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Low- and No-Carb Recipes


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Hey all, if you have any ideas, I could use some help! I've got at least 7 more weeks to go of a low/no carb diet (gestational diabetes) and am reaching my tolerance for grilled veg and meat/fish and cheese and eggs in any form. I did see the low-carb pasta and T-day threads here on DR, and searched quite a bit on the internet. I've made meat muffins, egg muffins, meat/egg muffins, salads of every sort, and grilled or roasted pretty much every vegetable I like ad nauseam. I rediscovered olives last week and curried chicken (and egg!) salad and there was quite a bit of chili in rotation for awhile, but beans are carbs as well! (Carbs lurking EVERYWHERE!) I am dying for pasta and rice but using all my pay-to-play exercise to eat some fruit and dairy every day. Whole foods (small amounts of potatoes, corn, peas) don't seem to spike the ol' blood sugar as much as anything processed (any form of bread, tortillas, etc.). I know it's a really first world problem to have and I do recognize that I'm incredibly lucky to have easy access to tons of of healthful and delicious food...I'm just sick of what we've been eating and feel bad for my poor, mutually suffering (his choice, the trooper) husband. So any recipes that even tweak our usual list would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

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I will even start - we were eating a lot of "good things salad" for awhile - corn, beans, tomatoes, avocados, red peppers, chicken, and cilantro in a cumin-lime vinaigrette dressing, but it is also fairly carb-laden  :( But it is a great amalgamation of good things to eat and keeps very well when you make an enormous portion!

Also, we've been using a classic Vietnamese fish sauce marinade on our grilled stuff - works great on pretty much all meat/fish/vegetables.

Mushrooms!!!! Roasted, grilled, raw, etc.

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Cauliflower

Shirataki noodles

My husband has been wanting lower carb foods, so I decided to try the No Oodles brand of shirataki noodles that are in the dairy case (by tofu) at Whole Foods.  They need to be rinsed really well or they taste oddly fishy, but they work well as a no-carb noodle.  They're derived from a type of Japanese yam.  I wouldn't want to eat them every day, but you don't have much longer to go :)

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No-carb Mexican:

Make roasted poblano-tomatillo salsa--roast onion, garlic, tomatillo, poblano until browned and soft. Blend with cilantro, lime juice, a little bit of cumin and salt until smooth. Simmer on stove top for 15 minutes or so. Makes a great topping for chicken, pork, fish or shrimp.

Use rounds of cucumber dusted with chile instead of tortilla chips with guacamole and pico de gallo.

Roast tomato, onion, garlic, tomatillo. Stem and de-seed, briefly pan-toast and then soak guajillo or ancho chiles in hot water to cover, using a plate to hold them under the water. When they are soft, strain (save the soaking water) and put them with the roasted vegetables in a blender with cumin, salt, cilantro, Mexican oregano, cider vinegar, a couple of chunks of peeled apple or pear and blend until very smooth. Add some of the reserved soaking water to facilitate blending. Simmer on the stove top for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. The resulting adobo sauce is awesome on steak, or a few spoonfuls in a beef braise, or chili without beans. It'll last almost forever in your refrigerator.

Make tacos with iceberg lettuce leaves. Use either of the above salsas inside them.

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Use a julienne peeler to make "noodles" out of zucchini.

I make a "pizza" using grated zucchini bound with egg instead of a crust. Pre-bake for a bit and then add toppings.

i also do the same with ground turkey and spices bound with an egg, pre-baked, as a pizza "crust."

Use bean sprouts as the base for Chinese or Thai stir fry.

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I learned a long time ago that all food is comprised of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.  That's it.  Fruits and vegetables contain very little protein and very little (or no) fat, so they must be mostly carbohydrates.  So can someone explain why they are included in low-carb diets?  I'm totally serious, this baffles me.  I suspect the real issue is linguistic: scientific vs popular phraseology.  Like how "organic" means something different to chemists.  What is a "low-carb" diet supposed to be?

