Lowcarbezine! 6 September 2000
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Hey, Gang!
As of this week, it is officially *five years* that I've been low
carbing! Pretty amazing, no?
Did I think I'd end up doing this? Not a chance. I was just plain
desperate, gaining weight on my low fat/high carb diet, that's all.
Thank God I ran across Gaylord Hauser's _Treasury of Secrets_, a
nutrition book from 1952 which, among much other interesting stuff,
referred to carbohydrates as "the fat man's poison."
Gaylord, for those who've never heard of him, was of Swiss birth, and
had tuberculosis as a child. It settled in his hip, and he was sent
home to die. A gardener, seeing him eating a breakfast of sweet rolls,
told him he would, indeed, die if he ate dead foods like that, and
encouraged the child to eat plenty of real food and fresh things.
Slowly but surely, Gaylord recovered. And when he grew up, he took the
message of eating real food to the world.
He taught nutrition in Hollywood in the silent film era. He consulted
with royalty, with business magnates, and with the most glamorous of
movie stars, including Greta Garbo, whom he talked out of her low
protein vegetarian diet. He wrote many books, and was perhaps the first
to really crack the public consciousness regarding good nutrition.
Indeed, I regularly list a product he invented -- Vege-Sal -- in my
recipes. And my book, _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty
Pounds!_, is dedicated to Gaylord Hauser.
So on this anniversary of this *huge* improvement in my life, I'd like
to repeat that dedication: To Gaylord Hauser, who started it all.
Read on!
Dana
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mailto:dana@holdthetoast.com However, please note -- although I really
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generally over 200 posts a day (not all of them about Lowcarbezine!), so
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CarbSmart - Smart choice for a low carb lifestyle - is proud to sponsor
Hold The Toast's Lowcarbezine! For the month of September, we are
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The Low Carb Family Budget Challenge!
I've received a heart-felt plea from a mom who not only has some serious
carbohydrate linked health concerns, but also four-count'em-four
children, all of whom have a strong chance of having inherited her carb
intolerance. (And I would like to say right here, you -- you know who
you are! -- are a very wise woman for realizing this, and working on
improving your kids' nutrition *now*.) The problem is, of course, that
she's feeding four kids on a budget, and she no longer has the option of
feeding them spaghetti, or beans, or hamburger stretched with an equal
amount of corn flakes. So how does she feed her family well without
draining their college funds?
I wrote about low carbing on a budget last winter, but I've gained
somewhere around 4000 readers since then (Hi, guys!), so it really is
time to talk about this again. My long time readers may catch me
repeating my self. Surely it won't be the first time!
First of all, I'd like to help you with a quick change of perspective,
by pointing out that stuff like, generic spaghetti and rice and such
only *seem* cheap. However, they wreck your health (not to mention your
teeth), and doctors, dentists, sick days, etc, do *not* come cheap.
Further, by causing nasty blood sugar swings, and depleting the body of
vitamins and minerals, these "unfoods" also will harm mental health,
contributing to both unhappiness and behavior problems. They also will
*not* improve school performance. How can anything that makes growing
up more difficult and miserable than it absolutely has to be, for both
parent and child, be cheap, even if they're giving it away by the
barrel?
It should also be mentioned that carbs pull the same hunger-stimulating
tricks on kids that they do on adults, which, of course, is how I ended
up stealing to support my sugar habit in my adolescence. Growing
children can be bottomless pits; do you really want to try to fill them
up with food that will only make them hungrier?
All that being said, here are a few ideas on feeding a family a
nutritious, carb controlled diet without mortgaging the house:
* Push breakfast. What they eat for breakfast will moderate their
hunger for the rest of the day -- in one study of obese adolescent boys,
the kids who ate an omelet for breakfast were so much less hungry than
the kids who ate instant oatmeal that they spontaneously ate 81% fewer
calories during the rest of the day. Furthermore, at breakfast you can
feed them eggs, one of the best and cheapest sources of carb-free
protein, not to mention a whole pile of vitamins, minerals,
brain-feeding fats, and other stuff you want them to eat. If mornings
are crazy, hard boil a couple of dozen eggs at a time to keep in the
refrigerator. Easy to eat on the bus, in the car, at the bus stop.
