Favourite food you've discovered recently
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »GRITS!....oh Honey don’t say that in the Southern USA.....LOL....it’s boiled corn meal and a staple on a true southerners breakfast plate and with shrimp or with cheese in them...they are an acquired taste and many people in our Northern and Western States have never heard of them!....I LOVE them and they are so good...made by Quaker and a lot like Cream of Wheat!
@conniewilkins56 I forgot to respond to this one! lol My mom doesn't like grits so it was never served at my house at all growing up, and I only recently discovered it. Mom said it reminded her too much of the cornmeal mush her grandmother used to make and feed them when she was a girl, and she hated how gritty it was. My mom's sister said the same thing. And yet both will eat cream of wheat.......
I was raised in southern WV on the VA side, so we have a culture similar to VA - and we consider ourselves southern because after all, our town is actually further south than Richmond! lol If you go over to the western end of southern WV, the culture is more like Kentucky; the western end of Northern WV is more like Ohio, and northern WV is like PA and Maryland. When I lived in PA and told people I grew up in WV, they'd say "oh, I have friends in Morgantown!" I'd tell them I was from Southern WV, and then they'd say "Oh, I've been there - Elkins, right?" Elkins is in northern WV......so then I'd have to tell them "when you go to the beach and you drive down US19, you go through Beckley, WV, right? I'm near there." And then they'd get big eyes and say "oh, wow that is really far south!" makes you wonder what they thought of someone from Alabama, right? lol
Anyway, WV tends to have a blend of southern and mid-western and of course just plain Appalachian when it comes to our foods, so while I knew what grits were for the most part, and see it on the occasional menu, it wasn't something that was around or showed up at church dinners or anything. So far, I really like them as a breakfast, lightly sweetened; cheesy sounds intriguing! I might pass on the shrimp, but my sister would love it that way - cheese and shrimp are 2 of her favorite foods
So where do you fall in the great cornbread debate? lol I grew up with cornbread made with buttermilk and very little sugar, and the best was my grandmothers, which was light and crumbly and dry so it soaked up the butter you'd put in it or it would easily soak up the juices in chili or soups. And if there was any left over, mom would crumble it into a bowl and pour milk over it and eat it for dessert (and my grandparents would do the same only use buttermilk).
I was aghast when I went to PA and got cornbread in one of the restaurants up there and found it too sweet to even eat, and it didn't have cornbread consistency at all; it was corn cake. That was when I discovered the difference between northern cornbread and southern cornbread, and found that apparently, its almost as heated a debate as whether to call it stuffing or dressing at Thanksgiving! lol0 -
I wouldn’t use any sweetener in a fruit flavored soda...I could never use a cup of splenda!...btw the Knox gelatin will make your nails and hair grow...also our daughter did competitive synchronized swimming for ten years and Knox gelatin is what is put in their hair to make it glossy and stay in place while performing... I want some Mountain Dew jello...the color would be amazing lol0
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Fellow southerner here. I feel very strongly that sugar has no place in cornbread. it should be savory.1
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I like my cornbread dryer also...I like to “ sop up” the juices or broth from the vegetables or meat served with it...although I haven’t eaten like that in a very long time...I grew up in southern Indiana close to the Ohio River and lived in Louisville Ky for a long time...now I am really south in Florida!....we always called it Stuffing if it was stuffed inside the bird and Dressing if it was a side dish....I used to have a strong southern accent but in college I worked hard to change the tone of my voice and the Ky speech patterns....Hoosiers have their very own way of pronouncing a lot of words......sour is sar and our is are....tower is tar and fire is far....my husband a true Yankee from Buffalo had no idea what my Indiana cousin was saying when she asked him if he wanted to go to see the “ far tar” ( fire tower )... gotta love it!0
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »I like my cornbread dryer also...I like to “ sop up” the juices or broth from the vegetables or meat served with it...although I haven’t eaten like that in a very long time...I grew up in southern Indiana close to the Ohio River and lived in Louisville Ky for a long time...now I am really south in Florida!....we always called it Stuffing if it was stuffed inside the bird and Dressing if it was a side dish....I used to have a strong southern accent but in college I worked hard to change the tone of my voice and the Ky speech patterns....Hoosiers have their very own way of pronouncing a lot of words......sour is sar and our is are....tower is tar and fire is far....my husband a true Yankee from Buffalo had no idea what my Indiana cousin was saying when she asked him if he wanted to go to see the “ far tar” ( fire tower )... gotta love it!
