General Low Carb Bootcamp Chat

[BIWI]

Although I generally keep a chat thread going at the end of each Bootcamp, I think it would be better to have an ongoing chat thread that isn't linked to a specific Bootcamp.

So here it is. A sparkly new thread, for all things low carb and Bootcamp chat. As well as anything else you'd like to chat about!

Feel free to chat about anything you like here.

@hapusrwydd Are there some alternative startegies you could deploy if that feeling happens again? Pour yourself a large glass of cold sprkling water or soda, with ice and lemon. Take it awawy from the kitchen, sit and drink it slowly. Or go and tidy your underwear drawer. Or go into the garden and do some weeding. Anything to get you physically away from the fridge / food cupboards. And you might find that diverting your mind removes the craving.

@prettybird your food sounds amazing!

We were planning on steak, but I passed our local fish shop and saw nice tuna steaks so a quick change of plan to salad nicoise (baby gem, green beans, boiled egg, black olives and an oily dressing). One glass of wine.

We had fish pie this evening. Here's a rough recipe/method.

For the fish filling:
Smoked haddock loin fillet (undyed - please don't use that awful yellow stuff!)
Cod loin fillet
Pack of frozen raw large prawns (defrosted)
4 hard boiled eggs
Double cream/whole milk (I would have used all cream, but didn't have enough)

For the mash topping:
1 celeriac
2 leeks
(I also had a small amount of butternut squash to use up, so added that - not strictly Bootcamp)
Butter
Grated Parmesan

Mash:

Peel and boil the celeriac and butternut squash for 25 minutes until soft
Trim and slice the leeks, and then add them for the last couple of minutes to the celeriac and squash while they're boiling
Drain, and let the veg dry. Then put it back into the pan they've been boiled in, with a large lump of butter, salt & pepper, and then blitz with a hand blender till smooth
Season with salt and pepper

Fish filling:

Boil the eggs for around 8 minutes, then cool, peel, and slice each one into four
In a sauté or large frying pan, put the fish in a single layer and cover with the cream/milk
Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat and cook for around 5 minutes
Remove the fish from the liquid, put it onto a dish to let it cool - reserve the cooking liquid
Remove the black 'vein' from the prawns with a small, sharp knife(it's the digestive tract, so you really don't want to be eating that!) and then fry briefly in a small pan, in olive oil - just for a couple of minutes
When the fish has cooled enough, break it up into chunks, removing any bones
Put the fish and prawns into a small oven dish and arrange the eggs over the top
Pour the reserved cream/milk cooking liquid over the top, and then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Assembly:

Top the fish/prawns/egg with the celeriac/leek mash, and spread it evenly over the top.

Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the top
Bake in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, until the mash is nicely browned.

I served this with pan-fried broccoli florets, with sliced shallots and chilli flakes (in lots of olive oil)

@BIWI thanks for the advice re the Stevia/green cola - will avoid as much as possible.

Everyone's food sounds amazing and is giving me so much inspiration.

@hapusrwydd when I'm in the mood to sabotage myself I quickly make myself a mini cheesecake in a ramekin. I can do it in less than 5 mins.

It's ground almonds and melted lurpak for the base (I microwave a bit of lurpak and then stir in ground almonds and then pop in freezer). Meanwhile I blend together some double cream, philadelphia and semi thawed frozen raspberries (30 seconds in microwave for raspberries) and tip on top of ground almond base. I then either put it all back in freezer to firm up a bit or if I'm desperate I eat it as it is! It usually does the job.

@prettybird I have been unable to buy celeriac despite visiting 3 supermarkets. Normally it is easily available so I think everyone must be low carb ing 😄

That diet dr fajita sheet pan looks delicious, definitely saving that recipe!
I haven’t started yet as I was waiting to go shopping,
I did BC last year and lost over half a stone…..just weighed myself and it’s all back on again 😭
But I did eat absolute junk through the last few weeks.
So today I am officially easing myself back in starting with no roasties on my roast dinner!

@Runninghorse - my local Lidl no longer stocks celeriac - and although Sainsbury's has them, they are tiny ones, priced £1.40 each

Fortunately my local greengrocer has them

I’ve never had celeriac! What does it taste like? What does it come in at carb wise?

It tastes vaguely aniseedy - but only vaguely! It works really well cooked in many different ways - I love it mashed with buttery leeks, or as oven-roasted 'chips'. It's also great as a dauphinoise, tartiflette or boulangère.

