There are a couple of schools of thought among low carbers...well, more than a couple, but for the purpose of this post, I will mention 2: one says that if you find low carb substitutes for the carby foods you are used to, you will have greater success; the other says if you learn to do without the carby foods you are used to, you will have greater success. Obviously neither is absolutely true 100% of the time, but each is mostly true to whoever lives by it.
I started out, nearly 7 years ago, believing the latter. And did very well with it for the first year or so. Of course there were some things I felt I could not forgo completely - such as Chinese buffet restaurants - so I compromised, with a trip to one per month. Gradually I evolved to the first school of thought, and learned or created ways to have what I wanted but in a safe, non-carby way. And this is pretty much how I have lived ever since. I do still choose a carby food or meal - or even a day! - once in a while but overall, 90% of the time at least, I eat low carb equivalents to the carby foods I enjoyed before.
After my nissen fundoplication last month I knew I would have to undergo diet changes, and one of them is giving up the so-called "gassy vegetables". This includes cauliflower, which meant no more mashed "potatoes"! Cauliflower is a substitute for quite a few low carb foods, but mostly, for me, it was my mashed "potatoes".
For the first few weeks of my recovery, when I was eating very soft foods to allow my stomach to heal, I didn't think or worry about carbs. It was hard enough just getting nutrition into my 3- or 4-bite minimeals. And I wasn't eating enough food to gain weight certainly. A side effect of this surgery is weight loss, even though it isn't a WLS, so I had no worries - I just had to eat what didn't hurt me. And one of those things was mashed potatoes. I kept a box of instant because they are easy to make up just a tiny amount, and they worked so well for me that I still have some on hand. And, since I can't make the standard fauxtatoes, I have found a way to compromise on mashed potatoes.
(Let me note here that regular potatoes, mashed, are way carbier than instant.)
I haven't done the carb count - haven't actually counted my carbs in years - but here is how I am able to enjoy mashed potatoes with my meal, once or twice a week:
- 1/4c heavy cream
- 1/4c (1/2 stick) real butter
- 1/2c full-fat sour cream
- 1/2c water
Combine the above in a small casserole dish and microwave on high for 4 minutes; remove and stir until smooth.
- 2/3c instant potatoes (mine have 14gN per 1/3c) which is less than the directions on the box, don't let that throw you if you try these
- 1/2c finely shredded cheese (I've been using colby-jack)
- S&P to taste
Stir in cheese until melted; add instant potato flakes and stir until smooth; S&P to taste; return to microwave for 1 minute on high; stir one last time.
This makes 4 nice-sized servings. For the potato flake portion, that's 7gN carbs. Everything else that's in there is very low carb. I'm guessing maybe 10gN per portion. Which isn't a bad compromise at all!
Here is the disclaimer: If you believe you shouldn't consume any starches at all, then don't make this for yourself. If you are morally opposed to potato flakes, then please don't purchase them as your hard-earned cash will be supporting their continued use.
As time goes on and I am seeing that I need to alter my low carb lifestyle to fit within the limitations of my "wrap" (the affectionate pet name that most of us call our fundoplications) I am hopeful that I will be able to continue to eat as low carb as I have for so long. But if I need to get creative, I will not be afraid - I will venture forth and find new ways of doing old things. Because that's MY school of thought :).
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Just a little site with some nice-looking #lowcarb recipes
I haven't seen many of these before so I thought I'd post it...
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Low Carbing and My Hospital Experience #lowcarb
I mentioned that my doctor tried to keep me on a "heart healthy" diet in the hospital. All those grains and sugars (natural and otherwise) would have made me sick...but let me back up. As they took my history, both this time and when I was admitted for my surgery last month, the nurses always gave me an incredulous look both when I told them that I am not diabetic, and when I told them that I don't have cholesterol issues. I'm a middle-aged fat woman after all, how can this be?
I can tell you how it would NOT be, and that is if I were following a "heart healthy" diet!
The doctor finally consented to give me a regular diet, so I would "have more choices" (read: eat more fats!) And after that I chose real egg dishes (an omelet NOT made with fake eggs), real meats/fish, things with cheese on them, etc. What I ate isn't that important; what is important is that I was in charge of what I ate, and didn't have to choose my foods from the low-fat/high-carb menu.