I had cousins who grew up in Indiana and Kentucky both, so I know what you're talking about! Personally, though, I consider accents and dialects to be a part of the culture and identity of a person and enjoy hearing all the different ways of pronouncing things. I side with linguists who want to preserve language and its rich variety, so I just smile when I call something a "holler" and get corrected to "hollow" and keep right on calling 'em hollers and hills
The funny thing is, though I grew up in WV, I sound more like VA when I talk - I grew up in WV and went to college here as well and made some friends from out of state, and when they asked where I was from and I told them, they didn't believe it because I didn't "sound" like it. And when I lived in PA, folks would tell me that they could tell I was southern by the way I said certain words, like nine and five, but they didn't believe I was from WV either. I'm not sure how I ended up sounding a little different than a typical WVian; my parents and most of my cousins all have the accent and some quite thickly!
Funny story: A few years ago I was sent out on storm duty and partnered with a guy from the Ukraine, who, though he'd been a US citizen for years, still have a very thick Ukrainian accent. We were sent up to find an outage (I work for the power company as an engineer) up this remote road, and finally came out at this dump of a house way back in the sticks. This guy comes out to ask what we were doing, and he really had that thick WV accent. The guy from the Ukraine couldn't understand him, and the WV guy couldn't understand the Ukraine guy, so I ended up having to act as an interpreter!2 -
The Great Cornbread Debate!
@conniewilkins56 and @bmeadows380 your descriptions of cornbread variations are spot on! I've enjoyed both styles depending on my mood and locale but since living in NM I had no idea that there is a whole other realm of cornbread - I call it southwest cornbread because I've eaten it in AZ, too. It's basically a "dry" style cornbread that has been enriched with whole kernel corn, green chile, and cheddar cheese.1 -
hansep0012 wrote: »The Great Cornbread Debate!
@conniewilkins56 and @bmeadows380 your descriptions of cornbread variations are spot on! I've enjoyed both styles depending on my mood and locale but since living in NM I had no idea that there is a whole other realm of cornbread - I call it southwest cornbread because I've eaten it in AZ, too. It's basically a "dry" style cornbread that has been enriched with whole kernel corn, green chile, and cheddar cheese.
We lived in Las Vegas for five years and had the southwestern cornbread when we were there...I loved it with red beans and rice or with sausage and Mexican food!0 -
I've seen recipes for that sort of cornbread, but I'm not a big fan of chilies, so I'd probably pass. I bought a book of old bread recipes and there was an entire section devoted to cornbread - I didn't know there were so many ways to make it! lol
I tried the jello with sprite today, but I really couldn't tell much of a difference. there was a little pop in a couple of bites, but I think the boiling water just watered down the sprite. Ah well!1 -
I suspect you just add sprite in lieu of boiling water and mix well, let sit in fridge. Not sure though.1
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I’ve mixed cottage cheese, sugar free lime jello, lime juice, 1 packet gelatin, and sweetener in a blender and then pour in serving containers and let sit in fridge. It’s very good. No water. It’s like a lime pudding, with jello consistency.1
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Satisfiedwithbetter wrote: »I’ve mixed cottage cheese, sugar free lime jello, lime juice, 1 packet gelatin, and sweetener in a blender and then pour in serving containers and let sit in fridge. It’s very good. No water. It’s like a lime pudding, with jello consistency.
that actually sounds pretty good! I love what I call Irish fluff, which is a jello salad with pineapple, little marshmallows, and lime jello, and I think some cream cheese (can't quite remember the recipe for sure). The above sounds like it might be a good substitute, if I'm willing to stir in a couple of pineapple tidbits 1 -
I tried something a little different this morning for breakfast. I have a box of instant sugar free cider mix packets and some instant plain oatmeal. I mixed 1 packet of each together for breakfast, and it turned out pretty good! I was afraid that the spices from the cider mix would be too strong, but they balanced out well. Oatmeal was 100 calories for the packet and the cider mix was 15, so was 115 calorie breakfast with no sugar at all. My local grocery store sells the Quaker lower sugar instant oatmeal which average 4g per packet but nothing that was completely sugar free. I'm not diabetic and not as concerned about sugar intake as some, but I know I'd still be better off limiting added sugar where I can, so this was an interesting experiment.1
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I like my cornbread savory too. I add sugar but just enough to take the bite out of it. I cook mine in a cast iron skillet. I heat bacon grease and then pour the cornbread batter in to hear it sizzle a little. Then bake it normally.
Cornbread has been on my list of hard to justify items. I love it but it is so caloric and even higher than biscuits. The problem is there are only two of us and we would each want one small serving with no leftovers. I don't want to eat it unless it is mine - not bragging I just don't want to take any chances.
I think back now to having 2 huge pieces with beans or chili. Easily 800 calories (we were generous with the bacon grease it cooked in). I do love cornbread in milk too.
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All this talk of cornbread... I come from a land down under (New Zealand, and lived in Australia too) and I don't think I have ever tasted it!
