I don’t know how serious my diabetes is yet since the birth of Lil’ Red.  I still have a couple of weeks to wait before the tests.  But in the meantime I’ve been eating a ‘diabetic-friendly’ diet just in case.

I’ve quickly discovered how hard it is to be a diabetic in Norway.  The healthy food sections in the supermarkets are very small and the health food stores are very expensive – for a 60g sugar-free chocolate you pay kr.30,- (that’s about US$5 for 1 small bar of chocolate!)  The only way you can survive without going broke or hungry is to make your own food.  I’m pretty good at making healthy meals but when it comes to snacks it is hard to find low-fat and low-sugar Norwegian recipes.  (There are only so much fruit and nuts you can eat.  I need something with more umph!)  I’ve been looking at websites such as the American Diabetes Association for recipes but many have ingredients in them that we just don’t get in Norway, especially in the North – sugar-free pudding mixes, sugar-free jelly and Lite Devil’s Food cake mix, etc – even corn flour.  So I’ve had to be creative over the last couple of weeks.

One day I was hanking for some chocolate.  Instead of caving-in and buying a chocolate bar I thought I’d turn an old favourite into a new treat.  We used to have waffles every week but I’ve been reluctant because of all the sugar.  Sugar filled waffle mix, butter, Canadian maple syrup, ice-cream and fresh whipped cream I think could give me a heart attack now.  But with some thought I made these Chocolate Waffles that are ‘diabetic-friendly’.  It was easy.  I used our Everyday Waffle recipe from the post Norwegian Waffle Recipes.  I replaced the sugar with Splenda.  I added two big tablespoons of good cocoa powder.  When I poured the mixture into the waffle maker I sprinkled some dark chocolate chips (70%/semisweet) on top before closing the lid.  Dark semisweet chocolate has less milk and only half the sugar as normal milk chocolate.  The recipe certainly doesn’t need the chocolate chips to taste good but it made me feel all giddy inside indulging a little.  I topped with sugar-free chocolate topping, diet vanilla ice-cream and some good old walnuts. Yum!

Because Norwegian waffles are naturally heavy it’s okay to use other types of flours for extra healthy goodness – rye, oatmeal, even whole oats.  You can even add fresh berries into the mix like our Very Merry Blueberry Waffles.  I’m sure this won’t be the last of our waffle adventures – there is a whole world of waffle discoveries just waiting to be had!

If you have had any healthy waffle discoveries please do share – there is always room for another waffle in the world.