Low- and No-Carb Recipes

[Sundae in the Park]

So I've been really delighted by the variety of less sugar or calorie / sugar free ice creams available today but generally disappointed with the taste (both mouthfeel and flavor) of said products. Some are better and many are worse, but none live up to even the junkiest kind of regular ice cream, at least for me.  Instead, portion control seems to be the best approach, and we've really been liking the Blue Bunny mini swirls, which are small, pre-filled, chocolate-dipped cones a la classic drumsticks treats. The vanilla mini swirls have 140 calories and 16 g. carbs, of which 11 g. are sugars (the other flavors have slightly more carbs).  Not bad for a decent-tasting treat, and easy to count, since 15 g. carbs is usually counted as 1 serving or "exchange."  Also good for little hands and tummies if you have kids!!  They have a less-sugar line called "Sweet Freedom," but if you compare the nutritional info, there are way fewer sugars (2 g.) but still 17 g. carbohydrates (though far fewer net carbs because there are 2 g. of fiber and 6 g. of sugar alcohols).  When I get a chance to try them I will, for comparison, but in general I don't like the taste of sugar alcohols, and would prefer to just eat less of the real stuff, so it's nice to know about the regular cones. Just thought I'd share my ice cream musings 😉

[Sundae in the Park]

West Lake soup is an easy, brothy, high-protein soup made with mostly pantry ingredients with virtually zero carbs.  I wanted to punch up my egg drop soup and have been playing with this and similar recipes to recreate several restaurant experiences. I like to add chopped shitake mushrooms (can use rehydrated dried mushrooms), sometimes silken tofu, and always a bit of sesame or chili-sesame oil.  Ground beef works nearly as well as minced beef and is a lot easier if you're pressed for time/ingredients.