As a recently diagnosed diabetic, I mourned the loss of sweets… cookies, cakes, pies… and chocolate! Ooohhhh how I LOVE chocolate! If chocolate was a man, I'd marry it! I snatched up sugar free chocolates at the grocery store, loaded up my cabinets with foods labeled "low carb", and staunchly avoided anything starchy. But I found the sugar free chocolates had a chalky taste which did not satisfy my cravings for smooth melting texture on my tongue of real chocolate, and the low carb foods that were pre-packaged caused me months of GI upset before I figured out what was going on. So I switched back to some "regular" starches, and the GI upset got even worse.
Around this time (during which I was practically snacking on Tums, and taking anti-nausea meds by the bucket… and at times carrying a real bucket!), a friend at work told me "You need to look on Pinterest, they probably have some great low carb things you can eat". And a new fascination was born! I found lots of good recipes, some great blogs, and found a whole slew of other people like me. Many of the recipes I found on Pinterest called for special ingredients that are hard to come by in my small East Texas town of less than 1,000, and with the nearest grocery store 30 minutes away, I had to get creative. My plan over the next few months is to post the recipes I've had success with (and hopefully with some photos!) and the changes I've made to them.
My first recipe success was Cauliflower Mash. Now, mind you, both of my kids and my husband are picky eaters. My daughter inherited my sweet tooth (bless her poor little heart), and my son won't even lift a fork to taste anything remotely resembling a vegetable. Hubby will try anything, but some dishes are followed by a terse "Please don't make that again". My love of garlic mashed potatoes drove me to start looking for alternatives for my favorite foods that I could eat without guilt (or driving my blood sugar up to levels that would require insulin).
So here's how I managed to get all three of these picky eaters to try my first starchy side dish substitute.
Cauliflower Mash
1 head cauliflower, rinsed and drained
1 Tblspn butter (the real stuff, not margarine)
1/2 tspn Celtic Sea salt
1/2 tspn pepper
1/2 tspn organic garlic powder
1. Peel the stems off of the cauliflower and cut it into medium sized pieces (just as you would for potatoes)
2. Place cauliflower pieces in a medium or large pot of boiling water (I throw in a dash of salt with the boiling water). Cook until all the pieces are tender
3. Drain the water and place the cauliflower pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and butter.
4. Mash well and enjoy!
Notes: If you overboil the cauliflower pieces, they will have more of a pureed texture than a 'mashed potatoe' texture. However, pureed cauliflower is a very good (and sneaky) way to thicken gluten free or low carb gravies and get vegetables into otherwise non-compliant kids!
