Low-carb meals (and a drink!) I like

I wanted to get the "dunlap guy" off the top of my blog. :-)

Here are a few ideas for those wanting to try lowering carbs ... it took me a few months for all of these to occur to me so I hope this is helpful.

Pictured above, of course, is a beef steak. Looks beautiful to me as I like mine medium rare ... but any way you like to cook it, it has zero carbs. Add a salad for just a very few carbs (less than 5% carbs by weight for lettuce and most other typical salad fixings):

My German/Bohemian wife introduced me to bratwurst, which I used to eat with a bun and potato chips. But now I typically have:

... as a meal. I just grill typically two of the "beer and brats" on my outdoor grill, preheating it on high then turning low before putting the brats on and turning them every 4 minutes until cooked. This typically takes 20-24 minutes, and they typically catch fire for part of the cooking time when cases split and fat drips on the heating element:

A few slices of cheddar and a handful of peanuts and two of these brats is a fine meal, in my book.

And of course there's the breakfast standby:

I don't know how I ever ate all the toast and potatoes that often comes with this combination ... just 2 scrambled eggs (with cheddar, please!) and 4 strips of bacon is plenty for me ...

A Couple of Restaurant Meals I Like

I've been a fan of Chipotle for several years:

I like their chicken burrito, which I had been getting with black beans and brown rice. I started halving or eliminating the rice most days; otherwise I just have cheese, guacamole and lettuce. This cuts probably 1/2 of the carbs and is still plenty of a meal ...

I also like Jimmy John's:

... and once again, their "unwich" lettuce wrap versions of the sandwiches they sell are plenty of food ... how did I ever eat all that bread?

Sweet Iced Tea with 1/2 or So of the normal carb load

I grew up in Louisiana and was raised with sweet iced tea (and Coca-Cola, which I quit during the New Coke fiasco of 1984). I have been making my own with a home 3-quart tea maker, in which I had been using 1 1/4 cups of sugar (sucrose: the standard stuff).

After some experimentation I came up with a mix of sugars that taste goods and should be only 50-60% of the carbs of the previous formula:

• 1/4 cup xylitol
• 1/4 cup erythritol
• 5/8 cup sucrose

Your taste buds may differ, but in particular the xylitol and erythritol combo seems to have a smoother taste than either one alone.

Bon apetit!