Breakfast doesn't have to be eggs, of course, but the general principle
holds -- get at least 15-20 grams of protein and a bit of fat into them
first thing in the day (with minimum carbs, of course), and they'll be
less hungry for the rest of the day. Of course, this is true for you,
too!
Not only will getting protein into the kids first thing in the day
moderate their appetites, but it gives you a great reason to drop cold
cereal -- surely the most wildly overpriced food in the grocery store --
out of the food budget entirely.
* Overhaul the snacks. Snack "foods" (better called unfoods) like chips
and candy are not only bad for the kids health, they don't even have the
advantage of being cheap -- ever stopped to calculate what you pay for
a pound of potatoes when you buy them as chips? And all that stuff does
is make the kids hungrier. If, instead, you switch over to snacks that
are filling and nutritious, you just might spoil their appetite for
supper. Gee, wouldn't that be a shame?
I wouldn't even try to feed them a lot of low carb specialty foods if
you're feeling strapped -- that stuff is nice, adds some variety to the
menu, but it's often expensive, and hardly essential. Remember, too,
that most kids, especially if they're not already clearly suffering carb
intolerance problems (obesity, high LDL and triglycerides, high blood
sugar, etc) can deal with a few more carbs than their elders, so long as
they're fairly low impact carbs. What to serve for snacks? Peanuts in
the shell are a good choice, so are sunflower seeds in the shell. Yes,
the shells can make a mess, but they also slow the kids down, so just
might notice that they're full, and quit eating. (The cheapest way to
buy sunflower seeds? Raw, in big sacks, the way they're sold for bird
seed. You can put a panful of them in the oven at 250 and roast them
for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time, and have fresh roasted
sunflower seeds -- of course, these aren't salted.)
Popcorn isn't dirt-low in carbs, but it's lower than you might think --
about 7 grams of usable carb per three cups, popped. There's three
grams of fiber in there, too, making popcorn more filling than a lot of
other snacks. And if you buy plain old popcorn and pop it in a popper
(I see them at thrift shops all the time), instead of buying microwave
popcorn, the stuff's dirt cheap. Figure that this is your big
concession to their chip addiction -- but *you*, you adult low carber
you, you keep your mitts off, you hear?
You can make yogurt by the quart, or even by the half-gallon, using
generic powdered milk. Takes about 2 minutes hands-on time, and makes a
cheap, nutritious, filling snack. Let them flavor their own yogurt with
a few drops of the flavoring extract of their choice and a little
sweetener. Around here, the favorite flavor is lemon, which blends
nicely with the tart flavor of the yogurt itself -- tastes just like
lemon pudding. Orange flavoring is good, too, and so is vanilla. You
can add berries, of course, but that's going to be more expensive,
unless you grow the berries yourself.
Another good thing to do with yogurt is to make dip, one of the best
ways to get vegetables into kids. Celery is good for dipping, and
usually pretty inexpensive. Carrots are higher carb, but of course have
some solid nutritional value, and they're cheap. See what else is in
season, and not too steep.
(Plain yogurt, as I explained in a recent issue, has fewer carbs than
the label says, because most of the lactose has been converted to lactic
acid. Here's how I make yogurt: I take a quart container with a
snap-top lid, and half-fill it with tap water. I add 2 cups instant
powdered milk, and a good big spoonful of plain yogurt from the previous
batch -- you'll have to buy a small container of plain yogurt to start
with -- and stir well. Then I add a good shot of half-and-half for
richness, probably about a quarter cup, and fill the container up the
rest of the way with water. Put on the lid, shake it once or twice for
good measure, and put it in a warm place for about 8 hours. I use an
old electric heating pad in a bowl -- the bowl keeps the heating pad
curled up around the container -- but any warm place will do.)
