Any suggestions for very low carb meals?

[Mike Nolan]

My wife is on this very low carb diet (20 carbs a day), and we're getting bored eating salad, broccoli, and steak.

Any suggestions for low-carb meals?

My wife figured out that ONE of the oatmeal crisps cookies is about 13 carbs!

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[BakerAunt]

What about omelets?

I bought some low-carb wheat tortillas that are 6 1/2 inches across and have 3 carbs per tortilla. (I've not figured out how to make a good tortilla of this type from scratech.) For lunch, I warm it in a skillet on both sides, then add black beans, which I mash with a fork. I sprinkle a bit of part-skim mozzarella on top, then add salsa (canned tomatoes and peppers--from Walmart that I doctor up with onion and garlic) and add a bit of 2 % yogurt. I then fold it over in half. It does better at keeping me going in the afternoon than the usual sandwich. It could be done in a microwave as well.

[Mike Nolan]

She's also been eating a lot of omelets and fried eggs, but I'm not fond of either. I will eat a hard boiled egg if we have them on hand, or put some on a salad, but otherwise I like eggs IN things, not as the main ingredient.

[BakerAunt]

I suppose that you could start spiralizing zucchini and making sauce for it. I say this half-heartedly, as I cannot imagine that being good, but maybe a good sauce would help.

I'd suggest soup, but the weather is not conducive to hot soup.

What about the recipe I posted from KathyfromKansas for Pork Tenderloins with Apple and Sage?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

Apples and applesauce are fairly high in carbs, 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce is 27 carbs, but I'll look at that recipe.

BTW, if you're wondering where she came up with this diet, have you seen the infomercial with Jerry Mathers (the Beaver from Leave it to Beaver) for the Diabetes Solution Kit?

Since she started this program, she's been able to cut back on her blood sugar medication and has been steadily losing weight after having gone close to a year on a 1200 calorie a day diet without losing any weight.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[luvpyrpom]

One thing that we liked as kids that my mom used to make to help stretch the meal was steamed egg dish - it's only eggs, water, and salt and pepper. She would occassionally add the dried salted shrimp. You can make them in individual ramikins. Or any Asian stir-fry dishes and just add extra veggies. That's what I used to do when I was doing WW, literally cut all the rice out of the meals. Hope this helps.

[Mike Nolan]

I've done several stir-frys in the last month, and have been experimenting with what ingredients go well together. Artichokes go well with mushrooms and snow peas, not so well with broccoli. I generally make a small amount of rice, though my wife usually doesn't have any.

[cwcdesign]

I think artichokes also go well with spinach. I'm not much help with low carb suggestions, though

[BakerAunt]

Artichokes do go with spinach. (I know because I uploaded a dip recipe that combined the two.)

I am woefully ignorant of carbs, except for those in breads, but Mike, you might look at some of the main dish recipes in the ones I uploaded today from franciepad and see if any of those will work.

Congratulations to your wife for taking good care of her health, and congratulations to you for supporting her.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm learning a lot about the disconnect between carbs and calories.

[Nina Beyt]

Mike, how about gazpacho? Seafood is one my favorites in summer which you can broil or grill, or make things like cajun type shrimp sauteed with a bit of onions, but more sliced red peppers and celery which is typically served with rice but you could use brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Very low carb is not 'no carbs at all'. Although most of my veggies are tossed with olive oil and garlic to finish, you can blanch low carb veggies like green beans with olive oil and your herbs of choice, including chives. You can bake a potato; you carve out and eat the flesh and she eats the skin, brushed with flavored olive oil. Crispy and delicious.

Make lamb, beef or chicken shish kabobs, laced with onions (which flavors the meat but she doesn't have to eat them), peppers and mushrooms. I hate to fall back on bacon but you can use more of it in place of onions in things like meatloaf and burgers. We remove all exterior fat as a matter of habit, and if you reduce the fat on bacon (yes, I know, most people want to EAT it), you can still get a ton of flavor in other foods. I don't know your taste in veggies like cauliflower (have no idea of it's carb content), but maybe you could make pureed soups with chicken broth, to serve chilled? I think I have a low-carb bookbook around here somewhere . . . shall I look for it?

Then there's cheese, which you can use as a sauce for veggies when plain ones get too boring. Don't make a roux based sauce but try fondue techniques, melty cheese, white wine and herbal flavorings. I think a fondue has you coat the cheese cubes with flour, but I think it would be a minimal amount, enough to make it an occasional treat.

How about going with some Asian sauces for chicken, such as peanut sauce, with a minimal portion of brown rice? Other side dishes could be a pile of sauteed mushrooms, bok choy, kale if you aren't sick of it, cole slaw, cabbage with bacon.

As for fruit, I'm sure you've downloaded a list but I bet strawberries and most other berries ae fairly low carb. Dessert might have to resort to dessert cheeses with allowed fruit . . . Then there's Amazon, which is bound to have some low-carb cookbooks. I know it's not your way of cooking but in time maybe some of these will work their way into your rotation, and help keep you both healthy. Congrats to her for her discipline and to you for helping. Good luck.

[Mike Nolan]

Lots of good ideas, but I can't eat shrimp and my wife won't eat lamb and can't eat anything with garlic, curry, cilantro, red raspberries or saffron in it. (The cilantro isn't an allergy issue, but she has the genetic trait that makes cilantro taste like soap.)

Neither of us will eat liver or most other organ meats, though I will eat chicken hearts and beef tongue, though I've never cooked tongue. We both like liver sausage, strangely enough.

Fruits are OK in moderation. One medium strawberry is about 1 carb.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Mike Nolan.

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