Diabetes / Food

Food: Specialty Items

bgibson135

Ranch Dill Pickles

All you do is take one packet of the powdered Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley is the standard & costs about four times more than, the Food Lion brand which costs about 50 cents a packet) and pour it in a jar of Dill Pickles. I use the GV Dill Pickle Spears from Walmart. I pour out just enough pickle juice to make room for the dry Ranch Dressing powder. You want to try and make the juice cover all the pickles. Put the lid back on, shake it up, and put it in the fridge for a day to let the flavors soak in.

A cousin of mine mentioned that he thought the skins of the pickles became tougher after they were brined in this Ranch Dressing & pickle juice mixture, and I think he is right, but the jar of pickles usually is gone before the skins become too tough.

Oh, and I definitely reuse the Ranch Dill pickle juice from new jar of Dill Pickles to new jar.

*I bought some whole dill seeds in order to try and sprout them. They didn’t, but I put some of them in a jar of Ranch Dill Pickles and I think they have “kicked it up a notch.” I guess they’ve added more dill flavor.

Currently $2.34
About $2 at Walmart.
About 50 cents.
Whole Dill Seeds

Wakame Seaweed Salad

I wanted to fix the Wakame (seaweed) Salad like the one I bought at Publix a few years ago, and that was also offered at a few restaurants as a side dish. Over the last few years I’ve bought various brands of seaweed (perhaps some were not Wakami) to try and reproduce this dish, but none were anywhere near it. Last year I found a jar of “Seaweed Salad” that looked a lot like what I had eaten, so I bought a jar at Golden Hex in Cary. Golden Hex is a European Foods specialty store, which carries many canned goods from various European countries, but also has a meat & cheese section, and even various candies.

The salad from Golden Hex was not “perfect” from the jar, but the ingredients I added to it did make it “PERFECT”. The additions included toasted sesame oil & seeds, soy sauce, vinegar, and some sweetener. *I think there was also some hot pepper flakes. *Not sure where I found the ingredients list, but probably online because I can’t imagine coming up with the ingredients from memory.

I guess if I would just read the ingredients
listed here, I would know.

At Walmart for about $6.

[NOTE 04/12/25]: I made some more of this last night. I poured out the liquid from the seaweed which was a little salty and vinegary. I added:

  • toasted sesame oil,
  • red wine vinegar,
  • soy sauce,
  • red pepper flakes,
  • white sesame seeds, and
  • some sweetener.

* I had talked with one of the owners of Golden Hex and he knew this item but it wasn’t in stock at the time. He said he would order it. I don’t usually put much trust in someone saying this, but maybe a month & a half later I was in Golden Hex again and asked some of the staff if they knew if they had any of the seaweed. They didn’t know, but eventually we found it stocked on the shelf. Apparently, he had re-ordered it. I bought two jars of it, so now I have 2 because I used one last night. **I’m going to try the Walmart brand and see if it works.

Aisle A36 ***I was surprised to find, with the help of Alex, a Walmart employee, that they actually had the Seaweed Salad. It was in the refrigerated section but there was no Aisle A36, and I got it home and it worked just fine. I even added a little ground ginger and it was just as good as the Golden Hex version that is unrefrigerated. [end NOTE]

Ingredients:

Seaweed, Agar Agar, Sesame Oil, Sesame Seed, Fructose, Soy Sauce (Water, Soy Bean, Wheat, Salt, Sugar), Vinegar (Grain Vinegar, Water, Rice, Salt, Alcohol), Water, Salt, Chili, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Blue #1.

Nutrition Facts (per 1/2 cup / 112g serving):

  • Calories: 100
  • Total Fat: 7g
    • Saturated Fat: 1g
    • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Cholesterol: 0mg
  • Sodium: 420mg
  • Total Carbohydrate: 9g
    • Dietary Fiber: 2g
    • Total Sugars: 6g
      • Includes 5g Added Sugars
  • Protein: 2g
  • Vitamin D: 0mcg (0% DV)
  • Calcium: 30mg (2% DV)
  • Iron: 0.6mg (4% DV)
  • Potassium: 20mg (0% DV)