Speaking of which, kids can tolerate a bit more fruit than adults, too.
An apple or an orange is certainly going to be a better snack for them,
even with its sugars, than a bag of potato chips or a handful of Oreos.
Cheap sack fruit, of course. Inexpensive blocks of cheese are good to
keep around, too. Filling stuff.
The big thing to remember here is that you have no parental obligation
to spend your money on unfoods that largely function as entertainment.
Entertainment expenses come out of the entertainment budget, not the
food budget! Snacks should consist of foods that are filling and
nutritious, not stuff that just makes them hungrier.
* Soda pop is *not* a required food group, even for teenagers. If you
decide you're willing to keep some diet soda in the budget, you might
consider a daily consumption limit. (I must be a dinosaur, because when
I was a kid, one can a day of pop was all I was allowed.) Also consider
buying store brand soda pop; it's far cheaper. If they demand more
soda, or expensive name brand soda, consider these words: "Where's
*your* money?" If they're not willing to work for it, why should you?
What can they drink, if not pop? Well, water comes to mind. Iced tea,
either regular or decaffeinated, is far cheaper than soda, and far
better for them. Buy store brand tea, either instant or in bags, and
let them add their own lemon and sweetener. Store brand "Kool-Aid" type
drink mixes are very cheap -- buy the kind that comes unsweetened, and
add your own sweetener -- this is definitely Festival Of Chemicals, but
it beats anything with sugar in it, and it sure fits into the budget.
(Anyway, it's no worse than Crystal Light.) Still, I'd recommend it as
now and then thing, rather than a staple of their diet.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking juice is the healthy thing for your
kids to drink. Ounce for ounce, apple juice has more sugar than
Coca-Cola. Juice is a refined food, and a great way for kids to take in
a tremendous amount of sugar in the name of "health". Further, a large
fraction of that sugar is fructose, which has been clearly demonstrated
to raise triglycerides, even in children. Juice is also expensive. Let
them eat fruit instead -- no way are they going to eat the eight or ten
apples or oranges it would take to make one big glass of juice!
On the other hand, lemon juice and lime juice are quite low in sugar; if
you don't like the idea of them drinking chemical fruit drinks, consider
making a big pitcher of lemon or lime ade, sweetened with whichever
sweetener you prefer. Store brand bottled lemon juice is cheapest to
use. Lime juice, sadly, is considerably more expensive, and rarely is
there a store brand.
*Speaking of sweeteners, as I believe we just were, if you're on a
budget you won't want to rely on Splenda. Yes, it's wonderful, but it's
also more expensive than the other sweeteners. I'd keep good ol'
saccharine around the house, and use it wherever the flavor fits in --
in iced tea, in things that just need a touch of sweetness (I often use
saccharine in my coleslaw dressing), in yogurt. Save the Splenda for
stuff that won't work without it, like low carb baked goods.
You could, of course, use aspartame instead, but I know a lot of people
are uncomfortable with it, and of course it won't work in anything
that's heated for any length of time. Stevia can be very expensive or
pretty cheap, depending on where you buy it. It sells for $85/pound in
the bulk spice section of my health food store -- but a pound would last
me for about 10 lifetimes; the amount you would actually buy to keep
around the house would be inexpensive. However, the first time I bought
it I got it mail order, and it cost me twice as much as I pay in bulk.
Shop around.
* Cook more. I know, I know, you're busy, especially with four kids
around. But the more you can cook for yourselves, the cheaper your food
is going to be. Make things in big batches, so as to have leftovers --
why roast fewer pieces of chicken than the oven can hold? Why cut up a
meal's worth of fresh vegetables when you can cut up several days'
supply and put them in plastic bags in the refrigerator? Why make
enough soup for a meal when you can make soup for a week?
I'd suggest Army-volunteering the kids as unpaid kitchen help. No
reason why they shouldn't help with the family chores, and no child
should grow up ignorant of the basics of cooking anyway. How about a
rotating schedule? Yes, I know they all have dance class and soccer
practice -- however, learning to be helpful and responsible is certainly
as important as any extracurricular activity they may participate in.