Anyway, while I was in there, I had every heart and lung and blood test there is, in addition to a test to check the integrity of my wrap (the nissen fundoplication that was done on Dec. 1st) - everything was perfect...beautiful...all clear...words my doctor used.
(On a side note, the nutritional lady from the dietary dept. came up to my room at one point to ask me if I had an explanation for the 20# weight loss over the last month, or did they need to check into a possible cause? Weight loss is a side effect of the nissan fundoplication I had, as I explained to her, along with low carb eating - even though I ate some carby foods during the first couple of weeks after the operation.)
To me, this plus the fact that I AM a middle-aged fat woman without cholesterol or diabetes issues, is all due to the low carb (5-10% of my intake), high fat (75ish%), moderate protein (15-20%) diet that I have lived on for nearly 7 years, and nothing else...especially considering I DID have a "prediabetic" label stuck on me, and high triglycerides and LDL with low HDL, in the months prior to starting my lowcarb way of life.
Once again, for the bazillionth time, the low carb way of life has been vindicated.
I can tell you how it would NOT be, and that is if I were following a "heart healthy" diet!
The doctor finally consented to give me a regular diet, so I would "have more choices" (read: eat more fats!) And after that I chose real egg dishes (an omelet NOT made with fake eggs), real meats/fish, things with cheese on them, etc. What I ate isn't that important; what is important is that I was in charge of what I ate, and didn't have to choose my foods from the low-fat/high-carb menu.
Anyway, while I was in there, I had every heart and lung and blood test there is, in addition to a test to check the integrity of my wrap (the nissen fundoplication that was done on Dec. 1st) - everything was perfect...beautiful...all clear...words my doctor used.
(On a side note, the nutritional lady from the dietary dept. came up to my room at one point to ask me if I had an explanation for the 20# weight loss over the last month, or did they need to check into a possible cause? Weight loss is a side effect of the nissan fundoplication I had, as I explained to her, along with low carb eating - even though I ate some carby foods during the first couple of weeks after the operation.)
To me, this plus the fact that I AM a middle-aged fat woman without cholesterol or diabetes issues, is all due to the low carb (5-10% of my intake), high fat (75ish%), moderate protein (15-20%) diet that I have lived on for nearly 7 years, and nothing else...especially considering I DID have a "prediabetic" label stuck on me, and high triglycerides and LDL with low HDL, in the months prior to starting my lowcarb way of life.
Once again, for the bazillionth time, the low carb way of life has been vindicated.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
About my "Diet"
Lots of things are going on but I will blog about those in chiachatter - I did discuss my "heart-healthy" diet with the hospitalist this morning though, and he told me that it was best. I told him that I would like him to change me to a regular diet, and without "getting into it" that I have eaten low carb for almost 7 years, and a couple days of sugar and grains wasn't going to do anything except mess up my blood sugar. He told me that he's got to advise his "heart-healthy" (ie, oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, and skim milk for breakfast!) diet and I said I know that's what he believes and I realized I wasn't going to change his mind, but that he won't change mine either, I have lived the results of low carb eating in my own better health, so please don't make a big deal of it, just change my diet to regular so that I can choose the foods that are best for me.
He changed my diet order to regular.
(Of course, I'm still NPO until more tests this afternoon, but I will look forward to meat and cooked green beans - with butter or at least their excuse for same - for supper tonight!)
He changed my diet order to regular.
(Of course, I'm still NPO until more tests this afternoon, but I will look forward to meat and cooked green beans - with butter or at least their excuse for same - for supper tonight!)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Back in the Hospital - UGH!!
I just blogged about it at my other blog, now too tired to blog here but please go there to see what's what. Not that they know yet...but it's all there...
Friday, December 31, 2010
Almost 2011
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
For those who celebrate, Happy New Year! If your new start comes at midnight, all the best with that, too :).
I don't see midnight tonight as magical, or really different than any other midnight, just because the calendar flips a year. We don't celebrate it or do anything special on New Year's Eve or on New Year's Day. Life tomorrow will be much like it is today in every way. We can make our new starts every morning, or every noon, or every 2:47 a.m.. The important thing is that we recognize when we need to turn away from old things, and embrace the new - whenever we need to do so.
For those who celebrate, Happy New Year! If your new start comes at midnight, all the best with that, too :).
