Isn't low carb extremely difficult?

Billy_Pilgrim said:

Just occurred to me there's booze in everything I've mentioned. Hmmmm.

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carbolysis said:

Hello!

I am really struggling very hard with low carb. While I am totally convinced on its health benefits, I am afraid it is extremely hard to follow.

When you eat mostly out and you mostly take ready to eat food from supermarkets, I can't think how you can do low carb. Everywhere the most available food to eat is a sandwich. At supermarket, all the ready foods have either rice, mash or pasta and if not, they have sauce that has tons of sugar.

I really wish we lived in a low carb world, but unfortunately that is far from reality.

Please don't tell me to cook my own food, I don't want to. I want to just buy my food and eat it readily. And I want to be able to eat out easily, in Subway, Costa, convenience stores or whatever is available.

I wish the convenience stores would sell cheese and salami in a single portion to snack, but they dont.

Any input?

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Billy_Pilgrim said:

I've been going a bit nose-to-tail lately, which seems to alienate a lot of people. These aren't stews exactly, but oven-slow-cooked 2.5hr dishes.

Lamb Neck with Sherry

Morrisons do crazy cheap cuts of meat if you go for the things nobody else does - lamb neck rings are a case in point. For whatever reason, the cheaper the cut of meat, the more connective tissue there tends to be, and the more delicious it is when slow-cooked.

Brown 4 lamb neck rings in a skillet with a bit of oil and butter, removing when seared all over. Add some coarsely chopped onions, garlic and celery to the pan with the existing juices - when softened after 3-4 minutes, add some chopped thyme and rosemary to the pan and a VERY generous splash of Fino sherry or white wine, then zest a lemon on top, and maybe squeeze half of it in for good measure - then chuck it in the oven in a loaf tin or small casserole dish at 170C for 2.5 hours. If you're worried there's not enough liquid in the pan, add a little bit of water or lamb stock.

Serve with half a toasted protein roll. This is one of those dishes that tastes so rich and fulfulling, that you hardly notice the relative lack of meat.

Pork Cheeks in Red Wine

Pork cheeks are incredibly delicious and tender when slow cooked, and have to be tried before you all start grossing out at once. Morrisons again is the only supermarket you can find these - butchers shops tend to sell the heads wholesale.

Sear the pork cheeks in a pan on medium high for 3-4 mins until brown all over - I often add some balsamic or sherry vinegar near the end to really embed some flavour into them, but try not to set the kitchen on fire. Remove from the pan, season with salt, pepper and maybe some smoked paprika and saute some chopped onions, celery, carrot and rosemary in the juices for around 5 minutes - then add a cup of red wine and a cup of (canned) plum tomatoes, bringing to a simmer. Then return the pork cheeks to the pan and cook for 5 minutes more. Throw in the oven on 150C for 2.5 hours - I always use a loaf tin for this, but this time cover it with foil - when ready serve again with a toasted protein roll, because nobody said I wasn't repetitive.

I also do variations on Beef Bourguignon and Coq au Vin, which are a lot easier to bung into a slow cooker and leave for 10-12hrs. I tend to buy a lot of stewing beef from Lidl - they do very cheap Aberdeen Angus stuff, which I get in at least once a week.

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carbolysis said:

cheese and salami in a single portion to snack,

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Orangeteddy said:

I went out to eat last night for a Christmas meal with friends. The place we went to is a large gastro pub type place with a very extensive menu. I selected a chicken dish that would be served on a bed of mash so asked them to leave off the mash.

Stupidly I thought the meal would come with a small garnish. At least of veg.

Nope.

Result was giant plate, empty except for chicken breast.

I kid you not.

So I ordered a side of cauli cheese.

Why is veg so alien to restaurants?

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carbolysis said:

Hello!

I am really struggling very hard with low carb. While I am totally convinced on its health benefits, I am afraid it is extremely hard to follow.

When you eat mostly out and you mostly take ready to eat food from supermarkets, I can't think how you can do low carb. Everywhere the most available food to eat is a sandwich. At supermarket, all the ready foods have either rice, mash or pasta and if not, they have sauce that has tons of sugar.

I really wish we lived in a low carb world, but unfortunately that is far from reality.

Please don't tell me to cook my own food, I don't want to. I want to just buy my food and eat it readily. And I want to be able to eat out easily, in Subway, Costa, convenience stores or whatever is available.

I wish the convenience stores would sell cheese and salami in a single portion to snack, but they dont.

Any input?

Click to expand...

Orangeteddy said:

I'm prediabetic newly diagnosed and have cut the carbs and sweet stuff. However, I am already missing carbs mainly I think cos the weather is so cold. Although I have cut the carbs, I have had some but in much reduced quantities and little or no white carbs. Today was so cold I made homemade soup of butternut squash, carrot, sweet potato, red pepper and onion in a chicken stock, blitzed, herbs added plus a tablespoon of single cream.

Now I have no idea how much carbs that entailed or how my blood sugar reacted as I'm still waiting for my tester to arrive, but it tasted good and I did not have any bread roll with it.

It's one of my favourite soups and I'm sure someone will be along to tell me it's a carb no no. However, in terms of quantities, I used one stock, about a 3inch wedge of butternut squash, half a large carrot, half a red pepper an half an onion. The entire amount served 2 of us.

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carbolysis said:

Please don't tell me to cook my own food, I don't want to. I want to just buy my food and eat it readily. And I want to be able to eat out easily, in Subway, Costa, convenience stores or whatever is available.

Click to expand...