This is also a nice way to have one-on-one time with each child in turn,
working on something together.
Paying for someone else to do prep work and cooking for you is
*expensive*. You don't have to cook fancy, but not cooking is a luxury
you can't afford. Think about this: if boneless, skinless chicken
breasts cost $4.99/lb., and chicken leg and thigh quarters are going for
49c a pound, the boneless, skinless chicken costs *ten times* what the
legs and thighs do. Are they really worth that much more? Think about
this, too: In this scenario, the boneless, skinless chicken breasts
cost $4.50 more per pound. You'll probably serve at least 1/4 lb. per
person, or, in a 6 person family, a pound and a half. How long do you
have to work to clear $6.75 after taxes, commuting costs, all that
stuff? More or less time than it would take to cook the legs and thighs
instead of the breasts? (Hint: If the family wants to eat practically as
soon as you walk in the door, a slow cooker is a *big* help.)
Personally, with a family this size I'd recommend cooking *BIG* things,
like hams and turkeys. The only work they really take is getting them
in the oven; then they just *sit*. Lots of leftovers, too, which
streamlines things for upcoming meals. Further, grocery stores tend to
have good sales on this sort of thing from time to time. When whole
turkeys drop to 69c/lb, can you really afford *not* to buy one, even if
it does take hours to roast? Cook it on the weekend!
* Focus your diet on the cheapest low carb foods -- around here, that
would be chicken leg and thigh quarters, whole chickens when they go on
sale, ground beef, whole turkeys (Or, for some weird reason,
half-turkeys. My local Kroger occasionally has half-turkeys for sale at
a lower price per pound than whole ones. Hey, I'm okay with buying two
half turkeys instead of a whole one for 15c off per pound!), sale hams,
some brands of ground turkey. Cheap low carb vegetables will vary from
season to season, so watch the prices. Cabbage is nearly always very
inexpensive, and it's very low carb, highly nutritious, and versatile.
Eggs are astoundingly cheap for the level of nutrition they offer; serve
them as often as the family will tolerate -- not just for breakfast, but
for dinner as well. Omelets, perhaps, or scrambled eggs with bits of
browned ham or frankfurter in them.
Try store brands! I find that many of them are indistinguishable from
their name brand counterparts -- indeed, grocery store house brands are
virtually all made by the same big corporations who make name brand
products. I buy store brand tea, mayonnaise, ketchup (my husband still
eats it), tuna, detergent, non-stick cooking spray, cheese, all sorts of
stuff. Virtually always cheaper. Don't like the store brand? Try a
different store's brand! (Assuming you have more than one grocery chain
around, that is.)
Around here -- Bloomington Indiana -- we have a couple of markets where
there is one brand of everything, all of it the store's own brand. The
prices at this type of store are remarkably low -- I get bacon for 79c a
pound, ground turkey for 69c a pound, pork sausage for 99c a pound,
canned mushrooms for 29c, etc. I can't get everything there, but I buy
many staples this way -- tuna, canned tomatoes, powdered milk, sack
onions, pork sausage, etc. They're a cheap place for your basic
veggies, too -- cabbage, peppers, cukes, stuff like that. Highly
recommended. (Around here, the two chains like this are Aldi and
Save-a-Lot. Both are worth checking out.)
* Also highly recommended is the use of a deep freeze. I virtually
*never* buy meat at full price; I always wait until a sale and stock the
freezer. Currently full of 88c a pound ground beef, 59c a pound whole
chickens, and steaks that had been marked down because they were a
couple of days old. We bought our *huge* upright deep freeze used, from
a reputable dealer, for $225 including delivery. Don't buy one more
than 10 years old or so; they've become progressively more energy
efficient over the years.
* One approach that generally doesn't work for a low carb diet is the
use of coupons. Food coupons are almost always for processed, carb-y
garbage that was seriously overpriced to begin with. Now and then
you'll find a coupon for cheese or butter or tea or something -- in
these cases, do the math and figure out which is cheaper -- the name
brand product with the coupon, or the house brand.