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I learned a long time ago that all food is comprised of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.  That's it.  Fruits and vegetables contain very little protein and very little (or no) fat, so they must be mostly carbohydrates.  So can someone explain why they are included in low-carb diets?  I'm totally serious, this baffles me.  I suspect the real issue is linguistic: scientific vs popular phraseology.  Like how "organic" means something different to chemists.  What is a "low-carb" diet supposed to be?

I took the question here, at least, to relate to how the carbs convert to sugars.  Cauliflower doesn't even have a number assigned to it on the glycemic index; it doesn't even register.

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A favorite in my house is fried cauliflower rice -- just grate the cauliflower and use it in place of the rice.  I like to stir fry it solo for a bit so it gets a bit roasty on the edges and turns from that very cabbage-y flavor to a more nutty flavor.

And I recently made a sort of cabbage stroganoff -- sliced white cabbage in a sour cream/mushroom/onion/parsley sauce with a dash of fresh nutmeg grated in.

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I learned a long time ago that all food is comprised of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.  That's it.  Fruits and vegetables contain very little protein and very little (or no) fat, so they must be mostly carbohydrates.  So can someone explain why they are included in low-carb diets?  I'm totally serious, this baffles me.  I suspect the real issue is linguistic: scientific vs popular phraseology.  Like how "organic" means something different to chemists.  What is a "low-carb" diet supposed to be?

To my great sadness, I've learned that almost all fruit is NOT part of a low-carb diet. Neither is most milk, or cream-based products. That's why so many so-called low-carb meals aren't any use to a person on a true low-carb diet. Now fruit is a "better" carb than some others, from the blood sugar spike perspective, I believe, because the fiber and other nutrients help slow the processing through the body and therefore the sugar spike in the bloodstream isn't as extreme (which is what I am trying to avoid). Also, you get nutrition out of eating it. Plus, to some extent, you can "pay" for eating carbs with immediate exercise right after eat to work down the blood sugar somewhat. Same thing with the whole-food vegetables - they seem to reach the blood slower, but starchy vegetables and legumes are all counted as carbs when you're learning about what you can eat. Leafier greens seem to have the least carbs, probably because they have the most fiber (I am SO just guessing here. Any nutritionists around?  Mine mostly wants me to eat yogurt and a small corn tortilla every day for my carbs and leaves it at that). So when we're talking about the building blocks of food, I'm thinking that fiber is an "other" category from our carb/fat/protein count, and makes up a significant portion of most vegetables. Cauliflower and carrots are strange ones, because they have very low carb counts considering how solid and starchy they taste/feel. So I've been eating a lot of those.

What I am truly baffled by are the high number of carbs still remaining in sugarless candies/treats. Since diabetics are presumably the folks buying these sugarless candies (because they have to, since they Don't Taste Good), how can they be eating them, since they still contain significant carb counts, and all carbs are eventually sugar in the blood? No sugar but lots of carbs still = do not eat, as far as I understand it. Very confusing!

Anyway, I wasn't kidding. CARBS ARE EVERYWHERE.

But thanks very much all, for your suggestions. I'm making some grocery plans... :)

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On a total no-carb diet, I think that what you can eat is basically mushrooms and meat, and that's pretty much it. I thought carrots were off the list, because they can be quite sweet, unless the fiber cancels out the carbs.

Here's hoping that after your baby is born, you can eliminate all nutritionists instead.

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On a total no-carb diet, I think that what you can eat is basically mushrooms and meat, and that's pretty much it. I thought carrots were off the list, because they can be quite sweet, unless the fiber cancels out the carbs.

Here's hoping that after your baby is born, you can eliminate all nutritionists instead.

Yes, pretty much. There are carbs in everything, and it turns out that fiber is actually counted as a carb, albeit one you can't really digest, so it doesn't really have any effect on your blood sugar, which is why high-fiber vegetables are preferred for a diabetic. For a gestational diabetic you are also not allowed to go carb-free, since you are trying to grow a person and apparently carbohydrate energy is needed for that. So the first week of full-on Atkins, with beautiful blood sugar control, got me in some hot water. Which is just as well, because staying on an Atkins-like diet for any length of time is supremely maddening.

