Low Carb help please

[DooinMeCleanin]

Any recipes or meal plan ideas? I'm stuck, all I can think of is scrambled eggs/omelete with things or stir fries, meat and veg.

salmon, tandoori fish?!

How can you only think of omelettes and stir-fry???

Here's a selection of what I make for dinner - I've been low-carbing since March.

Beef - Steak, bolognese, chilli con carne, stuffed minute steaks, steak with onions and mushrooms, roast beef.

Chicken - Roast chicken breast, chicken pizzaiola, chicken cacciatore, chicken breast stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, chicken curry, chicken and veg kebabs.

Fish - marinated salmon/trout, salmon parcels with ginger/lime/soy/honey, teriaki salmon, cod and chorizo bake with peppers and sun-dried tomato pesto, prawn curry.

Pork - medallions in tomato/basil sauce topped with mozzarella, griddled chops with caramelized apple

Lamb - koftas, lamb burgers, lean lamb steak

Bunny I usually live off pasta, curry and rice and sandwhiches.

Not exactly low carb doin

Fish:
Grilled / griddled with veggies on side (generally tuna / salmon)
In casserole baked in oven with ratatoiulle type veggies (generally white fish)

Chicken / Turkey:
Griddled breast with veggies on side
Mince with chopped tomatoes and loads of veggies sometimes curried.
Roast chicken with veggies.
Stir-fry

Meat:
Fairy steak in oven with veggies in casserole
Mince as above for chicken
Griddled steak etc

Quorn:
Mince like chicken above
Chicken style pieces in stir fry or with chopped tomatoes and veggies.

I know Mellie, that's why I am stuck. I'm just starting at low carb after years of eating nothing but carbs. Everything I usually eat is served with something carby.

Thanks for the ideas.

carbs arent bad though. Every day you should have between 6-11porions just to function and depending how active you are. It's just a case of making sure they are unrefined. So granary/wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, potatoes, brown rice or if you cant stand that basmati is the compromse b4 going to white

Oh I know they're not bad. Normally I don't really agree with cutting out food groups and I'm not doing anything as extreme as Atkins, I'm not cutting out fruit or any veg. I'm just cutting out rice, pasta, potatos, bread, sugary carbs etc.

I'm finding it really hard to stick to a diet atm and none of my clothes fit me again. I can't afford a whole new wardrobe.

Cutting out simple carbs so your augars then yett but I don't get cutting out rice/pasta/bread cos there's nothing wrong with it if it's unrefined.

"but I don't get cutting out rice/pasta/bread cos there's nothing wrong with it if it's unrefined"

Well you are very lucky you can loose weight so easily whilst eating lots of unrefined carbs. Others aren't so lucky, I need to seriously cut down if I want to loose.

Also 6-11 portions as you say above is a HUGE amount in a day and even if they were unrefined I'd gain weight if I ate this much.

Not sure what you mean by a "portion" though - eg on the wholemeal pasta I bought it says a portion is 75g uncooked, which is 250 calories. Even 6 portions a day would be 1500 calories which would be a full days allowance whilst dieting (ie eating nothing else at all) - if I do eat carbs (I am training for a triathlon) one portion a day would be sufficient for me - if I have pasta with my dinner I'd cook myself around 25g-30g uncooked to go with my protein and veggies.

I don't like wholewheat stuff and find I eat a larger variety of veg plus I eat veg more often when I cut back on starchy carbs. It does help me lose weight and I have more energy. I just get bored and give up too quick, which is why I'm asking for ideas.

Oooh, I've found the low carb people! I've been posting in the wrong bit of Mumsnet

I'm a Type 2 diabetic following a low carb/low sugar diet to keep my blood sugar stable. Carbs make my blood glucose readings rocket. I don't eat bread (apart from one slice of Burgen bread a day), pasta, spuds, rice etc now. I do eat a lot of mushroom bhajis, curries, cauli cheese, salad. Does anyone else make the cauliflower rice recipe to go with curry? I found giving up carbs hard but the less I eat of them, the less I crave them. I'm a bit addicted to Whole Earth peanut butter though. I've gone down two dress sizes since starting this which is a huge incentive.

