It's gonna be a low carb Christmas in our house...

[venusandmars]

Starting this thread because for so many people the festive season starts and ends with an excess of sugar and starch (and alcohol). And as a consequene it ends with an increase in weight and a terrible lethargy.

But it doesn't have to be like that. What it needs is some resolve - you sometimes have to say 'no' to things you might otherwise like - and some really great ideas about delicious alternatives so you don't feel like you're missing out.

In the paraphrased words of Dana:

It's gonna be a low carb Christmas in our house
Dreaming of those lovely butter-shoogled sprouts
It's gonna be a time to ignore all the sweet stuff
Missing nothing but the extra seven pounds

This has to be a wind up. Unless of course you're the only person in your house and you're not dictating how the rest of your family enjoy Christmas.

Up for this! Thanks @venusandmars

I’ve cut down on carbs recently, will have less this Christmas. We have a wedding to attend in February and if I can’t wear long boots I’ll be wearing jeans and sneakers. I’m not doing cold to dress up for anything.

Great idea!

Great idea for a thread. Perimenopause for me and mid life weight gain for DH has meant we have reduced our carbs a lot and feel great for it. Also after listening to Ultra-processed people on audible last month has made me aware of how much absolute rubbish we have been letting the kids eat generally - and this means we are trying to be much more mindful about how much carb heavy junk food we allow in the house.

The topic I posted under was 'low carb'. In general it is intended for those who normally follow a lower carb way of eating but who find the festive season a challenge.

All those I know who follow this approach do it for 'themselves' because it works for them, but they adapt recipes and ideas so they might have a lower carb version of something while the rest of the family have pasta or potatoes with theirs. The title was a play on words, not a dictatorship about what my family or friends will eat.

As I said in my original post, this thread is for sharing delicious alternatives so that those of us who find a lower carb lifestyle works for us can indulge ourselves during the festive season.

But @saraclara thanks for your comments

Sorry, your post appeared in 'active' and I didn't notice that it was in a specific keto branch. In fact I didn't even know there was such a branch!

So ignore me, and enjoy your Christmas

So I'm going to start with a recipe for keto naan. you can find it here made with mozzarella, almond flour, egg. It freezes and defrosts really well. When others are having smoked salmon on bread, or pizza, or something on pastry - these are a great low carb alternative.

Following for inspiration and motivation.

I have never done LC at Christmas. I tend to be a person who is I start eating carbs I find it really difficult to stop so I am considering trying to stay LC over Christmas.
Christmas dinner itself I can probably manage as I am not mad on roasties and do love cauliflower cheese, brussel sprouts with bacon and celeriac gratin. I will be cooking and I always do so many sides doing a few LC won’t be an issue or even noticed.
Desserts, breads and treats will be a bigger issue. And Christmas parties.
I am hoping to try a few recipes before then.

https://www.gnom-gnom.com/keto-pull-apart-christmas-tree/

https://sugarfreelondoner.com/low-carb-christmas-pudding/

https://sugarfreelondoner.com/keto-sugar-free-mince-pies/#recipe

Place marking for inspiration!

I sort of half-managed it last year (did well on meals out etc by choosing in advance) —but failed when I found a seasonal Colin The Caterpillar reduced to £3 on Christmas Eve—. I’d like to do better this year. Roast dinners during the year I have been having roast cauliflower instead of the potatoes (we don’t have cauliflower cheese or anything with cream or cheese with a roast normally as none of us like that) and not much room for pudding which is usually crackers and cheese, I am planning to make seed crackers.

@venusandmars those naans look incredible. They are going on my list!

@ChimneyPot those too!

Thank you so much @venusandmars for starting this thread, I am going to placemat with this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-3993178/amp/Delia-s-Classic-Christmas-starters-Wild-mushroom-walnut-soup-prawn-cocktail-2000.html

I want to meal plan a bit as I have a lot of guests and I have previously completely blown it over the Christmas period. I am thinking nice soups, antipasti type platters, cheeseboard and pates for lunches but could do with nice bits to go alongside it so I don't dive into the crackers, breads, chutneys and pickles.

@EfficientlyDecluttering what are seed crackers please?

P.s I was linking for the soup recipe and thinking lunch not starter, but the prawn cocktail could possibly also work if there was an alternative to tomato ketchup

So, one thing I'm thinking is that most of what we post on here should be 'relatively' unprocessed, and that we should be keeping away from loads of artificial sugars. I sometimes make thing like lemon posset with a sugar substitute, but over Christmas - with the excess of tempting sweet things - my own plan is to either refuse, or to have only small amounts of fruit and large amounts of cream.

That's what I did today. Stewed cooking apple and bramble (blackberry) -no sugar added so it was very tart! The other had theirs on sweet meringue and topped with sweet custard, I had mine tempered with cream. Just enought to take the edge off. And a small portion.

Brilliant idea for a thread @venusandmars

Does anyone have any suggestions for nice bits to go with a cheeseboard or antipasti? Usually I love chilli jams and chutneys etc. I was thinking maybe some walnuts in their shells, with a nutcracker. And nice olives with antipasti.

@Frumpyunicorn there's a recipe here for low carb plum chutney - doesn't use any artificial sweeteners, and is only 1.3g per tablespoon. That might work? (I haven't tried this, but it sounds nice)

... and one here that I have made before, which was delicious:

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/green-chilli-chutney-recipe-how-to-make-green-chilli-chutney/ Green chilli chutney

Thanks @BIWI that chilli chutney looks amazing.

Also i will delete if not allowed but I am also thinking puddings, I will probably have proper pud a couple of days but don't want to go silly. I know 85% chocolate is allowed so I was wondering about making truffles using chocolate ganache. My favourite is aztec, flavoured with orange zest, cinnamon stick and chilli flakes. I don't use a recipe as I lost the one I had, but something like this.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/aztec-truffles-520463

There's a whole thread of dessert recipes in the Low Carb Bootcamp topic@Frumpyunicorn!

Here

Thanks for starting this thread, I was already looking ahead to Christmas! I would like to suggest that this recipe makes an impressive looking starter without much effort, and can be made the day before. I have made it with smoked salmon, freshly cooked salmon fillets, and even trout - all excellent. I have also made a veggie version by omitting the fish and using more tomatoes. My recipe was from a book but I found this John West version on the internet: https://www.john-west.co.uk/recipes/wild-alaskan-salmon-spinach-roulade/

I haven't got an exact recipe for the seed crackers but it goes a bit like this. Chia seeds are the one essential ingredient.

Use a small mixing bowl and mix together a few tbsp each of sesame, poppy, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds or whatever you've got. Then add approx 1/3 of the total volume already in the bowl of chia seeds. Add water and mix to a paste, leave for 15 mins for the chia seeds to absorb the water, add a bit more and leave for another 15 mins, it needs to be a spreadable consistency but not runny. You can also add a bit of salt or spices to taste. Then spread it all on a baking tray lined with baking parchment try and spread it to about 0.5cm thick. Bake at 180° till starting to brown, about half an hour, remove from the oven, cool and break up. If they don't snap they need a little longer in the oven. They are really tasty.

Super thread @venusandmars thank you!

Following for ideas! Already tempted by all the Christmas food in the supermarkets and wanting to not go overboard this year! I plan to do charcuterie/cheese board with pate, meats, crudités eg carrot, celery. Luxury nuts. Smoked salmon + eggs. Keen to hear other ideas