Olive Oil

I came across this Filippo Berio olive oil spray in Tesco last week. It's a great idea, the spray is very handy and a couple of pumps dispenses the perfect amount for shallow frying.

It's a good quality oil which means it has a high smoking point, and is perfect for frying pancakes, bacon and steak. The cap screws off, so you can refill the bottle once the oil is gone.

Low Carb Megastore

As fantastic a city as Cork is for foodies, sometimes it can be hard to find a particular low-carb product or alternative, and sometimes you just don't want to wander around the town in the rain.
lowcarbmegastore.com is a great UK site which delivers to Ireland, with charges starting from about €15.

Their sugar-free maple syrup is a particular favourite of mine and goes well with crepes. It's naturally sweetened with chicory root, and you only need to use a small amount to get your sweettooth fix.

I've had this bottle since August and still have loads left, so it is fantastic value. While you're there check out their range of sugar-free sweets and lollipops and other low-carb products. 

If you're eating low-carb to lose weight some of the products won't be suitable as they'll tip you over your 20g per day limit, but if you're just interested in cutting back on your carb intake there are some good alternatives on this site.

Low Carb Pancakes

Last week I posted this very simple crepe recipe. It's a handy way to get some eggs inside you in the morning. However, if you're willing to go to a little more effort or want something a bit more substantial, try these gorgeous pancakes.

pancakes ala instagram

I'll usually have these with M&S dry cured smoked streaky bacon and sugar-free maple syrup. Like the crepes, these also work well as a dessert option with homemade nutella and mascarpone.

These measurements make about four pancakes. Make more and keep the mixture in the fridge for up to three days. If you find the coconut flour too sweet, just switch it for almond flour.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons coconut flour
2 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 Tablespoon of double cream
Pinch of cinnamon
3 Teaspoons of stevia or another sugar substitute

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together, whisking well.

2. Put your frying pan on the heat, and melt a 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil. I like to use refined oil as it is odourless and tasteless.

Pro-Tip: Fry your rashers first, then cook the pancakes in the same oil for extra bacon-y goodness.

3. Spoon the mixture into the  pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Done!

If you're counting carbs make sure to do the math based on the ingredients you've used.

Fillet Steak

Tonight I made fillet steak with some simple sides of steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I picked up the steak on my way home through The English Market, though for the life of me I can't remember which stall I settled on! I've outlined what I think is the best way to cook steak here.

Also pictured is Le Froglet Shiraz from M&S. It's a light, easy to drink wine which is perfect with steak. Le Froglet is great value for money at only €7, though it definitely benefits from decanting.

Low Carb Milk Alternatives

When you start to think about it, drinking another animal's milk is pretty odd behaviour. Are there any other creatures that do what we do? The fact that babies can't digest cow milk leads one to wonder if that's a sign that we're just not built for it.

As a child I suffered with asthma, and on a nutritionist's advice I stayed away from dairy products for a couple of years. It made massive difference to my breathing, and allowed me to cut down on the inhalers and chemicals I was putting into my body. Though I grew up in the hippy-organic-food-mecca that is West Cork, the options for non-dairy milk were far more limited than they are now. Thankfully, overpriced and oversweet rice milk has given way to gorgeous almond and soya milks which you can get in pretty much any supermarket.

coffee with foamed almond milk

These days I stay away from cow's milk for another reason. Think back to your secondary school science or home economics classes; anything ending in -ose is a sugar, and sugar is a carbohydrate. Cow, goat and sheep milks (even low-fat) all contain lactose.

You can think of your traditional cow's milk as what's left over once all the good stuff has been skimmed off, and you can get more than enough calcium and other good nutrients from cream and cheese, both of which contain far lower levels of carbohydrates.
A cup of full-fat milk will have about 12g of carbohydrates in it, while a cup of double cream will have about 6g. If you're trying to stick to a low-carb diet (less than 20g per day) then even adding milk to your tea or coffee can push you close to your daily limit.

S and I are both into our coffee, and thankfully both almond and soya milk foam beautifully. If you feel like it's still missing something, try mixing a little bit of double cream with water and you really won't know the difference.

There are so many other milk options out there that going without cow's milk is really no challenge at all these days.