OGDOG,

There was a person who posted who was trained as a Chef, but I guess by your reply it wasn't you. Anyway, you obviously love to cook, and your recipes rock, so here goes:

Even though my son and i are going out for Thanksgiving, he has WAY BEYOND hinted that he wants me to cook anyway, for the "supper" after we get home and for leftovers on the weekend. He has never asked this of me, so, of course, I MUST COMPLYshe said, as a Zombie....

My question is this..when I cook, which I really love to do, I always have to taste to adjust seasonings, etc. Do you just taste, and spit it out? I did this last week and I notice the pot of Navy beans is still sitting in the refridgerator after ONE serving to my son...(most of the stuff I cook is gone ASAP) Any advice?

Spatime, I put in low-carb recipes in the recipes section. Some don't follow the IP diet, but they are lower in carbs then normal IP stuff (adkins friendly). I'm having 15 people over and plan on enjoying eating with them have already bought everytihng to use those recipes. I've found my friends and family supportive, my SIL is making a flourless chocolate cake for all of us, and they all agree on having cauliflower "mashed potatoes" would be a nice change. I know it will be hard again the next week, but everyone enjoying a full meal together with me is important to me.

Alhtough tasting and spitting it out is a good idea, I am not strong enough not to just swallow and after taste once swallowed is pretty important in my book. Sorry. When making stuff for others I have someone there with me to taste it for me. I have my mom coming down early on Thanksgiving to be my taste tester. Consider asking your son to taste test for you, it might also be some fun quality time between you two??!!

I've been doing the Ideal Protein program since November 2. The first week I lost 10.5 lbs. (224.5) The second week - 1.5. (223) I was disappointed, but not discouraged - at leas I didn't gain. I had convinced myself (yes, in a very short time I was able to derail!) that this was a modified atkins. As long as I took in few carbs, I could eat more meat. Okay, now I know that isnt true.
I weighed last Wednesday p.m. kicked myself in the butt when I got home,and THursday I followed the diet. I am now showing at 218 - so I guess everything is laid out for me for a reason. LOL!!!
I am happy with my success; I am confident I am going to stick with it - I LIKE what I am seeing. I can see the results in my neck, hips and legs. Still waiting for my "innertube" waist to strike a leak....
I was told by the nurse about a cool trick when you have a headache....pour some salt or sea salt into your hand (probably about a 1/4 tsp. or if you have ever drank tequila shots...that amount) and lick it up. I swear my headaches would disappear in seconds.
I've rambled enough. Good to "meet" everyone. Happy weightloss to everyone!

Yeah, the tasting and spitting out was REALLY hard. I almost couldn't do it. OK, for whatever time he's around on Wed.,,when I start cooking, I'll have him taste. (He works and goes to college). He can afford to taste everything, he's 6' and 140 lbs. HA!

Ok, so I tried the strawberry drinks I bought with lots and lots of ice, and could not choke it down. Haven't tried vanilla yet - am waiting until I am super hungry to see if that helps. Might just have to stick with IP. I'm used to it by now, and some of the products are actually good!

I really like the fine herbs and cheese omelet.

I tried the WF marinara sauce with 96% lean Ground Beef, Chopped porteballa mushrooms, and green peppers in a lasagna magde with grilled Eggplant and garlic and other italian herbs and spices. It was awesome!

I did do something that probably will make everyone think I'm crazy, but I added a small can of tomato paste and blened it with the marinara. I also added a bunch of italian spices and garlic. This made it actually taste good. Before it tasted like the French dressing with a little bit of pencil shavings ground into it. It is only 6 carbs per serving for the tomato paste which when blended and served in a 9x9 baking dish you are really only getting 1 4th the carbs in one meal, so I thought it would be okay.

let me know what you think.

So I am trying the EAS AdvantEDGE carb control vanilla drink as we speak. It isn't really tolerable by itself, but I added 2 tbsp of caramel Torani syrup (1 carb), and it is actually pretty good. I'm going to try to sub it once a day in place of an IP packet and see how it goes. (If it works out, I'll save $80+ a month - considering I have several months to go yet, I think it's definitely worth trying!)

Might try adding raspberry syrup to the strawberry drink and see how that goes. (I've looked at the Divinci syrups on netrition and will have to order a few eventually...I just picked the Torani up at Walmart).

The person at work that has an issue w/ IP is/was on WW too. Hmmmm. My nutritionist is an RN and has been in practice for 30+ years. I feel good about being monitored by a professional and w/ the results so far. It's enough to keep me motivated! Thanks for sharing echobaby and Sherry. I'm gald I'm not the only one who deals with the negative nellies!

I tried the IP jello, OMG sooo good!
I also wanted to say, I just recently found out I am pregnant and my actual family Dr. told me that I am getting plenty of nutrition in the 4 cups of veggies a day never mind the other foods I eat and that it is perfectly healthy for me to be on IP. I was very honest and upfront about the program and foods. He just wanted to make sure I added a prenatal vitamin to my other vitamins as well. We have been trying for awhile and believe that IP helped us get pregnant by regulating my hormones. Since I got pregnant as soon as I started IP. Like Josh said, its better to lose weight and be healthy than overweight and unhealthy!

Congratulations on your bambino!!!! That is awesome. You and I started IP on the same day. Hope that wasn't an auspicious day for me too....I'm kinda old to be changing diapers.

Anyway, I think your Dr. is right. Maybe you don't have to watch portion size as much as we do, but seems like the nutrition is all there. The best of luck to you!

You might want to check both Slimfast low-carb and Walker Diet shake mix. If I remember, both taste WAY better than EAS, though still not as good(or tolerable) as IP. The Slimfast low carb is hard to find in stores, but you can order it from Amazon.com. All the slim fast in my grocery stores are regular and high protien(with sugar). The Walker Diet shake mix comes in peach, which is actually sorta good. Hey, $80 is a bill payment.....

This sounds sooooo good. Thanks for the recipe and the suggestions for tweeking the WF Marinara!

Congrats!!! Your comment about hormones being regulated shows that food is a great medicine. I pray for a happy, healthy pregnancy for you and the baby.