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Low-carb bootcamp

Join discussions about low-carb bootcamp plans, meals and progress. Consider speaking to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Week 7 Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

156 replies

BIWI · 28/11/2021 23:11

So we come to our final fortnight.

From here you can decide what you want to do. If you like, you can move to Bootcamp Light - or if you feel you need to be super strict you can stay on/move back to full-on Bootcamp.

Here's the link to the Spreadsheet

I promised that I'd post another vegetarian recipe, so here's one of my favourites (which is on the vegetarian recipe thread), from Simon Hopkinson:

Grilled aubergines with olive oil, garlic, parsley and feta cheese

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 long, thin-skinned purple aubergines (alternatively use the ordinary plump, pear-shaped variety available from most supermarkets)
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
handful parsley leaves, finely chopped
5-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a little sea salt and black pepper
150g/5oz feta cheese
lemons, for serving

Preparation method:

Preheat the grill to high.
Run a small, sharp knife round the top of the aubergine, 1cm/½in or so below the stalk and only just cutting through the skin; then make four evenly spaced, similarly shallow cuts, along the length of the aubergine right down to the end.
Grill the aubergines for about 20 minutes, turning every 5-7 minutes or so, until evenly cooked with charred skin, and until the aubergine feels soft, but not too collapsed within. In the case of the purple aubergines, the skin will also have turned a dull brown colour. Transfer to a large, oval, white plate and allow to cool for two minutes.
Peel away the aubergine skin in four long, narrow sheets using a small knife. Without cutting right through the stalk end, cut the aubergines in half lengthways and gently prise apart until you have two horizontal halves remaining attached at the top end
Mix the garlic and parsley with the olive oil until well combined and spoon the mixture over the aubergine. Season lightly with salt (not too much - the cheese is salty anyway) and pepper, and crumble the feta cheese over the top. If liked, trickle over more olive oil to finish.
Serve warm, or at room temperature with lemon squeezed over.

Although this is lovely, it is a bit faffy - so sometimes I just cut the aubergines in half, cut a deep criss cross in each aubergine half and then drizzle very generously with olive oil (as the aubergine soaks up the oil like a sponge), season well and then roast till soft.

In a small saucepan I also gently warm some finely chopped or crushed garlic in more olive oil, sometimes with chilli flakes, and when the aubergine is pretty much cooked through, I pour this flavoured oil over it and roast for another 10 minutes or so, with the Feta cheese crumbled on the top.

OP posts:
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Wildheartsease · 01/12/2021 13:47

Mmmm -homemade chicken soup to cure all ills.

That is very motherly (sorry 'parently') of you @ShagMeRiggins and no doubt your great-great-great-grandchildren will hear about this. (Even if they have no idea what a chicken is by then.)

Wildheartsease · 01/12/2021 13:48

@BIWI

Just came across this recipe for cauliflower chicken Alfredo on the Diet Doctor website.

Sounds worth a try!

We love this recipe here BIWI. The pasta lovers attempted to substitute the cauli for pasta and found it far too rich. The low carb version is way better.
FusionChefGeoff · 01/12/2021 13:49

@shagmeriggins Minestrone has pasta in it usually so would be awkward trying to fish around it?!

Good idea about the creamy coffee for dessert - they don't even have cheese on the standard restaurant menu but they DO have different steak cuts so I might ask if I can pay to upgrade as I''m not a big fan of rump but looks like that's really the best option.

Glentheredbeakbattleostrich · 01/12/2021 14:48

Thanks for the ideas, the recipe looks amazing @ShagMeRiggins. I'm downing another half litre of water in celebration!!

venusandmars · 01/12/2021 15:31

Found you all! A few days away and I'd lost sight of everyone. Just going back to read through everything...

Food while away was good: Sunday roast (without potatoes), lots of seafood (mussels, oysters, salmon) some eggs and avocados for breakfast. When others ate pasta I had left over veg slathered in butter.

Going out for dinner tonight, but with friend who is low carb too, so some nice a easy choices for us both.

Moanranger · 01/12/2021 16:21

Thanks Geoff & Glen for your kind words. Geoff I would request cheese! Esp if you can do this beforehand. My challenge next week is a Christmas tea with staff. But guess what? I am going to go in beforehand with SLC bread & request that they make me ham & cheese sandwiches (one of the options) on this. I will probably slowly ey sarnies & any miscellaneous salad, & swerve the rest. My staff is very Millennial & all have strange eating habits/allergies so I won’t be noticed if I skip stuff.

venusandmars · 01/12/2021 16:33

@Glentheredbeakbattleostrich I grate a little lemon zest over scallops, wrap in pancetta (secure with a cocktail stick) and fry in butter. Salty, buttery, zesty and the scallops stay tender and soft. Serve on salad leaves with the buttery lemony juice poured over...

