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Alternatives to the usual

Skydog76

Well-Known Member
Messages
133
Location
Millom, Cumbria
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Rap Music, Football, Rugby Union, Hipsters, The EU
I am currently struggling to find alternatives to Potatoes, Rice and Pasta when it comes to meals, i hardly eat any vegetables thanks to the nasty 1970s junior school dinners, i have managed to cut my bread intake down by 70% by switching to sandwich thins, now i'm wanting some good cheap alternatives for the tatters, rice and pasta, it has to be cheap as i am on a budget of £35 for 2 people a week, thanks
 
Good work so far, keep it up.
How well I remember school cabbage. You could never get away from the smell
However, that was then, and now we have diabetes and that won't go away either, so something has to give. In my case I had to get over my dislike of green things and there are some great recipes on here for making them taste good, like butter and a bit of salt on a properly-cooked savoy cabbage. All I can say is Yum.
Persevere and you'll be proud of what you can do
 
I hate crooked greens! I can't abide them , I loathe them.

However, the likes of baby leaf salad is brilliant as part of a really healthy salad. Hardly any carbs with your protein of choice and your blood glucose levels hardly move at all.
I've even started adding spinach (not cooked) to my meals for the Popeye effect!!!!!

You don't have to base your meals around carbs. You should be looking at protein in its many forms with vegetables as the basis of your meals..

You don't need the carbs except for the ones in veg.
 
Hello @Skydog76
rice = par cooked grated cauliflower (microwaved) use it like rice curries etc.
Potato = pumpkin and zucchini and mixed frozen veg (see what is in it tho)
Pasta = par cooked zucchin cut in strips (tastier than regular pasta)
Bread = these recipes are a dud and read more like a greasy omelete
Cake = substitute almond flour with a bit coconut flour for at least some of the wheat flour it will lack gluten so use Xanthan Gum or extra egg - coconut flour is made after they take the oil out so you can replace that oil with any cooking oil you like.
Cabbage = to kill the taste of cabbage par cook it then make a "gravy" from crushed baked beans to make a paste then add flavours and water. I flavour it with peanut butter ginger and garlic and a bit of sweetener and big mobs of curry powder. I alsp add cooked meat. I do it all in the microwave in a big dish with a lid. (delicious)
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@forge blimey I'm writing all that down, especially the cabbage thing. I made my own curry powder today to save time, and made a prawn curry & coconut soup. Nice. I bought some xanthan gum and look forward to experimenting with it. Thanks for the tips.
 
I'm liking the idea of the cauliflower rice, i might just try that next along with some sweet potatoes, i'm heavily overweight so need to keep away from anything high in fat so i'll keep away from the cheese pie for now.
Thanks
 
How about coconut flour pancakes? Make them thin then fill with minced beef mixture like you would make for cottage pie, top with cheese and grill. Or fill with salmon, spinach, white sauce? Haven't tried this myself yet - will experiment next week :0)
 
The coconut flour pancakes sound like a winner but coconut flour is a bit pricey for me at the moment, might try them in a couple of months, thinking of a low fat cheese and bacon filling with sage, garlic and chives, as for the zucchini pasta i think i'll be adding that to next weeks menu
 
Courgettes for lasagne. Great if you got space in a garden to gow your own. Huge amount grow on one plant!courgettes for spahetti too.
 
Not keen on cooked (or over cooked) vegs but nicely steamed then butter fried works every time, none steamed butter fried white cabbage is great. A great alternative when it's warmer is home made coleslaw.
 
Leeks for lasagne are good the hairy bikers have a great recipe for it. Large flat mushrooms grilled and patted dry make a great substitute for a burger bun, I often make these and they are great!

Celeriac slices instead of potatoes in a lamb hot pot great for this cold weather
 

Yes, have tried the bikers lasagne, made it slightly different and it was healthier, made 3 or 4 so far but giving it a rest for a few week so we don't get tired of it, i'm a big fan of pies and have been thinking of trying their dieters pie, have you tried that yet?, not sure on the mushrooms as i only like them sliced really thin, the Celeriac sounds interesting, never eaten it before has it got a similar taste to Celery?
 
Get yourself a julienne cutter (I got mine one Amazon) and do the thinly sliced courgette (zucchini) thing instead of pasta. I also eat a lot of mushrooms of all varieties. However, I do love greens and am not really missing pasta, potatoes or rice. I am missing bread though - big time!
 
Skydog76 said:
I'm liking the idea of the cauliflower rice, i might just try that next along with some sweet potatoes, i'm heavily overweight so need to keep away from anything high in fat so i'll keep away from the cheese pie for now.
Thanks
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If you lower your carbs enough, don't worry about the fats, that would be good fats like butter, coconut oil, lard, tallow and olive oil, ditch the bad fats like margarine, spreads and seed oils like sunflower oil. Bad fats cause inflammation in the body and main cause for cardio vascular disease.
 
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