I don't see midnight tonight as magical, or really different than any other midnight, just because the calendar flips a year. We don't celebrate it or do anything special on New Year's Eve or on New Year's Day. Life tomorrow will be much like it is today in every way. We can make our new starts every morning, or every noon, or every 2:47 a.m.. The important thing is that we recognize when we need to turn away from old things, and embrace the new - whenever we need to do so.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Day!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Lovely day! Soup turned out beautifully. The grilled cheese sandwiches looked and smelled amazing! I used English muffin bread, real butter on the outsides, and did them on my electric griddle. I used a slice each of American, swiss, and havarti cheese. My mom ate half of her sandwich and took the other half, plus a Christmas cookie, home with her. Pete had two sandwiches and two bowls of soup. (He usually eats double portions of things, that's why I try hard to keep him low carb but sometimes it is an uphill battle.) I didn't bake cookies this year but bought a package of 10 (?) cookies yesterday that would look pretty on the table - and they did. They are full of sugar and carbs and I ate 2. Won't have any more.
Since I can't eat bread, I had to forgo those lovely sandwiches. What a horrible thing that was, but the threat of great pain kept me from giving into temptation. Still, my pita cheese crisps were pretty good. I used a low carb pita, sliced it in half to make two very thin pieces, then I cut those into a few large pieces. Buttered them, sprinkled colby-jack on them, topped with havarti, and into the oven on a rack until the cheese bubbled and the pitas crisped up. They were better than nothing but I was still drooling over the grilled cheese sandwiches!
I nibbled a lot today. Started out with a dish of cottage cheese, then nibbled on cheeses while I made dinner, tasted a spoonful of my soup several times, then a half-cup of soup and some of the pita cheese crisps for dinner, a cookie about an hour later, the rest of the crisps a couple of hours after that, and another cookie just now.
Both the pita and the tomato soup were new re-additions to my post-fundoplication diet, as was the cookie. I am happy to report that I did fine with them all! Tiny bites, well-chewed, warm tea, and walking around - it was all good!
Lovely day! Soup turned out beautifully. The grilled cheese sandwiches looked and smelled amazing! I used English muffin bread, real butter on the outsides, and did them on my electric griddle. I used a slice each of American, swiss, and havarti cheese. My mom ate half of her sandwich and took the other half, plus a Christmas cookie, home with her. Pete had two sandwiches and two bowls of soup. (He usually eats double portions of things, that's why I try hard to keep him low carb but sometimes it is an uphill battle.) I didn't bake cookies this year but bought a package of 10 (?) cookies yesterday that would look pretty on the table - and they did. They are full of sugar and carbs and I ate 2. Won't have any more.
Since I can't eat bread, I had to forgo those lovely sandwiches. What a horrible thing that was, but the threat of great pain kept me from giving into temptation. Still, my pita cheese crisps were pretty good. I used a low carb pita, sliced it in half to make two very thin pieces, then I cut those into a few large pieces. Buttered them, sprinkled colby-jack on them, topped with havarti, and into the oven on a rack until the cheese bubbled and the pitas crisped up. They were better than nothing but I was still drooling over the grilled cheese sandwiches!
I nibbled a lot today. Started out with a dish of cottage cheese, then nibbled on cheeses while I made dinner, tasted a spoonful of my soup several times, then a half-cup of soup and some of the pita cheese crisps for dinner, a cookie about an hour later, the rest of the crisps a couple of hours after that, and another cookie just now.
Both the pita and the tomato soup were new re-additions to my post-fundoplication diet, as was the cookie. I am happy to report that I did fine with them all! Tiny bites, well-chewed, warm tea, and walking around - it was all good!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Some GOOD Shopping! #lowcarb
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
I guess because tomorrow is Christmas and the grocery stores will be closed, and because they are closing early this evening, the merchants didn't want certain items to just sit around for 2 days, so there were a lot of markdowns today that we were able to take advantage of! Here are some samples:
1# smoked turkey ends and pieces: $1.19 (Many of the packages had a single chunk, which I can use in so many ways!)
33 oz. Maxwell House decaf - $6.99 (WOW!)
These aren't something I would normally buy but I do have a use for them: 6 oz. thin-sliced honey ham from the deli that is usually $4.99 but were on sale for $2.00
5# Budgie seed mix (a CLEAN mix of millet and oat groats that I will mix with the usual mix I feed my cockatiel and lovebirds to "stretch" it) for $2.99
Walden Farms bacon dressing for $1.99 (half price); I can't eat salads now but it will be great as a dip or spread!
