Chips anyone?
 

Does anyone have a recipe for crunchy chips? Something Induction friendly?

These sound scary and maybe terrible if you're a veggie hater, but they are delicious. They're not chips of course, 'cause we don't eat taters. I promise they're all kinds of good. I've used each of these recipes when I really want something crispy, crunchy and salty. Kids love the spinach and greens beans this way. There are also recipes for fried green beans - check Linda's Low Carb and Low Carb Friends' sites.



http://www.flavourfoodandwine.com/20...spinach-chips/

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/11/r...een-beans.html

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/cheese_crisp.html

Pork rinds work for me (I like them, but not enough to eat lots of them). My favorite (which I'm starting to see in stores again) is the Lawry's microwave pork rinds, and a close runner up is Porky's nacho cheese flavored.

I am not sure if the Porky nacho cheese flavor is induction friendly, because I'm not sure if the seasoning adds carbs.

Kale chips work nicely too (there are a lot of recipes online. I don't even have a favorite, I just google and select one whenever I want to make Kale chips).

If you have a dehyrdator, or a very low setting on your oven, you could make zucchini chips (but you'ld have to measure the zucchini before you put it on the dehydrator tray to determine the equivalent amount in dried zucchini - because otherwise the carb count could add up to more than Induction allows)

The biggest problem with zucchini chips is that they don't really stay crisp in your mouth. The first bite and a few chews are crisp, but then they start to get chewy and then soft. It's a bit weird if you're expecting the texture of chips. I like them with a dip, but without a dip, they feel "weird" in my mouth. Can't explain it (not without sounding psycho anyway).

Kale works better, but again it's really easy to eat LOTS of them, so it helps to measure out before you dry them in the oven.

Some people say the carb count would be negligible, but I do have to count foods that I can overeat (and I can overeat most foods). I can't trust my hunger, because I can't tell the difference between true and false hunger - it all feels like hunger to me. And I can overeat even the healthiest of foods, because of it.

Hey sandyfanny: I'm not hating veggies, I just can't eat a lot of them. I like a salad once in a while. In fact, I had a salad today. And I love green beans, so that recipe looks delish! I'm willing to try spinach chips and even kale chips, because I love that salty crunch.

@kaplods: I tried zucchini chips before. They came out soggy, and the next time I tried it, they turned black! I'll try the kale chips. And as far as the pork rinds, I like seasoned pork rinds, but plain ones not so much.

I make kale chips by washing the kale and drying completely then tear the leaves off the stem, spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil spray, lay the kale curly side up, and spray sith cooking spray . Bake at 350° for about 9 minutes or at 325° for 10-12the minutes, remove and sprinkle with salt and seasonings of your choice.

Oh another option!! My favorite is to VERY thinly slice jicama and deep fry it-they actually taste better than potato chips. They actually aren't done cooking till they are light brown.

Some of the grocery stores, health food stores, and baking goods/spice bulk food stores in our area sell deep fried and/or freeze dried vegetables (sometimes they're with the snack foods, other times they're with the bulk items and nuts).

The ones that contain starchy and sweet veggies (carrots, beets, taro, sweet potato, squash....) aren't induction friendly, but I think the green beans and okra would be.

They're crispy like chips.

Proceed with great caution!
 

Be careful with the prepared crispy veggie treats from the store! I got all excited when I saw crispy green beans and crispy okra packaged in the produce section of my grocery. Yes! But I read the nutritional information: 20 plus carbs per serving...the very same carb count in a comparable amount of ordinary POTATO CHIPS right out of the bag.

I'm thinking the carb count, nutritional values will vary a great deal with the brand. READ the label carefully. We can't assume that because it's green beans or okra that it'll be fine for us. I wish!

