Uncle Paul,
To the uncle I have never met. You touched our lives in your short time on earth. My brother is named after you, and my two cousins named Paul, are also named after you. Family gatherings get confusing when everyone is calling for Paul. I know very little about you. I know you passed away when you were in your teens. I know you had diabetes. The few Lovett boys that were born were all named in your honour.
I know you were always referred to as the science geek in the family. Wow, my brother has also turned into a science geek. Maybe there is more to a name…
My brother also eats an excess amount of sugar. Something you could never do because you were born with diabetes. He lives on cookies and chips but you’d never know from his appearance. He has a six pack and is tall and lean. I’m so jealous, why didn’t I inherit those genes? I hardly eat sugar, where is my six pack?
Paul, my brother, has a choice. He was born healthy. He was born without diabetes. I joked the other day that he would get diabetes. We treated it like it was a paper cut that it was no big deal, he’d get over it.
If he gets it, he’ll get over it and move on with his life like the other 1.9 million new cases of diabetes that are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older. Hopefully he doesn’t get blindness, kidney disease and/or amputation. He still eats those cookies. He doesn’t see a growing belly so he feels it is ok.
I hope I don’t have a reason to name a son after Paul.
Your niece,
Carol
Today is November 14th, which is World Diabetes Day.
In partnership with All Day I Dream About Food and 40+ bloggers, we are talking about diabetes and how it affected our lives.
Diabetes contributes to over 230,000+ deaths per year and costs our health care system $174 billion dollars. In some cases diabetes is preventable.
Please prevent diabetes in your life.
One simple step is eating more balanced. In my perfect world that would be gluten free, grain free, less sugar, less processed…. but that’s not realistic for everyone. Please just be sensible about what you eat. Leave the cookies for treats.
For this event I made a diabetic friendly recipe. I made something taco inspired! It’s called, Easy Shredded Chicken Taco Meat. I even made a homemade taco seasoning mix for it too!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together.
Ingredients
- 2 large skinless chicken breast
- 1 cup of salsa, (mild, spicy or extra spicy)
- 1/2 tbsp homemade taco seasoning
- Enough water to cover the chicken
Instructions
- Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken.
- Place the chicken in a slow cooker.
- Pour the salsa over the chicken. Pour enough water in the slow cooker to cover the chicken.
- If you want the meal done in 3-4 hours turn the heat setting to "high". If you have time for the chicken to slow cook, turn the heat setting to "low" and cook for 8 hours.
- When the chicken is cooked, about an hour into the cooking if the setting is on high. Shred the chicken by using two forks and pulling the chicken apart (think pulled pork). Leave the chicken in the juices to simmer for a few hours.
- Eat the chicken as is, or place the chicken in a lettuce wrap, you can put guacamole on top of the chicken.
Swerve will be sponsoring a big giveaway on my Carolyn’s blog, All Day I Dream About Food. Please stop by for your chance to win a blue KitchenAid stand mixer (blue is the colour of diabetes awareness). Most importantly, stop by to read Carolyn’s story about diabetes.
Please tell me how diabetes has affected your life?
Carol
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Just making my way through all the sites that are participating in Carolyn’s World Diabetes Day awareness campaign & wanted to say hello & thx (I’m a type 2, btw)
CJ at Food Stories recently posted..November Giveaway ~ $20 Cash
I remember reading that on your recent blog post. Thanks for commenting.
I have much loved Pauls in my family too along with diabetes. Thanks for the recipes. I love spicy!
Thanks for the comment:)
You’re so smart to make your own taco seasoning – prepared ones have so much sodium. Your chicken looks delicious and easy. Thanks for sharing!
diabeticFoodie recently posted..Date- and Balsamic-Glazed Brussels Sprouts for #WorldDiabetes Day
Thank you! I’ve gotten into preparing all of my own spice mixes.
I’m visiting all the sites linked up to Carolyn’s awareness event, and just wanted to say thank you for doing this. I like the look of your blog–I’ll have to check it out more. My sister is a Type I and I’ve been eating low-carb myself for nearly five years, so more recipes are always a good thing!
Thank you Catherine! I really appreciate your comment and sharing my blog with others
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