Week 6 - Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Evening all!

Starting next week's thread now as I"m off to bed shortly.

Here's the SoF

Last week's thread - after the trolling - ended up a little quiet, so I hope people weren't scared off. It's always good advice to ignore the trolls! But also, if you have been lurking, please come out from the shadows and tell us how you're getting on!

This week is the last where we're doing a hybrid (you are, aren't you?), so Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light, if you want, at the weekend.

I realise that as we get nearer to Christmas, and there is more and more stuff in the media about Christmas cooking, that it is more challenging. But hold fast, and you will only benefit!

Good luck to us all

Are we bootcampers putting too much pressure on the seriously-low-carb company? A recent order took well over a week to reach me. There didn't seem to be a particular reason - or any mention of problems when I ordered my rolls etc.

Sorry to plop and go (!) but I seem to have entered a self destruct phase since returning from my big event - mostly on plan but insane quantities / bingeing.

Today is the day I change that so I needed to be accountable!!

B: fasting
L: am out with work but will make LC choices
D: bolognaise with aubergine, courgettes and mushrooms.

I must keep out of the kitchen!!!

I think all delivery services are under pressure, shortage of drivers, much more on line ordering, runup to Xmas. But don’t overpromise, SLC!

Have just looked up Thanksgiving stuffing recipes and discovered that the American idea of stuffing is basically bread croutons cooked in a separate dish with various flavourings

Yep, that’s basically the base of most American stuffing recipes. When I was growing up we used to order a basic stuffing box from Pepperidge Farms which was slightly ground croutons with the most amazing herb mixture (when I say we, I mean my mom ). Our family version was to add in a tin or two of sliced mushrooms WITH the liquid from the tin, thinly sliced onions, and finely chopped celery, plus more water until it just “looked right.” Most of my mom’s recipes included instructions for it to “look right!”

Unsurprisingly stuffing recipes have many variations based not only on food from that region, but also based on the settlers in that area—New England is big on oyster stuffing because they have access to lots of oysters but some use cranberry as well because that’s where most of our cranberry bogs are, southerners often make a cornbread stuffing and in Georgia pecans are a big deal, in Texas they’ve been known to add jalapeños, Louisiana stuffing is a law unto itself with the creole and French influence, and in the Midwest you shouldn’t be surprised to get sauerkraut in a stuffing (yet I was very surprised)

Some stuffings use rice instead of croutons and I think the Pennsylvania Dutch are known for using potato.

Personally I loathe stuffings with chestnuts and fruit, but I’m convinced there’s nothing wrong with them, it’s just not what I grew up with and doesn’t taste like “home.”

Anyway, I’m glad my post was helpful Learning and as you can see, pretty much anything goes.

Thanksgiving has lovely origins with settlers sharing a meal with Native Americans and exchanging their bounties together (unfortunately that warm relationship went rather spectacularly wrong), but mostly it’s two days off so a long weekend to spend with family, a big fat parade in New York, and lots and lots of college football Bowls on telly.

Enjoy!!

Just remembered one of my mom’s side dishes was tinned, drained green beans mixed in with cream of mushroom soup. Sounds a bit odd and processed when written down like that, but it was lush.

I also don’t remember potatoes featuring anywhere, though at Christmas we always did mashed potatoes (smoothed in a blender with loads of butter and some milk mixed in until it was fluffy but not gloopy—yes, until it “looked right”).

Sorry, non of this is LCHF friendly but I’ve certainly had a trot down memory lane!

Start your day with some WATER WATER WATER, y’all!

@Wildheartsease

Are we bootcampers putting too much pressure on the seriously-low-carb company? A recent order took well over a week to reach me. There didn't seem to be a particular reason - or any mention of problems when I ordered my rolls etc.

Apparently they are moving warehouse so there is a little delay. I emailed them last month when my order took two and a half weeks!

today will be bacon, egg and salad based as I'm working 7:30 - 5:45 then doing training 6-8. And squeezing in a visit from the plumber as our boiler is on its last legs. And dog walking, tidying for the cleaner etc. On 4.5 hours sleep! My asthma is being a nightmare with the cold.

@FusionChefGeoff if you are out with work at lunchtime I'd suggest a good breakfast and snacky lunch may work better? It does for me on Fridays when I am in school.

