[ http://www.toaster.net/~jule ]
Everyday Low Carb
Recipes
So my doctor says that I'm sensitive to sugars and I need to change my diet,
which previously consisted of fruits and pastas and breads and beer. Now I need
to eat a high protein, low carb diet. It's been a challenge to learn how to cook
at home (I was a
TV dinner
kinda gal as well), so I thought I'd share some of my
recipes.
What's
here:
-
Getting started
-
Spices and stuff
-
Every day essentals
-
Cooking tools
-
Breakfast
-
Lunch
-
Dinner
-
Snacks and dessert
-
Links & support
groups
Getting started
To start out, I bought the books "Protein Power" by Michael and Mary Eades,
and "The Low-Carb Cookbook" by Fran McCullogh. I'm not advocating these books--I
just happened to pick up the cookbook and enjoyed reading the intro.The cookbook
referred to the "Protein Power" book, so I picked that up too.
I haven't tried many of the cookbook recipes yet, because I'm still learning
to cook basics these days. But the cookbook has a bunch of great references for
finding low-carb tortillas, sauces, and such.
You should count carbs on the food packages, since I don't include such
counts here.
Spices and stuff
Here's a list of things I find handy for seasoning:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Freeze-dried chives
- Onion powder
- Chili powder
- Salsa
- Mustard
- Cinnamin
- Sweet-n-Low
Every day essentials
Here are some things I always use:
- La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Fat/Low-Carb Tortillas
These things
rock. They let you make sandwich rollups without worrying about carby bread.
Yay!
I find them in the Safeway supermarket in San Francisco, CA. You can
order them online here:
http://www.latortillafactory.com/fatfree.html
- Atkins Diet Advantage Bars
These come in a variety of flavors. My
favorites are chocolate peanut butter, almond brownie, and praline
crunch.
I get them at the GNC store. You can order them online here:
http://www.atkinscenter.com/atkins/
- Sugar free jello cups
Quick
snacks. I like them with a bit of half-and-half or whipped cream.
- Heavy cream
Handy for pouring
over fruit or jello.
- Eggs
- Breakfast meats
Pre-cooked
ham slices or turkey sausage are my favorites.
Fresh sausage takes awhile to cook, so sometimes I'll cook up a whole
package and put it in a baggy in the freezer. Also pre-cooked bacon by Hormel--just warm it
up.
- Zip-lock baggies, large and small
- Peppers (red, green, orange)
- Tomatoes
- Pre-washed, pre-packaged salad mix
- Blue cheese or Thousand Island salad dressing
- Fruit (blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and
strawberries)
- Cheese (small-curd cottage cheese, pre-shredded
jack/cheddar mix, sliced american cheese, cream cheese blocks, mozarella
"string cheese" sticks for snacks, cubed cheddar for snacks)
- Frozen shrimp (large, uncooked, tail on for grilling;
small, tail off for making with eggs)
- Butter
- Macadamia nuts
Cooking tools
Here are some kitchen items I use all the time:
- Measuring cups
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Cutting board
- Wooden spoon
- Nonstick pans (1 large and 1 small)
- Square skillet
- Plastic spatula (doesn't scratch non-stick stuff)
- Cappuccino maker (helps to make the coffee before
making the breakfast ;] )
- Knives, forks, spoons (duh!)
Really sharp steak knives are a luxury which I now own.
Yay!
- Microwave
- Indoor electric grill (small, holds about 4 burgers or a couple steaks,
dishwasher safe)
Breakfast
For breakfast, I usually pair eggs with a breakfast meat
and a low-carb tortilla. If I'm in a rush, I'll take some cottage cheese with
fruit and some pre-cooked breakfast meat. I'm experimenting with pancakes as
well (using soy mix), but they don't taste very good so far. Salads are good
with eggs too. (I know it seems strange, salad for breakfast....)
Here are a few ideas for breakfast
combinations:
- Fried eggs on cheese-filled tortilla rollups with
sliced tomato or fruit
Fry an egg (I like mine sunny side up, cooked over
low heat so the yolk isn't really runny). On a skillet or toaster oven (or
microwave, but makes the tortilla chewy), warm a tortilla that has shredded
cheese on it until the cheese is just melted (I use a pre-packaged mix so I
don't need to grate cheese). Roll up the tortilla, and put it on a plate. Cut
the tortilla in half, and place the halves next to each other so they form a
little square on which you now put the fried egg. Spoon a little salsa on top
of the fried egg. Slice some tomato or strawberries to put on the
side.
- Scrambled eggs seasoned with chives and chili powder
- Poached egg on 1 slice of thin low-wheat bread
(orowheat), with breakfast meat on side. Guacamole and salsa dolloped on top
of egg.
To poach an egg in the microwave, crack the egg into a custard
cup, puncture the egg yolk several times (carefully, so it doesn't run)
with a toothpick, cover the custard cup (with a saucer if you don't have
a proper lid), nuke for 30-45 min on Medium or Medium-high. (It takes a bit of
experimenting to get this right.)
- Wierd scramble in microwave
In a 2-cup pyrex
container or similar-sized bowl, mix
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup cottage
cheese
-small handful of shredded cheddar/jack cheese
-1 green onion,
chopped
Nuke on High for 1 minute, mix. Then nuke another minute. Let set a
few mintues before eating.
- Fried egg on top of crumbled beef or turkey (fried in
skillet with taco seasoning added), shredded cheese, and tortilla.
- Blueberry or strawberry pancakes made with Ketogenics
pancake mix. (www.ketogenics.com)
Lunch
-
Warm tortilla, slop on some chive-flavored cream
cheese. Add small can of tuna (not mixed with anything). Roll up contents in
tortilla.
-
Sandwich meats and cheeses in tortilla.
-
Fancy cheese slice with tomato wrapped in piece of lettuce.
-
Quesadilla
warm a tortilla covered with some shredded cheese in frying
pan
add fresh salsa, guacamole, sour cream
sometimes i add tiny cocktail
shrimp too
Dinner
-
Glen's stir fry
Slice 1 package of flank steak,
and fry in frying pan (non-stick pan, no oil)
Chop 1/2 zuchinni
Handful
of snow peas
Handful of bean sprouts
Chop a
couple green onions
Stubb's Beef marinade
Once steak is done, add
veggies and pour in some beef marinade.
Serve with cottage
cheese.
Snacks and desserts
I haven't figured out many snack options, but here are a
few I've come up with so far:
- Low-carb
tortilla with cinnamin
Heat a tortilla in a pan or skillet. While it's
warming up, spread some butter on it (the butter melts off
the knife if the tortilla is hot enough), or just add butter after the tortilla
is warm. Sprinkle some cinnamin on, and also add a little fake
sugar (i think i used 1/4 packet of sweet-n-low). Roll up and eat.
Sugar free jello
with cool-whip
Atkins Advantage bar (i usually eat just 1/2 for a
snack)
Sliced peach with macadamia nuts
Strawberries in cottage cheese
Peanut butter mousse (mmm!)
Approx. 2 tablespoons
of frozen cool whip mixed with 1 teaspoon peanut butter.
Links & support groups