How the other half lives…

Sometimes I hang out on this forum for people (mostly women) trying to lose weight and be fit and healthy and so on, and it’s a really great site. Good moderators, nice folks to chat with and get advice, and they really try to make space for a variety of people with different interests, following different plans, etc. One part of the forums I never peeked in before was the “Low Carbohydrate Lifestyle” boards, because (no personal offense intended to anyone who’s into it) low-carb and Atkins sound like complete crap to me. I understand that some people lose weight on it, but I am not convinced that it’s healthy or safe, I’m pretty sure it’s non-sustainable for about 99% of people (Never eat bread or pasta again? Yeah right!), and there is not a single good reason to go to such extremes in any direction to lose weight. It’s just not necessary. I am glad most of the low-carb hype has died down, because if I heard one more person profess the Atkins diet as though it were gospel, I was gonna puke. /rant about stupid low-carb.

Anyway, back to the subject of the post. The title of this thread caught my eye because it just sounded like it would be kind of gross. Little did I know. So, after clicking to view the recipe, this is what I found. I swear I’m not making this up:

Chili Dog Casserole

2 lbs ground beef
1 pkg Williams Chili Seasoning for 2 lbs meat
8 oz can tomato sauce (look for no sugar added)
pkg of 8 hot dogs (I used Bryan Juicy Jumbos at 2 net carbs per dog - you might score some lower carb ones if you look harder than I did)
8 tbs sour cream (I use Daisy Pure and Natural - it's JUST sour cream)
2 cups shredded cheddar (look for real cheese - not cheese like substances)
1/2 cup fine chopped onions

1. Prehead [sic] oven to 350.

2. In large skillet, crumble and brown beef. Drain well. While cooking - cut hot dogs into bite sized chunks and get the onion chopped.

3. Add tomato sauce and chili seasoning to beef. Cook and stir long enough to get it mixed up good.

4. Pack meat into bottom of small square casserole or cake pan.

5. Layer dogs over beef. Thickly spread cheese over dogs.

6. Pop it in the hot oven for 10 mins or until cheese just starts to brown.

7. Serve - makes 8 - on top of each serving put 1 Tbs of onion and 1 Tbs of sour cream. If you scoop it out of pan carefully it should hold together.

Yeah, um. I don’t even know what to say. And do you know why this recipe is supposed to be a good idea if you’re trying to lose weight? Because there are only 6.16 net carbs per serving. I’m sorry, but only a crazy diet has you eating beef, hot dogs, cheese and sour cream all in one dish and thinking this is good for you. Hello, reality check? Sad thing I just realized: there are probably far more people on the Atkins diet than there are vegetarians :(