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low carb foods and meal ideas

i need food inspiration please! im trying to cut down on my carbolicious ways, im a bit of an addict, so need some tips about possible meals without (or minimal) carbs in them?

im really clueless when it comes to food and cooking, so simple but interesting ideas please :smile:

im not a vegetarian and im pretty open to most foods (apart from fish!)

Reply 1

CameraGirl

i make a wicked vegetable stir fry:

onion,1/2 an aubergine, courgette,garlic clove, tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, water, soy sauce, basil.

-fry onion and 1/2 an aubergine together until brown
-add tin of chopped tomatoes, garlic, a mug of water, tablespoon of tomato puree, and a tablespoon of soy sauce and cook for 10 mins approx.
-add courgettes and another tablespoon of soy sauce, simmer for 10 minutes until courgettes are how you like them and it's not too runny
-add basil, salt, and pepper, cook for 1 minute :smile:

great with toast XD kinda like a quick easy ratatouille i suppose - no measuring!!

also stuff with lentils and chickpeas are good :smile:

brown rice instead of white, little things like that is good :smile:

for breakfast, instant porridge pack with skimmed milk = approx 120 calories!
or an egg white omelette with red onions and mushrooms or something in it :smile:

salads with low fat dressing

chickpeas roasted in curry powder are good for snacks :biggrin:

soup is awesome, so easy and quick and low in calories!especially minestrone mmmm

veggie burgers can be good, with no bun, and some brown rice? or the bun instead of the rice haha, with a little light mayonnaise :P

if you want ready meals, weightwatchers ones are delicious and tend to be lower in calories but still a decent amount of food :smile:

for lunch i love a good freshly cooked chicken sandwich, so the chicken is still warm, with lettuce and a little mayo, and maybe a little piri piri sauce in brown bread :biggrin:

or a salad or something.

sorry, rambling, hope that helps! x

Reply 2

popple7

Original post by CameraGirl

that's brilliant. you're brilliant. i love you. hi five! :five:

love the sound of your veggie stir fry, and i have most of those things in my fridge/cupboards.. defo having that for tea tomorrow!

are beef and pork low-carb as well? i love red meat!

Reply 3

CameraGirl

Original post by popple7

that's brilliant. you're brilliant. i love you. hi five! :five:

love the sound of your veggie stir fry, and i have most of those things in my fridge/cupboards.. defo having that for tea tomorrow!

are beef and pork low-carb as well? i love red meat!

haha you're more than welcome :P good luck! it really does taste good :biggrin:

red meats are quite high in calories usually i'm afraid :frown:

spose they're alright in low quantities though! is pork a red meat? lol

chicken, turkey and (unfortunately) fish, are the lowest in calories haha. i try to eat only about 4oz of chicken or turkey at a time (about the size of a pack of playing cards) x

Reply 4

fibrebiz

Pork and Puy lentils:

Get a big bit of pork fillet
Trim off the fat
Cut into round medallions, aim to get 6-8 per fillet
Season both sides with salt, pepper and herbes de provencales (sometimes called mixed herbs in cheap supermarkets)
On the top side, make 2 shallow cuts and insert very thin sections of garlic
Cook that in a frying pan

Get some Puy lentils in a can
empty contents out into a saucepan
Cook that

When both are ready, put the medallions of pork on the plates
Drain the lentils
Tip the contents of the frying pan onto the lentils
Serve them up too

Each single pork fillet serves 1.5-2 people, 2.5 at a stretch
Each tin of Puy lentils serves 4

This meal has a few calories, but then it tastes GODLY and, being mostly protein, it means you'll burn up fat pretty quickly as a consequence.

The ingredients might be a little bit expensive for one sitting but seriously, cook this meal at least once.
You'll get a reputation.

Reply 5

popple7

Original post by CameraGirl

Original post by fibrebiz

yeah i just want to replace my (most of) carbs with protein instead... better energy source and less fat? im not really wanting to lose weight, just get a bit fitter and less squidgy :smile:

thanks fibrebiz, that sounds mouth-wateringly good! and easy too! double winning.

any other ideas?

Reply 6

bzly

Why don't you like fish, that's ridiculous, fish is amazing, and anyway you can't generalize by saying 'I don't like fish'... most fish tastes very different from other types of fish. And what about seafood?! Tuna! Fish and chips! Sea bass! GAH!!! /RANT.

Reply 7

popple7

Original post by bzly

all of that makes me want to vom. the only fish i can tolerate is cod. i hate seafood!

Reply 8

littlehobbit

what about an omelette or something?

Reply 9

SoapyDish

Original post by popple7

yeah i just want to replace my (most of) carbs with protein instead... better energy source and less fat?

Carbs alone don't have fat...that's why they're called carbs. Potatoes, pasta and rice are all low in fat, but they're carbs...And anyway, carbs and fats aren't bad for you, they're just bad in excess, the same as anything else! Some people say that protein fills you up for longer than the equivalent mass/calories of carbs, but I find that wholemeal carbs (brown rice, brown bread, wholemeal pasta) do just as good a job at filling me up, while containing lots of dietary fibre. Plus the majority of animal proteins will also contain a fair bit of fat, so you'll take in more calories for the same mass of food.

Pure carbohydrate and pure protein both contain 4 calories per gram, so they're both just as good as an energy source. But your brain can't use protein as energy, without converting it into ketones first (which is why unregulated diabetics and people on the Atkins diet have smelly breath). A carb-free diet will help you lose a small amount of weight very quickly, but it isn't healthily sustainable for more than a week or so.