Saturday, January 14, 2012

Resolutions-Low Carb Living- A recipe eventually

Happy New Year!!! Hope everyone is settling into 2012 quite nicely.  So far, so good, here on the homestead.  I am doing, uhm, OK on my resolutions. I am not a big believer in setting up goals that you will most likely fail at, so I set some pretty basic resolutions.
They are as follows;
  • Learn to knit
  • Walk outside for 30 minutes more days than not
  • Get back to the low-carb way of life
A bit on these- I love textile art- quilts, embroidery, clothing, tapestries, yarn work. I have been a miserable failure at most previous attempts at textile art, mostly because I have the patience of a 2 year old.  I want to see a project finished. I also don't like to do things where correcting the mistakes will take longer than just starting over.  A friend of mine suggested knitting- I then told her I wanted to learn how to knit. She gave me a skein of yarn and some lovely needles.  I am trying to learn...

Walking outdoors is a great way to fight a myriad of ailments. End of story.

Now, about the Low Carb Lifestyle.  I am not thin.  I will never be thin.  I have no desire to be thin.  I do however, want to avoid a ton of diseases that plague my family- diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease. My husband has high blood pressure and wants to loose weight to get off the medications he takes to control the blood pressure.  Two years ago we researched and discovered that the low carb lifestyle works well for us.  In 2010 we lost together, approximately the weight of a second grader. My husband was able to stop taking one of his medications. My blood pressure went from borderline high to enviously normal. It worked for us- we could still eat out, the dude could follow it while traveling, I could still eat steak.

Then, 2011 happened- a lot of stuff hit the fan.  I lost my job, broke my elbow, we had lots of illnesses, stress and worry in our family and we lost my husbands father.  All of this resulted in a lot of stress and eating/traveling places where we couldn't or didn't follow the low carb diet. So, we decided to make a concentrated effort to get back on track in 2012.

Last time we did this I discovered that I hated not having something white on the plate.  Think about it- pasta, potatoes, rice and bread all offer a lighter color and texture than meats and veggies. I did a little research and discovered that celery root and turnips are low in carbs, high in fiber, absorb flavors and give a creamy texture when baked for a while.  Seriously- knowing I could make a gratin in order to have something white on the plate that was low carb- YAY!! It also allowed me to make a meat free option for my vegeterian friends who joined us for dinner.    Here is the recipe I use: For low carb use celery root or turnips, for higher carbs, use parsnips or potatoes.

Root Vegetable Gratin

2 lbs root vegetables, washed, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup cream or half & half
1 Cup shredded or crumbled cheese
Salt and pepper

Optional:
Cayenne pepper, Paprika, herbs garlic powder, 1 tsp anchovy paste

Preheat oven to 350.  Toss the onion and vegetables with the melted butter. Place in a 9 inch pie dish or baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, bring the cream and cheese to a low boil in a small sauce pan.  Uncover the root vegetables and pour the sauce over the veggies and bake, uncovered for 45-60 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

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