What's the deal with puffed rice?

[quietserena]

Is puffed rice extruded? Several people recommended rice cakes to me and I always assumed that the puffing process is actually extrusion.

Am I wrong?

My HFS has rice cakes that only have two ingredients, rice and salt which would be awesome to have for those crazy 'omg gonna eat my shoes so hungry' moments I keep having. And it would save me from eating my shoes, cause.. ew.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

I don't know if it's extruded but I do remember reading that it's not ok for TF. It's puffed at very high heat and obviously not soaked. However, I'm of the belief that when your pregnant, all bets are off. You have to eat whatever you can get down. If rice cakes keep you from eating your shoes then so be it!! You'll do better when you can.

[ChristieB]

Yeah, I agree. When you're pg you just do what you can do. After all, the shoes aren't particularly TF either. When I was pg, I ate corn chips for the first few months. It got me through. Then I stopped when I didn't need them anymore. Baked potatoes helped a lot, too (only not very portable). And refried bean and hummus (with the corn chips ). (Carrots are good with hummus, too, btw).

I'm sure you're eating a lot better than you would be if you weren't trying to eat as TF as possible.

[quietserena]

Maybe if I soak the shoes that'll make them more TF...

(I was laughing so hard, I could barely type this post. )

I keep eating baked potatoes. I even broke my 'only organic potatoes' rule because a store I was in didn't have any organic potatoes. Only, I can't wait for a potato to bake, they're just 'boiled in the skin' potatoes.

But you're right, not very portable. And the corn chips, as much as they appeal to me, apparently I have a corn sensitivity so they're out too. Unless I really really want some. That's been the general rule the last little while actually...

[paquerette]

Yeah, I think the puffed cereals are extruded, but do what you gotta. You could look at it as sort of pica.

[captivatedlife]

ok, slightly off topic, but what about popcorn? How does that work?

[covertlycrunchy]

I would think that the popcorn cakes would just be popcorn except I don't know how they get them into those little cake things. But those would be easy to make at home. They would be more like balls though and I don't know how to make them without sugar as a binder to hold the popcorn together. But if somebody has a recipe for it I would LOVE to see as one of my personal favorites is popcorn.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

If you can do sweet things, you could make popcorn balls with maple syrup. I can't think of any way to get the popcorn to take on a shape without a binder of some sort. You could always just eat popcorn, without it being in a cake shape. Maybe that would satisfy your rice cake need. Plus you could throw in butter or Co and lots of salt. I often found that salt helped me feel better when morning sickness was bad.

[bigknitwit]

I broke down I bought a package of the least nasty granola bars (not TF I know) I could find at the store to have in my car for hunger emergencies. The desperate hunger thing is really challenging. Today, I have wanted only 1 particular thing - wraps!! I made them with cream cheese, cheddar, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato. Seriously I could eat all six of them right now. I had one for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner lol.

[ChristieB]

Originally Posted by quietserena

Maybe if I soak the shoes that'll make them more TF...

(I was laughing so hard, I could barely type this post. )

I keep eating baked potatoes. I even broke my 'only organic potatoes' rule because a store I was in didn't have any organic potatoes. Only, I can't wait for a potato to bake, they're just 'boiled in the skin' potatoes.

But you're right, not very portable. And the corn chips, as much as they appeal to me, apparently I have a corn sensitivity so they're out too. Unless I really really want some. That's been the general rule the last little while actually...

Too funny about soaking the shoes.

I baked several potatoes at once, so then I just had to heat it up. But boiling them works, too. Something that might be a little more portable for you is hash browns. I just recently got into making some really yummy ones that are almost like potato chips. We've been thinking about experimenting with their portability.

Yeah, I think I may have a corn sensitivity, too. Either that or I just like it so much that I eat too much (when I do, which I haven't since pregnancy). I'd have blood sugar issues when I ate it, and my triglycerides went way up, too. I'm hoping I'll be able to eat it again some day, but not counting on it.

Hope you find something that works for you.

[abharrington]

[QUOTE=ChristieB;11262909] Too funny about soaking the shoes.

I baked several potatoes at once, so then I just had to heat it up. But boiling them works, too. Something that might be a little more portable for you is hash browns. I just recently got into making some really yummy ones that are almost like potato chips. We've been thinking about experimenting with their portability.
QUOTE]

i'd love the hashbrown recipe!!

[ChristieB]

Originally Posted by abharrington

i'd love the hashbrown recipe!!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this! What I do is to heat up a skillet (I get it almost as hot as if I'm going to scramble eggs, but not quite), then add palm shortening (we're rather limited in the fats we can use, you might find something better, but I can tell you ghee doesn't work as well). You need about 1/8 in. fat/oil in the pan. I add the grated potato in a single layer (or as close to that as I can get), and try to get it spread evenly so they cook at about the same rate. I leave them, un-stirred, until they look nicely browned on the bottom, then I flip the whole thing and continue to cook until the bottom is nicely browned. Then I salt them and put them on a towel to drain. I got the basic instructions from Molly Katzen's Sunlight Cafe cookbook. She says to use safflower oil, but I don't use that. The palm shortening works really well. I think it takes a few times to get the knack of it, and to figure out what setting your pan should be at, etc. But they're really nice.