Tag Archives: low carb foods

What should be on your low carb grocery list?: Defining “Good” vs. “Bad” Carbs

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From cookies to cakes, pizza to pasta, carbohydrates have become more foe than friend. But are all carbs bad, necessarily? Should we be shunning carbs all together in favor of meaty alternatives? The answer is plain and simple: no. In September 2002, the National Academies Institute of Medicine recommended that people focus on getting more good carbs with fiber into their diet. This report stated that, to meet the body’s daily nutritional needs while minimizing risk for chronic disease, “Adults should get 45% to 65% of their calories from carbohydrates, 20% to 35% from fat, and 10% to 35% from protein.” Additionally, WebMD cites the best sources of fiber as plant foods, like fruits and vegetables, which are “quality carbohydrates that are loaded with fiber.” Why do we need high-fiber carbs? “Studies show an increased risk for heart disease with low-fiber diets. There is also some evidence to suggest that fiber in the diet may also help to prevent colon cancer and promote weight control,” WebMD notifies us. Okay, so carbs aren’t that bad for you, as low-carb, ketosis-provoking diets would have us think. The trick is getting “good” carbs into our system, rather than munchin’ down “bad” carbs in cookies and cake.

What are “good” carbs?

Even if you’re trying to eat low carb meals, you still need to make sure you get the right amount of “good” carbs. So what are these mysterious “good” carbs, exactly? To find a good carb, look for foods that are full of fiber, like whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits. The fiber in fruits, veggies, and whole grains allows us to moderate our blood sugar levels and even lower cholesterol.

What are “bad” carbs?

Now that we’ve identified “good” carbs, the ones we should gravitate towards, what are the carbs that we should stay away from? “Bad” carbs include those like sugars, refined “white” grains, and foods with added sugars. When looking at food labels, try to steer clear of foods with white or brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar alcohol carbohydrates like actitol, mannitol, maltitol, sorbitol, and xylitol.

Instead of focusing on avoiding carbs all together, try putting plenty of fruits and vegetables on your low carb grocery list, implementing beans into your diet, and switching from white to whole grains. Additionally, try to beef up the amount of proteins on your low carb grocery list to avoid the dreaded “bad” carb cravings. Heathy proteins could include lean cuts of pork and beef, chicken, turkey, cuts of fish, and egg whites. Lean proteins will keep you fuller, so you’ll be less likely to reach for a chocolate chip cookie when your stomach starts to grumble. Next time you’re making your low carb grocery list keep these tips in mind, avoid bad carbs, and stock up on healthy proteins for a fail-proof diet.

Easy Meal Planning: Guide to Perishable Foods and Preventing Food Waste

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No one likes to see food waste away in the fridge. As we all know, food waste is considered a huge problem in America. A study in Tompkins Country, NY, showed that 40 % of food waste occurred in the home and another study by Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab found that 93% of respondents acknowledge buying foods they never use. Books have been written about it, research has been procured, and plans to convert our enormous amounts of wasted food into energy have been initiated–yet still, the average American wastes much of their food.

While letting food go to waste may be bad for the environment, it’s also bad for our wallets. When we throw a head of lettuce or some rotten apples in the garbage, we’re really throwing our money right into the dumpster. Instead of letting food rot in the fridge, gauge your easy meal planning based on the shelf-life or fridge-life of fruits and veggies. This will allow you to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to your grocery shopping and, most importantly, adequately meal plan. If you buy an extremely perishable vegetable, for example, you should put it in your meals at the beginning of the week, whereas veggies with more longevity can be eaten on the weekend.

Fruits and Veggies that You Should Eat First

These produce items are healthy and wonderful buys, but you should plan to put them in meals that occur at the beginning of the week. If you’re doing your grocery shopping on the weekend, for example, plan on serving or eating these fruits in the beginning of the week. Plan to eat these fruits and veggies straight out of the grocery cart, as they’ll perish in a heartbeat:

  • Artichokes: Great for making artichoke dips or even eating with a drizzle of olive oil straight off the grill, they’ll start tasting a bit funky after about five days.
  • Asparagus: Raw asparagus is best used within two to three days for maximum freshness.
  • Avocados: If you’ve already cut an avocado, take out the pit and rub the surface generously with lemon juice to prevent browning. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. The avocado probably won’t last any longer than 36 hours.
  • Bananas: Buy your bananas a bit green at the grocery story if you plan on using them later in the week. Don’t throw out your old bananas! Overripe bananas can be used to make banana breads, muffins, or even banana ice cream.
  • Basil: Wrap the ends of basil in a wet paper towel to keep them moist. Even with proper refrigeration and storage, basil won’t last any longer than 4-5 days.
  • Green beans: This versatile veggie with probably only last in your fridge for several days without getting a rather off-putting sticky film. Not attractive. Plan to make your green bean casserole at the beginning of the week to avoid this refrigerator mess.
  • Mushrooms: Mushrooms, like green beans, are going to get a bit slimy if they’re bad. Make your mushroom-cream sauces or throw sautéed mushrooms into an omelet but don’t keep ‘em past five days.
  • Strawberries: Alas, this vitamin C-filled treasure is extremely perishable, only lasting us about 6 days, at best. Make strawberries into ice cream to preserve them, whip up some strawberry jam, or just throw the bulk of them into a fruit smoothie before they go bad.