* Of course, if you have time and space, you can save money on
vegetables in the summer by gardening. Plenty of work, though.
* Eat up the leftovers. You can save them in the freezer and have a
bi-weekly "smorgasbord" night, you can send them to school or take them
to work for lunches, you can boil them up for soup, you can make them
over into another dish -- just don't let them grow fur in the
refrigerator, and then throw them away. That's money you're trashing!
* Here's where I get radical -- If things are seriously tight, cut
corners on everything you can think of *before* you cut the food
budget. Borrow videos from the library, instead of from Blockbuster.
Get rid of cable. Buy clothes at yard sales and thrift shops. Drive an
old beater and carry liability insurance only. Don't eat out. Get your
hair cut at the beauty school. Do whatever you have to do to free up
money to eat real food. Food is what you make yourself from, and what
your children are making themselves from; once you have a roof over your
heads, there is *no* expense more vital. The quality of your life and
your children's lives is directly dependent upon proper nutrition. No
matter how the family might whine and nag for the money to be spent
elsewhere, you are doing them a *huge* favor by feeding them as well as
you can possibly afford.
For all sorts of terrific ideas on ways to cut corners and save money, I
highly recommend _The Tightwad Gazette_, by Amy Dacyczyn. Compiled from
her (now-defunct) newsletter, The Tightwad Gazette, subtitled "Promoting
Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle" is a treasure trove of great
ideas on how to slash expenses, and is highly entertaining to boot.
However, I warn you, Amy Dacyczyn (aka The Frugal Zealot) pushes lots of
carbs and little meat as a way to save money. Ignore this advice! But
there is much wisdom to be gleaned here. If you're feeling truly
tightwaddy, you can borrow this book from your local library.
Personally, I purchased it after I'd renewed the library's copy three
times! There were originally three volumes, but there is now _The
Complete Tightwad Gazette_, compiled from the three. Save money and
shelf space both --
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375752250/lowcarbohysoluti
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Dana Chews On Her Foot!
Which, luckily, is low carb. ;-)
Last week in an article about the glycemic index, I suggested a book on
the topic called _The Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the
Glycemic Index -- The Groundbreaking Medical Discovery_, by
Thomas Wolever, MS. I mentioned that I had not actually read this book.
Turns out that an alert reader had. I got this email from Maggie Cosey:
I am in the process of reading The Glucose Revolution now and am most
of the way through with it. It did have a lot of good information on
food impact and how to combine low and high GI foods to come out with a
moderate meal. But!!! They are totally against low carb diet and insist
*at least* 50-60% of your diet should be carbs. They claim our body only
needs a very
small amount of protein and fat. They even recommended buying the
leanest hamburger, browning it, putting it in a colander , and pouring
boiling water over it to rinse out as much fat as possible. Yuck! They
really push potatoes (new potatoes are lower GI), rice (mostly brown,
but you should eat some white too for variety), corn and pasta (lots).
Any fat containing product
should be the lowest fat possible. Low fat or fat free cheese...
You get the picture.
As I said earlier, it did have some good information in it, if you can
keep from gagging on all the fat bashing.
Hope this helps.
Maggie
Geez. That's the last time I recommend a book without reading it first!
White rice for variety? You should throw in some highly processed,
virtually nutrient-free "food" for *variety*? And they call this a
nutrition book? The mind boggles.
Thank you, Maggie!
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Cruise!!! Cruise!!! Cruise!!!
Come cruise the Caribbean with me! You know you want to!! We're going
to have whole lot of fun, learn a lot, get away from *WINTER* (which
*is* coming, you know!), get rid of the holiday stress, get the New Year
off to a *great* start, sample new low carb products, learn way-cool
breathing exercises to accelerate metabolism -- all on an outrageously
luxurious and beautiful floating resort called the Carnival Victory, the
newest, largest, and most luxurious ship in the Carnival fleet! You
have to see this ship to believe it! And we're going to Mexico, Grand
Cayman, and Jamaica! How cool is *that*?!
