[turnips]

I'm a life long carb lover. I grew up on huge bowls of mashed potatoes, hot biscuits, homemade cinnamon buns, apple crisp, and cinnamon toast. I'd rather have a bowl of rice than a steak. I'd rather have a stack of cinnamon toast than a piece of chocolate cake. I'd rather have a heaping plate of mashed potatoes and stuffing than any amount of turkey or pecan pie during the holidays. I like fruit and veggies and proteins. But I really LOVE comfort carbs. And it's so hard to limit portions!

A lot of my WW points go towards high carb items as named above. I'm managing to stay within my limits but it's not much fun. Any suggestions on something that tastes super-carby but isn't? I don't mean sub-ing mashed potatoes with smushed cauliflower. I mean something that really satisfies like an old fashioned carb?

The best I've really come up with so far is to make turkey vegetable soup with rice and barley in the broth. I'd love some more help - otherwise I can use 75% of my daily points on dinner time's mashed potatoes alone!

[kaplods]

If you like mashed potatoes but weren't impressed with mashed cauliflower, try adding a small amount of potato (fresh or mashed potato flakes) into the mix. It has a much more authentic "mashed potato" flavor and texture. I actually like it better than mashed potatoes. It even passed hubby's taste test (and he HATES plain mashed cauliflower).

I simmer the head of cauliflower (cut into pieces) in chicken broth, drain off the broth and add mash with a little bit of butter or flavored cream cheese (and some of the hot broth or some almond milk), and I add mashed potato flakes (or boil a potato in with the cauliflower).

I started with about half potatoes and half cauliflower and then every time I made it I reduced the potatoes. Now I hardly use any potato, but I still need at least a few tablespoons of the potato flakes because the texture is just so much closer to "real" mashed potatoes.

I've discovered that I'm allergic or sensitive to wheat (I break out into an itchy rash), and I really miss stuffing. I add stuffing seasonings (dried celery, onion, and poultry seasoning) to a mixture of cooked quinoa, tvp granules, and hot broth. The quinoa is a carby food (not as carby as stuffing though), so I have to be aware of portions, but but it's much higher in protein than most other grains and pseudograins. TVP is low carb (soy protein), so it also "dilutes" the carb content.

I often make low-carb substitutes for high-carb foods with just a bit of "real" carbs, to make the flavor/texture more authentic.

[turnips]

Awesome! Thanks for the great tips -I love stuffing!