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Hi, folks!
I'd like to think that your knowing my history might inspire you to find your own hidden talkents as a chef or culinary experimenter.
In fact, I am not at all a chef by trade. I am a high school English teacher. You can guess that keeping up with all my essay grading is one of the many reasons why I haven't accomplished more in developing these pages over the years. For me, teaching is a 10-12 hour a day job. Whew!
My first forays into creating sugar-free recipes (technically no-sugar-added, since many are fruit sweetened) started in 1989 after my husband was diagnosed diabetic. I myself have avoided sugar since 1981, as I am hypersensitive to it.
Being the daughter of a scientist, I found I could experiment quite effectively by using guidelines I mention in my Chef's Comments web page. I also would build on my successes by making different flavored variations on the same concepts.
The first recipes were very conservative in flavor and carbohydrates, but I learned quickly that if these desserts didn't taste like the real thing, meaning at least delicious if not decadent, my husband would trip on over to the corner store for a package of doughnuts.
So, it became my goal to make them every bit as delicious as the ooey-gooeys at the local bakery, while still providing as much nutritional value as possible, coupled with minimal high glycemic index carbohydrates. You'll note that my recipe range is extensive. The Branapple and Pear Spice Muffins as well as the Frosty pies and the shakes may be the best choices for diabetics. Certainly some of the desserts are probably out of diabetics' range except in very small portions.
This website is not just for diabetics. It's for people like myself who would crave everything in the bakery if they had even one bite of pure sugar. It's for people who enjoy eating most when their food is nutritious. And it's for people to select the recipes right for them; my web visitors know their needs and limitations and choose accordingly.
In 1995, when I first decided to make this potential book into a web site (so I could tweak as I go), I had anticipated having all the nutritional values and diabetic exchanges posted years ago, but life took some surprising turns for me and my family. In 1995 my husband underwent radiation treatment for throat cancer. Surviving that grueling process, in 1997 he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, sleep apnea, and had a mild stroke. In 1998 he spent several days in intensive care after a hypertensive episode (ventricular tachycardia) and later that year was found to have a tumor on his liver. In 1999 he was diagnosed with peripheral vascular disease as well as underwent several biopsies and rounds of chemo in an effort to shrink his liver tumor. Finally in September of 1999 doctors decided to remove half his liver. What was expected to be 7-10 days in the hospital became 67 days in intensive care before my husband died. So, my life has been dealing with a series of traumas followed by the grieving process. While I hope to make great progess this summer on analyzing and posting nutrtional information, I am giving myself a lot of grace while I recover from 7 years of intensive stress, which have undeniably taken a toll on my health, too.
Those of you who have emailed me and have not heard back probably now have a much greater understanding of why I have not responded. Believe it or not, I have kept all those emails and may some day be able to reply to those whose addresses have not changed. To be honest, though, I wouldn't hold your breath on that one. My first priority will be to work on the website, so everyone will have the benefit of my efforts.
Well, this little "bio" is much more than that. It's been quite a personal sharing, which I hope you will not perceive as being in bad taste. If your heart is aching at all my husband and I underwent these last several years, there are many beautiful miracles that attended his transition into life after life. If it would hearten you to read of them, I made a memorial website for my husband, which is at http://www.teleport.com/~jbdubois/Bill_DuBois.shtml.
Meanwhile, I encourage you to select from my recipes those which will benefit and satisfy you, to play with your own recipes, and to check my site occasionally for newly posted nutritional information. I also have dreams of breaking lists further into dairy-free and low fat as well as of learning how to use the safe, natural sweetener stevia in place of Equal®/NutraSweet®. This all takes time, though, so it will be a long, slow evolution.
Oh, and for those who have asked, no, I have not published a book. It would be a lovely project, but these web pages allow me to continue to grow and develop my recipes as I learn more tricks and more about nutrition. Maybe some day when I'm retired from teaching English, I'll teach a class in how to convert your favorite dessert recipes into no-sugar-added, nutritious delights. That would be fun!
For now, blessings and health to each of you!
--Jeanine
Jeanine's
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