My daughter cooks gluten free. She is only 22,so she was just beginning to cook when she discovered gluten was the problem. To complicate things, she is also vegetarian and allergic to soy :(

She got a good GF cookbook and started trying out the recipes, step by step. Hearty salads with roasted vegetables involve learning to roast or grill, making a dressing, learning about what makes a complete meal, etc. she makes all kinds of "burgers, balls and loaves" from lentils, beans,veg and eggs (and different seasonings) then makes sauces for dipping or spreading. Just between these 2 things ( loaves and salads) she can make a wide variety of meals.

she has learned a lot about cooking -and is now branching out to baking a little (baking is a whole different challenge).

I used this one http://www.epicurious.com/articlesgui...

I found Samuelsson's recipes for the spiced butter and the berbere spice mix online too. I can't find the place where they were all listed together, but this is the doro wett recipe I used from his The Soul of a New Cuisine book and and it is different from the one Fowler referenced.

Tonight was marcus samuelsson doro wett. It was really delicious. I served it American style : starter was blanched blanched Brussels sprout leaves with feta and strawberries, drizzled with lavender balsamic and lemon juice and olive oil....spray of pink salt over the whole thing.
The doro wett was MS original recipe. Really great flavor. I cooked some carb nada noodles and served them aside the chicken. Worth the prep. Really. Very unique flavors.

They are worth it.

I use those a lot too.
I also just discovered one store in my area had the same but in white soy beans too. I used half the can of white ones for chicken chili and the other half for a Tuscan style white bean spread. I typically would use cannellini beans for those things, but these were an excellent-not just good- substitution.

Traitor ;)

You are being "jumped in" here...in the hood....pretty quickly :D

That gave me a good laugh!

I am a Le Creuset junkie and I always think of that too!

Me too. I have been cooking from the online recipes by Samuelson lately and really enjoying his style. burma also looks tempting. I don't own any book nominated though. I really ...shouldn't.....buy any more books!

Pork rinds are very "old school" Atkins for adding crunch without the carb. They really do hit the spot for occasional chip substitutes though and they are hard not to like with a dip beside them!

You don't need to be afraid of dips using cottage cheese, mayo, sour cream, yogurt, tahini, oils, etc and mixing these things together with lots of YOUR favorite ingredients ( bacon, avacado, garlic, red peppers, nuts, herbs, spices). Be creative.

You might mix up a few nice dips to keep in the fridge and have some LC chips and pork rinds around. When you feel snarky and punished :) you can munch on something tasty and cheer yourself up!

You can bake LC tortillas in the oven for chips to use with salsa or guac.....I like mine brushed with a tiny bit of olive oil and salted.

I thought about that before but there has not been a lot of participation on anything in special diets yet.

We could try it. I would participate. I think they tried it in the vegatarian section and I am not sure it worked out really well.

Taco salad...and some alcohol :)

Long week.

Oh, there are several of us on the WFD threads that are "low carbers". Not diabetics, but might give some daily inspiration of what and how to cook things (low carb) you might not have thought of.

After a bit, you get pretty good at "adapting" recipes for LC, but if you are not used to it, it can feel overwhelming or tedious to always be thinking about it.
Come on over! :)

I am with you on that!

But, if your goal is to not be on meds.....maybe you can reach your goal and then you can have your wine :)

Like a carrot on a string!

Don't cry :(

I am going home to make Taco salad.....who doesn't love taco salad???? Who????

Ground beef and taco spices, grated cheddar cheese, avocado, salsa, sour cream (or fage, or cottage cheese), maybe some pickled jalapeno....I bought some low carb chips...maybe I shall have some for crunch! Or make a LC tortilla with more cheese for a quesadilla? I dunno. I feel hungry,cheesy and lazy. It is Friday and there are very few carbs, calories or bad things in alcohol...so, heck... I am happy about that too! :D

You can do this, really. Don't get discouraged.

I am a fan of Tabata training and I am in my 50's.

If you are checking out Primal, this site is great:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz2...

Mark is also in his 50's and this site is a great resource for healthy food choices, education and discussions about fitness and goals. This is not a "diabetic" site, but a Primal site. Easy enough to tweak anything there to meet your needs.

The OP did not mention it. I did, and grampart did.

Weight is often an issue in the scenario the OP posted and keeping a healthy weight and fitness level (mentioned) is really important in taking charge of your health in general.

If the OP is thin and fit, then obviously, the OP already knows all this and needs no advice from me :)

Edit: when I said " referenced that for no other reason" I meant the sleep apnea.

In the context of the OP, weight is likely a contributing factor, unless the OP just referenced that for no other reason.

There can be many causes of sleep apnea.

Yup. Inflammation is an undiagnosed and often ignored issue.

I suppose the reason I tend to mention it in these types of discussions, is that so many "healthy diets" don't address really important food prep issues like oils, using herbs and spices, using things like flax, hemp, chia, specific nuts, turmeric, cinnamon, etc. Look up anti inflammatory foods and you will find them listed there.

I don't think we fundamentally disagree about any of that.

I might put more emphasis on not being overweight and overall health and fitness level than you do too.

But,(and I might be wrong)but the way the OP describes her health issues, it sounded as if weight was likely an issue too. I think when it is, then a weight loss approach is a good idea (not just carb restriction for blood sugar control).

I agree, doctors usually admit they are not qualified to give advice about diet. They give no advice about how to cook to meet your needs. They just give a few pat phrases and encourage you to look elsewhere for the info. The "elsewhere" they encourage are places with corporate stakeholders.

I would encourage someone looking to create a specific eating and cooking plan for their own health issues to look at health and fitness sites/blogs/forums, University sites, herbal and alternative sites, and check out Primal diets(low carb, high veg and protein) no processed food and anti inflammatory diets. Try to develop an eating plan to help with specific problems.

The really nice thing is that your body will tell you when your diet is working for you.

This might be true for the diabetic issue, but sleep apnea is mostly a weight issue (and a very serious one). Carb restriction alone wont help with that, although most low carb diets will usually help you lose weight unless you are calorie sensitive (like I am). Then you have to pay attention to both in order to lose weight.

I keep within my BMI ( which is thin) but I need to lose a mere 10 lbs right now (or before the end of July ) to have my wetsuit fit correctly. I keep all carbs to under 100 a day with most of those from veg...No weight loss. None. Add calorie restriction= weight loss. Everyone is different and it has been shown that if you are stalling in weight loss or remain overweight on carb restriction, then calories become important.

Sometimes people go a little crazy on low carb at first as they don't know exactly what to eat and they start compensating with large amounts of butter, mayo, bacon, etc. not always good for weight loss and not always good for other health conditions for everyone.

Keeping your weight within a healthy range is critical and luckily a Primal, low carb diet approach should help you with that.

Everyone always worries that they can't imagine life without (or at least severely restricted) potatoes, pasta, bread, cookies, etc.
..........all I can say about that is this: eventually, as your education about food and health grows, and you see amazing results from reducing those foods, you will not look at a plate of pasta the same as you once did. I love white pasta. But, I look at the plate and think "that is a plate of sugar"...."should I have a heaping plate of sugar for dinner tonight?". The answer is a lot clearer to me now and my choices are waaaay easier.

Don't get discouraged, eat and cook all the beautiful foods that are really good for you, think of all white food as sugar, all green food as clean...and a little butter doesn't hurt anyone ;)

There is a ton of information on the internet on chronic inflammation and diet. I follow mostly a primal diet, with an emphasis on low carb, limiting all grains, no sugar. But, also really important in inflammation is the use of cooking methods and herbs, spices and supplements. So, it doesn't do any good for inflammation to buy a nice organic chicken breast, dredge it in white flour and fry it in corn oil :)

Everyone is different with how they tolerate some foods but mostly grains, legumes and dairy. If you have inflammation, it is best to eliminate those things, then add them back in to experiment.

For example, I found that I tolerate dairy very well, legumes okay in very limited quantity and infrequently, and grains not well at all. Grains make me feel heavy, bloated, set off food cravings, and I get hungry within hours of eating them. I limit soy to mostly fermented soy. Eat clean meats.

Here is a starter cheat sheet with at least an overview look:

https://www.fammed.wisc.edu/sites/def...

Did you see this? Really neat article.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/902100

Good topic! There have been many great things written about gut health, inflammation and immunity for decades.

I always have lacto fermented foods in my fridge and eat them regularly as well as cook and bake with items that promote gut health ( upper and lower GI) with probiotic and prebiotic food. I eat an anti inflammatory diet.

Also, I don't use all the bacteria and virus killing soaps and sprays in my kitchen either. I don't demand super sanitary conditions at all times by using hand sanitizer ( other than for high risk situations- flu season risk, etc).

I don't ask my doc for antibiotics or eat foods likely containing remnants of them.

All these other things effect gut health as well as just "feeding the good bugs in your gut"....it is important not to kill them off (once you grew them) too! :D

Waiting for the repairman......hate that....not getting a thing done at work. At least I can get my shopping list done and plan food for next week. I seem to be out of most fresh vegetables again :(

Tonight is stracciatella soup, a "pizza" from a low carb flatbread with chorizo, mozz and olives.......then maybe a side plate of quinoa salad and crudite/veg/cheese ......and some nice well chilled white wine.

Well Fowler, Yes and No. I like to think of myself as a skilled cook...but that doesn't really apply to this dish, lol. This one is pretty low brow :) Here is the deal for me.....

The sole I used were the flash frozen ones, Safeway select yellow fin sole fillets, vacuum packed individually (in a yellow bag). They are very thin and the package says "no need to thaw first" - they cook up in just a few minutes so they are my "go to" fast food dinner. Very versatile for all kinds of spices, spice it up/ a few minutes in a buttered pan/ flip/ few more minutes...done! They are small- 80 calories per fillet, easy peasy light protein accompaniment to all kinds of cuisines. I eat alot of Mexican, Viet, Korean, Indian. These little fillets are perfect to round out a plate.

The little catfish fillets are just as easy and take to various spices as well. There is no wonderful "fresh" fish flavor there (to be able to use just lemon and salt)...they are not the star of the show...they are in a supporting role. The flavor is fine and the texture is very nice (not mushy at all).I just don't have time every week to visit a proper fish monger.

The end result is better, but I use the bone and skin for stock so it doesn't get thrown away around here. I never purchase stock in a box, so that saves money too.