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Meet Jennifer Eloff,
An Interview with the
author of:
"Splendid Low-Carbing"
By Di
Bauer, CarbSmart Editor (11/27/2001)
Cooking and creating recipes using Splenda is
not new to Jennifer Eloff. In fact, she is most
probably the cookbook author with the most
extensive experience in using Splenda. Jennifer,
a Canadian, began working with the Canadian
Diabetes Association 10 years ago, writing low
fat dessert cookbooks using Splenda. Her two low
fat dessert cookbooks, Splendid Desserts and
More Splendid Desserts became bestsellers in
Canada.
There was only one drawback to Jennifer's
success. After spending years creating and
taste-testing low fat dessert recipes, both
Jennifer and her husband had gained quite a bit
of weight! Luckily, Jennifer began receiving
requests from low carbohydrate dieters for low
carbohydrate Splenda-sweetened recipes. She'd
never even heard of low carbohydrate dieting at
that point, but the subject intrigued her, so
she rushed out and bought several of the
available low carbohydrate books and read them
cover to cover.
"I understood for the first time, that my
husband and I were severely
carbohydrate-addicted and struggling with hyper-insulinism,
hence our middle-aged spread," Jennifer
told me. After some study, Jennifer and her
husband, Ian, decided to follow The Carbohydrate
Addicts Diet, and they've been low carbers for
almost three years now.
Jennifer and Ian's low carbohydrate plan has
evolved over time into a combination of Dr.
Atkins New Diet Revolution plan and the Hellers'
Carbohydrate Addict's LifeSpan Program, in that
Jennifer does use artificial sweeteners
(which The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet prohibits.
And while both Dr. Atkins and the Hellers'
Carbohydrate Addict's LifeSpan Program allow
snacking, the Eloffs do not snack in order to
speed up their weight loss.
But once again, there was a drawback. "Even
although we enjoyed the sudden liberation to eat
eggs and bacon, nuts, seeds, fancy vegetables,
salads with creamy sauces, red meat, cheese, and
real whipping cream," Jennifer continued,
"we sorely missed bread, pizza, chocolate,
ice creams and other old favorites!"
Jennifer turned her creative culinary talents
away from low fat recipes and toward low
carbohydrate recipes, and Splendid Low Carbing
was born. Jennifer began developing low
carbohydrate versions of the comfort foods she
and Ian missed, recipes for things like low
carbohydrate bread, crepes, pancakes, potato
skins, lasagna, pizza crusts, tortillas, pasta,
chocolate eclairs, chocolate recipes, jams,
chutneys, ice cream, and frozen yogurt. And
because so many low carbohydrate specialty
products which Americans take for granted are
not available in Canada, Jennifer also developed
a number of recipes for low carbohydrate bake
mixes, thickening agents, condiments, and other
staples.
What doesn't Jennifer do? "Well," she
told me, "I don't do deprivation. I won't
settle for quiche or cheesecake without a crust,
or breads and crepes that taste like whey
protein powder or soy. And I want real
pizza. I won't settle for Chocolate Eclairs that
don't taste like the real thing. I won't forego
Carrot Cake, Apple Pecan Upside Down Cake, Apple
Pie, etc. I won't settle for turkey or chicken
dinner without traditional stuffing."
"I know what it is like to feel
deprived, while others get to eat nice things. I
know exactly what that is like. My sister
was ill as a child and I had to eat the same way
she did, and I had a pretty bland diet for many
years. I know what it is like to want ice cream,
cake, or watermelon and not be allowed to have
it, while my friends indulge in front of me, for
instance. I also know what it was like to not be
allowed to open the refrigerator and take
whatever I felt like eating."
