I'm thinking about developing low carb foods that truly are diabetic friendly & healthy. Packaged low carb is usually loaded with soy, artificial ingredients, sugar alcohols & tastes awful. A dear friend recently sent a big care package gift of Dixie Diner & other low carb brands. Every one tasted like chemicals. Bleech!
I'd like your feedback on what particular foods you wish were available & that you'd buy rather than make yourself. Things that would allow us to not feel deprived & indulge without guilt! Real food for real people. No requests please for pizza, breads or pasta, until I find my lost magic wand:) Come to think of it, if I locate my wand I'll just cure us.
Pancake/waffle mix would be a good one & not one where you have to add all the ingredients. Maybe frozen pancakes/waffles you just heat up?
One of things in my friend’s care package was cheesecake mix. It called for adding eggs & cream cheese. Well duh, that’s all cheesecake basically is. The mix itself was nothing but flavoring for a topping.
Many foods are near impossible to make low carb without all that extra artificial stuff if it’s to have a shelf life.
My diet has to be gluten free along with low carb and I have a horrible time finding things to eat. Walmart used to carry Danon low carb yogurt (used to come in 4 flavors) and now they don’t and Danon went down to only two flavors. Guess what I am saying…your market might be small. Too many people stilll want to eat what they did before diagnosis.
But if you are thinking of this…
Why not things that can be switched around. As in make a base for quiche and have various versions people can make with that base. If possibe, make a base with wheat flour and one that is gluten free - my personal wish
Then maybe you could build on that to come up with deserts using that same base.
I wish I knew…I’ve been trying to find stuff like this for the last year. Other than that I can only think of fresh foods.
I love this idea and dreamed of it myself! Good luck to you!! I agree on the low carb pancake, and syrup packaged in serving sizes. We really need a low low carb cookbook too with meal ideas! I get stuck in ruts…
I love low carb cheese cake and make it without crust I place slivered almonds on the top in the last few minutes to get a nice crunch to them…if you do prepared pancakes maybe do prepared cheesecakes (variety of flavors) small (serving sized, minis or presliced). your company is sounding like it is going to come from the freezer!!
I admit to knowing nothing about what’s needed for shelf life. Aseptic packaging is great, but expensive. Most prepared or pre-packaged food have horrible ingredients. So-called diabetic food seems worse with additional artificial flavor enhancers to help compensate for the taste & texture sugar adds.
Thinking that my products (if it got that far) would be 100% gluten free since many people can’t tolerate gluten. I can eat gluten, but don’t because it’s easier to low carb excluding wheat. I haven’t eaten any grains in two years & don’t miss it.
Great idea for different bases that could be used for quiche, casseroles, sauces. Thanks, Kathy! I’ll name one “Kathy’s Quiche.”
Low carb pancake mix would be easy & just add water. Fabulous idea to add syrup packets. I’ve tried freezing pancakes & they came out ok in my home freezer. Not as good as just made pancakes.
I love cheesecake also & put slivered almonds on the top to hide the cracks:) I add them while it’s chilling in the fridge for 24 hours. I’ll have to try it during baking like you do next time. Sometimes I use a chocolate ganache for topping. Another great crack cover-up. Like cheesecake isn’t rich enough!
I use almond flour for cheesecake crust. I don’t use much, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan & up the sides about 1/2". Easy. Just mix almond flour with melted butter.
Friends have teased me about writing a cookbook because I entertain a lot. Company eats low carb since I cook what I eat.
I was also thinking of cookies. I’ve yet to taste a low carb cookie on the market that tastes like a cookie. I make great cookies, but don’t know how they’ll hold up to shelf life.
Thanks!
Actually…that’s not totally my idea. Was thinking about that lady who spruces up cake mixes.
The one problem I find with GF foods is the subsitution is fast acting carbs. The box may say 14 carbs per serving but huh…it’s hard on the system. Then the other issue is cost.
One thing I have thought about but haven’t done is go through a standard cook book and change what I can change up to be GF and low carb. You could even start there if you liked??? Get a website / facebook / blog…and post your recipes online to get a following first. Then as you get more of a feel for things start to introduce product after you have a following and email your followers…
I would love to be part of a recipe group. Also this way you will get feedback on what people like (before much money is spent) AND free ideas / recipes from others
Start that and I’m there. I am SOOOOO TRIED of eating the same thing and I’m a boring eater / or bored eater. HA. I get so stuck in a rut and I feel I’m the only person doing low carb and GF.
