Healthy low carb eating during lock down

I am continuing my healthy low carb eating during this looooong lock down period. It is more of a challenge as I can’t constantly pop to the shops to get what I need. However, this is also good in some ways as it is making me more creative.

I got quite short of fresh staples whilst I have been awaiting my online Tesco shop (first time I have managed to get one – hurrah!). Usually I eat berries, seeds and Greek yogurt or a smoothie for breakfast with a creamy coffee mid-morning. Fortunately, I had enough of those.

I love a smoothie. All I use is a cheap Russell Hobbs hand blender* and whizz up two or three at a time. So easy and healthy!

What I ran out of were eggs, bacon, salad leaves, all fresh veg except carrots and celery (although I had some frozen, fortunately), cream cheese, mushrooms and tomatoes. These are items I generally fashion into some form of quick lunch.

I don’t want to just eat meat, although I have loads in the freezer. Or cheese! I love cheese but for lunch I want some eggs or a nice salad to go alongside. My focus is on healthy low carb eating, not just scoffing lots of protein.

What I ended up doing was making cheese and celery soup. It was just a made up, throw it in kind of affair, but was really tasty. I ate it with some of the keto crackers I have been making. This will do me for about four lunches.

I also made carrot salad and threw some more celery and olives into it to have with some feta. That was really delicious and fresh tasting.

Luckily my Tesco shop arrives tonight, so I can get back to eating eggy things, although I have seen on my account that they don’t have any bacon and didn’t offer a substitution. Oh well, I will manage I am sure. Here is what I have planned, although I will have to adapt if some things don’t turn up.

Meal plan for healthy low carb eating

Saturday

Chicken casserole, using chicken thighs, carrots and celery plus tinned tomatoes, stock and herbs. I will have to make this before the shopping arrives so I am just using up what I have in.

The slow cooker will come out for this I think. Mr S will be taking some of the casserole for his mum, so they will have mash with theirs, plus broccoli from the freezer for us all.

Sunday

Just me for dinner, so I will make sure there is enough of the chicken casserole left over for tonight. I will have loads of veggies with this – maybe some broccoli, carrots and spinach.

Monday

As I have so much in the way of frozen veg, I will eat vegetarian tonight and make a creamy cheese sauce with soft cheese, a bit of cream and some cheddar to go over some steamed veg.

There is chard in the garden, so that will go in, along with frozen mixed vegetables, broccoli and some green beans. 

I think I will need something to mop up the creamy sauce, so will make some keto garlic bread. This is so delicious and a new favourite.

Tuesday

A regular on my meal plan for healthy low carb eating is spaghetti Bolognese. The other thing my daughters got me for my birthday was a spiraliser*. Last week I used it for the first time to make courgetti, and it was really nice!

The one I have is a clever little gadget and is hand operated, so doesn’t even need batteries. I can see this getting a lot of use. You can also make ribbon ‘pasta’ with it if you prefer.

I guess you might need something fancier if you were making a large quantity or spiralising harder vegetables, but this little hand operated one is perfect for me.

I will have some more of last night’s keto garlic bread with my Bolognese.

Wednesday

Fried salmon with mushrooms, broccoli and courgettes. Nice and simple. I have found that frying frozen salmon makes it much moister than baking it.

Thursday

Chicken and coconut curry with vegetables. Something like this recipe, although I will use a jar of paste with the coconut milk, and add some veg to pad it out.

Because I am not eating rice with mine, I am going to attempt this 90 second keto bread to pop up the juices. It is made in the microwave. Should be interesting!

Friday

Tonight I will scoop up all the salad stuff that needs eating and have a big salad with fried halloumi. I bought a load of this ages ago. Fortunately it has a long date but will need eating soon.

Sweet stuff

I had a massive low carb fail last week, when I so wanted something sweet and ended up eating a stray bar of chocolate. Generally I don’t crave sweet things when I am on low carb; I think it was lock down boredom!

Another time when I got the same craving I made a low carb hot chocolate, with coconut milk, cocoa powder and some stevia sugar replacement. Once I had frothed the milk up it made a pretty good replacement and kept my cravings at bay.

My daughters bought me the milk frother* for my birthday and I love it! I sometimes use coconut milk for my morning coffee and when I give it a good whizz you wouldn’t know it was dairy free and low carb. If you are a coffee lover missing your regular Starbucks or Costa coffee, you could do worse than invest in one.

I need to be more prepared this week in case it happens again. Once the shopping arrives, I will have the ingredients I need to make some keto chocolate brownies and also maybe some cookies. I will let you know how those turn out!

What are you eating this week? 

As usual, I am linking up with Katy Kicker for her meal planning linky. For more of my frugal food ideas see here.

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