What recipes from her cookbook are Jennifer and
Ian's favorites? "If I were to ask my
husband, he would say the recipe for Fudge
Toffee. He absolutely loves that chewy
confection! His favorite dessert is the Pralines
'n Chocolate Cream Cheesecake. If I were to say
what I like the most for a treat, it would have
to be the Cinnamon-Swirl Egg Bread. It has the
taste of rich, gooey cinnamon buns, but only 3.7
grams of carbohydrates per serving (or with
cream cheese frosting, 4.2 grams of
carbohydrates per serving). I also love the
Almond Milk Chocolate Cheesecake and the frozen
yogurts, which are a staple for me. Of the
regular food, I'd have to say, Bobotie (curried
meat loaf native to South Africa), Tandoori
Chicken, Crusty Chicken Rolls, Creamy Pollock in
Crepes, and Lasagna are a few of my favorite
foods."
But, as we all know, the road to becoming a good
low carbohydrate cook is not always smooth.
Jennifer told me about one of her more
spectacular failures. "About 3 years ago
now, baking low carbohydrate foods was new for
me and my first attempt at making a low
carbohydrate bread was a disaster. In fact, my
first bread had so much gluten in it, it grew to
the size of a huge football in the oven! My
poor, brave husband sliced it, toasted it and
seemed to chew forever, before he said something
like, 'Hmm, not too bad, dear, but was it meant
to be this chewy?' So I broke the bread up and
put it in the large Alberta Wheat Pool bird
feeder outside. Soon after we noticed that a
baby raccoon had moved in - apparently
permanently! He loved my low carb bread failure.
(Hey, at least I had one fan!)"
"We tried to remove that raccoon, because
we were concerned he would have a run-in with
our little Shiba-Inu, named Happy. My husband
used the boys' water guns to try and dislodge
the little fellow, however, more determined than
ever, he curled into a tight little ball and
refused to budge. We had to wait until he left
one day after eating every last scrap, after
which we took the bird feeder down."
Luckily for us, Jennifer persisted, and Splendid
Low Carbing was created. The book not only
contains almost 400 low carbohydrate recipes,
but an excellent introduction and a good, solid
section of helpful hints for low carbohydrate
dieters. What are my personal recipe
favorites? Well, I echo Jennifer's vote for the
Cinnamon-Swirl Egg Bread; it's decadent! The
Raspberry Cream Meringues are wonderful, too,
and will make a delightful Valentine's Day
treat. I'm going to make them again for my
family on Valentine's Day, and am going to send
a batch or two to the staff at my husband's high
school, too. (They'll never know that the treats
are low carb!)
I also love the Barbecued Raspberry Spareribs,
the Cantonese Walnut Chicken, and Scallops In
Alfredo Sauce. Oh my! "Dieting" never
tasted so good, and if Dean Ornish were to even read
Splendid Low Carb Cooking, he'd probably swallow
his tongue.
Even my family of non-low carbing Philistines
has enjoyed all of Jennifer's recipes, too. This
is a big deal to me, since I hate,
loathe, and detest making separate meals for my
family. Life is entirely too short to go down
this route, so I'm always on the lookout for
recipes we all can enjoy so that I don't
have to do double time in the kitchen. The
recipes in Splendid Low Carbing can be enjoyed
by low carbers and non-low carbers alike, thank
goodness!
I even like the index of Splendid Low Carb
Cooking, which is better organized and more
inclusive than those of most other low
carbohydrate cookbooks I've seen. I can't stand
it when I can't find a recipe simply because
I've forgotten the name! I don't have this
problem with Splendid Low Carbing, because
Jennifer lists recipes in the index not only by
their name, but by their category. (This may
seem like a small thing, but it isn't to
me!)
Splendid Low Carbing is a must for every low
carbohydrate dieter. Using Jennifer's recipes
will make staying on your chosen low
carbohydrate plan much, much easier for even the
weakest among us, because with her recipes
you'll never ever feel deprived!
To purchase this excellent cookbook from
www.Sweety.com
(Jennifer)
Click
here: "SPLENDID LOW CARBING" (Recipes sweetened with
Splenda)!
OR
for
overnight delivery, purchase
this excellent cookbook from CARBSMART
Click
here: "SPLENDID LOW CARBING" (Recipes sweetened with Splenda)!
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