Low carb ideas and hacks

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A “healthful” snack could be popcorn. Costco sells individual Skinny Pop bags 28 count for $14.50, about $0.50 per bag. https://www.costco.com/Skinny-Pop-Popcorn,-0.65-oz,-28-count.product.100381415.html

+1 Have given Costco popcorn on Halloween for a couple of years now. Kids seem, if anything, tickled by getting something different. (Last year a treater paused, looked me in the eye and said "Creative!")

 

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New hack I learned this month:
Add cream cheese to a savory stew or soup

Per serving:
Whip 2 oz cream cheese with 1T melted butter.
Blend in a spoonful of warm broth to thin it further. (This will also keep it from curdling.)
Add it to the stew or soup portion, serve.

This is cribbed from a Cheesy Chicken Chili LCHF recipe and I've used it with other savory recipes.

I had previously used other dairy products in soups/stews. For beef, sour cream is a Stroganoff-y option. Bloop in some heavy whipping cream for instant cream of-chicken/veg. I still like those, and cream cheese adds texture and a new, thicker option.

*Freeze or refrigerate extra portions without the dairy to prevent curdling when thawing. Add the cream cheese mix right before serving.

 

[HFWR]

How about non candy? Stickers, pencils, slime.

Expect your house to be TP’d...

 

[Rushmore]

Expect your house to be TP’d...

So far I haven’t had that problem. It’s been well received. Around here slime is well liked by grade schoolers and stickers are popular with the preschoolers. Ymmv obviously

 

[misshathaway]

Nutritional yeast deepens the taste many savory foods. Today I sprinkled it on top of:

8 pepperoni layered on the bottom of a Pyrex bowl
1 slice provolone next layer
1 egg with the yolk broken so it won't explode, on top

Micro for 1:15

I get lots of ideas from Claire Lower, a LifeHacker columnist who writes about food. She likes lots of junk food and concocting mixed drinks but she's also very good at pointing out ingredients that add umame to food. You can pull out ingredients from her recipes to riff on.

PS. I know pepperoni is bad.
PPS. Another thing you can do with pepperoni is put it on a micro safe tray and nuke it until it becomes little crispy bacony chips.

 

[HFWR]

PS. I know pepperoni is bad.

We don’t need this kind of negativity!

[emoji6]

 

[Chuckanut]

Just made some keto low-carb choco-chip cookies using 100% almond flour. They have an interesting texture. I'm not sure I like them as they fall apart easy. Maybe I should add another egg.

 

[harley]

Grilled some chicken this evening, and tried out a new find. Lillie's Zero Sugar Carolina BBQ Sauce. It was really good! Another low carb gap filled. Relatively natural ingredients. A bit pricey, but well worth it IMHO.

Because we want everyone to enjoy the Southern flavors of Lillie’s Q, we created Zero Sugar Carolina. Equally balanced and tangy with hints of apple and lime, this Western Carolina barbeque sauce is now available with ZERO SUGAR. Keto-friendly with 0g Sugar and 2g Carbs.

 

[misshathaway]

Publlix had free samples of S Pelligrino Essenza carbonated water and I was hooked after trying it. No sweetener at all but the flavor is much more intense than other flavored waters. So far have only tried the tangerine strawberry but a case of berry and lemon are on deck. Was on sale.

Publix also got Macintosh apples. Pleasantly surprised that they are still crisp, even though they came all the way from NY to FL. 2 lbs will blow carb rationing for days. Worth it.

 

[JoeWras]

Grilled some chicken this evening, and tried out a new find. Lillie's Zero Sugar Carolina BBQ Sauce. It was really good! Another low carb gap filled. Relatively natural ingredients. A bit pricey, but well worth it IMHO.

Not to get off topic, but I find it interesting that Carolina BBQ Sauce is made in Chicago. And Texas Pete hot sauce is made in North Carolina.

Texas Pete is a fine low carb hot sauce. Not crazy spicy. You can lay some down. 0 carbs per teaspoon.

 

[footenote]

Discovered radishes, of all things, last week. What a revelation! When cooked for long periods, they lose 99% of the bitter zing and become soft.

Roasted for 45-50 minutes at 400F, they become crispy like potato skins.
Included in a slow-cooker beef stew, they tasted like small, waxy potato chunks.

They are low carb (about 2 grams for half a cup).

Google radish + low carb and you'll find many recipes. (Haven't tried daikon yet, but I'm reading they work too.)

 

[JoeWras]

Discovered radishes, of all things, last week. What a revelation! When cooked for long periods, they lose 99% of the bitter zing and become soft.

We substitute radishes for potatoes in slow cooker beef stew and they work amazingly well. The bitter zing is gone, and even the red color goes away.

 

[Red Badger]

We don’t need this kind of negativity!

[emoji6]

+1.We don't want Porky closing this thread.

Gotta try me some pepperoni chips!

 

[audreyh1]

Publlix had free samples of S Pelligrino Essenza carbonated water and I was hooked after trying it. No sweetener at all but the flavor is much more intense than other flavored waters. So far have only tried the tangerine strawberry but a case of berry and lemon are on deck. Was on sale.

