House inspection time

Its house inspection time again, the time of the year i hate, i think all house inspections should be banned lol.

I got a letter last Tuesday saying they would be here this Thursday anywhere between 9.30am -12.30pm which to me i think sucks, give me a time frame that is less like an hour, but 3 hours yuck.

Im a night person and work at night and often dont go to sleep till its around 5.00-6.00am to have to be awake at 9.30am when they may come over annoys the crap out of me.

I know that i will pass the house inspection as the place i live will be nice and tidy and the person who owns the place is happy as long as you pay the rent each week.

This time there is nothing at all wrong at my place not like last time were a pipe kept falling off under the sink that was all fixed.

Ive been cleaning a room or two each day since last week doing bits and pieces so that the place is almost done with not that much left to do.

Cross  fingers i pass and that they come before 10.00am and i can have a short sleep before i have to go back out at 1.30pm

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Diabetic Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Being diabetic you shouldnt eat to much sweet stuff which means chocolate and biscuits, the other day i had a craving for both and found this recipe, i made them the next day and they tasted pretty good, they end up being soft, chewy and moorish

• 110g butter, softened
• 12 tablespoons granulated artificial sweetener, such as Splenda
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, beaten
• 140g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 85g plain chocolate chips (Use chopped dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao for even less sugar, i used 60g of dark chocolate and found it loads)
• 60g chopped pecans (can use walnuts)

1. Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas 5.
2. In a medium bowl, cream the butter till changes colour and goes soft and creamy looking add sugar substitute a tablespoon or two at a time after all sugar substitute is in. Mix in water, vanilla and egg. Sift together the flour, bicarb and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips and pecans. 
3. Drop biscuit batter on tray
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from trays to cool on wire racks. 
5. Makes around 40 - 45 biscuits

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Knitted hat pattern

As its winter were i am and i like making things i started to knit hats or beanies again, usually i do them on 4 needles or on a round needle but this time i wanted to be lazy and found a great pattern for a 2 needle hat which takes hardly any time at all to knit.

Ive knitted 3 hats so far  and am in the process of doing one now for a friend, i have told my friends if they want a hat done to buy me the wool and i will knit a hat for two for them which some are quite happy to do.  As you can see it has a basic band and normal pearl/plain to finish the hat to the length you want decreasing as you get closer to the top

1 of the hats ive knitted

This is the link to the page of the hat im making which is sooooo easy to do...
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Diabetic Beef Fried Rice

Another diabetic recipe i have made which tastes great, the ones i didnt like i wont be adding here. This recipe reminded me of a fried rice my mum used to make years ago and i had never been able to make it even though of course it seems pretty simple. For some reason give me something fancier to cook and i can cook it with no problems.

With the adding of the Sesame sauce it just adds a hint of something that seems to finish the recipe off. This recipe should feed 6 people, Is a great recipe if you have any left over rice (kept no longer than 3 days)

Diabetic Beef Fried Rice

1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

2 cups water

Spray on olive oil

1 egg, beaten

250g extra-lean (at least 90%) ground beef

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 cups fresh snow pea pods, cut diagonally in half

8 medium green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)

1. Cook rice in water as directed on package.

2.  Meanwhile, spray a 30cm nonstick fypan with olive oil ( Heat over medium heat. Add beaten egg to frypan; cook 1 minute or until firm but still moist. Remove from frypan; cut into thin strips. Cover to keep warm.

3.  In same frypan, cook beef, mushrooms and celery over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked.

4.  In small bowl, mix soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper sauce; stir into beef mixture. Add pea pods, onions, cooked egg and cooked rice; cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until hot.

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Diabetic Meat Loaf

Diabetic Meat Loaf 

Another recipe ive made for friends who dont have diabetes and who have loved it, im a lover of spinach so this is perfect for me

• 250grams. lean ground beef
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 3 cups chopped spinach, ( i used 1 packet of frozen spinach)
• 2 tbsps. low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tbsps. skim milk
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsps. Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsps. whole-grain oats
• salt and pepper

• Preheat an oven to 175-degree C.
• Heat olive oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and onion,  cook until soft. Set aside and allow the mixture to cool down a little bit.
• Put chopped spinach into a medium bowl. Add yogurt as well as a dash of salt and pepper. Mix together well.
• In a large bowl, combine ground beef, egg, chopped tarragon, dried oregano and basil, milk, mustard, oats and the onion mixture. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly with your hands.
• Cover the bottom of a non-stick loaf pan with half of the meatloaf mixture.
• Evenly spread the spinach mixture over it.
• Top with the rest of the meatloaf mixture.
• Bake the meatloaf in the preheated oven for around 45 - 50 minutes.

You can insert a meat thermometer into the centre of the meatloaf to ensure it is done. If it reads at least degree 68 C.

You could serve with a salad or steam mixed vegetables

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Diabetic Nacho's

I love eating Nachos so one day i searched around to try to find a recipe for one that i could eat, i know as a diabetic i shouldn't be eating the corn chips and using Wraps (Tortillas) is a better way around it.

With the refried beans its good to check if they are made with Lard or Vegetable oil, as a Diabetic it is safer to use the one with Vegetable oil 

The recipe below is for one person 

Ingredients

1 olive oil cooking spray
85 grams (3 oz)ground turkey, 99% fat free raw or very low fat mince if you cant find raw turkey
30g (1 oz) refried beans (equal to 2 tablespoons)
2 tbsp Salsa 

Low fat cheese

1 wrap (tortilla) bread as low in carbs as you can get

Preheat oven at 200c

Slice wrap into corn chips shapes or however you would like them, placing on tray spray with a little oil cook for around 20- 25 minutes

In frypan spray small amount of oil

Place in ground turkey or mince, cook till brown

Add refried beans and salsa, cook for around 5 minutes

After taking chips out of oven place on plate in circle, leaving a space in the middle

Add mince mix into middle of tortilla

Place a little cheese on top and enjoy

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