So come meet me! Get an autographed preview copy of my second book!
Meet new low carb pals! Knock off another five pounds! And have a
*ball*! We sail on January 7th, 2001 (You'll want to be in Miami by the
evening of the 6th -- we can arrange that, too.) for a full week!
But you want to get your reservations in *now*. Why? Because just like
with airlines, you get a better rate with cruise lines if you *book in
advance*. At this point, we're moving toward the winter Caribbean
cruise season, and prices will only go up. So book now!! Your deposit
is fully refundable through October 15th, should anything untoward
happen. Check out all the details of the cruise at
http://www.holdthetoast.com/cruise.html .
C'mon, which would you rather be doing come the second week in January?
Shoveling snow? Or sailing blue waters with me and a whole bunch of low
carb diet pals?
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Product Review
More protein bars! Every time I turn around, there's a new brand of
protein bar!
The one I've tried most recently is the Doctor's Diet Low Carb Bar. The
label makes the claim "Rated #1 in Taste!", and I can believe that it's
true. These things taste good -- really very good. Nice texture, too,
moist. I tried three flavors for review. Two were among the most
common flavors for protein bars, the Chocolate Brownie and the
Chocolate Peanut Butter. My husband was crazy about the Chocolate
Peanut Butter bar -- we split one, and he appropriated the other! I
liked the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar too, but liked even better the
Chocolate Brownie flavor, which was well-nigh decadent. I split one
with a massage client who confessed he hadn't eaten anything all day (I
just *hate* it when people pass out from low blood sugar, don't you?).
This guy is *not* a low carb dieter, had never tried a protein bar, and
was skeptical. He was *very* impressed, saying several times how good
the bar tasted. There you go -- an unsolicited testimonial!
The third flavor of Doctor's Diet bar is one I've never seen before, and
is now my runaway favorite flavor of *any* protein bar: Chocolate Mint
Cookie. Yes, this thing really does taste like a Chocolate Mint Girl
Scout Cookie! Yum-*mee*!
The Doctor's Diet bars have under 3 g of carb apiece, and 19 grams of
protein apiece, enough to satisfy hunger for hours. They do contain
glycerin, as do virtually all low carb protein bars, for moistness.
Glycerin is sorta-kinda like a carb, and sorta-kinda not -- it barely
nudges blood sugar up, but on the other hand, it can refill glycogen
stores and cause water weight gain in some dieters. Since, as I say,
almost all low carb bars have glycerin, this doesn't really go against
these bars in particular -- it's just something to be aware of.
The bars also contain soy protein isolate as their largest ingredient.
This makes me nervous, since I don't trust soy. On the other hand, for
me protein bars are a now and then sort of a thing, rather than a day to
day staple of my diet. I doubt that anything I eat every couple of
weeks is likely to be a big problem. (Every time I mention I'm not
happy about soy, I get a bunch of emails asking why. It has to do with
problems soy causes with thyroid function, and suspicions of other
problems, including Alzheimer's disease. I wrote about this a few
months back, but a lot of you have joined us since then. I promise to
revisit the subject soon.)
There is also some partially hydrogenated oil listed on the label, and
hydrogenated oils are a Very Bad Thing. However, they only appear in
the chocolate coating of the bar, which means the total amount must be
quite small. I'm not sure it's enough that I'd sweat it in an
occasional snack.
Interestingly, the sweeteners in these bars vary. The chocolate mint
bar has maltitol (a polyol -- technically a carb, but one that your body
can't absorb; it causes no rise in blood sugar) and stevia, while the
chocolate brownie bar has maltitol and ace-K (acesulfame potassium.)
One sweetener they don't contain is aspartame, an advantage for those
who are avoiding it.
