Hello again! This is part II of our two-part series on a different diet approach, Vegetarian Lunches and Carnivore Dinners. As a quick recap, this is just a trial diet my husband and I are trying as a fresh start to the new year. It’s a compromise between two food categories we both love – meat and carbs.

It focuses on keeping your high carb/high fiber food intake during the day and keeping your meat/protein intake to the evening so your body doesn’t have to burn carbs off while in a resting state.

Do I have any “science” to back this nutritional approach up? Not really, other than logic and common sense. The good news is, at least anecdotally, I can tell you we both feel as we’ve slimmed down after two weeks using this dietary approach.

We were really getting tired of the overall low carb approach and needed to add some variety and differentiation to our diet, and this was the compromise for that. Low car dieting does have some great options and satisfying recipes, but it does get stale over time.

High Protein/Low Carb Dinner Options

You can really get creative these days with low carb options, thanks to a lot of ideas that sprang from the low carb diet craze that has dominated the diet space for almost two decades now. Twenty years ago, things like riced cauliflower and veggie noodles (zoodles and other variations) were not a widely known way to switch up your low carb meals and make you feel like you were getting away with something.

• Low Carb Stir Fry. This is a really nice dish that you can switch up to your liking. Don’t like chicken in a stir fry? Use strips of beef. Don’t love ginger or sesame oil? Use lemon pepper and coconut oil. The possibilities are pretty broad here. Generally, you can make a faux-stir fry sans high carb rice and use riced cauliflower or riced hearts of palm. There are a lot of other options out there too, it’s just hard to keep up with the new low to no carb offerings that mimic the real thing. Some of them are so close, you won’t miss the carbs! And if you love vegetables, you can get creative here. Green beans are a great low carb vegetable, and pair well with a stir fry theme. Julienned carrots add extra vitamin C and beta carotene. Onions and garlic add antioxidants and tons of flavor. Broccoli adds another sulfurous antioxidant-rich element, plus tons of fiber. Related: Healthy Cauliflower "Rice" Recipes
• Chili or another low carb stew option. Chili is such a treat in the winter time. I make it multiple times throughout the winter, in different iterations. You can opt for a white chili that uses no tomato based purees, or you can opt to make a tomato based chili. Try using different types of beans in it too. I’ve tried chili with traditional kidney beans (not my favorite), but usually use black beans or white beans like cannellini or great northern. You can also mix up the type of meat used. I usually opt for ground turkey since there’s almost no waste due to the lower fat content. But a leaner ground beef can be just as good (albeit a bit more expensive unless you find it on sale). Add a whole onion, or even too whole onions if making a bigger batch, for an infusion of flavor and antioxidants. You can also add garlic. Adobo is a great seasoning to add a bit of turmeric, more garlic and some salt (a good chili is always salted to taste). Tons of chili powder, maybe some red pepper flakes for more spice (there are some health benefits to adding hot spice to your foods). The options go on and on with this hearty, filling, high protein dinner. And everyone knows, chili gets better as it sits. But after about day four, you're treading in too-old-to-eat territory, so it's a delicate balance. It's a great meal to make in a large batch so you can eat it multiple days in a row.  
• Chicken breasts in the crock pot. This one is super easy, and can be done without much forethought since you can take the chicken breasts out of the freezer the day of and still get it cooked to tender perfection. Simply fill a smaller crock pot with chicken breasts, and add chicken broth to cover the top of the meat. Put it on low, or if you’re in a hurry you can put it on high. You’ll have moist chicken to do whatever you want with in about 3-4 hours depending on the temperature and the amount of chicken you put in. I’ve used these for a Mexican type of meal (add salsa, sour cream, some cheese and seasonings), or used it on its own with a side of low carb vegetables. It’s a great last minute standby. Related: All-natural Crock Pot Potatoes
• Burgers with smoked salt seasoning. This is one of my favorites. We have a grocery store here that makes excellent 80/20 hamburgers with nothing added to them (you have to be careful, sometimes premade burgers will contain breading and other high carb fillers). I put a smoked garlic salt on each side, grill them for about 7 minutes on each side, add some cheese (provolone, swiss or any other cheese, but white cheese tends to go best with smoky salt), and pair it with a salad. You can make your own ranch dressing if you buy organic ranch dressing seasoning, with just milk and sour cream. None of the bad oils and you’ve got yourself a low carb, healthy dressing.  Related: Trans Fats Addictive and Unhealthy