Author: Carma Spence

Carma Spence has been experimenting in the kitchen since she was four years old and loves trying out new recipe ideas. She is the author of Bonkers for Bundt Cakes and Your Perfect Pie, as well as author and contributor to several more non-food-related books. With Carma's Cookery, she is taking her passion for empowering people and blending it with her passion for cooking, gift-giving and entertaining.

Recipes

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 23, 2020

There are many ways to achieve a moist, intensely chocolate Bundt cake. This recipe uses a cake mix as the basis, so it can be prepared quickly and easily.

Ingredients

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix (preferably the kind with the pudding in the mix)
1 4-serving box of instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup chocolate flavored yogurt (plain is fine as a substitute)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly dust the Bundt pan with flour.
In a large bowl, combine ingredients in the following order: cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, yogurt, oil, water and vanilla.
Using an electric mixer, beat ingredients together for two minutes at medium speed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 70 minutes or until it springs back after being touched lightly in the center.

For an even more chocolate-y experience, drizzle with a chocolate glaze. There are plenty of recipes for this kind of glaze online. This one works fairly well.

Bitter Sweet Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

The Bundt cake should already be cooled and sitting on the serving platter before glazing.

In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter, cream, and light corn syrup. Stir until the chips are melted and the mixture is satiny smooth.
Add vanilla.
Remove from heat and immediately drizzle the glaze over the top of the Bundt cake, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides.

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[three_fourth_last] Looking for a few more Bundt cake recipes to try? Don’t have a lot of time, but want a tasty Bundt cake? Bonkers for Bundt Cakes just may be the cookbook for you. Filled with “made from cake mix” recipes, as well as a couple from scratch, this simple cookbook is sure to please. Learn more and grab your copy at www.carmascookery.com/bundtcakes.
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Tags Bundt cake, chocolate

Cookbook Reviews Healthy Living

Book Review: “Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy” by Hope Warshaw

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 19, 2020

More than a third of American adults have prediabetes (I’ve been flirting with it off and on for over a year now) and more than 20 million Americans live with Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes (including my husband). I know several people who have diabetes, a condition in which one’s body doesn’t manage blood sugar very well. Having too much sugar in your blood has some pretty nasty consequences, so managing your blood sugar is pretty darn important. The first line of defense is what you eat. However, planning out your meals so that you remain healthy, manage your weight and blood sugar and enjoy your food all at the same time is a common challenge for folks with diabetes. Therefore, when I saw Hope Warshaw’s book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy I was intrigued.

Summary of Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

This is the 5th edition of this resource book for people who need to either reverse prediabetes or manage Type 2 diabetes. This edition came out in 2016 and was updated with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). It provides a step-by-step guide to slowly and surely make the changes one needs to make in their food choices and eating habits to align with these guidelines.

Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy is broken down into three major sections:

Nutrition and Healthy Eating Basics
This section gives an overview of Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, the basics of nutrition, and some tips on creating your own meal plan and weight loss and management.
Foods by Group
This section discusses the various food groups — starches, vegetables, fruits, dairy, protein, fats, sweets, beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and even “free” foods.
Putting Healthy Eating for Diabetes Control Into Action
This section brings it all together and helps the reader apply the information from the first two chapters. It discusses eating behavior, planning, portion control, eating out, and more.

What Worked for Me

As with so many books published by the ADA, Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy is designed to be easy to read. The font is a good size, the layout has plenty of white space, and the charts are organized well.

Because of how the book is organized, it is easy to find the specific information you’re looking for and go straight to the content you want to learn. It is user-friendly and practical. Also, at 6″x9″ in size, it is small enough that you could conceivably take it with you on the road and use it as a reference while out and about.

The writing is straightforward and easy to understand.

What Didn’t Work for Me

I’m sorry, but I got nothing here. This book is a reference and doesn’t make airs about being anything else.

What I’d Love to See in the Sixth Edition
of Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

Well, now that it is 2020, I’d like to see a new edition with the new guidelines for 2021 and beyond. I’d also like to see the book use modern technology and provide downloadable versions of all the charts. Perhaps even an app that you could install on your phone with them.

Diabetes meal planning is important and making this book more interactive and available on-the-go would be a wonderful way to engage the readership and achieve successful results for the millions of Americans who are affected by diabetes.

Recommendation

Have you just been diagnosed with prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes? Have you been struggling with Type 2 diabetes for a while now and still challenged with meal planning? Then get this resource! It is an easy read and filled with valuable, practical and easy-to-access information.

