Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

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Market was good today. We have tuna steaks for tonight and tomorrow will be roast tarragon chicken to help tackle the enormous tarragon bush in the garden.
Lots of apricots and cherries from the south too.

At Hyde Hall the apricots were full size, but still green. The peaches were still funny and only an inch long!

I keep boiled eggs in the fridge now, I was hitting the cheddar a bit too often! Also a bag of carrot sticks and a bowl of houmous.

What did a friend ask me the other day... Oh yes, she asked how my eating plan was going. I thought, how nice that she didn't call it a diet. I find that now that we have tons of salad stuff, it all goes in a thick layer on a plate, then I end up crumbling cheeses, or sprinkling chopped chicken, sunflower seeds, pine nuts and that sort of stuff all over the top of it. It takes ages to eat it all and makes me feel very full up.

Règime! Got it, thanks Mamie

Bumped into someone I've not seen in ages, plus it was warm so I wasn't bundled up in layers of jumpers, and they commented I'd lost weight. So naturally they asked what 'diet' I'd been on. I explained it wasn't a diet as such just cutting out excess carbs....such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and sugars.

And back came the, by now expected and standard response ' but what is there left to eat?'
Followed by 'I couldn't give up bread...'

We're off camping at the weekend. First night will be lamb and vegetable (mushroom, onion, courgette, peppers) and haloumi cheese, kebabs.

Breakfast bacon, eggs, mushroom and tomatoes.

I think DH is going to have to come off statins as his cholesterol has dropped to 2.8. Also, his blood glucose two hours after breakfast was a healthy 5.9 , which is excellent as he was pre-diabetic and this is the reason we started this régime in the first place. He's delighted with his weight loss and has so much more energy he's clocking up an average of 15,000 steps a day on his pedometer.

That's really impressive. I find I am happy as long as I have just one small carb item a day. So yesterday that was a sweet corn and onion pancake, the size of a small dropscone, with two poached eggs, for breakfast. Another day it might be a slice of toast, or a tablespoon of grain mixed through a salad, but I spent yesterday afternoon trying on skirts to throw out the ones I never wear and I could get into most of them, which I couldn't a couple of years ago. Today though I am going out with a friend, and she announced that she needed cake, and that I had to 'slide down the hole with' her, I take It she meant the slippery road to hell! I just thought, I hope they don't have any gluten free! I have found it the best shield against people determined to keep me fat ever. Don't get me wrong, but I have been halving the amount of sugar in cake recipes for years, and I often find cakes far too sweet when I am out, so they aren't always a treat, more of an endurance.

Those 'friends' who try to scupper us like that are a pain the the proverbial, aren't they Jane? If I want cake, which I very rarely do anyway these days, then I'll have a slice. But I won't be bullied into it.

I find that people's first reaction is to say they couldn't give up carby food and then ask afterwards about the diet!
We had a veg curry last night with our chickpea flour fritters which we just love. Salade Nicoise today as it is horrendously hot and humid here.
We still have a small slice of our own spelt bread at breakfast and will soon have all the excitement of our spelt harvest. I am thinking of asking some of our farming friends in the village round to show us how to flail, thresh and winnow (or something).

OH and well done Anya's OH. Mine is sooo happy to be off statins. He has got more energy too but is currently mixing mortar and building a wall in 27 degrees so it may not last long today!

If your DH continues in that heat Mamie he'll have no energy left for flailing, threshing and winnowing as you call it!!

Just back from two days of garden visits, lovely walks and fine dining.....Fish, fish and fish in North Norfolk. Most main courses contained very few carbs so I didn't worry about a 'smear' of potato puree and no rice or pasta in sight.

My one weakness was a slice of courgette and lime drizzle cake in the Old Vicarage Gardens....Divine!!

Yes, Anya it's surprising isn't it when friends/colleagues try to cajole you into having cake, knowing that you're 'dieting' or just not into pastries.

Thankfully I don't have a sweet tooth so all this cake and baking lark has passed me by!

Rib-eye steak and salad for me tonight

My favourite garden, merlot!

They did have cake - the most amazing chocolate cake. I would never have known it was gluten free. I just had a mixed salad for lunch to compensate.

We go to our local farm shop for coffee. It's very posh indeed, I buy a cheese for DBH while I am there and often some meat, as they have ostrich, venison, wild boar and so on, most of it from the Estate (Elveden). This time however I bought - Squirrel. Do I tell DBH before or after he eats it?

merlot You would probably like it there, if you are passing through. It's the poshest farm shop I have ever seen.

www.elveden.com/

It's just off the A11.

