A new low-carb support thread for 2016

Cauliflower is so versatile! I am enjoying it as rice with sauteed bacon and onion, mashed with butter and cream plus sometimes grated cheese, and roasted as Anya descibes. It is not a poor substitute for carb, but a tasty food in its own right.
I am also pleased with Cloud Bread as an alternative to bread rolls, make a batch every few days and store in an airtight container.
I am new to this low carb lark and enjoying experimenting. I had reached a plateau with my weight loss, but this has kick started it again. I bought a blood glucose monitor and fortunately my reading is normal, so shall not be too strict.

Funny, I'd just been Googling Konnyaku, which is another name for Konjak. It's got lots of other names too, depending on the country and use. I've heard of Shirataki noodles and that's another name.

I spotted it in a Groupon email at the weekend in an offer to buy multi packs from the Better than range. I'd never heard of it before and it was the nutritional value that made me interested because basically it doesn't have any.

It's been around for hundreds of years in Japan and in parts of China and takes on the flavour of the other ingredients in your recipe. The flour used is starch resistant and not absorbed in the same way as regular carbs. The jelly is used as an alternative to gelatin by vegans. It's sold in water in plastic bags for many purposes, including as a diet product. It looks like the company that makes the Better than range has simply made it look like pasta, rice and noodles, so it can be sold in the West as a healthy product for weight loss.

Looking on Amazon and checking on the Diabetes UK forum, there's three brands that are popular in the UK - Better than, Eat Water Slim and Bare Naked (the most popular). Some people don't like the texture and others say they have a funny taste, although that seems to be down to not rinsing the product well enough when you take it out of the packet. The big downside is the price - it's expensive, which is presumably why it was in my Groupon offers.

The Amazon price does vary quite a bit and you do get a lot in one packet, so I might order one the next time I buy something from Amazon as a way of reaching the free P&P amount. If anyone else tries them, do let us know. Apparently it's popular with Weight Watchers followers, so if you know anyone doing WW, please ask them about it. It could make life for us veggies easier.

Wilma, we tried the "better" rice konjac. I rinsed it as required and there was no taste, but it was the slimey texture I didn't like.
shysal I love the cauliflower taste and much prefer the mash to potato. We also do the steamed then baked with butter and parmesan in the oven as an accompaniment to all sorts of things.

Thanks Mamie I'm really fussy about texture, so I doubt if I will try it. I'm happy enough with cauliflower couscous as rice or mash. Don't know what we'd do without cauliflower, although Tesco does a mixed vegetable couscous that we like too.

Recently we've had Cauliflower Tots and Broccoli Tots as a side. It's a low carb take on Tater Tots which are very popular in the US. The results depend on your mixture, but they're like potato croquettes. For the life of me I can't find the recipe I used, but it was from Pinterest. Some recipes use a lot of breadcrumbs, so you need to find one that doesn't and if I find the one I used, I'll post it here. TBH, I doubt we'll have the broccoli version again because it was a real pain getting the blender clean afterwards. Those tiny green dots got everywhere!

I have just ordered a Spiralizer, from my favourite kitchen shop ( the one which also sells lots of plastic things) Has anyone got any advice on websites with low carb recipes please.

Pippa if you're not already on Pinterest, then I recommend you join. You can search for information about anything on there and the results are in picture form. You click on the picture to get some information, then if you want to continue you click to go to the website. For recipes the websites will usually be blogs or food websites with more than one recipe you might be interested in.

You can save results in categories you create for yourself (called boards, as in pinboards), so you can find things again.

Word of warning, if you're not already on Pinterest, it is VERY addictive.

Wilma - Thank you I will look in to Pinterest.

Pippa, if you are interested in a recipe book, this is a glorious one with over 450 photos. I think Lakeland sells it, but I found mine cheaper on another site, sorry can't remember which. Not cheap but worth every penny. I recently ordered 3 low carb cook books and 2 had no photos at all and one contained recipes completely at random with no alphabetical index!
I hope you enjoy your Spiralizer, I love mine.

I like to see what a new recipe should look like too. The books with no pictures or hardly any just sit on the shelf most of the time.

Shysal, - I have ordered the book, I will let you now how I get on with it. It will take a couple of weeks to get here ( Cyprus). Can't wait to try my my 'toy' as DH calls it.

I don't think you will regret the purchase of the book, Pippa.

A favourite with the GCs (but not low carb!) to make with the spiralizer is Tornado Potatoes (not in the book), cooked in the microwave. I used to cut using the included metal skewer and the blade with no holes, then transfer to a wooden one. I now have wooden ones narrow enough to use in the machine.

Just to let you all know that there are some good veggie frittata recipes in the Guardian food bit today. Also for the meat eaters, an Ottolenghi recipe for aubergine and merguez scotch eggs, which I can't wait to try.

Hi I'm vegetarian and trying to do 5-2, but keeping carbs low.

I wanted to try courgette fritters, has anyone got a recipe they recommend please? It seems to be important to squeeze moisture out before mixing, most recipes they are fried, but have seen one where they are baked in oven on non stick sheet. They look tasty.

Lovely breakfast this morning. Berries with a blob of Greek yogurt and some flax seed. Then a long walk up Ivinghoe Beacon. Back to the no-carbs plough mans lunch. Salmon, spinach, asparagus and green lentils for dinner tonight. I have lost 5lb and am really enjoying both the food and the challenge.Would recommend to anyone

How many calories per day are you eating on your low carb diet, BBbevan? I am doing a mash-up of alternate day fasting and the blood sugar diet. I am enjoying the challenge too, but only lost 3lb over the last week.

Sounds delicious BBbevan.
We are having slow cooked belly pork with mixed roast veg (no spuds); stilton and Yorkshire blue to follow.
Off back home to Camembert land tomorrow.
seacliff I only tried the Nigel Slater courgette recipe and they turned into a wet sludge - my fault not his!

I am doing the 8 week blood sugar diet, Shysal. Taking most of the recipes from the book or from the 5:2 recipe book. Trying, and so far succeeding to stick to 800 calories a day. Bit stuck on drinks though, as I dislike tea and coffee with sugar substitutes. And we don't do fizzy. Any ideas please?

I have discovered Bovril !
On a more serious note, I have just received an invitation to an afternoon tea to celebrate a friends significant birthday. I shall be 4 weeks into the 8 week blood sugar diet. What to do? Apart from taking the fillings out of the sandwiches and not eating any cake, I can think of no other alternative. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Not going is not an option.

Funnily enough we have been driving home from Calais in the car today and I had to "lose" one piece of bread from each sandwich to keep the carbs down (just can't eat then anymore) but it was easier said than done as a passenger at 130kph.
How difficult! Cocktail sausages? Cheese? You might just have to eat what you can and explain that it is a medically required diet.
Not very helpful I am afraid, it is a tricky one.

Take a bag of pork scratchings?

I am on the 8-week diet and went to meal at friends the other night and ate what they gave me. Had smaller portions of carb rich food and v small pud, but wouldn't dream of saying I couldn't eat something. It seems rude when they have gone to trouble of cooking, and it's only one day after all.

I don't like pork scratching I'm sure they have hairy bits on them.
I think I agree with Lazigirl. I will eat what I can and not make a fuss about it.

Pork scratchings. A whole different meaning [ grin]

BB perhaps take along something that you've made yourself as an offering...a quiche perhaps. And just do the best you can re eating high carb food.

I can't Anya. It's at a restaurant.Can you imagine?