Are deli meats going to be a rare treat?

[Greeneggs&ham]

I'm on Day 3 of Induction and today was the first day that I came upon meal time without anything prepared and without much time to throw something together. Last time I followed Atkins, I was a fanatic for meat and cheese rollups -- roll a piece of zero carb deli meat with half slice of cheese; eat; repeat! Tonight I was set to do the same thing. I like that the boiled ham and/or turkey breast we have on hand has 0 carbs, no nitrates, and only 15-20 calories per slice, but tonight was the first time I noticed that one slice also contained 15% of my daily sodium intake! Seeing as how I typically polish off 12-16 slices in a sitting, I had to wonder about the consequences.

As a result, I have two questions:

1) What's the scoop on sodium?

2) What are some quick solutions for last minute meals if I'm trying to avoid the "fake" options? (Not avoiding them is an acceptable answer if you can defend it!)

[SunnySmile501]

You need to also read the ingredients list to see how much sugar and fillers are in the deli meats. If it states zero carbs per serving, it can have up to .9 of a gram of carbs per serving. If you are eating 12 to 16 slices, you could be taking in a bunch of carbs, because one serving will be small (one slice) so they can get away with stating zero carbs. I seldom eat deli meats because when I read the list, there is not one without sugar, dextrose, corn syrup and modified food starch and other non-legal stuff. And, then there are the curing agents or nitrates and nitrites.

As for the sodium, it can make you retain water and if you are sensitive, it can make your blood pressure spike. Other than that, deli meat is full of crap worse than sodium.

I cook a lot of big pieces of meat like roast and right away I slice off several portions and freeze it in individual servings in zipper bags. When I grill burgers or chicken, I make extra and put those in the freezer. If I'm pressed for time, I just pull something out and thaw it an have something tasty and legal. Sometimes I make up a breakfast casserole or quiche and slice it and freeze it all.

[joee5]

So far I dont believe sodium has been a factor, since I eat sunflower seeds during most of me evenings.(Me daughters play sports year round thus the seeds). I've been successful but I probubly would have lost more by now. Love me seeds almost as much as me coffee. Deli meats-- not unless it's an emergency. Not in the induction phase though. Good tip above, I do the same. Real convenient that way. Good luck. God Bless, Joe

[valleriek]

Originally Posted by SunnySmile501

I cook a lot of big pieces of meat like roast and right away I slice off several portions and freeze it in individual servings in zipper bags. When I grill burgers or chicken, I make extra and put those in the freezer. If I'm pressed for time, I just pull something out and thaw it an have something tasty and legal. Sometimes I make up a breakfast casserole or quiche and slice it and freeze it all.

This is such a smart idea!! I did the very same thing today, I had hamburger that needed to be frozen or cooked. I made it into several patties that can be pulled out of the freezer in a pinch and fried or grilled. Was thinking about making some quiches to freeze, do they freeze well??

[booklady]

I take a few hours one day every week, or every four or five days depending on how much I make, and cook up a storm. I make chicken thighs in the oven and boil up some frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts for salads and for my hubby to take to work, I put a bit of herbs in the water and they come out very moist and wonderful, I cook up a pork roast or pot roast in the crock pot and for my hubby I cook up some low carb sausages. I hard boil a dozen or so eggs and then have some cans of tuna on hand. I also steam up a big pot of green beans.
if you eat cheese, you can slice up cheddar or whatever cheese you love and put it in a zip bag in the fridge. No end to the stuff you can make ahead for the week.
No need to worry if you are prepared. It makes all the differance in us staying on track.
I would stay away from the lunch meat, the more real meat you eat, the healthier you will be and the better you will do on plan.
Stephie

[chinadoll]

When I am really up against the wall or don't feel like cooking I pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. When I cook dinner and have something like chicken breast filets, I cook several extras and refrigerate them. Some I top with whatever sauce I use (we love spicy Pong Pong chicken in the recipes) for dinner. I also leave some plain.Those I top with melted cheese, salsa fresca and sour cream for a filling and tasty lunch or dinner. And hard boiled eggs are always there, I can zip up mayo, mustard, and some curry and plop it on top to make a quick version of a deviled egg.

