LoCarbolicious

Low Carb Cruise Photos

May 15, 2012

Just returned from having a great time on the low carb cruise. Highlights included finally meeting Jimmy Moore, who is simply one of the nicest, friendliest guys I have ever had the pleasure of meeting! (He’s also a talented karaoke singer as well as a whiz at the poker table!) I also heard from an impressive panel of speakers and made friends with a fantastic group of people (low carb, paleo, and generally health conscious people). Plus, there was lots of sun and fun.

It was great not having to cook for a whole week but still being able to eat healthily. So, here are some of the foods I got to try on the ship and off the ship…

1. Jamaican Jerk Chicken

And here’s the finished product…

I had this at the Pork Pit in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

2. Tender Roasted Prime Rib of Beef

This was from the dinner menu on the ship.

3. Chateaubriand

Again from the dinner menu on the ship. Chateaubriand is a thick cut of beef from the tenderloin. According to Wikipedia, it was created by a French chef named Chateaubriand, who worked with Napoleon and Louis XVIII.

4. Mexican Fish Tacos (Minus the Tortilla)

Luckily the fish was so tender and flavorful, I wasn’t even tempted to each the tortilla. This was at a quiet little restaurant in Cozumel, Mexico, called La Candela.

5. Spicy Mexican Salsa

This was also from La Candela in Cozumel, Mexico. The salsa was made from various peppers, garlic, and other spices. It was delicious.

6. 100% Dark Chocolate

We toured a small, family-run chocolate factory and learned about the entire chocolate-making process. Then we got to make some chocolate as well. Unlike most chocolates you buy in stores, the cacao beans used to make their chocolate were fermented. This gave them a great non-bitter flavor and made them taste good even with zero sugar! Unfortunately, they didn’t sell 100% chocolates, but when we told the owner we really wanted 100% chocolate with no-added sugar, he made 2 bars especially for us while we waited! Sadly, they don’t ship to the US yet.

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Vanilla Pound Cake: Grain Free and Sugar Free

May 3, 2012

I absolutely love all of Carolyn’s creations on All Day I Dream About Food. She has some amazingly delicious recipes and some even more amazing photos of her creations! If you’re hungry for desserts, then you should definitely check out her site – it will make your mouth water.

When I told Carolyn that I was grain-free (gluten-free) and low-carb, she suggested trying her almond crusted butter cake. Her recipe uses almond extract and is sweetened using erythritol, a sugar alcohol, and stevia. You can find that recipe here. I modified her recipe so that it wouldn’t contain any sugar alcohols (I also made it vanilla flavored). Instead, I’ve sweetened it with liquid sucralose (which contains fewer carbs than Splenda but is essentially the liquid version of Splenda).

This was a huge hit at a recent dinner party with a bunch of non-low-carbers! The little bit of protein powder in the recipe makes the texture soft and smooth – just like regular cake! Enjoy with a good cup of tea in the afternoon.

Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Louise

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 75 mins

Serves: 10

Vanilla grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, low-carb pound cake!

Ingredients

3 cups almond meal/flour (I’ve made the recipe using Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, which you can buy here (the recipe uses up pretty much a 16oz bag) and using my home-made almond flour, which is made by food processing raw almonds to create a coarse almond flour)
1/3 cup vanilla flavored whey protein powder (I love this vanilla ice-cream flavored one)
1.5 teaspoons baking powder (see this post if you want to eliminate the carbs in baking powder)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of butter, softened (I use the microwave for this)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (sugar-free)
3/4 cup sugar equivalent of liquid sucralose or other sweetener (I buy it from splendex.net)
1/2 cup almond milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.
Butter a loaf pan (9in by 5in).
Mix all the dry ingredients together.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and add in the eggs, one at a time. Add the sucralose and vanilla. Then add in the dry ingredients mix, followed by the almond milk. Beat well.
Pour the cake batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes (the cake will rise in the oven and the top should turn golden brown). Let the cake cool for a few minutes before flipping it out. Cut into slices when it’s completely cooled.

Calories: 307

Fat: 27

Saturated fat: 7

Carbohydrates: 8

Sugar: 1

Fiber: 4

Protein: 11

Cholesterol: 80mg

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Infographic: Low Carb Guru Guide

April 24, 2012

The low-carb universe is much more diverse than many dieters realize. Everyone wants to lose fat and be more healthy overall, but the specific recommendations can vary a lot from one low-carb guru to another.

Here is an infographic that I put together featuring some of my favorite “Low-Carb Superheroes.” (I obviously couldn’t include everyone). This is my first foray into the land of infographics, so let me know what you think in the comments below! Oh, and if you click on the infographic, a larger version will come up.

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Rosemary Thyme Roasted Vegetables Recipe

April 12, 2012

This is very healthy vegetable dish that tastes delicious and is easy to make. I modified it from a allrecipes.com recipe. You can change the sweet potato to an eggplant or some mushrooms if you want to lower the carbs.

Rosemary Thyme Roasted Vegetables Recipe

Recipe type: Side Dish

Author: Louise

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 4

A delicious and very simple roasted vegetables side dish with fresh herbs.

Ingredients

2 yellow squash, cubed
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cubed
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475F.
Mix together in a small bowl the thyme, rosemary, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, mix together all the vegetables with the mixture, so that all the vegetable pieces are well coated with the mixture.
Place in casserole dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the vegetables start turning brown. Stir every 10 minutes to prevent the vegetables from sticking to the casserole dish.

Calories: 138 Fat: 7 Saturated fat: 1 Carbohydrates: 15 Sugar: 10 Fiber: 4 Protein: 3 Cholesterol: 0

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

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Exercising – Hard Core Push Ups

April 6, 2012

How to do push ups without injuring your shoulders

Why I became interested in “Military-Style”
Push-Ups:

I grew up playing badminton, first at home with my parents and then more often and competitively in both high school and college. I only ever received coaching and training at an older age, which meant that I wasn’t particularly good at badminton and also that my form wasn’t very good. Over time, my bad form led to me developing shoulder injuries, mainly tendinitis in the rotator cuff of my right shoulder.

I gave up playing a few years ago, but the pain and discomfort still linger in many activities. I’ve tried Active Release Therapy with my local chiropractor (after reading about it in Tim Ferriss’ book, “4 Hour Body”), and the therapy (along with a cortisone shot) has definitely helped calm down the injury. After a year of pretty much doing nothing with my shoulder, the pain has subsided, and I have almost normal range of motion. However, the pain still comes back if I do certain exercises.

In particular, push ups give me problems – and no wonder since normal push ups often injure rotator cuffs in people without prior shoulder injuries!

As an alternative, my chiropractor suggested that I try “military-style” push-ups, which I want to share with you so that more people don’t injure their shoulders while doing pushups. (In fact, my cross-fit instructor also suggested that everyone do these instead of normal push-ups.) These push-ups also have an added benefit – they’re harder than normal push-ups, mostly because they rely on your arm muscles more than your chest! In effect, you get less injury with more of a work out….

How to do Military Style Push Ups: I was going to write a very detailed explanation, but I found the video above (on YouTube), and it explains the movement about as well as I could hope to.

The key is to keep your elbows tucked in close to your side (rather than out at right angles to your body). Your hands are generally directly under your shoulders.

The first time I tried these push ups, I nearly collapsed from doing just 5, because I was so unused to working out that part of my arms, so don’t be afraid to start with your knees on the floor or even doing the push ups against a wall. Just remember to tuck your elbows into your side, and your rotator cuffs will thank you!

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Now Eat This! New York Food Truck

March 30, 2012

I walked out of the subway this morning and found myself walking toward a food truck bearing the sign “healthy comfort food.” I’m always intrigued by anyone claiming to sell “healthy” foods, but most of the time, their idea of “healthy” falls quite a bit below my standards!

However, I am happy to say,the Now Eat This food truck is not only tasty but also reasonably healthy. That said, I do wish they would tell you the carb count along with the rest of the nutritional information.

MENU: The primary aim of their menu appears to be low calorie food with an emphasis on gluten free and sugar free. For example, you can get gluten free meatballs with penne pasta (349 calories), faux fried General Tso’s chicken (310 calories), or a cheesy turkey black bean enchilada with low carb tortilla (302 calories).

In addition, they also have one low carb option, which I went for: chicken & andouille jambalaya with no carb Shirataki rice (they do add black beans, which have carbs). This dish is pictured below. The meat was pretty decent quality and the sauce was tasty (with just a bit of spice). I was a bit worried about the Shirataki rice, but it actually tasted pretty good and soaked up the flavors well.

DRINKS: They sell only zero-calorie drinks, including iced tea, Zevia, and other calorie-free sodas.

THE STORY: The food truck was started by celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito (and I assume that’s his picture plastered across the truck). They also sell his cook book at the truck! Although this sounds like a blatant promotion for Rocco, I do appreciate the fact that 100% of the proceeds from the sales at the food truck go toward educating New York City schoolchildren about how to cook and what is healthy to eat.

WHERE TO FIND IT? If you’re in NYC, then the best way to find it is via facebook or twitter as the truck moves around from day to day. I found it today at 52nd and Lex. They are also now on Seamless, although I’m not positive what delivery radius they have.

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Perfect Scrambled Eggs??

March 30, 2012

Watch Gordon Ramsay make PERFECT scrambled eggs! I was able to recreate it myself (see photos below).

Ok, so you’re wondering what I could possibly say about scrambled eggs that you don’t already know! And two days ago, you would have been correct to wonder! But now that I’ve seen this video, I absolutely must share with you Gordon Ramsay’s PERFECT scrambled eggs.

If you think you already know how to make perfect scrambled eggs….think again! Apparently (according to Gordon Ramsay), even many of the most experienced chefs don’t know how to make good scrambled eggs! This is definitely not your typical scrambled eggs.

As you’ve probably heard before, the key is don’t overcook the eggs. But, this isn’t all that he does – with a few simple techniques, such as not whisking the eggs and not melting the butter prior to heating them, he creates scrambled eggs that are much creamier and much tastier.

I’ve tried to summarize the technique below, but I recommend you also watch the video (although ignore the part about bread if you’re on a low carb diet).

Who is Gordon Ramsay? For those of you unfamiliar with Gordon Ramsay, he is a fairly famous chef from Britain (there’s some good food in Britain, I promise!). He’s most famous in the US for the TV show, Hell’s Kitchen, in which he shouts and swears a lot (a lot!) in reaction to the mistakes made by aspiring chefs at the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant! I personally prefer the British TV show, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, where he visits various struggling restaurants and attempts to turn them around with varying degrees of success.

How to make PERFECT Scrambled Eggs:

Ingredients:

3 eggs (do not whisk! – this is very important!)
2 tablespoons of butter (unsalted)
1/2 tablespoon crème fraiche (or Crema Mexicana if you can’t find crème fraiche). I think the recipe also works without this ingredient, but it’s better with it.
2 teaspoons of finely chopped chives (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and a small amount of pepper

Directions:

Crack the eggs into a pot and and add the chunk of butter to the pot.
Put the pot onto medium heat and start stirring so that the eggs get broken up.
Keep stirring without stopping. After around 2 minutes, the chunk of butter will have melted.
Move the pot off the heat when you start to see some of the egg sticking a bit to the bottom of the pot. Keep stirring off the heat for about 10 seconds and then put it back on to the heat for another 20-30 seconds, but always keep stirring. Do this three or four times until you see that the mixture begins to become slightly more solid (but do not wait until it’s actually solid!).
Once the eggs have just begun to solidify, take the pot off the heat permanently. Quickly stir in the 1/2 tablespoon of crème fraiche (or Crema Mexicana) and the chives.
Lastly, season with salt and pepper.

How do the eggs taste? Delicious with a very creamy texture and taste. I also like how the chives add an extra dimension to the flavor. Can’t wait to try it with some smoked salmon like Gordon suggested in the video. Let me know how you like it!

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Crackers

March 25, 2012

I saw a great recipe on Mark’s Daily Apple yesterday that I just had to try – crackers! You can dip them, spread cheese on them, or eat them by themselves. Of course, as Mark points out in his post, this is not something you should be eating for every meal just because it tastes so good, but it does make a great snack once in a while.

I’ve modified the recipe a little so that it’s not so crumbly, which makes it a bit easier to cut and cook. I substituted part of the almond meal for flax meal. This also adds some extra fiber to the cracker without really changing the taste or the texture. I’ve described the basic recipe below along with one option for seasoning, but you can change the seasoning to any spices that tickle your fancy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of almond flour (or almonds food-processed into small chunks)
1/2 cup of flax meal
1 egg
2 tablespoons of olive oil (I love the Columela Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain because it just has amazing flavor with everything!)
seasoning: (3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon basil. 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon onion flakes, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
Place all the ingredients into the food processor and food process well to make a dough.
Shape dough into a log (as shown in the photo below) or roll into a flat sheet using tin foil or parchment paper.
Place in fridge for 10 minutes to harden the dough.
If you made it into a log, then cut into thin slices (1/3 of an inch). If you rolled it into and then cut into cracker shapes using a pizza cutter or knife).
Place crackers onto baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Let cool and store in the fridge over night (this hardens them even more).

Nutritional information (per cracker): 76 calories, 6.7g fat, 2.6g carb (1.7g fiber), 2.7g protein.

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Review: Steve’s Original Grass-Fed Just Jerky

March 20, 2012

You might think that all dried beef would taste the same, but you’d be wrong. I’ve tried quite a few different jerkies now, and this is probably my favorite. (I say probably, because I also think Angelo’s Turkey Jerky is amazing.) The jerky in question is made by a company that specializes in Paleo food, but this grass-fed beef jerky is suitable for all low carb diets. In fact, it’s so good, you don’t need to be on a diet to enjoy it!

So, I rate jerky in 4 categories:

1) How soft is it? I hate jerky that I have to dislocate my jaw to enjoy, so a softer (but still chewy) jerky scores higher. This jerky is vacuum packed with a very small amount of marinade, which keeps the jerky slightly moister than most jerkies.

2) How flavorful is it? Although I like the taste of beef, it gets a bit boring, so I like my jerky to be full of other flavors! This jerky is marinated with sea salt, apple juice concentrate, paprika, pineapple juice concentrate, beef powder, black pepper, garlic powder, and ascorbic acid. Don’t be scared about the fruit juice ingredients because they’re in such small amounts that they add in negligible amounts of sugar or carbs per 2.5 oz (71g) serving. The marinade has a bit of a tangy sweet flavor to it. You can also taste the pepper along with a little bit of a kick from the paprika.

3) How carb-free and sugar-free is it? Some jerky taste really good because they’re marinated in a LOT of sugar! This one contains some fruit juices, but overall, its carb and sugar contents are both ZERO (for 1 serving).

4) Other advantages or disadvantages? On the plus-side, it’s made from grass-fed beef, which is slightly healthier and in my opinion, often tastes better than grain-fed beef. On the other hand, it’s a bit messy to eat, because it’s rather juicy and makes your fingers sticky.

Final Verdict: 9/10 (I have to save the top score in case something else even more amazing comes along!)

Where can you buy it? You can buy the grass-fed jerky I from Steve’s Original’s own website.
They sell 5 of the 2.5oz packs for $28.75 (i.e. $5.75 per pack). They also have a non-grass-fed jerky, which costs $23.75 for 5 2.5oz packs. Shipping is extra (shipping to New York is $6.62 for UPS Ground 2-7 days, and I expect it might be more to other states since they’re shipping from New Jersey). They also ship to some other countries.

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Baking Soda Vs. Baking Powder–Is There a Difference?

March 11, 2012

If you’ve ever baked normal (full of carbs) cookies, cakes, or breads, then you have probably used baking soda or baking powder. You might also have come across cream of tartar perhaps. These are all common ingredients that you can find in the baking section of most grocery stores. For a long time, I thought baking soda and baking powder were the same thing and could be used interchangeably. I don’t really know why I thought such a thing – but it does explain why I wasn’t particularly good at baking before!

What is Baking Powder? This is usually a combination of baking soda with an acidic agent (such as cream of tartar, which is described below) along with some other ingredients, such as cornstarch. Baking powder produces carbon dioxide bubbles, which expand in the oven (due to the heat) so that your baked goods will rise and become light and soft. Baking powder can come in two versions: single-acting and double-acting. Single-acting means that as soon as you add the powder to anything wet, it’ll start giving off carbon dioxide bubbles, so you’ll need to put your mixture into the oven quickly to avoid running out of bubbles. Double-acting means that although some of the bubbles are released when you first add the powder to your mixture, most of the bubbles will come out when the mixture heats up in the oven. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about leaving your mixture out for too long when it comes to double-acting powder.

Why is Baking Powder Problematic on a Low Carb Diet? Many low carb diets discourage cornstarch or any other type of starch, but this is unfortunately an ingredient in most brands of baking powder. The starch doesn’t actually add much to the cooking, but it does stop the baking powder from getting moist and clumping together. So, while the baking powder states that it contains less than 1g of carb, you should remember that its serving size is 1/8 of a teaspoon and most recipes call for at least a teaspoon or more (there are 2g of carbs per teaspoon of baking powder). If you’re not super strict on your low carb diet, then a teaspoon of baking powder is not going to be a problem. However, if you’re really counting every carb, then you can make your own starch-free low carb baking powder by using cream of tartar and baking soda combined. A simple recipe for making baking powder is below, but first let me briefly explain what baking soda and cream of tartar are.

What is Baking Soda? It’s 100% sodium bicarbonate, which reacts with anything acidic in your baking mixture to produce carbon dioxide bubbles. These bubbles will start forming as soon as the baking soda touches the acidic ingredients, so you need to bake your mixture fast (otherwise, the bubbles will die out).

What is cream of tartar? This is a white powder (potassium hydrogen tartrate) that is an acidic salt. It’s occurs naturally as one of the by-products of wine-making. It has many uses in foods, the most well-known of which is stabilizing beaten egg whites. Other uses include giving icing and meringue a creamy texture (hence its name I assume) and reducing discoloration of vegetables when boiled. For low carb dieters, it has another use. When added to baking soda, it makes a carb-less baking powder that works just as well as normal baking powder! There have been some health concerns about cream of tartar. First, it is high in potassium, which can be problematic for people with kidney disease or taking medications that prevent the kidney from getting rid of the potassium effectively. When taken in large amounts, cream of tartar can also be a laxative. However, the amount used in normal cooking is generally not a problem.

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