Keto Cooking on Lundy Island

KETO COOKING ON LUNDY ISLAND

Here’s something a little different:  I’ve just returned from our annual trip to Lundy Island.  Lundy is a small island 20 miles off the coast of North Devon, at the end of the Bristol Channel and the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean and is the last lump of granite, above sea level, until you reach America.  It is a sanctuary for sea life and birdlife, is only 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, and with no wifi or phone signal, is the most beautiful and peaceful place in the UK.

Lundy Island (Credit Unknown)

Photography is the ‘thing’ we go for.  I enjoy photographing the seals, animals, flowers and fungi, and my partner enjoys photographing the seals and the birdlife.  He is always looking upwards and I am always looking down on the ground.

Our trip in May 2020 was cancelled because of Covid, so we were delighted to have our May 2021 trip confirmed.  There clearly remain many Covid restrictions on the island, including in the Tavern, which is the heart of the community there.  Trying to decide what to eat hours in advance and picking a specific time to eat to allow the Tavern to stagger their seating and numbers was not for us, so we decided, for the first time to self-cater.  The upside to this is that we were able to maintain our keto diet.

The properties on the island are very well equipped, so I was looking forward to the challenge of cooking keto-style on this remote little island and photographing the results.  We always stay in Hanmers, a 110-year-old fisherman’s cottage on the lower east side of the island, just above the Castle.

Hanmers

Planning was key: I wrote a menu for each day and then a list of all the ingredients for each item on the menu.  Then I totalled all the amounts for each ingredient and divided them into fresh vegetables and dairy produce that I could buy from the wonderful little shop on the island and the rather specialist flours, seeds, sugar substitutes and other dried goods (that are key to keto-cooking) that I could take in a crate from home.

I weighed, mixed, bagged and labelled all my dried ingredients into individual recipe bags and simply added the dairy and wet products when required, prior to cooking on the island.  This worked a treat and cut my food preparation times quite considerably.

The result was wonderful keto and low-carb friendly meals on our favourite island and a collection of photographs that are probably a first for this wonderful little place.  I’m actually thinking I’ll do this again when we return next year.  It was great fun and I feel incredibly virtuous for not caving in to the quick-fix carbs that would have me feeling rotten for days.

The added bonus to all this is that from sticking with my keto diet and walking an average of 7 miles per day around the island, I actually came home from holiday 2lbs lighter than when I went.  It is the first time I have been on holiday and not gained weight.  How amazing is that?

So here’s a collection of photographs of the food we prepared at home in our little cottage, Hanmers, and for picnics that we took to our favourite places for lunch whilst watching the seals.  

Enjoy!