Recipes

[Writer with Flair]

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@IamMrsG wrote:

On another thread, I was discussing with Kachina624 that my husband's recent diagnosis as borderline diabetic has created a need for adjustment and creativity in our diet.  His recommended carb count per meal is 60 or less.  Kachina replied, "You'll have a real challenge ahead fixing those diatetic meals that are also yummy." [sic]  That got me to thinking maybe a thread dedicated for Low Carb meals might be helpful for more folks than just myself.  

That is my goal.  I do not want a deprived or hungry husband in the house.    We are trying a new recipe from Chef Mario Batali for brined pork chops tonight.  If it turns out well, I will come back and post it here. If you have favorite Low Carb dinners at your house, would you please share them with us?  I, for one, will be appreciative. 

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Dear IamMrsG,

     I have been doing a lower carb diet now for a while and I can tell you that there are many wonderful things you can make that are delicious and within your target carb range.

     I'll be giving some thought to some of my favorite things, but, in the mean time, I wanted to mention how useful egg dishes are.  On the evenings when I am pooped and don't want to have to think to hard about what to make for dinner, an egg dish can be a life saver.  I particularly love fritattas because they are a one-pan meal. 

     I mix eggs/cheese/meat (any combination of these) a little milk, a couple teaspoons of arrowroot, and Simply Organic's "All-Purpose Seasoning" (from Whole Foods) and set aside. 

     In a frying pan, I lightly saute any of the following:  onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, julienned carrots, cherry tomatoes (cut in half), carrots, spinach, artichoke hearts, broccoli, etc.   I remove the vegetables from the pan and put a little oil in the pan.  I mix the vegetables with the eggs/cheese/meat mixture, pour the mixture into the pan, and bake the whole thing in a 350 degree oven until the eggs are set and it is a little brown.  This dish is delicious and satifying. 

     Spaghetti Squash is another good thing to keep around.  You can use it like you would any pasta.  I bake it in a 350 degree oven until it is soft.

     While the squash is baking, I fix the pasta sauce. 

If I'm in a hurry, I use a prepared lower carb pasta sauce (check the label) instead of making my own.  I heat it up on the stove.  If I want to add browned meat (beef, sausage, etc) and sauted vegetabels (onions, peppers, mushrooms, eggplant,etc.)  I do so.  I also may add a little more spice myself like more garlic or basil or oregano.  I let that simmer while the squash cooks.

     Once the squash is done, I scoop out the "noodles" and separate them with a fork.  I place a generous serving of the squash on a plate and then pour some of the pasta sauce over it.  I top it with a mix of mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the top, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.  It is delicious.

     You can also take all these ingredients and alternate layers and put in a casserole dish and bake it at 350 degrees until is is slightly browned and bubbly. 

     I hope that this helps. 

[Zhills]

I am very fond of unstuffed cabbage rolls.  I have a friend who says she layers the filling and leaves in a dish like lasagne.  Interesting!

Another favorite is small potatoes, nuked or boiled just 'til tender, then split and put cut side down in a fry pan with butter or EVOO and lemon juice and let cook until browned.  Delicious, and you eat fewer!

We always fixed a meat, starch and veggie and/or salad.  Leaving any one of them out is difficult! 

[Lovethesea]

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@IamMrsG wrote:

@ciaobell  I made your Diabetic Key Lime Pie for DH.  He really liked it.  Thank you.

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I, too, prefer a low-carb and low sugar/sugar-free diet.

Please be very careful in using sugar-free sweet items such as Jello.  The following is from the jello dot com website for sugar-free lime Jello:

Ingredients
GELATIN, ADIPIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), DISODIUM PHOSPHATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY), MALTODEXTRIN (FROM CORN), FUMARIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ASPARTAME**, AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (SWEETENERS), SALT, YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, BHA AND BHT (PRESERVATIVES). **PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE.

The ingredients indicated in red are those that I will not consume, and they

appear in many "sugar-free" foods.  Please do your research.

[mustang66lady]

Thank you for starting this thread!  Meal planning is the worst for me and when I am trying to target a special diet, planning becomes even worse.  We are trying to lower carbs here too, but I seem to fall in the same trap of fixing the same things over and over until we just have a good 'ole carb out meal!  Defeats the purpose. I am looking forward to what gets contributed here very much!

[IamMrsG]

I admit I had suggested we dedicate this thread to Low Carb dinners.  I changed my mind.    You see, the pork chop dinner I mentioned earlier turned out too good to bury in a thread others might not read, so I posted it separately.  

The Pork Chops with Peppers and Capers turned out really, really well.  We had mashed potatoes on the side.  Terrific meal.  

[sabatini]

Hi G! I'm sure you'll dish up some 5 star low carb meals in no time! You're that good.

I only cook for me these days, so meals are a lot easier, & I don't fuss as much.

When eating low carb, soups are a life saver! I can make a big pot, and eat it for a week, tho I know that might not please either you or the Mister.

*Make a wonderful minestrone w/ sausage & fennel and fresh basil, keep the pasta separate, and add a small amount of pasta to each bowl & top w/ Parm.

