Everyday Low Carb Recipes

So my doctor says that I'm sensitive to sugars and I need to change my diet, which previously consisted of fruits and pastas and breads and beer. Now I need to eat a high protein, low carb diet. It's been a challenge to learn how to cook at home (I was a TV dinner kinda gal as well), so I thought I'd share some of my recipes.

What's here:

Getting started
Spices and stuff
Every day essentals
Cooking tools
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks and dessert
Links & support groups

Getting started

To start out, I bought the books "Protein Power" by Michael and Mary Eades, and "The Low-Carb Cookbook" by Fran McCullogh. I'm not advocating these books--I just happened to pick up the cookbook and enjoyed reading the intro.The cookbook referred to the "Protein Power" book, so I picked that up too.

I haven't tried many of the cookbook recipes yet, because I'm still learning to cook basics these days. But the cookbook has a bunch of great references for finding low-carb tortillas, sauces, and such.

You should count carbs on the food packages, since I don't include such counts here.

Spices and stuff

Here's a list of things I find handy for seasoning:

Salt
Pepper
Freeze-dried chives
Onion powder
Chili powder
Salsa
Mustard
Cinnamin
Sweet-n-Low

Every day essentials

Here are some things I always use:

La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Fat/Low-Carb Tortillas
These things rock. They let you make sandwich rollups without worrying about carby bread. Yay!
I find them in the Safeway supermarket in San Francisco, CA. You can order them online here:
http://www.latortillafactory.com/fatfree.html
Atkins Diet Advantage Bars
These come in a variety of flavors. My favorites are chocolate peanut butter, almond brownie, and praline crunch.
I get them at the GNC store. You can order them online here:
http://www.atkinscenter.com/atkins/
Sugar free jello cups
Quick snacks. I like them with a bit of half-and-half or whipped cream.
Heavy cream
Handy for pouring over fruit or jello.
Eggs
Breakfast meats
Pre-cooked ham slices or turkey sausage are my favorites. Fresh sausage takes awhile to cook, so sometimes I'll cook up a whole package and put it in a baggy in the freezer. Also pre-cooked bacon by Hormel--just warm it up.
Zip-lock baggies, large and small
Peppers (red, green, orange)
Tomatoes
Pre-washed, pre-packaged salad mix
Blue cheese or Thousand Island salad dressing
Fruit (blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and strawberries)
Cheese (small-curd cottage cheese, pre-shredded jack/cheddar mix, sliced american cheese, cream cheese blocks, mozarella "string cheese" sticks for snacks, cubed cheddar for snacks)
Frozen shrimp (large, uncooked, tail on for grilling; small, tail off for making with eggs)
Butter
Macadamia nuts

Cooking tools

Here are some kitchen items I use all the time:

Measuring cups
Large mixing bowl
Small mixing bowl
Cutting board
Wooden spoon
Nonstick pans (1 large and 1 small)
Square skillet
Plastic spatula (doesn't scratch non-stick stuff)
Cappuccino maker (helps to make the coffee before making the breakfast ;] )
Knives, forks, spoons (duh!)
Really sharp steak knives are a luxury which I now own. Yay!
Microwave
Indoor electric grill (small, holds about 4 burgers or a couple steaks, dishwasher safe)

Breakfast

For breakfast, I usually pair eggs with a breakfast meat and a low-carb tortilla. If I'm in a rush, I'll take some cottage cheese with fruit and some pre-cooked breakfast meat. I'm experimenting with pancakes as well (using soy mix), but they don't taste very good so far. Salads are good with eggs too. (I know it seems strange, salad for breakfast....)

Here are a few ideas for breakfast combinations:

Fried eggs on cheese-filled tortilla rollups with sliced tomato or fruit
Fry an egg (I like mine sunny side up, cooked over low heat so the yolk isn't really runny). On a skillet or toaster oven (or microwave, but makes the tortilla chewy), warm a tortilla that has shredded cheese on it until the cheese is just melted (I use a pre-packaged mix so I don't need to grate cheese). Roll up the tortilla, and put it on a plate. Cut the tortilla in half, and place the halves next to each other so they form a little square on which you now put the fried egg. Spoon a little salsa on top of the fried egg. Slice some tomato or strawberries to put on the side.
Scrambled eggs seasoned with chives and chili powder
Poached egg on 1 slice of thin low-wheat bread (orowheat), with breakfast meat on side. Guacamole and salsa dolloped on top of egg.
To poach an egg in the microwave, crack the egg into a custard cup, puncture the egg yolk several times (carefully, so it doesn't run) with a toothpick, cover the custard cup (with a saucer if you don't have a proper lid), nuke for 30-45 min on Medium or Medium-high. (It takes a bit of experimenting to get this right.)
Wierd scramble in microwave
In a 2-cup pyrex container or similar-sized bowl, mix
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup cottage cheese
-small handful of shredded cheddar/jack cheese
-1 green onion, chopped
Nuke on High for 1 minute, mix. Then nuke another minute. Let set a few mintues before eating.
Fried egg on top of crumbled beef or turkey (fried in skillet with taco seasoning added), shredded cheese, and tortilla.
Blueberry or strawberry pancakes made with Ketogenics pancake mix. (http://www.ketogenics.com/)

Lunch

Unusual Omelet -- 4 egg omelet with filling of diced pepperoni, sweet pickle, and cream cheese. The pepperoni and pickle complement each other with spiciness vs. sweetness. And the cream cheese cuts the tartness of the pickles and the more spicy aspects of the pepperoni. Jool's own creation. ;)

Warm tortilla, slop on some chive-flavored cream cheese. Add small can of tuna (not mixed with anything). Roll up contents in tortilla.

Sandwich meats and cheeses in tortilla.

Fancy cheese slice with tomato wrapped in piece of lettuce.

Quesadilla
warm a tortilla covered with some shredded cheese in frying pan
add fresh salsa, guacamole, sour cream
sometimes i add tiny cocktail shrimp too

Dinner

Glen's stir fry

Slice 1 package of flank steak, and fry in frying pan (non-stick pan, no oil)
Chop 1/2 zuchinni
Handful of snow peas
Handful of bean sprouts
Chop a couple green onions
Stubb's Beef marinade

Once steak is done, add veggies and pour in some beef marinade. Serve with cottage cheese.

Julie's stir fry

Dice 1/2 red pepper
Dice 1/2 yellow pepper
Dice chunk of onion
Slice 5 hot dogs
Crumble a handful of pork rinds (optional)
Handful of shredded parmeson cheese

Throw everything but the pork rinds and cheese in a pan, coated with olive oil (i use the spray kind--if i forget, i just spray a little layer over the food). Fry on medium-high until warmed and peppers aren't too crunchy, stirring often. When almost done, crumble some pork rinds on top (optional) and some shredded parmeson cheese.
Turn off immediately before cheese melts too much, and serve.

Snacks and desserts

I haven't figured out many snack options, but here are a few I've come up with so far:

Low-carb tortilla with cinnamin
Heat a tortilla in a pan or skillet. While it's warming up, spread some butter on it (the butter melts off the knife if the tortilla is hot enough), or just add butter after the tortilla is warm. Sprinkle some cinnamin on, and also add a little fake sugar (i think i used 1/4 packet of sweet-n-low). Roll up and eat.

Sugar free jello with cool-whip
Atkins Advantage bar (i usually eat just 1/2 for a snack)
Sliced peach with macadamia nuts
Strawberries in cottage cheese
Peanut butter mousse (mmm!)
Approx. 2 tablespoons of frozen cool whip mixed with 1 teaspoon peanut butter.

Links & support groups

http://www.wrappers.com/recipe.html (recipes for sandwich wraps, many low-carb)
http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/shoppingguide.html (product recommendations)