# ISO help making healthy carrot puree



## ratsrcute (May 8, 2011)

Did this place used to have a forum for special dietary needs? I couldn't find it. I just had weight-loss surgery. I'm still on a liquid diet, but in a few weeks I'll be allowed to have pureed food. It must be THOROUGHLY pureed.

So I want to do something with carrots, but not end up with "carrot baby food." I was thinking, maybe saute the carrot and add some celery and onion, too? I'll need a little liquid with it to puree, I think. Some vegetable stock? How about lemon or orange juice? Definitely salt and pepper. What other spices?

I have been without real food for four weeks now, and it's amazing how much I look forward to the simplest thing. It's amazing how desensitized I get to eating, normally. Now, I feel like I'm going to explode with joy when I get a tiny taste of the carrot puree.


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## mcnerd (May 8, 2011)

Just be careful with the carrots and only consume them occasionally.  They are a 'sweet' item.  If you haven't visited myfitnesspal.com I would recommend it for weight loss patients for the information and recipes it contains.


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## Katie H (May 8, 2011)

I think you might want to investigate this forum.  Good luck with your weight loss and best wishes with your successful new lifestyle.


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## taxlady (May 8, 2011)

Other than "it must be thoroughly puréed", do you have other dietary restrictions? Calorie, carbohydrate, fibre (roughage), or fat restrictions? What about herbs and spices, especially hot spices? What gelatine?

I would think that vegi or even chicken stock would be good. Maybe even use the cooking water from cooking the carrots and celery.


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## ratsrcute (May 8, 2011)

The restrictions with my surgery are less than with the gastric bypass. I got the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. They remove 85% of the stomach but don't reroute the intestines. There is no danger of dumping syndrome when eating sweets. I want to avoid ice cream and things like that, but carrots are fine. (Especially because I'll be eating something like two tablespoons of the puree at most.) There's no problem with the normal fiber content of vegetables. Fat won't cause dumping syndrome, so a little olive oil or cheese is fine, but I want to avoid fried foods. There is no restriction on carbohydrates; EXCEPT, there is a requirement that I get 80 to 90 grams of protein per day, and I'll be eating so little food at first that it has to be mostly protein sources. I would just have a tiny amount of carrot puree.


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## PrincessFiona60 (May 8, 2011)

Slice the carrots into a little water in a saucepan cover and boil/steam till tender. Add lemon juice and ginger, puree with a stick blender. Tiny bit of honey to taste.

The cooking water should be the right amount to make a good puree.

I usually do this with baby carrots and don't puree and they are really good.


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## ratsrcute (May 8, 2011)

Thanks!


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## luvs (May 8, 2011)

i would cook them in stock, as you'd metioned, & then season w/ sage, salt, wht. pepper, cumin. for a different flavor, you could also put some parsnip in w/ the carrot. for slight textural differentation, maybe turnip, too?

another thought- you could season them & roast them w/ a dab of olive oil previous to pureeing them.


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## ChefJune (May 9, 2011)

Those convenient, cute little carrots marketed as "baby carrots" are not babies at all. They are regular carrots that have been cut into uniform pieces by machine and injected with water.  If you want to make a nourishing carrot puree, buy "real" carrots (you know, the ones that have the green tops on them? or at least the ones that are regular carrot size and shape) and clean and cook those. The "baby" carrots give off lots of water when cooked. I'd rather start with the meatier ones.


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## taxlady (May 9, 2011)

ChefJune said:


> Those convenient, cute little carrots marketed as "baby carrots" are not babies at all. They are regular carrots that have been cut into uniform pieces by machine and injected with water.  If you want to make a nourishing carrot puree, buy "real" carrots (you know, the ones that have the green tops on them? or at least the ones that are regular carrot size and shape) and clean and cook those. The "baby" carrots give off lots of water when cooked. I'd rather start with the meatier ones.



I saw baby carrots in Denmark. They weren't identically shaped, they were pointy, and they had a little bit of stem at the top. I think those were real baby carrots.

And if you want sweet carrots, buy big fat ones. It takes carrots time to develop the sugars.


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## mommyNY2 (May 9, 2011)

i think that cutting carrots up in pieces, i use regular carrots not baby ones, and then i use very little bit of water and boil it till it gets soft. i have hand blender to puree, but i am making baby food i can add some cinnamon ( i don't care for salt/pepper) also i would blend it with boiled apple (like making apple sause) personally to my liking it tastes preety good.

i do same puree with cauliflower

i also like combination of avocado, brocolli and spinach

my family also loves split pea soup (i get the fresh frozen split peas at a supermarket) and boil it, boil carrots, a little bit fry onions, then blend those ingridients together, we love this soup. i like to decorate it with fresh cut dill on top.


