Let the madness begin!

I'm back at it again.  For the whole month of November I will be blogging everyday. 
In Honor of Diabetes Awareness Month.  

That's right folks.  EVERY DAY!! 

I took the NaBloPoMo challenge for November.  I did the same thing back in September and loved it, so I decided to have another go around.  :) I'll be joining my friends; Meri, Jen, Wendy, Lora, Tracy and Sweet Mama.  

Now as far as things on the home front.  

I was really enjoying my Saturday until I looked through Peanuts Friday Folder from school.  Then screaming at me were all these notes and graded homework.  Normally this doesn't bother me but today it got to me.  

There were notes from the teacher, "it is your responsibility to make sure your child is getting their homework completed every night." Really I get that, I don't mind helping with homework. But sitting there holding her hand each and every second just isn't what I had in mind.  I thought we were supposed to be teaching them responsibility. How is it teaching them responsibility if we are constantly correcting everything they do? Doesn't that teach them that someone will always come around a "fix" stuff for them?  Shouldn't there be consequences? 

 Well, yes they do have consequences. You see her homework counts toward her grade. So if I don't catch her "mistakes" and have her fix them before she turns the homework in then she gets marked down.  How is that even fair? So it's all MY fault if she is getting less then and "A" average because I'm not correcting her homework before she turns it in.  *sigh* Maybe I should just do her homework for her?!  

Peanut also has at least an hour of homework each night. (did I mention that she is just in 2nd grade???)  I help her with her 2 to 4 pages of homework along with going over spelling and vocabulary words every night.  Someone please tell me how I am going to do an hours work of homework for each child once all three of them are in school in a few years??? That's our whole evening!!!  How in the world does everyone balance this??  

I apparently need to come up with a better schedule.  I feel like we are rushed every night.  Starting at 4p I get dinner on, 5p we eat.  By 6p we are done eating and I usually have the kitchen cleaned up.  6p until 7p is usually homework time and then 7:30p is bedtime for the girls.  (since Peanut has to get up at 6:30a so she is ready to leave by 7:30a.)  

I feel like there is no room for anything else except homework.  I need the time to make sure Peanut is excelling in school.  I want to give !00% but I'm not.  I am exhausted,  tired and short with the kids in the evening. I hate being this way.  

So seriously my friends, I need your help!  How do you handle homework in the evenings?  I need some ideas to take some stress off of myself and still be able to give my all when I'm helping Peanut with her homework.  If you don't want to comment please just send me a message to me at sweet2thesoul@gmail.com  I want some ideas so fill my inbox or comments section up!  

D-Feast Friday - Baked Potato Soup

I have had a few requests for this recipe lately so I thought I would share.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

7 large (baking) potatoes, diced small with skin on 1 1/2 c onion, diced fine 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbs Celery salt 2 c chicken stock, low sodium 4 c 2% milk 1/4 t white pepper 1 cup of bacon bits 3 T Scallions, chopped, for garnish 1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Wash and dice potatoes into 1/2 to 1inch cubes. In a large saucepan add diced potatoes, onion, garlic, celery salt, white pepper, and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.  Add milk and bacon bits.  Simmer another 20-30 minutes.  Serve with a garnish of scallions and cheese.  

*you can also bake the potatoes in the microwave or oven and then dice them.  If you do it that way just bring the potatoes, onion, garlic, celery salt, white pepper and chicken stock to a boil. Reduce heat and slowly add milk. Simmer for another 20 minutes.  Serve with garnish of scallions and cheese. 

**you can also add 1c of low fat sour cream for a even creamier soup or use the sour cream as a garnish. 

Recipe makes 15 one cup servings

Carbs per serving: 36

"Naked Pancreas" MeMe Sweet to the Soul Style! "

My wonderful friend Reyna over at Beta Buddies started the Naked Pancreas Challenge
Here are my Naked Answers!! 

1. What kind of insulin management mode do you use?

Lovebug uses the Animas One Touch Ping Pump

2. How often do you inject/change pump sites?
  We change Lovebug's site every 2-3 days.  Most of the time it's 3 days. 

3. What type (s) of insulin do you use?
Apidra

4. What are your basal settings ?  
As you can tell, her basal rates at night are more then double what she has during the day. Lovebug tends to run really high the first half of the night.  Our CDE is pretty sure she has something called "Dusk Phenomenon" rather then the "Dawn Phenomenon" that many other Type 1 Diabetics have. 

