I think a little Italian flavor might be good, but then I leave out the taragon. I use very little if any sallt, but like a good dose of black pepper. I haven't tried Stevia yet, but plan to. I eat too much VOLUME when I eat BBQ, and I need to be careful of that, too, so I tend to avoid it when I can.

Stevia hits my taste buds as TOO sweet, and a little too much tends to make things WAY too sweet for me! Sure wish I could get that brown sugar flavor without the brown sugar! Anyone know how to get that flavor????

On the sweet BBQ sauces, I'm thinking the Stevia may be my best bet, but it'll take a lot less than the amt. of brown sugar I'd normally use. Just need to get the particulars worked out. And it's sugar also, but if you have any sweet gerkin vinegar left over in a jar that's empty, that adds a real nice flavor, but watch that sugar content! It's loaded with sugar! More, I think than a std. soft drink! Mostly, I just use cider vinegar.

That's the most I can contribute to this thread, but I'll be looking for tips from other, more experienced chefs here.

[slohunter]

I don't care squat about the food, but being a diabetic has been a real problem keeping the beer down.
I was told Stag beer has no sugar in it. The search continues!

[JSH]

Folks I am not a diabetic but have several friends that are. One on insulin and the other two control theirs with their diet.
As mentioned sugars will vary brand to brand. I have used Splenda in some small batches of sauce had some come out ok others not so good. A home made cider vinegar has been used quite a bit along with balsamic vinegar that has been reduced to a syrup. Some of the sugar free fruit jams have been reduced then things added to get the balance right. Depending on the meat but peach has been a big hit then black berry or one of the darker berries. Some wines reduced have made a good dipping sauce after some different things are added too.

I never was was aware of where "sugars" can come from and am still learning a lot. The big thing for me is getting something sugar free or low sugar, then having everyone taste it and go from there.

One other thing is the infused vinegars, you can get a lot of flavor a with just a small amount.

[DougGuy]

Hope you fellas are aware of the aspartame cautions, seriously nasty stuff here.

[MaryB]

Often times the higher the alcohol content the beer is the less free sugar it will have. ALL beer has sugar, it is made by extracting sugar from the barley then fermenting it into alcohol!

I don't care squat about the food, but being a diabetic has been a real problem keeping the beer down.
I was told Stag beer has no sugar in it. The search continues!

[possom813]

Sounds great.

IF...there is only a 14pt swing in sugar after that meal...guess the ketchup is not much of a problem.

My sugar has been screwed up for the last few months, the metformin wasn't keeping it 'normal' even with my diet stuff. He put me on a sample bottle of jardiance for a couple of weeks after my a1c was 13 and sugar was consistently 250+.

A1C was down to 10 about a month later and I go in next week for the 3 month evaluation/a1c test.

The jardiance has really been working quite well as far as keeping my sugar where it needs to be. I've eaten the same diet I have since I got diagnosed with diabetes and my fasting(morning) sugar is staying 90-110. Several times it's been in the 80's and once it was 70 even and freaked me out a bit.

Before most meals that are out of my ordinary stuff, I'll poke my finger, and check it again 2-3 hours later and it's typically less than than 25 points higher than the before test. On the few times I've waited closer to 4 hours, it's back real close to where it started.

The worst one was at a restaurant, I try not to eat out much, but we were hours from home and hungry. I went with a chicken fried steak and french fries with a veggie mix. I don't recall the exact numbers, but 6 hours later it was still about 50 points higher than it was supposed to be.

But all in all, compared to where it was this time last year, I couldn't be happier with my sugar(and new doctor that actually listens)

[possom813]

Often times the higher the alcohol content the beer is the less free sugar it will have. ALL beer has sugar, it is made by extracting sugar from the barley then fermenting it into alcohol!

I'm not a beer drinker, not in many years, but the doctor told me that I should enjoy a glass of hard liquor every now and again, just not in excess. I haven't drank in 15 years, but did try my neighbor's apricot brandy the other day...Might be another 15 years before I need to taste liquor.

[Boaz]

Heinz has the 75% less sugar ketchup now . We have been using it for about a year . It's pretty good , dang sure better than none .

