[ThePunkHippie]

So I'm trying to manage my almost-diabetes by weight loss (because my doctor was more concerned with me losing weight than he was by what my blood sugar was reading, & the rest of my family with diabetes has managed to keep it under control just by losing weight).
I'm putting myself on a low carb diet, & making a note of everything I eat (& how many carbs is in it) in a planner.
My goal is around 150 carbs a day, & getting down to 100 a day by the end of the year. So far, I've been doing pretty well. But I'm getting frustrated

I marinated some chicken thighs & froze them, so I can pull one out when I'm hungry & it's a quick meal. My main problem is what to eat as a side dish.

I'm not that fond of cooked vegetables. I eat them, but I can't say I like them. I like raw, but have a hard time keeping them in the house all the time (& don't have the money to keep buying them when they get eaten up)
For the last month, I've been eating meat & veggies for pretty much all my meals, & I'm honestly getting tired of cooked veggies.

Tonight I just got so frustrated with it that I ended up eating 2 yogurt cups & 2 chicken thighs.

So what do you all eat for a low carb side dish? Even veggie recipes would be welcome, as I've just been heating them up & putting a bit of butter on them. I'm thinking maybe a sauce would help, although I am looking for other ideas too (if there are any... o_0)

Also, I forgot to mention - I took a wander down the biggest grocery store in town (Metro), & I can't find any low-carb pastas. I haven't been able to find low carb tortillas or pitas either (& I haven't looked for bread yet, but I don't have high hopes)
I live in Canada, so maybe it's just that I can't get these sorts of things up here (I know there's a LOT of diet-things in the US that aren't available in Canada)

 

[jwags]

Some low carb items are hard to find, I buy some of my products online at
Netrition.com - The Internet's Premier Nutrition Superstore! They sell 0 carb jams, sauces, bbq sauce, pancake syrup, and low carb crackers. As far as side dishes I use a lot of butternut squash, spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. You can cut them in cubes and roast them in the oven and puree them like mashed potatoes. You can do the same thing with cauliflower. I also slice up mushrooms and saute them in butter. I do a lot of salads with Avacado. I buy Eziekel sprouted grain bread which does have carbs but doesn't spike me too much so I can still have sandwiches. I have lost a lot of weight by eating low carb and eating real fat . Here is a link to a good low carb website. Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Home

 

[Shanny]

Two things that I keep made up nearly all the time are deviled eggs & cheese crisps, and either of them stand in sometimes as side dishes instead of snacks. The cheese crisps make good dippers with guacamolé, and other spreads like this one. (The little taco thingies mentioned in the salmon spread post are an easy salady side too), and if you like avocados, they make a good side either as guacamolé or alone with a dash of salt.

I also keep hot wings made up, about like you're doing with the chicken thighs . . . a coupla hot wings really fills me up & satisfies me, as either a snack or small meal.

In all honesty, I'm a little nonconformist when it comes to using certain foods for certain meals or courses . . . especially since being diabetic. I eat what I like when I like, and if I feel like hot wings for breakfast, then that's what I have. I often have guacamole & cheese crisps for breakfast. And if I feel like sausage or bacon & eggs for supper, that's what I have.

If thin buns are available anywhere near you (like Earthgrains or Arnold sandwich thins), they might be an option for your bread . . . I can eat half a multi-grain thin bun without a blip in my bg, and if I've not had much carbs at all for the day, I can use the entire bun with too much damage.

 

[Wink]

Be sure and test if you try the sweet potatoes - they spike me worse than white potato does. Melted cheddar with a little butter and cream makes a nice cheese sauce for veggies.
Grated cauliflower makes an excellent subsitute for rice in a cassarole or spanish rice type dish - I've never tried it as plain rice. Cauliflower also works mashed in a shepards pie. I didn't believe these would work, but they do.
I like to pan fry fresh asparagus with seasoned salt (I use bacon grease). I almost sear it then add a tablespoon or two of water so it's sorta steamed and fried both.
I also do ham and cream cheese roll ups as a side dish - like Shanny I'm not a stickler for which foods belong in which meals.

 

[Shanny]

TPH? Something that might make those cooked veggies a little more inviting is hollandaise . . . no carbs AT ALL, and it only takes a coupla spoonfuls to really dress up the veggies.

p.s. A lot of hollandaise recipes call for egg yolks only, but I've been making mine for years (decades! ) with the whole egg, and it turns out fine.

 

[MCS]

What we try to do most of the time, wife and I are both D T2, is buy a bunch of Brocholi, squash, zuchini, celery, peppers, onions, green beans, etc. When I get home I cut up all of the veggies, mix them together and put in giant zip lock bags.

Come dinner time I fry some type of meat, throw in a handful of the mixed veggies and fry until it reaches the tenderness you want. The key to this is the sauce. A-1 now makes a huge variety of sauces, I like the bold and spicey, wife likes the tery sauce. So we each get what we want.

I made for News Year Day lunch, Pork roast, collards, green beans, fried smoked hog jowls (really good), and grated up cauliflower, nuked it for several minutes, then poured heated black beans on it, added cumin, cheddar cheese and then baked for several minutes. Good.

 

[onaughmae]

Be sure and test if you try the sweet potatoes - they spike me worse than white potato does. Melted cheddar with a little butter and cream makes a nice cheese sauce for veggies.
Grated cauliflower makes an excellent subsitute for rice in a cassarole or spanish rice type dish - I've never tried it as plain rice. Cauliflower also works mashed in a shepards pie. I didn't believe these would work, but they do.
I like to pan fry fresh asparagus with seasoned salt (I use bacon grease). I almost sear it then add a tablespoon or two of water so it's sorta steamed and fried both.
I also do ham and cream cheese roll ups as a side dish - like Shanny I'm not a stickler for which foods belong in which meals.

cauliflower is one of my favorite things! I like to break it into florets, put it in a bowl, drizzle a small amount of olive oil (or the spray works just as well) and sprinkle liberally with Mrs. Dash seasoning...then roast in the oven at 425 until nice and brown. Positively addicting! I am embarrassed to say I can finish the entire cauliflower all by myself!

 

[foxl]

Me too ... EASILY! I was planning one for this evening in fact! I LOVE the roasted stuff! Esp. with GARLIC!!!