It's summer here right now and I've been really enjoying chilled sparkling water. I used to have all sorts of low-calorie treats that I would eat when losing weight, but I developed severe migraines and artificial sweeteners are one of the worst triggers. Also too much sugar! I had to change almost everything that I used to eat.
I've also been adding a lot of herbs and spices to recipes recently, and cooking vegetarian/vegan with amazing flavour. One recipe for an Eggplant lasagne done in the slow cooker is sooo good.1 -
I've got a really small cast iron skillet that I use for eggs, but I did figure out how to use that skillet and par the recipe down so that it only made about 4 servings. But I agree - even making substitutions to get the calorie count down, the best I could do was get my recipe to 200 calories a serving. I've figured out how to get biscuits down to around 120 a serving. I don't tend to make either very often. I cringe when I think what my mom's cornbread and biscuits both consist of calorie-wise - and I used to use 3 slices and 3 or 4 of her biscuits! The sad part is, she complains that she can't figure out why she and dad can't lose weight - she says "we don't eat a lot of stuff or potatoes or pastas". I cannot get her to understand the concept of portion size at all.
Of course, now I'm craving cornbread......xX_PhoenixRising_Xx wrote: »All this talk of cornbread... I come from a land down under (New Zealand, and lived in Australia too) and I don't think I have ever tasted it!
It's summer here right now and I've been really enjoying chilled sparkling water. I used to have all sorts of low-calorie treats that I would eat when losing weight, but I developed severe migraines and artificial sweeteners are one of the worst triggers. Also too much sugar! I had to change almost everything that I used to eat.
I've also been adding a lot of herbs and spices to recipes recently, and cooking vegetarian/vegan with amazing flavour. One recipe for an Eggplant lasagne done in the slow cooker is sooo good.
That sounds really good!
I found a recipe a few years ago for egg plant parmesan that did not bread the egg plant; you roasted it first, and then layered it without the breading. My whole family loves that recipe!2 -
I like to make my own homemade salsa using cans of diced tomatoes, stevia, jalapenos and vinegar. Boil the flavors together and enjoy. I use La Cochina salsa chips which are likely not widely available. They are a very thin chip and offer a good ratio of chip surface to calorie. I view the chips as a delivery system for the salsa so the fewer calories spent on the chips themselves the better.2
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I love lentil moussaka. Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables and they're relatively cheap at the moment. My Dad sent me up a box of nectarines and apricots he grew... they've introduced a new overnight service especially for Stone fruit from the town he lives in, in the south island. So I've been making a goats cheese, walnut and nectarine salad for dinner. It's really good! Also made a nectarine upside down cake with the ones that were a bit damaged in transit. And some custard tarts with nectarines for the boys. There are a couple of Japanese players out for a few weeks training with my youngest so I've sent food up to them. Nectarines in as many ways as I could manage. And my fridge is still full!1
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@maiomaio71 I can sympathize I've got 2 young apple trees, a young cherry tree, a young peach tree, and 2 young plum trees. The peach tree is supposed to be self pollinating and it is old enough that I might get fruit on it this year for the first time. I had to get 2 plum trees because I needed a pollinator for the other one and unfortunately, the 2nd tree wasn't a dwarf tree, so it will grow full size. And I had to get a second apple for the same reason. In about 5 - 8 years, I'm going to have fruit that I won't know what to do with, so I'm already exploring recipes that I can use 1
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@bmeadows380 I'm envious! Nothing better than picking fruit you've grown yourself. Our staff often bring fruit in to swap or gift. I'll sometimes find a huge bag of lemons or limes in my pigeonhole with an empty jar... someone giving fruit in return for a jar of lemon curd or marmalade or whatever I make with it.1
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sounds delicious - lemon curd is awesome stuff!
I'm too far north for lemons, limes or oranges; here its apples, cherries, peaches and pears. I don't know anyone else who has a plum tree. A friend of the family told me to watch out when they start bearing; he says bears love plums!
I also bought me a pecan tree that is bred to handle northern climate last year. I've got it planted in the riverbottom that my parents own and hope it does well. I'd like to have a couple of english walnut trees, too.
I have 2 cherry bushes, but they've never produced fruit, so I'm hoping the tree does better.