Nice to see everyone's progress this week. KOKO enforce those habits, your festive body will thank you for it.

The restaurant booking gods were on my side today. My very oldest bestest friend is unexpectedly home from Singapore and we're meeting up for lunch on Friday. Of course everywhere is full with the start of Christmas party lunches plus a lot of the food options are dire Then hallelujah! My favourite place can take us at the perfect time. Fixed menu is confit cauliflower, cod in butter chicken emulsion, duck with spinach. Strawberry with elderflower sorbert is the most challenging but I'm known at the restaurant and they can usually find me some cheese instead.

prettybird · 01/12/2021 17:14

Bummer: just tried to make my usual Christmas Eve appointment for a cut & colour but my hairdresser is already fully booked up Xmas Sad I've booked it for the 23rd instead and asked for them to let me know if there is a cancellation.

Dh tried to comfort me by saying that at least it's one less thing for me to do on Christmas Eve as we have our "big" Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve. I said it doesn't work like that Xmas Hmm: the whole point is that I make sure to have everything ready before Christmas Eve so that I can then relax when I go off to the hairdresser Xmas Confused

Now I'm going to be trying to squeeze too much into the 23rd and not relaxing as stuff will spill over onto the 24th.

I'm going to be making next year's appointment when I'm there Xmas Grin

Glentheredbeakbattleostrich · 01/12/2021 17:17

ooh, thanks @venusandmars, i think we have a winner!

NotwatchingSpooks · 01/12/2021 17:19

Hi, I’ve not posted for a while as just had the dreadful cold that is going round for the second time in a matter of weeks, have managed to stay the same, but although I feel much better than I did I am not 100% better yet.

Oh no @catwithflowers I hope you get power soon, that is so challenging and being cold is just miserable, I hope that you get power back on soon.

We are having chicken tonight, with a vegetable bake to use up all of the veg in the fridge before I unpack our new veg box.

Just off to drink some water ….

BIWI · 01/12/2021 18:43

Lovely-sounding menu @venusandmars

Sorry you've all been ill @NotwatchingSpooks

@prettybird can you not shuffle stuff into 22/12? Hopefully, though, you'll get a cancellation.

OP posts:
prettybird · 01/12/2021 19:11

@BIWI - I'll try to do stuff even earlier, but there's something psychological about not being under such pressure Wink

Plus there is stuff I can only do on the 23rd (like brine the turkey), boil the ham (and prepare it for baking on the 24th) and prepare the base for the rice pudding.

I've got the routine fine-tuned for minimum effort and hassle Xmas Grin

The years where Christmas is on a Monday really muck up my timings Xmas Shock

NotwatchingSpooks · 01/12/2021 20:27

Thanks @biwi

prettybird · 01/12/2021 23:17

Forgot to mention that I have finally succeeded in getting just below 12 stone Shock.

I started this Boot Camp at 12st 9lb and lost a fair bit in the first 1-2 weeks but then stalled at c12st 2lb Hmm. Having Covid didn't help, especially as it made water taste awful

Anyway, hopefully that's now me back on a downward trajectory Smile

Glentheredbeakbattleostrich · 02/12/2021 07:16

Well done @prettybird that is fantastic. On the years we do a full Christmas feast I do the same, its called Glens Christmas Bootcamp by the family!

Sneaky weigh in this morning and I am in the 13s! Started at 14 st 11.8 and this morning I am 13st 13.8 😁. I was aiming for 10lb off and now looking like I might make it a stone! So HUGE thanks BIWI and the gang. I am also excited about the next boot camp!

I need to do some more food prep today during nap time as I am volunteering in school tomorrow so need grab and go food.

This weekend we are going to our first Christmas market as there is an amazing gin maker going and DH wants to stock up for Christmas! It's beside a gorgeous park to we are going to combine it with a lovely family dog walk, using lovely treats to bribe the child (and manchild).

@venusandmars the scallop recipe was delicious. We also had some buttery garlic prawns, trout and some mushrooms as they were all going out of date and it was delicious. Today I am making tandoori chicken skewers with big salad. eggs for breakfast and probably some quiche for lunch.

venusandmars · 02/12/2021 07:41

Booster vaccination yesterday, and the flu one, so I've got a tender arm this morning. Resting in bed atm and dh has brought me a cup of tea. I think it will be Spanish omelette for lunch with leeks, peppers and cheese in it. Then steak for dinner with mushrooms, cavalo nero and shoogled sprouts.