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## mommyNY2 (May 9, 2011)

can you make juice? my family likes a combination in the juicer of apples, carrots and celery


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## ChefJune (May 9, 2011)

taxlady said:


> I saw baby carrots in Denmark. They weren't identically shaped, they were pointy, and they had a little bit of stem at the top. I think those were real baby carrots.
> 
> And if you want sweet carrots, buy big fat ones. It takes carrots time to develop the sugars.


 
Right you are, taxlady!  

Yes, there really is such a thing as baby carrots, but here in US grocery stores, the manufactured small carrots are marketed as "baby carrots," when in truth they aren't.


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## mommyNY2 (May 9, 2011)

ChefJune said:


> Right you are, taxlady!
> 
> Yes, there really is such a thing as baby carrots, but here in US grocery stores, the manufactured small carrots are marketed as "baby carrots," when in truth they aren't.


 as i was reading somewhere baby carrots that are sold are leftover from spoiled carrots, i use real basic carrots and peel them myself.


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## PrincessFiona60 (May 9, 2011)

I buy the "baby carrots" (most packages now call then "baby cut carrots")for convenience, less prep work for me is a blessing when I'm working.  Especially when I can toss a handful into the sauce pan with a little water, cover and steam!

mommyNY2...they don't mean "spoiled rotten" carrots, they mean the carrots that are not straight and good looking for sale.  The carrots are just fine.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 9, 2011)

ratsrcute said:


> The restrictions with my surgery are less than with the gastric bypass. I got the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. They remove 85% of the stomach but don't reroute the intestines. There is no danger of dumping syndrome when eating sweets. I want to avoid ice cream and things like that, but carrots are fine. (Especially because I'll be eating something like two tablespoons of the puree at most.) There's no problem with the normal fiber content of vegetables. Fat won't cause dumping syndrome, so a little olive oil or cheese is fine, but I want to avoid fried foods. There is no restriction on carbohydrates; EXCEPT, there is a requirement that I get 80 to 90 grams of protein per day, and I'll be eating so little food at first that it has to be mostly protein sources. I would just have a tiny amount of carrot puree.



Because I was time challenged one night, and my wife loves cooked carrots, I washed, then peeled the outside layer from the carrots.  I then used the veggie peeler to make thin strips of carrot directly into a sauce pan.  I added only enough water to keep the carrots from sticking to the pan bottom, covered and cooked for about five or six minutes.  because the carrots were in such thin strips, there was a great deal of surface area and they were cooked through in that short time.  There was hardly any water left in the pan.  I added just a hint of butter and served them up.

Because I'm diabetic, I don't eat a lot of carrots, but a little is fine.  I tasted this batch before adding the butter.  They were so flavorful, and the color was bright orange.  There was virtually no water to remove the nutrients.

Made this way, the carrots will be exceptionally flavorful, and can be blended into a smooth puree.  The only7 salt added to this was from the butter put on DW's carrots.  And because they were so thin, and in a pile, the little bit of butter wicked its way through the carrots, flavoring all of them.

Since they were so good cooked by this new-to-me method, I've used it several more times, with the same results.

Steamed carrots are every bit as good, if not overcooked.  But they take much longer to cook until tender.  Go ahead and give this method a try.  It's super easy and gives great tasting results.


Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## joesfolk (May 10, 2011)

I had gastric bypass almost 3 years ago. So maybe I have a little idea what will be beneficial for you. I recommend that you roast your veggies with a little oil and your seasonings and then put them in the food processor and p pulse them just until they are at the texture that you want. If they are well cooked you really won't need to completely turn them to mush. I find that the roasting imparts a lovely carmelized flavor to them. Wishing you all the best. And for your protein powder may I suggest that you try Unjury. You can only order it on line but it is a great product that I use exclusively. There are several flavors including an unflavored one that can be added to most things. If you want someone to talk to about it just pm me.
Oh, by the way.  When you start back on solid food eat very slowly at first.  Even now after 3 years when I first eat with an empty stomach those first few bites can sit on my stomach like a lead brick if I don't go a little slowly.  Now I don't know about with your particular surgery but with the bypass I never get that full sensation that I used to get when I eat.  I just sort of lose interest in the food.  It's very strange but that is just the way it is.  (And with the bypass when I was learning to eat again if I ate too much I could feel the food come up in the side of my chest but I never felt that full sensation.)  Have you figured out if you are lactose intolerant or not?


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