1.
a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish, including a list of the ingredients required.
Note that the secret to making the sweet potato more flavorful is how it is prepared, thus a specific preparation/instruction protocol. This yields a distinctly different taste, in my experimentation, than simply placing the sweet potato in the oven and baking it for X number of minutes at a given temperature, hence the directive to poke holes in the potato with a fork all over the potato itself, making it look worse than Swiss cheese. Give it a try, I think you’ll notice a difference in taste - I do (anecdotal observation).
The thing is, so many people seem to develop issues with insulin. Lots of people here say they have to be really careful with carbs, including some of the people who are coaching and giving advice on this site. I have to wonder how many of them were eating lots of refined sugar before they developed their carb related /pre-diabetes kinds of problems.
This Public Service Announcement brought to you by Middle-Aged Mom. [/quote]
This describes me quite well. I grew up eating a plethora of junk food: sugary breakfast cereals, pastries, cakes, Twinkies, soda pop, fast food, etc. I topped the scales at almost 300 lbs when I was not even 20 years-old, and believe me these were years of extremely poor eating, largely on refined sugars and flour and plenty of fat. I fully believe that a large part of my own personal carb intolerant, nutrient partitioning woes are related to the aforesaid years of poor eating.
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I’m pretty sure that describes a lot of us. Maybe not the overweight by 20 part, but eating a lot of refined foods.
One of the easiest ways to make rice or quinoa (or any other boiled grain thing) taste better is to use low-sodium chicken broth instead of water. The amounts don’t change, you’re just swapping a flavorless cooking medium with a flavorful one. You could probably use beef broth, but I haven’t tried it and suspect it might be too “heavy” or overwhelming.
I also usually hit quinoa with a few liberal dashes of turmeric and powdered ginger immediately after cooking.
If I make rice and beans (white rice and kidney beans, 1:1 ratio), chipotle powder and/or cayenne work well.
For baked potatoes, lately I’ve been wrapping each potato in its own foil pouch with about 1 Tbsp of butter before baking. If you like softer potato “meat” without a crispy skin, it’s worth a try. Score one side of the potato with a knife before wrapping.
1.
a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish, including a list of the ingredients required.
Note that the secret to making the sweet potato more flavorful is how it is prepared, thus a specific preparation/instruction protocol. This yields a distinctly different taste, in my experimentation, than simply placing the sweet potato in the oven and baking it for X number of minutes at a given temperature, hence the directive to poke holes in the potato with a fork all over the potato itself, making it look worse than Swiss cheese. Give it a try, I think you’ll notice a difference in taste - I do (anecdotal observation).
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Sure buddy.
Ill give that a go tonight. I usually do poke a few holes in the potato, although I don’t do it as you describe.
I suppose the art of preparation is critical in how some foods taste. I don’t even let my girlfriend boil my eggs, as I am particular about the rate the water warms up and how long to let the water boil for etc.
If you can get yourself to eat grits, try this shrimp and grits recipe. I think it’s okay to modify the fat content, i.e., butter and heavy cream amounts, to suit your own macros and taste preferences, but here is what I use:
Grits:
4 cups shrimp stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup quick cooking grits
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup Parmesan
Shrimp:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pound lean turkey kielbasa sausage, sliced
2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined (save shells for shrimp stock)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes or 14-16 oz chopped whole tomatoes
Chopped chives, for garnish
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the shrimp stock (just slow simmer the shells from your shrimp in water for 20 minutes), and whipping cream up to a low simmer. While simmering whisk in the grits and a pinch of salt. Stir constantly and return to a low simmer. Cook until thickened, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-heat. Melt butter (could sub coconut or grape seed oil) and saute onion, garlic, and green bell pepper. Saute until tender and translucent, and add the sausage. When the sausage has cooked, add the shrimp and saute for about 2 minutes. Add white wine and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve over the Parmesan cheese grits. Garnish with chopped chives.
I also make these pancakes for breakfast, which are all complex carbs, as I did this morning, using the following ingredients: pumpkin (I have substituted sweet potatoes or fresh yams), chocolate protein powder, fresh leaf spinach, oats (you can sub quinoa flakes), egg whites, ground flax seed, a few tsp of Stevia to sweeten, along with cinnamon, allspice and a tad bit of nutmeg and cloves for the pumpkin pie pancake flavor.
