High Fat, high protein, low carb

[meow]

Is that the Loving Our Guts site? I want to try that recipe. I've gone off soup since I can't dip bread in it and I think that looks like it would work. I've been buying sprouted flax & sunflower seed crackers and they are SO good.

[myturn]

I need lunch ideas that don't need pre-baking..... Anyone...?

[Floweryfields]

Where do you guys buy your healthy baking stuff. My closest big supermarket is a Woolworths though I haven't looked there yet. Otherwise it's an 1.5 hour drive to a health food store anywhere!

[Floweryfields]

I mainly take leftovers for lunch, so I cook extra at dinner time so there's some for a lunch or 2. But you can do salads with lots of chicken/ham/other meat and cheese. Soups are great.

[nothing2lose]

Is that the Loving Our Guts site? I want to try that recipe. I've gone off soup since I can't dip bread in it and I think that looks like it would work. I've been buying sprouted flax & sunflower seed crackers and they are SO good.

No, I got it off a blog called Low Carb, Better Health.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

* 2 cups flax seed meal
* 1 Tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1-2 Tablespoons sugar equivalent from artificial sweetener [* I will leave this out]
* 5 beaten eggs
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/3 cup oil

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare pan (a 10X15 pan with sides works best) with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.

1) Mix dry ingredients well -- a whisk works well.

2) Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren't obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter.

3) Let batter set for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it's easy to spread.)

4) Pour batter onto pan. Because it's going to tend to mound in the middle, you'll get a more even thickness if you spread it away from the center somewhat, in roughly a rectangle an inch or two from the sides of the pan (you can go all the way to the edge, but it will be thinner).

5) Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browning even more than flax already is.

6) Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want. You don't need a sharp knife; I usually just cut it with a spatula.

Nutritional Information: Each of 12 servings has less than a gram of effective carbohydrate (.7 grams to be exact) plus 5 grams fiber, 6 grams protein, and 185 calories.

[nothing2lose]

Where do you guys buy your healthy baking stuff. My closest big supermarket is a Woolworths though I haven't looked there yet. Otherwise it's an 1.5 hour drive to a health food store anywhere!

At Woolworths I buy -

Coconut oil (in Asian food section)
Coconut cream/milk (Asian food section)
Flax seed (aka linseed)
Flax meal (both in health food section)
Peanut butter (no salt, no sugar) - Macro brand or sanitarium, check labels
Almonds - all nuts actually - get them in the kilo packs near the vegies, not the Lucky brand near flour section
Almond meal (macro brand cheapest)
100% pure maple
Butter
Apple cider vinegar
Milk
Eggs
Cheese
Dates (homebrand)

And a million other things....

I buy coconut sugar and flour at health food shop but I know you can get them online.

Rice malt syrup I get at Coles.

[nothing2lose]

Myturn -

Smoked salmon
Smoked chicken fillet
Salami with cheese
Hummous (not strictly no carb) with celery
Salad
Soups
Boiled eggs
Curried eggs
Tinned tuna - add mayo, on celery
Leftovers

[myturn]

I'm having a hankering for cheese on toast.....

Just had steamed mini dim sims for lunch.... Not strictly no carb... But anyway.....

[myturn]

Really.... You just have salami and cheese???

or chicken and nothing else??

I keep getting bought back to my home ec days at school where there was an insistence on a little bit of everything I each meal...

[nothing2lose]

I would probably have soup as well.

Or salad, or celery with hummous, or paleo bread.


Speaking of bread, first loaf of flax focaccia in the oven

Eta - focaccia out of oven. Pic on my FB page.

Eeta - omg! It's great!! It has a really similar texture to real bread. I think I like it better than the paleo bread!

[Jellyfish]

N2L do you think it would go with a garlicy butter mix? I miss garlic bread lol.

[myturn]

Seems like I might need to get onto baking

[nothing2lose]

JF, I can't see why not.

[mummato1]

So pleased I found this post!

I have been following a paleo lifestyle for the past 18months and I can not recommend it highly enough. Initially I changed my diet to lose a few kgs in order to get healthy to fall pregnant (was having fertility issues).. but it turned in to so much more once I saw the benefits with weight loss and also my health in general.

I have lost 18kgs much more than I ever anticipated.. and that was mostly from dietary changes. I didn't start exercising until I lost about 15kgs (!) and then found a love for crossfit.

I fell pregnant within 6 months of changing my diet (after 14months of no luck).. miscarried unfortunately. But please to say I am now pregnant again (about 9 weeks) 6 months after my miscarriage.

I have to say I am finding it difficult to stay completely paleo now I am pregnant, due to food aversions mostly and my body craving carbs. Instead of resorting to grains etc for my carbs I am just eating a lot more starches like sweet potato and even rice.

[meow]

I have to say I am finding it difficult to stay completely paleo now I am pregnant, due to food aversions mostly and my body craving carbs. Instead of resorting to grains etc for my carbs I am just eating a lot more starches like sweet potato and even rice.

