The finished cake (complete with icing sugar lumps!)
Carob makes a great alternative to chocolate, though it tastes a little different. In the UK, organic carob powder is available on Amazon, from Hatton Hill Organic and Buy Wholefoods Online as well as a few other vendors.
You will need a flour for this cake. In the UK you will find Dove’s Farm Spelt Flour is widely available at supermarkets and does not contain the usual additives. Alternatively, Stoate’s plain flour is currently available online at bakerybits.co.uk.
Ingredients
125g butter
150g brown sugar
1tsp vanilla powder
100g carob powder
120ml of boiling water
2 medium sized eggs
1tsp baking powder
200g Stoate’s plain flour (you could use any other wheat flour free from additives or spelt flour)
large pinch of sea salt
For the icing
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp carob powder
2 tbsp boiling water
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 360F
Butter a ceramic loaf tin or other vessel that does not have a PTFE ‘non-stick’ coating. You could use a muffin tin with paper cases, so that the cake does not touch the PTFE, but would need to reduce the baking time as these would cook faster.
Add the sugar, butter and vanilla, to a food processor and mix well
In a separate bowl whisk together the boiling water and carob powder
Add the water/carob mixture to the food processor and blend
Add the eggs, flour, salt and baking powder to the food processor and mix well again
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin
Bake for 30 minutes or until a cocktail stick or piece of spaghetti comes out clean when inserted
The cake is not especially sweet so you may wish to add the icing. Do this by mixing the icing ingredients in a cup with a spoon (you will need to sieve the icing sugar or you will get the white lumps visible in the photo!)
If you have wondered how much it would cost to go fully organic, while eating the foods recommonded for the low carbohydrate version of the YACS diet then this post is for you.
This analysis is quite specific to the UK so apologies to our global readers.
This post assumes:
You have shopped at Sainsburys for everything apart from your coconut milk which you have purchased from Holland and Barrett. This is because Sainsburys is currently lacking any suitable coconut milk. These two shops were chosen because they are widely available to consumers in the UK and because they have physical shops there was no need to take into account postage costs. Waitrose was also considered for its wide choice of organic food and availability of suitable coconut milk but ultimately not recommended for those on a budget as it increased the final shopping total by 18% for a similar basket.
That you are eating organically whenever possible, with the exception of a few items which aren’t available from either Sainsburys or Holland and Barrett. These include fennel, shallots, prosciutto and bacon without nitrates and sulphites.
That you are cooking for yourself alone. This means that the costing of the recipes are generally for 2 servings, and the extra serving from dinner is eaten the next day at lunch. If you are cooking for multiple people you may either wish to increase the quantities or cook them something different- if they are not YACS eaters.
That you want to eat reasonably well and have breakfast and a single snack per day.
Drinks weren’t included so you may need to add on the cost of bottled water if you are in a fluoride water region and don’t have a distiller, or you may want to add on the cost of some chammomile tea bags (for example).
Results
The total for the week’s worth of food was £81.15. This compares to a national average of spending approximately £45 a week on food, and that means that the YACS low carb diet is quite expensive compared to a regular diet.
Salmon and broccoli (from The Roasting Tin, leftovers)
4.09
Dinner
Pork Pilbi with butter cabbage (from the Roasting Tin, but with substitutions)
3.76
Snack
Avocado
0.75
Total
£11.09
Friday
Breakfast
Low carb granola
2.49
Lunch
Pork Pilbi (leftovers)
3.76
Dinner
Thai Okra (from The Roasting Tin)
1.86
Snack
Half a packet of prosciutto (non organic)
0.45
Total
£8.56
Saturday
Breakfast
Eggs and Naked bacon
1.90
Lunch
Thai Okra (leftovers)
1.86
Dinner
Half a whole chicken low carb butter chicken
6.85
Snack
Packet of cranberries
2.20
Total
£12.81
Sunday
Breakfast
Eggs and bacon
1.90
Lunch
Half a whole chicken low carb butter chicken (leftovers)
6.85
Dinner
vegetable curry
2.02
Snack
Packet of walnuts
1.90
Total
£12.67
Conclusion
Due to the Low Carb YACS diet’s expense you may find it difficult to afford depending on your circumstances.
If you are a student who finds that carbohydrate makes you feel lethargic or sleepy, you may have to make a compromise such as only eating Low Carb YACS during the exam and revision period, whilst eating a regular moderate carb YACS diet the rest of the year.
If the Low Carb YACS diet is within your budget and you find carbs make you lethargic then go for it! It is difficult to put a price on health and wellness.
If you want to eat low carb but really can’t afford the budgeted cost then consider not eating organically, (hopefully this will be a temporary decision for you) and making changes such as eating more eggs and more pork mince (e.g. homemade meatballs) as this is a cheaper cut of meat.
Blend the spice mix in the food processor to make a paste
Add the coconut milk and blend again
Put the remaining ingredients in a roasting tin and cover with the spice mix sauce
Place in the over and bake for 1 hour, checking the chicken is cooked through, and the sweet potato is soft before eating
Note the portions are quite small here – just 1 piece of chicken per person so if you need a bit more you could add twice as much chicken to stay low carb or serve with a piadina or rice.
Y.A.C.S. Info 