@FusionChefGeoff your struggle chimes with me. Two weeks ago I read Allen Carrs Easy way to quit emotional eating. It really helped me. Might be worth a look. I downloaded a free kindle sample before committing to buying it. For me it was money well spent.

Busy day today with packed lunch and dinner in my cool pack. I am presenting to clients and it’s a 4hr journey each way. With 4.5 hrs of leading workshops. Might be a bit exhausted at the end of it! There are two breaks both of which feature sandwiches! I plan to say bread doesn’t agree with me if I need to explain anything.

Very glad I bought some new loose trousers last weekend just in case. Trying what I wore to work nearly 2years ago last night was shocking it all looks dated and shabby and doesn’t fit very well. Anyway I feel good in the new stuff which I had hoped I might return. I also hope the trousers are too big in a few weeks but that’s a good problem to have.

L which I may not be able to have until late afternoon but not a problem as it will just be an extended 16:8 -homemade coleslaw and Quorn pieces (I don’t usually use quorn but wanted some protein for a salad, don’t eat meat and didn’t want smelly eggs or fish.
D a piece of frittata and a sachet of olives.

Have a good day everyone the sun is shining here.

Water, water, and water

Brilliant book - fascinating and so well written

@Jollyholibobs thank you for that. I'm deep into the Why We Eat Too Much book and will add the Allan Carr next! I've also got my first appointment with the BWRT therapist next week.

I have also shared my struggles with another member of my AA friendship group this morning which was such an empowering feeling - and I've arranged to meet another friend who's been through similar issues. I WILL get to the bottom of this.

In other news just LOOK at my dinner!!

Pork belly with scallops, celeriac, broccoli and I swapped my dauphinois potatoes for halloumi fries!!!

Looks delicious FushionChef!

I made soup yesterday mainly to clear some space in the freezer- mainly broccoli, cauli leaves and chicken stock. It was very thick and did not smell very appealing but with some strong cheddar grated on top, surprisingly nice (I'm not a soup fan really). Leftovers for DH!

Excellent lunch of harissa broccoli, sprouts and halloumi which I roasted last night at the same time as cooking dinner. Swapped spring greens for red cabbage on a favourite roasted spicy cauliflower recipe and it was fabulous alongside a pork chop.

Salmon with FLGV tonight and I have Friday night to please myself before a three-kids-party weekend . Dinner out on Saturday night with friends the main hurdle.

Afternoon all. Sorry for the radio silence - I seem to have been very busy doing SFA.

But today was in preparation for a visit from my DB and SIL, which meant a deep clean of the kitchen. SIL is a bit of clean freak, and suddenly I saw my kitchen through her eyes . Did my least favourite job, which is cleaning the metal covering of the extractor fan, above the hob

Ugh, feel your pain @BIWI I am blind to mess and have panics at the thought of someone turning up unannounced

I wanted to recreate the starter I had yesterday so bought some hot smoked salmon and found the recipe for the celeriac here Another amazing thing to do with celeriac - who knew?!

Can someone tell me how to link to website from phone without showing the whole address?

learningtofeminist I'm currently in the US, will be having Thanksgiving dinner later.
We roast turkey and ham, there will be mashed potatoes, which you could sub for mashed cauliflower or celeriac. We always have stuffed olives, jumbo black olives filled with cream cheese (LCHF), we do have a vegetable tray (raw), broccoli, cauliflower, celery, etc, I make my own dip, sour cream base, no sugar added at all. I'm also cooking Brussels sprouts with bacon as a side, made a cheese roll with cream cheese, grated cheddar cheese, chives and bacon. I plan on eating some of the vegetables with that, others will have crackers. We're also making deviled eggs and jalapeño poppers (peppers stuffed with cream cheese and bacon, with a touch of crushed pineapple - which isn't low carb, but a very small amount used - to cut through the heat of the pepper). I also have my own recipe for a pie that is low carb/ keto friendly, I made it last night (creamy pecan pie). Everything I just mentioned I will eat and it will be low carb (other than the small amount of pineapple).

I will avoid the rolls I'm making, the candied yams (which I love, but are full of carbs), pumpkin pie (that I'll make homemade), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, stuffing and chocolate cream pie MIL makes.
I live in Idaho, so north west, the stuffing FIL makes has grated carrots, chopped celery and red onion all pan fried in olive oil or butter, that he adds to his box stuffing. I can't tolerate gluten anyway so it's easy for me to skip it.

