Low carb bargains in supermarkets ?

Edwardia

stephen77 wrote: »

edwardia - do you get more of the issues why you have high GI or High insulin response foods. or is more related to the toal carb quanity?
eg milk is low GI but high insulin response.

I tried low GI, stephen77 I've got several books on it, but it did nothing for my blood sugar whereas lowering my total carb intake had dramatic effects on it for the better. It may work for other people though it seems sound to me.

I'd like to make the point to the anti-low carb brigade here that as a college trained ex chef who'd also done two years of Food & Nutrition classes at school I wasn't eating unhealthily, in fact I was a vegetarian for eleven years until I moved in with OH. My father had high cholesterol so my parents were poster children for the model low fat diet.

It's complete nonsense that fat adds fat, that instant porridge lowers your cholesterol and that highly processed margarines made with hydrogenated vegetable oil are somehow healthier than butter, which you can make yourself in a jam jar. It's also nonsense to treat diabetes and pre-diabetes by insisting that the people with it eat the very stuff they can't process - would they do that to people with a nut allergy ?

We don't need to eat carbohydrates at all in fact - we've only been eating them in large amounts since the advent of agriculture 12,000 years ago. Our body will work efficiently burning fat. Inuits (eskimoes) traditionally had very high fat diets with no ill effects and only started getting diabetes in large numbers after switching to the Western carb-laden diet.

I'm not hugely fat and I exercise every day. If I did anything wrong at all, it was to have wholemeal bread, pasta and rice with my low fat meals with lots of veg. Three crumb covered pieces of fish are not as unhealthy as a packet of crisps or biscuits. Just saying.

I'm with terra_firma on this. The intention is to list low carb bargains not get into a discussion on low carbing.

Note for terra_firma.. V4M4meplease posted on another thread that biscuits don't last in her house...

bornintoit

I wish I could steer you in the right direction but I don't shop from supermarkets much anymore apart from Lidl when they have good food offers on especially at the weekend.

I don't really want to get involved in the debate surrounding low carbs (I'm not anti-low carbs or anti-carbs) but from my experience (I am not qualified in any nutrition or medical profession this is just my humble personal general opinion) when I was changing the way I eat I started eating more veg & fruit, more nuts, pulses etc, less meat but better quality, less fish but better quality, some bread,rice,pasta (not as much as I used to eat but I do enjoy it so eat some), some dairy and would treat myself to either a good quality chocolate bar or if I wanted to be really naughty some vanilla fudge.

I lost weight, gained energy and feel fit, healthy and happy about food. I don't believe in cutting out foods per say (though I don't eat biscuits or crisps) it's about getting your own personal balance right to be healthy but also for me to enjoy food. I believe not one way of eating will suit everyone, our bodies react differently to things for example allergies.

What works for one person might not work for another.

Edwardia

bornintoit, couldn't put it better myself. I believe in a balance diet of unprocessed food and adapting your diet if your body has problems. My GP told me that if we all lived to 100+ everyone would have diabetes and that when people are overweight it is often (but not always) a sign that their body is struggling to deal with the food they eat.

Bargains..

Morrisons breakfast mushrooms currently £1. Two small open mushrooms per pack. Don't advocate buying them, as even sauteed in EV olive oil they were tasteless and rubbery - OH only bought them yesterday.

shykins

see i knew people would try and debate, like others i am NOT gettng into that debate so wont comment. it does make me wonder why people get SOOO angry about lowcarb tho

i was looking at the mushrooms and a huge box is just over £1 whilst the small packets are around £1. mad isnt it

celeriac rostis are nice and they are easy to grow, u can also make a crustless quiche for not too much expense (i do half cream, half water)

have loads of recipes if people are interested btw

Edwardia

Doing a Tesco shop online as got £11 in vouchers plus 7 ecoupons evidently.. so stuff I've spotted on offer..


Tesco Finest Echalion (banana) Shallots 400g 2 for £2 save £1 to 12/02 3.3g carbs per 100g
Tesco 3 unwaxed Organic Lemons £1 save 40p to 26/02 3.2g/100g
Birds Eye Field Fresh Garden Peas 1.2kg special purchase to 13/02 (same price as current Morrisons offer) 7.5g/100g
Youngs Omega 3 Fish Fingers 280g save 65p £1 to 18/03 11.2g per 3 fish fingers cooked
Alyn Valley Chicken Breast Fillets skinless boneless chicken breasts 600g frozen 50% off 3.29 to 14/02 0.3g/100g
Kelly's Clotted Cream Cornish Ice Cream 1 LTR save 1.99 £2 to 14/02 12g/100g
Quorn Mince 500g frozen 50% off 1.59 to 13/02 3.9g/100g
Tesco Simply Bake 2 Alaskan Salmon Fillets in a dill and butter sauce were 3.50 2 for £6 to 06/03 0.8g/100g or 1.1g per 142g fillet

Edwardia

shykins, I don't know why biscuit lovers get so excited either ! I lurve celeriac not had them as rosti, excellent idea will have to rummage for the Borner gadget. Recipes would be great !

More Tesco bargains..

Tesco Finest 2 Aberdeen Angus burgers frozen 340g 50% off 1.50 to 14/02 0.2g/100g 0.7g per grilled burger to stash for summer BBQ ?
Tesco Chicken Breast Mini Fillets 400g NEW frozen save £1 £2 to 14/02 0.9g/100g
Tesco 6 Wild Alaskan Salmon Fillets 600g frozen 50% off to 13/02 5.50 0.1g/100g or trace per 86g fillet
Birds Eye Field Fresh Petit Pois 1.2kg frozen save 25p £3 to 14/02 6.8g/100g
Youngs Easy Cook White Fish Fillet Chunks 250g frozen were 2.75 2 for £5 to 14/02 doesn't seem particularly good bargain to me
Tesco Baby Broad Beans 750g frozen save 30p £1 from 06/02 11.7g/100g or 3 heaped tablespoons = 9.4g

cherrypies

I too don't understand why people can be so horrified at the idea of low carb! I honestly think they misunderstand the concept behind it. Too many people really think its about stuffing bacon down your neck 24/7! There are also plenty of studies that have proven that low carb diets actually REDUCE levels of bad cholestrol and improve cardiac health! Rest assured naysayers, my diet of chicken / fish and steamed veg is not going to get me hospitalised any time soon, though your predeliction for biscuits and cakes just might ;-)

I also love the idea of celeriac rosti, thanks for that, I know what I'm making for dinner!

Edwardia, good bargains, thank you! But, you really eat ice cream?

I've still not found any Truvia, my Tesco have a box of the silver spoon version but it was a half an half made from part white sugar and part stevia so no good for me.

shykins

found the truvia in morrisons but it wasnt in asda the other day. theres also purevia (?). as i say not tried it yet. have any of u tried the da vinci flavoured syrups?? very nice and great for cooking

ok couple of recipe ideas.

cheesecake... cream cheese,sweetener, cream, sugar free peanut butter (i make my own) mix and voila cheesecake

crustless quiche, well make the same as an ordinary one with no pastry. as i said i use half double, half water instead of milk for less carbs

Pizza..grate courgette or cauli, add cheese, herbs and an egg and mix. press onto a tray the bake, flip and bake again and then add pizza toppings and cook til ready

i have loads do u want more?? bread subs, cake subs, cracker subs etc etc, let me know

HelenYorkshire

Which shops do you have near you?
Any markets?
How do you feel about game?

I agree that shopping round the edges is usually the best bet - meat and veg. Avoid "food products" as much as you can Turkey tends to be cheaper than chicken. A whole chicken can be very good value if you stretch it over a few meals and make stock with the carcass.

Where do veg such as parsnips sit on your list? Also swede, turnip etc? You can get bags of frozen chopped veg that reduce wastage and save you taking an axe to a stubborn turnip Also frozen spinach is good for lobbing in.

I tend to order a big shop online very now and then - tinned tomatoes, tinned fish being major components. Pink salmon is cheaper than red, and Sainsburys value tuna is still tasty at about 80p/tin.

Nuts and seeds - check the bakery section against the "whole food" section, as the baking versions are often cheaper. Or shops such as Julian Graves, or local co-operatives (try googling Suma; I don't know of any directory of local food co-ops)

Aldi and lidl are good for continental meats - salami etc. Chorizo is cracking for adding oomph to all kinds of dishes.
Tesco do 6 free range eggs for 89p, I'm not sure how though....

Morrisons are good for "bits" like oxtail, offal - and ask the butcher too.

How are your cooking skills? Would you be happy playing around to create "breaded" items like your fish fingers? Often ground almonds (almond flour to Americans) are subbed for normal flour e.g. http://nourishingrebellion.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/paleo-pan-fried-fish-with-breading/

To the poster horrified at pig skin, you should see the 3 drawers of pig fat and skin I have in my freezer ready to render outdoor, naturally kept pigs are a great source of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin D. :cool: That's to complement the goose fat and beef tallow I already have...

Edwardia

cherrypies, I put the Kelly's Cornish Clotted ice cream on the list because it qualifies as medium carb and is the lowest commercially-made ice cream I've found so far.

I'm thinking of making my own this summer as it turns out that clotted cream just takes 1.5hrs in a 90C oven, spread out in a shallow baking tray. All I need is a Magimix Le Glacier or one of those ice cream churning balls from LL Bean.

HelenYorkshire I lurve game and buy pheasant, partridge, rabbit, quails, duck, redleg partridge etc. Having rabbit stew tonight No good markets Borough Market is an hour away but it's full of tourists and steep prices. I can't do parsnips, they make me feel woozy. Eat swede (home-made oven chips), celeriac MMMM, turnips (turnip and leek soup) As an ex-chef I hope my cooking skills are OK I do feel life is too short to make my own fish fingers though. I cook with goose fat and duck fat but never beef tallow where do you get it from ?

shykins more please, definitely the full recipe for the pizza, I haven't even had a fake one since 2006 !

Btw I'm putting products in the bargaains list because new low carbers might not be fully into cooking yet, but I'm trying to list the healthier looking options.

ETA Holland and Barrett has a buy one buy second for a penny offer ends on 08/02 https://www.hollandandbarrett.com