Favorite low carb meals

Hey! My husband and I eat Primal most of the time, and the only carbs in our house are those from vegetables and sometimes, fruit. One of our favorite meals is a very easy sausage and cabbage stir-fry/saute of sorts. It's delicious, and very inexpensive! Here's the recipe:

1/2 to 1 lb sausage (I use Jimmy Dean All Natural, it tastes the best to us, Gwaltney is the worst)
1 head of cabbage
1 yellow onion (optional)
Salt and pepper

1. Chop the cabbage into medium sized pieces. Rinse and set aside. Slice the onion into thin strips, if you're adding that.
2. Brown the sausage in a skillet. Crumble into little pieces. Drain some of the fat, but keep at least half. Remove the sausage from the skillet.
3. Add the onion and cabbage to the fat and cook on medium-high heat. Turn down to medium if the cabbage starts to burn. Cook for a while until the cabbage starts to turn a nice translucent brown (not all the pieces need to be brown).
4. Add the browned sausage pieces and stir into the cabbage.

That's it! If you want less fat, drain off more of the sausage grease, but I like to keep most. A tenant of the Primal way of eating is lots of fat (for satiety). And check out Mark's Daily Apple, one of the best resources for the Primal lifestyle! In the forums, there's a recipe subforum that has all the low carb recipes that your heart desires.

Primal living has changed mine and my husband's lives! We've never eaten so healthy before, and we love it (we've lost a combined 60 pounds by eating Primal- I've lost 25, just from meats+fats+veggies, and some walking here and there). We can never go back to bread and pasta again. Bring on the meat!

Jenny

Kzordcid said:

I've been eating low carb for the last couple of weeks. One dish I've really enjoyed so far is scrambled eggs with chopped or minced onions and several drops of Tabasco sauce dropped in right before mixing. Does anyone else know of any good low carb meals?

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low-carb is easy if you control your sides, etc.....my wife and I are looking at the primal thing, and we've been fairly carb-conscious (except beer....back off mah beer!) for awhile....it might help if you mention a bit of the "sort" of foods you like, as low-carb Mexican is potentially worlds different than low-carb Norwegian, etc....

all that said, I make really good Zucchini-chorizo tacos, and if you cut the "taco" and simply ate it like a casserole, you'd be set. Ditto chicken thighs slow-cooked in enchilada sauce (great tacos, but also great as is with cheese and a side salad) or shrimp in guajillo chile sauce. And in Thai, you can do curries without the rice, etc....

The chorizo-zucchini tacos are the first thing I thought of though....google "bayless zucchini tacos" and I believe you should hit a recipe or three

One of my favs that I stole the recipe from a local diner is grilled chicken breasts smothered in melted mozzarella with sides of broccoli and roasted baby/grape tomatoes. YUM!

My mother told me about this trick to doing low carb pasta. You replace the pasta with spaghetti squash. Use whatever sauce you like and serve over spaghetti squash. I made baked zitti using spaghetti squash and it was pretty good. My friend liked it too.

To cook it, you just cut it in half and bake for 30/40 minutes at 375. Then scrap out the insides, they're bright yellow and stringy.

Quinoa is also a good replacement for more carb heavy grains like rice, couscous, bulgar etc. It's a "perfect protein", though the texture may take some getting used to, and you have to make sure you wash it thoroughly (if not there's a bitter taste), unless you get the pre-washed kind, which becoming more common now.

Any kind of kabob would be good too, since they're just meat and veggies. Sorry, I don't have specific recipes.

You might like this website, or one of their e-mail newsletters.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_m...4&slide=8&utm_source=EWDNL&esrc=nwewd121312_B

Yea, spaghetti squash is a good substitute for pasta. I also use Dreamfields which only has 5g of ingestible carbs. It tastes just like enriched pasta which is a big score for me as I love pasta. I do cauliflower "mashed potatoes." One of my recent low-card finds is a lettuce wrap. I take a leaf of romaine lettuce and spread the Laughing Cow swiss cheese spread on the inside. I top it with sliced deli turkey and spread some Newman's Own Balsamic Vinegar over the turkey. It's really good.


I've never heard of eating "primal." Is that the same thing as the Paleo diet? Google "paleo diet" and there are a ton of good recipes for low no carb recipes.

Talisker.

caw

did beef shanks braised for about 3 hours in red wine and stock, seasoned with garlic, pepper, and rosemary....toss in some mushrooms and/or serve a salad on the side (or just crunchies; we eat a lot of fresh green beans, cucumbers, etc. just cut and served raw) and you have a mean--shanks sit heavy. they were DAMN good though.

Note they're fatty, but we're doing the primal thing, so fat is less a bother.

we also do lots of quiche, but when we first startted, I thought "low-carb, well how the fuck am I gonna cook that?" and the simple answer is you just don't serve carbs. Chicken breast and coleslaw? low-carb. Tuna roasted in salsa, with an avacado? low-carb. T-bone with a salad? low-carb. All you have to do is leave the bread, starch, pasta out of your meals and replace them with something vegetable......so as long as it isn't "Mac and Cheese" you can make most any meal low-carb. Hell, we've even added spaghetti squash to curry in place of rice, and to a saute in place of linguine. Most any meal can be low-carb, all you have to do is omit the "carb" part.

I love a roast. I roast the meat however I feel like on the day (usually very simply, I love the taste of meat, don't need no condiments).

I also make a low-carb stuffing with nuts, herbs and substituting the carbier elements with low-carb versions.

I love bread sauce with my roast too, I'm still working on a LC version I like as much as the real thing though.

yellowhammer said:

I've never heard of eating "primal." Is that the same thing as the Paleo diet? Google "paleo diet" and there are a ton of good recipes for low no carb recipes.

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Paleo = "The Paleo Diet," by Dr. Loren Cordain
Primal = "The Primal Blueprint," by Mark Sisson

I prefer the term LCHF. Ultimately one has to consider all evidence, so I don't limit myself. Dr. Cordain has never completely discarded his fat phobia. Neither successfully address the unique needs of us type 1 diabetics with type 2 tendencies. For that I recommend "The Diabetes Solution," by Dr. Richard Bernstein. He combines LCHF with quantity management. Quantity affects incretin hormones which T1's have difficulty with because we do not make any amylin, a counter-regulator of glucagon, the gluconeogenesis hormone. I can get a sugar spike from eating rocks. -- see Chinese Restaurant Effect.

The leading independant author of food science is arguably Gary Taubes. I recommend his "Why We Get Fat" or even "Good Calories, Bad Calories" before reading anything else.

Other sources I like are Jimmy Moore's "Livin' La Vida Low Carb" podcasts and Sean Croxton's "Underground Wellness" show/site.

I've not tried but cheesecake is low-carb if made without a cookie crust and no one said cheesecake HAS TO BE sweet... Toss in some nice herbs, ham... it's basically a very cheesy quiche really except I'm thinking of trying to go for a more New York style cheesecake texture rather than quiche texture as I'm not crazy about quiche. Maybe a crispy bacon crust?

Serve with green salad...

If you like lasagna, sub slices of zucchini (lengthwise) for the noodles.

It's also a way to make gluten free lasagna.

If you miss your spaghetti, you could try shirataki noodles. They're nutritionally nil, zero or close to zero calories, same for carbs, they've got some fiber. When you use shirataki noodles in a recipe, all the calories and nutrients are in the sauces and additives, not the noodles themselves. They can be found in oriental markets or some of the larger urban supermarkets, they come in a sealed plastic pouch. You'll want to drain them from their liquid and rinse before eating. Some people boil a few minutes to make them softer. Some people swear by shirataki noodles, other people can't stand them. But give them a try if you haven't yet.

+1 for shirataki noodles - I love 'em!

They've no real taste of their own, but they're fantastic to bulk out a meal. I love them best in a stir fry. Marinate some chicken with fresh ginger, chilli, garlic, soy sauce, and lots of herbs and spices. Cook with water and add king prawns, rinse and boil noddles before putting them in the wok, add more water if needed, and simmer.

Delicious!

ETA: I work between protein only and protein and veg days, so you can make the above on a protein day, make enough for a second day and add any veg you like.

I just watched a cooking show today where the chef made zucchini "pasta" - it looked very good even for those who aren't counting carbs.

http://www.cbc.ca/inthekitchen/2012/12/zucchini-spaghetti-with-spinach-pesto.html

Trick I do when I want stir fry is to shred cabbage thinly and throw it in the mix. It's not carb free, but it's way cheaper on carbs than rice, and cabbage is extremely good for you.

Two recipes:

Zucchini Latkes
Shred several zucchinis (courgettes)
shred an onion
mix with eggs and a Tablespoon or two of flour and some pepper and salt
Fry in a frying pan with some olive oil
Eat plain or with some sour cream
(Potato latkes are a huge favorite of mine and these are a yummy substitute. I can't tell much of a difference, frankly.)

Spinach and eggs
10 ounces of chopped spinach (frozen or fresh)
Cheese (optional--feta, cheddar, goat cheese, your choice)
some eggs
thaw the spinach in a frying pan with a dab of olive oil and stir around until wilted and/or defrosted
beat three to six eggs with salt and pepper and a bit of milk
Pour eggs over spinach (add cheese here if you want cheese) and stir until thoroughly mixed. Cover and cook for a few minutes until the eggs set and they puff up a bit.
It's good with toast, too.

I bet that spinach and eggs would be great with a pinch of nutmeg. I wonder, can it be cooked in advance (& packed up for lunch) like a frittata or tortilla, or does it have to be eaten right away?

Throwing in my two carbs (ha ha) I have done low carb for several years now and to this day my favorite is still mashed cauliflower with bacon and sour cream. Sometimes we mix in some shredded cheese. For years my kids never knew it was veggies and not mashed potatoes and they still prefer it over real potatoes.

just finished 2 leftover brats, and about 8 brussels sprouts halved and steamed in the bowl of fat and juice the brats came out of....that was actually pretty damn good

benbenberi said:

I bet that spinach and eggs would be great with a pinch of nutmeg. I wonder, can it be cooked in advance (& packed up for lunch) like a frittata or tortilla, or does it have to be eaten right away?

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I don't like it as leftovers but you might.

There's all sorts of other things that could be added--bacon, peppers, broccoli, artichokes, etc.

... a quick one is canned tuna or salmon.
Mix in diced bell peppers and onions.
Add pepper or lemon juice for additional flavor.