xmas present to myself: Low Carb Mac and Cheese
It had been over 5 months since I had enjoyed any kind of bread / pasta product and I was really starting to jones for some mac and cheese. DIEING for it actually. :-) Usually, when I start wanting carbs, I make myself a large portion of broccoli with lots of butter and cheddar cheese grated on top and I'm good for a few days, but that trick had stopped working. Coffee cup cheesecake, fresh fruit, low carb processed snacks -- all my tricks had stopped working. I wanted mac and cheese and I wanted it now and damn the consequences!!
So in one last ditch effort to avoid the real thing, I went for a very high quality low carb version. I used the modernist recipe and method with Asiago cheese. This is thickened with Sodium Citrate rather than any kind of flour rue. That means all the carbs come from the pasta, and I used Dreamfields low carb Penne Rigate for that. There is some evidence that people do not digest all of the carbs in their pasta, but I just counted all the carbs and figured maybe I came out ahead.
OK, first. YUMmmMM!! And it worked, my craving is gone, gone, gone. My husband had the same sauce on normal pasta and he loved it. He said he would rather not eat "my special pasta", but what he meant was that he could tell it was a diet product. I couldn't tell, it had been long enough that it just seemed perfect to me.
I ended up freezing half of the 2 oz or 3/4 c (uncooked) portion, leaving under 20 g of carbs on my plate. I didn't even eat all of it. It was MORE than enough and it was amazing just how happy eating it made me. And knowing I have a serving sitting in the freezer continues to make me happy. After surgery I have been much less food focused, but this goes to show that it isn't totally gone.
Just about on schedule, about 9 hours later I started feeling bloated and a bit gassy. On the gastric distress scale of 1 to 10, I was maybe a three or four. It kept me from falling asleep as easily, but I did manage to sleep though it. I was not especially constipated or runny the next day. My weight loss tracking did not show any real changes that week.
Was it worth it? YES!
Would I do it again? Yes, but not every day.
Hubbie and I decided we might make it a monthly thing. I don't think I should let the cravings get so bad again. I also want to try other brands/types of low carb pasta.
The best thing has been a renewal in my good attitude towards low carb eating. I get my protein in and some veggies and I'm good. I'm no longer at war with my body and that is one heck of a great gift.
August 2014 - DS @ Mexicali Bariatric Center / Ungson.
It took me one and a half years to lose 165 pounds.
Weight: High=314, Goal=155, Current=131
