I'm a Twit

... or at least Twitter makes me feel like the Twit of the Year.

The Diabetes Online Community is alive and well on Twitter.  I miss a good deal of it because I am Twitter impaired.  I am just not very good at it.  Fortunately there are others who are creating exciting dialogs on Twitter and they are kind enough to help folks like me out speciffically Cherise Shockley who writes at http://www.diabetesdaily.com/shockley/.  You may be like me somewhat Twitter impaired and she will help you too.

She runs a weekly question and answer session on twitter.  Here is a little primer she wrote for me which is coincidentally a convenient question and answer format:


Bennet
Cherise I hear you run a weekly live diabetes conversation on Twitter. I am real week on my Twitter skills. What is this all about?

Cherise
I moderate a weekly Question and Answer about diabetes for 1 hour each week on Wednesday night. The questions will address topic's such as exercise, diet, endocrinologist, CDE's and meter accuracy--just to name a few. We blog about it, why not tweet about it...1 hour a week...3 questions and a whole lot of live responses!! This is another way We the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) can educate, spread awareness and promote advocacy via Twitter.

Bennet
I don’t use Twitter a lot or very well. I don’t have a lot of connections there so how do I, (or if there is anyone even less skilled at at Twitter than me, we) join in?

Cherise
Well first you need to go to www.twitter.com to create an account.  If you like, I could be your first friend, search @DiabetesSocMed.  Once you are following me, I will follow you back.  When you make updates, I'll be able to see them and vice versa and you'll be able to send me a direct message (DM)

Bennet
OK even I can do that but how do I join your conversation? Do I have to follow everyone ?

Cherise
Let me explain a little about hash tags, Twitter hash tags are pretty much like a directory of sorts, they make the conversations easy to follow.  You do not have to follow anyone to participate in #dsma (diabetes social media advocacy).  All you have to do is update your status with #dsma.    Example:  Q1.  I do not agree. #dsma 

Bennet

OK so I sign up. I find you and follow you. Then I send a update or message with this this tag thing. How do I send a a comment to everyone?  They don’t know me at all?

Cherise

If you follow me and you are a part of the DOC.  I will send a tweet out to everyone who is following me to let them know you are new on twitter and to please follow you.  but there is an easier way... follow a few people from the DOC and I am sure you'll get followed back.

Bennet
Cool when is the next conversation?

Cherise
Wednesday's at 9 PM EST. I am excited! I hope you all will join us last week we had  77 people join in.  The response was amazing! the more the merrier.

D-Feast Friday - Dijon Rack 0f Lamb

What we make for Mrs. YMDV's birthday (a.k.a. Christmas Eve.)

2 racks lamb
1/2 cup Dijon Mustard
4 Garlic cloves
hand full of fresh rosemary
teaspoon kosher salt
Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

Mince the garlic and rosemary put it in a food processor with the dijon salt and vinegar and process till well mixed.

Coat the lamb and stand at room temp for 30 - 45 minutes. Heat oven to 450 and roast until rare about 20 minutes but this stuff is pricey a warrants a thermometer to avoid over cooking. Rest under foil for 15 minutes - almost as long as it cooked. Cut into individual ribs and enjoy.

I doubt there will be any left over but of there is, it will be killer good chilled.

D-Feast Friday Index

D-Feast Friday - Orange Chicken

Here's a hugely popular item at our house:

Orange Chicken

Pat dry a few Chicken Breasts, boneless. Rub on a health coat of 16 spice (see below.)

Sear in a hot pan with a little oil - 2 minutes a side. Darken but not blacken the dry rub.

After both sides are nicely seared fill the pan about 3/4 the way up the chicken breast with orange juice. Poach the chicken as the OJ reduces turning occasionally. Pull the chicken and reduce the OJ to 1/3 or so the original volume. Thicken with a little cornstarch in a cold water slurry. The sauce will pick up a lot of the 16 spice.

Slice the chicken thin. Zest orange and squeeze a little fresh orange juice on the chicken. Serve with the reduces and thickened OJ as a sauce.

As long as you have the 16 spice on hand this is way simple, fast and crowd pleasing. I serve with rice and the orange sauce is good on the rice too.

I keep  Bobby Flay’s 16 spice Rub ready at all times. I think I would put it on corn flakes if I ate them.

Bobby Flay 16 Spice.
3 tablespoons ancho chile powder
3 tablespoons pasilla chile powder
3 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground fennel seed
1 teaspoon chile de arbol
3 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

D-Feast Friday Index 

D-Feast Friday - White Chili

1 pound large white beans (you can sort and soak or use pre-soaked great northern beans)
6 cups chicken broth
1 clove minced garlic
1 - 2 medium onions finely chopped
1 Tablespoon oil
2 4-oz cans of chopped mild green chilies
1 and 1/2 - 2 Teaspoons of cumin
1 1/2 teasponn oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups diced cooked chicken breast
3 cups grated monteray jack cheese
salsa
sour cream


Combine beans and broth in a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil. (not necessary if you use
pre-soaked beans.)  Add more broth or water as necessary.

In a skillet, sautee onions in the oil until tender.  Add chilies and seasonings and mix
thoroughly.  Add to bean mixture.  Add chicken and simmer one hour.

Serve topped with grated cheese, salsa and sour cream.