Depending on macros for the day, possible toppings can include bananas, blueberries (that’s what I used this morning - simmered in their own juice in a small saucepan on low) or raspberries. I used Walden Farms calorie free pancake syrup this morning, but on higher carb days I will throw in 1/8 to 1/4 cup of pure, hot maple syrup on top.
Note: You can also throw in a few pitted dates in place of the Stevia, before blending the batter, if you need the extra carbs for the day.
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
For people with a Trader Joe’s nearby. These are both easy options.
Chris mentioned chicken broth instead of water. I use it to prepare these as well.
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I need to have you cook stuff for me and ship it cross-country[/quote]
Hey Accipiter. Long time no see!
I’ve been having a lot of fun cooking lately. I’m in the last few weeks of my cut, so everything sounds awesome. HaHa! I’ve always cooked, not so much because I’ve loved cooking but because we like to eat.
I’ve been baking all of the bread for my family for many years (I have a Bosch Universal and a wheat grinder), but experimenting with different foods recently has been a lot of fun. I made a Lemon Crusted Coconut French Toast, pan fried in coconut oil what was superb. Yeah, not good for cutting, unless you can just eat one slice. My next experiment will be Greek Yogurt Chia Seed Pancakes. It’s fun to try to tweak some of the recipes to have more protein, or play around with grinding oats into flour as an alternative to wheat. I keep seeing recipes that have chickpea or almond flour. Fun.
Have any of you guys tried quinoa as a batter for meat?
I found a recipe for a Quinoa Crusted Chicken Strips with BBQ Honey Mustard. they are baked, not fried. NOM!!
Pretty much only potatoes, sweet potatoes, white rice and some fruit, as my stomach get upset from most other sources. I enjoy those a lot though, especially the sweet potatoes.
Microwave (or boil) potatoes in a covered dish with a little water for steam. I actually like potatoes better than rice but they take about 6-10 minutes. I personally usually remove the peels. The skins have some nutrients and some antinutrients. Potatoes have two advantages over rice-good potassium and oligosacchrides which are the best form of fiber for gut bacteria/gut health.
VeeTee pre-cooked rice. It is sold on the shelf, and not instant, just cooked and sealed and it takes 2 minutes to microwave. I avoid brown rice. I consider grain fiber to be healthy only on occasion. It scrapes the cells lining the gut which may be ok once in a while, but not regularaly IMO.
Bananas: only 14 grams of sugar for 23 grams of carbs/100 cals, and only about 5 grams of net fructose.
Yams. I like to cook them in coconut oil if I want more calories and energy (MCTs plus carbs).
Other fruit is fine, actually dried apricots and prunes get effectively about 1/3 of their carbs from fructose, 1/3 from glucose and 1/3 from starches. Not bad in moderation.
Surge recovery
“mostly” rye bread. I get bread that has a trace of wheat flour added, and no sugar.
Oatmeal and some beans if I am carbing up. Oatmeal works for carbing because I can mix in 300 cals of oatmeal and a couple scoops of protein and eat it 4-5 times a day for a quick load.
I’m a fan of organic pop tarts. Easy to track carbs as it is easy to count 1-2 pop tarts and no cooking needed. I use them for both off season and contest prep with no issues. Also I am diabetic and never have any blood sugar issues with them either.
2 1/2 cups old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup flax seed meal - optional
Zest of 1/2 orange
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 medium banana, smashed
1 to 1 1/2 cups almond milk or use skim milk.
Preheat waffle iron.
In a bowl, combine oats, walnuts, flax meal, orange zest and cinnamon. Mix together. Place two thirds in a food processor or high speed blender and mix until a flour like substance. Or blend all of it if you want a smoother texture to the waffles. I like them with some courser, nutty texture. Return to the bowl.
Add the other ingredients to the dry. Mix thoroughly with a fork. Add more milk at this time if the mix seems too thick. Spread thickly on iron.
They are dense so mine too longer to cook. Your waffle iron may vary, but mine takes about 2 minutes for regular waffles, and these took between 4-5 minutes. You may need to spray a bit of oil if you don’t have a good nonstick waffle iron.
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