Barbeque Season

It's finally barbeque season in Ireland! I adore this time of year, when it's warm enough to eat outside. I love the smell and I love the food. And, it's one of the easiest ways to eat low carb.

Here are some of my favourites:

• Chicken skewers - chicken pieces marinated in Frank's sauce
• Chorizo skewers - chorizo, mushrooms and peppers
• Stuffed mushrooms - Portobello mushrooms stuffed with stilton or pâté
• Chicken wings/thighs/drumsticks

Make sure you've loads of homemade coleslaw (shredded white cabbage, grated carrot, onion and mayonnaise) and salads to serve with all that meat!

My friend Emily introduced me to Fire Wires (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Steel-Flexible-Grilling-Skewer/dp/B00OVLZUAY/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1436190952&sr=1-3&keywords=fire+wire+skewers) a few years ago. They're brilliant as they fit so much and the ends don't get hot so they're easy to handle.

Chorizo, mushrooms and pepper on Fire Wire

Get outside, enjoy that sunshine and stuff your face!

Ms. E's Not So Beautiful Blues

I'm in the dumps a bit today. I made the mistake of trying on last year's summer dresses and they're just a bit too clingy to be worn on my holiday to Italy later this month.

One of the reasons that I have always hated clothes shopping is that I always feel down afterwards. I'm telling myself how ridiculous I am being, even as I type this. I am so lucky. I have a wonderful partner in Ronan. I have a beautiful 8 month old baby girl. I am from a close and fantastic family. I have incredible friends. I am not poor. We own our home. I may have fibromyalgia but barring flare-ups and the challenge of staircases, I am generally fine and well. I have nice hair and good skin. And I'm feeling low because I'm not slim.

This is not a new phenomenon. You'd think after 38 years I'd have accepted the shape I am. And generally I do. Well sort of. I don't think about it anyway which is as close as I am ever going to get to not minding. I just get so frustrated. I have always eaten well. I have never overeaten. I regularly cut a chunk off the meat on my plate and transfer it to Ronan's. I dread to think what state I would be in if I ate takeaways and biscuits, even occasionally, or a bag of chips. A bag of chips! Imagine! I see my extremely slim neighbour having her takeaways delivered three or four times a week and inside I'm screaming, "HOW ARE YOU SO SKINNY??!". A long time ago I mentioned to my GP that I was tired of not being able to lose more weight. His response was to tell me to say no to the doughnuts. Doughnuts?? Hahahahaha!

I know that my fibromyalgia has a part to play because I obviously can't be as active as I'd like to be but at the same time, there are plenty of people who sit on their arses all day playing video games and are still not as cuddly as me. I exercise at home every week day and walk when my legs are working properly. Plus I am lifting Eliza all day.

But enough self pity. I really do know better and most of the time manage to accept that everyone is different. Everyone's body works differently and there are a hell of a lot of worse things in life than thinking you're too fat!

Beef Stroganoff

I made this for dinner yesterday evening using left over roast beef from Sunday. However, the following recipe is assuming you are cooking the beef from scratch.

Ingredients:

500g beef, cut into strips
2 tbsps paprika
200g mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
1/2 cup of brandy
1 beef stock cube
200g crème fraîche

salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 cup of water
coconut oil
cauliflower rice (see https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7361794025237498990#editor/target=post;postID=9157502184713393239;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=14;src=postname)

1. Fry onion in a little coconut oil until soft
2. Add beef and cook on a medium heat until browned
3. Add mushrooms, brandy, paprika, stock cube, salt and pepper, tomato purée and water
4. Simmer gently for 5 minutes
5. Lower the heat and add the crème fraîche
6. Serve with cauli rice

Snacking

What can you eat as a snack on a low carb diet? As long as you're prepared it's quite simple to organise a wide variety of tasty snack foods. Here are some of my favourites:

• Nuts - almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts. These can be home roasted and a little salt added. Do not include peanuts as they are actually part of the legume (peas, beans) family so are not low carb

• Dark chocolate - a little good quality dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa. The high cocoa content means there is less sugar. Aldi do a lovely 85% one. It's called MoserRoth and looks like a large bar of chocolate but is actually 5 individually wrapped bars. I find these very handy as they stop me eating too much of it!

