Hello everyone!

I am on week 1 of Atkins and am re-designing the contents of my kitchen cupboard. I have spent about 4 hours at the grocery store so far SEARCHING for Atkins friendly products and baking supplies.

My biggest obstacle is going to be teaching myself to cook. I am single and this diet has tripled my usual grocery spending so far. So far I have purchased Soy Flour, Splenda, Soy Peanut Butter, Slim Soymilk, and the other basic Atkins diet stuff (sour cream , meats, eggs etc)...

I was just wondering what you guys all feel are absolute neccesities in your closet now....Favorite Brands? Baking Supplies? Items you cant do without???

I guess I just refuse to buy the Atkins brand stuff because of the price...I cant afford it. I think I can do it cheaper on my own using whole foods and baking supplies....

If you don't already have one, go out immediately and buy yourself a crock pot...it will pay for itself many times over in allowing you to make great-tasting meals out of cheaper cuts of meat. It is also a "no-brainer" to use...rub some seasonings into your meat, throw it in the pot, add a few cups of water, turn it on and let it make you dinner while you go about your business for 6-8 hours!

I cook with cream cheese (Kraft-it has 1 carb, some others have 2) and cream on almost a daily basis.

I also have a huge selection of salad dressings as well as items to put on my salad. These include diced radishes, cauliflower, broccolli, mushrooms, sunflower seeds (I'm off induction so I use on TBS per salad). I also keep a large selection of cheeses on hand for salads, snacks, and cooking in general.

You have probably found this out already, but it works best if you can have everything washed and ready to eat. Then when you are hungry, you aren't tempted to go for something else that is fast and easy.

I also made a big pan of the pizza quiche and froze it. It goes a long way and then it is there for "emergencies".

Hope that helps some!!

Atkins is easy when you are feeling healthy but when you are not I always stock chicken broth in my cupboard to use as a base for pureeing cooked vegetables.
I use a stick blender and puree straight into the pot. Sprinkle a little cheddar and you have a meal LC and easy on your stomach. By the way what is it with all the Soya products you have been buying?
Pene

Thanks for the ideas! I will try to pick up a crock pot at a yard sale this year....I love crock pot cooking...

Soy products? Well, Ive read many studies on the health benefits of Soy products on the cardiovascular system. The carbs arent too bad either!! I am a milk junkie completely and slender soymilk saved me from a total cheat the other day. I have been keeping the quantities pretty limited. Chicken broth is good stuff! I think I have some already! I am baking my first loaf of lo carb bread tonight hopefully!

http://www.radiantrecovery.com/soy4303html.htm

This site has good info about soya.
Pene

I really haven't found that real "stocking up" is necessary. My special concession is the whipping cream which can be purchased reasonably at Sam's Club. I also find the meat there better priced than the grocery store. That's been the real expense for us. I routinely stock cream cheese. Comparison shop your local markets for the better produce bargains. Unless you absolutely have to have baked goods, you can avoid most the expensive mixes and specialty products altogether and still eat VERY WELL. Your biggest investment needs to be in a variety of spices and herbs. Good luck and good eating.

I keep the following around almost all the time:

• raw almonds
• roasted & salted pecans
• butter
• 1/2 doz. eggs
• at least 2 cans tuna
• full fat mayonnaise and reduced fat mayonnaise (I often mix these to get reasonable calories w/o too many carbs)
• Dijon mustard
• bacon
• chicken breasts
• sausages
• half cream (half-and-half in the US, when I was on induction I used "double cream"--heavy cream--instead)
• extra virgin olive oil
• plain olive oil for cooking
• high-flashpoint oil (safflower, sunflower, peanut)...you don't want the oil bursting into flames when you are frying something, I have seen this happen and it is terrifying
• fresh lemons
• fresh garlic
• vinegars - red wine, white wine and balsamic (be careful with balsamic on Atkins induction though)
• celery, onions, and carrots (these are aromatic veg which are good to cook chicken or fish with - you don't have to eat them)
• Cheddar cheese - I like to eat this for snack
• Yogurt, but that's just me - YMMV with this
• berries, but again that's just me and I am off induction
• when I was on induction I used to keep several packages of cold cuts along with some Gouda cheese and strong German mustard. I don't react to nitrites so it was no problem for me.
• fresh parsley
• pre-washed and bagged greens for salad. God bless the person who invented this.
• pre-made salad dressing
• 1 container of Atkins shake mix or equivalent lo-carb shake mix, for emergencies (I rarely use this but it's good to have)
• 1 container soy protein powder
• dry white wine, dry red wine, cognac, and dry sherry (all this is for cooking. Drinking is a whole other list.
• soy sauce
• fresh ginger
• I keep a variety of Asian sauces for stir-frying such as Thai fish sauce, Thai curry pastes, mirin, black bean sauce etc. I have to be careful with some of these though, because of the added sugar.

