Hi!

[tammeli]

Hi Everyone! I've been on and off low-carb and am hoping to make it a lifestyle and stick w/ it this time. Reading some of your stories is very inspirational.

I've been a vegetarian since I was a teenager, which is challenging at times on low-carb. Looking forward to hearing about everyone's progress!

[tammeli]

Oh, and I'm not much of a cook, so I'm looking for easy recipes and products to buy to incorporate into my meals. Right now I basically eat eggs, cheese, fish, Atkins drinks, salads. A little boring so I'd like to spice it up a bit. I was looking at the products on Netrition but I'm not sure what to buy.

Any recommendations?

[TaDa!]

Hi Tammara .. I assume you are doing general lowcarb rather than a plan like Atkins, so I will give you some recommendations of products I use that would probably be really helpful if you do not cook very much ...

lowcarb pita bread!! I have been using this for years now .. I use a brand I can buy at the supermarket, which is: Joseph's lowcarb pita. Netrition does sell it. Here in new England I can get it at any supermarket across from the deli. I use a half to a whole pita a day as a sandwich .. lately a veggieburger and cheese ... sometimes avocado and cheese, etc etc .. anything that goes in a pita ..

Veggieburgers I really like the Morningstar black bean burger with a slice of cheese and a few T of salsa. it is higher carbs than some of the other ones ( 9 net carbs). I also like Morningstar Grillers Original (3 net carbs).

Indian Pre-packaged Foods it is kind of like eating soupy foods as you don't use rice, but you can always eat it with half a pita. I grab one in an emergency -- like going to the hospital the other day, I grabbed a package and a pita and some bars just in case .. brands to look for:

Trader Joe's,
Tasty Bite,
Patel's
and others ..

Varieties to look for:

Baingan Bhartha - Roasted eggplant (~13 net carbs for whole package)
Palak Paneer - Spinach and cheese (~12 net carbs for whole package)
Dal Makhani - Lentil (~30 per pkge)
and others ..

Pre-packaged Food:

Trader Joe's Spiced Soybeans (in a shelf-stable pkge ~12 net per pkge)
Fantastic Foods Sloppy Joe Mix (~9 net per serving)

I hope that helps a little bit! I am always on the lookout for pre-packaged stuff for emergencies, lol! and had been thinking of starting a thread .. would love to hear of anything else that people may have found!

Welcome Tammara!



Pauline

[ravenrose]

I was a vegetarian from the time I first could choose my own food till I was about 48. a LONG time. (I did eat fish, off and on, when I pretty much had no other options.)

I got over it. adding animal protein to my woe was difficult, but it's better for me health-wise and I feel better about it morally as well.

I am not trying to convince you, I just find the subject very interesting since this was such a big change for me.

I finally came to realize that our western culture is way too caught up with the "birth and growth" parts of the lifecycle, while denying the "death and decay" parts that are EQUALLY sacred and important.

Our entire planet is dependent on the recycling of matter through decay and other forms of one thing eating another... humans are not exempt from this natural cycle.

There is no way to avoid killing other creatures as we live. We tend to get more excited about ones with faces, but in the overall picture, I think we are all sacred, from bacteria all the way through to mammals.

I do, many times a day, when confronted with the death of creatures to benefit the rest of the environment, say "May you speed to Buddhahood."

Ignore this if it annoys you. I just thought we might have an interesting discussion...

[TaDa!]

Tammara - While at the gym today - I thought more on convenience vegetarian lowcarb ... and I cook tofu, etc myself, but if i did not, I might check out the marinated tofu products like Tofettes (by Creative Chef in the produce aisle of the market) - or something like that and simply broil it with a side of veggies .. I'd actually go on a fact-finding mission to whole foods, lol! There are a lot of soy and seitan-based foods in the cold case that could be used as quick food!

next time I am in there I will take a look .. I know they have the various fake sandwich meats too .. not having eaten meat in 30+ years, it is not something I'd ever buy to try, lol! But it might be another option if you swing that way!



Pauline

[tammeli]

Thanks for the recommendations Pauline - so many options! ) I will look for them all!

Raven, your post didn't annoy me at all! Interesting topic and thoughts. I'm not that deep about it, though - lol! I just don't eat it because ever since I was a kid and understood what it was I was eating, I was totally disgusted by it and gave it up. I can't imagine putting meat in my mouth. I have my daughter eat it because it's healthy and she can make her own decisions about whether or not she wants to be a vegetarian when she grows up.

Thanks again, ladies, for taking the time to respond! I will keep you posted on my progress - xo

[chloeasha]

Originally Posted by tammeli

Oh, and I'm not much of a cook, so I'm looking for easy recipes and products to buy to incorporate into my meals. Right now I basically eat eggs, cheese, fish, Atkins drinks, salads. A little boring so I'd like to spice it up a bit. I was looking at the products on Netrition but I'm not sure what to buy.

Any recommendations?

One way I have found to keep track of things, anything that you're trying to limit is to obviously make the stuff yourself. My staple diet-- stir fry. I've looked up a ton of different recipes on the web and just altered them at various points. Thai food, Chinese, Japanese-- so many flavor variations it's really great. To low-carb them usually just means not making rice and possibly omiting some additives like corn starch, sugar, etc which shows up in the sauces-- or you can add it too, just as it says, but maybe have less sauce or just be content with the fact you don't have rice (that's my usual solution). I calorie count too (because I have a bottomless appetite and so I have to figure out when do I have to cut myself off), so I usually count up the calories of each ingrediant (don't forget the oil too) and then keep track of things that way. Also you can basically keep track of which vegetables you're using which makes for a better choice.

I have two cookbooks I love-- 1,000 vegetarian recipes and The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook. Not low-carb by design, but you can adapt many things. Also you can sign up for free daily emails from Vegetarian Times and you can see what they send each day-- sometimes it's good, sometimes not, but hey, it's free!