Snacks

[Jane16]

Hi everyone,

Just after a bit of food advice, moving along with the low carb diet as best I can , not doing bad but not going to lie I am finding it boring ( I have MS too so a not able to cook much for myself), also metformin is causing constipation so that is not great either.
I do ok with main meals but am finding it hard if I am hungry and want a shack, normally I would have had fruit or some crisps or a biscuit but of course all that is off limits now so my question is what do you guys do for a snack?
Thanks
Jane x

 

[Drummer]

To be honest, I only eat twice a day and don't eat snacks, as I never think about eating between meals, but if I were to go to my fridges - I have two, in the front fridge there would be bars of high cocoa chocolate, so I could have a square of that - sucked slowly they release their flavour wonderfully - but I have bags of prepared salad, radishes beetroot celery coleslaw, salad dressing (oil vinegar and herbs) sweet peppers, cucumber - so not a lot of preparation needed for a salad - there might also be hard boiled eggs - If I am doing some I put in half a dozen, same time cooking 6 as 2 - I have mozzarella cheese, Red Leicester cheese, and I keep a grater by the fridge with the cheese (I have two of them as well), and a bag of shelled walnuts so I can add in a few of them, and there are tins of tuna on the shelves there as well plus a bowl to collect anything to throw away to be picked up later on my way to the kitchen proper. I keep leftovers from dinner in the back fridge, and cooked meats too, so if I ever did need something to eat I'd not go short.
Another thought - I have a coffee percolator - well I have two, one to make the coffee and the other to heat it up as needed. A mug of good coffee with cream might be all you really need rather than something to eat.

 

[Jane16]

Thanks for replying Drummer, Sounds like we are very different lol I used to be like that, 2 meals only but that was when I ate carbs. Now they are nearly gone I am trying to eat three meals as healthy as possible, not sure a salad would do it for me as a snack, eggs nooooo already constipated, basically my problem is I want something nice and cant have it. I am still in that place where I look at cheese and think I need a bit of fruit with that , or a cracker etc I am going to get some good quality cooked sausages as that might be the way to go, but if I am honest I want cake, crisps and naughty snacks so I am a bit screwed really. I am quite determined and will stick to not eating the nice stuff but it is not bringing me any joy lol x

 

[Sally W]

How about making those snacks & healthy. I crave cakes much less than I used to but I make a chocolate aubergine cake or coffee & walnut occasionally & cut off slices and freeze. That way no temptation to overindulge. Dr Michael Mosley has the recipes

 

[Jane16]

Thanks Sally, luckily I am not an over indulger, had a pack of malteasers on my table for 6 months that I threw away when I got the good news that I had diabetes. I will have hunt around for recipes, need to be very quick and easy and not involve an oven for me tho as my MS prevents me cooking in the oven or standing for more than a few mins at a time, seeing my MS nurse tomorrow see if she has any ideas 🙂 x

How about making those snacks & healthy. I crave cakes much less than I used to but I make a chocolate aubergine cake or coffee & walnut occasionally & cut off slices and freeze. That way no temptation to overindulge. Dr Michael Mosley has the recipes

 

[Eddy Edson]

Almonds, walnuts, snow peas (mangetout) - my staples.

 

[Jane16]

Thanks Eddy, yep forgot I had nuts doh x

 

[Sally W]

Thanks Sally, luckily I am not an over indulger, had a pack of malteasers on my table for 6 months that I threw away when I got the good news that I had diabetes. I will have hunt around for recipes, need to be very quick and easy and not involve an oven for me tho as my MS prevents me cooking in the oven or standing for more than a few mins at a time, seeing my MS nurse tomorrow see if she has any ideas 🙂 x

Sorry yes shouldn’t have said that. What about Graze nut packets. I like the lime and chilli ones but Asda do their own version which is so much cheaper and I think it tastes the same. Or a pot of cottage cheese with a few walnuts? Such a shame supermarkets don’t cater well for diabetes as I find their protein bars contain more sugar & additive than chocolate.

 

[rebrascora]

Olives work for me. Lidl do packs of mixed olives with feta which I rather like. Also nuts. Lidl do large 200g bags of unsalted nuts for about £1.50. Brazils are the lowest carb I have found so far and I love them, but they also do mixed packs. I too love cheese and I no longer crave a biscuit or fruit with it although a quarter of a small apple with it cut into thin slices won't do you too much harm as the fat in the cheese will slow down the carbs in the apple. Save the rest for another day.
Veggie sticks and cheese and chive/sour cream dip also hits the spot for me. I tried hummus but it spikes me too much.
If I feel the need to be really naughty, then a packet of pork scratchings hits the spot but you have to be very disciplined not to be naughty too often.... and you need strong teeth!

 

[Jane16]

No need to apologise at all Sally , I do have some nuts in I forgot about them lol, you know what its like you get a sweet craving and nothing else seems to stand out . I am actually shocked that the supermarkets dont cater more for us its really bad. I ended up going for low carb toast with peanut butter and a little bit of diabetic jam in the end , gave me a sweet fix lol x

Sorry yes shouldn’t have said that. What about Graze nut packets. I like the lime and chilli ones but Asda do their own version which is so much cheaper and I think it tastes the same. Or a pot of cottage cheese with a few walnuts? Such a shame supermarkets don’t cater well for diabetes as I find their protein bars contain more sugar & additive than chocolate.

 

[Jane16]

Thank you Barbara
I m not an olive fan, but yes nuts are great, forgot I had some in, definitely love carrot sticks / mange tout and dip though, did try the pork scratchings but not a fan of those, going to order some beef jerky and see what that is like this week. Oh well I suppose it is an adventure discovering new tastes :~) x

Olives work for me. Lidl do packs of mixed olives with feta which I rather like. Also nuts. Lidl do large 200g bags of unsalted nuts for about £1.50. Brazils are the lowest carb I have found so far and I love them, but they also do mixed packs. I too love cheese and I no longer crave a biscuit or fruit with it although a quarter of a small apple with it cut into thin slices won't do you too much harm as the fat in the cheese will slow down the carbs in the apple. Save the rest for another day.
Veggie sticks and cheese and chive/sour cream dip also hits the spot for me. I tried hummus but it spikes me too much.
If I feel the need to be really naughty, then a packet of pork scratchings hits the spot but you have to be very disciplined not to be naughty too often.... and you need strong teeth!

 

[Drummer]

I find no problem at all buying what I need day to day.
The problem with eating sweet things is that you will not alter your sense of taste to accept less sweet things - it does happen.

 

[Jane16]

That's great Drummer would definitely prefer to do that but I have to order my shopping weekly as I am housebound, yep completely get that with the taste buds x

I find no problem at all buying what I need day to day.
The problem with eating sweet things is that you will not alter your sense of taste to accept less sweet things - it does happen.

 

[Drummer]

That's great Drummer would definitely prefer to do that but I have to order my shopping weekly as I am housebound, yep completely get that with the taste buds x

I'd have thought that Tesco would do deliveries...

 

[Jane16]

yes most of the supermarkets do these days, am I missing your point?

I'd have thought that Tesco would do deliveries...

 

[Drummer]

I was just puzzled when you wrote that supermarkets don't cater for diabetics - I get my shopping at the local supermarkets, since my local shops have all shut down - which is a great pity but people did not support them like I did.

 

[Jane16]

I see, I suppose what I meant was that there are not many low carb products, of course there are many foods that are suitable for diabetics , loads of meat , veg, salad etc available , I am new to all this
as you know so its a big change for me , I am used to being able to click anything I fancy get it delivered and eat it , I am now the check the ingredients, look at the carbs and dont click it queen lol x

I was just puzzled when you wrote that supermarkets don't cater for diabetics - I get my shopping at the local supermarkets, since my local shops have all shut down - which is a great pity but people did not support them like I did.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

My snacks are a couple of TUC biscuits (2.7g carbs each) and a chunk of cheese, or a handful of pecans (they are sweeter than other nuts and also lower carb so perfect when you want something sweet and your blood sugar is too high to have it), or a couple of squares of 85% cocoa plain dark chocolate. Or one Tic-tac (very sugary but the carb content of just one is minimal), if you are the sort of person who can stick to one and it will stop you eating something higher carb!

 

[DebbieC]

To be honest, I only eat twice a day and don't eat snacks, as I never think about eating between meals, but if I were to go to my fridges - I have two, in the front fridge there would be bars of high cocoa chocolate, so I could have a square of that - sucked slowly they release their flavour wonderfully - but I have bags of prepared salad, radishes beetroot celery coleslaw, salad dressing (oil vinegar and herbs) sweet peppers, cucumber - so not a lot of preparation needed for a salad - there might also be hard boiled eggs - If I am doing some I put in half a dozen, same time cooking 6 as 2 - I have mozzarella cheese, Red Leicester cheese, and I keep a grater by the fridge with the cheese (I have two of them as well), and a bag of shelled walnuts so I can add in a few of them, and there are tins of tuna on the shelves there as well plus a bowl to collect anything to throw away to be picked up later on my way to the kitchen proper. I keep leftovers from dinner in the back fridge, and cooked meats too, so if I ever did need something to eat I'd not go short.
Another thought - I have a coffee percolator - well I have two, one to make the coffee and the other to heat it up as needed. A mug of good coffee with cream might be all you really need rather than something to eat.

Hi that all sounds lovely and made me hungry ... just enquiring re coleslaw, is that shop bought as wasn’t sure that was ok for son when been studying labels in supermarkets (my new hobby)

 

[Drummer]

Yes - but avoid the low fat version, and maybe, if you go to different supermarkets, check if one is lower carb, or higher than the others. I find that there is variation is products which you'd think were pretty identical.
If I wanted to make my own I'd have enough for a month in each batch - but it doesn't keep for a month....