In Times of Fall

November 11 is Mallory's birthday, turning a whopping 37. She will be coming over on Wednesday to let us take her out to dinner and shower her with love and gifts. 

Wednesday rolled around and Mallory came over around noon. We spent time catching up on our lives, as she had not been over in a while. Her dad and I gave her a birthday card and wished her a happy birthday. She wanted one thing from us this year and that was to go out to eat. She chose Seven Thai, especially for one thing; the mango sticky rice dessert. 

This dish is a favorite of ours too. Terry asked me to call the restaurant to ensure we could order the dish and actually have it since it is fall and we weren't 100% sure of the seasonal limits to the beloved fruit. I called, and yes, they had mango in. 

We showed up at the restaurant, had an amazing meal (like always), then asked for dessert. They informed us that they were out of mangoes. We were shocked to hear they had sold all of them before we arrived. Disappointed, yes, but not defeated. We headed to Safeway. 

At the local Safeway, I picked out a caramel ice cream that is sugar free, Terry snagged some Ben & Jerry's Phish Food (yum), and Mallory grabbed a delicious looking piece of cheesecake. We paid for the desserts and headed home. 

It was a wonderful time and we both hope she enjoyed her visit. Mallory and I made a deal that once I get a car again, she was welcome to join me on my deliveries as she had in the past. We definitely had some fun, shared laughter, and mother-daughter love. I guess step-mother and daughter love, but I've always thought of her as a daughter and Hayden as a grandson. We are family, we are connected. That's all that matters. 

Mallory spent some time loving on the fur babies who missed her so. Esme received plenty of pats and love, while Kit took over her lap. Togo the husky sprawled out beside her and informed the cats that was his sister and nobody else's. 

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Terry just received word that we would be driving to Eugene next Wednesday to finally sign the papers that will release the Sportage back to them in this lawsuit. Once that happens, we can begin our search for a new car. It has been since June that I have had a car that enabled me to work. I'm excited to see the entire process end, as I want to get back to work and not have them take out the car payments each month when we don't have the car. So, yay! That came as a blessing today, Thursday, November 13. 

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For those who follow the blog, you know that Terry and I are both diabetic. It's difficult to find a sugar substitute that doesn't kick your butt harder than diabetes does. People say, "So use a sugar substitute," or "Well, they have a lot of sugar-free stuff now." I do agree with both of these remarks; however, sugar substitutes and a lot of sugar-free products have ingredients called alcohol sugars in them. 

Alcohol sugars are a bit different from regular sugar intake. These sugars are sort of along the same lines as carbs, which turn into sugar eventually and spike blood glucose levels off the planet. It's a difficult decision to get that sugar fix most of us crave, even if it is just a bite or two, due to the addition of alcohol sugars. Bottom line is that being diabetic means watching the amount of carbs ingested, being aware of sugars, including regular sugar, and alcohol sugars, which all turn into sugar, producing high blood glucose readings.  

I did some research this weekend on the ups and downs of alternative sugars that use a combination of a plant, which is natural and great sounding, and then the geniuses throw in some alcohol sugars to help sweeten the end product even more. This weekend, I found one that is completely natural and does not have alcohol sugars in the mix. Of course, with anything sweet, sugar-free or not, we still have those nasty things called calories. It all boils down to portions. 

The alternative I found is called monk fruit, which is derived from a fruit. However, it is often blended with erythritol, which can cause higher blood pressure and other negative aspects. I got the monk fruit that is combined with another alternative to help sweeten the deal, allulose. 

Allulose is good, but still needs more data to accomplish a comprehensive report on its addition to our diet. It is known not to spike glucose levels, and that leads to helping overweight folks trim down a bit. 

Monk fruit alternative sweetener has zero calories and is a bit sweeter than regular sugar. You can use one-to-one when baking and cooking, and the makeup of this alternative is favorable for baking and cooking. I wanted to try it out. My idea was to make an apple pie to test it. Yeah, right. Making it to eat, of course. 

I purchased Granny Smith apples with some Honeycrisp apples in combination to give the pie depth to the flavor and texture. And boy, did it!

A downfall to making this pie? One. The brown sugar alternative that is used in the brand of monk fruit substitutes they had in the store used erythritol, and I didn't want to use that. However, I chose the Swerve brand, came home, read up on it, and found out that it too uses the same ingredient I was avoiding with the other brand. That sucked. 

Nonetheless, we dove into a beautiful apple pie, which smelled wonderful, was stuffed with a combination of tart and sweet apples, and oh, my goodness! What a beautiful thing. 

I bought Redi-Whip whipped cream to spray onto the luscious dessert, and we dove in. Boy, did we dive in! I went back for seconds, and Terry went back for a third try at the pie later on in the night. The apples were warm, and the apple pie spice aroma drifted through the air, tantalizing and teasing us both. I blame our overeating on the pie itself.  It was calling our names, and very loudly, and not to mention, we were without adult supervision. Never a good thing.

With an egg wash on top of the crust, I sprinkled a bit of the sugar and even a light dusting of apple pie spice. Yum. I need to say no more. 

I even pulled a bit of the crust away to see if the apples were done. Oh, my heavens, yes, they were! Those beautiful bad boys cooked up like a boss. Tart and sweet flavors of the combination of apples, a light crust, and then the warmed-up apple pie spice to bring it all to momma. Oh, but lest we forget the whipped cream, melting just a bit from the warm pie, to top it all off and make it a beautiful experience. I would have to say that the testing went very well, and the sugar alternatives worked out great. 

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After eating pie, we decided to sit and watch our show. I stretched back a bit to relax and watch as the new episode came to life. The next thing I felt was our cat, Esme. She climbed onto the arm of the couch, put her head between my body and the arm, and curled up in her upside-down position with her hind legs straight up in the air. Eventually, she came out of the awkward position and brought herself into a decent form again. 

I'm glad she was comfy because that's all that counts, I guess, is Esme's comfort and happiness. 

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Before we even get a chance to gobble, we walk into Lowe's and see this:

Somebody threw up Christmas in the store. "Irv, cleanup on aisle seven!"

This display truly brought back some childhood memories, but couldn't they wait until after we gobble until we wobble? 

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Our trip to Eugene is next Wednesday. I cannot wait to see the family again and get those papers signed to end all of this! We will blend Wednesday's meeting with the family with next weekend's fun. All I can say is life is good. You just have to keep a positive outlook. 

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Today is Sunday. Yesterday we were treated to an amazing Oregon VS Minnesota Gophers, with Oregon ending the game with yet another win. And quite a win it was, with Oregon clinching 42 points to Minnesota's 13. Great game. 

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Well, this is the end of another weekend. Until our next blog post, thank you all for reading our blog. We appreciate each and every one of you. So, friends, until next weekend, take care of yourselves and may good things come your way. 

Vicki & Terry Macrae

Partners in life, love, and of the soul