High fat foods that are good for you

People constantly say to me, that the way of eating I am on cannot be good for you. That I am having too much fat and need to eat more carbs. Good thing I don't let people get to me about the way I eat, I don't comment on the crappy foods they consume! Plus I feel great and when I do slip up and eat/drink carbs I feel terrible, so I am going to stick to low carb, high fat so that I can feel good all the time. I keep my weight down, have heaps of energy, can concentrate well, feel fuller for longer and don't get cravings anymore.
I found this diagram on the 'That Sugar Film' Instagram account and wanted to share it to show some of the yummy hight fat food that are really good for you.

Peanut butter and sweet potato soup

I know it sounds weird, but my goodness it tasted good. Really yummy, satisfying and flavoursome soup. Super easy to make as well.
Here is the link for this soup plus other really simple soups: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/549861435731377926/

A normal breakfast for me - LCHF

Recently I posted a Chia Pudding that I have for breakfast, but on the days I don't have that I have a hot brekkie. Who doesn't love a hot brekkie of bacon and eggs, but who has time to do a big breakfast every morning, not me! So to make it simple I make more of a scrambled eggs/omelette sort of thing and its great! It fills me up for ages and can be made in advance and reheated. This is what I do:

Ingredients

• 2-3 rashers of bacon
• coconut oil for cooking 
• 2 x whisked eggs with a dash of milk
• 4 x small sliced mushrooms
• capsicum
• half a tomato 
• goats cheese
• half an avocado 
• can also add onion, chorizo, zucchini and whatever veggies you want 

Cook the mushrooms first until soft/golden in some coconut oil, add everything else (but the eggs, avocado and cheese) and cook until your happy. Then add the egg, avocado and cheese and stir constantly until cook through. 

Easy peasy! 

Mug Cakes - LCHF

Mug Cakes seem to be all the rage at the moment, quick and easy cakes all made in the one mug. So I found some recipes for LCHF mug cakes. Like I stated it was easy, mess free, quick and tasted pretty good. The first one I made was a bit dry and bland, but the 2nd lot I made that had peanut butter and choc chips in it was really really good. They really hit that carb/sweet craving while sticking to LCHF. See links below for the recipes, the peanut butter one is best. Serve with cream (I used goats yoghurt)

Peanut butter: http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2015/01/low-carb-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-mug-cakes.html#VdwAqPdDiLbuF19y.32
Chocolate: http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2015/05/22/low-carb-mug-cakes/

Fat bombs - LCHF

Fat bombs are a great treat to have when on a LCHF diet, they satisfy you, are high fat and low carb and can be made with many different flavours and ingredients. While on holidays I recreated the peppermint ones from a previous post, I also made roasted coconut ones and some peanut butter ones. They are so easy to make, cheap and a great snack.
Coconut: http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2014/07/01/Keto-Coconut-Fat-Bombs
Peanut butter: http://uplateanyway.com/keto/chocolate-peanut-butter-fat-bombs-low-carb-gluten-free/ 

Winter stew in the slow cooker

Last week I had a whole week off work, it was so nice to do some things around the house, take the dog to the park and finally do some cooking. I really wanted to make a hearty winter dinner in the slow cooker, so I bought a heap of different vegetables, some beef and the best part, some red wine.

I didn't use a recipe, just used all my favourite vegetables, onion, garlic, ginger, rump steak, 2 cups of red wine, 4 cups of beef stock and some herbs. Cooked it for 8 hours and it was wonderful, perfect for a cold winters night.

Olives for dinner

For dinner we wanted something, quick, easy and satisfying on a cold night, so we headed to Olives in Newstead for a bite. Firstly I googled their menu online and had great success with that (basically deciding what I wanted before I even got there). The menu had plenty of GF labeled food and they even did wood-fired pizza's. We went with a shared nacho's for entree but it didn't have guacamole unfortunately and I had a rather large chicken caesar salad for main. The meals were quick, service was friendly and there was a lovely wood heater to sit next to. I really enjoyed my meal here and will return again.
http://www.newsteadhotel.com.au/p/olives_bistro

