[Raindance]

All health food stores in my area have closed down, all I have are grocery stores and Walmart.

Question 1: I have been using Hellmann's real mayonnaise.
Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Water, Whole Eggs & Egg Yolks, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Natural Flavors, Calcium Disodium EDTA.

I looked into making my own but when I learned it separates in the fridge so you have to beat again, that's not the route I want to take. Is there another alternative for me, or are the above ingredients safe? Any and all opinions, even if they differ with one another, are welcome on both of these questions.

Question 2: I have tried making salad dressing from recipes twice. One was inedible, the other was so bland it was like having no dressing at all. DH and I looked for carbs on labels in the grocery store and ended up with Balsamic Vinegrette and Italian. We are forcing them down, but don't like either one. My favorite is Ranch, his is Thousand Island, we both like Catalina, but those have too many carbs, especially since he pours on the dressing, plus he has to eat lots of salad every day or I wouldn't be able to get many vegetables down him. Also, I don't know what is good or bad when it comes to ingredients on salad dressing bottles, so don't know what brand is best to use. What do I do now?

 

[moon]

I used to make mayonnaise years ago and don't recall any issues with separation in the frig. Mostly I stopped because I didn't use enough of it and it needs to be used within a few days. I'm not questioning it can be an issue, but not sure it has to be (maybe separation issues are when it runs on the thinner side?)

As for dressings, I use oil/vinegar or full fat blue cheese (refrigerated kind - a real treat I had eliminated from my diet after college!) - but I think you could find a dressing to make that you'd like.

This one got good reviews (since you like ranch):

Ranch Dressing II Recipe - Allrecipes.com

 

[Chesney]

Walden farms has a carb free mayo and salad dressings

 

[Shanny]

I use Hellman's Real Mayonnaise myself . . . I only buy it when it goes on sale because it's expensive, but then I buy several large jars. I also made my own mayo for years, but never had a problem with it separating. It is made with raw eggs & does need to be used in a pretty short time.

Here is my homemade version of creamy bleu cheese dip/dressing: http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-recipes/3462-quick-bleu-cheese-dip-dressing.html#post20628 I actually prefer this to the original Hidden Valley ranch made with dry mix & buttermilk, and finally put a note to myself to stop buying the ranch mix because I like this better! I go pretty light on the bleu cheese & it's fabulous!

Here is my homemade version of Dorothy Lynch dressing which is a sweet dressing a lot like french. http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-recipes/2963-dorothy-lynch-dressing-clone.html#post15739 My husband loves this stuff, and he's another one who drowns his salad in dressing - I've been tempted to serve his salad with a straw someday . . .

I also make my own thousand island by mixing mayonnaise with chili sauce, minced fresh onion & pickle relish . . . all to taste.

 

[beefy]

I use the Hellmann's mayo - I couldn't be bothered to make mayo myself, lol...

The label shows 0g of carb per serving, so the sugar content is obviously minimal.

I've NEVER had a spike when using it myself.

 

[jwags]

I either buy the Hellmans at Costco where it is cheaper or at Trader Joes. I only use it when I make chicken salad so I don;t use it a lot. As long as it doesn't have HFCS or sugar or any other sugar product I think you're ok.

 

[beefy]

You can make your own thousand island dressing in a couple of minutes, btw:

Recipe: Low-Carb Thousand Island Dressing

The above recipe includes things I always have in my house, so it's easy to make... I personally like it as a burger sauce as I prefer Caesar dressing for my salads...

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

All health food stores in my area have closed down, all I have are grocery stores and Walmart.

Question 1: I have been using Hellmann's real mayonnaise.
Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Water, Whole Eggs & Egg Yolks, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Natural Flavors, Calcium Disodium EDTA.

I looked into making my own but when I learned it separates in the fridge so you have to beat again, that's not the route I want to take. Is there another alternative for me, or are the above ingredients safe? Any and all opinions, even if they differ with one another, are welcome on both of these questions.

Question 2: I have tried making salad dressing from recipes twice. One was inedible, the other was so bland it was like having no dressing at all. DH and I looked for carbs on labels in the grocery store and ended up with Balsamic Vinegrette and Italian. We are forcing them down, but don't like either one. My favorite is Ranch, his is Thousand Island, we both like Catalina, but those have too many carbs, especially since he pours on the dressing, plus he has to eat lots of salad every day or I wouldn't be able to get many vegetables down him. Also, I don't know what is good or bad when it comes to ingredients on salad dressing bottles, so don't know what brand is best to use. What do I do now?

________________________________

Raindance, I am trying to come up with my own dressing as well. I thought, if I'm going to keep something around from my former life, it'll be my favorite dressing - Kraft Caesar Vinagrette. . . amazing. . .
The serving size is 2 tbsp - low carb, 2 g sugar I think. I figured that can't hurt too much. Then I looked at the label tonight and it includes high fructose corn syrup - don't know how I missed that. I generally slather it on my asparagus before cooking, but since I saw the label, I realized that must be what's spiking me after dinner. I tossed it out and I'm back to just vinegar right now. I'll be experimenting tomorrow and I'll let you know what I come up with.

 

[Scott2206]

I've recreated a few salads I use to buy pre packed from a store and have taken the things I didn't want out of the dressing such as added sugar and salt and it surprisingly tastes just as good if not better. I've done it with a few dressings now.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

i buy it in bulk at Sams Club. the big jar (64 oz maybe? its much bigger then you'd ever see at a supermarket) is only like $7 there.

