I find this to be very important in maintaining a LC WOE indefinitely. I've been around the block a couple of times on this before (back in the 70's... yes, I'm old!), and what got to me both times was that after a couple of years, it was just so irritating to not be able to eat like a normal person, so I'd cave. It was only a matter of time before every pound was back (along with at least twice as many of their "friends" ), and I was back to feeling horrible, eating uncontrollably.

This time around (I've been back on LC for about 15 years now), I realized that a lot of what I was missing when I was LC was certain flavor combinations or certain textures in foods, so I figured out what ones I was missing, and set out to replace them with something else.

One of the big things I missed was being able to eat a sandwich - it gets a little old eating everything with a knife and fork. But Oopsies changed all that. Oopsies are similar to Rev Rolls, only they're soft and pliable right out of the oven - perfect for sandwiches, burgers, and making things like turkey stuffing - which I'll explain below. When I make oopsies, I always make a BIG batch of them. The original recipe called for 3 oz of cream cheese and 3 eggs (to make 6 oopsies, enough for 3 sandwiches) but I buy the 8 oz blocks of cream cheese, and use 8 eggs, which somehow always makes 18 oopsies, enough for 9 sandwiches. They keep quite well in a plastic bag in the fridge.

I also missed mashed potatoes, but it wasn't the potato flavor as such - that's so bland all by itself, and needs lots of salt and butter to make it palatable, probably also some thing else such as sour cream or garlic powder to give it flavor. So it was the texture I really missed. Enter mashed cauliflower, and voila, I have the smooth and creamy texture, even though it really doesn't taste at all like mashed potatoes. I still make my own using cooked cauli, cream cheese or sour cream, salt, pepper, and some onion and garlic powder (a stick blender gives it the perfectly smooth texture), but the frozen veggie companies have jumped on the cauliflower bandwagon, and now you can get frozen mashed cauliflower. Couldn't be simpler.

I also missed my mom's turkey stuffing - but it wasn't the bread that I missed, it was the seasonings- she always sauteed onion and celery, then mixed that with the bread cubes seasoned with poultry seasonings and celery seed. Cut up oopsies give the texture of the bread, the same seasonings give the flavor.

To go along with the mashed cauli and oopsie stuffing, I missed gravy too. So I started making my own using broth (usually saved from baking chicken or beef roasts, but canned broth or bouillon will work too), and mixing in a roux using a bit of xanthan gum and some olive oil. (The stick blender works wonders to make the gravy smooth and helps thicken it more than simply stirring in the roux)

I missed pizza - but there are numerous ways to still have the pizza flavors, which is what I really missed about pizza. One recipe I use calls for baking a flattened chicken breast with a bit of pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni on top. Another way is to simply put some of the sauce in a baking dish, layer the cheese and other toppings (pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, onions, peppers, olives, mushrooms) on that, and bake until bubbly. Sometimes I make a pizza flavored frittata - cover the egg base with all the pizza toppings, bake (or nuke) until hot and melty. There are recipes that call for using cauliflower to make a crust, but I saw in the ad at the grocery store where I work that there's actually a company now making a cauliflower crust frozen pizza (but I haven't checked the ingredient list yet, so I don't know if it's truly LC friendly, or just a little cauli in a mostly flour based crust or not). I've even gone so far as to partially bake a single BIG oopsie spread in a big circle on a sheet of parchment, then added the pizza toppings and finish baking. I still order pizza sometimes when we go out - but the big difference is that I only pick off the cheese and other toppings to eat, and leave empty "pizza blanks" behind. That's what you do when you realize what you really liked about pizza all along was the flavor combination of the toppings.

Pumpkin pie - It's not the crust that really makes the pumpkin pie - it's the spicy, sweet, pumpkin flavor, and smooth/slightly firm texture I really like about it. There's a Pumpkin Bake recipe on Linda Sue's recipe site that's crustless, and tastes better than my mom's pumpkin pie recipe ever did. I even make it in a 9" pie pan, so I get pie shaped slices.

[Linda Sue's site is wonderful for a wide variety of recipes -everything from main dishes to snacks and sweets]

Cookies and cakes - I don't make either very often, but when I do, they're delicious, very satisfying, and completely LC. I've made Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese filling, and chocolate cream frosting. I've even made LC Whoopie Pies, using the LC cake batter, and filling them with LC cream cheese based filling. I don't often use protein powder, but keep some on hand, because can be used to make a crispy cookie - I've even made snickerdoodles and an old family recipe for sour cream Christmas cookies from it. The thing about the cakes and cookies is that you won't don't want make a big batch - Most of the cakes I make are 4" in diameter, and if I make cookies, 1/2 dozen is more than enough. Oh it's also possible to make LC donut holes using protein powder. Just saying.

Chips - the texture of crisped cheese is more delicate than potato chips, but far more flavor. I remember DD1 liking cheddar and sour cream chips at one time - I made chips from cheddar cheese, then put a little smear of sour cream on them - the crunch and flavor she loved.

There's so much you can do with LC foods - don't limit yourself to just a few foods, enjoy the entire array of possibilities, and you'll never miss eating high carb foods again.