The Carb Perfectionist

Transcription

THE CARB
PERFECTIONIST
BY GWYN ERB
THE CARB
PERFECTIONIST
Copyright 2007 by Gwyn Erb
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America
A publication of MeadowHill Press
www.CarbPerfectionist.com
Proof Copy—Do Not Distribute, Copy or Quote
1
FORWARD
When our daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age seven, the one thought that
would always bring me to tears was this: Devin, all grown up and standing behind her
wedding cake, at the moment when the groom gives her that first frosting laden bite. The
injustice of her having to know the carb count of that bite and having to take insulin for it
was more than I could take.
Yes, I know that crying over the future wedding day of a seven year old is silly. And I know
there was a time not so long ago when parents of a newly diagnosed diabetic couldn’t even
dream that their child would see their wedding day. But for me, it signified the reality of the
rest of my daughter’s life. Always having to measure, calculate, and take her insulin. No
vacations, no time off for good behavior, no exemptions for even the most special of special
celebrations.
Our family has come a long way since that day. We know the carb counts of all our favorite
foods without even glancing at the exchange list and sometimes we decide who does the
dishes by betting on Devin’s pre-meal blood sugar reading. Our non-diabetic son likes the
green apple flavored glucose tabs so much that he passed them out to the neighbor kids for
Halloween. We eat potluck at our friends’ barn dance, we go camping. Sometimes we even
sleep through the night. (Although I admit, the thought of that wedding cake still chokes me
up every time.)
But while things have certainly become easier over time, the daily tasks of matching insulin
to food, calculating carbs and making sure we all eat well will always be a challenge. I am
thankful every day for the wealth of information available to help us meet that challenge,
the promise of new therapies and medications, and the real hope for a cure.
And so, this book is just my small addition to the many bits of wisdom that help all of us
who live with diabetes every day. The approaches described in this book make our life a
little easier and I hope that some of these ideas will help you too.
Gwyn
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CONTENTS
Chapter One: The Realities of Counting Carbs ............................................................................ 4
Are You a Carb Perfectionist?.......................................................................................... 5
Understanding Carb Ratios ............................................................................................. 7
A Word About Scales .................................................................................................... 13
Calculating Carbs on Your Computer or PDA ................................................................. 14
Perfectionist Realities ................................................................................................... 15
The Advantages ............................................................................................................ 16
Chapter Two: Introduction to Baking........................................................................................ 18
Perfectionist Pancakes .................................................................................................. 20
Classic Mashed Potatoes............................................................................................... 22
Cupcakes for the Purist ................................................................................................. 24
Busy Day Cupcakes ....................................................................................................... 26
Black Bean Soup ........................................................................................................... 28
Chapter Three: The Carb Perfectionist Cooks with the Kids ...................................................... 31
Cinnamon Milk ............................................................................................................. 32
Baked Pears .................................................................................................................. 33
Favorite Cereal ............................................................................................................. 34
Silly Pizza ...................................................................................................................... 36
“60 grams” Fruit Smoothie ........................................................................................... 38
Chapter Four: Carb Perfectionist Cheat Sheets ......................................................................... 42
Chapter Five: Using TCP Software ............................................................................................ 46
3
CHAPTER ONE:
THE REALITIES OF COUNTING CARBS
Counting carbohydrates and matching carbohydrate intake with insulin are the
cornerstones of diabetes care. No matter if you are newly diagnosed or have been dealing
with diabetes for decades, knowing the amount of carbohydrates you consume is the key to
keeping your blood sugars in range. Other factors also come into play of course, but what
you eat and when you eat it dominate the care structure.
Yet, there are many times when we can’t be very accurate in our counts. Eating at a
restaurant? Chances are you will have to make some educated guesses. Having dinner at a
friend’s house who serves an ethnic cuisine you’ve never heard of? Maybe you’ll just have to
pass—or make another guess. Someone in your diabetic child’s class is having a birthday
and brought a homemade treat from home? Be prepared for a resulting high or low due to
miscounting. Or worse yet, there’s a Ziploc of homemade trail mix that contains five kinds of
candy, three different cereals, some marshmallows and a couple handfuls of popcorn with a
few pretzels and raisins thrown in. Of course your child is determined to eat the whole
thing. Hopefully you (or the school nurses) have a crystal ball!
The realities of life mean that there will be many times when you just don’t know what the
carb count is for the food in front of you and you really can’t make a very accurate guess.
So what do you do? Of course, we all just do the best we can. We scour the Calorie King, flip
through the ADA (American Diabetes Association) lists and we measure. Sometimes we just
say no thanks. Sometimes we eat the food in question and HALLELUJAH! we figured it right!
Sometimes we chase our mistakes for an hour or two. Sometimes when we’re not sure what
foods will be available, we bring our own snacks. Maybe it’s the easy way out, but
sometimes the thought of having to guesstimate the carbs for every meal your child eats on
a three day road trip means that your food suitcase will be bigger than the one your clothes
are in.
Is there a better solution? Is there a way to count carbs that can increase the number of
times we say “hallelujah” and make eating away from home less stressful? The Carb
Perfectionist says yes!
4
ARE YOU A CARB PERFECTIONIST?
In the traditional approach to counting carbs that we all learned about when we were first
diagnosed, certain amounts of different foods are known as an “exchange”. One exchange
always equals 15 grams of carbohydrate even though the amount of food in an exchange
will differ depending on the item. This amount, which is sometimes referred to as a “carb”,
serves as the basis for meal planning. Meals generally consist of three or four carbs with
snacks of one to two carbs.
In the exchange system, a medium apple is generally thought of as one exchange or one
carb. A very large apple would be one and a half carbs, with a serving of a four or five slices
calculated at a half carb or half exchange.
This method of counting carbs can work very well if you stick to a fairly regimented meal
plan, and eat familiar foods. However, it is not very exact, which can be a real problem for
some people.
A more precise way to figure carbohydrate intake is to count every carb as a single unit
instead of counting in blocks of 15. In this system a “carb” refers to one gram of
carbohydrate instead of 15. Here, a medium apple might
be referred to as “15 carbs” and a large apple as “20
carbs”. ADA handbooks and Calorie King lists offer
Every food that you
specific carb counts like this as do the nutrition
encounter is made up of a
information charts on the packages of prepared foods.
number of components,
some of which are
A third method of counting carbs uses “carb ratios” or
carbohydrates that your
“carb factors”. Here, total carbohydrates are counted
body uses for fuel.
individually, just like before, but instead of calculating
carbs per serving, the focus is on the amount of
carbohydrate per gram of food.
The terms “carb ratio” and “carb factor” refer to the percentage of a food item that is
comprised of carbohydrates. Every food that you encounter is made up of a number of
components, some of which are carbohydrates that your body uses for fuel. For example,
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apples are comprised of 13.81 percent carbohydrate. Most of the rest of an apple is water
along with other trace components.
So what exactly does this information mean for carb counting? Remember that medium
apple from the previous example? It is still counted as 15 carbs, but instead of just saying it
is a medium apple, a Carb Perfectionist also knows that this particular apple weighs 108
grams.
