and swish the greens around. Lift out the inner basket and discard the water from the outer basket. Repeat this as many times as necessary until there is no dirt or grit in the bowl after you empty the water (I sometimes have to do this as many as four or five times). Then spin the greens. Don’t assume that your fresh parsley or other fresh herbs are clean—they may not be. A juice extractor is a nice piece of equipment to have, especially if you are on a low-sodium diet. Many recipes start with broth as the flavor base; by using a juice extractor you can make a quick and flavorful vegetable broth. Here’s how: juice a few carrots, celery stalks, a small parsnip, some cabbage and fresh parsley, and a tomato. Pour into a pot with an equal amount of water. Throw in any pulp that may have accumulated in the juicer along with a small onion or some leek. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes. Strain off the pulp. If you are not watching your sodium intake, add salt to taste. AT T I T U D E I S A L L You can approach diabetes as a fate worse than death or as a challenge you embrace. The first attitude will leave you depressed and possibly in denial. It will not change the fact that you have this disease. It will not help you take care of yourself. It will not make you pleasant to be around. If you embrace the challenge, exercise daily, eat properly, and take your medications (if applicable), you will soon find that your blood sugars will be in the normal range. You will be helping yourself in the long term. Furthermore, you will find that life still is worthwhile and so are you!
Just in case I haven’t said this enough: This is strictly a cookbook. It is not intended to tell you how to manage your diabetes. That is a job for you and your physician or diabetes educator. This book is designed to help you follow the food plan that was already prescribed specifically for you. To that end, I provided as much nutritional information as I felt would be helpful to you; I developed recipes that fit in with the most commonly prescribed food plans; and most important, I tried to create foods that you and your family will enjoy together. It is my thought that if you have foods you love, you will not feel deprived and will be more willing to follow the food plan that will help you achieve a long and healthy life. Enjoy!
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