12am : 0.500 units/h

1am: 0.250 units/h

8:30am: 0.200 units/h
8:30pm: 0.500 units/h

5. What are your correction factors ?

8:30am - 8:30pm: 1:145
8:30pm - 8:30am: 1:120

6. What are your meal ratios ?

12am - 10:30am: 1:16  Breakfast
10:30am - 4pm: 1:20 Lunch
4pm - 12am: 1:19 Dinner

7. What do you do for activity and/or PE?

Lovebug doesn't have any regular scheduled activity.  She does, however drop low when she is really active.  This past summer we would disconnect her from her pump while swimming and she would still go low.  I would have to give a snack of 10 carbs and not cover it with insulin.  Right now before recess at preschool (which is M/W/F) is she is 170 or above she gets a couple glucose tablets or a pack of Smarties (6-8 carbs) before she goes out to play.  If she is above 170 she can go play without a snack.

8. How do you manage Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese, or any other "difficult to manage" foods?
I combo bolus for Pizza.  Usually 40/60 over 2 hours.  We don't really have issues with Macaroni and Cheese or any other pasta.  We do have a problem with breakfast cereal in the morning.  Lovebug always has a huge spike from it so we combo bolus for that also.  Usually we do 20/80 over 2 hours. 

9. How do you prefer to manage your logs/data?
We download the information from our pump and since our meter talks to our pump I have all of  Lovebug's blood sugar numbers stored so there is no need to keep a hand written log of them. 

The program that came with our pump has numerous spreadsheets, pie graphs, etc.  that I can look at.  It makes it easier when I am not sure what change to make. I can go and look at those sheets and usually figure it out.  Right now we are doing a paper log of food and blood sugars because we are trying to rule out/confirm a possible Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac"s Disease.  They are both conditions that are not easy to diagnose and are masked by other things so we maybe doing this for a couple months.  I'm working on a spreadsheet to use to log them on the computer rather then by hand. 

Ok, I exposed myself "as a naked pancreas" to the whole D-OC thanks to Reyna's Naked Pancreas Challenge.

Anyone else game? 

Hurt

My head is swirling with so many thoughts today.  It has been for a few days now.  


There are so many people I know that are hurting right now and my heart is heavy.  


For the D Mama who lost her 13 year old last week. 
For the two families at my church who have recently diagnosed children with Type 1 Diabetes. 
For my friend Darcia whose 4 month old daughter is fighting for her life with a brain tumor and will start chemotherapy soon. 
For my friend Martha who has been suffering for the past couple years, in and out of the hospital and now at Mayo Clinic, yet again.  
For a friend of mines daughter who's marriage is in trouble.  
For some of the women from my bible study group who are dealing with numerous health issues.  


I could go on and on.  


I relate to some of the hurt. I know what is is like to suffer day after day. I know what it's like to have a child that is sick and there is nothing you can do about it.  I know what it's like to question why. I know what it's like to be mad. I know what it's like to wonder what is around the corner. I know what it's like to know that just as things seem to be better, they take a turn for the worse. 


It's frustrating and it breaks my heart.


There really isn't anything I can do for them but pray.  I know that is enough, but yet it doesn't seem like it is. As a woman I want to fix things and I can't fix any of this.  I can't even make it just a little better for them. The best I can do is pray, offer a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.  


I was talking to a friend last night about songs and the meaning behind them.  One song came to mind that I can't even listen to without crying but the message rings so true to many of us right now.  Mercy Me's Bring the Rain. It's kinda ironic that one of the guys in the group, Bart, wrote this after his son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  


Listen to the words, and take it in. I hope that is touches your heart the way it has mine.  
(make sure you turn off the music player at the bottom of the page before you listen)

D-Feast Friday - Two in One!

Lucky you!  You get two recipes today!!! 

Country Salisbury Steak and Cheesy Potatoes.  