[ValidRouge]

I cook a lot on the weekends. For instance, yesterday I bought a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters for $4.98 at Wal-mart. I brought them home and baked them and then put them in individual zip log baggies. For lunch this week, I'll grab one for each day. I will also cook a beef or pork roast in the crock pot. Then I individually package the meat in 6 or 8 ounce ziploc bags. Once again, I'm good to just grab and go. I make a big "chopped" salad with lettuce, grape tomatoes, jicama, pepper, mushrooms, and onion. Once again, I package it up in individual servings and have it ready to go all week.

This is faster and easier than popping a frozen dinner in the microwave. it tastes a heck of a lot better too.

I avoid all processed deli meat. It's something I've found that makes me retain water like mad. It also gives me cravings. It depends on how much effort you want to put into it. Seriously, cooking in batch...particularly if you use a crock pot...is so easy and time saving.

I just have one more thing to say...ROTISSERIE CHICKEN....pay close attention to the ingredients. LOOK at it. I know for certain that Sam's Club rotisserie chicken is dusted in white flour before it is "roasted". I would suspect that Wal-marts is the same. I no longer eat any of that stuff either.

[SunnySmile501]

Originally Posted by valleriek

This is such a smart idea!! I did the very same thing today, I had hamburger that needed to be frozen or cooked. I made it into several patties that can be pulled out of the freezer in a pinch and fried or grilled. Was thinking about making some quiches to freeze, do they freeze well??

I find that quiche freezes very well. I never tried freezing quiche or my hearty breakfast casserole until I was having surgery and my non-cooking, fat phobic sister was coming down to take care of me for three weeks until I could use my arms again. I cooked like a mad woman the week before and froze everything. Several types of food that I didn't think would freeze well were grilled chicken thighs, salmon muffins and grilled hamburger patties, but I froze some of all of them and they thawed and heated just fine. We both ate off that stuff for about a month and she loved everything so much that she asked for the recipes and has started making them at home and freezing them so she won't have to cook often.

About once every three months our grocery stores will have jumbo packages of hamburger on sale for 99¢ a pound. I buy about 10 pounds and freeze 1/4 pound balls individually on wax paper lined cookie sheets and then when frozen, store in gallon zipper freezer bags and that does me until they have it on sale again. I don't take the time to make patties because I use it for all kinds of uses, like tacos, meat balls, meatloaf, etc. I only have to unfreeze exactly the amount I need for a recipe or thaw and press into a hamburger patty for the grill.

It helps that I have a small (11 cubic feet) upright freezer, so I can buy in volume and freeze individual portions in the way I described above and then store in easy to open zipper bags. I freeze sausage patties this way, as well as freeze sausage links spread out on a wax paper lined sheet, then I don't feel like I have to eat up a whole package before it goes bad. I don't eat those types of foods often, so I like to be able to just pull out a couple every so often to have for breakfast. I put them in a pan, still frozen, on low heat and they thaw and fry quickly.

I've been dedicated to this WOE/WOL for over two years, so I have had to come up with ways to make it easy and affordable to stay with it.

Sunny!

[booklady]

OMG, I never knew they dusted the chickens in white flour before they roasted them, that is awful !! I will be sure and stay away from those , what a shame. I am so glad you shared that important info with us all.
Thanks,
Stephie

[SunnySmile501]

The rotisserie chicken is good in a pinch, but if you look at the ingredients, it has sugar and other no-nos. Since I love to cook, I bought one of those marinade injectors and came up with a recipe for legal injection marinade that I thought would come close to Wal-Mart's, my favorite. I not only inject the marinade, I put the whole chicken in a gallon zipper bag and pour the extra marinade over the chicken and marinade over night. I then grill it or roast it in the oven.

I even took it one step further for what I call "the works" chicken, where I inject, marinade and then grill it with one of those "Beer Butt" vertical roasters, using a canned soft drink that goes with the marinade. I used ginger ale with an Oriental type orange-ginger-sesame type marinade and it was awesome.

Yum! I'm making myself hungry. I think I'll take out a frozen chicken and make one with an orange soda. Citrus Five-spice chicken sounds good right now.

Sunny!