Long but very interesting article about the whole concept of flavor-control diets, including Sensa and the Shangri-La Diet.

I'm such a big geek. I love this stuff.

I just saw That Nice Boy I Married off on a road trip; he'll be gone till Sunday evening. I packed him plenty of food, so he wouldn't have to spend time and money at fast food joints. What did I send? Keep in mind that TNBIM has never been fat, and can tolerate a little more carb than I can:

* Sandwiches on low carb bread -- two ham and cheese, two turkey and cheese, and two PB&J (natural peanut butter and low sugar jelly).

* Green peppers with blue cheese dip

* Bananas

* Oranges

* A can of mixed nuts

* Individually wrapped string cheeses

* Sparkling water

In response to yesterday's blog post, my friend Julee Dennis posted my Facebook wall with this simple question: Dana.... where do I find a great Christmas cookie recipe?

Here you go! This is the best cookie recipe I came up with last winter, and one of the best I've ever come up with.

Chocolate-Coconut-Pecan Cookie Bars

2/3 cup Almond Meal Plus (recipe below)
2/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder
1/4 cup splenda
1/4 cup erythritol -- or maltitol
1 stick butter -- softened
1 teaspoon molasses
1 tablespoon water
2/3 cup heavy cream

Here's another holiday survival tip: A good offense is the best defense. In other words, keep your own low carb, sugar free treats on hand.

Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish readers! It's time for the carb latke recipe again. Sorry I'm so late with it! Is it my imagination, or does Hanukkah shift around, like Easter? I would have sworn it was usually a little later than this.

I'm thinking I'll try an all-turnip latke. My turnip hash browns were so good, I have high hopes that turnip latkes would be a winner, too.

Anyway, have a great time, folks!

My experiment with the Shangri-La Diet has been interesting. At first, it worked exactly as Seth Roberts said -- I was simply less hungry. Facebook fans will recall that a couple of times I put back a chunk of my customary after-breakfast chocolate, because I just couldn't finish it. And I was having a really easy time keeping the cookbook weight off. Even went back to having a glass of wine most days.

Leftover pie gone? Good. Let's get on to how to defend ourselves, our health, and our waistlines from now until January 2nd. I'd like to recognize here that there are other wonderful holidays in December -- Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Festivus -- and I'll happily weigh in on any questions you have regarding the food traditions of those holidays. But here in the United States, at least, the cultural juggernaut is Christmas.

I gently gave Andrew a hard time for not telling me about his CyberMonday deals in advance, so he told me he'd extend them through Tuesday. Yay! Once again, just put in the coupon code "cyber," and you'll get the freebies and everything.

Short Ribs with Crimini and Wine

2 pounds beef short ribs -- better in a couple of big slabs than all cut apart
8 ounces crimini mushrooms (portobello would do, too)
1/2 onion
1 bay leaf
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon dry sherry

1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon tomato paste

Lay the short ribs on your broiler rack and slide them under a high flame, about 4-5" from the heat. Set your timer for 8 minutes.

I just found out CarbSmart is running CyberMonday deals. If you order by midnight and spend at least $50, you'll get a free bag of sugar free chocolate chips (complete with cookie recipe by yours truly) and a free sugar-free marshmallow or coconut Santa! Just use the coupon code "cyber" during checkout.

Go shop!

Enough holiday-weekending! Time to blog. Here are some notes on our low-carb Thanksgiving dinner:

* The Steviva company had kindly sent me samples of their sweeteners to try, so I used their Steviva Blend, a combination of erythritol and stevia, to sweeten my cranberry sauce. The results were quite good; I would be happy to do the same again. Keep in mind that Steviva is twice as sweet as table sugar or granular Splenda; I used 1/2 cup to 12 ounces of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of water, and a teaspoon of plain gelatin. Good stuff.

Did you see it this morning? The news that a combination of aerobic exercise and weight training controlled blood sugar in diabetics better than either form of exercise alone? Doesn't strike me as earth-shaking news -- take a walk, strengthen your muscles, your body will work better. Go figure.

But I just loved this quote from a doctor involved in the study: "It's clear that doing both aerobic and strength training is superior to either alone," said lead author Dr. Tim Church of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. "It's almost like taking two different drugs."

Here, for your perusal, are the carb counts of some Thanksgiving favorites. I confess to going with some commercial stuff, just because the nutrition facts were easily available:

Green bean casserole: 1/8th recipe, 11 g carb. Fiber figure not listed.

Cranberry jelly: about 2 tablespoons, 12 g carb, 0 fiber

Stovetop Stuffing, prepared according to package directions: 1/2 cup, 20 g carb, 1 g fiber

Pumpkin pie, made from Libby's recipe: 1/8 pie, 38.7 g, 2.7 g fiber

Mashed potatoes: 1 cup, 35 g carb, 3 g fiber

Okay, I'm cheaping out by linking to a New York Times article instead of writing something of my own. But wow, do you need to read this.

Amazing stuff. Long-story-short, a very strict ketogenic diet -- roughly 90% fat -- is often more effective than medication for treating intractable seizure disorders.

That Nice Boy I Married's friend Teresa asked him, regarding my articles on The Shangri-La Diet and intermittant fasting , why I don't just stick with a low carb diet? Seemed like a fair question.