** If you desire a thicker base, mash some beans before adding to broth.

D-Feast Friday Index 

D-Feast Friday - Pineapple Chicken Chili

Pineapple Chicken Chili

3 or 4 chicken breasts cut to ¾” cubes
1 large sweet onion
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 - 20 oz cans chunk pineapple
2 – 12 oz tomato paste
1- 28 oz can diced tomato
3 – 12 oz can small beans
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder*
3 tablespoons garlic powder*
1 tablespoon passila chili powder* (or more ancho or cayenne if you can’t find passila)
1 tablespoon cayenne chili
2 teaspoons paprika *
1 teaspoons ginger powder*
3-4 fine chopped jalapeño peppers*

*Your taste may vary so maybe work your way up if your not a fan of hot.

Dice the onion and sauté in a large pot in the cooking oil to translucent. Toss in the chicken and the syrup from the cans of pineapple. Reserve the pineapple chucks. Poach the chicken in the pineapple syrup until cooked through.

Mix in the cans of tomato, tomato paste, beans. Mix in the amount of the spices your comfortable with. You can always ad more. Let it all simmer for a few hours. If you’re not getting a nice back of the throat heat, add more chili. Add the pineapple.

The sweetness of the pineapple chunks will temper some of the heat of the finished product. So will some sour cream.

D-Feast Friday Index 

D-Feast Friday - Caesar’s Steak

This is a big favorite at local Appetizer and Dessert parties. We serve it as a main dish typically but hey we needed a winner for the party. Considering all the hunters at the party with the great cuts of game, I was honored to place with a beef dish. (We did well with some Chocolate Stout home brew at the party once too. I think it was ‘cause it was strong and people were getting light headed on the stuff.)

It is great cold with horseradish and that is how I serve it as an appetizer.

Flank Steak or two.
3/4 cup A1
3/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 cup Ken’s low fat Caesar’s Salad dressing (low fat has less oil and so it flairs up less on the grill)
1 (or more) table spoons Garlic powder
½ to 1 cup Grated Romano cheese

A day or two before you are going to cook put every thing in a big zip lock bag. Put in the refrigerator. When ever you go in the frig squish things around.

Fire up the grill and let it get hot. Pour the marinade off the meat and into a pan on the stove. Turn on the heat and boil the marinade. You are going to use this as a sauce and you have to kill any bacteria from the raw meat. Stir regularly to keep from burning.

Grill the steak. I do three minutes a side. Take it off well before it is the level of “done” you like. It keeps cooking while resting off and it is our opinion that rare for this dish is better.

Don’t forget to stir the sauce.

Take the steak of and let it rest a few minutes. This lets it cool and the juices are drawn back into the meat.

The sauce should be safe now, turn off the heat.

Carve thin slices across the grain.

Serve with the sauce.

---- or -----

Put it some slices back into the refrigerator. Roll the chilled slices up around a dab of nice hot horse radish. I hold them rolled up with a tooth pick. Serve as an appetizer. Typically I present them in a cast iron fry pan rolled up like wild west sushi, sitting in the sauce. Although for a more formal dinner party I have served them as strips on a few pieces of Romaine lettuce garnished with onion, red peppers and dressed with the sauce.

Of course if you make two you can do both.

D-Feast Friday Index 

Great Minds...

 ...Blog Alike.

Ginger Vieira has a great entry up today about speaking up for yourself with your health care providers. Yesterday I had the pleasure of highlighting Bob Fenton piece on being prepared for the hospital which was very similar. While Connor was having his appendix pulled out his belly button I wrote along the same lines.

I am sure there are a bunch of other closely related comments out there.

In fact I read Kerri's whole type 1 pregnancy and resulting happy, extremely cute (I have seen the kid and that may be an understatement) baby series and a first hand account of working with your doctors while not blindly following them. That there is a really good point.

In the very first post I wrote for YDMV (second posted) I wrote;

After a while of this the guy next to me, Mark, said something so brilliant it stopped me cold. He said, and this is a close as I can get to a quote;

‘My wife and I are our daughter’s primary care team.'

Doing!

That may have been the single best sentence of the week. I would say we hold these truths to be self evident but it obviously wasn’t evident to anyone else in the room until he said it. Then there was unanimous support for the idea.

Be your primary care giver.

FTNW: MannKind Resumbits Afrezza

Inhaled Insulin Resubmitted to FDA.

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) announced that it has submitted, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, MannKind's resubmission of its New Drug Application (NDA) for AFREZZA™ (insulin human [rDNA origin]) and classified it as a Class 2 resubmission. With the Class 2 designation, the FDA set a corresponding Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of December 29, 2010.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195474.php

It is said this insulin peaks at 14 to 14 minutes. That is interesting.

As a side note, I find it faster to read Scott S's Tweets than my news reader for news like this. Thanks Scott.

Check out Bob's Bit on Hospitals

Friend of YDMV and fellow diabetes blogger Bob Fenton wrote a nice piece that lays out clear steps for thinking about hospitalization, hopefully before it is an issue. Bob must have been a boy scout as he spells out how to be prepared.

http://bobsdiabetes.blogspot.com/2010/07/hospitalization-concerns-for-persons.html

Nice Job. Thanks Bob.

FTNW: NTY Steps Forward and Back

Thanks Scott S. for tweeting this:

NYTimes.com: "Essay - Steps Forward, and Backward, in Treating Diabetes"