They were also very expensive. Trust what YOU cook when it comes to treats. I'm learning. :dizzy:

Tried making kale chips last night since we have an abundance of kale in the garden. Loved, loved, loved them!! Right out of the oven with a little salt and garlic powder, you could almost convince yourself they were potato chips. I will definitely be making these again......and again :D

Pork rinds, lol! I used to hate them, then one day I saw online that they were carbfree. I practically tripped over my own feet to run to the store. I love the Mission picante flavor. If I can't find that and I can only get regular I sprinkle some ceyanne in the bag, give it a good shake and its kinda the same.

Some brands do add other ingredients, so you have to watch, however I've never seen a brand this high, unless you're counting total carbs, and not net carbs.

Half the carbs in fresh green beans and in the fried green bean snacks I've found, come from fiber, so only half count (unless other ingredients, such as sugar have been added).

Fiber can't be digested, so neither the fiber carbs don't count. Neither do the calories (some nutrition labels subtract the fiber calories, and others don't. I think it's insane that ALL of the labels don't subtract the fiber calories since they can't be digested by humans. Unless you're feeding them to cows, why would anyone care about the inaccessible calories, but that's another topic).

Also, serving size matters, and even more so in dried, fried and other concentrated or condensed foods.

That's why I use a low-carb exchange plan to control carbs and calories. Not everyone has to do this, especially on Atkins induction and early levels of OWL.

The okra and green beans I referenced are packaged as a Lowe's Food brand item found in the produce section.

Were you using total carbs, or net carbs in the carb count (or was fiber count even listed?)

Did the ingredient label list anything besides green beans, oil, and salt?


It's also important, whether on Atkins or a low-carb exchange plan, to remember that any of the vegetable "chips" have to be counted. They're not a free food.

Atkins induction doesn't allow unlimited fresh green beans or even unlimited lettuce, and so these fried veggies have to be calculated into your allowed servings. And you have to remember that the measurements aren't identical.

I haven't eaten the fried beans or okra in quite some time, so I don't remember the math I had to do to determine the fresh food equivalents to the dried snacks.

If I remember correctly, one ounce (28g) was equivalent to one vegetable exchange and a couple fat exchanges.

This would translate into Atkins induction as one cup of raw vegetables.

For me, it made more sense to roast green beans as a snack (they're not really crispy like a chip though, which is why I didn't suggest them).

I toss long, thin green beans (ideally from the farmer's market) with just enough oil to dampen the bunch, then toss with low-carb seasonings and roast at 450 degrees until the skins blister and brown.

The carb and fiber counts are the same as for the vaccuum fried beans (unless a higher carb ingredient has been added before or after the frying to coat the beans), but the fat content is a bit lower (which isn't all that important on Atkins except for the fact that calories do add up, even on Atkins, and which Dr. Atkins acknowledges in his books).

If you eat when not hungry, or eat more calories than you burn, you can stall even on induction. I can't tell true hunger from false hunger, so I stall even on induction, so I had to add a calorie-counting element. That's why I switched to an exchange plan (which controls both carbs and calories).

I've used and still use Atkins, South Beach, and paleo principles to guide my food choices, but I use the exchange plan to limit the carbs and calories. I don't think most folks have to go this far, but my hunger signals are so screwed up I have to add the extra calorie-limiting step or I stall.

Concentrated foods (dried, fried, cooked down, or juiced) aren't as filling as fresh foods, so regardless of the food plan you're on, you have to take that into consideration. If all your veggies are fried until crispy they're not going to be as satisfying as fresh.

It doesn't mean you can't have any of these foods, but it does mean you have to be very careful with them, and you do have to count them, and especially on Atkins induction, you have to remember that the foods have to fit into the veggie limits (and that one cup of dried/fried green beans is not equivalent to one cup of fresh green beans).

The best way to do this on Induction is to look up the net carb value of the amount of fresh green beans you could eat, and then calculate the net carb value for your snack green beans (again making sure there aren't any ingredients other than beans, oil, and salt) and make sure you eat no more than an equivalent number of net carbs.

I read 22 and 24 carbs per 1 c. serving and didn't read any further. Too many carbs for me. I wasn't interested after I saw that.