A friend made the Cheesy Potatoes for me after I had one of the girls.  It has been a favorite ever since!  I love these two together for a meal. I usually have a salad too.  

Country Salisbury Steak 

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs of lean ground beef

1 pkg (6oz) of stuffing mix for chicken

1-1/2 cups of water, divided

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 pkg (8oz) fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix mean, stuffing mix, 1-1/4 cups of the water and onions until blended.  Shape into six 1/2 inch thick oval patties.  Place on baking pan.  Bake 25 minutes or until cooked through. 

Meanwhile spray large skillet with cooking spray.  Add mushrooms; cook on medium heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.  Add BBQ sauce and remaining 1/4 cup of water.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through.  Serve over patties. 

Carbs: Approx 30  per patty

Cheesy Potatoes

Ingredients: 

2lb bag of frozen hash browns, thawed. 

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup of milk

1/2 pint sour cream

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup of chopped onion

1/4 butter

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute onions with butter, salt and pepper until soft.  Add milk, soup and cheese.  Heat until well blended.  Remove from heat and add sour cream.  Stir in potatoes.  

Pour into a 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  

Carbs: 19.6 for 1/2 cup

This is why...

Sometimes life hits you hard. Really hard.  Today has been one of those days for me.

I woke up exhausted from a night of basal rate checks for the 10th night in a row.  I climbed out of bed, went out to the living room to turn on the TV.  I decided to check Facebook on my Blackberry while I was watching the news. (since I really only watch the news to get the weather report anyway.)

The VERY 1st status update that I read.....A 13 year old girl with Type 1 Diabetes lost her fight last night.  She passed away from Dead in Bed Syndrome.

That knocked the wind right out of me and I immediately had to go up and check on Lovebug.  Then I cried.

You see, this is my reality.  This is the VERY fear that I live with 24/7.  The fear that I will wake up and Lovebug won't.  The thought that no matter how hard I try to keep Lovebug safe from all the complications of Type 1 Diabetes, the fact that it might not be enough, is terrifying to me.

Most of you will never know what it is like to worry about a child like this.  To have a child with a life threatening illness that stares you in the face each and every day.    There are no words to describe it.

But seriously,

This is why I don't sleep at night.

This is why I get up at least once a night and check Lovebug's blood sugar, despite the fact she wears a CGM that alerts me to lows.

This is why I beg and plead with people to donate money for a cure.  Without those monies we wouldn't have the technology of the CGM.

This is why I educate people on the seriousness of this disease.

This is why I write my blog and share my experiences with all of you.

This is why I want people to understand and have sympathy.  I know you will never know exactly what I go though each and every day, I want you to get it.

This is why I need the support of friends and family so much.

This is why I love the DOC and my D Mamas, who are there for me and really understand what I am going through.  They are doing through it too.

This is why I will reach out to newly diagnosed families that are also dealing with Type 1 Diabetes and be their sounding board.  I want them to know that they are not alone.

This is why I live and breathe Diabetes each and every day.

This is why my priorities have changed.

My friend Meri said it best HERE:

"Why must we stare our children’s mortality in the face on a daily basis? What purpose can this serve?

I honestly feel there IS a purpose. Without these kinds of moments...the world wouldn't have nearly the amount of good that it has. Once you get a glimpse out the window of what could be…the sadness of losing a child, a friend or a loved one…or once you see firsthand another human being suffer…you are changed…period. Priorities are changed, views are changed, what seemed important before just isn’t important anymore.
For all the children (and adults) out there who suffer from Type 1 Diabetes and those who have lost a love one to this horrible disease.

This is why.

LOOKEY HERE!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend!!  

I have a few things for you today. :)

First:

This weeks Sugar Bolus is brought to you by Tracy!  There are some really great prizes to be won this week!  Make sure you share the contest on Facebook an Twitter. Then if you are a blogger, go and blog about it!  Each time you do you get an extra entry into the contest!! Click on the button below to check it out! 

Second:

I finally have a button that I don't care if you push!!  

