BORED OF FISH...

[KarisTiasMum]

DH is on a very strict diet and excercise programme at the moment to get back to fitness after rejoining the army... so v.important to keep it up!

he is currently eating lots of fruit and veg, low carbs and mainly fish (steamed or poached) at every mealtime, and as you can imagine... getting pretty sick of it! he loves steak and red meat but its generally too high in calories and fat..

any ideas, recipes snack ideas?... unusual fish/meats!? he needs a bit of variety or it makes the whole thing ten times harder!

[combustiblelemon]

Can he eat nuts and olive oil?

[combustiblelemon]

As for meat, British rose veal is lower in fat and it's raised to high animal welfare standards- the calves are born as a result of dairy farming and if the're not eaten here they're transported to mainland Europe which has lower welfare standards for veal calves.

For fish, have you tried using 'meatier' fish like tuna cooked in a griddle pan with a spray of oil. You can buy little spray bottles specially made for this or just put oil into a cheap plastic spray bottle- that way you use less oil.

[fourlittlefeet]

thai fishcakes - light but spicy and tasty.
prawn curry
Fish kebabs
Banana leaf steamed fish parcels
Poached fish in noodle soup
steamed Prawn dim sum
cider poached fish

think you should get a thai style cookery book and the Hugh fish book. loads of ideas!

Isn't turkey low fat too? You could do things like fajitas. yum.

[KarisTiasMum]

he loves thai food actually, and i have a thai friend who could help me with those! i havent really ventured into thai food tbh as i thought is was all going to be super high calories! great suggestions though?

turkey is low fat!? i didnt know that, will start to use that too..

can i get british rose veal in most supermarkets? have never cooked veal.. do i just grill it like a normal steak? the meat and fish counter and our local tesco is rubbish, crap selection.. and everything seems to have flavours and rubs all over them..

yes he can eat nuts and olive oil too... we tried tuna steaks a few weeks ago but i am not sure what i did to them as they smelt and tasted fowl! normally fairly successful with cooking.. but that has put me off cooking tuna a bit! might give it another shot though..

any ideas for recipes with nuts in, he loves nuts, but i cant say i have ever cooked with them!

[BecauseImWorthIt]

But nuts are very high in calories!

Pork fillet or fillet steak are relatively low in calories, if he likes red meat.

[KarisTiasMum]

are all nuts high? could be where he goes wrong, he snacks on nuts quite a bit..

i just want to try some different flavours and things for him, i am just teriible and finding ideas and he ends up with super healthy but super boring meals! steamed fish... steamed veg... zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[thumbwitch]

Game. Venison, rabbit, pheasant, partridge.

Turkey is relatively low fat, yes.

Fresh tuna needs rapid searing, only about 2-3 mins each side or it is disgusting.

Nuts and seeds might have high fat content but it is the sort of fat that benefits your own fat turnover, unlike the saturated fats in meats. Coudl try vegetarian nutloaf - have never tried it myself but it always looks good on tv!

[KarisTiasMum]

i should have rephrased my conversation title... 'bored of boring fish' because all these other ides sound great! i am clearly just not adventurous enough!

[KarisTiasMum]

i steamed the tuna! arghhh fowl!
where is a good place to buy game?

[thumbwitch]

bleugh! I can imagine...

I get my game mostly from a farmer's market but sometimes Waitrose will sell gamebirds and even venison. If you can't find a farmer's market near you, ask at your local butcher if they know how you can get hold of e.g. venison (which is lovely if you haven't had it!)

[combustiblelemon]

For nuts I was thinking of toasted pine nuts scattered over grilled fish to add flavour and texture or cashew nuts with stir fried veg. As for the oil, I sometimes marinate fish before cooking.

1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 or 2 garlic cloves crushed
salt and pepper
and either

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of fresh thyme/oregano

or

1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

Grind up the garlic and herbs/spice with some salt in a mortar and pestle, then add some pepper and the lemon juice. Rub the mixture over the fish, then drizzle the olive oil over the top. Leave in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

[thumbwitch]

Found this website for you - UK-wide distribution of game, not too expensive from what I've seen (just skimmed a few prices)

[KarisTiasMum]

excellent thanks will take a look on there! ... i went into the local butchers today.. not a great help and wont be getting any game in for a motnh or so... got some lovely lean pork though.. how is duck? high in fat or ok?

there are no farmers markets that i know of around here, will have a look online though..and not a waitrose either!
i am going to move house... ha!

[fourlittlefeet]

for thai cooking the very best cookbook is Vatch: this is my favourite book of his

[Overmydeadbody]

KAris yes all nuts are very high in calories. ! cashew is about 50 calories for example.

[KarisTiasMum]

one cashew!!!??? 50 calories! wow! thanks for book link flf....

[Othersideofthechannel]

Fourlittlefeet - I like the sound of cider poached fish, can you provide more info.
Combustible lemon, after you've marinated the fish would you fry or steam?

[combustiblelemon]

Othersideofthechannel, I tend to grill or fry (hot pan, hardly any oil.)

[thumbwitch]

Duck is pretty high in fat if you use the skin, but the flesh of it isn't too fatty. The fat in duck tends to be more unsaturated than saturated and therefore better than, say, beef fat or lard.

[thumbwitch]

BTW< do you have any idea what your DH's daily calorie intake is, and what his requirement is? Because if he is training hard, you don't want to limit the calories too much or it will be counter-productive.

[SunshineSmith]

www.bbc.co.uk/food

great for recipe... just type a few ingredients and it gives you lots of ideas!

[Othersideofthechannel]

Thanks
My favourite fish recipe is loaded with cream so won't be posting it here!

[fourlittlefeet]

To be honest I don't have a fish cider recipe, but did this sort of thing or just replace cider for white wine in things like fish pie!

[KarisTiasMum]

thumbwitch... are we going completely wrong with super training and lowering calories!?

[thumbwitch]

It depends on many things - how big your DH is, how much training he is doing, how old he is, how much he is eating.

An average man of average age, weight and activity would need around 2500 Cals per day. The more hard training you do, the more energy you need. If your DH is already rather overweight, then restricting calorie intake while exercising hard can help to reduce weight, BUT if you over-restrict the calories then you put too much strain on the body and it can go into conservation mode, or you can just over-stress the system and get adrenal fatigue. If your DH has re-joined the army, there should be someone there who can personalise a proper training and fitness regime for him.

For a hint - olympic rowers in training take in about 4000-6000 Calories a day because they use a lot of it up in their training. see here. An Michael Phelps, that American swimmer who won all those gold medals, apparently takes in 12000(!!) Calories per day.