Using the information that an apple is 13.81 percent carbohydrate and the fact that it
contains 15 grams of carbohydrate, the Carb Perfectionist employs their rusty high school
math skills to calculate the weight of the apple at 108 grams. To do this, the Carb
Perfectionist determines that 15 is 13.81 percent of 108, and so, by definition, our medium
apple must weigh 108 grams. Mathematically the equation looks like this:
15 grams carbohydrate / 13.81 percent carbohydrate = 15/.1381 = 108 grams
Thus, if your medium apple weighs 108 grams, it totals 15 grams of carbohydrates.
However, if the apple you are about to eat is 75 grams instead of 108, (a difference of 33
grams or about the same weight as a AA battery) it is more accurate to count it as 10 carbs
instead of 15. Since 13.81% of 75 total grams (or .1381 x 75) is only 10 grams carbohydrate
instead of 15, your medium apple has fewer carbs than you might have thought.
On the other end of the spectrum, a small banana is also generally assumed to equal one
exchange. Because a banana is made up of 22.8 percent carbohydrate, the small banana
your dietitian told you about weighs 66 grams (without the skin). We know this because
22.8 percent of 66 (or .228 x 66) is 15.
However, the small bananas I usually bring home from the store weigh about 95 grams.
Taking 22.8 percent of 95 (.228 x 95) gives me a carb count of 21, which is 6 more carbs
than I would have assumed I was getting by using the exchange system.
If that doesn’t bother you, you can happily use the exchange system. If that makes you want
to drop this book and buy a scale, you are a Carb Perfectionist.
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UNDERSTANDING CARB RATIOS
As noted before, a carb ratio or carb factor indicates the portion of a particular food item
that is made up of carbohydrates. Foods range from very low percentages of carbohydrates
for items like broth or tofu to about 50% for most soft breads to 100% for pure sugar.
The following listing of carb percentages for various common foods gives you an idea of this
continuum.
Water
Beef Steak
Eggs
Cheddar Cheese
Watermelon
Carrots
Clementines
Apples
Kidney Beans (canned)
Corn (canned)
Grapes
Peanut Butter
Baked Potatoes
Bananas
Pickle Relish
Onion Rings
Apple Strudel
Whole Wheat Toast
Chocolate Cake
White Toast
Oatmeal Cookies
Raisins
Cheerios
Marshmallows
Sugar
0 % carbohydrate
0
0.73%
1.28%
7.55%
9.58%
12.02%
13.81%
14.5%
15.41%
18.1%
19.56%
21.15%
22.84%
35%
37%
41%
51.16%
53.4%
54.40%
69.27%
75.18%
75.92%
81.3%
100% carbohydrate
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Basically speaking, carb ratios indicate the percent of the food item that can affect your
blood sugar. However, although they give a pretty good estimate of how sweet a food will
be, they do not indicate how healthy or unhealthy a food item is. Likewise, they cannot tell
you how quickly food will be metabolized. Carb ratios are not the same as a glycemic index.
The carb ratio information presented here is drawn from a large database prepared by the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This department has prepared an
extensive catalog of nutritional information, including carbohydrate counts, for over 7,000
foods that is available on their website:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search
This particular database is also noteworthy as it includes other categories of nutritional
data in addition to carbohydrate information. Calorie counts, grams of fat and water,
protein, sodium, cholesterol, vitamin and mineral content are all available.
Carbohydrates listed in this database are calculated in grams by method of difference. This
means that the amount listed as carbohydrate is the “difference between 100 and the sum
of the percentages of water, protein, total lipid (fat), ash, and, when present, alcohol.”
(USDA) Also, because some people exclude grams of fiber from their carbohydrate counts, it
is important to note that the carbohydrate values listed in the USDA database include total
dietary fiber.
The default settings for the USDA data base present information for 100 grams of each food
item. So, if you search for the information for 100 grams of apple, the database will tell you
that a 100 gram sample contains 13.81 grams of carbohydrate. As you already learned, this
means that an apple is 13.81 percent carbohydrate and 86.19% other components.
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USING CARB RATIOS
In order to create a per gram carb ratio for apples—which is what you need in order to
count carbs by the gram—divide the 100 gram carbohydrate listing by 100. Thus, for an
apple, you divide 13.81 by 100 to get a carb ratio of .1381 carbs per gram.
Likewise, to determine the carb ratios for the other items listed previously, divide by 100 or
move the decimal point two places to the left (which is the same as dividing by 100). Don’t
be confused by the fact that 13.81% and .1381 are the same number. Just remember that
the carb ratio you use to determine the total carbohydrate in your food will be between 0
and 1 and you will always remember to move the decimal over when you need to.
From this point on, using a carb ratio is very straightforward. Simply weigh your food in
grams and multiply the result by the appropriate ratio. The result is the total number of
carbohydrates for the food you have weighed.
Simply weigh your food
in grams and multiply
the result by the
appropriate ratio. The
result is the total number
of carbohydrates for the
food you have weighed.
For example, if you’d like to slice up an apple for your
snack, cut as many slices as you’d like. Weigh the slices
to determine their gram weight and multiply the weight
by the carb ratio for apples. As previously noted, the
ratio for apples with skin is .1381.
Likewise if you want to eat 50 grams of green grapes,
weigh them out, multiply by the appropriate carb ratio
from the USDA database (.1819) and you will find that
this particular serving contains 9.05 carbs.
Or maybe you’d like to cut your toast slices into heart shapes this morning. Go ahead. Just
weigh the part you plan to eat and multiply the result by .5116 (the carb factor for toasted
wheat bread) to calculate the exact number of total carbs.
If you are serving carrot sticks to your child, all you have to do is measure the grams of
carrots they want and multiply by .0958. And, if your little darling decides to eat one bite
out of each carrot and leave the rest, there’s no need to fuss. Just weigh what's left and
subtract from the original measurement before determining the total number of carbs
consumed.
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CALCULATING YOUR OWN CARB RATIOS
But what do you do if the USDA hasn’t included a ratio for your favorite food?
One solution is to use the ratio for the item in the database that is most similar to the item
you plan to eat. For example if you have an M & M cookie, look at the ratio for chocolate chip
cookies. It should be comparable.
However, if you have the standard nutrition information
label for the food item, you can calculate the ratio yourself.
Simply divide the number of carbs per serving by the gram
weight per serving. The result is a carb ratio for your item.
So, for example, if you’d like to have some White Corn
Chips, take a look at the nutritional information provided
as provided on the bag (as shown at the right). Divide the
total carbs per serving (18) by the grams per serving (28).
This gives you a carb ratio of .6428. Therefore, these corn
chips are 64 percent carbohydrate. Now all that’s left to do
is to weigh the amount of chips you want to eat, and
multiply the gram weight by .6428. You can do the same
with the salsa.
WHITE CORN CHIPS
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 1 oz. (28g/About
24 chips)
Servings per Container 2.5
....
Total Carbohydrate 18G
Total Net Weight: 2.5 oz (70g)
If you want to eat the whole bag of chips, you can note the total weight in grams and
multiply by .6428. In this case you’ll multiply 70 by .6428 to get 44.996. Alternately,
you can multiply the servings per container (2.5) by the total carbohydrate per
serving (18) to find the total carbohydrate for the bag (45).