So go ahead and grab it so you can push my button every day!  :)

<a href=" http://www.sweet2thesoul.blogspot.com/ " title=" Sweet to the Soul "><img src=" http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l185/ajojo00/Custom%20DDD%20Work/003a3bd0.jpg " title=" Sweet to the Soul " width="175" height="175" /> </a>  <br /><br /> 

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

D-Feast Friday

In honor of the beautiful Fall weather, I thought I would share my favorite Apple Pie Recipe.

My Best Apple Pie


Ingredients-Pastry: 
2 cups flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup shortening
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
5 to 6 tbsp. ice water


Ingredients-Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
8 apples peeled and sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp of butter, cut up
1 lg egg white slightly beaten


Directions:
To make pastry: Combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in shortening until coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle vinegar over flour mixture. Add ice water, 1 tbsp at a time until mixture holds together.  Do not overwork the dough.  Make 2 balls, one larger then the other.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Use smaller ball and roll out pie shell.
Meanwhile for filling combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Stir in apples and lemon juice.  Fill pie shell.  Drizzle with honey and dot with butter.  Roll remaining pastry into 11 inch circle.*  Place over shell and filling.  Crimp sides of pastry together and cut out vents.  Brush with egg whites.  Place foil over edges to keep from burning.  
Bake 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees until pastry is light brown.  


*you can also make a lattice top.  


Appx. 45carbs for 1/8 of a 9" pie

Here I go....again.

It must be that time again.  There has been too much  peace around our house when it comes to Lovebug's blood sugar numbers.  It's time to start messing things up a little bit cause everyone knows that I just LOVE a mess. (sarcasm intended here.) A tweak here and a tweak there.  Then add in some good old analyzing and some more testing and re-testing. 


You see, this is the nature of Diabetes.  One day is never the same as the next.  What works one day (week, month or hour for that matter!) may not work another day.  Being a pancreas is a hard job.  Especially when I am not actually a pancreas.  I was created to be a wife and mother.  Then the Lord, with his wonderful sense of humor, decided to put pancreas on the list too.  Um, not fair and not my choice. Then again, I don't get a choice.  I just get the wonderful job of trying to act and think like a pancreas 24/7. I wish someone would hand me the specifications for this job because I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified.  I know that God won't give us more then we can handle, but I have to admit, there are days that I doubt that. 


With that said, all the lows and high blood sugars around here are starting to give me a stomach ache. They are INSANE!!  Highs and lows that I have no idea where they are coming from.  A couple weeks ago I accounted them to Lovebug being on antibiotics. The antibiotics are long out of her system by now. Now my mother's intuition is telling me I might be dealing with more then just crazy blood sugar numbers.... I just went down a very large hill on a roller coaster and feel like I lost my lunch.  I probably shouldn't have eaten right before that hill, but then I didn't see it coming. I rarely ever do. 


So here we go on this roller coaster again.  All the mental "planning" I did preparing for this just didn't work.  I am still flustered and exasperated.  Adding school into the mix is making it worse to.  How can I tweak doses when she has to go to school???  Yikes.  Just when I think I am  really starting to get things down, WHAM  here comes more "math" for me to figure out.  


Oh well, I'll figure things out. Eventually.  Then I'll have to figure them out all over again.  It's just they way life with Diabetes goes.  I just wish it got easier....

D-Feast Friday

Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients
3 Cups cooked brown rice
1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables (or 2 cups fresh)
1 small onion
2 eggs
2 tsp olive oil
3 teaspoons soy sauce

Directions
In a large pan, heat oil on med-high heat. Add onion and rice. Stir and cook until onion is soft. Reduce heat to medium and add vegetables to rice mixture. Cook 2 minutes for frozen and 5-7 minutes for fresh vegetables. Spread the mixture out to the sides of the pan, leaving  space in the middle to scramble the eggs. Add the eggs and scramble until cooked firm. Mix the eggs with the rice and vegetables, then sprinkle with soy sauce.

Serves 8
Total Carbs: 23

Me and the Love of My Life

In honor of today being No D-Day I decided to dig up an old blog post from before my blog was Sweet to the Soul.  It was a post about Why Romance Matters in Marriage.  Gives you a little glimpse of my hubby and I as a couple.  (italics where added for today)

"After 10 (12 years now!) wonderful years of marriage I would say that my husband and I have learned a lot in the romance department. Yet, it is one of those areas in life that we feel we will never really master. We have to keep fine tuning it and practicing to be better. We are constantly looking for ways to romance each other and make our marriage better.

