Okay, I realize that I don't really NEED anything, since natural cooked foods are the way to go. But as I've been reading this board and others I see all sorts of food things mentioned that I've never heard of. I was wondering if someone had a list or could give suggestions of basic items "needed" in a lot of these low carb recipes, ie soy flour, and all those chemically sounding things.

Flutter, I don't know what YOU may need but some of MY staple items are:

Soy protein isolate - good for baking and shakes and so on
Splenda - artificial sweetener derived from sugar
Flax seed meal - I grind my own from whole flax seeds, store in the freezer
Ground almonds - can substitute for wheat flour in a lot of places
DaVinci sugarfree, Splenda sweetened syrups - 0 carbs, useful for recipes and to make your own soft drinks mixed with seltzer or club soda
Pork rinds - good by themselves as a very crunchy snack, but GREAT ground up and used for breading where you previously used bread crumbs or flour
Wheat gluten flour - a low-carb flour useful in pancakes and other baked goodies

Those are mine, I'm sure other people will have additional excellent suggestions for you!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

My list is pretty much the same as Char's but I also keep thickNthin no starch thickener for sauces & gravies, and some Pro-Slim LC pasta, and Flax-o-meal hot cereal. I make sure I have plenty of stuff like pickles, olives, and roasted red peppers. They are great to liven up salads, chicken recipes, etc.

Susan

LC and feeling better every day!

Atkins since 7/18/03
210/185/140