WEIGHING A PLATE OF FOOD
When you sit down to a meal, the easiest way to determine an accurate carb count of the
items you wish to eat is to weigh each item as you add it to your plate. Utilizing the tare
function on your scale will make this a very quick and easy process.
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If you are unfamiliar with tare weight, it is simply a term used to refer to the weight of an
item that is excluded from the net total for some reason. For example, the weight shown on
a box of cereal is for the cereal only. This total excludes the weight of the actual box and any
other packaging. Thus, the “tare weight” of a box of cereal is the weight of the box and
packaging. It is excluded from the weight listed because you aren’t interested in how much
box there is, but how much cereal you are getting.
Thus, when we say we are going to “tare” something it means we will be determining the
weight of the item excluding any packaging or equipment or other extraneous items.
Using the tare function on your scale is very helpful when you want to calculate an entire
plate of several different foods. You will want to exclude the weight of the plate as well as to
determine the weight of each item separate from each of the other items. The tare function
allows you to do this.
 First, put the plate on the scale and press the tare button. The scale will
automatically adjust for the weight of the plate and reset to zero. Put the first food
on the plate and note the weight—this is the weight of the food only, excluding the
plate.
 Now tare the scale once again. This time the scale excludes the weight of the
plate AND the weight of the first food item you placed on the plate. The scale will
read 0 grams at this point.
 Add the second item to the plate. Note the weight for this item and continue to
tare and add the rest of your meal items, noting the weight of each item. When you
have finished adding items to the plate, calculate the total carbs by multiplying
each weight by the appropriate ratio.
This is especially handy with cold cereal at breakfast time—put the bowl on the scale and
tare. Add however much cereal you want, note the weight and tare the scale. Add your milk
and note the weight. Calculate the carbs with the ratios determined from the packaging or
ratio data base and figure your insulin dose.
You can use the same approach for adding fruit and muesli to your morning yogurt or, as
you’ll see in the next chapter, to add ingredients to a mixing bowl when you are baking.
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ROUNDING OUT THE COUNT
Another useful trick facilitated by carb ratios is determining the precise amount of food
needed to equal a specific number of carbs. If you need a certain number of carbohydrates
to make your insulin dose work out right just use
the following calculation:
Depending on how well you
desired number of carbs / carb ratio of food
paid attention to your high
school math teacher, you
Here’s an example. Let’s say you’d like a bit of
will quickly realize that
frozen yogurt to top off your meal and you need 12
there are a number of ways
more carbs for your preferred insulin dose. The
to do the math here.
carton says ½ cup or 67 grams of yogurt has 19
carbs. You could scoop out a rounded ¼ cup or a
somewhat more precise 2/3rd cup and just assume you were close to 12. But it’s both easier
and more accurate to determine the carb ratio for the yogurt and weigh it right in the bowl.
 First, determine the carb ratio by dividing the carbs per serving by the
total grams per serving. In this case it is 19/67 which equals .283.
 Now divide the number of carbs you’d like to eat by this ratio. For 12
carbs you figure 12/.283 which equals 42 grams.
Now all you have to do is weigh 42 grams of frozen yogurt into your favorite bowl and enjoy
your 12 carbs. You might also want to note the carb ratio on the carton with a marker for
future reference.
Depending on how well you paid attention to your high school math teacher, you will
quickly realize that there are a number of ways to do the math here. If you like to do each
step in linear order as described above and your calculator has the 1/x function you can
do the calculation like this:
19/67 = [PRESS 1/X] * 12 = 42.
Or, just punch in 67/19*12 or even 12/19*67 . Either way you get 42.
12
A WORD ABOUT SCALES
When selecting a scale for use in this system, choose a scale that has a digital read out. It will
make things much simpler when you are determining weights and reduce errors introduced
by incorrect reading.
Another feature that you will want to look for is the ability to tare. Because you will often
want to weight something in a container or on a plate, or will want to exclude other items
on a plate, this feature will be especially useful.
You should also look for a scale that can weigh a minimum of 2kg if you are planning to use
it for baking or cooking.
SCALES THAT CALCULATE CARBS FOR YOU
There are several scales on the market that incorporate carb ratio technology. Instead of
determining the gram weight and then multiplying by the ratio yourself, these scales
compute the total number of carbohydrates automatically. They are programmed with the
carb ratios for a number of foods and are able to calculate and display the total carbs for
these foods.
Basically, these scales prompt you to enter a code or food name for the food in question and
then to place the food on the scale. The scale is then able to display the amount of carbs and
other nutritional information based on the weight of the food.
The Salter 1400
The Salter 1400 is one such scale. It is available at Bed Bath and Beyond as well as a number
of other retailers for about $100. It looks like a small laptop computer with a numerical
keypad and contains the USDA nutritional information for several thousand food items.
To use it, you type in the name of the food you wish to eat using the numerical keypad like a
cell phone. (i.e. for banana you press the “1” key twice for the letter “b” and once for the
letter “a”, press the 6 twice for “n” and so on.) Once the food name is entered, you place the
food on the scale and the carb information is displayed on the monitor along with calorie,
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fat, sodium and, for many items, the glycemic index. This scale is easy to use, portable and
accurate.
The Weigh of life Scale
Another scale that computes carbs is the “Weigh of Life” scale which is available at WalMart and Sam’s Club for roughly $40. Although it looks more like a traditional scale, it works
on the same principle as the Salter scale. This scale requires the entry of a code for each
food item which is found in a laminated source book listing nearly one thousand common
foods. After the code is entered, the scale displays the nutritional information.
While both of these scales basically do the same thing, you should look at both of them as
well as regular non-carb counting scales before you buy in order to determine which one is
right for you. I personally use a regular scale and my PDA to track carbs, but my daughter
really likes the Weigh of Life scale. Because she is just learning to read, typing in the three
digit code is much easier than knowing how to spell each item and the scale does the
multiplication for her. She also likes the fact that she can eat right from the weighing
platform, which is simply a clear glass plate. Finally, the fact that this company donates a
significant portion of each sale to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is a real plus.
The fact that the Weigh of Life scale has significantly fewer food items than the Salter 1400
is not really an issue for us because we generally use The Carb Perfectionist software
program to track carb intake. However, that is the main reason our school’s nurses prefer
the Salter scale when they need to calculate the carbs in birthday treats and snack items.
CALCULATING CARBS ON YOUR COMPUTER OR PDA
The Carb Perfectionist software uses the same information as the Salter and Weigh of Life
scales. However, here you weigh the food item on any scale and then input the results into
the program for calculation. The program design permits you to scroll through the entire
range of food choices available from the USDA so you can easily locate the item that most
closely matches the food you are about to eat.
After selecting your food item from the list, type in the amount you want to eat and the
program will determine the number of carbs for you along with the calories, fat and
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nutrient information. One great feature of this program is that it shows you the carb ratio
(instead of hiding it like the scales described above) so you can note it for future reference.
The program also allows you to input the amount of food in several formats depending on
the item. In addition to the gram weight, you can usually select a standard measurement
such as the number of tablespoons or cups, and in some cases, other useful amounts such as
slices (for bread) or half jar amounts (for baby foods and the like).
