Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

Do I come here often?

Can't remember. Do ya?

It's a bit of a struggle Mamie. It's not because I have cravings for the wrong things, but because very few of our previous meals we would eat on a regular basis fit the lchf way of eating. So, much more planning is needed, but I am enjoying the research. Also, when I find a recipe I like, I'm missing some important ingredient, so I'm buying new store cupboard items (foolishly I thought had just about everything).

I made my first ever stir fry last night using the recipe out of the Rose Elliot book. It was a partial success, but that's down to the fact that I bought the wrong tofu.

Tonight was a great success though. I made roast broccoli with cauliflower couscous and runner beans.

I roasted the broccoli in olive oil and lemon juice. Stir fried the cauliflower couscous and then tossed everything in grated Parmesan cheese, salt and ground black pepper. Served with the runner beans it made a delicious meal. That makes it on to the regular list - first one!

Tesco have a 3 for 2 offer on certain prepared vegetables and I spotted the cauliflower couscous which I've never seen before. So I bought that, the broccoli and runner beans (steam in the bag) for £2.00. No waste and clean plates!

Dessert was Greek yogurt and summer fruits.

Need to find some quick and easy lunches. Soup will be one when I find a tasty recipe. I am awkward veggie because I don't like peppers or most mushrooms (I do like some of the fancy ones, but can't remember the names!).

Does anyone use tahini?

I do, mostly in houmous. However - being an great experimenter (I ran out of tahini), I found that I can get away with using extra lemon juice and peanut butter! Tahini is, after only, only sesame seeds ground to a pulp.

Anya no fear of me wasting away due to lack of protein, it was a one-off day. I just ate what I fancied eating because I could, while DBH is away. It's lovely to be able to eat things I like and he hates, so I can wade my way through the globe artichokes without having to cook him something else. Besides - I'm sure there must be a little protein in the bar of chocolate I have to eat lots of protein, being coeliac, apparently. I'm not vegetarian, I just don't eat much meat, I prefer fish.

Yesterday I went to the market and succumbed to a large pot of jellied eels for lunch, I had it with a basil and tomato salad. He would have hated that.

Greek yoghourt with almond slivers and lemon juice for breakfast this morning. Lunch will be a dressed crab and mixed salad. Tonight will probably be a vegetable omelette with mangetouts, which are still growing and having the best year I have ever known.

Glad it is going ok Wilma. I think it probably is a bit more of a challenge as a vegetarian because the rest of us can easily replace the carbs with veg, but that will often give you veg and veg! It might be worth checking the Mumsnet low-carb threads too because there are quite a few vegetarians on there. We eat vegetarian meals a couple of times a week, normally curries or tagines.
We have soup quite often for lunch, but also mixed salads, omelettes etc. If we are in a hurry we have chickpea-flour biscuits and cheese.
On Mumsnet they say KIKO - keep on keeping on!

stillhere I bought the tahini, but haven't opened the jar yet. I only found out recently it was in humus - I knew about the chickpeas though. I saw a recipe I fancied using tahini as a dressing. It was mixed with lemon juice and something else (can't remember just now).

But I am a bit confused about chickpeas because it seems to be grouped with pulses as 'don't eat', but I have seen quite a few lchf recipes using chickpeas - including the fritters on here. It would make things easier if I could include chickpeas because I have a couple of recipes I like which include them.

So what do you all think about using chickpeas?

Mamie being veggie does limit my options. Right now I just aim to have protein at every meal (usually eggs or cheese) and use full fat versions of any ingredients. I would like to use nuts as a source of protein, but DH has said he doesn't like that idea - some subterfuge needed me thinks! I do try to have a good mix of vegetables whilst sticking to the 'grows above ground' rule.

Tonight we had scrambled eggs done in the frying pan with feta cheese, onions, peas and tomatoes. It feels very strange using a frying pan full stop!

I have found two recipes I want to try. One is a quiche and the other is a pizza. The pizza base is made using cauliflower couscous and grated mozzarella with eggs used to bind the mixture. It should make a crisp base to which that you can then add toppings. Will let you know how it goes.

I will have a nosey on Mumsnet.

I eat chickpeas, I love them just cold as a snack. I don't mind eating carbs that are also protein, such as beans and chickpeas and lentils and so on. I just don't eat as much of them as I would have done before. I no longer have a small piece of carrot in my houmous, I have a large carrot finger with a teeny bit of houmous! I suppose what you have to remember is that if you want to lose weight fast, or as a jump-start to a diet, the more carb you can cut out to start with, the better.

In the end, tonight, I had black beans in ratatouille, made into a sort of vegetarian chilli but no rice. Easy on the beans. I managed to stop myself from soaking twice as many this morning, it would have been so easy to sling an extra handful in.

