A Letter to Paula Deen

Dear Paula Deen,

You make a perfect “beautiful older woman.” You are gorgeous, friendly, ambitious and a “star.” But everything is not perfect. According to news sources, you were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes nearly three years ago. That had to be a horrible day for you. You’ve said you needed those three years to process that diagnosis and to decide how you could help others. Unfortunately, I think you got some bad advice when you decided to help others by becoming the spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, maker of the diabetes drug, Victoza.

You may not even realize it, but diabetes drugs do not cure diabetes. The most important way to cure diabetes is to lose weight. Of course, you can choose to lose weight with bariatric surgery, but that sounds quite drastic to me. It is really not that hard to change your diet. Well… it does take thinking about food in a different way and finding new recipes, but that seems like it would be “right up your alley.”

Multiple studies through the years have shown the benefits of a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet in the treatment and cure of type-2 diabetes. This starch-based diet means eating meals based around potatoes, rice, corn, sweet potatoes, pasta and beans and then adding some vegetables and fruit.

Too many people tell me that they could never give up meat or cheese or butter or ice cream, but giving up those foods seems like such a small compromise to make compared to being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and the complications of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, gum disease and even amputation of lower limbs that come with it.

Paula, I’m going to give you a recipe to get you started. It looks like it could be yours as it has pastry shells, a filling and some sauce. Yet it is a low-fat, starch-based recipe. And, it’s delicious!

Stuffed Fillo Shells

Ingredients

½ teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup button mushrooms
½ cup walnuts
1 cup cooked brown rice
½ cup garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup oat bran
¼ teaspoon sage
¼ teaspoon marjoram
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon natural peanut butter
1 box of 15 frozen mini fillo shells

Directions

Cook rice per package instructions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Saute’ garlic and mushrooms in olive oil over low heat in a nonstick skillet about 3 minutes.
Process walnuts, brown rice, garbanzo beans and cooked mushroom mixture in food processor.
Put processed mixture in large nonstick skillet and add oat bran, sage, marjoram, thyme, onion powder, soy sauce, mustard and peanut butter. Stir and heat through.
Get the fillo shells out of the freezer and fill them with rice mixture using your hands or a spoon.

Bake 10-15 minutes.

While they are baking, make a Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Ingredients

½ cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon catsup
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
¼ teaspoon ginger

Directions

Whisk pineapple juice and cornstarch together before pouring mixture into a saucepan. Add catsup, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and ginger and cook over low heat.
Heat and stir until mixture thickens.
Serve as a topping for the stuffed fillo shells.

Serves 4.

Add a green salad and you have a lovely meal.  Let me know how you like the recipe and best of luck to you.

Sincerely,
Coco

Sign up to receive new blog posts directly to your inbox.  Just fill in your name and e-mail address in the gray box to the left and hit the "submit" button. You will then get an e-mail asking you to confirm your e-mail address.  Once you do that, you will be signed up to receive new blog posts.

© 2007-2012 Melinda Coker

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: “Melinda Coker, health coach and author of the book, Diet and Cancer: Is There a Connection?, teaches men and women around the world how to develop a healthy lifestyle.”