*If you like curry flavor & a bit of spice, make a chicken soup w/ fresh bean sprouts & snow peas, etc. & add a whopping scoop of Patak's curry paste. Yum!

*Cabbage is your friend! Haha! Use as a sub for pasta; shred & steam & top w/ marinara, and maybe a meatball or 2 & some gooey mozzarella.

*Are you anti sugar substitutes? If not, make coleslaw!

*I love to make meat patties from ground chicken or turkey, mixed w/ grated onion, seasonings & some ground pork [for added fat].

Serve w/ zippy coleslaw for a satisfying meal.

You can vary the seasonings - to the ground meats, add garlic & soy sauce & a bit of sesame oil & make little meatballs or patties, top w/ pickled veggies & seasoned mayo (regular mayo + ponzu sauce is YUM) & roll up in a low carb tortilla; sort of a poor man's bahn mi.

As another poster mentioned, cauliflower is great! Steam the florets while you saute some onions & mushrooms, add the cauliflower to the pan & pour on some Alfredo sauce. Delish!

Good luck, G! Have fun w/ your new eating regime!

edited for spelling!

[IamMrsG]

@Writer with Flair   Thank you for the suggestions. I had not yet thought about Frittatas and have never tried Spaghetti Squash. I considered one at the grocery last week, and wondered how it would taste, so your recommendation comes as an apropos nudge.

@Zhills I have never heard of unstuffed cabbage rolls, so I ‘Googled it’. Thanks for the idea.  We do potatoes pretty much the same way you described. And, yes, they are delicious.  Portion control is so much easier as well.

@Lovethesea I appreciate your information and will certainly check on those items you highlighted. We rarely eat prepared or highly processed foods, so this has not been a big issue before. Thank you for the caution.

@mustang66lady   I hope my inclusion of “LOW CARB” in the subject line of recipes we’re using is helpful. So far–and we are new on the journey–I have been rummaging through my recipe collection. I’m a stickler for not, as you said, falling “in the same trap of fixing the same things over and over,” so am not sure how long before the challenge gets harder. I’m hoping more recipes start getting posted here on the forum.

@sabatini  It is good to see you back, I hope we see more of you. Thank you for the encouragement and compliment.

   Oooh, minestrone just might be my favorite soup in all the world!  And, yes, we like curry, too. That chicken soup sounds wonderful, although I don’t know Patak’s curry paste. I will certainly be checking it out.

    Although we like cole slaw quite a lot, cabbage in lieu of pasta might be too big a stretch for my DH right now. I will file the idea for the day he starts to complain about missing pasta. I just know that pasta, pizza and burgers are going to become an issue before long, especially with Spring and Summer coming.

    Cauliflower keeps coming up in suggestions here on the forum and in my research for recipes. It has not found its way to our table yet, but that’s about to change.

@Y’all  THANK YOU for your encouragement and support.  

[novamc1]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, frittatas are a great low-carb meal, and I'm making them more often in recent years.

  With the eggs, milk and cheese (parmesan or cheddar, depending on other ingredients used), I've incorporated some type of meat, along with frozen chopped or fresh spinach, onions, green/red/yellow pepper strips, broccoli---whatever happens to be around at the time.

Personally, I've always preferred meals low in carbs, although my husband doesn't care one way or another.  I usually skimp on my own helping of any type of pasta, bread and other starches, even though I give him a full share of them.  Just because one person has to eat low-carb doesn't mean both people do.......as I'm sure you know.

[Gokat]

So sorry to hear about your DH's diagnosis, @IamMrsG .  While adjusting initially takes some creativity, I've adopted a lower carb WOE for several years now and have accumulated lots of info along the way.  Netrition.com is a good site where many low carb ingredients and substitutions can be found.  Also, Great Low Carb Bread Company at that site has some good low carb bread items that can be added to make life a little easier. Their breads/rolls/bagels/pasta all run 1 to 2 carbs per slice so while they're not inexpensive, they allow a low carber to have bread/pasta and provide the option for dressing, ingredients for recipes like meatloaf, etc. while keeping the carbs down.    60 carbs per meal shouldn't be too difficult to implement.

George Stella also has a pretty active website, StellaStyle.cxm  with many tried and true recipes....a long time advocate for lower carb eating and a well-known chef.  He also has many cookbooks available at Amazon...the later ones are the best IMO.

The other thing I'll mention is that many of your current higher carb count favorites can more than likely be easily "adjusted to low carb", so if you want to post some of those, I'm sure some of us can help you with them as well. HTH's

[IamMrsG]

@Gokat 

Thank you for your shared knowledge and offer to help adjust some of our favorite carb-laden recipes.  I really appreciate your generosity.

Like everyone else on this journey, breads and pastas are what we'll miss most.  I found an item at the grocery that might help with the bread, particularly hamburger buns.  It's called Deli flats or Sandwich Thins, depending on the brand.   One 'roll' is 22 grams of carbs, so, depending on what we put inside it, he should be good--even with 2 servings.   I also found LaTortilla Factory Low Carb tortillas for fajitas later in the week. They're 8 or 9 inches and only 18 grams each.   I hope they taste like something worth eating.