I have to say I am very disappointed with my nutritionist. She really wasn't willing to help me work out the math so I could eat more things, and I am so very willing to do all the accounting needed to add deliciousness to my life at the moment! I was just given a list of permissible foods and portions (which makes it hard to account for anything cooked in a recipe with more than a couple of ingredients) and told to work off that. Bah! So yes, hoping to kick her to the curb as soon as possible!  :P

But cauliflower and carrots, at least for me, seem to be magically bulky vegetables that have negligible blood sugar effect, which is borne out by my list of acceptable foods. So I've roasted many a head of curried cauliflower and am trying a mashed preparation later this week. Roasted carrots are pretty great because, yes, they taste sweet, and carrot soup is good as well, even if it's not at all the season. Nuts aren't too bad as a snack, since they taste (and are) carb-laden, but the fat content helps you feel full quickly and control your portion. I pretty much carry mini Babybel cheese everywhere I go. Unbreaded eggplant parmesan and rollatini, as well as ratatouille, have been mainstays.

There are lots of low- or no-sugar treats in the frozen aisle at the store, but I have yet to find one that actually tastes good :(

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i find that cauliflower is a decent potato substitute in many things --i really like it steamed, mashed, and mixed with pesto. multiple people have told me that the fake pizza crust/garlic bread made of cauliflower and cheese is delicious but i've never tried it.  i've made basic aloo gobi with just cauliflower (so, gobi) and it was good.  green beans steamed and tossed with hummus or tahini is also good and for me at least quells carb cravings a bit (maybe it reminds me of pita and hummus?) could you do palak paneer or creamed spinach?

what about larb? i cant usually do a salad for dinner (just doesn't feel like a full meal) but i am very happy with some of bangkok golden's tofu larb with lots and lots of lettuce, which is think is a carb free meal, if you use the non-veg larb.

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Chicken soup, even in non-soupy weather, is a nice change. Very simple, with more carrots and fewer potatoes than usual, onions, stock, and shredded chicken seems to be the right mix of ingredients for an overall low carb load. I think I'll make Bourdain's mushroom soup next.

I am tired of eating everything on/with/around cucumbers, but at least they are crunchy.

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Oh yes, mushroom soup is glorious, even when it is hot out!!!

I've rotated back to quiches, to get some veg in with my eggs and cheese.

Baked pesto chicken is super easy and cuban pork is delicious anytime.

Thai curry tonight. I couldn't face it before without rice but now I'm craving curry so badly I'll just make it with a ton of vegetables, definitely including cauliflower.

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Interesting that you are able to eat cooked carrots, as they are very high in sugars/carbs. It's one of the veggies that are low carb raw but high carb cooked. I guess there is still enough fiber in it when cooked.

Your nutritionist sounds quite unhelpful; if you are still looking for some help, I would direct you to the ADA for a referral. From what I've read on Gestational Diabetes, the diet is supposed to be whole grain, fruits and veggies but not no carb. Low glycemic is best.

Have you tried spaghetti squash yet? Also, celery for a change from the cukes, and don't forget peanut butter on the celery as a great snack!

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So, I am slowly getting over my aversion to zucchini (though I don't think I'll ever be a fan of zucchini bread - the smell just always repelled me when I was a kid and my mom would bake batches and batches of it). I bought a spiralizer thingy to make zucchini noodles, as a means of preparing low/no-carb "pasta" dishes.  Does anyone have any particularly yummy suggestions for recipes in that vein?

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So, I am slowly getting over my aversion to zucchini (though I don't think I'll ever be a fan of zucchini bread - the smell just always repelled me when I was a kid and my mom would bake batches and batches of it). I bought a spiralizer thingy to make zucchini noodles, as a means of preparing low/no-carb "pasta" dishes.  Does anyone have any particularly yummy suggestions for recipes in that vein?

Pesto!!! I am obsessed with it right now and have been eating a LOT of it on zucchini!  Otherwise, this recipe caught my eye from nom nom paleo: zucchini spaghetti and meatballs but I haven't tried it yet.

Interesting that you are able to eat cooked carrots, as they are very high in sugars/carbs. It's one of the veggies that are low carb raw but high carb cooked. I guess there is still enough fiber in it when cooked.