Chicken legs for 65c/lb
10# Idaho Russets $2.99 (I'm eating small amounts of potato - not a low carb food but have incorporated them once or twice a week into my eating plan; plus the fam loves them!)
Havarti cheese - just about my favorite! - sliced, 25% off, or $2.79/pkg
So I did buy some things that I still consider expensive. Take for example the Havarti cheese. I don't pay $5.58/lb for anything, typically. But as little as I'm eating right now, and as much as I love Havarti* I consider it a worthy splurge.
[*I told my husband, "If we ever get into an argument and you want to apologize because you know you were wrong, a package of Havarti cheese will work well." He said, "So what will you get me when you're wrong?" and I told him, "I never am!"]
For Christmas I made a couple of other splurges: They had a pound of lovely saucy BBQ ribs, already cooked, for $5.49, marked down from $6.99; I got those for Pete's Christmas Eve dinner. (I can't eat them but I'm happy with smoked turkey and havarti!) And we splurged on some English muffin bread for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. Since my mother developed Lewy Body Disease we have had a new Christmas dinner tradition: grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade creamy tomato soup. I can't eat the sandwiches anyway, but the english muffin bread will be marvelous for them I think! And I got the ingredients for my soup also, but it is inexpensive to make anyway. (I will post the recipe tomorrow, if I remember.) Instead of a sandwich I will make my cheesy pita points for myself, even though I'll just eat one triangle at least it will be in the spirit of a grilled cheese sandwich!
Overall we spent about $130 today. Considering this is my first grocery shopping of the month, and that we (well, I wasn't here the first 2 weeks of December) have been eating almost 100% from our stocked foods - and eating well! - I'm pretty proud of this month's food budget.
I guess because tomorrow is Christmas and the grocery stores will be closed, and because they are closing early this evening, the merchants didn't want certain items to just sit around for 2 days, so there were a lot of markdowns today that we were able to take advantage of! Here are some samples:
1# smoked turkey ends and pieces: $1.19 (Many of the packages had a single chunk, which I can use in so many ways!)
33 oz. Maxwell House decaf - $6.99 (WOW!)
These aren't something I would normally buy but I do have a use for them: 6 oz. thin-sliced honey ham from the deli that is usually $4.99 but were on sale for $2.00
5# Budgie seed mix (a CLEAN mix of millet and oat groats that I will mix with the usual mix I feed my cockatiel and lovebirds to "stretch" it) for $2.99
Walden Farms bacon dressing for $1.99 (half price); I can't eat salads now but it will be great as a dip or spread!
Chicken legs for 65c/lb
10# Idaho Russets $2.99 (I'm eating small amounts of potato - not a low carb food but have incorporated them once or twice a week into my eating plan; plus the fam loves them!)
Havarti cheese - just about my favorite! - sliced, 25% off, or $2.79/pkg
So I did buy some things that I still consider expensive. Take for example the Havarti cheese. I don't pay $5.58/lb for anything, typically. But as little as I'm eating right now, and as much as I love Havarti* I consider it a worthy splurge.
[*I told my husband, "If we ever get into an argument and you want to apologize because you know you were wrong, a package of Havarti cheese will work well." He said, "So what will you get me when you're wrong?" and I told him, "I never am!"]
For Christmas I made a couple of other splurges: They had a pound of lovely saucy BBQ ribs, already cooked, for $5.49, marked down from $6.99; I got those for Pete's Christmas Eve dinner. (I can't eat them but I'm happy with smoked turkey and havarti!) And we splurged on some English muffin bread for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. Since my mother developed Lewy Body Disease we have had a new Christmas dinner tradition: grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade creamy tomato soup. I can't eat the sandwiches anyway, but the english muffin bread will be marvelous for them I think! And I got the ingredients for my soup also, but it is inexpensive to make anyway. (I will post the recipe tomorrow, if I remember.) Instead of a sandwich I will make my cheesy pita points for myself, even though I'll just eat one triangle at least it will be in the spirit of a grilled cheese sandwich!
Overall we spent about $130 today. Considering this is my first grocery shopping of the month, and that we (well, I wasn't here the first 2 weeks of December) have been eating almost 100% from our stocked foods - and eating well! - I'm pretty proud of this month's food budget.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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