One thing I have discovered is plum butter. My mom makes apple butter, and I've made peach butter, but I love plum butter!1 -
I've been enjoying sugar free jello for the last couple of weeks, but last night while in the grocery store in the aisle with the jello and pudding, I thought how good pudding sounds, but knowing it was way more calories than the jello - the whole box of jello amounts to 20 calories while the box of pudding alone amounts to 100 calories not counting the 1 1/2 cups of milk to make it. While I'd usually use cashew milk to make it, that's still more calories than I typically have left in a day.
then I remembered the old lemon pie filling mom used to get which was usually made with water. Alas, they no longer carry that particular style, but they did have instant sugar free lemon pie filling meant to be made with milk. I wondered how it would turn out if I used water instead, and I'm happy to say it turned out rather well! Its instant pudding, so after mixing it together, I poured it into four 1/2 pint jars to make 4 servings, and plan to happily eat one tonight after church.
Now I wonder if the other flavors would do as well with water!1 -
I have recently discovered cauliflower... I like it substituted for rice, or simply roasted. I found the key to cauliflower is the seasoning. My husband is a huge fan of the "Spanish rice" I put the riced cauliflower in a pan with salsa and voilà.2
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My favorite recent food finds:
Oikos triple zero yogurt - 15 g. protein, 7 net carbs (10 g - 3 g fiber) , 0 fat, 90-100 calories, depending on the flavor. I like mixing in a tablespoon on PB fit powder into the vanilla flavor. Frozen fruit mixed in turns it into something like ice cream.
Mission Carb balance tortillas - just 3 net carbs (18 g - 15 g fiber) 60 to 70 calories per wrap (depending on flavor) and they taste like a regular flour tortilla that has 200 calories.
Liquid egg whites - I've been making myself a microwave omelette nearly every day for breakfast. I'll mix in ham, bacon and or cheese and veggies. Very easy to get a tasty low calorie, high protein breakfast that sets you up for meeting your macro goals for the day.2 -
@speyerj I'm not doing low carb or anything, but I love those Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas! I think they taste as good or better than regular flour tortillas & I really like that it has a good bit of fiber, a little protein & only 70 cals while still being relatively big. I more or less use it for a vehicle for whatever meat I'm having (Cajun turkey, salsa chicken, etc.). I'm not a huge bread person (unless it's special like cheddar garlic biscuits, garlic bread or a really good soft roll).
My SIL likes the Oikos & that's what my nieces (ages 2.5 & just turned 4) eat every day as part of their breakfast (although I'm not sure if the ones she gets for them are the triple zero or some other version). I've been meaning to try it. Do you know if the strawberry is smooth or if it has chunks? I think it's a texture thing, but I don't typically like chunks in things.
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@jlucas210 its been a while since I had the oikos triple zero, but I think its smooth. I like that it's thick - I've found that much prefer the thickness of Greek yogurt or Icelandic Skyr much more than regular yogurt. Right now I'm occasionally eating Danon Light & Fit Greek because it's 80 calories versus 100 (every little bit helps, right? lol)
Siggi's makes a great Skyr if you can find it, though watch which one you get because some are decent calories but others are pretty high. The only thing with Siggi's is that it's not sweet enough for me, so I'm usually adding a packet or two of splenda or truvia to it. Really high in protein, though!
Have you found the St. Joseph's flax pita yet? 60 calories for 1 whole pita! I also use Sarah Lee delightfuls multigrain bread because it's only 45 calories a slice and I can't make my own and get it down that low. I just hate the price on it
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Just to clarify, I am not doing low carb, but I'm trying to eat less carbs. I'm striving for a 30/35/35 macro mix. Speaking for myself, I find that too many carbs leads to too many more carbs. I find that its harder to stay satiated in my calorie limit with the 50/30/20 that MFP defaults too.1
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Finally did it: zoodles! Mmmmm3
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I love the Joseph’s flat out wraps and breads....I have one almost every day for lunch...I only count calories...I do not eat anything I don’t like....I don’t count carbs or fat and I don’t fast or do Keto....I have lost 62 lbs since last May 28... and I always have my snacks!0
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Courgettes. Grated, liquid squeezed out and then mixed with an egg and garlic for a a courgette fritter. One decent sized courgette will give three or four fritters. Freshly ground black pepper and you've got a quick lunch.1
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »I love the Joseph’s flat out wraps and breads....I have one almost every day for lunch...I only count calories...I do not eat anything I don’t like....I don’t count carbs or fat and I don’t fast or do Keto....I have lost 62 lbs since last May 28... and I always have my snacks!
sounds like we've got similar plans going I don't bother counting carbs or fat, and I only make an attempt to get the protein goal in. Once in a while I might try to fast, and I don't even bother considering keto or low carb or paleo or any of the other strategies out there; I know myself and know that I need as few restraints as possible if this is going to work for me - and so far, it has, better than anything else I ever tried!
I made Arroz con Pollo yesterday for dinner, but I was kind of disappointed in it. I've made that recipe before, but the one thing I changed was I used jasmine rice instead of regular brown rice, and the rice just didn't want to cook up correctly. So lesson learned!1
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