A Couple of Questions....

[hopper116]

I have a couple of questions....

1. I live in a very small town, and I don't have many options as far as grocery shopping goes without driving at least an hour, one way. The local grocery stores do not offer an abundance of nitrate free/organic foods, especially meats. I've noticed in the Atkins books, they suggest nitrate free/organic. If all I can get my hands on is regular meats from the grocery store, will this be a problem or hinder my success?

2. Are there some cookbooks and/or websites you could recommend for low-carb cooking? I am looking for "non-gourmet" type cooking! I like to cook, but I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen, and I am definitely not a fancy chef. Any pointers would be appreciated!

Thanks so much!
Stephanie

[higgies]

Re: A Couple of Questions....

Hi Stephanie!

I'll defer your first question to those more knowledgable in the area than myself. As far as your second quesiton goes, this is my favorite source for low carb recipes. check it out!

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

[ValidRouge]

Re: A Couple of Questions....

That site that higgies gave you is THE best one as far as I'm concerned. The recipes are super easy and DELICIOUS.

The book suggests to use nitrate free/organic...but I understand that it's not always possible. I have never in the past year went out of my way to purchase the nitrate free/organic bacon and lunch meats. However, I just don't eat that much of those types of foods to begin with. I cook steaks, chicken, pork from fresh and eat those meats most of the time.

[julirama723]

Re: A Couple of Questions....

Hi Stephanie!

I live in a small town too, and like Joy, I don't go out of my way to purchase nitrate-free stuff because I figure I don't eat it enough for it to be a real issue. My MAIN grumble is the lack of diverse produce. I've never really been an organic fan, unless it's that organic salad mix in plastic containers. Other than that, I've always just bought the "normal" produce.

If my boyfriend and I go to "the big city" to do shopping, I make sure that we hit up a few grocery stores so I can purchase more exotic/cheaper/better looking produce than I do at home.

As for meat, we buy all of our beef and pork from a local slaughterhouse--all the animals are local, it tastes great, and you can't beat the price!

I still buy chicken and fish at the supermarket, and I've never purchased the "free-range" or fancy stuff.

I actually buy frozen string beans because the fresh ones are so horrible. But frozen isn't always bad--as long as you don't overcook them, you can still retain most of the nutrients. Frozen is certainly better than canned!