One thing we do to keep the romance going, (but not often enough)(definitely not enough, still) is to go out for dinner.  One of our favorite restaurants is a place called SanChez. It is Cuban/Spanish food and everything is tapas. If you don't know what tapas are they are small portions of food that you share. We LOVE it there. It gives us a great opportunity to really bond and have some time to ourselves.

We also love to watch sports together. (this we still do A LOT! GO WINGS!!) Even though no serious talk goes on during a game we have a blast sharing sports facts and information. My husband probably tells me more facts and I ask questions, but it works! I didn't really care much for sports before I met my husband but I have always felt that it was important to take interest in the things that he likes. (not everything, because I still want to keep my own personality here but I have picked a couple that are most important to him) I'll tell you that I know much more about sports and cars then I would ever really care to know but for my husband, it is more then worth it. Plus, it is nice when you walk into a Auto store and the guys are amazed that you actually know what you're talking about!

There are also all the little things that we do for each other. I like to stick notes in my husbands lunch (I usually write them on a napkin, then I know he won't miss it!) (yep, still do this! ) I also pack his lunch pretty much everyday. When he worked 1st shift, it didn't matter what time he went into work ( his hours varied a lot) I would get up with him before he left for work and pack his lunch. (he works 1st shift again, but worked 2nd and 3rd shift hours for a while) I really like doing it and it makes me happy that he appreciates it. I randomly give him hugs and kisses throughout the day, especially when he least expects it.  He likes to randomly do a load of laundry and fold it, wash the dishes for me, gets the kids out from under my feet when he knows I really need a break for a few minutes, things like that.

When we were dating I was away at camp as a counselor for a summer. While I was gone her sent me a card and letter everyday! (I was there for 3 weeks!) (I still have them all too!) The last couple days of camp he sent over 30 pieces of mail to me! The cards weren't just signed either, he actually took the time to write a note in each one of them. It was one of the sweetest things he has ever done for me. He still randomly gets me a card once in a while.

Last but not least we love our date nights, and weekends away. (the weekend away thing hasn't happened in a couple years now.) Those are always the icing on the cake. Some of the things we love to do on date nights are; go downtown to some of the local bars, (my husband brews his own beer so that should explain that one!) picnics, walks in the park, we go to the beach and watch the sunset, movies, mini-golf, and double dates with other couple are a lot of fun too. We also love sight seeing and love lighthouses.

The one thing I would say is the most important is to just keep communicating with each other and let your spouse know when and if you need more romance. Or if you can't be that direct, hint at him (her)in subtle ways. My philosophy has always been that you will get out of a marriage, what you put into it."

Apples, Cider and Donuts....Oh My!!

Today was Lovebug's FIRST field trip!  To the Apple Orchard!

Lovebug got to ride the bus for the very first time and was super excited! Something her big sister, Peanut is very jealous about since she is in 2nd grade and has not yet had a ride on a school bus. She was a little worried at first that there weren't any seat belts, but she soon realized that she liked that!  I had a hard time getting her to stay seated.  She also asked the bus driver to turn the air on when we were headed home.  Everyone got a good laugh out of that one!

On our way to the Orchard!

The first thing the kids did when we got there was learned about how the apples grow.  Then the got to get on a wagon ride and go out into the orchard and pick apples and pumpkins.  Of course D had to show it's ugly head and we ended up with a low bg of 55 on the wagon ride. Good thing Dexie alerted me and good thing I came prepared! By the time we got done picking the apples Lovebug was feeling better.

Me and Lovebug on the wagon ride.

Picking Apples

She was very proud of her apple!

Then it was off to the pumpkin patch to get a couple pumpkins.  She didn't like the pumpkin picking so much. "Mommy the pumpkins are too dirty"  is what I heard and a little whining because I wanted to take her picture.

picking her pumpkin

The "dirty" pumpkin she didn't want to touch.

After apple and pumpkin picking we headed back for some yummy cider and donuts.

Yummy!!

