Salt and crunchy are my friend/foes. IE, any of the average crunchy snack foods. Which are based on high-carb starchy foods, which are as bad as sugar. I don't have a sweet tooth, per se, though I've had times when a can of frosting and a spoon were a good evening's entertainment.

Why yes, I am fat and diabetic, what made you ask? And my doctor's appointment is in a week, and he's going to look concerned and say we're running out of options that don't involve needles every day, and I hate going to the doctor.

One thing that I found about vegetarian South Beach -- it's really easy to get into the habit of eating way too much cheese, which really slows down weight loss because it has so much fat. Good snacks are raw veggies dipped in hummus or chickpeas with nutritional yeast.

Also, the South Beach book says to eat low-fat tofu instead of regular. Ignore that. You've got to use so much oil to keep the low-fat from sticking to the pan that I'm positive it negates any fat missing.

IE, any of the average crunchy snack foods. Which are based on high-carb starchy foods, which are as bad as sugar.

Have you tried soy chips? I also know a bunch of people who make kale chips which they say are great, but I've never tried them. I think it's basically just kale torn up into chip-sized pieces, sprinkled with a little olive oil and salt or garlic powder or whatever else, and then baked until they become crispy.

You know, if there's ever a second edition of The Buffistas Cookbook, there are some great quotes for it in this thread.

I particularly agree with Ginger that eggs should only ever taste like cake or cookies.

Kristin, the Edison is fantabulous! Although I have a number of snarky comments about them having a Tesla Room. If I win the lottery I will totally buy it out for you.

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I've marked the post, Hil. Thanks.

One thing that I found about vegetarian South Beach -- it's really easy to get into the habit of eating way too much cheese, which really slows down weight loss because it has so much fat. Good snacks are raw veggies dipped in hummus or chickpeas with nutritional yeast.

Also, the South Beach book says to eat low-fat tofu instead of regular. Ignore that. You've got to use so much oil to keep the low-fat from sticking to the pan that I'm positive it negates any fat missing.

I've been pretty good about avoiding being a cheeseitarian but it is a deliberate act. I'd cheerfully eat it five times a day.

Tofu is a little tricky because there is so much of it I do not like. (How can something simultaneously have the texture of chalk and eyeballs? It's a miracle. If there is such a thing as bad miracles.) If its crumbled or silken I'm a go. If it is a grilled slab with sauce I flee. If its in hotdog form it needs bread and cheese to be palateable. (So far. There has GOT to be one out there I'll like. I just hit www.vegieworld.com and am trying one of theirs.)

Oh! except to say thank you to Tep for the butternut squash enchilada recipe! I've made the vegan version twice to great acclaim. Yum!

Isn't it great? I might have to make that soon.

It still smells wonderful and the flavor is a clear and fond memory. But when I take a bite the "mmmmm" is quickly squelched by "gee, this is dead."

Ick. I never get that with fish - I pretty much always enjoy fish, even when it's sitting there with its sad dead eyes, looking completely like a fish. Prawns & their relations I love so long as I don't think of them as swimming cockroaches. Flesh and fowl is more variable - if it is pleasingly anonymous & unprocessed (like slices of chicken breast meat or pieces of steak), I can enjoy it in a 'gee, this isn't a slice of corpse - pass the gravy!' kind of way. But skin, bone, gristle etc make that increasingly tricky.

...man, though, I so need to cut out the carbs again. I feel and am so much healthier when I don't eat this crap.

Mission for the summer: eat healthier, exercise more, write a book. In no particular order.

I had antelope for dinner on Saturday. I planned to have rainbow trout, but the antelope steak with madeira sauce on celeriac polenta was just too tempting. And man oh man was it good!

They said it was organically farm-raised, but the DH kept telling me it was probably discarded from one of those big-game-hunter ranches. He's so helpful. He's also fairly consistent with the "shrimp are swimming cockroaches" thing.

I just hit www.vegieworld.com and am trying one of theirs.

That company has been getting into trouble lately for having unlabeled animal products in their foods. Everything that I've heard specifically about them has been eggs and milk in things labeled vegan, but there have been reports from Taiwan (and I think from China) of stuff made and sold there that was labeled vegetarian and actually contained meat.

Tofu is probably OK, but I'm skeptical of the fake meats.

Mission for the summer: eat healthier, exercise more, write a book. In no particular order.

I'm 2 for 3 on that.