"Cheryl" > wrote in message
...
> On 10/17/2012 10:34 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
>> "KenK" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> A chicken noodle casserole recipe I DLed and tried was not very good.
>>> Could
>>> someone post a favorite please?
>>
>> What I've been making for my daughter is (and I don't measure
>> ingredients),
>> about 3 servings of cooked pasta, a can or box of cream of chicken soup,
>> large can of peas drained, a little bit of pepper and parsley and a large
>> can of chicken, drained. You can add some onions and mushrooms to this
>> if
>> you want. Bake at 350 for about a half an hour or in the microwave for a
>> few minutes until heated through. If you don't want to use the soup, you
>> could use a jar or box of gravy. Works just as well.
>>
>>
> How does that work for the SB diet? I haven't been on it nor have I
> researched it, but I thought all diets mean you have to measure
> ingredients? Just curious...

It is not necessary to measure food once you have been doing it for a while.
Some servings are fairly obvious. Such as one medium apple or a slice of
bread. Being a diabetic myself, I had to measure everything after I was
first diagnosed. We don't necessarily eat only from our Corelle dishes. I
have bought a variety of bowls in an assortment of sizes and I know how much
each one holds. I know exactly how much pasta I am putting in a casserole
or soup or whatever. And I know how to fluff things out with non starchy
vegetables, more meat, cheese, fish or whatever.

South Beach isn't a low carb diet as some people seem to think it is. Yes,
the first two weeks have you eating no carbs except for those in non-starchy
veggies and also beans. Beans are encouraged and unlimited. I don't think
this diet would work for everyone. It is intended for those people who have
intense carb cravings. And it is meant to stop the cravings. For that
reason it does restrict the carbs to very specific things. And other things
are always off limits.

After the two weeks you begin adding things back in gradually. I don't have
the books handy to look this up but I believe for the first day you add one
fruit. And then maybe the next day that same one fruit and a carb. Fruits
are not counted as carbs and neither are beans. Beans are always unlimited.

You gradually work up to where you are eating three fruits and three carbs
per day. Overall it is supposed to be a fairly low fat diet. You can eat
most meats, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, seeds, etc. I think the only fruits
not allowed are watermelon and pineapple. Oh, no. Raisins are not allowed
either. There could be one or two other fruits not allowed but they are not
things that she ate so I wouldn't remember. For some reason carrots are not
allowed, however they are a favorite raw vegetable for her and they don't
seem to cause any carb cravings so she eats them. I don't think peas are
allowed but there again they don't cause problems for her. White potatoes
are not really allowed but the book does say if you do eat them, they should
be fried. Sweet potatoes are allowed.

Sugar is not supposed to be allowed but then someone...Kellogg's?...went out
and made South Beach snack and meal replacement bars that do have sugar in
them. So they changed to diet to accommodate these things. There are
several versions of the book. I believe the first one said you could eat a
serving of whatever the food was if it had 4g of sugar or less. Now it is
6g. Whole grains such as whole wheat, rye, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat,
etc. are allowed. Corn is not allowed. But that to me is confusing because
it is a whole grain. So she does eat some popcorn. Not a lot.

Once in a while we get a bag from Target and split it. We do not get a
weekly bag like we used to. And once in a while I will make it at home for
her. She does eat some corn tortillas. We eat out for Mexican food a lot
and we know the owner of the restaurant. He prepares food specially for us.
He does make a low carb burrito on a whole wheat tortilla but she doesn't
like the tortilla or the huge amount of raw spinach that he puts in it. So
she will have a chicken or steak dish with the vegetables, the beans, no
rice and a corn tortilla. The way he does the plates, there is so much meat
on there that she is usually quite full before she even gets to the beans
and often she takes half of it home at that. And once I screwed up and
bought some salsa that had corn in it. I don't really like corn in my salsa
and I didn't care for it myself but she liked it. There was so little corn,
I didn't worry about it.

So on this diet you are supposed to eat three meals and two snacks daily.
The snacks are always supposed to include protein and vegetables. The
biggest problems she has with it are breakfast and lunch. Two meals she
doesn't want to eat much of. She just isn't very hungry then. But she
usually is very hungry by dinner time, especially on days like today where
she takes several hours of dance before we eat.

You can eat sugar free things and are encouraged to eat one sugar free treat
per day such as a frozen fudge bar, pudding, frozen pop, etc. There is even
a recipe that is supposed to be eaten in the beginning stages of the diet
but she didn't like it. It's Ricotta cheese mixed with artificial sweetener
and a flavor of your choice such as vanilla or cocoa. She does not eat much
of these treats most likely because such things have never been a part of
our diet.