No-Noodle Zucchini Lasagna

I’m approaching my final month of pregnancy, which will also be my final month dealing with gestational diabetes. I’ve been blogging about it at GD Diaries if you’re interested in reading more about my experiences as a gestational diabetic. I’ve had it with all three of my pregnancies, and although it goes away after the baby is born, I will always be at risk for developing diabetes later in life. I may grumble a lot about having to prick my fingers, count carbs, test for ketones, and pass up sugary treats and drinks, but the truth is that gestational diabetes has been a blessing in disguise for me. If everyone ate the way that diabetics have to eat, we would all be a lot healthier. Basically I have to limit the amount of carbohydrates I eat at each meal and snack, and pair them with protein and fiber to slow down their absorption into the bloodstream. It’s best to eat complex carbohydrates (whole grains), while avoiding refined sugars. I eat small amounts often (3 meals and at least 3 snacks a day) to keep my blood sugar steady. I also try to get my body moving after I eat (a brisk walk or quick workout on my elliptical) in order to burn off the sugar in my blood. With this diet and exercise, it’s actually hard to put on weight! My baby is growing, but I’m shrinking a little. I look like a stick with a beach ball out front. The plus side is that I’m able to bounce back to my pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly afterwards. If I didn’t have gestational diabetes, I’m sure I would have gained a lot more weight and taken much longer to shed it. The healthy habits I’ve learned as a gestational diabetic are great ones to carry on after the baby is born.
That was rather long-winded, but basically I wanted to share with you a little background for this recipe. It’s a low-carb lasagna made with zucchini in place of the noodles. It’s perfect for me right now, because it has a lot of protein and fiber with not a lot of carbs. I can eat a lot of it and even have a little whole wheat bread on the side, and my blood sugar won’t spike. I don’t feel like I’m missing out at all, because it has all the flavour of regular lasagna. I made it one night when we had friends over for dinner. I made a regular lasagna too and the kids and men stuck with that, but us women enjoyed this zucchini lasagna a lot. I was surprised, because I’ve always hated zucchini, but I think I’m warming up to it now.