Your nutritionist sounds quite unhelpful; if you are still looking for some help, I would direct you to the ADA for a referral. From what I've read on Gestational Diabetes, the diet is supposed to be whole grain, fruits and veggies but not no carb. Low glycemic is best.

Have you tried spaghetti squash yet? Also, celery for a change from the cukes, and don't forget peanut butter on the celery as a great snack

Carrots in any form seem to be OK, as are potatoes and peas in smallish quantities, but that is interesting to hear about cooked carrots. Processed grains of any kind just don't seem to work for me! Which does annoy my nutritionist (and kind of amuses me). All fruit must be paid for through exercise, unfortunately. I wish I liked spaghetti squash or celery, so while they are great suggestions (thank you!), I just don't want to eat them. But nuts and nut butters on random things have been prominently featured in my diet.

Sugar-free things generally ARE NOT FOOD. They are mostly chemicals, but since hitting the wall about a week ago I've tried a variety of sugar-free popsicles, jello, and Crystal Liight. They don't taste very good but are filling a need, hopefully for only a few more weeks. There is something psychologically satisfying about eating unnaturally, brightly red foods, though.

Note to low-carb curry eaters: make it at least a tad less hot than usual, because without rice or milk to wash it all down"¦zowie!!!

Taco salad (if you don't eat too much of the shell and load up on the meat and veg) and lettuce wrap tacos are great (thanks Zora!).

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Sugar-free things generally ARE NOT FOOD. They are mostly chemicals, but since hitting the wall about a week ago I've tried a variety of sugar-free popsicles, jello, and Crystal Liight. They don't taste very good but are filling a need, hopefully for only a few more weeks. There is something psychologically satisfying about eating unnaturally, brightly red foods, though.

I've been making my own gelatin a lot lately.  The recipe I'm following calls for 16 oz. pomegranate juice, 2 packets of gelatin, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 5 cups of berries.  I've been thinking I could get the sugar down to 1/3 cup with no problem; maybe it would be fine with no sugar at all.  The sugar is heated with 1/2 cup juice and added to the gelatin, which has been wetted with another 1/2 cup juice.

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I've been making my own gelatin a lot lately.  The recipe I'm following calls for 16 oz. pomegranate juice, 2 packets of gelatin, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 5 cups of berries.  I've been thinking I could get the sugar down to 1/3 cup with no problem; maybe it would be fine with no sugar at all.  The sugar is heated with 1/2 cup juice and added to the gelatin, which has been wetted with another 1/2 cup juice. 

Wow-that recipe has a lot of carbs! Not just the sugar, but the berries and pomegranate juice!  Have you tried adding nuts to your gelatin? You could also add mandarin oranges or apples or grapes, to a sugar free jello.

One of my creations for a tasty drink is Crystal Light Mojito-it's very good mixed with Sprite Zero, if you are drinking any soda. The other flavors just don't appeal to me. Also try seltzer water with a splash of juice in it (for instance Naked Juice's Mighty Mango, or a splash of pomegranate juice)

It's also funny that you are able to eat peas, as those are also high in starch.

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Wow-that recipe has a lot of carbs! Not just the sugar, but the berries and pomegranate juice!  Have you tried adding nuts to your gelatin? You could also add mandarin oranges or apples or grapes, to a sugar free jello.

It makes a very large amount of gelatin, and not much of it gets eaten at one time.  When I was looking up glycemic index for fruits, berries seemed better than a lot of other fruits.  I've also taken some of it to a friend with cancer who has trouble getting much food down, and I wanted to know exactly what was going into what I made.  The next time around, I may try making a batch with no added sugar at all.  It seems like the juice and the fruit should have enough to sweeten it.  I haven't tried adding nuts to gelatin.  Interesting idea.

On the sugar-free front, my husband won't eat anything with artificial sweetener in it and I don't like consuming that much of it either.  Diet soda is the only thing I do consume it in, and I've got that down to the bare minimum after the latest study about what the sweeteners do to gut flora and blood sugar.

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I'm a carbivore, but I just finished an impromptu lunch of steamed broccoli tossed with some leftover peanut/sesame sauce I found in the fridge.  I feel like I ate a truckload of food, and it was a pretty small plate.  It's been an hour, too.

