Leanne Ely - Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way: Healthy Menus, Recipes, and the Shopping Lists That Will Keep the Whole Family at the Dinner Table: A Cookbook

Please take the time and wade through my moment of gushing. Seriously, every person mentioned goes beyond the call of duty and is a stellar example of integrity, loyalty, and hard worka rare combination in todays world. Without every one of them, this book would never be in your hands. First up, Michelle Tessler, my incredible agent. Thank you, Michelle, for continuing to look after me. Then there is my editor at Ballantine, Caroline Sutton.

It is so refreshing to work with such a pro. Thank you for your incomparable expertise and attention to detail. A stalwart example of a true friend and the best dang cheerleader a gal could ask for is Marla Cilley, known throughout the world as the FlyLady. To me, she is just Marla: dear friend, confidante, and a total gift of encouragement. Thank you, Marla, for believing in me before I did! In the same breath, I have to mention Kelly, too. Not only can this girl crack me up, but she thinks like I do, too.

Now thats scary! I would be remiss if I didnt offer one of the biggest thank-yous to my own staff at Menu-Mailer, especially for their work during the months I was writing this book. They really did and continue to do a tremendous job. I am blessed with the best customer-service team anyone could ever ask for: Kandi, Bonnie, and Demaris, thank you for continually going beyond the call of duty. You gals deserve a standing ovation for the dedication and TLC you extend to our subscribers. The FlyLady staff has become like family: Tom, Dana, Justin, Rebecca, and everyone else down at FlyLady Central. Thanks for your support! Another big thank-you to the Simply Saving Dinner list on Yahoo.com that shopped, cooked, taste-tested, and evaluated every single recipe in the book.

To me, having real families do your recipes is better than any test kitchen in the world. A special thanks to Bonnie Schroader, who runs the Simply Saving Dinner list on Yahoo groups. She did every single grocery list in this book, kept her copy-editor eyeball on the recipes, and coordinated the test kitchening. Not only that, but she did it all while juggling a move, kids, and the Simply Saving Dinner list! What a womanthanks Bonnie! And last, but never least, a huge thank-you to my mom, Miriam, fondly known the world over (thanks to my big mouth) as Muzz. Muzz does all things administrative for Menu-Mailer and keeps me from losing my non-administrative mind. Thanks Muzz youre the absolute best!

The never-ending hit parade of all things low carb doesnt seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. As a matter of fact, the business of low carb is escalating faster than the national deficitnot quite in the trillions of dollars, but definitely billions. For a long time I thought this was just a Dr. Stillman dj-vu deal, until the flashback wouldnt go away. As the Dinner Diva of SavingDinner.com, I want to know what my subscribers want. A while back, I began getting hit with a ton of requests for a more low-carb-friendly Menu-Mailer.

The last straw came when one of my subscribers who had been with me from the beginning e-mailed me and told me that her husband had been diagnosed with diabetes. And yes, she asked the fatal question: Would I please do a more low-carb-friendly Menu-Mailer? Like a lot of people, I believed the low-carb fad diets would hit the skids anytime soon, and I couldnt wait. I pooh-poohed the idea and scoffed at the notion of those limiting their carbs. In my mind, eating low carb was eating bacon, eggs, and steaks. You call that healthy? I did a little research and discovered going low carb didnt need to look like steak for every meal. Quite the contraryit could be a lifestyle of variety and flavor, could actually contain vegetables, and be outright healthy.

In the meantime, I tried going low carb myself. Not only did I feel better and more satiated, while eating less food, but I began to read and read some more on the actual, real-life, not-manufactured-for-your-viewing-pleasure science. There really is something behind this low-carb phenomenon. It is here to stay, and Im very glad it is. I guess you could say that Im a believer. In August 2003, I realized this was something exciting and introduced my first Low-Carb Menu-Mailer (for more information on Menu-Mailer, go to www.savingdinner.com).

I realize now, more than a year later, that low carb isnt a diet; its a lifestyle and it is here to stay. It is in that spirit that I offer you the next Saving Dinner book. While the recipes are low carb (and that is 10 or fewer net grams of carbs for the entrenot counting the Serving Suggestions), there are certain members of your household who arent going to want to do low carb all the way, so there are regular, non-low-carb Serving Suggestions offered as well for that person or persons. You dont have to make two dinners so you can low carb it, while the kids eat a regular, non-low-carb meal. Isnt that great? Just as the first Saving Dinner book offered you the recipes, menus, and shopping lists divvied up by weeks and seasons, so does this book. I think this is the way to go in todays worldhaving the hard work of menu planning already done and ready to go.

The shopping lists are again at your convenience, on my website in a printer-friendly format, just go to www.savingdinner.com and click on Shopping Lists. You dont need to schlep your book to the grocery store and take a chance on losing it. A big caveat to those who may be following certain low-carb diets with big lists of dos and donts. This book does not adhere to any one low-carb diet plan. Its just low carb, end of story. You wont find oddball ingredients like pork rinds, weird ketosis-inducing, low-carb mixes made with strange things youve never heard of.

I use regular ingredients and admittedly, Ive been skewered for it. People have written absolutely unprintable e-mails denouncing my low-carb ideas because I had the audacity to add 1 tablespoon of whole-wheat flour to a recipeeven though Ive kept the recipe very low carb. Apparently, in their eyes Ive committed the carbinal sin (get it?) by using big no-no ingredients. But the issue in my mind, is keeping the recipes low carb (they are) and using real ingredients, easily accessible and found at just about any market, to carry out this goal. Ive held true to this principle for years: that the more natural and real your ingredients are, the easier it is to accomplish and keep up as a lifestyle. Consider this book as another weapon in your arsenal to keep you organized and on target to help you get dinner on the table.