Low carb products in NZ

[Rachel S]

Well hello all fellow Kiwis (and others!) from little old Darfield in Canterbury. I'd love some tips on low-carb products available in NZ. Like, anyone found a low-carb soy milk? What the hell are pork rinds, and are there any low-carb baking mixes out there? Any other shopping treats?

[feather]

Don't know what Pork Rinds are I think they're some sort of snack. I tried getting pork skin (about $1 kg) and grilling it. It was really foul so don't waste your time. I'm going to hunt the web this weekend to see if I can get any ideas. So I'll post back to you. There is a site lowcarbnz.co.nz that has a recipe section. Actually now that I think about it thats where I got the idea about the pork rinds. Apologies to Margaret but they certainly didn't agree with me.
I guess we've got to rely on good old kiwi ingenuity. Don't know about you but if I had half the goodies I hear about on these sites I'd be on cloud 9.
Last weekend I got some weight watchers jelly and made up with 1/2 boiling water, but instead of the 2nd 1/2 being cold water I used cream and beat it. Seriously yummy (bit sweet though).
Also I cooked up some soy beans which I'd never tried before. 1/4 cup beans, add boiling water, nuke 2min. Makes 1/2 cup cooked( 6.2g carb.) They taste a bit like peanuts. I thought I might try them fried up with some salt in the weekend, to see if I can turn them into a snack.
I picked up some Soy Flour which seems to much lower in carbs than ordinary flour. NOt as good as Atkins bake mix. I've just used it for thickening a couple of times. When I bought it I wrote the carbs on the label. Got it from Pak n Save Bin but I don't have it at the moment.
Made a really good cheese sauce using cream and cheese.
Let me know if you discover any taste delights.

[Rachel S]

Hi feather

Thanks v much for that. Actually after I posted my query I found the Low Carb NZ site and there's some good stuff there - specially recipes.

I see you're a newbie too. What do you think of low carb so far? Are you on Atkins? I am, and I love it, but I confess to needing some convincing about how it's ok to eat cream, and cream cheese, and butter, and nuts etc. It goes so much against what we've always been taught about weight loss.

Plus I only lost 3 pounds (1.4kg) in my first week. Disappointing, since on all the various other diets I've tried (I've been everywhere, man!) I've ALWAYS lost 5 pounds in week one! Praps I'm getting old ... (47). But I really hope it works cos it's so easy. I've not been hungry AT ALL and eating out is such a breeze: there's always steak and salad on the menu.
I'm hanging in there ...

Keep in touch.

[kiwilass]

Hi all

Here's a link to a NZ website that sells a few Atkins products - LC maple syrup and bake mix. http://www.supplements4u.co.nz/html/atkins.htm

I have often wondered about pork rinds. In fact, last night at Woolies I went past the pet food section and noticed dried pigs ears - the chewy sort for dogs. Hmmm...no I don't think I will go there! :eek:

Another thing I realised last night - all cream cheese is not created equal! In fact, Tararua cream cheese has 5.4g of carbs, whereas Philly has only 1.2g per 100g! It pays to read labels!

[feather]

Hi again everyone.
I didn't loose as much as I expected either. 6lbs in 5 weeks as of this morning. But I'll stick to it as its pretty easy. I've got a live in housekeeping job. Plus part time office work. The house where I live is kind of vegetarian. Basically vege's boiled for 1/2 hour, and left in the fridge for days, plus canned fish is whats available. I had been eating out a lot. But now I sneak home after work and cook up chops, steak etc. With all the windows open to kill the evidence. At least I don't have to worry about carbs, cause the only ones in the house are bread for the kids lunches. No pasta, flour, rice, potatoes or anything like that. All I have to do is resist the temptation to escape to Micky D's. So far so good.
I am 47 too, and I do think it gets harder as you get older, but I suppose that means it's not going to get any easier, so better do it now.
The weird thing I've noticed is that I'm getting smaller, quicker than I'm getting lighter, I used to find that it worked out about 1 stone per clothes size, but I'm sure I've gone down a size already. The shirts I was wearing with Tshirts underneath (cause I couldn't do them up) before I started, I can now button comfortably on top of the T shirts.

[Rachel S]

HI feather

You're brave: I've been told vegetarians can detect fried bacon at 100 paces!

I've lost 2kg now in 10 days, so that's a bit more encouraging. I've knocked off the nuts I ate in the first week. But yesterday I sinned. A friend had bought me a Cadbury Lite bar a few days ago and it had been sitting in the pantry calling out to me every time I opened the door. Eventually I gave in and scoffed lot (no such thing as eating half a bar of choc). It was delicious, and only 5 carbs (I can hardly believe this) but an hour later I felt soooooo sick. For about 3 hours I suffered! Never again!

Kiwilass: Thanks for yours, I'll check out that website right away. And thanks for the tip about Philly! I have Tararua in thre fridge. Actually one of my biggest probs is persuading my kids that they can't eat all the bacon, cream cheese, nuts, diet jelly, raspberries I have about the place!

Fried pigs' ears? I don't think so ...

[Rachel S]

Kiwilass

Oh god - $6.50 for one Advantage bar? And $39 for a pack of lc flour?

Sigh.

[lwilliam]

Hi, I am a new Aussie member and have been looking for low Carb products without much luck also. Someone on another low carb list, recently sent me a couple of recipes for Atkins like bake mixes that you can put together yourself and store in your pantry. If you are interested, let me know and I will post them. I need to clarify a couple of the ingredients e.g. Soy Protein Isolate and Soy powder, and where to get them, but have found a local Soy Products firm so will try and get on to that soon. It certainly would be easier if we had access to the range of low carb products that seem to be available in some other countries
:wave: Cheers Lyn

[Rachel S]

Hi Lyn

It would be great to have any bake-mix recipes you have.

[Lynz]

:daze: check the recipe section here http://www.lowcarb.ca/recipes.html

There are some bread recipes that sound ok, although most require a breadmaker. bread is my downfall :( i really miss a slice of toast.

Pork rinds are a snack made from pork skin, used to be available in NZ, but I haven't looked for them for a while. Basically, pork crackling baked till all the fat is gone. No point in me finding them as I haven't found any low carb Guinnness to go with it.

[lwilliam]

Hi,
For those who asked for the recipes for the Atkins Like bake mixes here they are:
1.Atkins Like Bake Mix
Mix together: 2 cups soy powder
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda (bicarb soda I presume)
Cut in 2 tbsp shortening
Keep tightly covered in a cool, dry place.
3 grams carbs per 1/3 cup.

Another Atkins Like Mix.
Sift together 1 cup soy flour.
2 cups soy protein isolate
2 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp Splenda
Mix together.

Not too sure about the second one, I just noticed it has 2 lots of salt,seems a lot and doesn't have the carb count, but could be worked out I am sure. I haven't tried the recipes so if anyone experiments I would love to hear the result.
Have done a little research on the soy products.
From the Soy Foods Guide (www.soybean.org)
Soy Protein Isolate (90% protein)
Is the most highly refined soy protein.
For the Aussie members I found some at Coles today.In the health food section. Comes in a can and the brand is "Natures Way" Has less than 1G carb per 30G or 100G.
Another soy site that has a description of Soyfoods is www.soyfoods.com
Hope this answers some questions, Cheers Lyn