My new journey

[Nidge76]

I eat a wide variety of tasty low carb veges, and berries too rather than try to include higher carb foods. I do stir fries, stews, curries, salads and don't need to be concerned about eating small portions except for peas and beans as I seem to extract more carbs from them than the listed amounts.

I do like a stir fry and curry I must admit. It will be a real challenge for me with regards to the carbs and at the moment I am feeling quite hungry more often.

Yesterday I ate 150g of carbs. It doesn't sound too bad to me, however, once my glucose monitor arrives I will be able to see how much this affects me. Also I am only on 1 tablet a day building up to 3 a day over the next 3 weeks.

 

[Leadinglights]

If you don't make your curries from individual spices then there a quite a few makes which are low carb, just check out the product label for total carbs. I have some where the sauce would work out a 5g per portion.
If you still want pasta try black bean or edamame bean pasta as it is much lower carb 15g/100g dry weight, I find cooking 25g dry wt per portion is adequate.

 

[Windy]

I can recommend getting jars of curry paste, rather than curry sauce as they have loads less carbs in them - I buy either supermarket own brand pastes, or Pataks, which have 7g of carbs per 100g (supermarket own brands are similar).
I make roasted broccoli or cauliflower by putting a spoon of curry paste in a lunch box with chopped up florets, then shake the box vigourously to get the paste over the florets. You could use a similar method for chicken/quorn/tofu etc.
Downside is that the previously white lunch box is a stunning shade of turmeric yellow!
Edit - @Leadinglights ' sauces are less carby than the jars of paste I buy, but I'm a tight-wad, and they work out cheaper as you only use a spoon or so each time.

 

[Drummer]

Try cauliflower cheese. I use frozen cauliflower, steamed until almost done, then heaped into a warm dish. Cover in cream cheese, sprinkle on any herb or spice you might like, then cover with grated cheese - I like Red Leicester, then place in the oven to melt and get a light tan - don't get it too hot as it can get VERY HOT!!!
Another thing you might like is cook and mash some swede - add in a little cream and an egg plus any left over cooked veges from the fridge, place in a frying pan after doing bacon or sausages and get the bottom of it brown, then place under the grill to do the top. If no veges then a topping of cheese is good. Better than bubble and squeak made with potato, in my opinion.
There is no need to be hungry when doing low carb.

 

[Drummer]

Ah. I never thought about those jars of sauce for curry - I always work with dry spices, warmed in oil before starting assembly. I make a really excellent curry, so I am told.

 

[Leadinglights]

I can recommend getting jars of curry paste, rather than curry sauce as they have loads less carbs in them - I buy either supermarket own brand pastes, or Pataks, which have 7g of carbs per 100g (supermarket own brands are similar).
I make roasted broccoli or cauliflower by putting a spoon of curry paste in a lunch box with chopped up florets, then shake the box vigourously to get the paste over the florets. You could use a similar method for chicken/quorn/tofu etc.
Downside is that the previously white lunch box is a stunning shade of turmeric yellow!
Edit - @Leadinglights ' sauces are less carby than the jars of paste I buy, but I'm a tight-wad, and they work out cheaper as you only use a spoon or so each time.

The curry sauces I discovered are Punjaban, one jar does 6 portions ( for us anyway), I buy from COSTCO and they work out less than £2 per jar.
Pataks are also brilliant and I do use their pastes as well and pickles.
Apparently the yellow colour from turmeric is destroyed by sunlight.

 

[Nidge76]

@Leadinglights I have a folder with lots of recipes that I have gathered together over the years. I like to make my Indian style curries from scratch using spices. A lot of these curries I should be able to have without issue on this new diet. I might have to give up the homemade cheese naan bread though!

I am going to the supermarket to have a look for these edamame/black bean pastas you speak of. They sound like a good option for me.

I also want to try cauliflower rice and cauliflower cheese. It sounds like there is some much more to eat than just carbs, I just need to go out there and find it all.

Thanks for the recommendations, it is very much appreciated.

@Drummer that mashed swede grilled sounds lovely. Definitely one to try.

Edit: Also, my glucose monitor has just arrived in the post, so that should help me a lot.

 

[trophywench]

It gets into the pores of plastic I reckon. Far better off using glazed crockery or metal eg a saucepan, enamel pie dish, a pasta bowl etc. Washes off under the hot tap, then!

Madhur Jaffray taught me nearly 50years ago to always dry 'fry' the individual spices, before you start adding ingredients - in any event it's the heating up of them first, which enables them to more easily release all their flavours to the food, so I'm not certain whether the use of oil/ghee etc makes any difference one way or the other.

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

My latest discovery is celeriac chips. boil celeriac chopped into chunky fingers for ten mins. Drain, pat dry.
Place on oven dish on foil and then drizzle with oil or duck fat, salt pepper and spice to taste - I like smoked paprika and garlic. Oven for 25-30 at 200 degrees. or there's this bake only option?


Celeriac home fries
Serves 3
1 celeriac, peeled and cut into chips
4-5 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed under a knife (but still in their skins)
A teaspoon of thyme, finely chopped
Salt & pepper
10 sprays of oil
Method
Preheat your oven to 200C/392F/Gas mark 6.
Put all the ingredients in a baking tray and spray with the oil. Shake and turn over in the oil until everything is well coated.
Bake in the over for 30-40 mins or so, or until crispy, turning and moving halfway through. Serve hot.
Nutritional information (per portion)
Calories 51 kcal
Fat 1g
Carbs 10g
Fibre 2g
Protein 2g
Sugar 2g

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I do like a stir fry and curry I must admit. It will be a real challenge for me with regards to the carbs and at the moment I am feeling quite hungry more often.

