Come and give me your cheap low carb meal ideas please.

[HeadFairy]

I always seem to end up doing meat and veg which is killing my food budget or omelettes which i'm getting a bit bored of. I always used to rely on pasta and rice for quick and easy cheap meal ideas but low carbing is really working to help me lose weight so i really don't want to stop.

Hmm I do agree low carbing is expensive, but does work.

Couple of large mushroom filled with pate or cream cheese, sprinkle with parmesan and pop under grill for a few mins.

Tuna mayo salad.

Baked eggs and spinach

Moussaka makes mince go far

Ummm stuck now

I do a version of mexican eggs.

Chop peppers and tomatoes and and cook with some paprika, cumin and chilli in a pan until soft.

Then put it in a shallow oven dish. Then make 4 little holes and break eggs in them. Then cook in the oven for 10 mins or so.

Makes a change from omelette.

Same with eggs florentine - cook raw spinach, grate nutmeg in, put in oven dish and break eggs in as above.

I know it's helping you to lose weight at the moment but, if you want to keep that weight off, you're basically never going to be able to go back to eating pasta bread and all the rest. Ever. If you're bored with meat and omelettes already (and low-carb is incredibly limiting as well as potentially unhealthy) wouldn't it be better to find a way to control your calorie intake with a more balanced/varied diet that you could keep going with ad infinitum?

Chil, i've done various low cal diets over the last 20 years and none of them have worked . I read that certain diets work for certain people, some respond to low carb, some respond to low fat. I think low carb really works for me. I won't do it forever, but if my weight creeps up i'll come off the carbs againi.

I like the sound of the mexican eggs, i'm going to give them a go. Thanks for the ideas, it does get expensive, maybe i won't do low carb every day!

The pig2twig forum has lots of ideas about this. One that I remember is using leeks shredded lengthways into thin strips, to use as a substitute for spaghetti. Once they've been fried they make a good base for a bacon, parmesan and cream sauce (with garlic, mmm), or smoked salmon bits and cream with capers and lemon. There's also a book which is quite good.

Mince is also very good. Try pork mince, mixed with some chopped reconstituted dried mushrooms, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, finely chopped spring onion, salt and pepper. Roll into balls and poach in water or veg stock. Delicious over steamed cabbage. Beef mince makes chili which you can have with sour cream and avocado (don't use beans, do use tom puree instead of a tin of tomatoes); bolognese (with mushrooms, and tom puree) - eat that with cabbage instead of pasta. Also, lamb mince can be made into moussaka (without potatoes) or shepherd's pie (with pureed cauliflower and cheddar topping instead of potato).

Spinakopita? (Spinach and feta filo pastry pie)?

It's quite high in fat because of the cheese but you only need a small slice with lots of salad. It's nice hot or cold.

I've just bought that book thereistheball, thanks for the top tip. Dh is feeling glum about how porky he is too, so at least I won't have to cook 2 meals each night!

how about san choi bao? it's a spicy pork mince that you wrap up in lettuce leaves. heaps of recipes online. I cook it for DH all the time (who is irish and doesn't believe a meal is a meal without potatoes...) and he loves it.

oh and while I think about it - do things like butterbeans count as a carb? (having never really done the low carb I'm unsure...). But Nigella Lawson has a lovely butterbean mash that she teams with steak - it's excellent.

I think butterbeans and spanikopita would probably be classed as a bit too high in carbs for a typical low carb diet. They are definately good for low GI/moderate carb diets though

I eat low GI not for weight loss but for general health benefits and find that beans and pulses are a godsend and so versatile.

For low carbness how about getting some smoked mackerel or even just plain mackerel fillets, and combining with thinly shredded spring greens tossed in cream/creme fraiche and lemon and pepper. The greens sort of act like pasta!

Cottage cheese is good too - you can mix with tomato paste and chilli and garlic for a nice savory snack, or with splenda and cinnamon for a sweet not dissimilar to cheesecake.