Fat Fast Cookbook: 50 Easy Recipes to Jump Start Your Low Carb Weight Loss by Dana Carpender, Amy Dungan, Rebecca Latham Read Free Book Online

vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and hazelnut sugar-free syrups on hand, and have tried many others. If you’re a coffee drinker, you may enjoy a breakfast feeding of a cup of coffee with ¼ cup heavy cream plus whatever syrup appeals to you that day.
     
A General Word About Sweeteners
     
    One of the great tribulations of my professional life is the Sweetener Wars. No matter what sweetener I use in a recipe, someone will complain. Some feel artificial sweeteners are terribly dangerous, while others find stevia difficult to use or too expensive. Others demand to know why I’m not using xylitol (It’s toxic to dogs, and I have three), or why I use any sweeteners at all. Truly, I don’t care; my feelings will not be hurt if you substitute the sweetener of your choice in any of these recipes. Suit yourself. And if you prefer to use no sweeteners at all, there are plenty of non-sweet recipes in the book for you to enjoy.
     
Guar, Xanthan, and Glucomannan Thickeners
     
    These three odd sounding items, Guar Gum , Xanthan Gum , and Glucomannan Powder are thickeners made from finely milled soluble fibers. They add a velvety texture to soups, smoothies and sauces. Since these thickeners consist only of fiber, they can be discounted on a Fat Fast.
     
    I consider these three pretty much interchangeable, and can get them all at my local health food stores. Keep an old salt shaker filled with one of these thickeners by the stove. When you want to thicken something, start whisking first, then sprinkle the thickener lightly over the surface. If you just dump in some thickener and then whisk, you’ll get lumps.
     
    Use a light hand with these thickeners, and stop when your dish is not quite as thick as you want—they continue to thicken on standing. t>
     
Salt
     
    I would like to put in a word here in favor of salt. Not only does it make things taste better, but it is also an essential nutrient. Yes, an essential nutrient; a severe deficiency can and will kill. Hyponatremia—low blood sodium—is fairly common among low-carbohydrate dieters (this, from Drs. Phinney and Volek), because once chronically high insulin levels are lowered, the kidneys starts eliminating sodium properly; at the same time the low-carb dieter, having ditched most processed foods, will be getting considerably less dietary sodium.
     
    Low sodium levels can make you feel weak, achy, dizzy (especially when you stand up) and headache-y. Not fun, as I happen to know.
     
    So don’t deliberately avoid salt on your Fat Fast, or any low-carb diet, and if you have any of the above symptoms, add more.
     
    I very much recommend spending the money for mined sea salt from ancient sea beds. It’s a terrific source of trace minerals, and because it was deposited eons ago, it’s not polluted. It also tastes better than grocery store salt. I buy Real Salt brand at my health food store, and also have some pink Himalayan sea salt in the house.
     
Vege-Sal
     
    Vege-Sal is a seasoned salt, but don’t think Lawry’s Seasoned Salt —it’s much more subtle. It’s largely salt with powdered, dried vegetables. It’s not essential in any of these recipes, but I think it improves all sorts of things. Vege-Sal is available at health food stores and online.
     
Ghee
     

    Ghee is the Indian name for clarified butter—butter with the milk solids removed. Some dairy-intolerant folks find that while they can’t use regular butter, they have no problem with ghee. My local health food stores carry ghee in jars, and you may be able to find it in particularly comprehensive grocery stores; look for it with the Indian foods. I haven’t called for ghee in any of these recipes, but if you can’t eat butter due tolactose intolerance or other reasons, you could try using ghee in these recipes instead.

 

A Few Basic Recipes
     

    First, we have a few recipes that you’ll need in order to make some of the other recipes in this cookbook.

 

Ketonnaise
     
    This recipe calls for