ArcaMax

Candy Corn

I ate my second ear of corn for the season last night. It’s late August and this was only my second time to eat corn. Sounds odd, doesn’t it?

In my old days I might have had two ears of corn in one sitting. My husband would ask for corn probably three times a week. We both love corn. I thought it was good roughage. I thought if I only used a teeny bit of butter on it and a whisp of salt and pepper I was good to go.

When we went to the local corn festival we might both eat six ears each. That was our lunch. Corn and something to drink. We had a blast.

Now I have been enlightened and even shocked.

They don’t call it sweet corn for nothing.

Corn in the US has an amazingly high glycemic index. Our sweet corn hybrids score a 60 on the Glycemic Index. Compare that to Italian Ice cream; the really good stuff, vanilla flavored. That ice cream only scores a 57. Our sweet corn is sweeter than some ice creams.

Do another comparison. Sweet corn from New Zealand only scores a 37. Their corn 37. Our corn 60. Like I said, they don’t call it sweet corn for nothing.

Now, I’m not beating up on sweet corn. Moderation is all I’m talking about. You want to know what you eat will do to you. Sweet corn is full of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates in too large a quantity will make you fat.

When you are rating foods with the glycemic index most nutritional experts would agree in general that below 50 is good. Above 50 is not. In America, many dieticians give us extra room for error. They rate things high, low and medium. Medium for many in the nutritional sciences would be 50 to 75. Sweet corn in the U.S. ranks a 60. A Milky Way candy bar rates a 44. Go figure. I don’t believe there’s a medium. It’s high or low. In or out.

Our corn has been “modified” if you will, to make it as sweet as possible. Because I limit my carbohydrate intake as much as I do, when I eat corn now it tastes like candy. Candy corn. If I could get the same sweet corn as they eat in New Zealand I would. Then I’d eat it more often and with more pleasure.

If you are diabetic you’ve probably been introduced to the Glycemic Index already. If not, the most comprehensive one I know of is put out by the Mendosa group. Here’s a link to it. http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm It’s pretty easy to read and is very comprehensive. This one has food items on it from all over the world. This one even takes into account the glycemic load of a food. The load is what tells you how fast the spike will be in your blood sugar if you eat a particular food. Our sweet corn scores miserably on that scale too.

My one hint for eating sweet corn. Drench it in butter. When you have a food that has a high glycemic uptake and you balance that off it won’t hit your system so harshly. So the butter will make the corn easier on your system. Never thought someone would tell you the butter is the good thing for you, did you. I just did.

Pulled Pork

This tastes amazingly like the real Southern dish. It’s zesty and the cabbage will give you crunch along with your pork. In the Zola To GO! version you can either microwave the meat to heat it or many like to eat it cold.

Serve 4 to 6. Serving size 1 cup of pork and unlimited cabbage

Ingredients:

2 pork tenderloins
Green cabbage, shredded to resemble coleslaw

For the sauce:

8 oz of tomato sauce
6 oz of tomato paste
1 cup of water
½ -¾ cup of apple cider vinegar (to taste)
1 tsp of liquid smoke (optional)
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of chili powder
2 packets of Truvia

Directions:

Roast the pork tenderloins at 375 degrees until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. This should take 30 to 45 minutes. The pork will have little or no pink remaining. Let them begin to cool so they are not too hot to the touch. You will then take two forks and begin “pulling” your pork into shreds. Shred it all, add the sauce, stir and re-heat to eat.

To serve put a pile of shredded cabbage on the plate and add the pulled pork on top.

To make the sauce:

Put all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and stir. Heat to meld the flavors. You can put any extras in the fridge and use for other purposes.