Ok, I think this is a few for my fav food maven Claudia.   1)  I just bought atkins first cook book, not quick and crappy, written with his wife.  This one looks great!!!  However this woman keeps using NoCal syrups like crazy.  She has it as an ingredient, but it is not a recipe in the book.  She uses choc, strawberry, and raspberry, these are the ones I have seen so far.  I looked at the store, in the diet food area, the topping area, the jam and jelly area, with the maple syrup. HELP!!!!!!!!!! Anyone heard of it???? 2)  Anyone know how to make no/ low carb sweetened condensed milk?  I have a baking recipe that calls for it. 3) What do you sue for thickeners?  soy flower, protein powder?  I make great egg drop soup on atkins but it is thin, and my boyfriend likes it thicker, i thought of geletin, but since it is served hot, don't think it would work really well. Last but not least, my contribution.... Five Brothers creamy alfredo sauce (in a jar with the spagetti sauces) 2g of carbs per 1/4 cup.  I cut up a cooked chicken breast, put a 1/4 cup of sauce on it, some Parmesan cheese, and it is sooooooo good.  Quick and easy. Fifty 50 Peanut butter ( in the diabetic/ diet food section)  6 carbs in 2 tablespoons, 2 of those carbs are fiber. Fifty 50 Low cal, no added sugar Raspberry spread (in diabetic/ diet section) Made with nutra sweet.  4 carbs a tablespoon.  I am going to try to use this in place of the NoCAL syrup for now.   They have different flavors of the jams and jellys. Making it fun is half the battle, YMMV, Holly (atkins' since Feb 26, 1998, 11 inches down)

Your wish is my command (at least where cooking and recipes go:-o Thickeners.  The three most common ones, arrowroot, flour and cornstarch are all pretty high in carbs, but flour has the lowest amount.  Try reduction. Slowly simmer the liquid until it has evaporated till thickened.  This method of thickening a sauce came into vogue in the wake of the low fat back lash.  No more using a rouge (flour and butter sautéed till thickened and then stir in liquid).  It works well, but be careful with cream _style_ sauces that they don't scald.  It is time consuming though. As for sweetened condensed milk, well I have never tried this, but you could probably take evaporated milk and slowly reduce it to the thickness of the sweetened condensed milk and then add sugar substitute.  It makes sense that this would work.  The hardest part would be making sure the milk did not scald.  You may need to stir it a lot.  Let me know how this works Maple syrup.  As for OTC, I prefer Howard's, but it is pretty thin.  Here is a recipe with lower carbs. Maple Flavored Syrup  1  Servings You can substitute butter or margarine for the fat-free spread. 1 cup apple juice 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon fat free spread 1/4 cup granulated sugar replacement or 6 packets 1 teaspoon maple flavoring 1 teaspoon vanilla Combine apple juice and cornstarch in small saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in spread, sugar substitute, maple flavoring and vanilla. Serve over pancakes, waffles or French toast. Makes 1 cup. Serving :1 Tbl. Amount Per Serving Calories  135        Calories from Fat  2 Percent Total Calories From: Fat   2%        Protein   0%        Carb.  98% Nutrient  Amount per  % Daily   Serving  Value Total Fat  0 g 0%   Saturated Fat  0 g 0% Cholesterol  0 mg 0% Sodium  56 mg 2% Total Carbohydrate  33 g 11%   Dietary Fiber  1 g 2%   Sugars  0 g Protein  0 g Vitamin A   9%      Vitamin C   172%      Calcium   0%      Iron   5%

Ok, I think this is a few for my fav food maven Claudia. 1)  I just bought atkins first cook book, not quick and crappy, written with his wife.  This one looks great!!!  However this woman keeps using NoCal syrups like crazy.  She has it as an ingredient, but it is not a recipe in the book.  She uses choc, strawberry, and raspberry, these are the ones I have seen so far.  I looked at the store, in the diet food area, the topping area, the jam and jelly area, with the maple syrup. HELP!!!!!!!!!! Anyone heard of it???? 2)  Anyone know how to make no/ low carb sweetened condensed milk?  I have a baking recipe that calls for it. 3) What do you sue for thickeners?  soy flower, protein powder?  I make great egg drop soup on atkins but it is thin, and my boyfriend likes it thicker, i thought of geletin, but since it is served hot, don't think it would work really well. Last but not least, my contribution.... Five Brothers creamy alfredo sauce (in a jar with the spagetti sauces) 2g of carbs per 1/4 cup.  I cut up a cooked chicken breast, put a 1/4 cup of sauce on it, some Parmesan cheese, and it is sooooooo good.  Quick and easy. Fifty 50 Peanut butter ( in the diabetic/ diet food section)  6 carbs in 2 tablespoons, 2 of those carbs are fiber. Fifty 50 Low cal, no added sugar Raspberry spread (in diabetic/ diet section) Made with nutra sweet.  4 carbs a tablespoon.  I am going to try to use this in place of the NoCAL syrup for now.   They have different flavors of the jams and jellys. Making it fun is half the battle, YMMV, Holly (atkins' since Feb 26, 1998, 11 inches down) I just started Atkins too. Would you be interested in giving each other support Holly?  It could be fun.  Let me know.  Barb

Sure, I adore atkins, and am getting pretty cute these days after a rough start.  The scale may not show much lose, but I look and feel thinner.  I think i was tinymoo, who said the immortal words that still crack me up, today I feel thinner, more like a calf, than a cow .  LOL, laughter is my favorite medicine.  Without the support of my online friends, I never would have made it.  The beginning is hard, but once you get a few tips and tricks under your belt, it is a breeze, and a way of life.  I would love to email.  Heck I love to email with anyone fighting the battle of the buldge.  Good luck, can not wai to hear from you. Making it fun is half the battle, YMMV, Holly (atkins' since Feb 26, 1998, 11 inches down)

3) What do you sue for thickeners?  soy flower, protein powder?  I make great egg drop soup on atkins but it is thin, and my boyfriend likes it thicker, i thought of geletin, but since it is served hot, don't think it would work really well. gelatin does thicken somewhat.  Once you're past induction, you can get away with a little bit of cornstarch once in a while, as it's 7g for a tablespoon, which goes a long way in a lot of sauce or soup.  I think some folks use guar gum (a thickener often used in commercial ice cream and sour cream) but I've never gone looking for it.

: Holly : (atkins' since Feb 26, 1998, 11 inches down) So you've lost 11 inches since 2/26/98.  Care to rephrase? Why should she? That sounds fairly reasonable to me...I lost <checking my little weight loss chart here 11 1/2 inches in the first month myself...and that is only from my bust, waist and hips...that doesn't take into account arms, legs, neck, etc..!                 Robin            ]==|===