I think sweet potato and rice are a good idea. You could sprout the rice so it's healthier and better to digest. We actually follow GAPS and the author of that, Dr Campbell-McBride, advocates following your cravings where needed but then staying on track (ie. eat rice if you crave it but then don't just add it back to your diet unless you're still craving it). She also recommends homemade sourdough bread for pregnancy.

I need to make some flax focaccia!! Sounds delish!

This is the recipe I was looking at from Loving Our Guts. Looks like it's the same recipe but converted to GAPS as it doesn't use baking powder, artificial sweetener or oil.

Flax Focaccia Bread

• 2 C. Whole Flaxseed or Flaxseed Meal
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 Tbs honey
• 5 Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 C. Water
• 1/3 C. melted butter
• (optional) Garlic Granules, parmesan cheese, Course Sea Salt, or Onion Flakes to top the bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Beat eggs, then mix in butter, water and honey and set aside.
Grind flax seeds in a Vitamix or an Electric Spice Grinder to make flax meal. If you use a spice grinder/coffee grinder you will need to grind it in batches. Flax meal goes rancid quickly so if you are going to purchase it ground or grind it ahead of time be sure to store it in the freezer.
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well. I used my Hand Blender to get it all mixed up nicely. It tends to want to be lumpy and you need it very smooth. Let mixture sit for 3 minutes.
Place into prepared pan and shape into a flat circle or oval.
Sprinkle with optional toppings.
Bake for about 20 minutes or till done.
Serve warm with butter or your favorite topping.

[nothing2lose]

Yep, sounds like the same recipe. I didn't use any sweetener (and I don't ever use artificial sweetener). I don't think you'd need it.

Meow, I know GAPS relies on bone broths. I was wondering if you could share how you do yours?? Thanks

I found a good recipe for flax crackers last night. Also one for almond crackers.


FLAX CRACKERS

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Preparation:

Heat oven to 400 F.

1) Mix all ingredients together.

2) Spoon onto sheet pan which is covered with a silicone mat or greased parchment paper.

3) Cover the mixture with a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Even out the mixture to about 1/8 inch. I find a straight edge, like a ruler, works well, though you can use a rolling pin or wine bottle too. The important thing is not to let it be too thin around the edges or that part will overcook before the centre firms up. So after you spread it out, remove the paper and go around the edges with your finger and push the thin part inwards to even it up.

4) Bake until the centre is no longer soft, about 15-18 minutes. If it starts to get more than a little brown around the edges, remove from oven. Let cool completely - it will continue to crisp up.

5) Break into pieces.

The whole recipe is 6 grams of effective carbohydrate plus 35 grams of fibre.

[meow]

Mmm flax crackers sound good! I want to start making more things from seed flours too as the kids can't take nut things to school.

I think americans are just hooked on sweet bread- leaving out any sweetener in the focaccia sounds good to me too.

Bone broth instructions (copied from when I wrote it for a friend)
I make bone broth using a big stainless steel pot (like it must be about 6 litres) but you can certainly make less of it in something smaller. Just don't use a non-stick saucepan as the long slow cook draws out the toxins in the metal so stick to stainless steel or enameled cookware.
Put the bones in the pot. I keep bones as I use them and pop them in a freezer bag till I have how many I want (generally a 4 litre bag worth)... we end up using a mix of say chicken bones and perhaps pork rib bones and/or beef bones. I generally buy some beef soup or marrow bones to add. Any bones are good, though organic, free range are preferable as they have better minerals and nutrients and less toxins.
I add some apple cider vinegar (though a dash of any vinegar is fine- about 1-2Tb in my big pot), about a 1Tb of sea salt and a few peppercorns. Then bring to the boil with the lid off and skim off the gunky stuff that comes to the top. Reduce heat low, pop on the lid and leave it for 24-36 hours. You want it barely bubbling or less, not simmering.
You can add some veggies and garlic if you want (I'm just usually too lazy!). I am just starting to save veggie scraps in the freezer with the bones so they go in too (carrot ends, onion ends/skins etc).
I then pour it into glass jars and store in the fridge. When it's cool, skim the fat off and use that to fry veggies in or whatever you want and reheat the broth in a small pot and drink or else use it to cook with. You can simmer it down and make it really concentrated which makes good stock frozen in ice cube trays.

[Arimeh]

I have to say I am finding it difficult to stay completely paleo now I am pregnant, due to food aversions mostly and my body craving carbs. Instead of resorting to grains etc for my carbs I am just eating a lot more starches like sweet potato and even rice.

I had major food aversions in my first trimester - I had to quit paleo. All I could stomach was toast - every paleo breakfast I had been having turned my stomach and made me gag. I'm still a bit off dates now.

Plus every time I stood up I would want to pass out (feel faint, see black etc) and it didn't matter how much sweet potato I ate, nothing stopped that except for bread!

Can't wait to get back to it after the baby is here!