Yesterday I ate 150g of carbs. It doesn't sound too bad to me, however, once my glucose monitor arrives I will be able to see how much this affects me. Also I am only on 1 tablet a day building up to 3 a day over the next 3 weeks.

Several forum members find cauliflower ‘rice’ is a very good carrier for curries and stir fries - just grated head of a fresh cauliflower barely steamed so it retains bite.

You'd have to try it to see if it works for you - there are other folks here who don’t get in with it at all!

 

[Nidge76]

@Mrs Mimoo That sounds interesting, thank you for sharing.

@everydayupsanddowns I purchased a cauliflower today to try some cauliflower rice and I also found a cauliflower fritter recipe on this site which sounds rather tasty.

 

[Drummer]

I always wanted a use for the demi lune I have had for a long time, and found it ideal for chopping the cauliflower into small chunks after cooking. I don't make it as small as rice, but a lot smaller than the usual size.

 

[Nidge76]

I had some Chinese style curry in the freezer, so had that last night with some stir fried vegetables and made some cauliflower rice to go with it.

I chopped the heads off the stalk, put it in the food processor for a few seconds, then microwaved it for about 7 or 8 minutes.

So easy to do and it was rather nice I must say. I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

 

[Nidge76]

Unfortunately, had my first trip to A&E at the weekend.

Having been in touch with my Diabetes Nurse over the last couple of weeks since being diagnosed, out of the blue I had a phone call from her on Friday at about 4pm asking if I could pop down to do a urine sample to test my Ketone levels. I was also given some Ketone test strips and a glucose meter as the nurse wanted to keep tabs on it over the next week.

Anyway I did the ketone test and the nurse rang me back at 5.30pm advising me to go straight to A&E. The did some blood tests and found my ketone levels to be 1.8, then rising to 2.5. They put me on a drip and it went down to 0.8.

9 hours after I arrived at A&E they let me go home. My bloods have now been sent off to check if I am Type 1 or Type 2 as it is currently assumed I am Type 2.

I'm feeling a lot better now thankfully, but it was a very frightening weekend having only just found out less than 3 weeks ago I had Diabetes.

 

[harbottle]

Sorry to hear about your hospital trip, I hope you feel better soon. Interesting they called you in for a ketone test - I never had one and my hba1c was not far off yours.

Regarding food: I use a lot of Konjac noodles (They're great with stir fries) and also make Pilau Cauliflower rice and make curries using recipes and pre-mixed spices from 'The Spicery' in Bristol. Each recipe tells you which blend to use and how much and the results are absolutely delicious. There are four different blends. I find the cauliflower rice makes excellent Pilau rice! (I make the rice using a recipe in the Caldesi books, then use the Spicery recipe/spices).

I tend to be around 50-60g of carbs a day, and this seems to keep my BG within levels.

I've also got some edamane bean pasta which is pretty nice. I found it in ALDI, but they seem to have stopped stocking it now. That's the problem I find with that store - they have stuff in, then it goes.

 

[richardmillar11]

Unfortunately, had my first trip to A&E at the weekend.

Having been in touch with my Diabetes Nurse over the last couple of weeks since being diagnosed, out of the blue I had a phone call from her on Friday at about 4pm asking if I could pop down to do a urine sample to test my Ketone levels. I was also given some Ketone test strips and a glucose meter as the nurse wanted to keep tabs on it over the next week.

Anyway I did the ketone test and the nurse rang me back at 5.30pm advising me to go straight to A&E. The did some blood tests and found my ketone levels to be 1.8, then rising to 2.5. They put me on a drip and it went down to 0.8.

9 hours after I arrived at A&E they let me go home. My bloods have now been sent off to check if I am Type 1 or Type 2 as it is currently assumed I am Type 2.

I'm feeling a lot better now thankfully, but it was a very frightening weekend having only just found out less than 3 weeks ago I had Diabetes.

Not a nice experience Nigel. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Nidge76]

I haven't been on here much since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in February this year. After my trip to A&E and battling with coming to terms with being told I'm diabetic it has been a bit of a rollercoaster 3 months.

At 1 point I've was taking 2 X 40mg of Gliclazide and 4x 500mg of Metformin per day.

On the plus side I've been trying to change my diet for the better and felt like I was coping well. However, over the last month or so I've had virtually zero appetite and since January I've gone from 12st 12lbs to 11st 2lbs. I've felt absolutely exhausted most of the time so my diabetes nurse sent me for a blood test before reviewing my medicine.

As my review appointment wasn't for another 3 weeks and I felt awful nearly all of the time I took myself off the Metformin as I think that's it's responsible for my lack of appetite and therefore low energy levels. In the 4 days I've stopped the Metformin I've felt so much better and I'm eating sensible amounts of food again.

Anyway, the nurse rang me today to say my bloods came back normal and that my hba1c has gone down from 98 back in February to 39! She told me to stop all medication for a week and she would review my situation next Monday.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at the moment!

 

[Bloden]

Well done on the new A1c @Nidge76. That’s brilliant!

 

[harbottle]

I recommended this place for spices and recipes:

The Spicery

At the Spicery, we make cooking delicious world food accessible for everyone with our Legend Cookbook Kits, Easy Recipe Kits and Spice Box Subscriptions

www.thespicery.com

They sell pots of premade spice mixes and the recipes are just based on teaspoons of the different mix.

 

[Leadinglights]

I recommended this place for spices and recipes:

The Spicery

At the Spicery, we make cooking delicious world food accessible for everyone with our Legend Cookbook Kits, Easy Recipe Kits and Spice Box Subscriptions

www.thespicery.com

They sell pots of premade spice mixes and the recipes are just based on teaspoons of the different mix.

Two other good sources are Spicetice (a few shops stock them or on line) and Grapetree also good for nuts and seeds and all sorts of goodies.
GrapeTree has a few branches (Solihull and Rugby closest to me) or on line.