I hope this helps.

@Dellabob123 : you type the [[ and then paste the web address (so far, so normal ), then instead of closing the web address with the ] ], you insert a space and then the words that you want to form the link, eg recipe here and then without an extra space you close the ] ]

Hi @BIWI 👋 and thank you for the warm welcome!

So far, I have experimented with a few high fat things such as cheese, Mayo, cream and it's been ok so hopefully high protein, high fat, low carb will work for me🤞

This may be an epic fail @prettybird but here goes

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/celeriac_remoulade_65265 recipe here]

Yep, failed.

Here is the old fashioned way
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/celeriac_remoulade_65265

prettybird madly impressed by that, can’t do it obviously but madly impressed. All I can do with my phone is take screen shots, everything important is screen shot. The teenagers taught me. They also told me to stop putting www before everything, not necessary anymore apparently, I thought they would die laughing when they last saw me do it a year ago.

V tired today, having a nap, DH is going to cook tonight, it will be this woe not a problem he is handy in the kitchen.

@Dellabob123 - I don't think you put the double {{ and the closing double }} (using curly brackets rather than the double [ because otherwise the automatic link is activated.

I'll try again using {{ for the explanation. Substitute [[ and the closing square brackets for the curly brackets

{{full web address alternate description}}

So, web address, followed by a space, followed by whatever you want the wording of the link to be (eg BIWI will link to the SoF with the description "Week 7 Spreadsheet"), opened an closed with square brackets. No other spaces except for the single space between the "long" address and the wording you want to use instead of the long web address.

Late into the party this week, maintaining which I am happy with. Lots of walking but not enough water (can't do both!) until after lunch. Still fasting til lunchtime.

Had Yoghurt with raspberries and F800 granola sprinkled on top for bite at lunch.
Baked salmon with stir-fried broccoli and kale (cauliflower rice if I grate it) for dinner when i can be bothered to unpack the shopping.

Love reading the thread for eating inspiration still.
Have got my sourdough starter up and running again, although making bread for friends instead.

Fascinated by the American Thanksgiving culinary traditions. We have cousins in Maryland and crab and sauerkraut are always on their Thanksgiving menu. I’m looking forward to seeing their photos to see what they have to eat. Apples feature heavily too. They seem to make mountains of apple butter every year.

Not only is my carpet being fitted next Wednesday but the bed we also ordered in August is being delivered on the same day. I am going to be even more stressed. DH is going to ring and try to delay them tomorrow.

Leftover cauli cheese for tea, yum.

@FusionChefGeoff well done you for getting on with it and working on your stuff. Great determination which WILL pay off. Your dinner looked great. I hated surf and turf combos until I discovered dishes like that.

@SilverOtter welcome and I hope this woe works for you. One word of caution is that high fat foods can take up less space but add lots of calories. So avoid reading too many keto blogs or hacks. These tend to have fat bombs or bullet proof coffee (cream and butter). You could easily end up drinking all your required calries and having no room in your smaller stomach for the healthy veg and the important protein.

@Dellabob123 you need double [ so [[at the start without any space after the second [ Then after the web address you need one space. This is followed by whatever way you want to describe the site / link. This is immediately followed by (no space) two ]'s

Like this - description]]

@TrueGrit54 I'm with you on the www
I was putting in a funding application for a group I work with and when I went to check their email address I found it was then the name. I was very

PS did you know that www is the only abreviation that has 3 times as many syllables as the original full length word (worldwideweb)

Food today:
B - coffee with cream
L - boiled egg smashed with butter
D - slow cooked sausage casserole with shallot, garlic, peppers, tomato; accomapnied by celeriac and leek mash, shoogled sprouts.

Probably not helpful BIWI now but you know the metal filter thingy from the cooker hood extractor whatsit can go in the dishwasher?!

I think I maybe learned that from Mumsnet! still rarely actually do it though

Shallot and Gruyère tart - made for tomorrow/Saturday.

(Except it's onion and cheddar as I didn't have enough shallots or any Gruyère!)

Ooh we have an accidental big Xmas friends dinner on Sunday (was supposed to be elsewhere but I'm hosting now) so I love the idea of adding some Thanksgiving touches instead.

Am shopping / prepping tomorrow so will see what might be popular. I've got a 50/50 carnivore to veggie / vegan audience which makes it more fun - plus the low carb obvs