yum!

Wow Carmen, Sounds like Im gonna have to come over to your house for a day of eating again really soon. You are eating things Ive never had in my life. After visiting your house last week I spent 70 dollars at the grocery buying all kinds of turkey pepperoni and pork rinds for me and crystal light lemonade for Andy...got him off all that sugar. I also got him those Murry sugar free cookies. Now I need to how to fix kohlrabi, turnips and rutabagas so that I will like them. Sherri, I know I see this stuff at Meijer all the time around here. Just didnt know that ppl really ate the stuff....just thought it was there to feed to the rabbits....LOL also Carmen, I do know from yrs of watching the food channel that Olive Oil is to be kept in a dark cool place in your kitchen and it does have a shorter shelf life than all those hydrogenated fats...which are so bad for u... So buy olive oil in Dark glass bottles in smaller amts if u dont use alot of it. That way u wont have so much going bad on you.

Mariah, Growing up, we had a 1 acre garden. Yes, a garden! Most people put in a ~20 square yard garden but not MY parents. LOL! We grew our own Kohlrabi (dice up like you would potatoes to mash, boil till soft, mash, add skim milk and low cal butter), cauliflour (do same as kohlrabi), onions, greens (my mom was southern so she also fixed them with bacon/bacon drippings), carrots, rutabaga's (see my note about french fries), all squashes, etc. So...we grew up eating this stuff..and liking it. And yet...I'm 2 yr post-op, my sister is 3 yrs post-op and my step father is 18 months post-op! Hmmmm..think it might have been all the butter, creamed cheeses, gravies, fats, etc that was added??? All of those veggies can be made to be healthy and tasty. Recipe ideas can be found on Splenda.com, and foodtv.com as well as many other sites. Don't forget to check out the diabetic cooking magazines at the grocery check out line. I have found some terrific recipes in those. Beware of Cooking Light though....all those recipes seem to call for sugar, fat, butter, etc. I have no idea where they get 'Light' from. Bon apetite! Sherri

I haven't been able to find kohlrabi over here by me. We use to have it as a kid like mashed potatoes. The Wal-Mart neighborhood store here has ALOT better selection of fruit and veggies than our Kroger most of the time. I like Meijers, but they are a little far to go on a routine basis. I haven't tried turnips since I was a kid...and hated them then. Greens however, I loved. Any kind. Now though, I choke on them. If I do manage to get them down the throat, I can't seem to get them chewed up enough to go through the stoma! Darn!!! I have even tried canned spinach. Now, how much softer could that be, right??? Nope, not soft enough for me. Since I'm hypoglycemic, I'm always looking for ways to use other veggies to replace potatoes, yams, pasta and rice. Sherri

Turnips make a great substitute for potatoes in stew. They get about the same consistancy as potatoes when boiled with the meat/other veggies and are mild in flavor too. I'm going to try the rutabaga (sp?) fries and the eggplant garlic "bread". I love garlic bread! I had tried a recipe for low fat cheese fries made with sweet potatoes that I got from the food network. I didn't think it turned out all that well, but my husband loved them. Cindy

I love turnips in soup! and even just boiled with a little salt on them (which I dont feel bad about eating at all since I never have been a big fan of salt and use it very rarely). Also, I've always loved mustard greens. When we were little and my mom used to let us pick what veggie we were having when we went to the store, i picked mustard greens. And here's the part where you think I'm weird: I put mustard on my mustard greens. As far as a rutabaga... I dont think I even know what one looks like, and im so picky, Im scared to try new things.

Darrah, Rutabagas look like a really big tunip in color. They are about the size of a small cantaloupe. They may be a little hard to peel. I got this little peeler that I got at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that has a ring attached that fits onto your finger. Never be afraid to try new things!! If you don't like it, you aren't 4 anymore and no one will tell you that you have to clean your plate. Be brave! You miss out on SO much if/when you're afraid to try new things out. Sherri