@maya54 perhaps you’re taking it a bit too literally. I think Pollan meant something like neon colored sugar cereal, or pepperoni pizza flavored Doritos etc.
@surfcity I just think that part of Pollans rule smacks of neophobia. I think that there are better ways to suggest not eating things with lots of sugar, artificial flavors or colors.
This thread is helpful. Any suggestions for some lower carb foods that are not bowl or curry flavored meals?
The Greens cookbook (an old one) has a great recipe for a warm salad. You saute a red onion, garlic and red cabbage briefly till the cabbage turns color but is still relatively crisp. Add 3 oz of goat cheese, and some roast almonds. Season with salt and pepper.
You could pair it with a ltalian lentil soup.
Low carb meals. Take any recipe that calls for an accompanying grain (pasta, rice, etc.) and turn it in to a salad. Or any sandwich into a salad or open faced sandwich on a bagel thin.
Example: I bought an gyros kit at Costco. It came with meat, pita, tzatziki. I sauteed the meat, took just one pita and cut it in half. Made a bed of greens on a plate. Topped with the 1/2 pita torn up, gyro meat and added feta, cucumbers, tomato, banana peppers and tossed it all in tzatziki. It was delicious and I didn’t feel shorted!
We use a Veggetti spiralizer tool ($10, sharp - be careful!) to make zucchini “zoodles”, but you can buy them frozen too. We do any topping we used to do on pasta.
We saute the zoodles in frypan with a little oil, garlic, sometimes onion and mushroom, peppers etc (and then steam a while with lid on) . We add leftover meat, jar sauce or canned chopped tomatoes and cook a little more.
Have you tried shirataki? They do the job (satisfy my carb-craving) in asian dishes (I use them in ramen bowl type dishes). One tip, though, open the package, dump in a colander and RINSE quickly without breathing in the odor. Trust me on this one.
https://www.thekitchn.com/why-its-worth-getting-to-know-zero-calorie-shirataki-noodles-221166
I eat almost no carbs in my non-desert foods. I eat a big salad with protein like salmon or grass fed beef. or roasted chicken with veggies.
Have I missed discussion of grains? I have Farro and Barley back in my cooking regime. NYT recipes have lots of ideas.
@oregon101 - I saw a recipe this week that uses Farro … was thinking about giving it a try.
Tonight’s snack:
What I wanted - one of the chocolate fudge pudding cups, lurking in the fridge from when we were sick a few weeks ago.
What I had instead - half the pudding + 1/4c plain greek yogurt + 1/4 c frozen raspberries + 2t chia seeds. My swap was higher in total calories, but it gave a bit of fiber with less added sugars. Added bonus - it was really tasty and filling. Better yet would be to have it w/o the pudding, which is my more typical choice (sometimes with nuts) .
I make my own nut butters which are the easiest thing in the world to make; a cup of roasted nuts (warm if possible) run them in the food processor until smooth, a dash of salt and, voila! The only processing in this nut butter, is the food processor!
I also make my own butter - 2 cups of cream in the food processor, run until the cream forms a solid, strain out the buttermilk (use for pancakes/waffles/soups etc.), rinse the butter with fresh water, drain, add a dash of salt and give it another pulse or two, dump out the butter solid onto a cheesecloth, strain and refrigerate.
I also make my own mayonaisse / pesto etc using a good olive oil
Palm oil, not canola. But I’m not sure there’s a big difference.
I appreciated the suggestion, so I ordered 8 Birch Benders Keto pancake cups. However, compared to the Kodiak Cake pancake cup, there’s no contest in my mind. The BB Keto pancake cup is NOT good. It’s like eating an airy sawdust.
BTW, I always add a combo of chia seeds, hemp seeds, wheat germ and flax seed.
If you’re an otherwise healthy individual and only eat them occasionally, then Kodiak wins hands down.
@sushiritto - I bought a pack of BB mix. By itself, it is bleh. Mixed with Kodiak 50/50 and served with sour cream - yumm. OK, I am weird. ?
Healthy pancakes (gluten free) This does have natural sugars but no refined.
Mix:
1 egg
1 banana
add in desired amount of blueberries (or desired fruit)
(double if serving multiple people)
Cook your mix just like regular pancake batter. I find the blueberries are so sweet there is no need for maple syrup or butter.
Great hints! Keep them coming. My sister is GF. I’m going to have to try that pancake recipe to be ready for her next visit.
I’ve gotten lots of use out my stashes of frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries and frozen avocado chunks. They thaw easily enough that I can add them to meals or snacks without advanced planning. So far I’ve not tried the frozen mango chunks, but they will likely be a fun change of pace while we avoid the supermarket as much as possible over next weeks.
With limited trips to the grocery store and limited selection once there… we may have to do some swaps on our favorite go-to foods.
For Fiber, I found this concise chart - https://www.med.umich.edu/mott/pdf/mott-fiber-chart.pdf
I made these today and they are a yummy healthy filling snack. Only 5 ingredients: dates, PB, vanilla, egg, chocolate for dipping. I think they are a great alternative to a bar or a nice little sweet after a meal. Very easy!
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/5-ingredient-chocolate-dipped-peanut-butter-cookies/
Has anybody tried an interesting new food, due to grocery store shortage?
My grocery store had thankfully been well stocked on most things, but the first time I went there was no peanut butter on the shelves. I picked out some almond butter, which I love. I also decided to try some PEANUT BUTTER POWDER because I had once seen it in a recipe (maybe for Thai dish?). Tonight I stirred some into yogurt, along with some raspberries and sliced almonds. It was good.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pb2-powdered-peanut-butter
https://spoonuniversity.com/how-to/8-genius-ways-to-use-powdered-peanut-butter
Bump…
Is Covid Crisis stay-at-home making your eating patterns better or worse? Any new food or tips to share?
I would say pretty similar. Since I’m working from home (with a full WORK plate) I have probably adjusted my diet a little to include a lighter lunch but maybe an extra snack. I’m also exercising more (twice a day) so that has been helpful - and keeps me away from grabbing junk!
So my tip is instead of grabbing extra food you don’t need, go out the door and take a walk/run/bike!