Recipes

Bananas must have a killer press agent. Over and over folks ask, "But if I can't have bananas on my low carb diet, where will I get potassium?" It is true that bananas are a pretty good source of potassium; one medium banana has 422 milligrams, or about 12% of the RDA of 3.5 grams. However, that banana also has 27 grams of carbohydrate, with only 3 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 24 grams - about half of my daily maximum carb intake, and more than the 20 gram upper limit for those of you who are in the induction phase of the Atkins diet. Clearly we can't count on bananas for our potassium! But where will we get it?

Vitamin B6 is essential to many body processes. Vitamin B6 deficiency was first discovered to cause skin problems, including eczema and seborrheic dermatitis. It can also affect your Low-Carb diet.

Today, Low-Carbist Extraordinaire Dana Carpender unveiled her witty, clever, educational and FUN new podcast at www.DanasLowCarbForLife.com - The Dana Carpender Show! Dana's new show features a magazine-style format with a few features, the occasional interview and, of course, recipes, too.

Dana Carpender shares her recipe for Low Carb Mockahlua, as well as ways to fit alcohol into your low carb holiday celebrations. 'Tis the season to make merry! Seems to me that there are more parties crammed into the month of December than all the rest of the year put together. For many of us, parties mean downing cocktail or two. So how does drinking alcohol fit into a low carb diet?

Thanksgiving was Thursday. Maybe you took an Indulgence Day, maybe - like a growing (or, more accurately, shrinking) group of low carbers, you kept on low carbing right through the feast. I heard from a lot of people who had fauxtatoes and sugar-free pumpkin pie. Regardless, you probably have some leftovers kicking around. You're not going to be eating turkey sandwiches, or at least I hope you're not. So what to do with your leftover bird?

As a Yankee, I'm used to stuffing made from wheat bread, but if your roots lie in the South, you've likely grown up on cornbread stuffing. You'll need to make your own cornbread if you want to keep the carbs reasonably low. Here's a lower carb recipe for a good Southern-style cornbread.

Less traditionally, you can make this great Low-Carb Apple Walnut Dressing with no bread at all. Try this quick-and-simple skillet recipe.

Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake recipe from Liz Nielsen.

Call it stuffing, or call it dressing, it's just not a holiday turkey without it! For me, stuffing is an essential part of holiday dinners. Indeed, I used to have what I like to call an "indulgence" (a term I prefer to "cheat") on holidays largely so I could have stuffing! Since then, however, I've learned to cut back on the carb count of my turkey stuffing. Here are some ideas:

Dana Carpender's Low-Carb Gravy Recipe. The holiday season is here! That means lots of big family dinners, flocks of roasted turkeys - and gallons of gravy. This last gives many people pause. I learned this at age twenty one, when a group of young and broke friends bought a couple of whole chickens on sale, and roasted them for a budget dinner party. When the chickens came out of the oven, I said, "Look at those nice drippings. Would anyone like it if I made gravy?"

Here's another in my off-and-on series about specific vitamins and minerals. Since I last covered vitamin B1, aka thiamin, the next logical subject is vitamin B2, called riboflavin.

It wasn't vitamin C. Although it was known for centuries that a lack of fresh food would cause scurvy, and that certain foods, especially citrus fruits, cabbage, and sauerkraut, could prevent it, the factor responsible wasn't identified until a few years after our front-runner.