The Carb Perfectionist software also allows you to tally the number of carbs for an entire
meal or day and to add or subtract foods along the way. You can also use this program to
tally carb totals for recipes. (Please consult the appendix for more detailed software
information.) The Carb Perfectionist software program is available for order for $9.99 by
mail using the card in the back of this book.
PERFECTIONIST REALIT IES
Sadly, for all its many advantages, even the carb perfectionist cannot always be perfect.
Although using carb ratios can increase the accuracy of your carb counting, it is not foolproof. Just as with other carb counting approaches, neither calculating your own ratios and
carb counts nor the pre-programmed scales and software are always 100% accurate.
Food items vary in their composition depending on how long they have been stored, how
long they have been cooked, exposure to sun or moisture and many other variables.
Likewise, different varieties of fruits and vegetables or baked goods can differ somewhat in
their makeup. While the differences are usually minor, they do exist.
However, while the fact that carb ratios
are not always 100% accurate is
disheartening for a true perfectionist, you
can take great comfort in knowing that
weighing items the same way every time
will give you a reliable and systematic
method of determining the amount of
carbohydrates you consume. This results
in fewer blood sugar surprises from
When you weigh your food, you aren’t
bound by a pre-specified serving size.
You can eat a dollop of yogurt, a
sprinkle of sugar or a handful of
broken chips.
15
miscounting which may help you to achieve better control.
The carb ratio system works in tandem with your current counting regime. While you can
continue to count many foods by memory or serving, you can increase your overall accuracy
by reducing the number of times you are forced to make an estimate with limited or faulty
information.
No longer will you be forced to gauge whether or not your piece of fruit is “average” or
“small”. No longer will you realize three hours later that the bowl of cereal you ate was quite
a bit larger than you thought. And eating out of measuring cups—that’s all in the past!
The carb perfectionist system is especially useful for foods that are difficult to eyeball—like
pancakes, and even more so for those foods that are both difficult to measure accurately
using measuring cups and as well as being somewhat high in carbohydrates, like bananas,
grapes or ice cream.
While using carb ratios doesn’t allow you to eat more of these high carb foods, it does make
eating them less of a challenge. Because weighing them means that there will be less error
in the carb count than if you guessed the number total carbohydrates based on a rough
estimate of size, you can be more confident in calculating your total carb intake.
**An important exclusion to this generalization is pasta, which may be more accurately
measured with a measuring cup depending on how it is cooked. Because the carbohydrate
count of pasta depends on how long it has been boiled and how much liquid it has absorbed,
the volume of pasta is generally a more accurate reflection of the total carbs than the gram
weight. You can weigh dry pasta very accurately, but be sure to cook it al dente for an
accurate count!
THE ADVANTAGES
One of the best advantages of using carb ratios is the fact that they allow you to easily
determine the carb count of any size serving without worrying about measuring cups or
spoons. When you weigh your food, you aren’t bound by a pre-specified serving size. You
can eat a dollop of yogurt, a sprinkle of sugar or a handful of broken chips and still know the
exact number of carbs you have consumed.
16
It is also great for finicky kids who don’t want to clean their plates. If you are using an
insulin regimen that allows you to give insulin after a meal, you don’t have to make your
child finish everything on their plate in order to get an accurate carb count. When your child
is finished eating, reweigh the leftover food and subtract from the original measurement
before determining the total carbs for the meal. For me, the time is takes to reweigh a few
items is significantly less than the time I would
usually spend worrying that I incorrectly
estimated the count of the food items left on the
You don’t have to make your child
plate—not to mention the time it would take to
finish everything on their plate in
talk my child into eating what they didn’t want!
order to get an accurate carb
count.
Another advantage of using carb ratios from the
USDA database is increased accuracy when
eating new foods. Having the information for over 7,000 foods allows you to try items that
don’t have nutritional information attached—like most fruits and vegetables—and those
that aren’t always found in exchange lists.
This gives you more flexibility in eating foods that you aren’t used to eating and gives you
great information when eating at restaurants that don’t provide nutrition information. All
you need is the USDA information written down or downloaded to your PDA, a small scale
and you are ready to go!
Also, although the only comment I’ve ever encountered at a restaurant is “where can I get
that information for my diabetic friend/uncle/cousin”, if you prefer to be more discrete
when you are “out on the town”, many restaurants can tell you the gram weight of the food
portions that they serve for each menu item in advance, allowing you to calculate the totals
before you go and not have to worry about taking the scale.
Finally, weighing in grams allows you to easily determine carb ratios for your own recipes.
The following chapters explain how this process works and gives you the information you
need to convert your own favorite recipes.
17
CHAPTER TWO:
THE CARB PERFECTIONIST INTRODUCTION TO BAKING
When we were first diagnosed, our whole family ate apple sauce out of single serving cups
and cereal from little tiny boxes every day. The idea of trying to figure out how many carbs I
was serving nearly drove me insane. I was so worried about getting it right, I could barely
add, let alone measure AND add AND figure the insulin dose AND give the shot.
Once we got over the initial newness of it all, I thought we could go back to eating what we
were used to. I called the local dietitian and asked for a carb-friendly pancake recipe so I
could get back to business as usual. In short, the dietitian told us to forget about making
pancakes—they are just too difficult to count accurately. She explained that they can vary
dramatically in size and shape even in a single batch and so we should stay away from them
unless we bought them in the freezer section where they came prepackaged in uniform
sized cakes.
So I dutifully went out and bought some pancakes. They were terrible! I wanted my old
pancakes back and was determined to find a way to make and eat them without worrying
that the meter would give us unwelcome news an hour or two later.
Before diabetes I wasn’t particularly concerned with measuring many ingredients. A
handful of this, a pinch of that, and everything to taste—just like my grandma showed me
when I was a little girl. I loved cooking and baked at least twice a week with my kids. But
after we were diagnosed, I stopped baking cold turkey. There was just too much
uncertainty. How many carbs in two scoops of flour and a handful of sugar? I had no idea.
And I couldn’t in good conscience just guess and adjust after seeing the numbers.
A few months later I was measuring everything carefully, using a recipe with nutritional
information per serving and measuring, remeasuring and jotting down multiple calculations
just for a single batch of pancakes. To put it mildly, it was completely unsatisfying. All that
measuring, and what if my daughter wanted a pancake in the shape of a letter or Mickey
Mouse instead of a 4 inch circle? How could I make each pancake with exactly ¼ cup of
batter?
18
Even with all that work, I still couldn’t estimate the carbs very well and, frankly, the lack of
certainty was unsettling. And what if she ate 3 cakes instead of the 4 listed in the nutritional
information? Dividing and multiplying all the numbers again, I could come up with a count,
but I still wasn’t too happy with any of these issues.
The answer came one day when I was surfing the internet. Reading through some message
boards, I stumbled across a mention of a carb factor on the Children with Diabetes “ask the
experts” site. I began searching for more information and finally located the USDA magic
number mother load.
Here, finally, was the information I needed to go back to enjoying my kitchen!
With carb ratios, I could go back to a handful of this and a pinch of that—all I needed to do
was keep track of the weight of each item and then calculate the carbs based on that
information. I also could convert all my old recipes as well as those I got from friends or saw
in magazines and determine the carb ratios with stress-busting accuracy.
The recipes that follow will show you how the process works, but essentially it can be
boiled down to this: when you make something, you begin by adding up the carbohydrates
in each ingredient to determine the total carbs in the batch. Then you weigh the whole cake
(or all the cookies, pancakes, soup, casserole etc.) in grams. Divide the total number of carbs
by the total weight in grams
to get the percent carbs for
the item. This is your carb
ratio. Save the ratio for your
favorite recipes and then
you can eat exactly what
you want, in exactly the
amount you want, and still
determine a very precise
carb count.
19
PERFECTIONIST PANCAKES
130g
15g
15g
2g
250g
5g
50g
Unbleached Flour
Sugar
Baking Powder
Salt
Milk
Vegetable Oil
Egg (1) lightly beaten
CARB RATIO .32
Gather ingredients. Weigh each dry ingredient into the
mixing bowl and wisk together.
Add wet ingredients to the bowl. Stir gently. Batter
should remain a bit lumpy.
Cook on a 275 degree griddle or non-stick pan that is hot enough to make a drop of water
sizzle and dance. If you like your pancakes with a crispy edge, add a bit of butter to the pan
before adding the batter—it won’t affect the carb count.
STEP BY STEP
When assembling the recipe, you can measure everything in the same bowl. First place your
mixing bowl on the scale. I like to use one with a spout for pouring, but any bowl will do.
Tare the scale (see page 11 for details on the tare function). Now spoon flour into the bowl
until the scale reads 130 grams.
Tare the scale again, then add the sugar for a reading of 15 grams. Tare, add 15 grams of
baking power, tare, and add 2 grams salt. If you prefer to measure these ingredients with a
spoon, the amounts are listed on the opposite page, but I find that it is just as easy and
efficient to add them straight into the bowl by weight.
20
Continue with the wet ingredients until all have been added. Mix them up and bake. That’s
all there is to it—and no measuring cups to wash!
LET’S DO THE MATH
Now it’s time to see how the original recipe was converted and the carb ratio was
determined. Starting with the first ingredient in the original recipe, if you measure out one
cup of flour, you’ll find that it weighs 130 total grams.
Now find the carb ratio for flour. You can calculate your own ratio from the package (see
page 10) or use the ratio determined by the USDA as I have done here. Next, multiply the
gram weight of the flour (130) by the carb ratio (.7631) to find the grams of carbohydrate
for this item (99.203). Enter it into a chart .
Continue down the list of ingredients, measuring out each item, determining the gram
weight and calculating the total grams of carbohydrates.
Standard Measure
Ingredient
Gram Weight
USDA Carb
Ratio
.7631
1
.277
0
.048
0
.0077
Grams
Carbohydrate
1 cup plus 1 TBS
Flour
130g
99.203
1 Tablespoon
Sugar
15 g
15
1 Tablespoon
Baking Powder
15 g
4.155
¼ teaspoon
Salt
2g
0
1 cup
Milk
250g
12
1 teaspoon
Vegetable Oil
5g
0
1 large
Egg
50g
.385
Total 130.743
Once the chart is filled in, add the grams of carbohydrates for each item together to find the
total for the entire recipe. For this particular recipe, the total is 130.743.
The next step is to prepare the pancakes. When all the cakes are cooked, weigh them all
together to determine the total weight. Here, the cooked cakes totaled 405 grams. To
determine the carb ratio, divide the total grams of carbs (130.743) by the total weight in
grams (405). The result is .3228.
21
CLASSIC MASHED
POTATOES
450g
60g
40g
30g
2g
Potatoes
Chicken Broth
Butter
Cream Cheese
Salt and Pepper
CARB RATIO: .16
Peel and cube potatoes. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes, remove
from heat and drain.
Put potatoes through ricer. Add remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate.
STEP BY STEP
You will notice in this calculation that while you begin with 450 grams of raw potato, you
calculate the number of carbs based on the carb factor for boiled potatoes multiplied by
their cooked weight.
When you are calculating carb ratios for your own recipes, be aware that 100 grams of a
boiled (or baked, or steamed) vegetable is not always the same as 100 grams of a vegetable
put into a pot and boiled. Also, be certain to use the ratio that corresponds to the final dish.
In this particular recipe, relying on the uncooked weight and ratio (450 and .1747) would
cause you to undercount the total number of carbs in the dish by about 20. This error would
skew the resulting ratio downward, ultimately causing you to miscalculate the amount of
carbs in your final servings by about one-fourth.
22
Standard
Measure
Ingredient
3 large
¼ cup
2½
Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons
To taste
Potatoes
Chicken Broth
Butter
Gram
Weight
Raw
450g
Gram
Weight
Prepared
490g
60g
40g
USDA Carb
Ratio for
prepared item
.2013
.012
0
30g
2g
.0266
0
Cream Cheese
Salt and Pepper
Grams
Carbohydrate
98.637
.72
0
.798
0
100.155 Total
Dividing the total carbs (100.155) by the total weight of the mashed potatoes (622g) gives a
carb ratio of .1610.
A WORD OF CAUTION—RAW VERSUS COOKED ITEMS
Generally, the weight of an item will increase when boiled, and decrease when steamed or
sautéed. However, depending on the item, even if the weight decreases, the amount of
available carbohydrate may actually increase. For some items, like onions, the difference is
negligible. But for items high in starches, such as potatoes and corn, the ratios for cooked
items are quite a bit higher than for the raw food.
When determining the total carbs in a recipe like this one, weigh the food after it is
prepared, but before adding it to the recipe and make your calculation using the ratio for
the cooked item. The second time you make the dish, you will know in advance that 450
grams of raw potato ends up to be 98.6 carbs of boiled potato so you can skip this step.
Russet Potato
Onion
Broccoli
Carrot
Corn
Spinach
Green Beans
Raw
.1747
.0934
.0664
.0958
.1902
.0363
.0713
Boiled (Baked)
.2013 (.2144)
.0956
.0506
.0822
.2511
.0375
.0788
23
CUPCAKES FOR THE PURIST
120g
200g
30g
4g
1g
2g
190g
40g
100g
Unbleached Flour
Sugar
Cocoa Powder
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Milk
Shortening
Eggs (2)
CARB RATIO .51
Preheat oven to 350. Add dry ingredients to your mixing bowl. Wisk to combine. Add wet
ingredients except eggs and beat until well combined. Add eggs and beat another 2 minutes.
Bake until cake springs back when touched gently—about 30 minutes for a layer cake or 20
minutes for eight large cupcakes.
STEP BY STEP
As before, in order to determine the carb count, work down the list of ingredients,
measuring out each item and determining the gram weight. Then use the proper carb ratio
to calculate the total grams of carbohydrates.
Standard Measure
Ingredient
1 cup
1 cup
¼ cup
1 Teaspoon
Flour
Sugar
Cocoa
Baking Powder
24
Gram
Weight
120g
200g
30g
4g
USDA Carb
Ratio
.7631
1
.6
.277
Grams Carbohydrate
91.572
200
18
1.108
¼ Teaspoon
¼ teaspoon
¾ cup
¼ cup
2 large
Baking Soda
Salt
Milk
Shortening
Eggs
1g
2g
190g
40g
100g
0
0
.048
0
.0077
0
0
9.12
0
.77
Total 320.57
WEIGHING THE CAKES
If you made cupcakes, you will want to subtract the weight of the papers from the total. The
papers are generally about 2 grams per 5 cups. Here I determined a total weight of 627
(with papers excluded). I divided 320.57 by the weight for a carb ratio of .5113.