This is a really nice, versatile sauce, and the only carby thing in it, assuming you use a no-sugar-added soy sauce, is a tablespoon or so of xiaoxing wine, and you could probably leave that out.   In no particular order: equal-ish parts lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, xiaoxing wine, then a couple of chunks of raw ginger and maybe a half cup of peanut butter.  Add hot sauce at will.  Hit it with the immersion blender and pour/spoon over the vegetables of choice.  Toast a few tablespoons of sesame seeds, grind them in a mortar and toss on top.  When you can eat carbs again, this makes a fabulous salad with noodles and julienned vegetables.

I got interrupted several times while typing this post.  Still full. :blink:

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Whelp, I'm gestationally diabetic again, so back to the low-carb drawing board. It's been a month-ish so I'm looking to branch out from the mainstays thus far:

Meals:

everything egg

(very) stuffed shells 

eggplant parm (so far with breading, but later on will be without)

curried chicken salad (eaten over salad or with cucumbers, or even plain)

roasted chickens and pork loins

Cuban or Hawaiian pork

pan-fried fish and chicken

roasted veg (mostly cauliflower!! but also some carrots, a few potatoes, and various squashes)

curries without the rice (or a very small amount)

pureed vegetable soups (squash, broccoli, mushroom)

beef stew

meatballs, sausages

salads

Snacks and treats:

almonds and cashews

berries

string cheese

Crystal Light "lemonade" and seltzer (thanks Squidsdc!)

Breyers CarbSmart vanilla and almond bars

dark chocolate 

edamame

15g carbs or less of any cookies or sweets. I can typically have 1-3 small cookies (I stick with packaged cookies because they are easier to count - usually Trader Joe's speculoos or butter almond thins), so it's portion control rather than avoidance. This is not a lot of cookies, but it's better than nothing!! I take a similar approach to ice cream, which I have every night to pump up my base level of carbs before bed. I pick a flavor with fewer carbs (usually the more chunky add-ins, which I love, the more carbs :( ) and then have about 2 small spoonfuls to come in at <1 serving. 

****

I'm probably going to make tortilla-less fajitas and zoodles soon, and I see some sugar-free jello in my future. Once we start grilling again, I'll probably be doing meat/eggplant/zucchini/mushrooms with Vietnamese fish sauce again. We've been getting a lot of Chinese takeout (usually szechaun eggplant and tofu, sauteed greens, and fried fish) and when I skip the rice, I'm fine. Ideas are welcome, but I'm mostly documenting here in case others find this info useful. 

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Wow.  You seem to have a great handle on this and many excellent ideas.  One thing I did, when I was doing low-carb and craving pizza, was to make a "crust"  of ground turkey seasoned with Italian spices and garlic etc.  I flattened it out onto a pizza pan, and pre-baked it for about 15 minutes.  And then I topped it with tomatoes or a tomato sauce, and some cheese and vegetables.  I called it reversed pizza, and everyone loved it.  A small wedge was filling and satisfying.  It froze well.  Great lunch choice if you have to take lunch to work.   

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My son, now 20, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of two, so I was counting carbs long before low-carb diets became popular. I like to make lasagna, substituting sliced zuchinni (althernating green and yellow) for the noodles. For low carb, I keep one layer of noodles on the bottom, for no carb, I eliminate the noodles entirely. I also add a layers of fresh spinach, and add diced fresh mushrooms to my meat sauce. My daughter and I actually prefer this version to the one with noodles.

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Congratulations on your pregnancy, not so much on the gestational diabetes.  Various cucumber salads are low carb, fast to make, and delicious.  The garlicy "smashed" version that The New York Times published in 2015 really is pretty good, though you might want to reduce the salt.

Are you able to have avocados?  Back in the good old days before I was allergic to shrimp, a whole avocado stuffed with small shrimp or langostinos with a bit of tarragon mayo made for a nice lunch.  

