Bacon (YUM!) questions & help needed before grocery shopping.
 

I LOVE bacon and so does my husband...MMmm *drool* BUT on a 'low-fat' diet, bacon was generally off limits so I very rarely bought it when I went grocery shopping. When I did buy it..I could barely wait until it was out of the frying pan before chowing down on it. *POOF* there goes the 'low fat' diet AGAIN, haha

Believe me, my husband has been LOVING the idea of me doing 'low-carb' these past 25 days...especially on steak night, (those fattier cuts of beef just grill up sooo much juicer and tender) ack! I'm drooling again.

When I told him I could go back to eating bacon..oh man, you should of seen his face light up, lol.

From what I understand, bacon, as long as it is free of added nitrates, is good on any level of low-carb.
Honestly, I never paid much attention to the labels when I was buying ANY kinds of foods, let alone bacon so I was very unfamiliar with 'nitrates' and all of those kinds of preservatives. Now that I am paying attention, it is quite an eye opener.

I haven't eaten ANY bacon since I started 25 days ago and the thought of cooking up some bacon this weekend to go with our eggs has been all I can think about...I'm sitting here seeing little strips of bacon floating by yelling "eat me, eat me" :lol: :lol: :lol:

So I was browsing online at the different bacon products/brands and found that Oscar Mayer has 'Selects Smoked Uncured Bacon'
The product description is as follows..



and below is the full ingredients list.

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS: PORK, WATER, SALT, SUGAR, CULTURED CELERY JUICE*, SODIUM PHOSPHATES, CHERRY POWDER.*INGREDIENT TO PRESERVE QUALITY
Servings

Serving Size, 2 skillet cooked slices (15g)
Calories 80
Total Fat 6g
Saturated Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 7
Sodium 270 MG
Total Carbohydrates 0g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 0g
Protein 6g

Would this bacon be a good choice seeing as it doesn't have these added nitrates? All of the other ones that I looked at have sodium nitrate and/or just 'nitrates' in general.
Does anyone know what the difference in taste is between cured and uncured bacon, if any?
The ingredients lists 'sugar' but both the 'carb' total count and the sugar count on the label lists 0g...so I'm not sure why this is. Does anyone else perhaps know?

Any additional information you may have on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Like I said, I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and this is on the top of my list of foods to buy. :D

People's opinions vary, but I don't think nitrates are a big deal. They're found naturally in things like celery and mushrooms.

BTW: Cook your bacon in the oven on foiled-covered baking sheets at 325-350 and it won't splatter all over the kitchen. Plus it is an easy way to cook a pound or two at once!

Thank you!! I shall definitely try that..I always hated the 'greasy' splatter from bacon....not enough to not want to eat it, but I'm all for a less messier way of cooking it that doesn't involve washing down the back splash behind my stove every time I cook it, lol

honestly, depending on the PRICE, (I'm not sure if this particular bacon costs MORE than 'regular' cured bacon) but if the price is a lot higher, I will probably just go ahead and buy the regular ol' cured bacon.

I've noticed that the 'healthier' something is deemed, even bacon, the more frikkin expensive it is. SHHeeeez!
(I may have that mixed up with 'organic' lol)


with the exception of chicken though...I can buy boneless skinless chicken breast at Sam's Club for $1.89 a pound. It's been this same price (within a few cents either way) for years.
Chicken wing, drumsticks, & especially thighs...holy smokes, your looking at $2.50+ a lb. there's nothing to a chicken wing, lol.

I'm still buying mostly chicken 'breast' because it is much cheaper... I simply add, eat and/or cook it with added 'healthy' fats.

thank you again :)

holy cow! dark meat chicken is 99 cents a pound here in LA, sometimes even lower.

where the heck are you buying it for 99 cents a pound?
By LA, are you referring to the state of Louisiana or Los Angeles, CA??

Shoot, this past week I went to Sam's club up in Vegas and the wings were $2.49 a lb. I passed on the wings and bought the thighs instead..at $2.19 lb, lol

I'll tell you what else is going sky high and that's beef..pretty much all beef, but in particular ground beef. (hamburger)

At least pork, (at Sam's Club) is still reasonable.