Similarly, if you are making a layer cake, it’s a good idea to weigh your cake pan before you
grease it and fill it with batter. That way you don’t have to take the cake out of the pan in
order to determine the total weight. Just weight the cake and pan together and then
subtract the weight of the pan.
If you want to bake the batter in ice cream cones for a child’s party, subtract the weight of
the cones (usually about 4-5 grams each) from the amount you multiply by the carb ratio
and then add 4 carbs (or as listed on the package) to the final count for each cupcake cone.
FOR TRUE PERFECTIONISTS ONLY!
These cupcakes are so good they don’t need frosting, but hypothetically, you could make the
carb count of each cupcake exactly the same by determining the amount of frosting needed
to bring each cake to the desired count.
To do this you would weigh each cupcake, and figure how many carbs you need to add to
each one to bring them all to a common total. As described on page 12, divide the amount of
carbs you need to add to each cake by the carb ratio for the frosting to determine how many
grams of frosting to add. Then add the appropriate amount of frosting to each cupcake.
25
BUSY DAY CUPCAKES
517g
275g
70g
150g
Yellow Cake Mix
Water
Vegetable Oil
Eggs (3)
CARB RATIO .48
Mix and bake per package directions.
STEP BY STEP
In this particular calculation you will notice that I have determined the total grams of
carbohydrate without the aid of a ratio (although I can determine that it is .8356 by dividing
the grams carbohydrate by the total gram weight of the dry mix).
To calculate the grams of carbohydrate for the package of mix, take the number of
suggested servings times the number of carbs per serving. This may differ somewhat from
the number you would obtain if you used the carb ratio listed in the USDA database (dry
yellow cake mix is listed at .8410). However, I tend to believe that the amount listed on the
label is more accurate as it should be specific to the mix you are using.
Standard
Measure
1 package
1 1/3 c
1/3 cup
3 large
26
Ingredient
Gram Weight
Yellow Cake Mix (I used
Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
Water
Vegetable Oil
Eggs
517g
USDA Carb
Ratio
-
275g
70 g
150g
0
0
.0077
Grams
Carbohydrate
432
0
0
1.155
Total 433.155
Divide the total carbs by the total weight of the baked cake to determine the carb ratio. In
this case the ratio is .4770 (433.155 / 908).
You will notice that the ratio for busy day cupcakes is pretty much the same as for the purist
cupcakes. It is also comparable to the USDA ratio, even if you add frosting!
WHICH RATIO SHOULD I USE???
Duncan Hines yellow .48
Purist cupcakes .51
Yellow (USDA) .53
Yellow with choc frosting (USDA) .55
35 gram cupcake:
16.8
17.85
18.55
19.25
45 gram cupcake
21.6
22.95
23.85
24.75
When you have the specific ratio, of course you should use it, but you can see from the chart
that the non-specific ratio from the USDA works nearly as well as our specific calculation.
There is roughly 2 carbs difference for a 35 gram cupcake depending on if you use the ratio
for the Duncan Hines cake, the purist cupcake ratio or the USDA yellow cake ratio. But, there
is a 5 gram difference between the 35 and 45 gram cupcake. So the issue here is not so much
which exact ratio to use but whether or not you weigh the cake accurately.
Unless you are going to be eating several cupcakes, your count will be very close no matter
which ratio you choose. However, if you just assume that most cupcakes are 2 exchanges,
you may be off by quite a bit. And trust me—it is difficult to tell the difference between a 35
gram and a 45 gram cupcake without weighing it.
27
BLACK BEAN SOUP
15g
160g
120g
15g
411g
850g
411g
95g
Olive Oil
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Chicken broth
Canned Black Beans
Canned Crushed Tomatoes
Cubed Turkey Sausage (precooked links)
CARB RATIO: .10
Chop celery and onion. Mince garlic. Heat oil in a large stock pot, add celery first and sauté
for 3-4 minutes, add onion and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent.
Add chicken broth, beans and tomatoes, bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about 45
minutes. Add meat near the end of the cooking time, heating through before serving.
MAKE IT YOUR OWN
If you want to customize this or any other recipe, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.
First, when you reduce or increase an ingredient, remember to adjust the carb count
accordingly. You may also need to weigh the final dish and recalculate the carb ratio
depending on the changes you make.
For example, if you prefer a vegetarian soup, you will want to leave out the turkey sausage
and replace the chicken broth with water. Eliminating the meat reduces the total weight by
95 grams. Changing the broth to water doesn’t affect the weight (broth and water weigh the
same amount), but it will lower the carb count ever so slightly.
Without the meat and broth, the carb ratio is a tiny bit higher than before (.1097) but not
significantly different than the non-vegetarian soup. If you change the chicken stock for
28
vegetable stock, you may need to adjust the carb count, but there is no need to reweigh the
soup as the total gram weight will remain the same. On the other hand, If you like a thinner
soup and decide to add more water, it won’t affect the total carb count for the soup, but the
ratio will change slightly as the weight of the soup will increase.
Finally, understand that doubling a recipe does not double the carb ratio. The carb ratio
remains the same as long as all ingredients are increased or decreased by the same ratio.
For example, you can halve or double or triple all the ingredients and the ratio remains the
unchanged.
STEP BY STEP
By now you are familiar with the chart method of determining a carb ratio. Like the mashed
potatoes in lesson two, this recipe also begins with a gram weight of raw vegetables that
will be cooked during the preparation of the dish.
Standard
Measure
Ingredient
1Tablespoon
1 ½ cup
1 cup
1 Tablespoon
2 cups (1 can)
4 cups (2 cans)
2 cups (1 can)
1 cup
Olive Oil
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Chicken Broth
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Turkey Sausage
Gram
Weight
Raw
Gram
Weight
Prepared
15
107
101
12
411
850
411
95
USDA Carb
Ratio for
prepared item
0
.0401
.0786
.3306
.0038
.1461
.0729
0
Grams
Carbohydrate
0
4.2907
7.9386
3.9672
1.5618
124.185
29.9619
0
Total 171.905
It is useful to weigh the stock pot before adding ingredients in order to facilitate the final
weighing of the dish. Just weigh the final product in the stock pot, remembering to subtract
the weight of the pot before making your final calculations.
160
120
15
The total weight of this soup was 1648 grams. As before, I divide the total carbs (171.905)
by the weight (1648) to determine a carb ratio of .1043.
29
NOTES:
30
CHAPTER THREE:
THE CARB PERFEC TIONIST COOKS WITH THE KIDS
The next five recipes are all favorites with
my kids. They are quick to fix, healthy, and
can be executed even by elementary school
age kids without much help from Mom or
Dad.
These recipes can also be used as a quick
tutorial in carb factor cooking for your child,
or for anyone who would like a quick and
easy demonstration of Carb Perfectionist
cooking before moving on to other recipes.
The cinnamon milk recipe shows the basic technique for using carb factors, and the baked
pears recipe gives a lesson in computing your own carb ratio from a label.