 

 

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Thanks, guys! Yes, I'm pretty motivated so learned a lot last time that I'm putting to good use this time without having to go back to the (rather useless) nutritionist (at least the knowledge wasn't wasted!!). If only I could keep up the motivation to keep to this kind of diet when not pregnant!!! It's ridiculously effective for my body type, but alas, I can't keep this strict when I don't have the proper motivation. There are certain recipes/approaches that have stuck with me afterwards, though, like roasting All The Vegetables and these mini turkey garden loaves (when I'm diabetic I mess with the bread crumbs and sugar proportions, and when I'm not I make them as is).

Thanks for all your suggestions! I think they'll all make it into my rotations. The cucumber salad prompt, in particular, is great because I've always meant to learn a good Chinese cucumber salad (a la the A&J spicy garlic cucumber dish) and now is an excellent time to try it! Yes, I eat lots of avocados, mostly with my  morning hard-boiled eggs as a sort of egg salad (v. easy to take to work several days' worth at a time), and could absolutely incorporate them in other meals. 

We made fajitas the other night, with some grilled marinated steak; a sautéed vegetable medley of mushrooms, peppers, and zucchini; cheese quesadillas; salsa; and guacamole. We and our guests all loved it (I ate 1/4 quesadilla so wasn't totally deprived), so that will definitely be gracing our table again. Because we (used to) eat tacos out fairly often, we almost never think about making Mexican food at home and this was a good reminder that it's tasty, easy to make, and great for a crowd with fussy palates (in this case kiddos, gluten-free, diabetic, and pregnant). 

A bit back, we went out to all-you-can-eat KBBQ for dinner, and that was decadent without a sense of deprivation. MEAT! and pickles and salad mostly, with a little bit of jap chae on the side. Nothing to complain about there!!

 

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I've tried quite a few low-carb/sugar desserts lately, and thought I would post on my impressions:

Halo Top - too expensive for its icy texture and uninteresting add-in crunchy bits - pass.

Breyer's CarbSmart Vanilla & Almond bars - not bad at all. They aren't super creamy but aren't icy at all and don't have much of an fake sugar aftertaste. I like the portion size because you can eat the whole bad so won't feel deprived. I keep buying these.

No sugar added Popsicles - have a bit of a fake sugar aftertaste but decent when you're craving an icy fruity treat.

Dreyer's slow-churned no sugar added ice cream - terribly chemical ingredient list but decently creamy without a fake sugar aftertaste so yay science??!! Available at regular grocery stores and the same price as the regular ice cream. Still can't eat a lot in a sitting if you're carefully counting carbs but you can have more. This will probably be my go-to until I can have real ice cream again!

***

Also made a red curry chicken soup (basically my regular red curry with a lot more broth and even more vegetables), which was delicious and low carb but doesn't keep well, because the vegetables turn all mushy :(

 

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Oh my goodness, you guys, this is probably TMI and maybe everyone else already knows, but as a PSA, don't eat too much food made with fake sugar!! After chalking up a few days of misery to resurgent pregnancy symptoms, it turns out that lots of the ingredients in sugar-free stuff - e.g., sucralose, xylitol, sorbitol - work precisely because they can't be digested, which can lead to an uncomfortable GI system, especially if you eating a significant quantity of these ingredients. Everything in moderation or carefully controlled portions is still the rule of the day - there are no tradeoff-free shortcuts to eating sweets!!!! (Unless there is and then please tell me!!!)

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11 hours ago, weezy said:

Sorry for your distress.

The sugar-free issue has come up in Amazon reviews:  https://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/dp/B008JELLCA

Don't read the reviews for those with a mouth full of liquid.  I sent 5lb of an off-brand (same results if eaten in quantity) when the occupiers of the Malheur wildlife refuge asked for snacks.  Following the arrests, I contacted the local food bank to warn them to beware of any sugar free items that might be donated by that group.  That was an interesting exchange, but the food bank rep was gracious about it.  

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13 hours ago, PollyG said:

Don't read the reviews for those with a mouth full of liquid.  I sent 5lb of an off-brand (same results if eaten in quantity) when the occupiers of the Malheur wildlife refuge asked for snacks.  Following the arrests, I contacted the local food bank to warn them to beware of any sugar free items that might be donated by that group.  That was an interesting exchange, but the food bank rep was gracious about it.  

? and also ? because I love Haribo Bears so this is a great and useful warning!!!