There's an aubergine in the veg box so sometime over the weekend we'll have moussaka. I might make that today to let the flavours develop. I'm also planning to make a batch of cheese and almond muffins, I've had the ingredients for a while and have not managed to get round to it, too much going on. But a lovely day in the kitchen today seems very appealing.

H1Drangea · 02/12/2021 08:11

@venusandmars. I had my booster ( moderna ) on Tuesday , and my arm is still sore !
No other side effects though .

We’re having leftover chicken curry ( homemade , from the freezer ) with lots of roast cauli and spinach for dinner , and I’ll have scrambled eggs for brunch

Haircut planned for today , top up shop , to include FLGV and some Christmas shopping , and birthday presents for DH who , very inconsiderately , had his birthday on 23rd December

Dellabob123 · 02/12/2021 09:47

Morning all,

We’re all struggling with continuous colds here so going to get tested today! Feeling so run down.

Well done @prettybird on your new number Grin

I’ve got some lovely purple kale and do t know what to do with it- any tips?

I ordered my turkey yesterday, I like to live on the edge!

FusionChefGeoff · 02/12/2021 09:49

I've realised that despite loving scallops / prawns it would NEVER occur to me to cook them at home - and the whole meal that @Glentheredbeakbattleostrich described just stuck me as insanely decadent for a Wednesday! I'm wondering if that response is tied into my disordered eating and that I don't deserve nice / expensive food.... one to watch and hopefully fix.

I am trying to run the freezer / cupboards down in anticipation of Christmas stocks coming in soon so I need to have a good look and come up with a plan.

My cooking is getting very samey at the moment - again, wonder if there's something in there about me not being worth the time to think about and prepare amazing food as well as the money... or seeing it as punishment / a horrible chore instead of time to myself and a luxury. Or just the age old issue that no-one else in the family contributes or cares so I get resentful.

BIWI · 02/12/2021 10:55

It sounds to me @FusionChefGeoff that you need to try and turn things around so that food presents itself as a pleasure to you - the whole thing, from planning to cooking to eating - and not just a shameful, secret chore that it looks like it has become. (I'm clearly an amateur psychologist here!)

I absolutely get what you mean about cooking being samey though - even though I'm retired now, I've found recently that I'm cooking the same 4 or 5 meals on repeat. So a couple of weeks ago I got a couple of my cook books out (the Fast800 ones, as they are easy, tasty and give carb counts - I just ignore the calories and recipes that involve non-Bootcamp ingredients), and planned new meals for each day, albeit based on the same ingredients.

I also get Olive magazine (DH bought me a subscription as a Christmas present a couple of years ago and renews it each year) and they have some lovely recipes in there - again, importantly, all carb counted. I can't say I've cooked many of them, but they act as inspiration and make food a pleasure, and an allowable indulgence.

I get the feeling that you're beginning to be afraid of food, which isn't a good thing!

(Apologies if this is a whole load of drivel)

OP posts:
Glentheredbeakbattleostrich · 02/12/2021 12:29

I get what you mean @FusionChefGeoff. It takes a conscious effort to buy and cook things like scallops at home (to be fair they were on the 3 for £10 offer in Morrisons). And it did feel wonderfully decadent eating them, like I was spoiling myself somehow in a way I would never look at a Bolognese or koftas for example.

I think one of the things low carb is teaching me after years of low fat, or being bloody poor is that food is actually wonderful. I will happily have scrambled egg for breakfast and lunch of it means a good steak for dinner. And after a busy day at work I bloody well deserve that steak.

Withy amateur feminist psychology hat on, I do find that women deny themselves in a way men generally dont. We don't value our time or our efforts enough. It's something that I have been discussing with friends quite a lot this week actually and we are making a combined new year effort to do something about that.

Wow, an amazing way of eating and therapy all in one thread!!

StuntNun · 02/12/2021 14:17

DH bought the two smaller cauliflowers in the world to make cauli rice but they do have loads of leaves. I assume you can eat them? Does anyone make them into soup or roast them or anything?

BIWI · 02/12/2021 14:33

Apparently you can, but I've never done anything with them.

One recipe here

OP posts:
prettybird · 02/12/2021 14:42

I can slice them and cook them like cabbage. Personally I'd cut out the thick stalk and eat it as a crunch snack but I'm weird and like them Wink

TrueGrit54 · 02/12/2021 15:04

I love roast cauliflower leaves and stalk, I clean or cut off any dirty bits and tuck them under the main cauliflower so they don’t burn. I’ve never made cauliflower rice, I just roast the florets with sea salt, black pepper and oil. I probably have roast cauliflower 3 days a week.

Been busy here (birthdays), looking forward to catching up on the thread.

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