Low Carbers/PPCOBPRPers, please can I have your menus for this week?

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

That's "People Cutting Out Bread, Pasta, Rice & Potatoes" by the way!!! (There must be an easier way to describe this...)

Anyway, I have been doing the above for two weeks now and feling great, but would love some more inspiration for meal times!

Please could others doing this post their meal plans for the week and hopefully we can inspire each other?

Mine is:
Tues: crustless smoked salmon and spinache quiche with salad
Wed: marinaded chicken drumsticks with roasted veg
Thurs: moussaka (with cheese and creme fraiche topping, no flour)
Fri- out for meal but have checked menu and will have steamed fish with soy, ginger and chinese veg
sat- beef curry on a bed of tiomato and onion salad
sun- pork belly and green veggies
mon- bacon, sausages, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms with chips and beans for DH
tues- not sure yet, maybe fake carbonara with courgette ribbons instead of pasta.

I was injecting 4x a day and had to be über-strict about diet. It was very similar to the one I am following now, except I had to have one piece of soya and linseed bread in the mornings (with protein, humous or avocado). Apparently that's the bread that has the lowest impact on blood sugar so if anyone is craving bread it's the one to have. Helpfully, it is also delicious.

I'd really like to try this. I need more ideas for breakfast and lunch that are simple as I have 2 very youngs DCs and am a single parent, so life is hectic. Also meals that young DCs would like. I'd always give them carbs and me alternate though, but the main dish I'd like them to eat IYSWIM? Do you think it's doable for me?

I did Atkins before children and lost loads of weight.

yes it doable and I think its great when you have kids as you can't rely on convenience food and you have to cook from scratch! There is a heavier reliance on meat and fish though, so it can be a bit more expensive.

breakfast for me is either: boiled eggs or scrambled, full fat Greek yoghurt with berries, good quality sausages, or bacon, or you could have a quick omelette,

I also make my own burgers from lean mince with an egg mixed in and you and the kids could eat these - I wrap mine in lettuce leaves rather than bread buns. Its cheaper than buying good quality burgers. You can use minced chicken and turkey to make burgers and meatballs too.

another good one is lasagna - I make it with strips of courgette to replace the pasta - its yummy and increases the kids veg intake..

a frittata is a good replacement for pizza - you can put similar stuff in it and make it look like a pizza

I'm starting this on Monday so have bought in lots of fish, meat and eggs!

What's a frittata? Is there an easy recipe you can link me to?

Feeling confident now after your post MsBoogie, it's not going to break the bank doing this is it?

a frittata is a sort of omelette with lots of stuff in - I make a spinach and mushroom one - just briefly fry a load of spinach and mushrooms then add 3 beaten eggs to the pan, keep frying until the egg sets then brown under the grill with cheese on top if you like.

or you can make a meaty one with bits of sausage and tomato and maybe some pepperoni and it kind of ends up looking like a pizza.

it doesn't have to break the bank, no

especially if you try to figure out ways of eating your "normal" foods just with replacements for the missing carbs

e.g I have seen on here that people will have spag bol and serve the sauce on a bed of shredded cabbage

I have discovered that if you blend raw cauliflower into a breadcrumb-like texture in a food processor and then fry it - it is a fairly ok relacement for rice with a curry

also if I make a stir fry or chinese dish I will have fried beansprouts instead of rice or noodles

if we have sausages and chips I will have fried mushrooms instead of chips

the really important thing is to plan ahead your meals for the week and also to have snacks prepared for when you are hungry, these can be low carb nuts (not too many though) olives, boiled eggs, half an avocado, cheese, slices of ham or chicken. The you won't weaken and have a slice of toast becasue there's nothing else.

good luck! let us know how you get on teaandcakeplease

OK I'll go shopping on Monday and buy in appropriate stuff.

MsBoogie can I eat raw carrots, tomatos, cucumber and apples as snacks as well?

Just aware that I may get hungry if breakfast is yogurt and blueberries today.

This a brilliant thread, I've not tried low-carb before but I've been on low-fat-high-carb for TWO MONTHS and lost a grand total of... two pounds. And I feel like shite.

So - for the uninitiated such as myself - can anyone recommend a good resource or book that tells you clearly what is low carb and what to avoid? For example, I'm gathering that celeriac and cauli are good but other veg are bad?

Help - my size 12 jeans are taunting me.....

last night i had stuffed courgettes made with the leftover bolognese sauce from the childrens supper.

i roasted the courgettes in the oven for half an hour with a small bit of spray oil on the top. Scooped out a bit of the flesh from the inside, filled them with the bolognese, topped with lots of parmesan and baked in the oven. Delicious...... Had a nice tomato and onion salad with balsalmic drizzled over on the side.

i have now lost 4 kilos in 4 weeks.....very happy and not really missing cakes, bread etc at all anymore....i do eat bread on sat and sunday morning for breakfast though as otherwise i just cant run without it being incredibly painful. 1 slice of superwholemeal being the order of the day.

I´m interested to know what you eat for breakfast & your "non main" meal of the day IYSWIM.

Breakfast for me is usually a weetabix & evening meal usually bread based-I cook midday.

breakfast for me is berries (the frozen ones, defrosted the night before) with creme fraiche. Atkins devotees would say thats not strictly low-carb but its lower than cereal, porridge or toast obviously.

Lunch is something with salad, quiche and salad, tuna mayo and salad, coronation chicken and salad... or an omelette if Im at home. Eating 'on the run', I havent really mastered that oen yet. I do think the key is being organised and planning your meals in advance.

Are bananas OK? Or are they too "carby"?

So lots of salad!

Not sure I could survive on your breakfast tbh!

I've just been nerdily copying all your yummy suggestions onto a single page so I can be inspired next time I do the supermarket shop!

I've been cutting out spuds, bread, rice etc for the last couple of weeks (and doing some running....) and have instantly noticed the difference in my bloated waistline, however I am struggling with breakfast. As yet I have not managed without my bumper bowl of muesli in the morning. As I usually find myself with around 30 seconds to wolf my brekkie while I'm running round after the dcs, I'm not sure I'll have time to rustle up fancy omelettes and the like; any quick and easy breakfast ideas would be welcome.

If you have a boiled egg, what do you dip in it???!!

My other problem is I'm such a foodie - dh was given a darling box of macaroons the other day, absolutely my favourite thing in the whole wide world. I can't possibly let them go to waste! If I have one every evening am I wrecking the whole low-carb thing?

No-one has answered my banana question - I've been lunching on them. Are they OK?

Looking forward to your low-carb words of wisdom......

Macaroon problem over - just scoffed the whole box in a moment of weakness

Bananas are not OK, sadly, and nor are macaroons though that problem seems to have been dealt with

Here are some quick breakfast ideas:

• the protein shakes mentioned above, with soya milk (you can add cocoa or peanut butter for flavour)
• eggs, with all kinds of things on the side: mayo, fried mushrooms, chopped up sun-dried tomato, grated cheese, wilted spinach and hollandaise... All of these can be prepared the night before and reheated in the morning in about 30 seconds if necessary
• ham or smoked salmon rolled around cream cheese, which you can flavour with nuts, lemon zest, spring onions, or whatever you fancy
• parma ham and mozzarella, with avocado if you want, and pesto

The combination of protein and fat will keep you going til lunch and you will not miss your bumper bowl of muesli.

PS - boiled eggs are v delicious with asparagus dipped in, or broccoli spears. One of my favourite light meals is a variation on this: steamed broccoli, poached eggs and anchovy butter.

Mmmmm, thanks thereistheball, some wonderful suggestions. Must get some asparagus in before the season ends....

As for the macaroons, yes, I have to admit, there was an element of "well this gets rid of the problem for once and for all" as I scoffed them all down. They were scrumptious bumptious, though (sigh).