Controversy over LCHF

Interesting conversation today in the lunch room:
A colleague said to me as I was preparing my salad for lunch (kale, avocado, tomato, spring onion, tuna, eggplant, sheeps cheese, olive oil), "geee you need to get some carbs into you girl, you will waste away soon! Havent you heard of the food pyramid" I responded with, "na I dont need carbs, I eat lots of good fats. The original food pyramid doesn't exist in my eating plan anymore". Another colleague turned to me and said "there are carbs in that salad you know, you cant avoid them all together, I dont believe in no/low carbs, life is too short to have such a complex diet". Meanwhile another lady who eats like me was smirking at me from across the table and backed me up with a comment about her athletic sister who does endurance bike riding and never needs to refuel while out riding because her diet is so good (while others need too). The conversation then turned to a comment about anorexia and you should eat carbs to be healthy. 
I just laughed at all of this and shrugged it off, I believe everyone should have their opinion and the same diet is not right for everyone. But this is the way I have chosen to go and I love it. I feel the best I ever have, lost weight, kept it off and I look the best I ever have. (I ate some rice with curry the other night, uggghh I felt gross the next day) Anyway just thought I would share as its rather amusing and intriguing the way we all think differently. 
I know that before I was exposed to this diet, I never ate fat, I HATED butter/cheese/full cream dairy/meat fat, but now that I have overcome that fear its the best decision I have made on something! 


(this food pyramid is better smile emoticon)

Fat Bombs - LCHF

I attempted making LCHF Fat Bombs last night, they turned out ok, but I didn't melt the stevia enough in the coconut oil. So next time I will need to check its all dissolved before pouring it into the moulds, also I think they needed a bit more peppermint in them. Tasted ok, enough to hit the 3pm craving!
http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2015/05/05/peppermint-fat-bombs/

Chia seed brekkie - LCHF

I never get sick of breakfast, its my favourite meal of the day even though I eat the same most days.
Most of the time I have a savoury breakfast with bacon, eggs, cheese, vegetable etc. but sometimes I feel like something sweet. So I make myself chia pudding (you can put whatever you like in this, but I just use a tin of coconut milk/cream, 40g chia seeds and some tablespoons of coconut and LSA, then pop it in the fridge to set).
In the morning its quick and easy to serve, heat up a handful of mixed berries, top with some chia pudding, some yoghurt (goats for me), flaxseeds, crushed nuts and I have discovered this Mayvers spread that is AMAZING: http://www.mayvers.com.au/mayvers-pure-state-coconut-super-spread/
Mix it all together and there you have a gluten free, dairy free, low carb breakfast thats super quick, easy and tastes great!

Lasagne - LCHF

I have been experimenting in the kitchen a lot lately trying to make myself gluten free, dairy free and low carb high fat meals. So for last nights meal I created a lasagne (it does have cheese in it, but a little bit is ok for me, also I have never made lasagne before) It turned out really well, few things need to be changed like not using slendier pasta sheets at all, just use vegetables as the pasta substitute, using a deeper dish to fit more in and not softening the veggies first. Mum enjoyed it and even had seconds.

Ingredients:

• mince
• ricotta pasta sauce
• spring onions
• zucchini
• eggplant
• slendier lasagne sheets
• grated cheese
• (wanted to add mushrooms but ran out of room in the dish)

White sauce: http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/creamy-garlic-cauliflower-sauce/

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees. Cook the mince and stir through the pasta sauce. Slice the vegetables into thin strips and place 1 layer in the dish, cover with mince, spring onions and cheese. Then add another layer of vegetable, mince, the white sauce and cheese. 

You can do this however you please really, it doesn't matter. The recipe said to lightly soften the vegetables in hot water first but I found there was too much liquid in the dish so wont bother next time. 

Cook for about 45 - 60 minutes. 

Net19 seedy Sunday lunch

We had just been out wedding venue hunting and were all a bit seedy from my house warming the night before. We needed good food and fast. Net19 was the answer to all our questions and certainly provided the goods.
We sat outside as it was such a beautiful day, ordered and within about 15 minutes had our meals. I ordered a salad with pumpkin, beetroot, almonds and more plus added some smoked salmon. You cant go to fish and chips without chips though, so I ordered a small bowl (yes they are fried in their own gluten free fryer) served with a garlic aioli.
I also had a super smoothie made from almond milk, ice, dates and peanut butter. It was weird at first but then my taste buds got used to it and I really enjoyed it.
Overall, really really good meals, large servings, very friendly service and the price was good I thought.
This meal was not LCHF.

Brunch at the Raspberry Farm

So my last experience at the Raspberry farm wasn't the greatest, the food wasn't anything to rave about thats for sure, but we went again in hope it will be better. Indeed it was, the food was fantastic. I ordered a taste plate that had dips, breads, scone, pate and carrot. This was certainly NOT LCHF but I was letting myself have a treat. The dips were a bit bland, but the pate was amazing.
I washed it all down with a raspberry champagne and a bowl of raspberries and cream, yum yum!

