Pinned Time Saving Hints for Low Carb Eating *links updated*

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    • Time Saving Hints for Low Carb Eating

      If you've been low carbing for a while, you know that there's alot of food preparation. Part of this is because we don't have the same extensive variety of low carb convenience foods as they do in the US. I don't think this is a bad thing but there are plenty who would disagree ;).

      This thread is to collect ideas for low carbers that help them cope with the increased food preparation that helps them stay low carb no matter where they are!

      If we've addressed this elsewhere on the forum then suggestions are welcome for consolidating them here :)

    • Bake it!

      Buy chicken pieces and bake them.

      I buy chicken breast as a matter of preference because I can minimise fat intake here and obtain it from healthier sources that I incorporate into dressings.

      Experiment with different seasonings and marinades.

      It could be as simple as whacking the pieces in a baking dish and sprinkling cajun spices on it.

      Or a more elaborate marinade made with garlic, olive oil, pepper, lemon thyme, rosemary and salt!! :D

      You can also do this for other pieces of meat but the point is to
      - bake them, so you don't have to do the cooking
      - cook in bulk so you can use them for salads, quick snacks etc

    • My Roast Lamb

      Slow roast a big leg of lamb for around 4.5 - 5 hours.

      You can roast it on top of 2 sticks of celery chopped, 2 onion sliced, bulb of garlic (seperate and give each clove a little crush), fresh rosemary( and 2 carrot if desired.) , a cup or so of water or 1/2 dry red wine and 1/2 chicken stock

      Method:
      Preheat oven at 160C
      Put roasting pan over stove with some olive oil, brown meat quickly over high heat and remove, add garlic cloves and vegies and brown them, then add liquid and bring to the boil. Turn of heat, place lamb back in pan cover tightly with foil and chuck in oven. Turn every 1.5 hours.
      When ready remove lamb and tightly wrap in foil (I just wrap it in the foil I covered the pan with) and let it sit for 15mins. Be careful as it's very tender so it won't lift out in one peice.

      Afterwards put the meat in a plate cover it and put it in the fridge over night. Throw the vegies out, pour the juices into a jug with a strainer and refrigerate that over night.

      The next day you can just scoop out the fat from the top of the stock, and then put the stock into containers and freeze it.
      With the meat, all the fat has melted away into the juices so you will only pretty much find it on the bottom of the plate (peel any fat off, the fat thats melted goes hard and waxy like whats on top of the stock).
      You won't need to cut the meat as it's very tender, just scoop out your portions with a pair of tongs.
      Seperate the meat into portions and place into small freezer bags and just chuck them in the freezer.

      Make sure you refrigerate it over night before freezing as then you can easily seperate it from any fat.

      It's a shame we can't eat bread as it makes very nice sandwich meat.

    • Prep Day

      Its about distributing your time...

      I try to allocate part of the weekend to what I call prep time:

      - I make my own mesclun salad mix so I prewash a pile of salad leaves, spin them dry and store in plastic containers or bags in the fridge. That way I can literally throw a salad together in minutes.
      - Many greengrocers sell preprepared mesclun mix (which you still have to wash) or Coles and Woolies sell prewash bagged lettuce too (but quite costly if you are trying to get your quota of veggies in!)

      In addition to salad, I have found that with the right storage, precut veggies last quite some time like
      - capsicum
      - celery
      - radishes
      - some herbs like parsley if you chop them when they are dry

    • I now make double of anything I can and freeze it. Curry, sauces, cheesecake, muffins, taco mince, quiche or just about everything. I buy the chinese containers from a shop and freeze writing on the top with a freezer pen. So when you don't feel like cooking you can just grab it out of the freezer. No excuses.

      I also find it important to have a dozen eggs on hand at any moment so if you are hungry and don't feel like anything heavy you can just make a quick scrambled eggs with ham and cheese. Takes 5 minutes. Always have some boiled eggs in the fridge they make a great filling snack when tempted.

    • Don't forget the old faithful tins on tuna in springwater. They are such a grab thing when you are on the run, you don't need a can opener etc etc

      Hard boil some egss and leave them in the fridge.....

      make sure that you always have the basic ingredients on hand....for the muffins, cheescake, shakes, salads etc

      I also have a little tiny weeny container at work of sugar free lollies for those times when I just feel like a sweetie!!

      I have also been known to chop up the broc and cauli and put into 150gm freezer bags and freeze.....

    • :D Welcome Molly, you will find many sites in this forum that will help you along. There are heaps of recipes and lots of people to share ideas with. For breakfast I sometimes have a muffin which fills me up or you can have the cereal breakfast from POH.
      I am not an expert on what to do but I have learnt a lot from this forum.
      Wish you all the best:D :D :D

    • Your welcome Molly, I was never one to eat cereal before I started this diet.

      But I found this mix a real lifesaver for breakfast (I had it cold). Also for me it was the best way to hide my flax oil and get in a good healthy meal which made it easier. Kept me regular too.

      They have a muffin mix too which is good but I liked it more for cheesecake bases :)