Rating for Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

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Specs

Full Title: Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy
Author: Hope S. Warshaw, RD
Format: Paperback, 176 pages
Publisher: American Diabetes Association
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580405436
ISBN-13: 978-1580405430 [/one_half]
[one_half_last] [/one_half_last]

Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you’ve read past book reviews, you’ll know that I don’t pull my punches when I believe they are warranted. I also try to provide balanced information so you can make your own decision to read or not read the book, even if you disagree with my opinion.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

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Tags diabetes

Recipes

Quick & Easy Frozen Coconut Cream Pie

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 16, 2020

I’ve often been disappointed with coconut cream pies I’ve had at restaurants or purchased from a store. They just weren’t coconutty enough for me. That’s why I developed this Quick & Easy Frozen Coconut Cream Pie. If you are looking for a strong coconut flavor in your coconut cream pie, I discovered that adding coconut milk powder to the recipe does the trick without adding too much moisture. You can find it at any Asian market, as well as online. I’ve linked to some options below the recipe.

NOTE: Although you can keep this pie in the refrigerator, it loses its shape quickly. So store it in the freezer, but defrost for about 15 minutes before serving.

Ingredients

1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons coconut milk powder
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1-1/3 cups coconut flakes
1 (8 oz.) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed*
1 fully cooked pie crust

Directions

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft.
Beat in sugar and coconut powder.
Gradually add milk, beating until smooth.
Fold in coconut and whipped topping.
Spoon into crust and freeze until firm — at least four hours.
Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Store any leftovers in the freezer.

* If you’d rather not used whipped topping, you can use real whipped cream. Simply beat some heavy whipping cream in a cold bowl until stiff peaks form, and use that instead.

This recipe was excerpted from Your Perfect Pie.

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Looking for a few more pie recipes to try?

Do you want to create your perfect, signature pie, but just can’t find the right recipe? Your Perfect Pie may just be the cookbook for you!

Breaking down the mystique of homemade pie into modules you can mix and match, this simple cookbook is sure to please. Learn more and grab your copy at:

CarmasCookery.com/yourperfectpie

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Tags coconut, cream pie

Cookbook Reviews

Cookbook Review: “Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner” by Cassandra Verdi and Stephanie Dunbar

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 12, 2020

The growing trend of “superfoods” touches every area of cuisine — including diabetes management. A superfood is a food assumed to confer health benefits resulting from an exceptional nutrient density. In Diabetes Superfoods, Cassandra L. Verdi, MPH, RD, and Stephanie A. Dunbar, MPH, RD, provide an overview of superfoods and how they can be used to improve health and manage diabetes.

Summary of Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner

The authors define the term “diabetes superfood” as food that is “rich in nutrients that benefit diabetes management or nutrients that are typically lacking in the American diet.” Using this definition as their base point, they provide a primer using a superfoods approach to cooking and meal planning.

What Worked for Me

The book is very easy to read and the recipes are laid out in a way that makes them easy to follow. The book is a soft and floppy trade paperback, which means when you open to a recipe you want to make, the book stays open. I love that.

The photographs are well taken but don’t overpower the book. As a cookbook should be, the recipes are the focus. And, whether you have diabetes or not, a lot of the recipes look really tasty. I’m especially looking forward to trying out the Avocado Cilantro Dressing, Lemonly Pesto Hummus, and Pecan-Crusted Port Tenderloin with Apples and Onions.

What Didn’t Work for Me

I’m not crazy about the color choice for the interior. They are printed in black and orange, which is an odd choice since there is no orange on the cover. I would have brought in the blue or red from the cover inter the interior.

I also would have preferred a listing of the recipes in the Table of Contents. As it is now, you either have to look in the index or go to each section to find a listing of the recipes. It makes it a bit more challenging to find what you’re looking for.

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

Frankly, the book is pretty good as it. The only change I’d really recommend is losing the orange in the interior and either keeping everything black or bringing in the blue from the cover to replace the orange.

Recommendation

If you are curious about superfoods and how they can help you manage your diabetes or even pre-diabetes, Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner is an excellent starter cookbook.