Yes, I agree with stillhere about chickpeas. If you do the strict "bootcamp" version of the diet you wouldn't eat them, but we went for a longer, slower weight loss and kept them in, in small quantities. We have beans too from time to time.
Let us know how the pizza goes Wilma, it sounds good.

Yes, this carbs in chickpeas, lentils, etc was a problem we had when I first started. My thinking is I'm cutting out bread, biscuits, cakes - all the wheaty and sugary foods so that a big drop in carbs. Then potatoes - very rare treat, and rice replaced with cauliflower and pasta with spiralised veg.

So our 'carb load' is hugely reduced and what we do take in is from extra vegetables. That's my philosophy.

Thanks guys. As a veggie I think this way of eating will be more practical for us if I can use small amounts of protein foods like chickpeas, etc. As much as I love eggs and cheese, it could get boring after a while. Our old way of eating was heavily carb based, so we're bound to see weight loss from the changes we've made. We're looking for a way of eating which is not only going to help us lose weight, but is practical on a long term basis.

Have a lovely Thursday all.

Had cod wrapped in Parma ham with Puy lentils tonight.

Wilma the lentils were ore-cooked in a packet by Merchant Gourmet I think. Only 55 seconds in the microwave, but I livened them up buy adding thinly sliced red onion and crumbled feta cheese. I thought of you veggies and how these could make a quick and tasty meal.

some ideas

Morning all. Last night was courgetti bolognese. Tonight we are having wild boar with cider and cream and Jerusalem artichoke dauphinoise.
Zero food miles.

Did you kill the boar yourself!!!!!

My neighbour! (Who also makes cider).

Hunting, cider, apples, cream - that's Normandy for you!

We had wild boar when on holiday in the Forest of Dean. Is it always the actual 'boar' that's eaten or is that a generic name?

Are Jerusalem artichokes lower carbs than new potatoes Mamie?

Lots of wild boar hunting at the moment here, but deer and chamois. All the restaurants are serving 'la chasse' (game) - low cal meat, but not for me I'm afraid (which is totally illogical I know!).

I think they are about the same GJ, but the potatoes are nearly over and there are lots of topinambours! We have added a few carbs back in now so as not to lose any more weight. Though you probably do lose a bit of weight due to the after effects.
Anya, I don't know, they are just called sanglier here.
Scary things though, I came face to face with one in the snow once...

thanks- we have plenty of them here too- how I do not know. I think they must be self seeded from bird seed from the bird house- one of the plants is about 8ft plus tall. I only discovered the tubers when digging some of them up - they have yellow flowers which are quite pretty in autumn! I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the tubers, checked on google, and yet, no mistake.

Not used my spiraliser yet as we came back Tuesday night and had the elderly folk from village for lunch yesterday- and I did have some of the mash with salad and defrosted bolo with lots of veg! (they all had tongue and capers - yuk not for me! they all love it- thank goodness I don't do the cooking for them (45 at a time) apart from cakes for tea (4 heures) when it is my turn and sometimes dessert.

That is what they say about Jerusalem artichokes:
Year 1 enough for a family
Year 2 enough for family and friends
Year 3 small EU food mountain.
Ours are in an enclosed raised bed!
Not keen on tongue and capers but used to quite like mutton and caper sauce!

BTW I think I have read that Jerusalem is a corruption of girasole, hence the yellow flowers. I love the word topinambour though.

Yes, it's a lovely sounding name, not heard it before. It's very true about how they spread, but in our case it's because voles burrow under them and chew them and spread them underground in their tunnels. They come into the garden through mole runs, sometimes DBH catches them in his traps, and so we have baby artichokes springing up all through our garden following the lines of the mole runs! I can't eat them in any quantity without a pinch of asafoetida powder, which stops their embarrassing side-effects. I do love them as a dauphinoise, but until I discovered the asafoetida trick I had to mix them with potatoes. I also love them in soup.

Jings I must have missed something, what do you have that has killed off your sense of taste? I know how awful it is to lose it, mine went when I had a bad sinus infection, for some months. DBH lost his when he was taking a certain anti-depressant. It was a nightmare trying to cook for him.

Just to show I am eating protein - I have had lately a mushroom omelette with salad, quinoa with roasted veg and feta cheese and roasted baby artichokes, pork steak baked in ratatouille, and tonight I will have GF pork and apple sausages and more quinoa with mixed roasted veg.

Thanks for that. Didn't know about asafoetida; too late for tonight, but there are lots more out there.

Well, I am on my way- and used my new spiraliser for the first time yesterday- celeriac, courgette, carrot in noodles and hand chopped chunks of fennel for the stir fry to eat with the hand-made burgers.

I will continue to have porridge with seeds in the morning- but cut most carbs for the rest of the day. Wish me luck- have to lose weight before my new knee in the Spring. I have never ever managed to keep to any diet in the past- but Mamie all your great links and advice have convinced me it is the way to go. Fortunately DH has agreed to join me- it will make it so much easier.