Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Healthy Foods: How to Do Healthy and Low Carb

by Leanne Ely

Say "low carb" and immediately visions of steak and eggs dance in your heads. Folks somehow have this notion that your mouth will never again chomp into a sandwich or that your diet will devoid on anything fiber-filled.
Phooey, I say! It doesn't have to be that way. You can have your low carb and get fiber too! Here's how.

There is a simple math equation that you need to do to understand how this works. Fiber is a non-nutritive substance that aids in digestion. It isn't processed in your body like say, a donut would be (which is completely fiberless and filled to overflowing with sugar). Donuts, when eaten in any kind of quantity, will tend to grow you a rather large posterior. While fiber, eaten in any kind of quantity, will improve your digestion without getting you fat.

Take vegetables for example. Potatoes, corn and a few others aren't going to be too low carb friendly, but check out my friend broccoli. With a carb count of 1.9 grams per 1/2 serving, the fiber content is 1.1 grams. That means the net carb value is only 0.8. Not too shabby!

Artichoke hearts have 7.8 grams of carbs per 1/2 cup and yet the fiber count is 6 grams. It's easy to see why donuts do what they do now, isn't it?

Fiber is also easily obtained through certain seeds like flax and flaxmeal, which makes a great hot cereal. As a matter of fact, 1/4 cup of flaxmeal hot cereal has 13 grams of carbs, but 6 grams of fiber for a net carb count of 7 grams. Compared to the same amount of oatmeal with 18 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber for a net carb count of 15 grams. See the difference?

So I ask you? CAN you do a low carb diet and still get in the fiber you need! You bet-you just might have to do it a little differently! Here's a low carb recipe from our Low Carb Menu-Mailer:

Chicken with a Ginger Cream Sauce
Serves 4
(*this recipe got absolute RAVE reviews!)

4    (6-oz.) boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pound to 1/4 inch,       if necessary
2    teaspoons butter
      Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2    tablespoons white wine (or use white grape juice with a splash of       vinegar - higher carb count this way)
2    tablespoons fresh lime juice
1    teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/8    teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2    cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2    cup half and half

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, melt butter. Season chicken with salt and pepper and saute quickly, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm.

Add wine (or juice/vinegar) and lime juice to pan; deglaze the pan using a wire whisk and working quickly. Bring it to a boil; now add the chicken broth, half and half, ginger and cayenne. LOWER heat immediately (or sauce will break) and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. When sauce has reduced and thickened, taste it and correct the seasoning, if necessary.

Serve chicken with sauce over the top.

Per Serving: 257 Calories; 8g Fat; 42g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 115mg Cholesterol; 252mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat. Points: 6

Hip Tips

Healthy tip my son came up with: My son and his wife are divorced. She is a meat and potatoes eater, and doesn't comprehend the need for healthy eating. Consequently, their children do not like eating vegetables. Their mom serves them a lot of chicken nuggets and bread or fries, so convincing them to eat fresh fruits and vegetables is very challenging on weekends when dad has the kids. He was desperate to get them to eat better when he hit on the idea of making pancakes with sweet potatoes and carrots inside. Then he created low fat turkey meatloaf "cupcakes" frosted in whipped potatoes and decorated with ketchup. The kids love them and daddy feels like he has made a major step in helping his kids consume healthier foods.  


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