• Fresh strawberries and cream - I do say not to eat too much fruit but strawberries have one of the lowest amounts of sugar

• Fresh figs and parma ham - figs are very high in fibre and contain as little sugar as strawberries 

• Parmesan crisps - bake finely grated piles of parmesan on a greasproof paper lined tray in the oven (at 180°C) for 5 or 6 minutes

• Carrot sticks and cream cheese

• Carrot sticks and almond butter

• Olives

• Cheese and gherkins

• Mixed seeds - dry fry a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a little soy sauce with chilli flakes

Sometimes if we're peckish in the evening, Ronan creates a platter of goodies!

Easy egg muffins

Looking for something to have as a savoury snack or a breakfast that you can have on the go? These simple egg muffins are just the thing.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
cheese
meats
onions or other veg of choice
salt and pepper
chilli flakes

1. Grease a 12 piece muffin or mince pie tin
2. Add a little onion or whatever veg/meat you are using and cheese
3. Beat eggs and season with salt and pepper and chilli flakes if you wish
4. Pour egg mixture over the top of the veg and cheese
5. Bake at the centre of a preheated oven at 200 °C for 20-25 minutes until muffins are golden, puffy and the eggs have set
6. Let the muffins cool slightly before removing from the tin

These muffins can be eaten immediately or placed in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge or freezer.

Suggested flavour combinations:

• Stilton and lightly steamed broccoli
• Feta, pine nuts and  fresh spinach
• Parmesan and fresh basil
• Cheddar and spring onion

Who needs a recipe?

You don't always need a recipe to create delicious healthy low carb lunches and dinners. You can grill any type of meat or fish and serve it with a pile of tasty vegetables or salad. If you miss your potatoes, replace them with cauliflower purée. A fillet steak served with garlic butter (always make your own - just add crushed or sliced garlic to softened butter - to avoid hidden additives) and a salad is gorgeous and perfect for when you need fast food. Or what about salmon darnes, oven baked with lemon in tinfoil parcels.

We eat a lot of salads in our house, particularly during the Summer. Not just as an accompaniment to meat or fish but as a complete dish in their own right. Sometimes we cook a ham and serve it sliced with mixed leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, nuts and seeds. Or for lunch I might have lettuce with pears, stilton and walnuts. If you're particularly hungry, have a Niçoise salad because it contains tuna, egg and olives.

We tend to have a roast dinner on a Sunday. We serve it with roasted vegetables, mashed turnip or carrots. You can't have normal gravy as it is made with flour but you can make an alternative sauce using sour cream and stock, heated gently together. Another favourite of ours is to spatchcock a chicken, marinate it in Frank's sauce and then roast it. We serve it with homemade coleslaw.

Steak and salad

Spatchcock roast chicken with homemade coleslaw

Fish Pie

This is a recipe that I have adapted from one of Jamie Oliver's. We have this for dinner regularly as it's so delicious but also easy to make. I get the fish in Aldi as it comes with the skin removed and the packets are a good size for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower, puréed (see http://lowcarbhealthily.blogspot.ie/2015/06/cauliflower-saviour-of-low-carb-diet.html)
1 large carrot
100g cheddar cheese
20g parmesan
250g cod, diced
250g smoked coley, diced
200g crème fraîche
handful of fresh spinach
Tbsp lemon juice
Tbsp parsley
Tbsp olive oil

1. Peel and grate carrot directly into the dish you are using to cook the fish pie
2. Grate the parmesan and half the cheddar into the dish
3. Add fish, crème fraîche, spinach, lemon juice, olive oil and parsley
4. Mix well
5. Top with cauliflower purée
6. Sprinkle remaining grated cheddar on top
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30 - 40 minutes
8. Serve