Low(er) carb ideas for whole family?

[Gastropod]

Hi all,
Trying to reduce the family's sugar/carb intake as kids (9 and 12) are definitely sugar addicts and most meals seem to be heavily carb based. I've been cutting carbs for years (just me - it's almost entirely killed my snacking/sugar habits) but realise that going completely low carb is not really a sustainable approach for children. Nonetheless both kids have got into a very bad cycle of snacking and craving sugar, and I think cutting out some carbs might help with that.

Trying to find ideas for meals and snacks that we can all stick to, without it feeling like a chore or a diet. I think that cutting out all fruit would be too difficult, though I know it's still a sugar source. So I'm happy for ideas that include a bit of fruit as well.

Breakfast - we are trying full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries, or frittatas with a bit of ham or cheese and veg. But it's hard to escape the cereal/bread trap... They aren't keen on "just" eggs, and I'm not sure I could manage cooking bacon every day!

School snacks - carrot or apple pieces with peanut butter (no nut allergies at school that we know of), hummus... but then I get stuck! Other ideas?

Dinners/main meals - I can do grilled meat with veg, meatballs with veg, huge salads with lots of nice bits and bobs in. Would like to try a lasagne but replacing some of the layers of pasta with something else. Any ideas what would work? Grilled veg?
Other meal ideas that aren't too carb-heavy? The kids love things like noodles, stir fries, pizza and pasta...

All ideas would be welcome.

Carbs are broken down into simple sugars which then circulate in the blood and are used by cells for energy. Restricting their carbs will limit the amount of energy they have during the day, making them feel tired. There’s a good reason why marathon runners will eat a plate of pasta the night before a race. I’m not saying your Dc are marathon runners, but in order to be active they need the odd jacket potato, bowl or porridge or slice of toast!
As well as that, they’re still growing. Even when they are resting, their body is working hard to make them bigger and stronger, and that takes energy too.
The brain uses glucose (one of the simple sugars) as its energy source. Kids need carbohydrates to keep alert during the day. This is especially important for those of school age who are learning all day and need to concentrate for long amounts of time.
So while limiting your intake of simple carbs like biscuits, cakes and refined sugar is a great idea, you shouldn’t cut carbohydrates from your kids’ diets completely. Include complex carbs like brown rice, porridge, beans, potatoes and whole meal bread wherever possible. They need this source of energy to keep active and alert throughout their day, and to make sure they keep growing and learning.

I would get a sugar free recipes book like Davina's

Breakfast: you could make a nut not-cereal granula with unsweetened almond
Avocado or butter or peanut/sunflower/almond butter/cream cheese on low carb bread.
Almond microwave muffins with spread
Boiled eggs with mago in lettuce wraps
Skewers of cheese, olives, tomatoes
Pancakes made of almond or coconut flour

Snacks: pepperami (salty!), celery boats, you could buy cheddar 'crisps' called cheeze or puffed pork that look like quavers, peppers to scoop guacamole/hummus. Olives?
Courgette works as noodles replacement and for lasagne, theres cauliflowrr rice and mash too.

Thanks for your ideas!

I won't be cutting out all carbs - they have their lunches at the school canteen, and I've no control over what's served there. I'm more trying to reduce their intake of starchy stuff at home, and get out of the trap of sugary, starchy breakfasts and snacks, and carb-heavy evening meals.

Unfortunately they will turn up their noses at many complex carbs which makes it a bit more complicated. So oats, brown rice, lentils and beans are treated with much suspicion... They do like black rye bread though, so I could get more of that I suppose.

(Also, I imagine that adults are different from kids and have different dietary needs, but I actually have far more energy and better concentration since I cut out most carbs)

And had forgotten about salami and similar for snacks. Salty but if we are making a lot of other things from scratch we should be OK - they love pepperami and such like

Lasagne with aubergine as replacement for the pasta is yummy. A bit of a faff as you will need to gently fry the aubergine prior to using it, but it is really good

I did a keto diet last year and use the carb manager app to track things. They also have a low carb tracker too which allows more carbs. Their website has alot of recipes too. Some of my favourites were:

• wraps made with egg. Mix up a few eggs in a cup and pour to a thin layer on the bottom of a frypan by wirling it around. Cook, the use it a wrap. Tomato, ham, bacon, cheese, avocado etc

• Cauliflower mash. Bake the cauli (steaming or boiling adds too much water) on a low heat so it doesnt burn too much. Mash or use a stick blender till smooth with butter or cream. I used this mash as a side dish with meats, but also a base for fish cakes and to replace mashed potatoes in many recipes

• Copycat KFC chicken thighs or drumsticks. Ground almonds make a great alternative to bread crumbs in lots of recipes. When cumbing things, instead of using flour as the 1st layer, you use your almond coating mix, egg, then the coating again. Lots of recipes online for KFC chicken. We could hardly tell there were no breadcumbs in it! I oven baked mine, but you could deep fry also.

I found perkier brand of muesli bars were very low in carbs. They have a caramel one which is devine and the orange one isnt bad either. Lots of fibre too.

I agree with Ricekrispie - kids need more carbohydrate than adults so I wouldn't be cutting any carbs out without professional advice. Cutting added sugar is fine though, no one needs that!

For the DC I would replace breakfast with healthy versions - porridge with honey and/or fruit (there's another thread on porridge suggestions), Weetabix with raisins, toast and then fruit/yogurt. At their age, a chat about why it's important to put healthy fuel into our bodies would probably help, and there's a Operation Ouch CBBC programme about healthy food choices I think if you want to watch that together.

I try to limit the amount of unhealthy snacks in the house by only buying them once a month which everyone knows, so when they're gone they're gone apart from my secret stash