There is no substitute...or is there?

I've made pizza with cauliflower crust and it was delicious.  I gave some to my daughter and she never knew it wasn't regular pizza.

How do you make the cauliflower crust?

Here is the recipe I use except I use 2 cups of riced cauliflower because I like a bigger crust.  I steam the cauliflower and put it in my mini food processor.  I also use the parchment paper and it comes out perfectly.  Another trick I use so the crust isn't soggy is after I use the food processor I put the cauliflower in a strainer and leave it in there for a while to make sure all the moisture is out.
http://escapefromobesity.blogspot.com/2010/03/cauliflower-pi zza.html

THAT LOOKS SENSATIONAL!  I cannot wait to try that, seriously.  I absolutely LOVE cauliflower, so it appeals to me greatly.  I still crave bread and stuff, but when I eat it, I feel mighy sick... so this looks like a win-win situation to me!

Thanks for the recipe...


tori

I've tried spaghetti squash as a vegetarian Italian meal with just marinara sauce. The first time I tried it it tasted pretty good but the next time I fixed it was terrible. I couldn't eat it. Now, I will have to try it again after surgery and I advance to that stage. It may be more interesting with turkey meatballs. I have heard some people put spaghetti sauce on french cut green beans and this sounds good to me.



Italian was my go to comfort food or was it Mexican or was it Texas BBQ? I better make sure I get to my surgery this Wednesday.

I don't think in terms of substitutes.  To me that  means a temporary swap out until I can get the real thing again.

I think of everything in terms of replacements.  I'm interested to see what other people suggest.

My favorite replacement is... okay this might sound silly... but I used to LOVE sweets.  I would eat them before I chose anything else - even regular real food.  Now I feel that was about fruits and vegetables (tomatoes in particular).  Where as I used to crave candy and junk, I now crave... tomatoes.  I guess I could have worse problems, right?  :)

I'm making lasagna tonight and instead of noodles I'm going to use sliced eggplant.  I'm thinking about crisping the eggplant so that it doesn't get all gross and soggy....crossing my fingers that it comes out well.

Personally, I have found that VERY few "substitutes" actually taste GOOD..., and I do not eat anything that does not taste good...  which means no protein bars, no reduced fat cheese (except string cheese), no tortilla "pizza", etc.

I tried spaghetti squash w(ith regular spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese, even) and it was NOT "good".  It was edible, and did not make me gag, but it was NOT good.  I ate all sorts of "substitutes" and protein laden things during the first 9 months or so post-op... but then I realized how much I hated eating and how much time I spent thinking about foods that I DID like.  That was NOT going to be acceptable as a lifelong change for me, so I had to find ways to eat that allowed me to enjoy eating again but would allow me to not start to regain.  I would much rather have a very small amount of whole wheat pasta than a large serving of squash.  I would rather have a small amount of regular pizza (eating the toppings with only 2 bites of crust) than an entire tortilla based pizza with reduced fat cheese.  I am far more satisfied by two little dark chocolate Hershey's kisses than a whole chocolate flavored protein bar.

For those of you who find substitutes that you like well enough to eat for the rest of your like, that's great... I just did not (and I got sick of trying new things (and wasting food) that almost always were bland or even downright disgusting).  I do have some new things in my diet, of course, but they are just new foods (Greek yogurt, quinoa, etc.) not "fake" forms of other foods.

Lora

 I am totally with you Lora, I even said so in my post!  A cracker with sauce and low fat cheese is NOT pizza to me and it never will be.  I was just telling the people I work with at lunch on day that I really miss hamburgers and pizza.  Of course they stated in with all the substitutes, oh try this or that.  I told them YUCK!  There is NOTHING in the world that can replace a nice, juicy hamburger on a white bun so soft and stuffed with toppings.  It just can't be replaced.  I must learn to live with out, or at least not very often and not very much.

I am much more like you, I would rather eat one small piece of something then a big huge amount of some crappy knock off.  BUT!  That squash was pretty good, and today I ate it again with just butter and parm cheese and it was good that way too.  It is good that I am putting some healthy things into my diet.  I just need to get more protein.  I am pretty sick of the staples and protein drinks just don't do it.  And those people who say that protein shakes are a replacement for milk shakes, well I will just say it....I think they they are totally nuts!

... and I have NEVER found a protein bar that was anything better than "pretty good... for a protein bar"... and the best one I found was pretty high in sugar, carbs, and calories (but was cinnamon bun flavored and was pretty good heated in the microwave for 10 seconds).  Still, not a substitute for the real thing.  Sometimes it makes me sad to think about how many people are "settling" for food that really isn't very tasty... even though I understand the reasdon behind it. I know that some poeple really DO like certain protein bars or shakes and substitute foods, but I know just as many that say tyhe DON'T but feel like they HAVE to eat them in order to not gain weight.

My solution for the burger thing is to get the Laura's lean beef, cook them at home, add the toppings you want, but then eat only 2 bites WITH the bun (for the full cheeseburger experience!) and eat the rest of the burger (or as much as there is room for) and toppings with a fork instead of on the bun.

Lora