Pre-diabetic And Still Want Cake

Until recently I used to find it difficult to name my favourite food but not now.

I love a Sunday roast with all the trimmings, including Yorkshire puddings. I love a sausage sandwich and a burger with lots of onions. I love Chinese food particularly noodles and I love pasta dishes, (when I was younger I wanted to marry a cook), and then I discovered Mills & Boon romances, and a chef on a white horse? No the image just didn't do it for me.

It wouldn't be right to not give a shout out to my mum. My taste buds tingle even now at the memory of her chicken curry. For a vegetarian, she always got it so aromatic and flavourful. Her curries and mine will be for another blog.

Now, if it was my very last meal (because I'd done a dastardly deed for real, not in my fiction), I would not choose anything savoury. Hoping the authorities wouldn't be 'tight' on me, I'd check/request that my plate, tray or table would be a supersize one, on to which my beloved would be ladled, spooned, or dished. So, a deep breath and starting with apple pie and custard, I'd continue with my list until told I'd gone beyond the prison's budget or just ordered to stop.

This I had in Knutsford a few weeks ago.
Apple Crumble with cream. Had it been with ice cream the sweetness would have done damage to several areas of one's, ahem, physique, one of which is the face.


This muffin with shop bought blackcurrent jam is just a sample (the picture was taken quickly because it kept nagging me to eat it), of a lovely friend's baking. Just like its brothers and sisters it was oh-my-actual...so yummy. I told myself I would share them but I ate four. As a result, I had spots galore.

This dessert I had recently at a pub in Newbury Park. Under all that syrup the apples were a perfect blend of sweet and tart.
Much as I felt guilty about not eating it all (I wasn't paying for the meal), my taste buds actually rejected it.

Wouldn't it be nice to eat all of the above without repercussions? I used to be able to with negligible weight gain. But now it is a dream.

I love our NHS and am very grateful for it. At the last annual maintenance on me, the tests showed my cholesterol and sugar levels were too high. I am now pre-diabetic and have to watch everything I eat and drink.

It's tough when you've a sweet tooth. Sugar in my tea, cakes with my tea, biscuits with or without tea, etcetera. Plus, when I am writing, I snack. Its as if my brain won't engage with my fingers unless my mouth is being rewarded!

After searching the internet and discussing my 'condition' to death, I'm currently experimenting 'mix and match' with artificial and natural products to sweeten my drink/food in order to meet my cravings.

See my Stevia plant? I'm loving its sweet leaves but when I soaked them in water...I couldn't stand the look or taste.

Natvia: I have to add about a quarter spoon of granulated Tate & Lyle to make it palatable. In fact it enhances the flavour of my morning coffee, but in tea I still find it 'not right'.
Xylitol: This I'm fine with but it does mean more trips to the bathroom, so it's being used sparingly.
Stevia Sweetners: These don't do it for me. The taste lingers on my tongue for ages.
Honey: I love this but it increases my sugar levels and so am only using it as a treat.

I can't resist fruit but am cutting down on it. I've tried coconut sugar too. It was very expensive and delicious with a sort of caramel taste, but one of the worst ones for someone with my diagnosis.

This is an incredibly delicious lemon cake that another friend who makes cakes the traditional way (without cutting back on anything), made for me. It doubled the rash on my face and so I was forced to find a kind soul to take it off my hands. My nice neighbour came to my aid :)



Another session with the diet nurse soon. Let's hope the levels are lower.

Writer Aspiring To Be A Gardener

When I downsized, I had a tick list of what I wanted. As a writer of fiction, I pretty much was able to conceive getting everything my heart desired.

One of my ‘I would like’ was to have a smallish garden. And in that garden I would grow pretty flowers, plants and vegetables.

It wasn't to be. What I have is a back garden that is mostly flagged, badly, and very ugly. The above picture is of somebody else's. 

Another 'I would like' was a solid raised bed (to bend over without wrecking my back), in which to grow lots of yummy, healthy vegetables easily. However, this is England and it does rain a lot. And because costs have to be contained, compromise is the only way I could have the cake and eat it too. A brick construction was too expensive, so I opted for a wooden one. The price for a ton of soil was an unpleasant surprise too, but I was already committed.

I planted onions, potatoes, garlic, salad, and turnips. The onions were beautiful. The seven potatoes I pushed into the soil produced a very pleasing amount for a beginner. The mixed salad leaves grew faster than I could eat them. The garlic disappeared and caterpillars stripped my turnips of their leaves.

Lots of sun, wind, rain and months passed, and finally it was time to harvest. So I got out there with alacrity and returned inside with similar speed.

Woe is me, why is my soil crawling with black flies? I asked aloud.

The answer wasn't quite, 'Fear not my child,' but near enough. My digging on the internet resulted in reassurances such as, I had nothing really to worry about but I could treat the problem, or let nature take its course. I chose the latter.

It is now Spring and I have noticed that my raised bed's planks are not as sturdy as before and it wobbles, probably due to the amount of water in the soil etcetera. I am not going to think about having to scoop and tidy away a ton of soil if the thing collapses.

I wonder what 2020 has in store for this amateur gardener and writer of creative fiction? More of my Vicious Vignettes for definite. There's three collections so far. I love writing those because they're fun and perfect for everyday life. Or maybe I should just run away? But I haven't a clue where to and of course that isn't the end of the story.