Keeping Your Low Carb Food Costs Down

I try to save as much money as I can by buying foods in their whole state or in bulk, no more pre cut veggies, no more individually sealed chicken breasts, no more marinated meat in a bag. I save a lot of money but it requires a lot of prep work which adds to the amount of time it takes to make a low carb meal. I spend about 3-4 hours on Sunday (my only consistent day off each week) prepping and cooking for the week to come. Although I rather being doing almost anything else (or nothing at all), this day is the key to me sticking to my budget and to my low carb diet!

My meal plan for the week helps me know what I will need and I try to prep everything I can on Sunday. I divide large packs of meats into freezer and fridge portions, chop veggies for recipes later in the week, prep sauces and marinate the next day’s dinner. I cut tubs of diced red onion, cucumber, celery and romaine lettuce (I use a special plastic lettuce knife so it does not brown) all ready for me to throw together a salad without a fuss during the week.

Every Sunday I also make a large one low carb meal that I can eat through out the week. My favorites are a hearty soup of which I have several versions, bean less chili or a roast. This is usually my Sunday night dinner that serves as a quick lunch or dinner throughout the week that just needs to be heated.

I make a meal plan for the week and keep it flexible so I can interchange meals in case I have a crazy day at work or if I just don’t feel like having leftovers that night! On average, I cook three or four large meals during the week and make sure there are plenty of leftovers for lunches and dinners.

Here is an example of one of my weekly meal plans:

	Break	Lunch	Dinner
Sun		Spinach and Feta Frittata (brunch)	Large Pot of Bean-less Chili
Mon	Frittata	Italian Roll Ups	Baked Chicken & Veggies
Tues	Frittata	Chili Dogs with Cheese	Baked Chicken Salad
Wed	Sausage and eggs	Baked Chicken Parm	Chili
Thurs	Chili Eggs	Chef Salad	Pork Chops & Veggies
Fri	Pork Chops and eggs	Italian Roll Ups	Leftover night!!!
Sat		“Leftover” Omelet (brunch)	Low Carb Flatbread Pizza

Cheap Low Carb Food Recipes

Low carb foods tend to be more expensive on average because of the absence of low cost processed carbs that act as fillers. The main downside to cooking cheap low carb meals is giving up some creativity with less expensive ingredient replacement and adding more prep work with less prepared foods.

Coming up with alternate ingredients is all about your creativity and I feel planning ahead also helps in this area by allowing you to see all the ingredients you will have on hand that week because you are using them on other low carb recipes. Using bacon instead of Prosciutto, finding a block of cheese that could be used on more than one recipe as well as sliced for rollups, replacing an expensive cut of meat with a slightly less costly one and using cheaper seasonal local grown vegetables one are just a few examples. Weekly meal plan examples coming soon!

Low Carb Food Is Expensive!

Low Carb Food Is Expensive!

Okay, I know that is not a revelation to some one like myself who has been part of the low carb lifestyle for years now but in light of my new financial situation it has become more obvious. I am still retaining part time work and I am very thankful to be making all my bills .... but it has made my low carb cooking a little on the uncreative side :-(

I love to come up with new and exciting low carb food recipes to eat and to share online but I have had to cut back on the extras ... you know the imported cheeses, the expensive sugar free syrups, pretty much everything I used to buy at the organic grocery store ... I think you get the idea.

So, I have not been posting because I felt like I had nothing to share with you but after talking to a fellow low carber that was having similar issues got me rethinking what I could share. After all, a lot of people are having money issues right now and they have to change the way they are eating too. My cooking is not boring ... just thrifty! Thrifty recipes to come!

A new study finds that cutting back on carbs can reduce deep belly fat ... even if you do not lose any weight! Also found by this study is you can reduce total body fat by cutting back on your carbs and reducing your weight. So break out the low carb food! Read the article here ----> http://www.newswise.com/articles/cut-down-on-carbs-to-reduce-body-fat-study-authors-say


And to think low carb diets were once considered a fad ;-)

Low Carb Vegetable Platter Arrangement

I find the best way to stay on your diet during the holidays is to insure there is plenty of low carb food for you to eat at holiday gatherings. The best way to do this is of course to bring it yourself! This is a picture of some appetizers I made for Thanksgiving dinner including a raw vegetable arrangement that looks like a flower bouquet, sliced cheese, salami rolls with cream cheese and nuts. Now of course there are carbs on the table (like the cracker sticks and pretzels) but with so much good stuff to eat it is a very small temptation! Do you like the edible vegetable arrangement I made? See more at my blog: Fruit and Vegetable Carving

Low Carb Food Recipe

This is a low carb video recipe for creamy mushroom chicken, enjoy!

Easy Low Carb Food

Easy low carb dinner

The fresh meat section has these marinaded pork roasts with less than one carb per serving, so I tried one and it was easy and very good. I cut up a onion and some celery stalks into big chunks and lined the bottom of my roasting pan, than I put the pork roast on top and cooked according to the package directions. While it cooked I tossed asparagus with olive oil, pepper and complete seasoning. Lay out the asparagus on a sheet pan and add it to the oven when the roast has 20 minutes left to cook. Immediately after taking it out of the oven add grated parm cheese to the asparagus. Now that is a easy low carb dinner with delicious low carb food!

Low Carb "Breaded" Pork Chop

Do you miss eating breaded pork chops or fried chicken on your low carb diet? This mock breading recipe is the next best thing! This is the first step by step recipe you will get when you sign up for our low carb recipe newsletter. You get the best recipe I try every month with step by step pictures and tips!

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Low Carb Food List

Here is a handy list of the 25 lowest carb vegetables, starting with the lowest at #1:

1)Arugula
2)Cucumber
3)Broccoli Raab
4)Iceburg Lettuce
5)Celery
6)White Mushroom
7)Radishes
8)Turnips
9)Romaine Lettuce
10)Asparagus
11)Green Bell Pepper
12)Okra
13)Cauliflower
14)Yellow Bell Pepper
15)Cabbage
16)Red Bell Pepper
17)Broccoli
18)Spinach
19)Beets
20)Green (Snap or String) Beans
21)Carrot
22)Kale
23)Snow or Sugar Snap Peas
24)Onion
25)Corn

Back On Track With Low Carb Food

Okay, I am done eating all the food in my house that I was trying to get rid of to start my low carb diet and join the millions who are trying a new years diet! I also convinced my girlfriend who was looking for a diet to lose weight in the new year, to try a low carb diet with me making it easier for both of us to stick to it! So here I go Day One!!