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30 minutes ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Lady Kibbee and I have been on a phở bò binge on these sub-freezing days of late, and in keeping with our desire to limit carb intake, we order the large bowl combo no. 1, with meatballs too, but we don't bother with the noodles.

You may want to ask them for no noodles, as the starch gets leached out into the broth, thickening it, but adding carbs.

I also remain unconvinced that Vietnamese meatballs are 100% meat. :mellow:

Know what's awesome for filling up, and staying full, on a low-carb diet? Choking down some steamed Brussels sprouts with soy sauce, alongside whatever protein you're having (they have carbs, but not much, and the fiber compensates (sort of)) - they keep me full for hours: I view them as "temporary bariatric surgery."

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On 1/7/2018 at 3:14 PM, DonRocks said:

I also remain unconvinced that Vietnamese meatballs are 100% meat. :mellow:

Funny you think that, I always thought the same until I saw a friend of mine make them. It's a combination of ground meat and cornstarch ground in the food processor until a paste. From there dropped to cook into boiling water to obtain that "spongy/springy" texture 

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Just came across and read through this thread, which is of great interest to me as I've been doing the low carb thing since last Spring.  So far, knock on wood, it's been a great success from a weight control perspective and I'm going to try to stick with it.

One concept that I've found really important that I don't see mentioned here is that of "net carbs" -- take the grams of total carbs and subtract the grams of fiber and you have the grams of net carbs.  I'm not even going to attempt the science behind it but apparently this is the number that matters (in many cases at least), since fiber isn't digested.  That's why many vegetables that are high in carbs and fiber are actually ok for many low carb diets.  

The toughest thing for me on a low carb diet is finding good substitutes for *crunchy* textures if you can believe it.  Haven't found those low carb crackers yet.  So yes, you'll find yourself making sandwiches substituting cucumbers for bread, but that gets pretty unsatisfying pretty fast.

Recently I've been making a lot of creamed vegetable soups which are low (net) carb and really satisfying - two most recent examples being creamed cauliflower, and broccoli and cheddar soups.   Looking forward to reading more recipes here, but if you google keto recipes you'll find lots of stuff out there.

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I've found that I like using cabbage as a stand-in for pastas in many dishes.  A little Italian sausage with a good marinara and thinly sliced green or white cabbage is a way to scratch the red-sauce itch.  And a stroganoff using napa cabbage, keeping the mushroom forward and dialing back on the sour cream, is also satisfying.

I really don't bother with trying to find a cracker/bread substitute.  II'm always disappointed.  I do like foods that require some assembly to keep me focused off the lack of bread -- lettuce cups, peel-and-eat shrimp are a couple of high involvement meals.  A few nuts sprinkled on top of stuff for a bit of crunch helps.  

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3 hours ago, Simul Parikh said:

Any suggestions on what to pair with a chicken/lamb curry if you're trying to go low carb (in lieu of basmati or naan)? Texture of brown rice sort of bugs me - maybe just cook it longer? Cous cous? Never tried that. What else?

Couscous is basically just pasta, so pretty carby.  My favorite is quinoa.  Make sure and rinse it well before cooking.  I oscillate between cooking like rice with a 2:1 liquid:quinoa ratio, and cooking like pasta (lots of water until done, drained and spread to cool on a cookie sheet).  Definitely adds more flavor to cook in broth (I like using Better Than Bouillon vegetable base or roast chicken base).

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3 hours ago, Simul Parikh said:

Any suggestions on what to pair with a chicken/lamb curry if you're trying to go low carb (in lieu of basmati or naan)? Texture of brown rice sort of bugs me - maybe just cook it longer? Cous cous? Never tried that. What else?

 

Trader Joes Cauliflower rice, sautéed for about 10 minutes comes the closest for very low carb.  I tried the keto diet once - for about two months to support a certain someone who was put on it - and that was a mainstay, as was cauliflower mash.  

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Good Earth sweet and spicy tea is my new obsession and a great weapon when the cravings for a sweet drink hit. I've only tried the orange caffeine-free kind so far (it has a Rooibos base), though there are a few flavors in this line. I have no idea how the blend does it but, much like a perfectly balanced long island iced tea, this stuff alchemizes into a genuinely sweet taste to the tongue without any artificial flavors or calories, so doesn't need any additional sweetening. I'm not quite sure how they do it, but here is the ingredient list:

organic Rooibos, organic chicory root, organic cinnamon, organic rosehip, organic honeybush, natural flavor, organic lemongrass, organic chamomile, organic peppermint, organic ginger root, organic orange oil, organic orange peel

Other than the "natural flavors," I can't see anything suspicious in there. A HuffPo blogger looked into the natural flavors thing a few years ago, but the report back from the company doesn't seem too damning to me.

I got some for my diabetic grandma, as she was greatly impressed by the naturally sweet and warming flavor (and she is usually only into expensive Chinese teas).  It tastes amazing hot, warm, or cold. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be bad for me!!! I can get it pretty much anywhere - Vons (Safeway), Sprouts, and I actually first tried it while it was on demo at Costco, though I haven't seen it there since. 

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On 2/28/2017 at 12:26 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

Also made a red curry chicken soup (basically my regular red curry with a lot more broth and even more vegetables), which was delicious and low carb but doesn't keep well, because the vegetables turn all mushy :(

Learned from myself and made a much better, even lower-carb red curry soup.  Added a bunch of ginger and lime juice to the red curry paste, fish sauce, and scallions, making it a low-rent tom yum profile, and used only thinly sliced chicken and mushrooms, which don't get mushy.  Great for clearing the sinuses and those who don't want to be low-carb can always add noodles or rice. 

Enlightened ice cream is...not bad at all, especially if you let it warm up a bit, as it says prominently on the packaging. I only tried the mint chocolate chip flavor, and it has an appealingly mild minty flavor with a not-too-chalky texture (especially once it melts it's quite creamy, considering) or alcohol sugar taste.  Probably the best (by a little bit) of the low-sugar/low-carb ice creams I've tasted.  

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Pesto chicken salad (just Costco pesto, yogurt, and poached chicken) is a nice change-up from my (only) slightly more complicated curried chicken salad and actually makes a pile of leaves taste decent.  It's very easy to make a batch and take to work for several lunches. I'm also back on my avocado-egg salad (just boiled eggs mashed with some avocado, salt, and pepper) for breakfast.  Also simple to make in batches and bring to work.  Yep, my coworkers just love me 😆

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I found Vox's recent treatise on the importance of various dietary fibers to be interesting and informative, particularly in light of certain approaches to low-carb diets, which they reference but mostly refrain from bashing generally.  The newer (less woo-woo) research on gut health has been eye-opening and seems to be leading us back to a more old-fashioned, common sense approach to nutrition, where moderation and lots of whole foods, with emphasis on fiber-filled plant foods, promote overall health and wellness. It's really tempting and easy (and often very tasty) to concentrate on meats and fats to maintain blood sugar control, but alas, we are not simply blood-sugar machines.  So this article was a great reminder that avocados, beans, nuts, seeds, yogurt, pickles, BROWN rice, mushrooms, and All of the Cruciferous and Leafy Veg, not just eggs, cheese, and bacon (duh but 😂) need to be the building blocks of my (YMMV!!!) healthier, lower-carb diet.

One spot of good news on the fiber front - dark chocolate has some. Yay!

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So, the great egg controversy continues:

Since my cholesterol is a bit elevated, I think I'll cut back on eggs (being going strong w/ 3/day because it's just such an easy-breezy protein source when you're trying to avoid sugary/carby breakfasts!!), or at least the yolks. I did egg whites almost exclusively for a few years back when the earlier studies were sure that eggs would kill you, but added yolks back in when later studies said they were fine. I think, AGAIN, that moderation is going to end up being the answer.  Surprise, surprise.

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Note that I haven't checked the sources of this content but the carb counts I was familiar with seemed to check out, so thought to share this visual representation of types of foods with more/less carbs from the Diet Doctor website that I found quite interesting and memorable.  Darn it, cashews for being so delicious!!! Turns out almonds might really be a better choice.

The alcohols, sauces, and different representations of various carb counts were particularly neat.  Nothing earth-shattering, just good visuals. 

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