[Blackwater]

That's good to know, Boaz. I wasn't aware of that, but will have to notice next visit to the grocer's. Sugars and carbs really contribute to my "crashes" and getting the shakes. Had a bad batch of test strips recently, and by the time I discovered they were bad, I'd been relying on their extra low readings by eating carbs and some sugars. I'd gotten readings as low as 29!!! I should have known better quicker, but had never run into this before. Now I'm about back to normal on the blood sugar. Yo-Yoing the blood sugar is awful for us diabetics.

I have a friend essentially in the last stages of diabetes and he's eating VERY little now, just trying to save his feet and legs from amputation. If he ever gets to where he can't get out and hunt and fish, he'll dwindle away like a leaf in the wind, I'm afraid. Seeing him take insulin just so he could eat like he wanted to for the past 20+ years taught me a BIG lesson! Sure, I want to eat like I always did, but I simply can't.

Whenever I've tried it, the results have far outweighed the pleasures of a big feast. Now, I've learned to enjoy a more seemly meal, and try to rely on good taste and more sensible portions. I'll never be quite satisfied with that, but it sure beats the backlash that happens when I eat like I really WANT to. Our desires and passions really CAN get us in deeper than we can dig ourselves out of.

The hard part is finding just the right amount, and if anyone's done that, you're better than I am! But I keep trying, and these days, get more problems with waiting TOO long to eat than I do eating too much or the wrong kinds of stuff. I'll occasionally sin a little, but keep it down to a pretty minimum level. It's just not worth the backlash afterward. A tough lesson, but .... I CAN learn, even when I sometimes don't WANT to. Am I maturing a bit at long last? Or just scared of getting like my friend???

[Boaz]

My brother in law was diabetic . He killed himself with food . He had episode after episode of wrong eating . He would bring a dozen glazed doughnuts to the shop and want me to help him eat em , many other things too . I would not take any , refused to be a part of it .He was looking for a reason or justification to eat . Saw it , watched him die in a coma and I loved him . Food was a drug to him . There is no food worth dying for ......glazed doughnuts ? "Real' coke ? Beer ? Pecan pie ? I watched my sister and their two children as he died standing at the bedside . Glazed doughnuts is worth that ? He had a pacemaker that kept pulsing and his eyes would open and looked like he was trying to sit up . They were all screaming and crying . Glazed doughnuts ? Have wished many times he could have gotten a handle on the food addiction .

[MaryB]

I made the decision to cut the fast food, cut the prepared food, and start cooking for myself over 30 years ago. Sure I slip in a frozen pizza now and then, or some Chinese from the freezer section(General Tsao's chicken... love the stuff) but 99% of the time I am cooking from scratch then recooking leftovers into a multitude of meals all week long. In the last 10 years I took up gardening seriously and I haven't eaten store bought veg since the middle of May! I am on coumadin for a genetic defect that makes me clot 10 times more than normal, it is for life, so I have to watch my vitamin K intake. Before I started eating from the garden I was all over the map and had a hard time stabilizing my clotting rate. I started eating from the garden, or from my freezer in winter supplemented with a romaine salad some nights of the week and my clotting rate has been very stable! A meal for me like tonight was a broiled pork chop(no added fat), some broccoli from last summers garden in a homemade cheese sauce I make ahead and freeze in serving sizes for quick meals, and home fries from a small potato.

That was food for the day, I will maybe make popcorn later, or some cheese on crackers... my main meal is basically lunch and the rest of the day is small amounts of whatever my body is craving for a filler be it salty(tonight will be salt, I sweated out a couple gallons berry picking today), sometimes a sweet treat(rare), or even a simple tuna fish sandwich. Something light before bed... We were never meant to eat a heavy meal late in the day and it is not good for us!

[Wayne Smith]

I'm not a beer drinker, not in many years, but the doctor told me that I should enjoy a glass of hard liquor every now and again, just not in excess. I haven't drank in 15 years, but did try my neighbor's apricot brandy the other day...Might be another 15 years before I need to taste liquor.

It was that bad, eh? (Where is that purple font?)

Barbeque sugars for me (type 2 diabetic) are in the rub. This spreads them throughout the meat when I pull it, and the rib rubs are more pepper than sugar. For sauces the sugars are in the apple cider or other liquid flavoring (maple in the burbon sauce) no added sugars at all. I make a Burbon sauce and an apple based sauce. No ketchup at at all, if I want a tomato flavor I use tomato paste.