These are a couple of recipes I've put together recently if anyone is interested:

Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Large dollop Whole Earth peanut butter
splash of soy sauce
chicken breast cut into strips
handful of mushrooms
half thinly sliced green cabbage
slice of turkey bacon (optional)

Either marinade the chicken overnight in the peanut butter and soy sauce, or forget to do that and put it all in the pan. Fry the chicken until cooked, add soy and peanut butter, then the rest of the ingredients and stir fry until cooked. The peanut butter sauce should be sticking to everything. Eat whilst hot. You could use any veg for this really but cabbage and mushroom work well.

Cheesy Cauliflower and Bacon
I small cauliflower
2 rashers of bacon, cut into strips
handful of shredded dark green cabbage
teaspoon English mustard
Grated cheddar cheese

Boil or steam the cauli unti cooked but still slightly firm, then drain. Meanwhile, fry the bacon and cabbage, then when cooked tip into the cauli and mix it up with the mustard. Put it all into a shallow dish, cover in grated cheese and grill until crispy.

Scarlett I am nicking both those recipes - they sound yum!!!

Well done on dropping those dress sizes - I've gone from 12st 7lbs (was pushing a size 16) to 10st 11lbs (am now a big 12) in 2 months thanks to cutting out bread/spuds/rice/pasta/pastry and going to the gym 4 times a week. Aiming for 10 st even. Feeling fantastic and am not even missing all the stodge I used to scarf down!

Scarlett, I'm nicking them too - love peanut butter! Do you make your own bhajis? If so, do you have a recipe you can share?

Well done on your weight loss. Both diabetes and coeliac run in my immediate family and I have noticed I am wrecked all the time lately (despite exercising regularly) and am really irritable, so am trying to cut way back on carbs for a while - esp bread and pasta - to see if it makes a difference.

Oh that peanut stir fry looks lovely. I might have that for supper after work tonight.

Oh I just noticed in your post about the cauliflower rice, Scarlett. I made that yesterday. I'm sure DH thought I had gone a bit potty . It was actually quite nice. I'm not a fan of rice, tbh, I just eat it because it goes with the curries etc. The cauliflower thing was much nicer.

I got the recipe here. I found it yesterday. I like the idea of courgette tagliatelle instead of pasta too.

I make mushroom bhaji quite a lot, sometimes have it as a side dish with a curry ( I love saag and anything spinach based) but it also goes with sausages, which are quite low carb. This is what I do:

Mushroom Bhaji

2 large onions, thinly sliced
oil or butter for frying
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 clove garlic, chopped
375 gms mushrooms, sliced

Melt oil or butter in a pan, saute onions for 3 minutes or until tender.
Add turmeric, chilli and garlic, saute for 1 minute.
Add mushrooms, saute over low heat or until mushrooms are ready.

I use quite a lot of turmeric in cooking as I love spicy flavours but not too much heat - you could add extra chilli to this if you wanted.

Tonight I am eating yet another variation on cauli cheese, this one is a chopped stir fried chicken breast with shredded cabbage and onion, add this to cooked cauli, top with mozarella and grill until brown. Yummy.

As a diabetic, I avoid some fruit and veg, such as cooked carrots (higher sugar content) and strawberries which make my blood glucose readings high. I do eat Weight Watchers dessert yoghurts which are the lowest carb yogurts I've found and delicious. Also have blueberries/raspberries with double cream or yoghurts for puds.

I am a total foodie and very much finding my way with low carb recipes - I can post what I make up and I'll read yours with interest.

Does anyone else find this way of eating quite expensive? I suppose carbs bulk out a meal - I am buying more meat and veg. And peanut butter. The Whole Earth one is sugar free, beware of some of the cheaper ones which have a lot of sugar.

PS BunnyLebowski I love your name. I am married to The Dude.