gravy - 4 carbs
 

What is wrong with turkey gravy from the store? I found one in Giant market that has 4 carbs per 1/4 cup.

You're going to get a lot of different opinions on this subject. The "problem" with most gravies is that they are thickened with flour or cornstarch, which is a no-no on Atkins. Now, there are some purists who refuse to eat any tiny amount of things such as flour (in gravies), sugar (in salad dressings), high fructose corn syrup (in ice cream), etc. Then there are those who think that as long as the carb count is low enough to reasonably fit in your daily allowance, it's an "OK" food.

I fall somewhere in between. I don't mind consuming a gram or two of sugar in condiments, but I wouldn't go eat the canned gravy. You can make your own gravy really easily with ThickenThin or Xantham gum as a thickener.

In the end, it's up to you how you want to handle this. It's your WOE, after all. I say make it work for you however you need to.

I am with Hillary. I, personally, watch the carb count and not the ingredient. But my husband made a wonderful gravy made with soy flour and that is what we are going to have for Turkey Day.

I missed mashed potatoes and before I heard of the whipped cauliflower, I made mashed potatoes with 1/2 potaoes and 1/2 tofu. This reduced the carbs while adding protein. It didn't look good, however , but it had a good taste.

Black57

Soy flour - hey never thought of that, that is what I'll use for gravy! 9g Carbohydrate and Dietary Fiber 6g so only 3g Carbs. no sugar

Ok I have to admite something here. My momma never could teach me to make a proper gravey. how does one do it with soy flour? is it a mater of using turkey dripings and browning it in a skillet then adding water?

Gabrielle

Auburn you also might want to check the sodium content. I noticed the ones I was looking at at Costco were extremly high in sodium. I recently found out that sodium makes me retain.

Gabrielle

Gabrielle,
To make gravy I just take the pan drippings (including any butter I used to baste) and add a little water. Depending on the type of gravy, I usually add some cream too (my Mom always used milk). If it's beef gravy and you want it to look darker, add a few drops of browning liquid, which you can buy in the store near the bouillion cubes and such.

Add a little of your favorite thickener (I use ThickenThin, which is great) and bring to a boil. Be sure to whisk it while it comes up to temperature. Give it a few minutes to thicken, and if it doesn't, add a little more thickener.

Those of you who use soy flour, do you have do add it to cold liquid first like you do with regular flour?

Hi! I'm new to low carbing,This is my second week have lost 7lbs,Thank you so very much for the gravy hints.how do I make the whipped cauliflower?,and does it sub for potatoes?Thank you
Ley

leykon, the mashed cauliflower is really good, and resembles mashed potatoes in texture. Just cook some cauliflower (I boil or steam it) and process it in your food processor with some cream and butter, like you would with mashed potatoes. Add some salt and pepper, keep adding butter and cream until it tastes right. Some people use sour cream, cheddar cheese or other things — it's up to you.

Yummm... I think I am going to have to try the mashed cauliflower. Actually sounds pretty good. A good portion of my guests coming on Thursday are eating lc and we are still serving the basics (mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc...) but I wanted to add some lc choices for those of use eating that way. This will be a great accompaniment! Thanks!

Hi Hilary...I was experimenting today making homemade maple syrup.....Which was very unsuccessful, so far....I was wondering if I could use some browning liquid to make the colour look more like maple syrup?....Julie

Thank you ,you have been so helpful,this is giving me the help to keep going on this diet,this is such a great site,going to make the cauliflower for dinner tonight .

Hillary thanks much for the gravy tips. Is Thick and Thin widely available?

I make the mashed cauliflower a little differently, if I boil it, I drain it then add back to the pan with the heat on to "dry" it out some and then I hand mash with cream and butter and whatever seaoning I want. I have just drained it and put it in the kitchenaid and mixed it but found that it was runny and too smooth for my taste to replace mashed potatoes...just my two cents worth...was a better consistency for my palette

I've done the Mashed Cauliflower with my hand mixer. It seems a lot easier than my blender. My blender seems to get bogged down some.

Nope. The browning liquids usually have flavor as well and a lot of salt. You might get the right color, but it wouldn't taste good at all!

Check your local health food store and if they don't have it, you can substitute Guar or Xanthan gum (that's pretty much what Thicknthin is made out of anyway). Just remember...a little goes a long way. If you use too much, you'll wind up with gravy that resembles jello more than gravy. :lol:

When I make gravy I disolve the flour in a little water then I pour the soy flour/water mixture into the pan drippings. Knowing my husband, he made a rue of the soy flour. That is when you put the dry flour into the hot drippings and it
it will make a brown paste. Then add chicken broth and seasonings. It should need no thickener.

Black57

Lisa's right about the browning liquid. It's for meats only, and I'm sure it would add a very weird flavor to sweet things. As for buying the ThickNThin, I ordered mine off the Atkins website. You might balk at the $17 price, but a little goes a long way and I'm sure this container will last me a year or two at least. Like Lisa said, you can also try other thickening agents like guar or xantham. I haven't used those but I'm sure they all work about the same.

On another note, Atkins also makes a ThickNThin called "Not Sugar" as well as the "Not Starch." Does anyone know the difference?

Expert Foods makes the "ThickenThin" products, you can check out their website for product descriptions. However, I don't have personal experience to know the difference between them. I have xantham gum and use it for thickening. I bought it at my health food store for $7.50 for an 8 oz. pkg.

http://www.expertfoods.com/products.php#thickenthin

They also have some great recipes (I'm going to make their green bean casserole and sweet not/tatoes for Thanksgiving dinner).

Thanks Lisa and Hilary for the infor about browning liquid....I will try my gravy next time with the soy flour also.....Julie