Rating for Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner

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Specs

Full Title: Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner: Power-Packed Recipes and Meal Plans Designed to Help You Lose Weight and Control Your Blood Glucose
Author: by Cassandra Verdi, MPH, RD and Stephanie Dunbar, MPH, RD
Format: Trade paperback, 176 pages
Publisher: American Diabetes Association
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580406793
ISBN-13: 978-1580406796 [/one_half]
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Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

Tags diabetes

Creative Cookery

How To Decide What Apple Pie to Make

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 9, 2020

There are dozens of ways to make an apple pie. Of course, this isn’t much help if you’re looking for a recipe to use right now. So what I’m going to offer in this post are some questions you should ask yourself before you go searching for that recipe. That way, you’ll be able to find the one that is just right for your needs.

Do you want a shallow or deep-dish apple pie?

The answer to this question will help you determine not only the style of pie that will work best but also how many apples you’ll need.

What kind of crust are you hankering for?

Do you want a traditional pastry crust? What about a crumb crust made out of shortbread or gingerbread cookies?

Do you want a covered or open-faced pie?

Because the apples in your pie can get dried out if you don’t put a cover on them, you may need to make a wetter sauce for an open-faced pie.

If you choose covered, what kind of cover do you want? Full pastry? Latticed pastry? Or something more akin to a cobbler, made with crumbs, brown sugar and butter?

What type of filling do you prefer?

Do you want the purest filling that is nothing but apples and sauce? Or do you want to get adventurous with flavor? Maybe you’d like to try a pumpkin-apple pie? What about a pear and apple pie? Custard and apple pie? Caramel apple pie? There is no limit to the combinations you can create… except that of your imagination.

How will you garnish your pie?

Depending on the flavors you’ve blended, you should select a garnish that not only looks nice but compliments the pie’s flavor mix. Garnishes can range from whipped topping or ice cream to toasted nuts or even mint leaves.

Once you’ve made all these decisions, finding the apple pie recipe you crave should be a whole lot easier.

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[three_fourth_last] Looking for a few more pie recipes to try? Want to create your perfect, signature pie, but just can’t find the right recipe? Your Perfect Pie just may be the cookbook for you. Breaking down the mystique of homemade pie, this simple cookbook is sure to please. Learn more and grab your copy at CarmasCookery.com/yourperfectpie [/three_fourth_last].

Tags apple pie, apples

Cookbook Reviews

Book Review: “The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution” by Jill Hillhouse

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 4, 2020

I have a friend with diabetes who swears by the Paleo diet in managing her blood sugar and losing weight. And, given its emphasis on avoiding processed food and focusing on whole foods, it stands to reason that it would be good for managing blood sugar. Jill Hillhouse’s The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution provides a good primer on the Paleo diet and how it can help you manage your diabetes.

Summary of The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution

The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution is a multi-purpose guide. It provides basic information on the Paleo diet, as well as diabetes. It gives you guidance on making the transition to Paleo, including a 30-day meal plan, and some starter recipes (take up a little more than half the book).

What Worked for Me

I love that it provides an overview of both diabetes and the Paleo diet. This makes it a good resource for newbies to these topics. The chapter on “Getting Ready to Start the Paleo Diet” provides an excellent guide transitioning to this new lifestyle. And, of course, having a 30-day meal plan is also good.

Each recipe comes with a “Nutrition Tip” which educates you on the benefits of that recipe’s key ingredient. The recipes are formatted well, so they should be easy to follow.

Like all good cookbooks, it has an index!

What Didn’t Work for Me

If you’ve read my previous cookbook reviews, you know how I feel about trade paperback cookbooks. Keeping the book open so that you can follow a recipe is a challenge with this book because of this binding method.

The pages of the informative portion of the book are riddled with pull quotes, “Did you know?” tips and other formatting bells and whistles. This makes the pages distracting and can reduce comprehension of what you’re reading unless you are disciplined enough to ignore them (something I often struggle with, having ADD.)

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

I would love to see more white space so that the pages feel less claustrophobic. This could easily be accomplished by switching to a binder format and increasing the size of the book. The book is currently 7″ x 10″ and could benefit from moving to either 8 1/2″ x 11″ using the current font size, or by decreasing the font size and keeping with its current size. It could also switch to an 8″ x 9.5″ binder format.

I’d also like to see the formatting for the chapters in Part One simplified. This would make it easier to read and, more than likely, increase comprehension.

Recommendation

This is a great book for someone who has just been diagnosed with diabetes and wants to transition to the Paleo diet. It is also good for anyone who wants to learn the basics of Paleo, with or without a diabetes diagnosis. There is a variety of recipes that will appeal to a diverse pallet.

