Dana's blog

Passover starts the 20th, and the Passover Season has its own dietary rules and food traditions. Many Jewish folks who don't keep a kosher kitchen do observe the Passover laws, and of course we all have holiday food traditions that tug at our hearts. For those of us who also need to keep our carb load very low, finding the intersection of two separate sets of food restrictions can be daunting.

Kathy 1032 writes:

Three years ago as I was approaching my 50th birthday I was exercising and thanks to your book, about 20 pounds lighter than any other time in my adult life. I did your "diet" for about a year and then slowly slipped back into old habits. Now I am approaching 53 and want to get back there again. Have you written any new books, not cookbooks, and how has YOUR life been going since you wrote the one in 2003. I don't see any "contact us" spots on any of your web pages so I am trying this. Thanks.

?The Low Carb Garden

Hey, look! The days are getting longer! Spring is coming! For many of us, that means it’s time to start thinking about the vegetable garden. Especially if you like to start your own plants from seed, it’s not a moment too soon.

What to plant in a low carb garden? Let’s start with cool-weather crops, the ones that can be planted as soon as the soil is soft.

Have you seen the ads for Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats? They're pushing this highly processed, sugar-sweetened cereal as some near-medical marvel to improve your child's classroom performance. Talking sugar-frosted wheat biscuits insist that they're your child's "miniature focusizer," as they jump companionably into the book pack.

Now they've taken it a step further. Kellogg's ads state that "independent clinical research" shows that Frosted Mini-Wheats improve children's classroom focus by "nearly" 20%. Wow! Frosted with Ritalin, mebbe?

It's spring! It's spring!

?Yes, I know Easter hasn't happened yet. But I'm heading out of town to visit family, so I thought I'd post this in advance.

First things first: This is the voice of your conscience speaking. Easter is over. You can no longer justify eating leftover jelly beans and chocolate eggs by saying, “But it’s a holiday!” Cut that out!

Good. Glad we got that straight.

Here's an old article that's timely today -- even the right day of the week!

Here is is, Wednesday, and we're still getting great meals out of Sunday's early St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Monday night I made Corned Beef Hash, and boy, was it great! Here's how:

I chopped a medium onion, and started it sauteing in a tablespoon or so of butter, over low-medium heat -- used my big cast iron skillet.

March 16th, 2008

Breakfast:
3 eggs scrambled with sauteed green pepper, onion, and mushrooms

Lunch:
Curried chicken Waldorf salad

Snack:
Sugar free dark chocolate
1/2 cup yogurt with a tablespoon or so of Fiber One

Dinner:
Corned beef
Cabbage
Turnips

Beverages:
Tea
Dry red wine
Light beer (imperative with the corned beef and cabbage!)

Daily Totals: 1725 Calories; 95g Fat ; 86g Protein; 59g Carbohydrate; 18g Dietary Fiber; 41 grams usable carb

Under the What's in the Crockpot? thread, Sally wrote:

Yes, Rival, it really is a Crockpot, not just a slow cooker.

A reader called hummingbird asks:

i've just been researching whey low today and i came across an old article from you from 2005. it was interesting but obviously dated. i was/am very curious to know if you still feel the same way today as you did back then. in 2005 you didn't like whey low. what do you think today?

To refresh my memory I went to the Whey Low website and read the nutrition labels for Whey Low and Whey Low D, the blend they market for diabetics. I have to say, I am still unimpressed.

From the Learn Something New Every Day Files: While writing The Glycemic Load Cookbook, I learned something fascinating from Dr. Rob Thompson: Insulin has an "evil twin," a compound called amylin For every molecule of insulin the beta cells in your pancreas create, they also create a molecule of amylin. Your body can get rid of small quantities of amylin, but large quantities will build up in what Dr. Rob termed "sludge" and cause the beta cells to burn out and die.

March 4th, 2008

Somehow just didn't eat a lot yesterday. I had:

Breakfast:
3 fried eggs

Lunch:
Leftover roasted chicken leg-and-thigh

Snacks:
Sugar-free Dark Chocolate
Cheesy-Chicken and Broccoli soup

Dinner:
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Soup

Beverages:
Tea
Sparkling Water
Light Beer
Dry Red Wine

Daily totals: 1386 Calories; 73g Fat; 79g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber

It's truly nasty here in Southern Indiana today, cold and rainy with sleet expected. I had a fresh batch of chicken broth in the house, so soup seemed the perfect thing to make for supper. I heated 2 quarts of chicken broth while I grated a half-pound block of sharp cheddar. Once the broth was hot, I whisked the cheese in a little at a time, and at the time it seemed to melt. I then added a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced, and a 1 pound bag of frozen broccoli "cuts" and let the whole thing simmer.

Last week I got a killer deal on chicken -- legs and thighs for 48c/lb. Unsurprisingly, we've been eating a lot of chicken! So I just put some in the oven. Here's what I did:

Preheated my oven to 350. Salted and peppered four chicken leg-and-thigh quarters and laid them, skin side up, in a baking pan. Then I stirred together:

1/4 cup Smucker's low sugar apricot preserves
1 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

And spread this mixture all over the chicken. Now I'm roasting it, probably for about 75 minutes, but I'll go by how it looks.