Fruits and Veggies with Longevity for Easy Meal Planning

Plan to use these fruits and veggies at the end of the week. They’ll taste just as good as when you bought them!

  • Apples: Apples last weeks and weeks. Store your apples in a crisper drawer of your fridge to retain maximum freshness. When they’re getting a little testy, slice them and make them into applesauce.
  • Oranges: Oranges will last you about 4 weeks, whether you store them at room temperature or in the fridge.
  • Blueberries: When you’re blueberries are getting to the point of questionability, you can freeze them on a cookie sheet, then put them into a Ziploc bag. Use your frozen blueberries as ice cubes for lemonade in the summers–they’ll last for six months or so. Fresh berries should be eaten within about 9 days.
  • Grapefruit: Grapefruit keeps for about 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Eat with plain sugar, throw it in a fruit salad, or make a grapefruit cocktail.
  • Lemons: The basic rule of thumb for lemons is that they’re fine until they don’t look fine (shriveled, moldy, or brown). Throw leftover lemons in your drinks for a kick of vitamin C. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!
  • Pears: Pears are great until they’re a bit yellow or soft. You’ll know that a pear is still good to eat when it has a great aroma and it’s barely tender.

Keep in mind that you can always get frozen veggies or canned fruits for your extremely perishable goods. When you’re drafting out your easy meal planning, make sure that you keep perishable produce in mind and plan from there. Knowing your food timelines will make easy meal planning easier than ever!

 

Low Carb Menu Plan

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Developing a low carb menu plan is an excellent decision for your health and well-being. If implemented correctly, a low carb diet plan can help you lose weight, give you more energy, decrease your blood pressure, and provide many other health benefits. Some medical professionals even believe that going low carb could reduce the risk for diabetes. These claims have been provoked by clinical studies, like one published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which showed that a low carb diet is the quickest way for diabetics to eliminate fatty buildups in the liver.

Adjusting to a low carb menu can be a challenge, especially if you are accustomed to eating bountiful amounts of pasta and bread. Don’t worry, cutting down on your carbs can be easier than you think. All you have to do is find substitutions for your every day high carb foods that are healthier and lower in carbohydrates.

Low Carb Substitutions for Your Low Carb Menu Plan

To kick off a low carb diet, try making a menu of an average lunch, dinner, and dessert, than replacing the high-carb foods with foods that are lower in carbs and healthier. Here are some ideas to help you in your substitutions:

  • Steak and Mashed Potatoes: If your menu has steak and mashed potatoes, you have lots of options to lower your carb count. You can use cauliflower or celery root in place of your potatoes, jazzing them up with a bit of butter, cheese, chives, or sour cream. If you like ketchup or BBQ sauces with your meats, you have to give ‘em up for something lower in carbs, like tartar sauce. There are also plenty of low carb steak and BBQ sauces out there, so check your labels when you hit the grocery store.
  • Chicken Fajitas: Any Mexican dish comes with countless flour tortillas, which are not only high in carbs, but cooked with lard. Skip the tortilla and try to find your own solution by skimming the web for low cal tortillas. There are some options online that are only about 3 g of carbs per tortilla. Top your tacos with salsa, pico de gallo, cilantro, and jalapenos. Pass on the rice and opt for a side salad instead.
  • Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches: When we’re on the go, sometimes we make the kids a PB&J, then whip one up for ourselves. However, with the high sugars in jelly and high carbs in all the ingredients, this isn’t the best meal for a mom or dad who’s trying to  reduce their carb intake. Substitute bread for apple slices and peanut butter for hazelnut butter, which is lower in carbs. Skip the jelly and call it a day!
  • Pasta dishes: With pasta dishes, you may feel like you’re out of luck, but simply ditch the noodles and replace with nutrient rich beans and veggies. You can make zucchini into a pasta-like formation, which tastes great with pesto. Shirataki noodles are almost completely fiber and have minimal amounts of carbs. Spaghetti squash looks almost exactly like the high carb stuff and makes for a great substitute.
  • Desserts: You may long for chocolate mousse pie, but you can get your sugar fix without all the carbs. Replace sugar with Stevia, a sweetener which has been reported safe by most health experts. Ricotta cheesecake with apples, an egg-white based angel food cake, and any nut-based dessert may be your best bets at getting a low(er) carb dessert.

Now that you have some healthy family recipes for your low carb menu, start meal planning and we’re sure you’ll hit your dietary and health goals in no time.