Rating for The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution: 4 out of 5 Chefs

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Specs

Full Title: The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution: Manage Your Blood Sugar with 125 Recipes Plus a 30-Day Meal Plan
Author: Jill Hillhouse, CNP, with Lisa Cantkier, CHN
Paperback:: 288 pages
Publisher: Robert Rose
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778805484
ISBN-13: 978-0778805489

Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.

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Tags diabetes, paleo diet

Cooking Techniques Healthy Living Well Stocked Pantry

Freeze Favorite Comfort Foods: Tips for Home Cooks

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date March 2, 2020

With the increasing pace of modern life, frozen foods have become very popular and often take up more than two isles at your local grocery store. Look at the options, and you’ll find that most of them are versions of our favorite comfort foods. However, along with the convenience often comes a reduction in nutrition.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Did you know that you can create home-made frozen comfort foods?

When you freeze your pre-cooked comfort food, you can prepare it when you have time, freeze it, and then enjoy it when the time is right. Here are a few tips to help you do that.

Know What Not to Freeze

Before you freeze any of your home-cooked comfort foods, make sure you are aware of what you can and can not freeze. Let’s start with the foods that don’t freeze very well. This ensures you aren’t ruining ingredients that could have otherwise have been used for some tasty dishes.

For starters, you should never freeze plain cream-based ingredients, such as milk or sour cream, yogurt, or cottage cheese. These foodstuffs do not defrost well. This goes for cream-based soups, as well.

You also want to avoid certain fruits and vegetables, including citrus fruit, cucumbers, watermelon, and lettuce. Their high water content makes them bad candidates for freezing.

Cooked eggs and uncooked potato chunks also don’t freeze very well. If you want to freeze potatoes, they should either be raw or be mashed.

Learn How Long to Freeze Foods

The next important thing you need to know is the approximate storage time. Most things do have an expiration date even while in the freezer. While the food might not be spoiled, however, it will definitely decrease in quality and flavor if you go past the recommended times.

Food that tends to last the longest in the freezer is uncooked poultry and uncooked wild game, which should be fine for 9-12 months. After that, poultry parts, roast, steak, and other meat that is uncooked will freeze the longest, usually between 3 and 12 months, depending on what it is. Soup, stew, and casserole can be frozen for about 2-3 months. Luncheon meats, hot dogs, bacon, and ham can be frozen for about 1-2 months.

Here’s a handy freezer-time chart. Are your favorite comfort foods (or their ingredients) there?

For more guidelines, download this refrigerator and freezer storage chart from the Food & Drug Administration.

Take Up as Little Space as Possible

If you are freezing a lot of foods and ingredients, you are going to take up too much space in your freezer and run out of room. A better idea is to try to stack freezer bags, which take up a lot less space, but can still be labeled and organized. For example, if you have soup or chili, let it cool off after cooking, then pour it in freezer plastic bags. Let them lay flat, then place them in the freezer. No matter what you store food in, make sure it is labeled not only with what the container contains but the date you froze it.

You can find freezer storage bags in your local grocery store. These bags are thicker than standard plastic bags and often come with space that is treated so that it is easier to write on. That said, I’d still recommend using a permanent marker. Not only will it write more easily on the bag’s surface, but it will also resist rubbing off.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

[/two_third_last]

Tags freeze, frozen food

Ingredients

Directions

Bitter Sweet Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

Directions

Summary of Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

What Worked for Me

What Didn’t Work for Me

What I’d Love to See in the Sixth Edition of Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

Recommendation

Rating for Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy

Specs

Take Charge of Your Health!

Ingredients

Directions

Looking for a few more pie recipes to try?

Summary of Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner

What Worked for Me

What Didn’t Work for Me

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

Recommendation

Rating for Diabetes Superfoods Cookbook and Meal Planner

Specs

Do you want a shallow or deep-dish apple pie?

What kind of crust are you hankering for?

Do you want a covered or open-faced pie?

What type of filling do you prefer?

How will you garnish your pie?

Summary of The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution

What Worked for Me

What Didn’t Work for Me

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

Recommendation

Rating for The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution: 4 out of 5 Chefs

Specs

Know What Not to Freeze

Learn How Long to Freeze Foods

Take Up as Little Space as Possible

Take Charge of Your Health!

What I’d Love to See in the Sixth Edition
of Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy