High Protein & Low Carb Meal Ideas?

bundly

I should add for anyone unfamiliar with Atkins, it means no wheat, no potatoes, and no rice. In other words, all the things that fill you up on the cheap are verboten.

LittleMissAspie

There's a low-carb thread in the Health section.

Ideas:
- grow your own salad and veg
- buy veg at local markets where it can be cheaper
- buy eggs at local farms where they can be cheaper or find someone with chickens who will sell you cheap "homegrown" eggs
- use Quorn as an alternative to meat, it does have a small amount of carbs in it though
- eat more fish instead of meat? I actually have no idea how much meat or fish costs as I am a veggie
- eat smaller portions of meat and up the fat, oil, butter, etc

bundly

Thanks Pigpen, unfortunately only 2 drawers in the freezer are for me (househare)

Thanks for the list Missie, unfortunately as I have no garden and no car I can't grow veg or buy anything at places lke farmers markets and we have no local markets here (not like in London where I used to live!)

Thanks for the tip about the other thread though, I will check that out.

Cutting my portions in half sounds a good idea! Fish seems to be just as expensive as meat these days -- shocking -- esp as it's not so filling, so I have to eat more of it!

JenniO

You may find frozen meat is cheaper then fresh. I started buying the 12 frozen cumberland sausages from AS*A and they are 2 for £3 at the moment and they are absolutely delicious!

They've also rollbacked the Mattesons sausage (which I buy the lower fat version) to £1.

There's also some swedish meatballs rollbacked to a £1 at the moment too. HTH!

bundly

Hiya JenniO .... what a pity all those items have SO many carbs in them ... 2.6g of carbs per frozen cumberland sausage, and contain wheat, to which I have an allergy.

I found some carb free sausages in Asda but they are £2.58 per pack of 8. Pity they are not 2 for £3. <sigh>

Those meatballs have 25 carbs in a 350g can and contain both wheat and sugar.

This is my problem -- everything cheap is either very carby or contains sugar or wheat or both.

pink_princess

Stick to chicken and beef .Sainsburys havre there large beef joints on special at least once a month at around £5.50 a kilo .Also Tescos 3x chickens for £10 .You ll get loads of meals from those .We chop the beef into two joints ,steaks x 2 meals and enough to coat as chilli beef (if zero carb just do chilli powder-the flour ) x4 meals this is for 5 people for only £11-£13 .The chickens get many many meals as well.Whilst not ethical to buy the chicken sometimes its needs must .

jackieglasgow

I have been doing vegetarian low carb for the last three weeks, maybe you could try low carb meat replacements, tofu, seitan, there are some veggie sausages which are 2 carbs each. I am using the Rose Elliot book, which has some really good recipes; maybe alternate veggie days/weeks?

A example day for me is 2 scrambled eggs, 2 oz of mushrooms and a sausage for brekkie; a large green salad with goat's cheese, feta or grilled halloumi for lunch; vegetable stirfry with tofu for dinner, and peanut butter on celery for a snack.

Sparklyfairy

Hi there, I'm doing the Dukan Diet (initially carb free) and I did find it very expensive initially as you do eat a lot of meat, but once I was in full swing of things I found that I ate much less than when I started - the protien actually satisfies me & all the money I used to spend on crisps, sweets, ice cream, etc I was actually saving money! My diet consists of frozen chicken breasts (much cheaper), lots of eggs, lunch meat, crab sticks, etc..keep at it because you will see that you prefer certain cuts of meat more than others & you'll be able to work around what's on offer...good luck!

elfen

bundky, they do the packs of 10 chipolatas for the same price and I can get a couple of meals out of that (I'm wheat-free too, so I just step down a grade or get what's on offer fresh meat wise)

babyshoes

Try using cauliflower anywhere you would use rice - overcook it slightly, then let it cool enough to handle, and squeeze all the water out with a clean tea towel. It is usually pretty crumbly by that point, you may need to mash it a bit if not. Great with curries, stews etc. If you decided to cheat occasionally (as one needs to on any diet) and have a takeaway curry, at least substitute the rice! I think pappadums are also quite low carb as they are made from chickpea flour - someone correct me if I am wrong but aren't chickpeas high in protein?

Value packs of frozen chops are useful as you can grill them straight from the freezer and aren't too expensive (comparable price to sausages but without the carbs) if you fill up on veg.

A great atkins style pork chop sauce that we still use is grainy mustard, double cream and a squeeze of lemon juice to thicken it all up.

Try mashed butternut squash, or mashed root veg instead of mashed potato.

Spaghetti squash, if you can find it, is an acceptable substitute for spaghetti. If not, try bolognese sauce on normal squash, especially in the summer if you know someone with an allotment as they may well have a glut!

If you are craving sugar, health food shops stock sugarfree chocolate and sweets which hit the spot - but don't go overboard as they WILL upset your stomach! A nice dessert is sugarfree flavoured syrup for coffee (it is runnier than normal syrup) mixed with mascarpone cheese - a little goes a long way because it is so rich. You can buy a fairly large range of sugarfree syrups and sweet treats online.

If you are making a roast, put a load of root veg plus mushrooms and peppers underneath the meat. They cook in the juices and you really don't need the potatoes if you have enough veg.

Salad leaves are really easy to grow if you have enough space for a window box or a flower pot on the doorstep. They grow quickly and are so nice to have fresh!

Protein in a meal doesn't always have to come from meat. Other animal products are a good source, so things like milk/cream, eggs and cheese can all take the place of meat in a meal. Plant sources of protein are varied, but the best plant sources are all types of beans. Of course, baked beans have sugar in them, but you could find a recipe for your own and make substitutes!

The biggest tip is to check out the reduced price/whoopsies/condemned food section and plan meals around what you find. If you can find out when they do the reductions and go shopping then, all the better.