The cereal “recipe” is really an exercise in becoming familiar with the tare function on your
scale. You can substitute any cereal—even old fashioned oatmeal—and the process is
exactly the same.
The last two recipes are good for a bit of cooking with the whole family. My friend Nicole
introduced me to the silly pizza idea. I love it because if we keep the size of the slices
somewhat small and use low fat cheese, we don’t have to worry about the usual challenges
of eating pizza for a diabetic. I also like the fact that everyone can top their slices with
exactly what they like so no one complains about having to pick “the yucky stuff” off.
Finally, making the “60 gram” smoothie is another great way to spend a few minutes with
your kids in the kitchen. And if they are old enough, they will want to come up with their
own concoctions and figure the carb ratios with the handy shortcut explained here.
31
CINNAMON MILK
STEP ONE:
Gather your materials and ingredients:
Gram Scale
Drinking Glass or Mug
Spoon
Milk
Stevia (or other 0 carb sweetener)
Cinnamon
STEP TWO:
Weigh the desired amount of milk in the glass you are going to drink from
STEP THREE:
Note the weight in grams and multiply by .05. This gives you the total number of
carbohydrates.
Step Four:
Sprinkle in one packet stevia, and 3-4 shakes cinnamon*.
Step Five:
Stir it up and enjoy. If you have a lid for your cup, it is also fun to shake all the ingredients
together before drinking.
*Cinnamon is .7985 carbs per gram (a little over 1 carb per teaspoon), so if you get carried away with the
sprinkling, add 1 to your total carb count. The nutmeg on the next page is .4929 or 1 carb per teaspoon.
32
BAKED PEARS
STEP ONE:
Gather your materials and ingredients:
Gram Scale
8 inch baking dish
1 can pear halves in light syrup
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
STEP TWO:
Pour the pear halves into a baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon* and nutmeg.
STEP THREE:
Heat for ½ hour at 350 degrees. No need to preheat the oven for this one. Put the pears in
the oven and then turn it on.
STEP FOUR:
While the pears are warming up, determine the carb ratio. Either look up pears in the USDA
database or calculate the carb ratio yourself.
To calculate your own ratio, first locate the nutrition information on the label. Then divide
the number of carbs per serving by the gram weight per serving. (It should be about .15)
STEP FIVE:
When it is time to serve, weigh each serving and multiply the gram weight by the carb ratio
(.15) to determine total carbs.
33
FAVORITE CEREAL
STEP ONE:
Gather your materials and ingredients
Gram Scale
Bowl
Spoon
Your Favorite Cereal
Milk
Optional: Fresh Blueberries
STEP TWO:
Put the bowl on the scale; tare, add your favorite cereal to the bowl. Note the weight in
grams.
Locate the nutrition information on the label of the cereal you are using and divide the
number of carbs per serving by the gram weight per serving. The result is the carb ratio you
will enter in the chart on the following page.
STEP THREE:
Reset the scale to 0 (this is the tare function again). Pour the desired amount of milk into the
bowl. Note the weight in grams.
Step Four: Optional Items
If you are using blueberries, tare the scale again and note the weight of the berries.
34
Enter the weights in the worksheet below.
Food
Weight in Grams
Suggested Carb Ratio
Total
Cereal
Milk
Blueberries
.05
.1449
Overall Total:
Step Five:
Multiply the weight of each item by its carb ratio. Enter totals in the final column.
Step Six:
Add the totals for each item together for the overall carb count.
(Don’t forget to bolus!)
35
SILLY PIZZA
STEP ONE:
Gram Scale
Ready Made Pizza Crust (like Boboli)
Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni
Pre-cooked Sausage
Non-Fat Mozzarella Cheese
Peppercini
Black Olives
STEP TWO:
Cut a slice of pizza crust and put it on the scale. Note the weight in grams and enter it into
the chart below.
STEP THREE:
Reset the scale to 0 (this is the tare function). Top the pizza with the desired toppings,
weighing each one separately in grams.
36
Enter the weight of each item you use for your pizza in the chart below.
Food
Weight in Grams
Crust
.5
Sauce
.0867
Pepperoni
.0404
Sausage
0
Cheese
.0350
Peppercini
.0390
Black Olives
.0626
Total
Overall Total:
Step Four:
Toast your pizza under the broiler until the cheese melts. While you are waiting, multiply
the weight for each item by its carb ratio. Enter totals in the final column.
Step Five:
Add the totals for each item together for the overall carb count for your slice.
37
“60 GRAMS” FRUIT SMO OTHIE
STEP ONE:
Gram Scale
Blender
Plain Lofat Yogurt
Frozen Raspberries
Frozen Blueberries
Skim Milk
Unsweetened Apple juice
STEP TWO:
Measure 60 grams yogurt, 60 grams raspberries, 60 grams blueberries, 60 grams milk and
60 grams apple juice into the blender.
STEP THREE:
Blend everything together, and weigh your serving in grams. Multiply by .0974 to determine
the total carb count for your serving. (Makes about 2 kid size servings.)
38
Step Four:
Wow your parents with your math proficiency by showing them how to calculate the carb
ratio for this recipe.
JUST THE FACTS
Usually when you determine a carb count for a recipe you start by calculating the total carbs
in the entire recipe. Just like for the bowl of cereal and the silly pizza, that means
multiplying each item’s weight by its carb ratio, and then adding all the results together to
find the total carbs.
Food
Weight in Grams
Total
Yogurt
60
.0792
4.752
Raspberries
60
.1214
7.284
Blueberries
60
.1214
7.284
Milk
60
.0480
2.88
Apple juice
60
.1168
7.008
Total: 300
Total 29.208
Then, in order to find the carb ratio, you must divide the total carbs by the total weight of
the entire batch. If you are baking, you would have to weigh the finished product, but
because there are no chemical reactions or evaporation here, we know that the weight of
the ingredients is simply the total for all ingredients—60 x 5 = 300.
Thus, to find the carb count for the “60 grams” Smoothie we divide 29.208 by 300 to get
.0974 as listed above. Now turn the page to discover “the twist”……..
39
HERE’S THE TWIST
There is a second way to determine the count for this particular recipe.
Because the “60 grams” Smoothie has equal amounts of every ingredient, we can find the
specific carb ratio of the whole by taking an average of the carb ratios for each item. This
means that we add all the ratios together and then divide it by the number of ingredients (in
this case 5).
Or, more specifically:
.0792 + .1214 + .1214 + .0480 + .1168
=
.4874
.4868 / 5 = .0974—the same result as doing all the calculations above!
This works because each ingredient weighs the same and thus contributes equally to the
ratio. And although we used 60 grams of each item here it would still work if you used 150
grams of each item—or 200 grams—or 50 grams etc.
For example, if you decided to double the recipe and use 120 grams of each item you find
that:
Food
Weight in Grams
Total
Yogurt
120
.0792
9.504
Raspberries
120
.1214
14.568
Blueberries
120
.1214
14.568
Milk
120
.0480
5.76
Apple juice
120
.1168
14.016
Total: 600
Total 58.416
Divide total carbs by total weight and you’ll see that 58.416/600 = .0974, just like the last
time.
How cool is that!
