instant rice ok?

[kerri]

Hey,
I was wondering, is Uncle Ben's 90 second brown rice ok?
Thank you!

[step3]

If you're talking about the Uncle Ben's in an orange pouch, then yes, that's fine. It's parboiled, so the 90 seconds in the microwave finishes the cooking. These pouches are actually a good thing to have in your emergency kit (for in the car, for when you're out and get stuck at meal time, unable to get home). I learned about it from my sponsor and have been able to eat the rice without further cooking. It does taste better when you do the 90 seconds in the microwave, though! :lol:

The rice that's "instant", that looks like dried out rice, is too processed for food addicts.

Thanks for your question, kerri.

step3

[kerri]

Good to know! Thank you :) Another question, I found a mix of brown rice and quinoa and it has tapioca starch in it -is this ok? It says 90 seconds too, but it does not say it's parboiled.

[Moonbeam]

Kerri,

The tapioca starch is too refined and will set off the cravings again. Many of us cook up our grains in large batches using the rice cooker which most of them shut off automatically and then bag up the grain in 1 cup amounts in a quart size freezer bag. I always mark the amount and the date and the type of grain - it's amazing how much alike they look after they are cooked up and frozen - smile.

[nevertoolate]

Just went shopping at Kroger, everything has sugar!!! cottage cheese, ham of course, many things I used to buy I thought were ok but not on FAA...and I'm ok with putting them down because if it can lead to abstinence, that would be wonderful. Retraining the taste buds to get used to tea with no sugar, oatmeal without splenda, everything without sweetener is a learning thing but workable. I buy brown rice instant..what do you folls do, cook meat and portion it out and freeze it? all canned veg have sugar so am going to have to buy raw, cook it adn freeze it in portions??? thanks for being here and all the great advi ce online.

[nevertoolate]

Also, if you are using kidney beans (canned adn rinsed) as your lunch protein with lettuce and wax beans, do you use 1 cup kid beans or a half cup bec they are starchy? help?

[faa4me]

Just went shopping at Kroger, everything has sugar!!! cottage cheese, ham of course, many things I used to buy I thought were ok but not on FAA...and I'm ok with putting them down because if it can lead to abstinence, that would be wonderful. Retraining the taste buds to get used to tea with no sugar, oatmeal without splenda, everything without sweetener is a learning thing but workable. I buy brown rice instant..what do you folls do, cook meat and portion it out and freeze it? all canned veg have sugar so am going to have to buy raw, cook it adn freeze it in portions??? thanks for being here and all the great advice online.

I haven't heard of ham that's abstinent... you're right on that one. Every one I've ever seen has been cured with brown sugar, or something else along those lines. Cottage cheese can be found, but you have to look for it. In some areas of the country, Friendship cottage cheese is available (it's clean). Most cottage cheeses have whey in them, one of the forms of sugar found on the list of sugar, flour, and wheat that triggers cravings in food addicts.

I do batch cooking of grains and cook up big portions of meat. I then divide them into baggies or plastic containers and freeze them. This helps more than I can say in allowing me to follow the food plan more easily. It takes a little getting used to in the beginning~ there really is a lot to learn~ but that's where our sponsor and other abstinent FAA members come in. It says, in part, in FAA's Third Tradition:

"We help each other understand the complexity of learning to eat in a healthy way."

Not all canned vegetables have sugar in them. I've found green beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, etc. that work for me. But I do usually steam fresh veggies... there's nothing like the look of a cup of freshly steamed broccoli with a cup of brown or wild rice and chicken breast, salad on the side (as an example).

You're doing great, nevertoolate. Keep it going! :chuncky:

[faa4me]

Also, if you are using kidney beans (canned and rinsed) as your lunch protein with lettuce and wax beans, do you use 1 cup kid beans or a half cup bec they are starchy?

When using beans as a protein, you'd use one cup. When using them as a starchy vegetable, you'd have 1/2 cup. You can see the measurements of the different foods here:

http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/faa-food-plan
(http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/faa-food-plan)
Good luck, nevertoolate!

