Substitute For Success; Family Meals Made Simple

Cooking for a family can be challenging and if you add different dietary requirements to the mix things can get complicated!  To keep things simple, plan meals that suit everyone.

Here are a few of my favourite LCHF substitutions that the whole family will enjoy.

Pasta & Noodles

Spiralized vegetables are a fantastic substitute for pasta and noodles.  I recommend investing in a good quality vegetable spiralizer as in my experience the cheap potato-peeler style versions you see online don't work and are a waste of money.  This style is my favourite style available  from Amazon or if you're in Australia you can get it here.

Simply spiralize a low carb vegetable such as zucchini, pan fry it in butter for one minute (or use a microwave) and serve with a sauce of your choice.  Remember, creamy sauces contain more fat so are more filling when you're not eating all the carbs in traditional pasta.  If you buy ready made sauces, check the ingredients carefully as they often contain added sugar.

Another option is Konjac or Shirataki Noodles.  Made from an asian root vegetable that is extremely low carb, these are a really handy thing to have in your pantry as they have a long shelf-life.  They don't need to be cooked, just rinse them thoroughly and warm in a bowl of hot water.  You can buy them in health food shops and some supermarkets or google "buy konjac online" to find your local online supplier.

Rice & Potatoes

Cauliflower is a low-carb superhero.  It's incredibly versatile and a perfect substitute for rice or potatoes.  To make rice, whiz some raw cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles rice.  Place it in a microwave-proof dish and cover and cook on full power for a few minutes.  Alternatively, stir-fry it with butter.  Add other vegetables or spices to make fried rice or pilau rice.

For a mashed-potato substitute, steam some cauliflower until it is soft.  Transfer it to a food processor and a nob of butter, a dollop of cream and some salt and pepper.  Whizz at high speed until it is smooth. 

Stop blaming your genes and start feeding your microbiome

Did you know that you can learn more about your health and weight by examining the DNA of the micro-organisms in your gut than examining your own genes?  Your gut is home to more than 100 trillion bacteria and a host of yeast and viruses, know collectively as the microbiome.  38% of their genes are identical to ours and research is now demonstrating  that foreign microbial DNA is crucial to the proper functioning of our own genes.  We can't do much to change our own genes, which are largely fixed before birth, but we can influence the genetic content of our microbiome by the choices we make.

It's now widely recognised that changes in our gut microbes brought about by changes in our diet and environment play a part in the obesity epidemic and the rise in chronic disease.  Our distant ancestors were probably eating around 150 different ingredients a week, where now most people eating a western diet consume fewer than 20 separate food items, many of which are highly refined.  

If you think of your own microbial community as a garden, the best way to keep your soil (intestines) and plants (microbes) healthy and stop weeds (toxins and disease) taking over is to cultivate a wide range of plants.  You can do this by eating a diverse diet and the following foods will help maintain a flourishing microbiome:

Jerusalem artichokes, chicory, garlic, onion, leek, shallots, spring onion, asparagus, beetroot, fennel, green peas, snow peas, sweetcorn, savoy cabbage, custard apples, nectarines, watermelon, pomegranate, grapefruit, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, cashews & pistachios.

So, give your microbiome a treat and try these Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric Spiced Cashews.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
• 4 Cups of Raw Cashews
• 1 Tbsp of Turmeric
• 1 Tsp of Salt
• Cracked Pepper to taste (optional)

1. Gently heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat.  
2. Add the cashews and toss them in the oil.  
3. Sprinkle the turmeric over the cashews and continue to toss them in the pan to avoid burning until golden brown.  
4. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the salt over the cashews.  
5. Add cracked pepper to taste.  
6. Leave the cashews to cool completely then store in an airtight container.

Five fridge essentials for LCHF success

Making a change to you way that you eat can seem daunting.  It's particularly hard if you've been following a certain set of rules for a long time and are now having to work out how to turn everything that you knew upside down!  If, like me, bread, cereals, rice and pasta have been staples in your diet for decades, the thought of cutting them out is terrifying, not least because you have to work out what to replace them with.

One of the keys to LCHF lies in planning.  Now, when I say planning, I don't mean devising complicated meal plans or spending hours in the kitchen getting to grips with difficult recipes.  The most important part of LCHF is making sure that you have access to the right food when you need it, and that means having the right food in the fridge.

So on that note, here are my 5 fridge essentials for LCHF success

1.  Meat and  Fish     Any type of meat or fish is fine including beef, pork and chicken.  If you're buying prepared meats such as sausages, make sure that they don't contain bread or added sugar.  It's good to make friends with your local butcher who will be able to tell you what's what.  Fatty fish such as salmon are great and stay away from anything with breadcrumbs.

2.  Eggs     One of the mosts versatile and complete foods you can buy, and yes, you can eat as many as you want.  Always buy cage free as happy hens lay healthier eggs.

3.  Vegetables     Veggies will fill a large part of the gap on your plate once the starchy foods are gone.  One of the many amazing things about LCHF is that veggies take on a new lease of life when they're cooked with healthy fats.  Some of my favourites include spinach, mushrooms, avocados, eggplants and asparagus and not forgetting zucchini and cauliflower which transform perfectly into noodles, rice and mash.  

4.  Butter     Using butter in your cooking makes food taste better and helps to fill you up.  Since vitamins A, D, E & K are fat soluble, adding butter to your vegetables will help you to absorb more of these valuable nutrients. 

5.  Cream     Use cream to make simple, delicious sauces, as an accompaniment for a berry dessert and to transform your coffee into a french style cafe creme.  I love creme fraiche (a yoghurt-style, fermented cream) which has a wonderful tangy taste.

Now you're ready to whip together quick and easy meals like this.

Zucchini Noodles with Crispy Bacon Croutons (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 4 medium zucchini 
• A large knob of butter
• 1/2 a cup of cream or creme fraiche
• 8 rashers of streaky bacon cut into small pieces
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Cut the zucchini into noodles using a vegetable spiral slicer, mandolin or peeler
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the bacon pieces and fry until crispy
3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the zucchini noodles.  Cook for 2-3 minutes,    turning gently, until they are soft but not soggy.
4. Add the cream or creme fraiche and gently heat through.  Season with salt and cracked pepper.
5. Serve the noodles in bowls and sprinkle with the crispy bacon pieces.