What low carb meals do you eat and enjoy without feeling hard done by?!

[ThriftyQueen]

I really need and would like to cut back on carbs.

I used to have so much more controlled over my diet but recently when I’m in a hungry I literally go to “fuck it” mood and it’s because no meal seems to satisfy unless it’s carb heavy.

I wondered for those that eat a low carb diet successfully what do you buy and cook. I’m not a huge fan of chick peas, berlotti beans etc, and sometimes it’s easier not to eat meat (though do enjoy it) because I have two vegetarian DC but other than that I’m really not fussy.

Plese let me know your healthy family meals that will not make me feel like I’m missing out on and also what a typical breakfast and lunch would be…

The thing with low carb is to make it satisfying it needs to be high fat!
So I like cauliflower cheese where the cheese sauce is double cream and cheese.
Or a moussaka with aubergine only and that cheese sauce as the white sauce.

Omelette with veggie filling. Frittata. Yes it’s a lot about eggs. Do potatoes count?

I love cauliflower cheese!!

I do like the odd omelette but I do feel like I go off eggs quite easily if I eat too many of them!

Recently discovery - ricotta omelette - 2eggs and around 70g ricotta beaten in ( not completely mixed a bit of texture is good ).

comes out lovely , fluffy and really filling with spinach or mushrooms.

It's tough. I tend to not try and exclude carbs but balance the portion size, so pasta with lentil bolognaise would be 1/3 of the plate, with 2/3 of green salad (with feta, beans, olives, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds to make it filling). Or I have half a jacket potato with topping then again a load of veg and salad with fats like avocado and houmous. I struggle with low carb meals, other than omelette which I find easy. The cauliflower cheese is a good shout

Carbs are important btw, don’t cut them out entirely!

but one of my favourite things to eat a few hours before working out -

eggs, cooked chicken, spinach and peppers in a pan. Add to a wrap with some sriracha and a sprinkle of cheese. Delicious.

Blimey, where do I start?

It's just a case of simple switches versus what my family eat. Cauli rice instead of normal rice, courgetti instead of spaghetti, celeriac chips instead of potato (or just extra green veg), leave out the burger bun and have a bit more salad. Eat LOTS of protein (including eggs, cheese) as it fills you up.

Breakfast is usually a cheesy omelette, a boiled egg with crispy bacon "soldiers" or greek yogurt/berries/nuts.

Lunch usually a salad, ham, chicken, cheese, coleslaw etc.

A ton of advice and recipes on the Low Carb topic threads.

(PS beans are a bit carby.....)

I eat a lot of cauliflower cheese too! My favourite way to make it is to steam the cauliflower florets and then put blobs of full fat Philadelphia and maybe some bits of blue cheese too, sprinkle with cheddar and then grill. I have this instead of potatoes with steak, salmon fillet, roast chicken etc. and have lots of veggies on the side too.
Chilli con carne, with roasted cauliflower and some avocado is lovely.
I try to have the things that the whole family are eating but just without the carbs or with something else swapped in. So bolognese but on top of courgettes, or chicken stir fry without the noodles. Chicken fajitas with lots of melted cheese on make a really nice filling dinner with a green salad and avocado.

How does that work if you need to watch your cholesterol as it's too high?

I'm not avoiding carbs at all, but they are not a favourite, potatoes and rice I can take it leave, and I physically can't eat anything beany. So basically I eat meat/fish with assorted veg or salads.

I do eat bread, and I will have a weekly pasta, but generally just pretty simple.

Last night we had Duck breasts with broccoli and spinach. Tonight we have pork loins with broccoli and mushrooms. Sat we had steak with salad, and flatbreads.

I don’t measure carbs but try to go lower at lunch so today I had, mixed together - a tin of tuna, a big dollop,of cottage cheese, chopped boiled egg, chopped gherkins, mayonnaise and a squirt of American mustard. It looked gross but honestly it was so tasty and filling, I’m going to make it again tomorrow.

I’ve just made a chicken, feta and kale salad.
delicious! Really easy, just sort of scrunch up the raw kale with some lemon juice and oil (I used avo oil as it’s what I found first in the cupboard), fried off some chicken breast (seasoned with whatever you want) that I cut into strips for speedier cooking, chop up a load of , spring onion, tomatoes, whatever else salady in the fridge, some more seasoning stuff and then drizzled with hot honey at the end.
If I eat a carby lunch I tend to want to nod off at my desk in the afternoon so I usually have carbs with my dinner.

Why have you decided you need to cut back on carbs?

Knowing your reasoning might help people give you better thoughts/ advice.

For example, if it's for weight loss, are you sure this is the best way for you, as it obviously seems to be something you struggle to stick to - there might be other ways.

As a side dish, I bake cauliflower florets till just starting to colour. I then serve with a tahini/lemon dressing with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. The baked cauli can also be mashed for an alternative to potato.

Ground almonds/almond meal is a good substitute for breadcrumbs in crumbed recipes.

Breakfast, sometimes bran flakes, sometimes yoghurt and fruit. Lunch is tricky to avoid bread, but we have a lot of mixed salads with chicken, fish, or mozzarella on top.

I have two low carb recipes I love... Joe Wick's peri-peri (or cajun) salmon with pineapple and avocado salsa...

Or a lasagna made with aubergine and courgette sheets instead of pasta!

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/nov/23/yotam-ottolenghis-mustardy-cauliflower-cheese This is a lovely low carb cauliflower cheese (if you're really going for it, leave out the onion and breadcrumbs).

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/salmon-avocado-watercress-and-pumpkin-seed-salad I have this for lunch quite a lot.

Meat or fish and veg

Tonight we're having chicken breast with green beans and wedge potatoes and salad as non carb option

Greek Yoghurt with toasted almond flakes is my favourite low carb breakfast.
Chicken and Spinach curry with cauliflower rice for lunch.
M&S do some great meat and cheese platters also which saves preparation.