Hi Fiona, Goldie, and Janey,

Just got back to my home computer. I'm on a computer all day at work, but have not had time since Rosh Hashana to check my personal email.

Fiona, I copied and pasted your recipes into a Word file and will put it into a special folder I keep for recipes to try when I can. I LOVE to cook, but have little time with a full time job that sometimes runs more than full time.

Goldie, I too have a problem limiting chocolate once I get a taste of it. Wonder if there's an addictive component?

Janey, last year I was diagnosed as 20% gluten intolerant, so matza was a no-no this year for me. I didn't even try to fulfill my "obligation" to eat the proscribed amount. A friend of mine has a really big gluten allergy (much worse than mine), and she ordered oat matzos. I'm not sure that would work for me, since my reaction to oatmeal (big bellyache!) was what gave my allergist the first clue about my gluten problems.

Could be, once all the other stuff is out of my system, oat matza might be a tolerable alternative, but I have no idea what the carb count is.

Chicken soup is a low carb food, so you could have it often. Seems the trick is to take out the carrots and stuff and not eat them (what a waste!). The matza balls are the real problem. I wonder if Atkins low carb pasta would be a satisfying substitute? I haven't tried it. Is it a wheat product? There are lots of recipes for soups and such that use Atkins products. I printed some from the website.

My Rosh Hashana dinner did not impress my daughter or grandson.
I made turkey meatballs with flax seed "flour" and eggs and seasoning; baked them in the oven, then put them into a sauce I made from V8 + sucralose + lemon juice. The carbs were low enough, and I liked the sweet 'n sour taste, but my daughter and grandson would have preferred plain roast beef. Next time.....

I did make a dynamite cabbage slaw (unfortunately, I found out that neither of them likes cabbage in any form). I used a slightly curly Chinese cabbage, cut into thin strips, added mayonaise + white wine vinegar + sucralose + a few raisins (VERY few) + some sliced almonds. It tasted great!

I found a low carb bread at Trader Joe's that is 4 grams carb and 1 gram of fiber per slice. Wheat gluten is in it, also soy, almonds, flax, and oat. It's made by "Food for Life" www.foodforlife.com, and has a slightly bitter aftertaste.

I've made French toast and used Atkins syrup on it for a pleasant change (obviously not for Pesach). One slice seems to be quite filling. I've never quite gotten used to sugar substitutes, though sucralose is not bad. However, my throat feels dry after using it, not sure if that's the usual for others.

Weight Watchers white bread is 9 grams of carb and 2 grams of fiber per slice, the lowest of any regular commercial brand I've found. It could make for a nice half of a grilled cheese sandwich on occasion, but is certainly made of wheat.

Not using potato anything is hardest for me any time, not just for Pesach, but I've stuck with it. I really miss potato chips!

I made my own cheese chips, with very yummy results! I had a package of kosher low fat Jack cheese slices. I broke two slices into 1" pieces, laid them onto a sheet of parchment paper that I had put into a frying pan, put it into the oven at about 250 and didn't time it. When it smelled good, I checked it. The little rectangles of cheese had melted down round, flat (with some bubbling), brownish, and NOT stuck to the paper. I let them cool a while. They peeled up very easily, and tasted salty and crispy and very good! The only ingredient was cheese, nothing else.

One last recipe note: I cannot eat wheat pasta, but CAN eat rice or corn pasta, or any kind of rice or corn -- all are not allowed on Atkins. That pretty much left me sadly pasta-less, rice-less, and corn-less. Ok, what's left? I scaped some baked spaghetti squash left over (no, they didn't like that either) from Rosh Hashana (7 carbs per cup) into a curry I had made (low carb, of course) and found the texture and taste to be incredibly pasta-like! It reheats even better than when first made. Spaghetti squash is going to be a staple for me from now on.

I've begun to see a new Kaiser HMO doctor -- an acupuncturist with expertise in alternative medicine of all kinds. She suggested I integrate Dr. D'Adamo's diet for blood type (I'm B+) into my Atkins program (which she really likes). This would limit me even more, but I'm gradually working my way toward following it along with low carbing.

The premise is that each blood type assimilates foods differently and in a predictable manner. Supposedly, once we "eat right for our blood type," the excess weight comes off without any other effort needed.

The "beneficials" and "neutrals" are what you CAN eat, and there's a big list of "avoids" that you CAN'T eat. I found several informative websites with a search on "Dr. Peter D'Adamo diet". I also took out a couple of his books from the local library. Atkins is easier, but I haven't had a lot of weight loss. Maybe I need to do BOTH, a challenging regimen when also incorporating gluten-free (or almost) and kosher, but not impossible.

Keep posting. I think we really have a useful string going here.

Ina