Where are the posts? Maybe with my voice...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I've been sick and haven't cooked much.  And when I did, Mac n Cheese or Grits were not very exciting.  I also need to hit the store so that I can cook.  I'm better now, other than I have been also to talk very loud.  I keep loosing my voice.  I think some people have enjoyed it.

Today I did have a cupcake from Scratch.  They had them at work to promote the Principal Charity Golf Classic.  They had chocolate with white frosting and white with some other frosting.  I got chocolate.

It was really good.  I was good and only ate half.  The other half I shared with a friend.  So I felt better about eating it. Scratch has stores in Cedar Falls, Waterloo and West Des Moines.  And I have to day, I could eat them often.  The cake was most and the even with the frosting, not overly sweet.  Looking at the website, I want to try more flavors.  Sweet Potato, Tiramisu, Salty Dog, Fluffernutter and of course the Maple Bacon!

Pork and Cheese Papusa with slaw and hot sauce.

 A couple weeks ago, I finally got to try El Salvador Del Mundo.  I heard it was great.  Some of the reviews said it was good food, but a dive.  The food was great and the decor was nice.  It wasn't fancy, but it was nicely decorated that gave the feeling of El Salvador.  Many maps on the walls and pictures of sites.  The Papusa I had was great.  I've had them at the farmers market, but they can not compare to right there.  The pork and cheese was great.  Add the cabbage slaw and the HOT green sauce and I was in heaven.  I got one Papusa to try, but also had something else.  I wanted to try something I have never had.  So I tried the stuffed Pacaya.  I have NO idea what it was.  But it was with cheese and fried.  So how could I go wrong.  The pacaya is a palm type plant.  The cheese is stuffed in between the corn looking tentacles kind of what they looked like).  But it had a corn/asparagus taste.  Also very good with the hot green sauce.

The stuffed Pacaya.

Some cooking, reviews of gadgets and restaurants.

I need my CARBS!!!!! But low carb will do

I've have become a Cyborg.  I now have robotic parts.  Okay, one robotic part and don't be dirty.  I have an insulin pump.  It is my external pancreas.  With this, I need to count my carbohydrates aka carbs.  Since I know the body still needs carbs in small amounts, I need lower carb ideas.  So I will be testing some low carb recipes and products.  Feel free to let me know your ideas or finds.

I love pasta, pizza and bread.  Three pretty high carb foods.  So I decided to find alternatives   Let me tell you, ordering pizza sucks.  One slice of a large pepperoni pizza is 29 carbs, thanks to Pizza Hut's nutritional information on their website.

So I will start off with my low carb thin crust pizza.

I made 2 versions, Turkey Pepperoni Pizza and Greek Style Pizza.

 I found these at the store.  They are made by La Tortilla Factory and only 10g of carbs per tortilla.  And with 7g of fiber!

 In the carb calculations that I use, I can subtract and then they are only 3 carbs each!(something about fiber carbs don't get absorbed into the body).  So these made a great lunch for anything and hope to make a great thin crust for my pizza.

On the left, Tortilla shell, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus as the sauce, four slices of Budding Beef, and feta cheese.  I would also recommend added Kalamata olives, but I was out. On the right is a basic Turkey Pepperoni pizza.  I would also recommend onions and bell peppers for that one.  But again, I was out.

After about 15 minutes on 375, they are done

I know I should have used a different plate, but it was easy to grab. I of course ate both pizzas since they were low in just about everything.  

For the bread portion of my hunt, I looked online and found tons of low carb breads.  But I actually found one at Whole Foods and I liked it.  It is a pretty dense bread, but makes a yummy grilled cheese.  The bread is from Natural Ovens Bakery.  I got the Original Carb Conscious Bread.  80 calories, 1.5g of fat, and 10g of carbohydrates.  But only 4g of fiber.  If you are watching your carbs, I would recommend this.  It is a filling bread and as a PB&J, OMG I was stuffed.  It is a little pricey for bread, but with the low carb I can deal.


Now for the pasta, this is going to be hard.  I did find a pasta, but I haven't tried it yet.  It is from Food for Life Baking Company.  It is the Ezekiel 4:9.  I bough the Sprouted Whole Grain Penne Pasta.  For 2 oz of pasta, it is 210 calories, 2g of fat and 39g of carbs, but has 7g of fiber, so really only 32g of carbs for me.  Which is low for pasta.  I have not had a chance to try it yet, but when I do, I will pass it a long.  It is supposed to be Diabetic friendly, so here's hoping.

Some good low carb/no carb snacking ideas:
Hummus and carrot chips
Beef sticks
Cheese sticks/string cheese
Lunch meat
Lunch meat around cheese sticks


Again, PLEASE send me your low carb snack ideas!  And recipes!  I plan on making my own hummus soon.

Until next time...