If you find this list a bit daunting, keep in mind that I have a serious cooking hobby. Feel free to peruse my journal to see the use I make of all these items. I post my daily menus.

Emily

Wanna see my kitchen stock list? I put it on my website.

Chez Kristine

I didn't know how to cook when I started out, either. Don't worry, it'll get easy. I'm a kitchen whiz now!

Thanks guys!! I am printing off your lists to help me at the store....I cooked my first atkins friendly item last night....the pancake recipe with soy flour...It was really good!

Pene - Thank you for the article on Soy...this has been one of the better articles I have read discussing both viewpoints...for me eating Soy is a personal choice and I experienced any problems with it yet. Thanks so much for taking the time to educate me on the negative aspects of Soy....they havent been highly publicized.

I think this has good information and I hope many people get helps from this.
Pene

I guess, now that I look and see you are on "Atkins for Life" I won't bother telling you that baked goods are for higher up the rungs of the OWL phase.
I still don't do that much baking - although at first I thought I had to, for reasons known only to someone other than me.

I made LC bread, cookies, muffins, and a whole variety of things.
Froze them, and ended up finally taking them to work and letting others eat them. Just didn't want to "waste" my carb allowance on them - was happy with the vegetables and other items on the menu.

So rarely even want bread, tortillas or other similar products that I don't bother keeping them in the house, either.

At first, I thought I had to stock my pantry completely with "baking" items, so I have quite a variety of flours and other "fillers" that were suggested in Dana Carpender's 500 LC Recipe Book. Now, I rarely use them. A shame - some of them were rather expensive (rice protein powder, etc.).

I use nuts occasionally.

I try to make sure I have a good selection of veggies, canned salmon and tuna, and individually-frozen portions of salmon, chicken and other items I can quickly take from the freezer. Since I'm the only one in the family on this plan, there are times when I make a meal just for me - but usually it is just a portion of the big picture.

I was just evaluating my menu and feeling that I had to change my morning ritual - because that's what it's become. I need to add more variety back into my menu, in order to keep me from getting tired of the "same old".

Maybe I'll go back to baking some muffins or something, and maybe not. I'll have to see how I feel.

I find that as I shrink, I'm eating less, so the amount of things I need in the house is getting smaller. That's likely a good thing - will save somewhat on the grocery bill, I guess.

I have to always have hard salami, a stick of good pepperoni (read label, some have sugar), all different kinds of cheese, sour cream, good olive oil, tuna, cream cheese, sugar free jello, heavy cream, dill pickles, spicy brown mustard, chicken wings and hot sauce, celery, sugar free peanut butter, and pork rinds to dip in ranch.

I don't use shake mixes or other baking things at the moment, but will when I'm on maintenance.

Other than the basics of veggies and meats, I stock my kitchen on an "as needed in a recipe" basis. If you find a number of recipes for example that use an unusual ingredient, buy it the first time in a small size. Be economical and get the large size in the future after you are sure you will like the item. It does not save you money to buy the large size and throw it out. For example, I now buy Designer Whey Protein in huge jars (5 lbs I think) because we use it daily. Soy powder and flour I rarely use so a small bag of that is available for the occasional recipe. Making a list of recipes for the week and making your grocery list from that will save you time and money. I highly recommend getting a Dana Carpender book (500 LC Recipes or 15 Minute LC Recipes) to get you LC create juices flowing. Have fun. Cooking is an art and it gets easier with practice.

Anyone needs more help on the diet... this is a good post.