LC dinners

[irlcycles]

I'm just curious as to what people have for dinner. I'm using up some leftover food at the moment so have a few days of chicken and rice left. I'm thinking about going to just chicken breast and veg for dinner but looking at it tonight I imagine I'd be starving if that's all I had. I stir fried a huge portion of frozen veg and added some mixed seeds. Maybe I should have more chicken or protein? Like maybe 2 chicken breasts or one with half a tin of lentils or chickpeas with the veg?

What do you all have?

[Hidden]

To keep carbs low, I don't eat rice or any other pasta etc at all. For me I would just have the chicken with a load of green leafy veg, with or without a bit of mixed seed. That's what we had last night actually. Tonight we had a small beef steak (Wagyu....sooooo yummy) with salad. Afterwards a few strawberries with full-fat greek yoghurt.

[Busybeelady]

My dinner last night was pork chop, with spinach, green beans and brocoli, with butter on, it was delish and I was definitely not hungry until the next day

[BridgeGirl]

I don't have rice, pasta, potatoes or bread. I've had a pork steak with cauliflower cheese this evening: the sauce is made with three cheeses and some cream. Last night, I had smoked mackerel with buttered cabbage and leek.

[Lytham]

Hi Ive been trying cauliflower rice fried in butter with an egg, tasty ! last night I had cream of leek soup x

[Hidden]

I tend to avoid rice, chick peas, lentils, grains because they'll just bring your total carbs up so quickly. If in doubt add fat. Your chicken and veg would probably work with a creamy lemon and garlic sauce, or garlic butter, or cheese sprinkled on the chicken before heating. Adding fat will make it more filling and tasty and won't hike up carbs.

[JT489]

Last night I made fathead pizza, with chorizo, dark salad leaves with my own olive oil dressing. Filling! I would definitely dress up your chicken with some cheese or cream sauce. I’ve got to try some other recipes!

[irlcycles]

I was thinking of garlic butter with the chicken. I tend to cook 4 chicken fillets and rice on a Sunday then freeze them so I just have to reheat them during the week and add in veg. Im stopping cooking the rice and just have mostly chicken to cook ahead of time. I usually rub extra virgin olive oil over the chicken and rub in garlic granules then put in the oven. I used to use Thai 7 spice powder but have stopped as I suspect it might have a lot of salt.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to irlcycles]

Don't skimp on salt while you're doing low-carb. Just add salt "to taste", as they say, and you'll get it right.

We just got back from a BBQ. Loads of (very fatty) meat, with some BBQ'd veg too. My meals aren't normally so carnivorous, but it was good

[irlcycles in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Yeah I was trying to lower my salt intake as my BP was up a bit the last time I was at the GP. They had me monitor it at home for a week and it was lower but not sure if it's low enough. It was mostly under what they suggested but I think that is a borderline figure. Tbh I never add table salt to my food. I don't think I even have any in the cupboard. Whatever salt I consume is what's already in the food, including sauces etc.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to irlcycles]

I used to do the low-salt low-fat thing because my dad has advanced heart disease. At some point I wondered how this was supposed to work, and did some reading. It turns out that it doesn't work, at all. I've completely ignored my salt intake for 20 years. My BP, at the last check, was 116/76.

Unless you have an identified condition underlying your BP problem, I wouldn't worry about it. It's one of those bizarre superstitions that's come to be accepted as medical fact, but the correlation between dietary salt and BP is weak, at best.

If you look into it, you'll find the science is quite complicated: as you would expect, your body has closed-loop control systems to keep sodium/potassium balance precisely where it ought to be, and if you decrease salt intake below a certain minimum threshold your body has to take emergency measures. If you eat too much, it just excretes the excess. However if you trust your appetite, your body is extraordinarily good at finding the right dietary intake. There's a lot of very solid research on this.

If you're committed to a LCHF lifestyle and do some exercise, your BP should sort itself out in time ... or should at least not get any worse.

Also worth bearing in mind that:

(a) many doctors are starting to question the official threshold for "high blood pressure", which is set very low in the UK: your doctor will get out his prescription pad if you're even slightly over 120/80, which is just ridiculous.

(b) single-point measures of blood pressure are meaningless. Measurements taken at the doctor's surgery (which tend to be higher than usual), even more so.

I'm not suggesting you should spray salt over everything, but the risks associated with low-salt intake are much greater than the risks associated with high-salt. This is especially true on LCHF: if you find yourself getting cramps or feeling weak when you replace your carbs with fat, it might be lack of dietary salt.

[Praveen55 in reply to irlcycles]

Boneless and skinless chicken breast fillets are very lean. They have only protein and no fat at all. In LCHF world, these are treated as 'white bread' unless you add sufficient fat. It is better to choose fatty parts like chicken thighs with bone in and skin on. That provides right protein and fat ratio. One can feel full for long.

[BridgeGirl in reply to Praveen55]

And it tastes better

[cheritorrox in reply to Praveen55]

I only eat lean meat as I just don't like the fat on it ... but always fry it in masses of EV olive oil even if it's going to be a stew!

[Praveen55 in reply to cheritorrox]

That is also good. Protein should be eaten in combination with fat in order to limit insulin spike.

[Cosmo501]

I’m new to this too, but finding that it’s not too difficult to get a good balance now I’ve taken time reading as much as I could! My dinner tonight was two baked salmon fillets with herbs and a dollop of sour cream, with a pile of roasted low/zero carb vegetables with garlic, drizzled liberally with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Very quick and easy to prepare and it fills me up. Somehow, since starting this in earnest a few days ago, I find I am no longer hungry and have no need for snacks anymore. I used to love potatoes or rice etc with a meal- but I’m not missing them at all. I just make sure I eat enough of the more nutrient dense foods. I’ve been sprinkling cubes of cheese, and slices of avocado over meals, and having a few nuts here and there too.

I hope you enjoy getting into LCHF, and I hope it suits you and works well for your health. Best of luck!

[BridgeGirl in reply to Cosmo501]

Good to hear you're enjoying it. That way, you know you can stick with it

[Dogpal]

No bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. Dinner is usually meat or fish with green leafy veg or salad. With the salad we have avocado and drizzle the meal with olive oil. With veg we sometimes have cheese sauce made with double cream, cream cheese and cheddar. Today we are trying cauliflower mash, which I am told is very much like mashed potato. Not made it before so hope its OK. 😊