Dana's blog

Have you seen the infomercials for the new weight loss product Sensa? They make the all-too-familiar claim that you needn't change the way you eat -- simply use their product, eat whatever you like, and you will lose weight.

There is a new twist, however. Most products that make this claim are drugs of one sort or another. Some are thermogenics that speed up metabolism. Others are fat sequestrants that bind up fat in your gut, so that theoretically you absorb fewer calories. Still others are laxatives; this is the case with several of the weight loss teas on the market.

Low carb yeast bread. Oy. It can be done, but it's fluky, and while it won't jack your blood sugar around, I'm not sure it's good for you. More and more, I'm of the opinion that gluten isn't great for anyone, and wheat isn't really food, at least not for human beings. That said...

I still owe you more posts on strategy #2, especially on subbing for flour, but with my desktop computer at the doc's -- it has a nasty virus -- I'm stuck working at my dining room table, on my netbook, hardly ideal ergonomics. I figured I'd do something a tad less complex, before my back yells at me.

In the thread about The Origins Diet, this comment from Paul Abrinko appears:

I need to go hang out with That Nice Boy I Married, who today doubled as That Nice Township Board Candidate I Married, and watch the election returns. So I will leave you in capable, informed, and seriously funny hands: Tom Naughton, the man behind the brilliant and hilariousl documentary Fathead, a send-up and commentary on Morgan Spurlock's Super-Size Me.

Once again, due to my penchant for shopping used, I'm reviewing an older book. This one is The Origin Diet, which I found at the used book clearance sale at my beloved Monroe County Public Library. By Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD, and subtitled "How Eating Like Our Stone Age Ancestors Will Maximize Your Health," it looked worthwhile, especially at a sale where all hardcovers were running a big 50c.

Once again, due to my penchant for shopping used, I'm reviewing an older book. This one is The Origin Diet, which I found at the used book clearance sale at my beloved Monroe County Public Library. By Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD, and subtitled "How Eating Line Our Stone Age Ancestors Will Maximize Your Health," it looked promising, especially at a sale where all hardcovers were running a big 50c.

It’s Halloween weekend, and you know what that means: the holidays are straight ahead, and with them piles and piles of carby junk, and worse, people nagging you to eat the stuff. Why so many people think that saying things like “But you have to eat it! It’s traditional!” and “I worked all afternoon making it just for you” constitutes an expression of holiday goodwill, I have no idea, but sadly this behavior is all too common. You need to think ahead about how to respond to this sort of thing.

I created this dish to have the flavors of Buffalo Wings in a hot, creamy, low carb, high protein dip. I took it to my Toastmasters Club Halloween party, and it was a big hit.

Buffalo Wing Dip

1 pound cream cheese -- at room temperature
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
4 scallions -- minced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup minced cooked chicken
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce

Turn the slow cooker on to low, and put the cream cheese in it. Dump in the blue cheese, too.

Well, phoo. It's official: There is not a single darned low carb item on the menu at Taco Bell. Used to be that I could order a taco salad, hold the beans, double the chicken or beef, and simply not eat the shell. Wasn't a gourmet meal, but it was nutritionally acceptable, and tasted okay.

Baking is one of the most complex forms of cooking. It’s not like making chili or soup, where a quarter cup of chopped onion more or less, or an extra few ounces of ground beef won’t make a big difference. Baking has to be reasonably precise to work.

What do I use in place of flour?

Geez, does that question need clarifying. What are you planning to use the flour for? Thickening? Baking? Coating something before frying? There are different answers to the question depending on what you were planning to do with the flour.

I'm still feeling kinda punk from this cold, so this is going to be a short post. That Nice Boy I Married and I were eating leftover Orange Pork Chili, and it occurred to me I ought to tell you how I substitute for orange juice. Orange juice and orange juice concentrate are pretty common ingredients, but 1 cup of orange juice has 26 grams of carb, while the 1/3 cup orange juice concentrate called for in the original recipe from which I adapted would have had 36 grams of carb -- just not happening.

I wrote last weekend about going to a fundraising banquet, and the surprisingly low-carb friendly menu. That put me in mind of a conversation I had at the same annual banquet a couple of years back: I was talking to some of the folks at my table, and -- if I recall correctly -- said no, thanks, I didn't want any cake, I didn't eat sugar or flour. I got the usual "Oh, I could never give up sugar!" comments from the folks I was sharing a table with.

I owe you more posts about recipe substitutions, but I'm feeling thick-headed and stupid from the first cold I've had in two years -- plus the interesting cold medication I took to keep snot from running down my face while I type. So I thought I'd take an easier path, and answer a couple of question I got via Facebook, from reader Barbara Hirschfeld:

Dana, I bought your book and look forward to trying the recipes out. Tell me, is this diet a bit constipating? I used to eat bran cereal for breakfast, what do you recommend as a substitute that is low carb but does the trick? Thanks