Books,?

[alice1940]

Has anyone got some advice on books about cooking for pmr l would like to prepare dishes to cook in oven ,l am putting weight on and want to be careful although l am not a big eater l like to eat healthy,hope everyone is keeping well , Alice

[olive2709]

Check out" hairy bikers eat for life " a lot of dishes can be frozen I have GCA and make full recipe then brake down in portions for 2 freeze date marking as I go this means on bad days hubby takes from freezer puts in oven use foil containers one other thing get some one else to help hubby very good at veg and carrying and taking in and out of oven . In other words take all the help you can get

[alice1940 in reply to olive2709]

Thank you for your advice Olive l will get the hairy bikers book and do what you advice and of course get hubby to help when I have off day's .Alice

[babssara in reply to olive2709]

Hi Olive2709, me too. I make a "batch" when I feel able, foild trays like you and freeze. So handy on days when can't do anything. When I take them out of the freezer, it also reminds me i'm not lazy, just forward planning.

Take care

Babs x

[babssara in reply to olive2709]

.....Ermm x

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Many people have found that cutting the amount of carbohydrate they eat a lot has helped reduce weight gain and I personally have managed to lose 38lbs of pred-weight-gain! It also helps avoid the risk of pred-induced diabetes and raised cholesterol (cuttings carbs is far more effective at that than cutting fat in the diet).

[alice1940 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for your advice on cutting down on the amount of carbohydrate l will look on line to find out more about that ,my clothes are getting rather tight now so will have to do something about it ,but l have a craving for white chocolate that l never had before and l have some every night Alice

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Alice, white chocolate is rather moreish, isn't it, but if you can somehow switch the craving to 70% good quality dark chocolate for its healthy flavonoids, which are anti-inflammatory substances, you will be having some benefit and therefore can at least feel less guilty! Well that's what I tell myself when I'm indulging in my favourite Green & Black's dark chocolate....only 3 squares though! Indulging in too much will negate the benefit of cutting the carbs!

[alice1940 in reply to Celtic]

Oh crickey l know white chocolate is not good but l can't get the crave for it out of my head and l know it isn't doing me any good will try th dark one you suggested but when I was really ill I couldn't stand the taste or smell of chocolate and l couldn't be near anyone eating it so how on earth has the craving got to me will have to be more strick with myself will look for Green and Blacks though . Look after yourself Alice

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to alice1940]

I don't class white chocolate as chocolate and I'm not the only person:

"Chocolate, especially fine chocolate, is often sold according to how dark it is, with packaging touting a percentage say, 35 percent, 55 percent, 78 percent and so on that indicates the amount of cocoa powder solids and cocoa butter in the chocolate. The lower-percentage blends are closer to milk chocolate, while the higher-percentage blends are darker and less sweet.

White chocolate, on the other hand, is not technically a chocolate at all it's made without any cocoa powder or solids. That doesn't mean it's not delicious, of course, but white chocolate is just cocoa butter mixed with milk and sugar. (Cocoa butter is a vegetable fat, not unlike olive oil or corn oil, except it's derived from the cocoa bean.)

As the website for the Fine Chocolate Industry notes, dark chocolate "should not contain any ingredients beyond: cacao liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, and vanilla." In other words, cocoa butter is an ingredient in chocolate, but cocoa butter itself is not chocolate."

But if you do look for the dark stuff - buy good ones, a good 70% is better for you than a bad 85% and tastes more chocolatey. Even dark can be disgusting!

[babssara in reply to PMRpro]

I just love chocolate - of any kind. Aldi do an amazing hazelnut bar, absolutely crammed with whole nuts. So cheap to, I buy 3/5at a time saying I ill save them (hangs head in shame). Not bought any since stopping work as I don't go near an aldi.

Weh

[alice1940 in reply to babssara]

Aldi here l come !

[babssara in reply to alice1940]

Whilst you're there will you get me some? Ta. I followed PMRpro advice this morning and bought a bar of Green & Blacks organic Dark 85% Cocoa. Tried the 3 squares tip, didn't work, 3/4s more like, didn't have the same effect (just made me feel sick after - not surprised1) as "normal" chocolate. Sorry PMRpro I did try. Honestly. X

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to babssara]

Babs, better if you had tried the 70% first! As you say you are hooked on white chocolate at the moment and, if you haven't previously had very dark chocolate with very high cocoa solids, then 85% would not go down too well. My favourite is the Green & Black's 70%. It would be the hazelnut & currant one but that is only 60%, plus I so love it that I'd be in danger of demolishing the whole bar of that in one fell swoop!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to babssara]

Celtic is right - going straight to 85% takes some doing if what you ate before was milk! You have to work up to it gradually - and if you ate all that of dark chocolate I'm not surprised you felt sick! I eat 1 single square of Lindt 75 or 80% - their flavoured ones are wonderful too. I'm no saint either...

Discipline dear girl, discipline

xxxxxxx

[Jilldrog in reply to babssara]

I too love Aldi's dark hazelnut chocolate but manage to limit myself to 3 square equivalents per day. It says it has a minimum of 50% cocoa solids so not sure how much good it does me. Would highly recommend for taste though.

[HeronNS]

When I went on amazon.ca to order Kate Gilbert's book, I saw a cookbook specifically for polymyalgia rheumatica, so I've ordered that too. Should get here in a couple of days and I will report back with my opinion.

[alice1940 in reply to HeronNS]

HeronNS yes l saw that book on Amazon but after reading the reviews saying it was American and some of the ingredients are not available here in UK l had second thoughts ,but will look forward to your reply when you get it as l will try anything thanks Alice

[HeronNS in reply to alice1940]

Got the book: Susan Parker, The Polymyalgia Rheumatica Diet. I would say it is a waste of money. I was hoping for more information about nutrition, but in fact it is just a very ordinary cookbook with mediocre recipes. It isn't so much the regional nature of some of the recipes, as most of those occur in any cookbook and substitutions are generally easy. It is the liberal use of questionable ingredients like garlic powder or bouillon cubes. One reviewer mentioned Bragg's liquid aminos as a US ingredient. In fact it is an alternative to soy sauce. My husband is fine with soy sauce (we use the wheat free organic version) but cannot tolerate the liquid aminos, so we have long been suspicious that it is not the healthier alternative it claims to be. We are better off just following latest dietary advice, like the Mediterranean diet, which calls for fresh natural ingredients.

[alice1940 in reply to HeronNS]

Thanks for your post on the PMR cook book l will keep looking around on the internet ,thanks again look after yourself Alice

[leeman49]

Alice 1940

If you go to website 'diet for PMR' you will get a good selections of cooking from there.

Good luck

LM (new sufferer from PMR)

[alice1940]

Thank you leeman49 l have bought 3 books from Amazon Hairy Bikers eat for life and found them very helpful someone on this forum adviced me about them l will also look around for the ones you have suggested thank you again Alice

[christine2715]

The diet doctor website gives good advice/recipes on low carb. Put diet doctor in google.