[nevertoolate]

Thank you so much for the info, I appreciate the encouragement. I will try cooking in batches, have never done it, have to get a food scale I guess to measure 4 ounces of meat, can't quite figure out how to measure lettuce like romaine in a cup, steamed broccoli is great, have to find more grains other than brown rice, have been rinsing all canned veg, thanks for the tips, faa5me. : )

[step3]

have to get a food scale I guess to measure 4 ounces of meat, can't quite figure out how to measure lettuce like romaine in a cup, steamed broccoli is great, have to find more grains other than brown rice, have been rinsing all canned veg, thanks for the tips, faa5me. : )

Hi nevertoolate,

Glad to hear things are going well for you! What has worked well for me is to have a digital kitchen scale; they're not too terribly expensive in places like Wal-Mart. I do measure my salad in a cup, since I follow the FAA food plan as it's written. I squish the lettuce into the cup, as best as it will fit in without overflowing. I also like to make a tossed salad, with chunky vegetables in addition to the lettuce, since it makes for a salad with more bulk. When I first saw what a cup of salad looked like, I thought it didn't look like very much, but I have definitely gotten used to it, and it's plenty now.

Besides brown rice, how about some of the starchy vegetables like squash, or peas, or corn... How about potatoes or sweet potatoes? We are allowed 2 T condiments (such as yogurt) per day, so I'll have 2 T Greek yogurt as a topping on a baked potato with some chives. Once my husband put Greek yogurt on his SWEET potato, I tried it, and it's very good! You can also have things like Oat Bran or grits for dinner sometimes. I know, for me, I've sure learned to think outside the box when it comes to my food choices! I thought breakfast had to mean eggs, but it doesn't. Sometimes I'll have chicken for breakfast, or a cup of beans with 1 t margarine. There are all kinds of things we can do to make the food plan interesting and doable for a long, long time. :encouragement:

[nevertoolate]

Thanks very much for the good info, step3, it will be very helpful , will go look for a digital scale. the brown rice is for the grain...trying to figure out what else I cAn eat as a grain, I binge on cereal even puffed rice etc....any suggetions are greatly appreciated. I like squash, peas and corn, they are reg veg?????

[nevertoolate]

Just read the food plan, this time with my eyes wide open, and see where it says a grain OR a starchy veg. sorry, now I get it.....too much brown rice can be a digestive nightmare as I'm finding out today (with kidneey beans)....thanks step3 for the help. : )

[step3]

Just read the food plan, this time with my eyes wide open, and see where it says a grain OR a starchy veg. sorry, now I get it.....too much brown rice can be a digestive nightmare as I'm finding out today (with kidneey beans)....thanks step3 for the help. : )

You're welcome... I had to read the food plan and Guide to Abstinence (where the food plan is) a lot in the beginning (and still read it sometimes now too). One of the suggestions (very strong suggestion at that!) is to not have any one grain or starchy vegetable more than 3 times per week. Our bodies can become overly sensitive to the grain/starchy and it can become a trigger food with overuse. Once a food is a trigger food (it triggers cravings in us), we'd have to let it go from our food plan, even if it's on the FAA food plan and others can still eat it with no problem.

[nevertoolate]

Good advice, step3, makes sense, cottage cheese could become that. Am baking chicken now, slow cooker beef, steaming summer squash, broc, didn't find a scale yet will have to figure out how many chunks of stew beef is 4 oz...maybe 4-5??? one drumstick should be about right (small).....is there any such thing as fish for those who HATE FISH.... tuna is good but not without mayo, sure I like breaded fish, who doesn't...but it's all about tartar sauce, a pound of it, old habits, not gonna weigh myself at all, it's more about breaking a habit that makes you hate yourself. :/

[littlebyslow]

Dear nevertoolate,

May I recommend that you make getting your kitchen scale and measuring cups & spoons a top priority? It sounds like you could be accidentally not eating enough, and if that were to happen, it's a setup for bingeing. Eating more than is on the food plan, or less, definitely leads back to active food addiction. You're doing so, so well that it would a shame for you to lose what you've gotten so far this past week or so. FAA has a weighed & measured food plan (and also suggests a schedule of time between meals)... you can see all of that in the Guide to Abstinence.

You're doing great... stay with it, nevertoolate!

[kerri]

Step 3, what kind of margarine do you use?

[chuck11]

I read all labels on margarine for sugar,flour or wheat I think smart balance might be good?

[step3]

Step 3, what kind of margarine do you use?

Hi Kerri,

I use Shedd's Willow Run Soybean Margarine. It's the only one I've been able to find that's clean. As Chuck11 mentioned, be sure to carefully read the labels for products you're buying. Something to look for with most margarines is dyglycerides. You'll find dyglycerides on the Sugar List under substances with the suffix " -ide ".

Thanks for asking. I hope you're doing well, Kerri. :joyous: