5 days of unknown foods

Antje77

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(edit: OK, I've finished the post and I still don't know what the purpose of the post is, but it did help with realising my plan will work just fine, foodwise, even if it will mean I'll eat some unconventional meals! :))

Not sure if this post will be a question, a story, a making of a plan, perhaps something of a rant, or something else altogether.
I guess it's an attempt at taming the dragon of anxiety. That stupid dragon is always trying to turn a happy looking forward to something fun into thinking of everything that can go wrong.
It does listen to reason, so I can counter most scenario's it can come up with, but I'd really rather spend my time musing about the fun parts instead of explaining an obnoxious dragon it's exaggerating and it should go play outside to catch knights or hoard gold or such, and not bother me!

My friend has a sailing ship, a new deckhand with no experience at all, and a new knee, so he isn't as fast as he used to be.
Usually those ships are sailed with 2 crew (captain and deckhand) and 15 to 25 paying guests. Having an all new deckhand is complicated enough as it is, but with the new knee my friend asked if I could come along to teach the new deckhand, a job I love! :)
I've worked as a deckhand for years, but that was before diabetes and before the dragon, although I have sailed the occasional short trip in the past few years.

As a rule, the paying guests take care of food (we have a good kitchen on board) and the crew are invited to share their meals. You can get very lucky, for instance when you have a family group with a family member who loves getting the chance to cook wonderful meals for a group of people, or a company outing who hire a cook to come along.
Or you can get not-so-lucky, for instance when the group consists of twenty 15 year olds and two teachers who decided it was a good idea to have the children cook without any guidance. Spaghetti with ketchup is a well-known dish among sailing crew.
I have no idea what it will be this time.

So I need a plan.
I definitely prefer eating with the guests, if possible, and I definitely do not want to cook full meals in the tiny private kitchen after or during a sailing day.
But I also need to bring enough of my own food to have an alternative if necessary.

I don't mind having wonkier BG than usual, but eating higher carb makes my diabetes very unpredictable, and therefore a lot more work and stress for me. Especially with the unusual activity thrown in, which means my basal dose will likely be slightly on the high side, and bolus doses will need to be different too, and I'll have to figure out dosing while doing stuff where a hypo can happen at a very bad moment.
So I'll try to stick to the more predictable foods.

Breakfast and lunch are easy, if it's bread, I'll just bring my own bread and have whatever they have with it.
But I'll need to bring stuff to substitute a main meal if necessary, but I don't want to bring prepared meals or other stuff that will go off if not eaten, in case I get lucky and I can eat mostly with our guests.

So far I've thought of
Eggs, some already hard boiled as a quick fix or to liven up a cheese sandwich.
Pork scratchings and aioli.
Various nuts.
Died sausage.
A cucumber, some small tomatoes and a bell pepper.
A couple of nice cheeses, either to have with bread or to simply eat as it is.
Some other things I really like a lot to eat with bread, so I can just eat that instead of a meal without feeling too deprived.
Chocolaty nut squares.

So far, it doesn't really sound like a 5 day meal plan, but it should work if complimented by whatever our guests make. :)
Feel free to suggest other things if you like!

574748_562169753812324_500314494_n.jpg


Above is a picture of the ship we'll sail on! :)

I've just met the new deckhand too, as he was on the road with my friend who came by to pick up something and to bring me the buttons he ordered for me.
Very nice young man in his early twenties, I'm looking forward to working with him!
Communication on board will be interesting: the guests will likely be German, the captain and I are Dutch and the deckhand is from Manchester and speaks English and Croatian.
While I do speak both English and German, and I can switch between Dutch and either language pretty easy, I absolutely cannot switch between English and German! Whenever I try the wrong language always comes out to the wrong person, or I get so confused I cannot find a single word anymore in any language, including my own! :hilarious: I expect it will be great fun though!

Below a picture of my upgraded diabetes bag, very happy with my new buttons!

279144578_10225476640737263_8453832344554373015_n.jpg
 

Grant_Vicat

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Impressive bag and badges! Enjoy the cruise.
 

In Response

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I am jealous - you sound as if you have a great trip coming up.
Of course, the dragon will be there but, hopefully, once you get into the swing of deckhanding, you can tame the dragon (isn't there a movie about "How to Train a Dragon?")
Regarding other options for your meals, do you eat fish? Tinned (or sachets depends on what you have in the Netherlands) tuna and salmon are always great backups. Add some olives along with your cheese cucumber and tomatoes can make up a decent salad ... or two or three.
 

Juicyj

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Loving the bag and badges @Antje77 !!

I am currently eating homemade flaxseed muffins for breakfast as they are very little impact on my BG levels, you can pre-make them at home in a mug with an egg, 1/4 cup flaxseed, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and add your own flavour, can be eaten with cheese/butter, would last a week am sure in a tub, but easy food.
 

Antje77

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Of course, the dragon will be there but, hopefully, once you get into the swing of deckhanding, you can tame the dragon (isn't there a movie about "How to Train a Dragon?")
Thank you!
And I likely will, the dragon is mainly active before I do something, once I've started doing the thing it must get bored I guess, or maybe disappointed it didn't manage to stop me from doing the thing. Either way, it hardly bothers me then, very good to remember!
And I've put a can of tuna on the list!
 

Jaylee

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Hi @Antje77 ,

Wow! That’s an opportunity..
The only sort of comparison I can make if I was confronted by your dilemma, is touring Europe with my old band?
Eyeballing the catering, going for protein & matching something close to something else I may know the count for?
I found it easier at the larger festivals (back stage area.) with “hog roasts “ & such like?

How long are you technically on Deckhand duty for? (During the day..)
 
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Antje77

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Eyeballing the catering, going for protein & matching something close to something else I may know the count for?
I found it easier at the larger festivals (back stage area.) with “hog roasts “ & such like?
Yes, that's somewhat alike but with the difference that my group will simply make a meal, which I can take or not take, or take partly without being rude, like asking for more than my share of part of the meal. I mean, I can hardly ask for extra meat or sauce if there is a lot of pasta with very little sauce and exactly 1 meatball for everyone... It's more difficult because of planning in advance without knowing how flexible the group will be.
How long are you technically on Deckhand duty for? (During the day..)
Can be anything from 2 hours to 14 hours, or 6 hours early morning and than 3 more in the middle of the night, depending on the goal of the day and the tide.
Most often we start at around 10AM and finish between 3 and 5PM,but that's not at all a hard and fast rule.
And besides, if some drunken idiot falls down the stairs in the middle of the night, or if someone clogs the toilet, I might suddenly find myself back on duty, even if we're not sailing. :hilarious:

The physical intensity of the work varies a lot too, depending on how much wind we have and from what direction it comes. Sailing mainly consists of bursts of action interspersed by stretches where you just need to keep an eye on the course or guide a guest or a new deckhand in steering the ship. (Which can be hard, but you can always do it with a cup of coffee in your hand.)
The bursts of action are often hard to predict, which makes BG management interesting!
But considering the captain had his knee replaced only a month ago, I expect things will mostly be quite relaxed. :)
 
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BravoKilo

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Hi @Antje77,

Sounds fun and exciting!

Others have already suggested tinned fish ( tuna, mackerel etc). Other ideas : smoked mackerel (can take some soured cream / yoghurt to mix with a bit of mustard) , Parma ham, etc . Capers and olives (sardines+capers+pine nuts+ garlic +small amount of red onion on a “toast” substitute)
Berries & cream.

I debated posting something similar: about to go out on my small sailing boat (8m) with a tiny galley; the first time since going low carb, and been wondering/stressing what to eat, esp since we cook everything from scratch at home. No more muesli, sandwiches or quick pasta meals when sailing

There is a great cookbook ( for non diabetic’s!) “The boat cookbook” by Fiona Sims that I used to use- now will need to see if I can adapt the recipes .

Great to see you taming the dragon!

(Ps you say breakfast is “easy”? )
 
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Antje77

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(Ps you say breakfast is “easy”? )
Yeah, slice of low carb bread with butter and either cheese or meat, maybe an egg. Same as what I eat at home! :)
I debated posting something similar: about to go out on my small sailing boat (8m) with a tiny galley; the first time since going low carb, and been wondering/stressing what to eat, esp since we cook everything from scratch at home. No more muesli, sandwiches or quick pasta meals when sailing
Sounds great!
Care to share a picture of your boat?

I think I'd find it somewhat easier if I just had to take my own food instead of trying to eat with the guests if possible. I could easily bring a smoked mackerel (I love smoked mackerel!), but it would need to be eaten or it'll go off.
And who knows, this group might be an outing of chefs who want to to try out all their low carb recipes because they are making a high end low carb recipe book meant for Michelin starred restaurants (one can dream, right? :D), in which case I likely wouldn't get to eating my mackerel...
 

shelley262

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@Antje77 just wanted to wish you a happy trip. I experience a lot of anxiety when heading for several days where other guys are in charge of the food. Sounds like you have great plans re the substitutes you’re planning on taking with you - hoping that you manage to bring all your emergency supplies back with you but just having them at the ready should help you to be able to relax and really enjoy the experience. Crossing my fingers for you that lots of lc options on offer but if not you’ll have your supplies. Although not ideal I’ve usually got some keto bars or snacks like nuts to stick in my bag just for in case.
 