I love it, janer. We usually go fairly near to Christmas because it's great for foodie gifts. I also love the shops in the courtyard.

We'll definitely look out for squirrel.

Do let us know if your DH thinks it tastes like chicken. Isn't that the answer to everything?

I have heard squirrel called "flightless partridge". Maybe tell him that is what it is JR?
All this talk of gardens and farm shops is making me envious....

'Flightless Partridge'! That sounds good. I wish I had bought two, it's a bit small. I suppose I could always nip back this morning and get another.

Yes merlot, I make up hampers from there for some relatives. I also found that they sell gluten-free cheese biscuits, which will be useful this Christmas. I thought you might have been there!

My friend hadn't had any breakfast. I started to tell her off - then she just looked at me, marched over to all the big demijohns full of flavoured olive oils and took a handful of bread cubes to dip in each bowl! Apparently balsamic with pomegranate was her favourite.

We drove up the (new) A11 last Wednesday, janer. DH was horrified surprised to discover how quickly we reached the turn off to Elveden.

Maybe it will no longer be just a Christmas pilgrimage

Ideas please!
Planning a barbecue with friends next weekend so have a week to think about it..
Main course will be marinated barbecued herby leg of lamb. With it we will do escalivada; aubergine, peppers, onions, courgettes barbecued whole in their skins, peeled, sliced and drizzled in olive oil.
Pudding will be large bowl of strawberries and cherries (from garden and my friend's tree) served with thick local cream. Will also do a cheese board (unsure whether there should be a concessionary carb here).
Starters? We like nibbles we can eat while barbecueing and peeling the veg, so nothing we need to sit down for. I will do dates wrapped in bacon, plus???

Olives, various. Maybe some cubes of feta wrapped in cured meat strips? I do love things I can shove on cocktail sticks. I like prunes wrapped in bacon with an almond sliver in the centre. Buy some puff pastry, roll out and cut into cubes, place one anchovy on a cube, top with another, roll it out flatter and sprinkle with parmesan before baking. Slices of sausages arranged on a plate.

Can you eat a baked Camembert on the move? Planning just that as starter with guacamole and veg sticks for lunch with friends today. Let's hope for sunshine

Thanks all. Will also do olives, feta in some sort of charcuterie, feta in the tiny round red peppers (if I can find a jar anywhere) and possibly guacamole with some carrot and celery sticks.
Still pondering whether I should provide a carb with the cheese course.....
Last night we had wonderfully fresh red mullet baked with pancetta and tarragon. Tonight is barbecued beef.

We had lunch at a big Wyevale near Chelmsford yesterday. I had a peach, mozzarella and parma ham salad - it was delicious. DBh looked at it and said, even five years ago places like this would have been only selling shepherd's pie and fish and chips! He was right, I remember my sister walking me back out of one six years ago in disgust at the 'old people's food'!

Went for blood tests today; both down again in cholesterol and fasting blood sugar (glycémie a jeun think that's the translation) and both at lower end of norms.
I am actually quite impressed with the use of IT for this; we went in at 7.30 and the results were on the "mes analyses" website by 4pm.
So we are celebrating with prosecco, kebabs of duck breasts and figs soaked in armagnac, green salad and a tiny potato salad made from our first baby potatoes (rosabelle) from the garden.
Hurrah for the low-carb régime!

That's good to hear Mamie and your celebratory meal has me drooling!

Took GS1 out for lunch today (off for INSET day) the fellow at the next table was very fat, overflowing his seat but thankfully the tables were spaced well apart. He had a huge baked potato, filled to overflowing with beans and cheese and small side salad on the same plate. He complained loudly that he hadn't asked for salad and made the waitress take it away and remove the greens. Then he ate the potato, a portion of chips and a big slice of chocolate cake.

Some people just don't get it!

I can't even look at a high carb meal now.

Tonight we're having salmon with raisin and caper puree which I saw being made on a food programme the other night but I can't remember which one. I've halved the quantities and it looks quick and easy to make.

DGS is coming for supper tomorrow night and he adores ham, egg and chips so we'll be having the ham and eggs with salad.

Brilliant results, Mamie

Salmon recipe sounds lovely Merlot. Love hem and eggs (except when I am in Spain when it seems to make up about half the meals on offer).
Whisper it softly, but I think I am getting a bit judgeypants about the way some people eat. We had a lunch party the other day and some people went round the table about three times. I thought "you really don't neeeed that".
Oh dear.