Bernadette's Low Carb Thanksgiving Log

Okay- so here we go- I have been doing South Beach for 3 months- dropped 30 pounds in pre-op mode- (Aranow wanted ten) and since I get final clearance (for Insurance approval ) from Elina on December 5th- I didn't want to stall and or go backwards on my weight loss- so I planned a low carb, South Beach friendly menu for today. There are some deviances from the Phase two SB list- but hey its T-day and I will go back to phase one tomorrow for damage control until I see Elina Methinks my original desire to go in the week after Christmas might be not a good plan, and I hope to ge beforehand. (my employer and coworkers might hate me for awhile since I am scheduled to work both Christmas Eve and Day) My menu- : shrimp with ****tail sauce (not to much sauce- shrimp is a perfect SB food) Roast turkey (obviously) Stuffing made with whole wheat bread (low carb bread) celery, cranberries, apples and sausage. Mashed cauliflower asparagus the kids and DH (darling hubby in chat-speak) get Schwans maple glazed yams, and cauliflower with cheese sauce) Low Carb Pumpkin Custard (kids and DH get apple pie and regular pumpkin pie with Schwans vanilla Ice cream) Okay the Pumpkin Custard 1 cup Splenda 29 ounce can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 1 tsp each of the following: salt, cinnamon, cloves,ginger,nutmeg 2tsp vanilla extract beat splenda and eggs, blend in pumpkin, spices and salt. beat in heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract pour into a custard/casserole dish about 2 quarts size- spray the dish with pam first bake in a water bath (put about an inch or so of water in a roasting pan in the oven as it preheats) at 350 degrees for about an hour- done when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. I don't have the actual calorie/carbs/facts because I altered the recipie a little- but its sugar free- so postops who can tolerate lactose and squashes (starches) should be fine with it- I think those at puree/soft stage can enjoy it too, no? I think you could probably use egg substitute and evap skim milk in place of the higher calorie/fat cream and eggs but I didn't want to get too crazy. But if somebody is brave and tries that let me know how it goes. Since we have a 25 chicken flock here on our farm, egg substitute would be blasphemous.

Sounds like a great menu, Bernadette... yummy too! Thanks for sharing the recipe. terri

Well everything came out great- and I did pretty well staying away from the no no food and keeping to my plan. The pumpkin custard turned out fabulous. The mashed cauliflower was good- with a tiny bit of sour cream and some salt and pepper. Hope everybody has a good day- my daughters leanred a new song in school they were singing today it starts "Oh its not about the Turkey...." how true. I am blessed by a wonderful family and thankful for every day and every minute- guess thats why I want to do the surgery- I want as many Thanksgivings as possible- I want to see my grandkids around the table- and see my kids slaving away in the kitchen like me someday!!!

Hope we'll see you on Monday at the Middlesex support group. If you can get out of the cat house that is Peter