Cooking For Different Dietary Preferences in the Same Home

This can be a conundrum, especially if you’re cooking for picky eaters (or just bratty adults!).

While I’m sticking to lower carb, my husband and son both love rice, potatoes, beans, bread and pasta.

I won’t force them to eat my way, but it can be frustrating.

Obviously I don’t want to cook high fat foods for them AND high carb things, so it’s a bit of a trade off.

Example would be that I may make them chicken and dumplings (using canned biscuits), but I’ll only use the breast meat and skim the broth for them, while I enjoy the dark meat and a salad.

If they want tacos, I’ll cook the meat “cleanly” with just spices, then I can have a taco salad, or the occasional low-carb tortilla, and they can have the real thing (don’t tell them: I switched their tortillas to the low-carb Mission ones lol – they have never noticed!).

I can cook a pot roast without potatoes and I can remove a serving of the meat for me then make a gravy and potatoes for them, and steamed zucchini with  butter for me.

I buy a  pack of dinner rolls and freeze all but 3 (1 for son, 1 for DH dinner and his lunch the next day).  They thaw quickly and heat up fast in the microwave or toaster oven.

I can be pretty easy, but it takes a mindset to work it out and not be annoyed!

 

Holiday Weekends and Burger Buns!

Whether you’re low-carb, primal, gluten-free or just looking for an alternative, this variation on the popular low-carb hamburger buns will fit the bill.
This is my own recipe, taken and tweaked from various ideas across the net, but mostly it goes way back to the 1960s and Dr Atkins Revolution Rolls, just updated and variationized (lol I know, that’s not a word) to include more fiber and a Primal twist.
Although these don’t rise a lot, the glucomannan makes them much more stable and hearty than the traditional revolution rolls.

I know the instructions look long and complicated, they’re not. I just wanted to completely explain my method. The entire preparation only takes about 5 minutes.

Revolutionized Gluco Buns
4 Large Egg
1 tbsp Macadamia Nut Oil (organic)
2 oz Water
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Baking Powder Aluminum Free
5 tsp Konjac Glucomannan Powder
1/2 cup Shredded Classic Extra Sharp Cheddar

Equipment needed:
Immersion blender with a whisk or beater attachment;
deep mixing vessel;
larger mixing bowl;
spatula;
silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.

Prepare all of your ingredients.
Mix the oil and water in one small container;
the salt and baking powder in another;
the glucomannan in something you can easily pour/shake it out of;
and the cheese in a larger bowl for later;
In a deep mixing vessel (this will make a mess if you don’t have a deep enough vessel), crack the eggs.

Directions:
Beat the eggs for about 30 seconds until they’re lighter yellow in color and well blended.
Continue mixing/whisking while you add the water and oil. Once that’s incorporated (10 seconds), add the salt and baking powder and mix for another 10-15 seconds.
While running, add the glocomannan slowly so it’s well mixed and not clumping.
Once that’s all in, continue whisking/beating for about 30 seconds just to make sure it’s all blended in.
Dump this in the larger bowl with the cheese and fold it together well.
It will thicken a lot while you’re folding.
Once it’s well folded, spoon it onto the prepared sheet in 4 large mounds. They will spread a little, so leave some space between them.
Bake in the pre-heated 350 oven for 22 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on top and feel firm to the touch in the middle.
Let cool completely then slice in half and use as any hamburger/sandwich bun.

*Use the cheese of your choice, but since glucomannan tends to suck the flavor out of things, my best recommendation is a super sharp, blue, goat, or asiago.

**If you’re not looking for a cheesy flavor, just beat the ingredients longer with an additional 2tsp glucomannan

The overall flavor is very neutral, so you can certainly add more salt, a few drops of stevia, garlic or onion powders, use tomato sauce in place of the water, etc to make the flavor your own.

This same recipe (without the cheese and with a few little tweaks) makes excellent dumplings, as in chicken and dumplings.

Revolutionized Gluco-Dumplings

4 Large Egg
1 tbsp Macadamia Nut Oil (organic)
2 oz Water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4tsp each garlic and onion powder
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp Baking Powder Aluminum Free
2 Tbs Konjac Glucomannan Powder

Beat the eggs and follow the instructions above, except omitting the cheese.
Drop by spoonfuls into simmering broth* and let simmer – do not stir the first 2 minutes, just gently push the dumplings under the broth and turn them until they look firm, then you cover and simmer on very low heat for 15 minutes until they’re cooked through.

Makes about 20- 25 “shooter marble” size dumplings.

*I suggest making your own chicken broth the day before, then add sliced carrots, celery and onion, a bay leaf, salt and pepper to the broth and simmer for 20 minutes, then remove the bay leaf, add the chopped chicken meat and proceed with the dumplings.