In the spring our children spend more time outdoors, running and playing with friends and school mates. What can you put in your child's pocket to help protect him or her from low blood sugar blues? Here we give you a list of snacks and a master recipe for fruit leather better known as fruit roll-ups at the store. When our son left for college, the best part of his packing up was that we would no longer have those sticky papers to deal with. He remains addicted to them till today and his two young sons are the next generation to love these delicious treats.
Our first suggestion for an easy carry-along to treat hypoglycemia in very young children is one we used in Washington, D.C., and that is a tube of frosting in a flavor your child likes. We would hope parents decide how big of a squeeze and how many of those they will need to stop the process and bring blood glucose levels back to normal. Our second suggestion is for older children who can catch a lowering blood glucose level. That is home made peanut butter cracker sandwiches. We suggest you make your own for cost saving, and to cut down on fat (Read the abstract on fat laden meals this month). At home, you can use lowered fat crackers and home-style peanut butter. You can also make cheese crackers using a lowered fat cracker and lower fat cheese. Do look up the amount of carbs in each sandwich so you can tell your child, teacher, friend, sitter etc how many the child should eat.
One of my favorite snacks is a make-your-own mix using low salt pretzel sticks, dry cereal, and sunflower seeds. You can bake it in a warm oven, coated with cooking spray and topped with your child's favorite spices. Cumin, chili powder, garlic, etc. all are wonderful. Add a bit of salt and you are done. How about a baggie of pretzels or some low fat tortilla chips? All children like these, but get reduced salt ones. Some children like granola. We have a great granola recipe in our Joslin Diabetes Gourmet Cookbook, as well as date granola bars that make a perfect snack at 14g of carbs. Finally, you can purchase glucose tablets. I, for one, never leave home without these tables, however, we all know that they do not taste great. Many children would prefer Lifesavers or jellybeans in a flavors they like. Have your health team tell you how many will make up the 15 g of carbs you need to treat low blood glucose levels, or read the label. It is not suggested that you treat low blood glucose level with candy bars. They are high in fat and more difficult to use. Many have nuts and are inappropriate for young children. I can still remember finding a half eaten, melted chocolate coated bar in a pocketbook. What a mess. To tell the truth, the number of bites I needed and ate never worked to raise blood glucose levels and stop that yoyo syndrome after a low blood reading. They may not be Godiva, but our suggestions here are quantifiable and healthier.
Now let's look at our recipe for fruit leather. We have compiled our recipe from recipes we had from the University of Nebraska, Oregon State University and Washington State University. For each 14.0 g of fruit leather your child will get 49 calories and 11.8 g of carbs. So snacking on fruit roll-ups can be an easy way to keep blood glucose levels normal while using all of that extra energy.
The reason for making your own fruit leathers is easy: You will make the flavors you like and use less sugar than those you can purchase. For a person with diabetes, these home made roll-ups can be made without sugar. One individual roll is equivalent to one fruit exchange. When you dry fruit, you obviously remove the moisture from the fruit so that bacteria, yeasts and molds can not grow or spoil the leather. As you dry the fruit, it becomes lighter in weight and smaller.
You will need shallow pans, such as cookie sheets (about 13 by 15 inches, 32.5 cm by 37.7 cm), plastic wrap, an electric blender or food mill, and if you are using the sun for drying the leather, cheesecloth. The methods for drying the fruit includes sun, oven, and a dehydrator.
Select ripe or slightly overripe fruit. Wash fresh fruit or berries, remove peel, seeds, stems and bruised or spoiled portions. Cut fruit into chunks. Use two cups of fruit for each 13" X 15" fruit leather. Purée the fruit until smooth. If thick, add liquid to pouring consistency. Add two teaspoons lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid (375 mg) for each two cups of lightly colored fruit to prevent darkening. To sweeten, add artificial sweeteners to taste. Don't use aspartame as it will lose its sweetness during drying.
The following are fruits that make excellent leathers:
apples
apricots
berries with seeds
cherries
nectarines
peaches
pears
pineapples
In combinations with other fruits you can use:
citrus fruits
citrus peel
cranberries
Fruits not recommended:
melons
avocados
bananas
grapes
To add flavor to leathers, you can add spices such as allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mint, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. All of the articles we read suggest that you use very small amounts of spices. Start with 1/8 teaspoon for each 2 cups of purée. You can also add lemon juice, almond extract, lemon peel, lime peel, orange extract, orange juice or vanilla extract. Again, start with 1/8 teaspoon for each 2 cups purée. The reason for using little extra flavoring is that as you dry the purée the flavor will concentrate.
Once you have cut up the fruit, you can use these ways of preparing the fruit.
- Hot break method: Place pieces of fruit in the top of a double boiler to avoid scorching. Cover and cook over boiling water 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Purée fruit in blender, or grind in a food mill using the finest blade.
- Cold break method: Purée pieces of fruit in a blender, or grind in a food mill, using the finest blade. Immediately place in the top of a double boiler. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Concentrating the purée: You can concentrate juicy purée to shorten the drying time. Place the ground or puréed fruit in a heavy, deep saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool.
- Uncooked method: Purée pieces of raw fruit in a blender. Run berry purée through a strainer to remove seeds if desired.
Add ascorbic acid (Add 1/4 teaspoon crystals to 2 cups of purée) or fruit juice such as pineapple or lemon juice to prevent browning of light fruit purées. Orange juice will promote browning.
Line the pan with plastic wrap carefully smoothing out wrinkles. Don't use waxed paper or aluminum foil. If you are using a dehydrator you can purchase specially designed plastic sheets or plastic trays. Spread the puréed fruit about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Avoid pouring too close to the edge. Leave an inch or more to allow for spreading during the drying process.
If using a dehydrator, allow for 6 to 8 hours. In general, dry fruit at 140° F. Oven drying also needs a 140° F setting. If you can't get a low temperature, you will be cooking the fruit, not drying it. The leather will be better if your oven has a fan like a convection oven. Test for doneness. The leather should be tacky, but not contain any moisture. In the oven, it will take about 4 to 8 hours, maybe more, depending on the temperature, humidity and type and amount of purée.
If you sun-dry the purée in direct sunlight, it will take 8 hours to 2 days. Make sure to bring the trays in at night and cover with cheese cloth to protect from insects.
To store the sheets of leather, roll them up within the plastic wrap, or cut the leather in smaller pieces and store wrapped in plastic wrap. One inch pieces are fun for children. to snack on. Store in plastic freezer bags or tightly sealed in a container. For long term storage, refrigerate or freeze.. When the leather is done, you can sprinkle with coconut, cereals, nuts, etc., to tempt your family and add crunch.
BSP
