Low-Carb Eats

Well, Tuesday.  

We're coming off a long weekend and I have to take that effing Glucose Tolerance Test this afternoon, so maybe we all need to man up and eat some veggies like big kids, amirite?  

PS in preparation for this appointment this afternoon, at the suggestion of several, I've been kind of low-carbing it for approximately 4 seconds, WHICH I HATE, and yesterday of course we went to a baseball game with BEER AND DONUTS AND ICE CREAM AND FRIED CHICKEN AND SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.  

Not ok.  It was pretty rough.  

BUT, we've arrived today, and hopefully my precious little hard work will pay off JUST in that if I don't actually have gestational diabetes the test won't give a false positive due to eating all the sugars over the weekend.  If I do have GD there's no hiding it, but if I can get the test result correct the first time that'd be great, RIGHT?  I'll let you know how it goes.  

I know that lots of people choose to eat low carb for a variety of reasons, so I thought I'd share a few of my fav such recipes here today.  To be clear, I think a balance of foods is best, and that includes white processed foods.  BUT, if you have a need or strong desire to go low-carb, do so and enjoy yourself.  I'll be over here grinning with my donuts.  

Here are some of my favs!

• For appetizers, these spinach artichoke stuffed mushrooms are decadent from the cheese but not bready or fried.  They also disappear every time I serve them so....everyone wins.  
• Obviously big main dish salads are great, and YES I know that veggies have carbs, but if you try to avoid carbs that much you're probably missing out on some key nutrients and at the wrong website SO.  Salmon citrus salad and taco chicken salad are my favs.  See also:  eat that chicken on everything all the time.  
• If you'd like to make another snack, these homemade pickles are lovely.  
• The vegetarian ragout I made a few weeks ago would be great if you just swapped out the pasta for a piece of grilled chicken or fish or tofu or sausage or steak or pork or... amirite?  
• Homemade ricotta should definitely be on this list.  It's delicious, fancy, and with some raw veggies (or fruit if you're OK with the sugar) it's a great snack!
• Buffalo Chicken Burgers + Homemade Ranch.  Skip the bun, call it a day.  
• Lots of Asian-style dishes are so great as a low-carb offering, like this cashew chicken.  You can skip rice all together, or do some quinoa on the side for a slightly more protein-heavy alternative.  
• Lemon Rosemary Steak.  Just plain.  Eff a balanced meal.  
• Cucumber dill tuna + quinoa.  I know quinoa has carbs in it.  Just like veggies.  BUT, it's  a great source of energy without doing a white carb like rice, so embrace it.  Also, this salad is delicious.  

In preparation for the possibility of gestational diabetes....what else should we add to this list?  It doesn't feel like such a bummer when I think about all THIS stuff.  Now, to keep my mind off donuts for a few more hours....