 

[Raindance]

After much experimentation with negative results, I decided to go with the full carb ranch and thousand island salad dressings and try to 'dilute' them so they would have less carbs per tbsp. This is what I ended up with:

Kraft Buttermilk Ranch dressing & dip has 1 carb per tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ranch dressing & 1/4 cup mayo = .3 carbs per tbsp. - use as veggie dip.
add 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. low carb milk - use as salad dressing.

I did the same thing with Kraft Thousand Island dressing which has 2 carbs per tbsp. and after my additions, ended up with .6 carbs per tbsp.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

After much experimentation with negative results, I decided to go with the full carb ranch and thousand island salad dressings and try to 'dilute' them so they would have less carbs per tbsp. This is what I ended up with:

Kraft Buttermilk Ranch dressing & dip has 1 carb per tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ranch dressing & 1/4 cup mayo = .3 carbs per tbsp. - use as veggie dip.
add 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. low carb milk - use as salad dressing.

I did the same thing with Kraft Thousand Island dressing which has 2 carbs per tbsp. and after my additions, ended up with .6 carbs per tbsp.

_________________________________

Raindance,

I came up with a good thin salad dressing/marinade of my own. In a pan, I sautee a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, butter, water, and chopped garlic (I use the spice bottle kind, it melts in the pan), and let it simmer for about 5 minutes or so and then refrigerate it. No carbs and very spicy! Be careful with the commercial dressings because those small carbs do add up.

 

[Raindance]

You are right, bigrosiegreenbaum. I need to use a dip and salad dressing with no carbs. Since my husband was diagnosed, I have been driving myself crazy, almost every day trying new dip/dressing recipes. And the one I came up with in my last post wasn't all that great, either. I have come to the conclusion that I don't really like any of the ready-made salad dressings or dips out there, and same with home-made.

Today the problem was finally resolved. In a post where I asked what to stuff celery with, Shalynne said she dips them in chicken salad. I thought that would be too lumpy, but today I chopped the onion, dill pickle and celery in the food processor and chopped the egg real small, and it makes a dip we really do like. Plus I can stuff celery with it.

As for the dressing, I have one bottle I bought from Netrition to try, and if we don't like that, I'll just use mayonnaise as dressing. Thanks to all of you for your help.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

You are right, bigrosiegreenbaum. I need to use a dip and salad dressing with no carbs. Since my husband was diagnosed, I have been driving myself crazy, almost every day trying new dip/dressing recipes. And the one I came up with in my last post wasn't all that great, either. I have come to the conclusion that I don't really like any of the ready-made salad dressings or dips out there, and same with home-made.

Today the problem was finally resolved. In a post where I asked what to stuff celery with, Shalynne said she dips them in chicken salad. I thought that would be too lumpy, but today I chopped the onion, dill pickle and celery in the food processor and chopped the egg real small, and it makes a dip we really do like. Plus I can stuff celery with it.

As for the dressing, I have one bottle I bought from Netrition to try, and if we don't like that, I'll just use mayonnaise as dressing. Thanks to all of you for your help.

________________________________

Give my own recipe a shot, it's actually very tasty. I was going to order low-carb pancake mix from netrition (Maple Grove) but then I saw it has corn starch, and didn't want to chance spiking. When I can afford some whey protein, I'll try to make pancakes from scratch. I tell you, with each passing day and the growing frustration I have over the hidden carbs in these nutrition labels, I'm getting closer and closer to making everything I eat from scratch. No need to reward unethical companies with my dollars.

 

[Shanny]

I've reached the same conclusion as you two . . . my dressing/dip of choice is an equal mixture of mayo & sour cream, seasoned with the juice of diced or sliced jalapenos, a jar of which I always keep in the fridge. If I have bleu cheese on hand, I also include a few crumbles of that.

If one wanted to add bacon bits, celery seed, other seasonings like relish or chutney . . . I think the mayo/sour cream base is a very good starting place for many delicious concoctions!

 

[Raindance]

bigrosiegreenbaum, I don't bother with pancakes. I use a couple of slices of the 5 net carb bread and make french toast. Yummy.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

bigrosiegreenbaum, I don't bother with pancakes. I use a couple of slices of the 5 net carb bread and make french toast. Yummy.

____________________________________

You had to mention french toast to me I miss it, but I can't imagine having it without the tons of sugar I used to dump on top of it!

 

[Raindance]

Hey, no-carb syrup tastes great.

 

[Shanny]

You had to mention french toast to me I miss it, but I can't imagine having it without the tons of sugar I used to dump on top of it!

I've made French toast out of sprouted bread which doesn't spike me much. I sprinkle it with erythritol crystals & it's delicious! They're expensive, so I kinda hoard my little stash of erythritol, but they sure make French toast possible around here!

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Hey, no-carb syrup tastes great.

_________________________

It's not just carbs, remember - it's sugar and sugar alcohols as well. I had to return Maple Grove "sugar-free" syrup to the store today because even though it says 0g sugar on the label, the ingredients include corn starch and maltodextrin - two no-no's. Dr. Bernstein recommends Da Vinci syrup, so that must be truly sugar-free.