The rest of the time the kids got to enjoy themselves with the different activities they had around the orchard.  This place seriously has a TON for the kids to do.  Lovebug got to see chickens, goats, bunnies and a "cow" they called Reba.  She enjoyed the goats because they kept "talking" to her.  She thought the bunnies were cute too.  A nice temper tantrum ensued when I decided she needed to move onto other things besides the bunnies. (I"m pretty sure she would have stayed there the rest of the time.  It wasn't a pretty site.

Lovebug laughing at the goats.

Feeding the "cow"

The bunnies she didn't want to leave. 

Lovebug also enjoyed playing in a GIGANTIC sand box.

This is only half of the gigantic sandbox!

They really had so much there to do that we didn't have time to get to all of it.
Before we took off we got all the kids together for a group picture and they were actually cooperative!

Lovebug's Preschool Class

Overall it was a beautiful day for a trip to the orchard and Lovebug and I had a good time together. :)

Coffee Break

Life has been pretty hum drum lately.  I am in a D-Funk too, with doesn't help with the hum drum. Maybe it's because I'm coming off a high from our JDRF Walk or maybe it's other circumstances in life, I don't know.  I just know I'm tired of hum drum. No, I don't want bad excitement, I have plenty of that!  I want some of the good kind. The kind that brings a smile to your face.  Well, today I got a little of that.  

So a few weeks back....okay really it was almost a month ago.  I received a email from a student's mom in Lovebug's preschool class. It was in regards to the letter I sent home to the parents about Lovebug having type 1. It was inspiring to me!  We chatted a little via email and decided to meet for coffee in a couple weeks. 

This morning I got to have coffee, with that mom! (and I really enjoyed my pumpkin spice latte!!! yum-o!) I can tell you it was like a breath of fresh air!!  To hear a mom talk about living with it from day to day.  The struggles she went through growing up and what she is doing now to control her diabetes.  Her diagnosis was even similar to Lovebug's.  Except that she was 8 years old and her mom had to MAKE the doctor test her.  

It's crazy to hear how her doctor told her mom just to stay away from sugar.  If sugar was in the top 3 ingredients she couldn't eat it.  It's funny how silly that sounds now.  Then later her mom had a doctor that told her that it was more about the carbs then the sugar.  She was  relieved to know she could eat donuts!  (funny story behind that one, it involves church breakfasts.) Even through that "glitch" in her control of diabetes she is  doing great years later! (so maybe some of my mistakes won't damage Lovebug for life after all.) She had a normal pregnancy with her son, she only gained 30 lbs and no crazy blood sugar numbers. I was amazed by that and the fact that she did that while on shots and without a CGM!

Of course, she went through some rough patches growing up, but she has kept herself very healthy.  I love some of the approaches that she uses.  I also was amazed that she is getting the awesome control she has while on MDI.  She has thought about a pump but decided against it since she is doing well on the MDI.  I don't blame her there, why change a good thing!

She gave me some good ideas to think about in regards to Lovebug and I might just try a few of them and see how they work for her.  I see nothing wrong with trying, especially if it works. She thought it was great that Lovebug was doing so great dealing with diabetes.  

It was just really nice to talk to another mom that is going through and has gone through what Lovebug is and what she will eventually go through.  

It was a nice little coffee break. :)

D-Feast Friday!

Cilantro-Lime Tilapia
INGREDIENTS:
 4 oz Tilapia fillet
1 tsp olive oil
Juice from half a lime
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup cooked spinach
1/4 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
Garlic/garlic powder (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Brush fillet with 1 tsp olive oil.
Squeeze juice from half a lime over fillet.
Sprinkle garlic powder (optional)over fish.
Sprinkle fillet with cilantro .
Broil in oven 6 inches from heat, about 5-7 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork
While tilapia is broiling, place spinach in microwave safe dish.
Toss with garlic powder or minced garlic (optional).
Cook spinach according to package directions.
Keep covered & warm until fillets are done.
Spoon cooked spinach on a plate, place fish over spinach, top with chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese.
Serve with bread if desired.

*The Recipe is for an individual serving; multiply recipe by the number of desired servings (works as a dinner for 2 or 12!).

Number of Servings: 1
Total Carbs: 8g
Protein: 26g