Seriously contemplating on buying a moo cow, lol

We raised pigs about 6 years ago...just the one time. All of us neighbors got together and chipped in for 4 pigs. Not sure I would want to do it again...the cost to have someone come out and butcher, smoke and pack the meat was quite a bit more than we had anticipated although I have to say, it was some of the best pork we had ever eaten.

Los Angeles. I follow the sale papers religiously. Ralphs just had chicken for 99c/lb and food for less has leg quarters for 79c/lb right now. And I agree, ground beef is ridiculous right now. Whenever it's on sale I buy a TON of it.

Holy Smokes..that's cheap.
I live in California, but we are WAY out here in the boonies, population 12 people..all spread out over the 1.5 million acres of protected Mojave Preserve. (no joke)
I'm 50 miles from the NV state line..thus the reason I do our shopping in Henderson or Las Vegas, NV (96 miles away in one direction)
I know there is a Food 4 less in Barstow, CA..105 miles away in the opposite direction....so I may have to venture in that direction if I'm now relying on meat, poultry fish ect as my main source of nutrition, lol.

The one thing we don't get out here are the sales flyer for the different supermarkets...half the time we are lucky to get any mail..lol...it's at the discretion of our closest post office (some 45 miles away, whether they FEEL like coming out here or not, LMAO! They drive a little ol' beat up toyota car to deliver the mail...and in Summer with the temps up near 115 degrees, if the mail hasn't arrived by 4pm, more than likely the 'mail' car overheated somewhere on route. Happens all the time....

I wouldn't change where I live for the world though...360 degree view and the night skies is stunning. The scenery makes up for the insane gas prices and the cost of chicken LOL

I've been finding bacon for$1.99 per 16 oz pack and I usually buy 10 at a time and freeze it.

urrrgg...the cheapest bacon I could find was $2.67 a lb.
The uncured, nitrate free, blah blah blah.. bacon...yeah, well, at a $1.00 a pound MORE than the other bacon, I'll take my chances with the 'added' nitrates. I don't plan on scoffing down a pound of bacon every day, especially at that price lol...

p.s the nitrate free TURKEY bacon...good gawd, it looked HORRIBLE.
Don't get me wrong, lol. I love turkey, and I love bacon..but 'turkey bacon', well it just ain't right I tell ya!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

thanks again everyone...
Looking forward to adding bacon to my breakfast omelet tomorrow morning :)

4 slices (2 servings) of Center Cut, thick sliced, bacon (Oscar Mayer) along with my 2 egg, mushroom (4 medium, sliced), red onion & cheddar cheese (1oz) omelet.

After cooking the bacon, I drained the bacon grease from the pan into a bowl, and then used about a teaspoon of the bacon grease to saute my mushrooms & onions, and another teaspoon to cook the omelet....before adding the cheese, sauteed mushrooms & onions Oh My YUM!

It doesn't get much better than this!! It was delicious...nitrates and all, lol

I'll tell ya...toast and/or bowls of capt. crunch w 2% milk for breakfast are now a thing of the past!

and I DON"T MISS ANY OF IT!!

I'm sitting here still licking my lips from breakfast, ROFL!

Hi Low-carb :wave:
That sounds like my kind of breakfast! I love to have veggies like mushrooms and red onion cooked with my eggs. Sometimes I sauté some bagged baby spinach and put the fried eggs on top or just mix some eggs into it when cooking.
Sounds like you are on the right track :agree:

Can you eat Italian sausage ?

If it's all meat/0g carbs and no sugar added.
I have two brands that I buy and both are 100% meat.

I don't see why not..however,
You really need to pay attention to the labels on ALL food products that you buy as many have added sugar/carbohydrates and/or 'fillers'....especially things like sausage, hotdogs, etc...


This past grocery shopping spree, I had been looking for a 'breakfast' sausage (as well as the bacon) and for the life of me, I couldn't find one without some sort of added sugar or additional 'fillers' so I went ahead and bought 1 lb chubs of 100% ground pork (no carbs, no fillers) and I plan to add my own seasonings to it and make my own breakfast sausage patties..
this way, I know exactly what I'm eating.

Hi Co-carb :wave:
You just have to read labels is right!
I've been buying the Boars Head Bratwurst and they are 0g carbs plus I have 2 locally made in Texas sausage brands (one-lb link) that I have found and are both all meat and also 0g carbs.
You just have to search them out at different stores until you find what works.
Ground Pork is surely a safe way to go and then just add your own spices to the mixture.