Ok, I'm about to start going up the rungs in OWL. It says veggies are the first rung. I would like to try tomato soup, which it says to eat in moderation. Even though I don't have a can in front of me I'm sure it loaded with carbs. How does that fit in with just adding 5 more carbs? Or am I supposed to make homemade soup? Any ideas? Recipes?

I know that Campbell's tomato soup has wheat in it and there are 20 grams carb and 1 gram fiber in a half cup condensed. I always make my own (when I do make it). Google for recipes--there are many out that are simple and taste better than canned.

I've read Atkins for Life, which is a maintenance book. Are you blending the advice in this maintenance book with the advice in DANDR? I'm asking because I think it is really smart to read AFL *before* you hit maintenance, but I have some doubts about how successfully you can blend the DANDR OWL advice with that in AFL. Not saying it can't be done, or that you are doing it -- just confused!

Cambell's tomato soup contains about 20g carbs for a half cup, so that would be a maintenance item to me rather than an OWL rung item.

guess i didn't realize it was a maintenance book i'll stick to DANDR and ask questions then. thanks

I have read both and I think DANDR is the way to start up the carb ladder, using AFL as a way to figure out good recipes/new ideas/once youre done losing.

If you really want to add tomato soup to your diet, it's easy to make your own. Just use the lowest carb tomato sauce you can find, add a little heavy cream and your preferred herbs and spice.

This works well, as does 1-2T of tomato paste, cream, water & some herbs. Tomato paste is cheap, most brands only contain tomatoes, & the contents of the rest of the can can be freezed in dollops on wax paper or in icecube trays.

You can also chop a fresh tomato, sautee until very soft and puree with cream and chicken broth and spices. It's delish, I do it all the time. You can completely control the carb count. A 5g serving won't be big (you can expand as much as possible with broth), but it will be yummy!

Freezed in ice cube trays, now some buddy was thinking, good idea.

Thanks

As weird as this may sound, if I'm in a rush I will just take some tomato juice and heat it up. I then chop up a half an avocado and throw that in with a bit of lemon juice and fresh ground pepper. It's quick and dirty, but the hot tomato and the cool avocado go really well together. It's a bit odd, I know, and not nearly as gourmet as above. I really don't like store bought/green house tomatos in the winter. They don't taste good to me. |I can't wait for tomatos.
Cerridwen

Fiddleheads and asparagus are nearly here!

Slice and then roast your tomatoes first w/ a little evoo, salt & pepper. Even crappy store tomatoes will become sweet with a deep, earthy tomato flavor. Saute onions and diced bacon (a bit of fresh thyme is nice, also), add roasted tomatoes, puree (or leave some chunks for a bisque). Add some cream and warm gently. Delicious roasted tomato soup.

Years ago I had a recipe that included cinnamon which adds a depth of flavor that makes the soup really delicious.

Yeah.. my mom used to make a chicken pilaf with tomato sauce and it had cinnamon in it too. It does work well with tomato, and then a bit of sour cream on top to serve... hmmmm that would convert quite nicely to low-carb without the rice....
I GOT FIDDLEHEADS TODAY!!!! YAY!!!!
Steak and fiddleheads for May day, what could be better??
Nothing! That's what!!
Cerridwen

what are fiddleheads?????

The rolled up top of a fiddlehead fern. This about covers it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead
We boil them, drain them and then saute them in butter. OMG they are the best. But they're only good fresh, they don't travel well. They taste a bit like asparagus...
Cerridewen