I love low carb muffins. I make them at 11 grams, but I’d happily buy them. Of course I use almond flour, bananas & nuts.
I’d just like it if all foods were accurate in listing their grams.
I like those Almond Crunch bars, also 11 grams. I would gladly buy a kind that was made more slow to hit me. I’m afraid they have a spiking syrup.
Probably we could make them with DaVinci.
I would also buy yogurt in 3 gram carb (“Diabetic Friendly Dannon”) with more flavors than strawberry and vanilla. Blueberry would be lovely. I put it on my 1/4 c oatmeal which is the most I can take and actually cover with insulin in the morning.
I would like a sweet sour chicken ready to stirfry with the sweet being provided by DaVinci.
I would never eat any entrees breaded with anything but nuts. So now where does that leave us: Davinci syrup on almond crunch bars, Davinci syrup on chicken. Small almond-sided cheese cakes would be lovely in the freezer. Pumpkin pie using no-syrup/sugar with multinut crusts. Looks like Davinci again.
Forget cookies. I’ve become jaded with seeing signs saying “sugar free” or “no sugar added”, spending time looking at the labels and finding they’re worse than anything else on the shelves. They all ought to be exposed for what they are doing to the diabetic population.
Accurate nutritionals are a must. I found a site that calculates the hidden carbs in foods. Pretty shocking how different it can be from the label.
Pumpkin pie is another great idea–thanks! I make one that super low carb one with a pecan nut crust. It’s almost like pumpkin mousse–lots of cream.
I make muffins that are 5 carbs. Don’t use bananas, but I use natural banana extract instead. Tastes the same, but not as moist.
I’ve tried making bars with no grain. It’s been hard getting them to stick together, but I’m working on it:) Using glycerin, which many do, can cause spikes.
Can tell you’re a big DaVinci fan:) The problem with using DaVinci for some things is that their syrup is so thin. Wish they’d make them thicker because the flavors are great.
Wonder why no one’s making flavored Greek yogurt since it’s lower carb & so yummy rich.
Agree about sugar-free cookies. They’re awful & full of crap!
I’ve checked out gluten-free foods & some are as bad, or worse, than diabetic foods. All this stuff is expensive, which is typical for a specialized market. I don’t eat soy & many substitute soy. I think soy flour tastes dreadful.
I’ve adapted many recipes because most low carb cookbooks aren’t worth the money when there are great sites with free recipes. Diabetic cookbooks are a joke. Does the world really need another recipe using sugar-free pudding or jello, or telling us to brew tea using artificial sweeteners? They’re too high carb for how I eat anyway.
Think it’s common to fall into a food rut given our restrictions. We know how certain foods effect us & it’s easier to deal with the same ole thing than experiment. If I did a cookbook, the carbs would be pretty much the same from recipe to recipe, so people don’t venture far into new terrain worrying about effects.
Wonderful idea about a site or blog.
Really appreciate everyone’s ideas. It saddens me that people feel deprived in their food choices when there are awesome, healthy choices, but few available that are convenient.
Isn’t Jello pretty low in everything?
Sugar free jello always tasted fine to me… but at the same time, i don’t remember not being diabetic, so i don’t miss much of the sugary stuff i never had. Guess it’s one of the things i should be grateful for. (i still enjoy my occasional coke though… those things are HARD to bolus for though)
Soy flour - ya, I’m with you on that one! I have tried to cut out soy but it’s not been entirely.
On the diabetes cookbooks…they are trying to sell them no matter what. I remember one that was at Walmart’s check-out counter last year. Pretty picture of a chocolate cake with a berry on top. So the berry is the good thing and the cake is there to sell the book to people who really want to be able to eat that again. Sale is achieved & I had fun making fun of it for the month.
Hi Gerri: I love your almond bread recipe. I was not able to find anything labeled “Almond FLOUR” in my area, so I bought “Almond Meal” It works just as well… Sometimes I add nuts to the bread… S0 yummy. I buy Greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s and add a few sliced strawberries or blue berires to it, and 2 packs of Splenda. Kroger offers a Yogurt called Carbmaster that has about 4 carbs per serving. Pretty economical and tasty when I can’t get to Trader Joe’s, which is a much further drive for me…
I too would like a good-tasting graniola bar that has less than 30 grams of carb…
God Bless,
Brunetta
