I'll explain.
Amongst other things I learned that adding milk or youghurt (unsweetened, as they are foods with lower GI) to cereals (generally and on average higher GI foods) you end up with a medium GI for the mixture. That mixture raises glucose in the blood at a much slower rate then if you were to consume a high GI cereal on its' own.
The following combinations work in simmilar way:
- Yoghurt (unsweetened) with fresh fruit;
- Milk and cookies;
- Grated apples added to the sponge cakes;
- Cooked lentils added to mince in the Cottage Pie;
Even a super fast, high GI juice, can be slowed down if it is taken with pizza !
Following the same principle, I started adding cooked chopped spinach into mash potato. Mash has a rather high GI. It is almost like eating pure sugar. The fibres naturally contained in the potato get broken down through the boiling process, so when we mash it up, it becomes food that is very easy and quick to digest. The result: carbs in the mash transform into glucose that hits the blood stream at a speed that even fast acting insulin cannot match / counteract. Adding spinach, food with a lower GI and full of fibre, slows down the digestion of the mash. For us, even a small amount, a spoonful, of cooked spinach to a portion of mash does the job.
And that is how Mr T got used to eating green mash. I eat the same, however I was not able to convert my husband to the „green“side, so I still dish his portion out before I add spinach for Mr T's and mine.
This is what it looks like when I make a Cottage Pie.
The problem arises when I want to make the mash, for the pie or otherwise, but forget to buy spinach. Mr T simply does not want to eat plain, white mash – HE DOES NOT LIKE IT, apparently !
So that is what I mean when I say – good habits are so powerful.
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If you are interested........
The Cottage Pie......rough guide.......
(for 4 people)
300g lean mince, beef
1 onion, chopped
1 ripe tomato (or ½ can chopped)
1 cup cooked lentils (plain ones are the best but you can not make them disappear; orange, peeled ones are good as well and if cooked well they become invisible when mixed with mince)
1 grated carrot or a corruget
Salt, pepper to taste
3-4 medium size potatoes
bit of milk
bit of butter (you may skip it, too)
2 handfuls of raw spinach or 2-3 spoons of cooked, chopped spinach
Fry the chopped onions, grated carrot or courgette until soft. Add mince and stir until brown. Add chopped tomato, cooked lentils and seasonings and stew for few minutes.
Transfer to an oven proof dish.
Boil peeled and chopped potatos, drain and make mash the way you like it. Add cooked and chopped spinach, mix well and layer the mash over the mince. Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes and enjoy !