You cant leave the raspberry farm though without chocolate raspberries, (x4, oops)!

Lunch time - LCHF

I am loving my new way of eating, its rather easy now, tastes great and is so fresh and fulfilling. Some people don't understand how I can be eating fat and no carbs and loose weight and feel great, but its working. I have lost nearly 4kg and am nearly at my happy weight (I didn't even do this WOE to loose weight, just to feel better). I am nowhere near as hungry as I used to be, my skin is clear, my energy levels are high, even in this heat, I sleep well and I am not bloated anymore.
I am going to keep this up for quiet sometime and see how it goes and let myself have a treat every now and then.
I wanted to share with you what I have for lunch most days, salad, I love it and its so simple. I have also found I spend less time at the supermarket and saving money by buying things in bulk.

Ingredients:

• Kale
• Coriander
• Parsley
• Capsicum
• Onion 
• Goats cheese
• Avacado
• Cherry tomatos
• Roasted chicken with skin on, cooked in coconut oil

Dressing:

• Lime Juice
• Corriander
• Salt
• Fish Sauce
• Chilli
• Garlic
• Ginger 

The Taste proving rather difficult

Over New Years I ventured down to the taste with a group of friends. I was extremely excited to try some new food and ciders, after doing a lap of the venue I soon started to loose that excitement. I couldn't find anything that had gluten free listed against it. To ease the hunt I went and got myself a chilli ginger beer which was very tasty, I soon gave up and went to a place called Mint, it was the only one with gluten free listed on their menu. I had 2 rice paper rolls which were pretty average and defiantly not low carb. I pushed on and just spent my money on trying new ciders, I got to a point though were I thought I really do need to eat something and something decent otherwise I will be one very hungry girl later. I bee-lined to the Curry place and asked if their Chicken Tikka Misala was gluten free and yes it was, yay! I got a big plate of chicken that tasted great and got me through the night. I was so disappointed though with that lack of allergy friendly food on offer, I don't need much but I wish more places had something and if they did, that they listed it on their menus. No way was I walking to each store and asking if they had something gluten free, how annoying.
Anyways word of warning to coeliacs who want to go to the taste this year, just keep in mind finding gluten free isn't that easy!

Cauli rice and beef stir fry - LCHF

I like to keep my food fast, easy and simple and I have found with my new way of eating LCHF that it really is easy and simple (maybe not fast though and meal prep needs to be considered).
Here is something I whipped up one night for dinner, cauli rice with a beef, broccoli and asparagus stir fry using these fantastic sauces I found that are low carb, all natural and taste great. I topped it off with a big dollop of goats yoghurt and coriander! YUM!

Christmas celebrations

Hope everyone had a very merry christmas and a happy new year and I am sure we all ate and drank ourselves silly. (I know I did, on the drinking side of things)
I wanted to share my christmas celebrations with you and what I ate during this time, keeping in mind I am trying my hardest to stick to a low carb high/healthy (LCHF) fats way of eating.

One xmas eve I went to my grandparents with all my cousins, Grandma attempted gluten free mince pies, they were ok but very crunchy and chewy, the filling was the best though. My cousin and I made LCHF crackers to take, made from nuts, seeds and eggs to accompany a dip I made from goats yoghurt, whole egg mayo and a dip mix. The crackers (image below) were very tasty and moorish but were sort of soggy. For dinner we had cold meats and salads then followed up by a store bought pudding (which wasn't too bad at all) and rum and raison ice-cream. Lets just say Grandma LOVES her rum, it was very toxic ice-cream but oh so good!
Ok so I failed on my way of eating xmas eve as I had a fair bit of sugar and the pudding.

Christmas day was better though, brekkie was bacon, eggs and mushrooms, also some fresh fruit with some really thick cream. Lunch I went on a picnic down at the beach which was fantastic, we had cheeses, dips, cracker, twiggy sticks, pate, roses chocolates and more. Then in the evening we had more nibbles of cheese, carrot, dips etc. and dinner was a light BBQ of hamburgers and salad, but it wouldn't be xmas though without Dad's creme brûlée.
So all in all I think I did ok on the biggest food day of the year, I ended up with a very bloated and sore tummy that night/next day but hey it was totally worth it!

It comes to show there is so much gluten free food out there, that on a day like xmas no one goes hungry!