We do not follow Atkins, however, we do believe that you need to eliminate the rices, breads, pastas, crackers of your daily diet. The problem is not that “Carbohydrates” are bad for you. Carbs provide energy and energy is necessary for life. The problem is that we are living in a society where wheat (gluten) has been altered to the point that it is dangerous for you. The rise of Celiac’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome are highly attributed to these products. It used to be that the white carbs were the bad ones because they were processed and that continues to be true…however, we are fooled into thinking that whole wheat is a “healthy” alternative, when the research is now proving otherwise. Unfortunately, even when you shop at the store and read titles like “Multi-Grain” bread or chips, if you follow our principle of READING THE INGREDIENTS, you will find that these products are made primarily of whole wheat. You need to stick to WHOLE GRAINS and it has to be 100% whole grains.
Now, we are Cuban. We eat double and sometimes triple carbs in most meals (white rice, black beans, and yucca is a common example). It is tough for us to make a meal without “carbs”until this day. What do we do? We have learned to replace the carbs that we are used to (rice, pasta, potatoes) with vegetables that are satisfying, delicious, and starchy.
Here’s a a general idea…
You want a baked potato= make a sweet potato (no butter or sugar needed) it is sweet and healthy on its own.
You want mashed potatoes= make a cauliflower mashed potato. You won’t know the difference.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/cauliflowermash.htm
You craving pasta? Instead of pasta, roast a spaghetti squash, make a simple tomato sauce with ground turkey, and pour it atop the squash. Is it identical? No. But you won’t miss the pasta after a while.
http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/02/how-to-bake-spaghetti-squash/ (This is just one website to teach you how to make the spaghetti squash but you can google it and find other informational websites)
Often times rice is the cornerstone of all meals. Rice is easily replicated by whole grains. Don’t fall into the “brown rice” scam. Most brown rice is just white rice with molasses and not a whole lot more nutritious. Get whole grains like Quinoa, cracked bulgar, and millet.
You can also put raw cauliflower in a food processor and it will turn into “rice-like” portions that you can saute and serve in place of rice. You can actually make a pizza crust out of it.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm
http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/01/16/cauliflower-crust-hawaiian-pizza
PLEASE NOTE: Don’t dream about making this pizza recipe without PARCHMENT PAPER. The crust is too sticky and won’t succeed without parchment paper.
For a great article on the evolution of wheat, please read this article: