hi everyone,

i have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for nine years and i am heavier than i have ever been in my life. i dont know why i find it so easy to not eat meat, but when it comes to not eating other things - such as cheese pizza, i feel powerless.
anyway, since all my meals are carb heavy it has been recommended to me that i keep my carbs to breakfast and lunch and try to eat "starchy-carb free" at dinner. i also was recently diagnosed with PCOS and from what i understand its a good idea for me to keep carbs and thus my insulin levels down regardless. i love pasta and rice so it has been a real challenge to come up with suitable dinner meals and honestly most of the time i get frustrated and give up (and inevitably end up with pizza). i just need some suggestions of fairly quick-cooking meals with no pasta, rice, potato or bread involved.

so far the things i have trialled are baked mushrooms, bean patties, tofu & vegie skewers, chickpea curry, mexican beans in a tortilla (i was told tortillas are not starchy carbs?). any suggestions very welcome!

Hi LaurenBelle:
Just a comment on the tortillas - depending on the type ( flour, corn, etc) and size, tortillas can range in carb content (up to 50 carbs each) - check the nutritional info. I have just added torillas to my low carb diet since I found some that are only 3 net carbs per tortilla. Watch your beans too - while they are healthy, some are not really low carb. It's best to look up items on a nutritional guide to get a sense of what carbs are in different foods. Google "non-starchy vegetables" to get a list of good choices. It may surprise you - I found it a real learning experience.

One other suggestion since you said you like pasta: I have recently found some Japanese noodles called Shirataki noodles - I get the ones from House Foods that have tofu added to them (reviews I read seemed to say that these were the most like "real" pasta) & come in angel hair, spagetti and fetticine styles. They are 40 calories for the entire 8oz pack, high in fiber and only about 1-2 carbs. They are great for stir frys, soups, Asian dishes (I make a spicy peanut sauce sometimes), with pesto and even with low carb tomato pasta sauces. Like tofu, they don't have any taste but absorb the flavor of whatever they're in. Just google shirataki or tofu shirataki and there will be recipes and more info for you. The Hungry Girl website even has a pasta alfredo recipe using these noodles.

If they are not available in stores in your area - there are some websites that ship them - that's how I get them. In the store they will usually be in the tofu or produce/vegan section not the pasta - they come packed in water & are refrigerated. All you do is rinse them and they're ready to go - no real cooking is necessary. They have really added a great option for my diet without adding a lot of calories or carbs.

For other recipe ideas - try googling "low carb vegetarian recipes" - lots show up. You might also want to check out the Carb Counters forum here on 3FC - I'm sure there's some good advice there as well.

Hope this helps a bit - good luck!

LaurenBelle - I have PCOS and the majority of the foods I eat are carbs BUT I eat the non processed/less starchy carbs. I'd recommend reading Eat to Live as I think it would help give you focus on the less starchy carbs.

Basically, leafy greens, low carb veggies and beans are the focus of it. Recently, I've started adding in more whole grains and grains like Quinoa and Amaranth are great but I also eat brown rice, whole barley and other whole grains. I stay away from bread for the most part and go lightly on the starchy carbs such as potatoes, beets, parsnips.

A modified South Beach Diet might be useful to you as well.