40
NOTES
41
CHAPTER FOUR:
TCP CHEAT SHEETS
Sometimes it is nice to have a quick reference list to take along when you are out on the
town! Keep in mind that these ratios won’t be 100% exact, as recipes vary somewhat, but
they should be quite close.
THANKSGIVING DAY
To grandmother’s house we go!
Turkey
0
Gravy
.05
Mashed Potatoes
.17
Dressing
.22
Green Bean Casserole
.10
Candied Sweet Potatoes
.28
Cranberry sauce
.39
White Roll
.5
Butter
0
Jello Salad with fruit cocktail
(regular jello)
.19
Pumpkin Pie
.25
42
X gram weight
= Total Carbs
SUNDAY BRUNCH
Get two plates—fill one at the buffet and then weigh each food on the new plate at the table.
But watch the fat here, the muffins, gravy and high fat sauces can wreak havoc with your
blood sugar.
Roast Beef or Bacon
0
Hollandaise sauce
.05
Strawberries
.07
Melon
.08
Muffins or Biscuits or Caramel
Rolls
.5
Sausage
.02
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
.17
Gravy
.05
French Toast
.25
Syrup
.61
Scrambled Eggs
.02
Bloody Mary
.05
Orange Juice
.10
X gram weight
=Total Carbs
43
NIGHT AT THE BALLFIELD
Hamburger or hot dog bun
.5
Pizza with regular crust
.25
Ice Cream (no cone)
.25
Popcorn
.57
Snow Cone Syrup
.67
X Gram Weight
= Total Carbs
FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET
Kettle Corn
.79
Breads
.5 (on average)
Radishes, Tomatoes, Cucumbers
.03
Sweet Peppers
.04
Sweet Corn
.19 (raw)
Strawberries, Watermelon
.07
Blueberries, Raspberries
.14
Cantaloupe
.08
44
X Gram Weight
= Total Carbs
POT LUCK AND BUFFET STRATEGIES
One strategy for “pot luck” or buffet style meals is to select items with roughly the same
carb counts. Make a list of likely items before you go or use the ones below. That way you
only have to weigh the entire plate of food once which makes for less fuss. Just don’t forget
to tare or subtract the weight of the plate before you calculate the carbs!
Of course, you will be making a few estimations here and there, but as long as you don’t take
too much of any one item, the Carb Perfectionist will never tell!
THE .5 PLATE (DIVIDE TOTAL GRAM WEIGHT BY 2)
Most soft white breads, including plain or toasted slices, waffles, buns, and flour tortillas
Also, cookies, unfrosted cupcakes, unfrosted cinnamon rolls, pound cake, donuts etc.
Ice Cream, Pizza (regular crust), Ketchup, Fast food single burger or burrito, French Fries,
French Toast, Boiled Corn, Cheese cake, Cheese and Sausage English Muffin, Long Grain
Rice. Mixed Nuts, Lemon Pudding
Chili, Bean Soup, Lentil Soup, Chicken Soup, Green Bean Casserole, Fresh Peaches or Pears,
Carrot Sticks, Blackberries, Grapefruit sections, Canned peas, Velveeta, Non-Fat yogurt, Taco
Salad, Stewed tomatoes, Fried Chicken, Hot Dogs (no bun), Italian Salad dressing, Fried
Tofu, Scalloped potatoes, “Fake” Mashed Potatoes, Unsweetened apple sauce,
Also, Potato Salad (.13), Cole slaw (.13), Most canned pastas (.15), Breaded Shrimp (.12),
Strawberries, (.07) Watermelon (.07), Pineapple (.12) and Cantaloupe (.08) might be on this
plate depending on how serious a perfectionist you are.
45
CHAPTER FIVE:
USING TCP SOFTWARE
The Carb Perfectionist software program provides carb ratios and nutritional information
for over 7,000 foods.
In addition to providing the entire USDA database (including specific carb ratios), this
program can calculate total carbs for any size serving, an entire meal or day as well as for
recipes.
When you are adding up the contents of a plate or determining the carbs in a favorite recipe
there is no need for a paper chart. Just enter the weight in grams or other serving size into
The Carb Perfectionist software and add items to your workspace to determine the total.
GETTING STARTED
To use the software you must have Window 98 or Windows Vista.
To install the program simply click on the .exe file and follow the instructions on your
screen.
USING THE PROGRAM
TO START COUNTING CARBS, USE THE FOLLOWING STEPS:
1. Type the name of the food you want to eat in the box labeled “enter the search terms”
2. Click the “find” button
3. Use the scroll tool to locate the item which best matches your particular food item and click
on that item.
4. Select a unit of measurement from the options provided. Depending on the food item, it can
be a standard or gram measurement.
46
5. Weigh or measure your food and enter the amount into the space provided. Use decimal
points for fractions. For example, use .5 cups for ½ cup or .66 for 2/3rds cup.
6. Look down the nutrient list for the highlighted carbohydrate information.
7. To calculate and catalog the amount of carbohydrate in more than one item (for a meal, a
recipe or for an entire day), enter the total for each item into the workspace by clicking the
“add carbs to total” button. The total carbs for all entered items will appear in the box above
the workspace as well as in the “daily total” column. Cumulative amounts for other nutrient
categories for the items in the workspace are also shown in the “daily total” column.
8. If you need to remove an item from the workspace, highlight it by clicking on the item and
then click the “remove” button. The carbs for that item will be subtracted from the
workspace total and all information for that item is removed from the daily totals column as
well.
TO CALCULATE A CARB RATIO FOR A RECIPE, COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING STEPS:
1. Enter the item and amount for each ingredient into the workspace.
2. Weigh the entire results of the recipe (all the cupcakes, casserole, bread, etc.) excluding any
serving items or packaging.
3. Divide the total grams of carbohydrates fro the entire recipe by the total weight of the
prepared item(s) in grams to determine the carb ratio for the recipe.
47
48
FOR TROUBLESHOOTING E-MAIL [email protected]
To order additional copies, please send this card along with your check or money
order to:
MeadowHill Press
P.O. Box
Marion, IA 52302
Number of Copies
The Carb Perfectionist (book only)
TCP Software
Book and Software Combo
The Carb Perfectionist Cookbook
Shipping and handling (per order)
Price
$9.99
$9.99
$15.99
$18.99
$4.00
Total
Name:______________________________________
Address:____________________________________
City/State:_________________________________
E-mail: _________________@_________________ Check here to receive our e-newsletter
The Carb Perfectionist is a product of:
MeadowHill Press
P.O. Box
Marion, IA 52302
49
50
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT
THE CARB PERFECTIONI ST:
This is the absolute best guide to baking and cooking I’ve
ever seen.
Judy—a grandma with Type II diabetes
With this system, I no longer have to force my child to finish
everything on their plate just so I know how many carbs
they are eating. Thank you!
Pat—Dad to a 8 year old with Type I diabetes
For our family, using carb factors takes the stress out of
mealtimes. I can’t believe no one ever told me about it
before.
Heidi—Mom to a 6 year old with Type I diabetes
This book should be required reading for anyone who has
diabetes or cares for someone with diabetes.
Kelly Deal—Registered Nurse
$15.99 USD
MeadowHill Press
P.O. Box
Marion, IA 52302
51

The Carb Perfectionist

Transcription

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