[ADDENDUM 04/16/25]: The Walmart Seaweed Salad is delicious, and it is super easy to add the other ingredients that make it “perfect”: toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, white sesame seeds and some sweetener. And I added some GV Wonton Strips and sprouted Mung Beans. This is a really satisfying combination… and alas, I’m going to have to not eat it too often. It is high in sodium and sugar. I could imagine the combination being so wonderfully “diabetic friendly” but it is NOT. I checked with the Gemini AI. Oh, well. The sodium is a natural part of it coming from the ocean. [end]

[ADDENDUM 05/31/25]: I hadn’t had this in a while and this time I added some of my Mung bean and broccoli sprouts and it was just as good, perhaps even a little more crunchy. *My quinoa sprouts don’t seem to be. They are supposed to sprout more quickly than most other seeds, but these don’t seem to be at all. They may not be the actual seed, but some processed seed. [end]

[AND MO ADDENDUM 06/28/25]: I just had another Wakame Seaweed Salad, but I added several things. I first added some of the wonton strips. I’ve done this previously and they should be a “must” because they add crunch at little or no cost, nutritionally. But, this time I thought about adding some almonds. Yeah? I’ve never thought of that before and when I added some, they were pretty pleasant in the mix. I already had the Mung bean sprouts, which are also a “must.” They definitely add crunch, and deep down inside I think they’ve got to be adding a bunch nutritionally. And, as I ate the almonds, the thought of even adding some dried cranberries creeped in… and I think they might work also. I think the thought of cranberries & almonds came from some other salad. I’m not sure if I would ever go walnuts, but it might be worth a try and walnuts and cranberries definitely applaud each other.

**I’m tacking this on, from the next day. I made my Souped Up Wakame Salad today, and added all the bells and whistles, and it was FANTASTIC! So, Walmart Seaweed Salad, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, white sesame seeds, Agave Nectar, Equal, a little garlic powder, almonds, dried cranberries & wonton strips.

Example Scenario (Serving Size 1):

  • Walmart Seaweed Salad (1/3 cup): 75.0 calories
  • 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil: 40 calories
  • 1/2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce: 10 calories
  • 1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar: 0 calories
  • 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes: 0 calories
  • 1/2 tsp White Sesame Seeds: 20 calories
  • 1 tsp Agave Nectar: 20 calories
  • 1 packet Equal: 0 calories
  • 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder: 0 calories
  • Almonds (1/16 cup whole): 42 calories
  • Dried Cranberries (1/16 cup): 23 calories
  • Wonton Strips (1/2 tbsp): 8.75 calories

Total Calories = 238.75 calories

That all combined makes one delicious snack.

[end]

[ADDENDUM 08/03/25]: Damn! Sorry I didn’t scroll down further and remind myself of the almonds and dried cranberries. They do make this dish so good. But, I did add some mung bean & broccoli sprouts to this with the wonton strips and it was good too. If I haven’t said it previously, and even if I have, the wonton strips are a gift. They add crunch and there isn’t enough negative to not add them. [end]

[NOTE 09/28/25]: Yes, again. The seaweed I had in the refrigerator hasn’t gone bad. I pretty much recall all the ingredients, which is a surprise to me. It’s as if I naturally know what should go in this. I even did the Agave Nectar and Splenda without looking at the menu. The one thing I forgot, but added were the white sesame seeds. It is a pleasing little interlude. of flavor. [end]

Dolce K Sweet Olive & Fruit Mix

I have yet to order the Spanish Marcona Almonds (blanched). Above, I show a zester that I bought to zest the orange rind. It works well. I don’t have the amounts of each ingredient to use, but the first time I made this was “spot on.” Once you have your marinade, you just put the olives in and wait for a day or so, and they take on the marinade flavor. I think I should just use currants and not raisins, because the yellow raisins I used rehydrated to almost their original size, and at first I thought they were olives.

I bought some of the Mix from Whole Foods after I had made my own, to compare the two. I actually liked my version better. It seemed thicker, and more pungent. I also think that I can reuse the marinade several times, but just add a new jar of pitted olives. *It does take a day or so for the new olives to take on the flavor of the brine/vinegar but they do.

*Funny, once I knew how to make this, I stopped eating it. I haven’t had it in a long while. Not that I don’t still like the flavors.