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)!