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BravoKilo

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Yeah, slice of low carb bread with butter and either cheese or meat, maybe an egg. Same as what I eat at home! :)

Sounds great!
Care to share a picture of your boat?

I think I'd find it somewhat easier if I just had to take my own food instead of trying to eat with the guests if possible. I could easily bring a smoked mackerel (I love smoked mackerel!), but it would need to be eaten or it'll go off.
And who knows, this group might be an outing of chefs who want to to try out all their low carb recipes because they are making a high end low carb recipe book meant for Michelin starred restaurants (one can dream, right? :D), in which case I likely wouldn't get to eating my mackerel...

Here she isMylor v2.jpg deben3.jpg
 

VashtiB

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Well I'm another with some envy and hope you really enjoy the trip. It sounds like a much more exciting and interesting life than I lead :)

Another idea is to bring some cooked chicken- either a roast one or something that I do (well my husband if I'm being really honest :) ) is to cook up some chicken wings- we also have them with blue vein cheese dip/sauce if you like that sort of thing. My husband made a huge batch for church and everyone loved them.

I think maybe there's a market for low carb cruises?

Enjoy it- have a wonderful time!
 
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Antje77

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A lifting keel.
Perfect!
The ship I'm on is flat bottomed so we can let it fall dry as well, hope we will!
Another idea is to bring some cooked chicken- either a roast one or something that I do (well my husband if I'm being really honest :) ) is to cook up some chicken wings- we also have them with blue vein cheese dip/sauce if you like that sort of thing. My husband made a huge batch for church and everyone loved them.
Sounds very tasty!
But it's typically a food that needs to be eaten or it'll go bad, so not very conveient when you don't know if you'll get suitable food or will have to provide your own.
I think maybe there's a market for low carb cruises?
I'd be very happy to organise a low carb sailing trip, but I'm afraid the Netherlands is too far away for most of our members, and I'd likely run into some forum rules on advertising and soliciting as well...
 

TriciaWs

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I'd take nut butter balls for snacks and always add in tins of tuna to top up my protein as they just go back in the cupboard if not needed. My last trip I made a low carb orange cake and froze 4 portions to take as I couldn't have any of the desserts at the meals.
The cake is easy - it uses a whole orange (so needs to be unwaxed, preferably organic), ground almonds, protein whey, egg, butter, erythritol.
 
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Antje77

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My last trip I made a low carb orange cake and froze 4 portions to take as I couldn't have any of the desserts at the meals.
The cake is easy - it uses a whole orange (so needs to be unwaxed, preferably organic), ground almonds, protein whey, egg, butter, erythritol.
Sounds great, and perhaps I'll try it later, it has too many ingredients I never use, and I'm not very much into sweets anyway.
I've already decided to add a tub of Greek yoghurt and strawberries to my list, either will do well as a dessert if my guests have a dessert to keep me from feeling deprived. :)
 
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MrsA2

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Died sausage.
Does seem a bit extreme ;)
And who knows, this group might be an outing of chefs who want to to try out all their low carb recipes because they are making a high end low carb recipe book meant for Michelin starred restaurants (one can dream, right? :D), in which case I likely wouldn't get to eating my mackerel...
I'd sacrifice the cost of a mackerel for a Michelin starred meal!

And in 5 days you will surely be in a port or on land at least some of the time, for restocking supplies, or at least for more beer?

My only practical suggestion is to take some things frozen. As they defrost is like they were refrigerated and stay cool for example when we camp I freeze milk so the bottles act as ice blocks. Bacon, sausages, cheese and bread and cakes all work well. even ready made rataouile
 
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Antje77

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Does seem a bit extreme ;)
Oh well, if I have the choice I'd very much pick a died sausage over an alive one! :wideyed::hilarious: (At least for dinner, but let's not go there, this being a family friendly forum and me being a mod :bag:)
And in 5 days you will surely be in a port or on land at least some of the time, for restocking supplies, or at least for more beer?
Captain will make sure there's enough beer, even if he doesn't drink himself! He even offered to buy me a bottle of wodka (which I declined as going too far), my boss must be very happy with me!
My only practical suggestion is to take some things frozen. As they defrost is like they were refrigerated and stay cool for example when we camp I freeze milk so the bottles act as ice blocks. Bacon, sausages, cheese and bread and cakes all work well. even ready made rataouile
We do have a small private fridge, so keeping things cold is no issue, and besides, temperature forecasts say it will be quite cold anyway.
The problem is that I don't want to prepare good meals only to find out I won't eat them because the guests turn out to be this group of low carbing Michelin starred chefs! :D
 
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