Warm winter meals: what simple routines keep you on track in the cold months?

(Davi Ken) #1

When the weather turns cold, I find myself leaning on warm, filling meals that feel comforting without taking all evening to make. I have started keeping a short rotation of simple suppers I can put together on autopilot, which helps on busy or tired nights. I also try to plan one or two bigger weekend meals, so there are leftovers ready for the days when cooking feels like a chore. Having that kind of routine has made it easier to stay steady, rather than drifting into whatever is quickest when I get home late. What warm meals or simple routines help you stay on track through the cold months?

(Jane) #2

Homemade soup and you can make a big pot and heat up the leftovers a few times.

I will sometimes add beans to make it heartier even though they raise the carb count. But other than that - meat, veggies, broth and sometimes heavy cream.

Chili is another one you can make a big pot and make several meals out of. I DON’T add beans to my chili. The tomatoes raise the carb count a bit but I am not trying to lose weight so it fits my meal plan.

#3

I started to make roasts in the oven again :slight_smile: That wasn’t present in the heatwaves at all, I can say that, it means 2 hours at high temp… Nice warmth in the kitchen and basic food for days! It was pork ribs and pork loin yesterday and it’s wonderful… I like to pair leaner with fattier meat, it’s often chicken and pork…
I make chicken (+ some pork, usually) soups too but they never last long, next time I will use my biggest pot!
Stews come to mind as well (it was so long ago), there is great variety there… And rich scrambled eggs may make even me satiated if big enough, well that’s for a single meal but quite quick! I always use cheese and sour cream on top and put various things inside, bacon cubes, leftover boring lean meat, sometimes a bit of mostly lower-carb vegs or mushroom too… But it’s already almost perfect when carnivore.
Main dishes are easy, desserts are tougher, the carbs are low but the fat is usually high. No problem if rich and a little goes a long way though. That’s nice, dessert lasting for days too… I like very quick microwave baking there.

(Rick P) #4

I do a pretty regular beef stew. Cook it low and slow in the crock pot while I’m at work. Makes leftovers for days. And I learned a cool keto “trick” for this recipe. If you use radishes, they come out tasting a lot like potatoes.

(Bob M) #5

I was wondering what could be used instead of potatoes.

#6

Nothing tastes even remotely similar than potatoes, they have such a very unique wonderful flavor… BUT I don’t say people who taste things differently don’t exist (and maybe texture differences aren’t important for them either). To me, almost nothing can replace another thing. I mean simple ingredients because keto cakes can totally replace normal ones and they are even better… Normal bread is impossible on keto (if the amount is big) as far as I know. I do have a good low-carb recipe but not keto. Those are bread replacements, extremely different from normal bread. But I have carnivore ones too and they are good :slight_smile:

Thankfully soups and stews are easy on keto :smiley: (I just should resist to put pasta in them. And pasta is supposed to be so easy on keto - in my case, egg is almost perfect, it’s the only important ingredient in pasta if you ask me, after all - but that isn’t the same either… Thankfully a bread replacement works for soups and “too rich alone” stews.)