Hey, everyone! Recently I’ve been experimenting with eating less carbs.
Little summary of my normal diet: oatmeal, bread, pancakes, sandwiches, more bread, grilled cheese, potatoes, granola, fancy little desserts, sweet potatoes, couscous, pizza, muffins, garlic bread, more pretty little desserts, rice, rice, rice, rice, more rice.
It’s a lot of carbs.
I mean, it’s great! Who doesn’t love grilled cheese and rice? Since coming to Australia, though, I’ve been trying to change it up a little bit. Rather than purely eliminating rice from my diet, which would be tragic, I’ve been making small changes.
Changes like using 1/2 cauliflower rice and 1/2 regular rice in stir-fries. Or having omelettes with salad on the side, instead of toast. Eating eggs and veggies instead of my typical morning oatmeal. So far, it’s been wonderful. This is absolutely NOT to say that I don’t eat granola or desserts or grilled cheese anymore – I absolutely still do – but making tiny swaps and healthier additions have made me feel more refreshed.
Here’s a little list that I compiled a while ago to kick-start a series of healthier changes! I’ll be honest, some of them would definitely make me feel deprived (eg. only hard-boiled eggs with berries for breakfast?!), so I haven’t tried them all. The bolded ones are my favourites. 🙂
Breakfast
- breakfast wrap using egg as “tortilla”
- breakfast enchiladas
- pepper egg in a hole
- egg-applesauce pancakes
- chocolate banana smoothie
- poached eggs with tomatoes
- jalapeno popper egg cups
- Greek yogurt with LOTS of mixed berries
- vegetable frittata
- vegetable omelet
- egg quiche
- cottage cheese with berries
- hard-boiled eggs with berries
- scrambled eggs with vegetables
- green smoothie
- cauliflower breakfast hash
- cauliflower breakfast bake
- fluffy cauliflower breakfast bake
- cauliflower hash browns
Lunch and Snack Ideas
- cucumber salad with shrimp
- turkey roll ups (fill with cream cheese, peppers, cucumbers, avocado, hummus, and cheese)
- grilled chicken spinach salad with nuts
- tuna salad with avocado
- mixed berries fruit salad
- broccoli with quinoa and halloumi
- Greek yogurt
- taco salad
- chia pudding
- cauliflower cheddar mash
- pizza soup
- egg salad in a lettuce wrap
- chocolate mousse
- trail mix with seeds and dried fruit
- hard boiled eggs
- cottage cheese with berries
- stuffed mushrooms
- cheese slices with grapes
- Greek salad
- vegetarian minestrone soup
- vegetables with hummus
Dinner Sides (mix and match with mains below)
- mashed cauliflower
- cauliflower breadsticks
- roasted vegetables
- makeover spinach gratin
- brussels sprouts gratin
Dinner Protein Mains
- cheesy meatballs
- crustless pizza
- burger with no bun, topped with mushrooms and onions and cheese
- turkey lettuce wraps
- turkey spinach meatballs
- california spicy crab stuffed avocado
- salmon patties
- crustless spinach quiche
- marinated grilled shrimp
- shrimp stir-fry with vegetables
- shredded harissa chicken
- broiled tilapia parmesan
- Dijon garlic, lemon dill salmon, maple-soy salmon
Dinner Cauliflower Mains
- cauliflower fried rice
- cheesy cauliflower bake
- loaded grilled cauliflower steak
- cauliflower baked ziti
- cauliflower shepherd’s pie
- cauliflower tamale pie
- pizza cauliflower bake
Dinner Zucchini Mains
- zucchini enchiladas
- chicken parmesan stuffed zucchini
- loaded zucchini skins
- lasagna stuffed zucchini boats
- scalloped zucchini
- zucchini cheesy bread
- stuffed zucchini
- zucchini manicotti
Dinner Spaghetti Squash Mains
- tomato basil spaghetti squash
- pizza spaghetti squash
- 4-cheese spaghetti squash
- spaghetti squash feta egg bake
Dinner Other Veggies
- broccoli chicken divan
- tuna melt on a tomato
- egg roll in a bowl
- eggplant lasagna
- taco lettuce cups
- cheesy butternut squash skillet
- bell pepper nachos
- stuffed peppers
- taco-filled tomatoes
Finally, a list of low-carb veggies that happen to be delicious…
… with cheese, of course.
Low-Carb Vegetables
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- spinach
- kale
- brussels sprouts
- cabbage
- swiss chard
- lettuce
- cucumber
- sprouts
- eggplant
- green beans
- lemon
- peppers
- spaghetti squash
- tomatoes
- celery
- parsley
- avocado
- radish
- bok choy
- mushrooms
- garlic
- asparagus
- yellow squash