Go and check out the vegetarian recipe thread (stickied at the top of the Bootcamp topic) for those recipes!

Celeriac is very low in carbs, as 2.2g carbs per 100g.

Thankfully when I went shopping last week my Sainsbury's had lots of celeriac, and they were pretty large ones.

I’ve got a celeriac in my fridge and, while I do eat it from time to time, I’m not that fussed. Might see what I can get for it on eBay if they are in short supply

It doesn't taste like celery just as well as I don't like celery

Cooked, it is sort of nutty. It works well as an alternative to potatoes in say a creamy dauphinois and can be mashed (apparently cooked leeks mixed in with it works well). You can cut it into chips and cook them coated in some oil in the oven but while they are very tasty, they are not crispy like potato chips.

Raw, you can grate/cut into juliennes and make a remoulade with mayonnaise and mustard.

Can't remember the carb count offhand - but it is one of the "good guys"

Good morning all...been a very busy week back at school! Hard boiled eggs have been my saviour as an 'on the go' lunch whilst marking books and dealing with my emotional Year 2s who have been finding it extremely hard to get back into the swing of it...much more so than September I think, when they appeared to be ready to be back. I think (certainly in our area anyway) this current outbreak seems to be affecting them a lot more emotionally 😢

Anyway...I stood on the scales this morning and I'm 5lbs lighter than I was on the 1st January, so I'm very happy about that 😍

Just thought I'd share my little win 🥇

Happy Sunday everyone, and if you have a little one at home, give them an extra big cuddle 🥰

I’m not wild about celeriac and usually cook it with something else to disguise the flavour. My favourite is cut into thin wedges roasted with chunks of chorizo.

It does work really well mashed, with leeks, as @prettybird says. There's something about the texture of cooked leek that makes the texture of celeriac even more like mashed potato.

It works really well with smoked bacon or lardons, and adding cheese can only be even better!

I think tartiflette will be on my menu next week.

My 7 year old has been uncharacteristically emotional this week SweetPotato , interesting that other kids her age are behaving similarly.

Congrats on the little win!

I can't abide the smell of celeriac raw but once cooked it's very nice. I quite like cauliflower mash - cauliflower, cream, cheese and whizz in processor.

Love that cheesecake recipe @prettybird, will def try that!

@SweetPotatoDumpling I wouldn't call 5lbs since 1 January a 'little win'! That's great going.

'Twasnae me with the cheesecake recipe @Baystard In fact I was going to post up a warning that, lovely as it sounded, it wasn't suitable unless you are veggie until Boot Camp Light (ie after the first 2 weeks) as it has ground almonds in it

Sorry @prettybird and @byebyecarbs - not quite on it today!

I'm not veggie, so I'm thinking for after the first two weeks of bootcamp (or before).

@Fishlegs sorry to hear that...they do seem to be uncharacteristically out of sorts at the moment don't they 😢 We are keeping a really close and watchful eye out in school ♥️

Thanks for all the advice everyone gave me re: my carb binge yesterday.

I think I was brooding and bored and it had been building up in me all day. I need to recognise the feeling and divert it much earlier before it gets a grip.

I've felt much more in control today. Almost hit my water target, ate well and also did a 6 mile run.

I've realised I've got to take this seriously if I seriously want it to work

I've realised I've got to take this seriously if I seriously want it to work

Absolutely!

I should warn you/all of you, that low carbing is an unforgiving way of eating. You can't eat 'well' at one meal to compensate for eating 'badly' at another. You have to keep your carbs low all the time. Otherwise it simply won't work.

This was my supper tonight. I've started a day before my already planned early start and watched dh drink a glass of very nice South African Sauvignon Blanc: crispy skinned salmon with buttery white cabbage and shoogled sprouts. I'd been so eager I'd already had a bit of the salmon before I took the picture

We'd had a very small portion of tomato and mint soup to start (found when I tidied out the freezer ).

Out of lurking for this public service announcement

Tesco have celeriac!

You’re welcome 😃

I'm finding this thread extremely useful so far and am looking forward to bootcamp proper starting. I've definitely got less of an appetite and feeling less bloated.

This week I need to keep up the water intake, add more veg, try to wean myself off diet coke and try and get out for lots of exercise.
And not eat too much seriously low carb bread.

Me too. It’s definitely helped me get in the right place for bootcamp. That mental warm up zone is really important.