Overall, this is a *terrific* tasting low carb protein bar, and the
Chocolate Mint Cookie bar just might see you safe through Girl Scout
Cookie season! Still, I'd like to see them adjust the formula a bit,
perhaps using mixed protein powders instead of straight soy.
Check 'em out at http://www.carbsmart.com . (Carb Smart also carries my
book at a substantial discount. Tell Andrew I sent you!)
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Reader Review of _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_
Don't let the cover fool you! This book gets 10 stars!
I bought this book and read it in 2 days. It should
be a "must" have for any low-carb dieter. Dana
gives info on all the various low carb diets out
there, so you can choose which works for you. She
gives you a wealth of information that I didn't
find in the Heller's book or the Eades book. She tells
you what works and what doesn't.
I almost didn't buy this book because the cover
looked, well, weird. Never judge a book by its
cover! The inside flap has a wonderful before and
after shots of Dana, and she is quite pretty. The
book had cute little cartoon guys and girls that
made me smile.
If you're still in doubt, read through Amazon's
listing of her table of contents. Sounds interesting, doesn't
it? I almost gave up my low carb diet in spite of
the benefits because I was struggling with some
things- but Dana cleared up some things. Like I was
gnashing my teeth a lot, and Dana gave alot of
info on supplements (do not buy the store
multivitamin junk- not sufficent at all! ). I gnashed my teeth
because I was not getting the correct minerals and
vitamins. Read the book, find out more!
This book is awesome! I have lost 15 lbs in 2
months and this book will help me reach my goal, and
live happily ever after. What more could you ask
for?
Amy W., Michigan
You can read this and other reader reviews at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966883101/lowcarbohysoluti
And you can read the first chapter of _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and
Lost Forty Pounds!_ for FREE at http://www.holdthetoast.com ! You can
order the book through the order page on the website, through
Amazon.com, or -- and this is a *very good deal!* through Carb Smart, at
http://www.carbsmart.com .
If you'd like to order the book through a local bookstore, you should be
able to do so virtually anywhere in the USA -- just give them the title,
_How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_, and the ISBN
(0-9668831-0-1), and tell them it's available through Baker and Taylor
-- that's our wholesaler!
International readers, I'm afraid you'll have to order through the
internet, or by sending us a check or money order here at Hold the Toast
Press -- we don't have an international wholesaler yet. :-( But we've
shipped as far as Japan! We'd be happy to ship to you!
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Cool Featured Recipe!
A few weeks back, I published a very positive review of Diana Lee's book
_Baking Low Carb_. You all must have ordered it right away, because it
sold out! I got several distressed emails from readers who had found it
to be unavailable.
I've been in touch with Diana Lee, and she tells me the book is being
reprinted. Target date for the book to be available again is the end of
this month. I'll let you know as soon as it's available again!
In the meanwhile, Diana has kindly given me permission to publish a
couple of recipes, so I thought I'd do one this week, and another next
week. I really liked this recipe, especially the chocolate layer!!
Peanut Butter Brownies
Chocolate Layer:
5 tbls. butter
1/4 c. baking cocoa
2 eggs
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. Splenda
1 tsp. liquid sweetener (Sweet 'n Low)
3/4 c. vanilla whey protein powder
2 tbls. oat flour
2 tbl. baking powder
Melt butter and stir in cocoa. Add to eggs, water, heavy cream,
vanilla, Splenda, and sweetener; mix. Add whey protein powder, oat
flour, and baking powder and mix till moistened. Pour into a greased 8
inch pan.
Peanut Butter Topping:
1/4 c. natural peanut butter
3 tbl. butter
2 tbl. Splenda
1 egg
2 tbl. vanilla whey protein powder
Mix all ingredients together and spoon on top of brownie batter.
(Dana's note: In mine, this topping sinks to the bottom and becomes the
bottom layer, with the chocolate part on top.) Bake at 350 for 15
minutes. Do not overbake. Cut into 16 pieces.
This has 2.5 g. usable carb and 5 g protein per serving.
Thanks, Diana!!
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That's it for this week! See you next week!
Dana W. Carpender
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