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Stunning Carb Levels

Listlad

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Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I just wanted to upload a couple of photos of some figures that stunned me a bit yesterday.

One for a packet of Swharz Spaghetti Bolognese mix. The mix only! 53 grams per serving just in the mix.



And one for a Morrison’s wrap. Just one wrap is 34 grams of carbs for just one wrap.



I thought the wrap would be a lot lower and was stunned but the level of carbs in the Scwarz mix.
 

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Oh yes indeed. I hope you left them on the shelves. This is why it is so important to read labels before you buy. Also worthy of note is the serving size - could be a lot less than you imagine.
 
If you lived in a cave and couldn’t have killed it, picked it or made it, asume the worst.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Oh yes indeed. I hope you left them on the shelves. This is why it is so important to read labels before you buy. Also worthy of note is the serving size - could be a lot less than you imagine.
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With the wraps, my wife put them in the trolley. I assumed they would be low in carbs owing to thinness.

With the mix, I cook for all of us and usually try and knock something together quickly owing to time constraints. Again I would never have thought a packet of such a mix would be so high in carbs.

You are obviously correct. Read the ingredients first.
 
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Get used to being stunned! Make sure you read all the ingredients, you don't want anything ending in ose.
 
My flabber was so ghasted by the spag bol mix, I had to check the ingredients and my flabber is now uber-ghasted .
It is a long time since I made spag bol but it is one of my boyfriend's go to meals (and he doesn't like cooking complicated stuff). His recipe includes beef, tomatoes, one carrot and some oregano. He says it's the best!
No sign (or need for) flour, potato starch, sugar or even onion.

And you can keep it lowish carb (obviously there are carbs on the toms and carrots) by substituting the pasta with some zoodles.

As those annoying meerkats would say "Simples"
 
No I cannot cook either.

I need to also train my wife up to. It’s even more confusing for her. She traditionally adds sugar to spaghetti bolognese so we are making progress.
 
Listlad said:
She traditionally adds sugar to spaghetti bolognese so we are making progress.
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Tinned tomatoes often taste a bit sharp. Hence it is common to add a teaspoon of sugar.
My boyfriend only recently swapped the sugar for a carrot. It adds the sweetness plus some texture (and some fibre). But it still contains carbs. He does not have diabetes so he does not have to worry about the carbs - just the flavour and, for him, the amount of salt.
 
You have to cook separately though? Or rather cook two seperate meals at the same time?
 
Listlad said:
You have to cook separately though? Or rather cook two seperate meals at the same time?
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Most of the time we cook together.
However, our situation is not the same as yours - I do not eat a low carb diet as, having type 1 diabetes, I treat it with insulin.
We do have different tastes, though - I do not eat meat. My boyfriend gets his meat fix when he is at work or when I am out and he has to cook for himself.
 
My general rule of thumb is if my granny wouldn't recognise it then don't eat it. Mind you, my granny wouldn't have recognised spag bol!
 
johnsimon said:
That's why I always urge people to stay away from processed foods. Otherwise, always get ready to be stunned.
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I totally agree. In an ideal world where we have a lot of free time then cooking from scratch using only unprocessed ingredients is the thing to aim for.
 
With regard to the packet mixes I now try and look for the real things in the ingredients lists on the packet and add them to the main ingredients.

So for this stew one which is 58.3/100g carbs (don’t have a spag Bol one ) I’d take the onion, carrots, beef, extra water and Tom purée and add paprika salt, onion salt, garlic, parsley if I had it same with celery seed, and pepper when I would have added the packet and follow the recipe. I might use a little almond flour eg a tbsp to mimic the starches I’ve ditched or a little xanthum gum to thicken it. I often take a pic of the back of the packets like this to act as a recipe. It doesn’t take much longer, especially with a little practice. Don’t forget if it’s at the bottom of the list there’s probably not much of it so I skip ingredients quite freely or sub something I think is similar all the time.
 
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