Thanks, I’ll have to look for that. We drink some flavored HEB non-sweet sparkling water and enjoy it. Sounds like the San Pellegrino will be more flavorful. As long as it’s not sweetened artificial or otherwise. I enjoy a splash of citrus or whatever in my sparkling water, but not sweet please!

 

[Red Badger]

Nutritional yeast deepens the taste many savory foods. Today I sprinkled it on top of:

8 pepperoni layered on the bottom of a Pyrex bowl
1 slice provolone next layer
1 egg with the yolk broken so it won't explode, on top

Micro for 1:15

I get lots of ideas from Claire Lower, a LifeHacker columnist who writes about food. She likes lots of junk food and concocting mixed drinks but she's also very good at pointing out ingredients that add umame to food. You can pull out ingredients from her recipes to riff on.

PS. I know pepperoni is bad.
PPS. Another thing you can do with pepperoni is put it on a micro safe tray and nuke it until it becomes little crispy bacony chips.

PSA - this works!!!!! I did a small batch yesterday. Nuked 'em in 15 second intervals, until they started to tighten up into small "cups" and stopped at that point. They were still "sweating" fat at that point. Once they cooled, they were very much like chips and the fat on the surface had been reabsorbed. Being in NC, the next natural thing to do was dip those chips in pimento cheese dip. Went shopping this morning - picked up some assorted Italian logs for making "chiperoni."

BTW, pepperoni isn't bad. Zombies are bad, but not pepperoni.

 

[misshathaway]

Thanks, I’ll have to look for that. We drink some flavored HEB non-sweet sparkling water and enjoy it. Sounds like the San Pellegrino will be more flavorful. As long as it’s not sweetened artificial or otherwise. I enjoy a splash of citrus or whatever in my sparkling water, but not sweet please!

I'm on to the lemon case now. Sadly, that flavor has a slight aftertaste. Not undrinkable but I would not buy it again.

 

[mpeirce]

I'm on to the lemon case now. Sadly, that flavor has a slight aftertaste. Not undrinkable but I would not buy it again.

No HEB here, but our Kroger has a thing called Simple Truth Seltzer Water that comes in various flavors, and has no sweeteners.

It's pretty good. I like their Cucumber Melon flavor as well as the Pineapple. They kind of taste like the water you sometimes get at some resorts or hotels where they add fruit into a large container of water.

I like plain soda water sometimes, but it gets boring. The light flavoring works for me.

 

[euro]

I tried Rebel ice cream for the first time last night. Tried both the chocolate and peanut butter fudge. I just couldn't handle the lingering aftertaste. That made me nauseous.

I've given up on ketchup, switching over to various mustards that aren't packed with sugar, or balsalmic vinegar, sometimes hummus.

.

Regarding ketchup, I recommend you take a look at https://alternasweets.com/products/spicy-ketchup

It's very good (albeit not cheap). They have BBQ and regular flavors also, but my favorite is the Spicy

 

[misshathaway]

Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk/coconut milk blend

I tried this when it was on sale and ended up loving it either microwaved hot by itself or, even better in the morning - microwaved hot with a teaspoon of instant coffee stirred in. Doesn't really need sweetener because of the coconut.

 

[Vacation4us]

Any low carb cookbook recommendations? I have a few George Stella, and a 500 low carb cookbook by Dana Carpendar but there both at my home down south. I am thinking about ordering a few more.

I know there are tons of recipes on line but without access to a printer I have found this inconvenient.

 

[Vacation4us]

Discovered radishes, of all things, last week. What a revelation! When cooked for long periods, they lose 99% of the bitter zing and become soft.

Roasted for 45-50 minutes at 400F, they become crispy like potato skins.
Included in a slow-cooker beef stew, they tasted like small, waxy potato chunks.

They are low carb (about 2 grams for half a cup).

Google radish + low carb and you'll find many recipes. (Haven't tried daikon yet, but I'm reading they work too.)

I thought radishes was a little strange, since they were .89 a bunch at the store I thought I would try them. Found a simple recipe butter, Italian seasoning and garlic powder roasted at 400 for 15 minutes tasted them and omg just like potatoes. Decided to cook them longer, I am a fan and these are a new favorite.

 

[audreyh1]

Any low carb cookbook recommendations? I have a few George Stella, and a 500 low carb cookbook by Dana Carpendar but there both at my home down south. I am thinking about ordering a few more.

I know there are tons of recipes on line but without access to a printer I have found this inconvenient.

A basic printer can be very cheap.

 

[misshathaway]

I know there are tons of recipes on line but without access to a printer I have found this inconvenient.

Cheap tablet with a cover that props it up, that is hooked up to DropBox or some other cloud account. Save to Dropbox as you are browsing. Use on the tablet in the kitchen. I use my old old iPad that can't do much else.

 

[Vacation4us]

Old iPad might work.

I am in NorCal OMY in 500sq feet. I don’t have a computer and no plans to buy a printer. A cheap space using printer is still more than the 3 gently used cookbooks I ordered from Amazon yesterday, thanks.

 

[aja8888]

Old iPad might work.

I am in NorCal OMY in 500sq feet. I don’t have a computer and no plans to buy a printer. A cheap space using printer is still more than the 3 gently used cookbooks I ordered from Amazon yesterday, thanks.

No computer? How did you post to this?