Low Carb Dinner Menu, May 2 - 7, 1010

Planning it seems, is the key to success. Vegetables include salad, green beans, and whatever is in the freezer. I know it's not very creative, but it's quick and easy to plan my vegys this way.

Sunday - Cajun spiced shrimp (on sale and already cooked from HEB - happiness)

Monday - Cheeseburger pie

Tuesday -Pork chops

Wednesday -Chicken wings

Thursday -Meatloaf

Friday -Pork loin

I always make enough for leftovers for lunch. Breakfast includes eggs, bacon, ham, and a Jay Robb Protein shake. I bought Oscar Mayer center cut bacon yesterday. It's perfect for cooking in the oven. It comes out just right. Luckily I've got DH trained to cook breakfast. Yes, I am a princess.

Snacks - beef jerky, Slim Jims, diet jello, strawberries, nuts (careful), and raw vegys (cauliflower, broccoli, celery)

The Slippery Slope of Dieting

Stress ~ Time of Month ~ Illness ~ Plateau

All of these factors play a role in the slippery slope of dieting. During the past couple of months I've faced each of these challenges. A couple of times, I've faced all four challenges at once. This is hard on Psyche. How do you overcome the challenges and continue forth with your plan?

You might have noticed I haven't posted in the past couple of weeks. My stress level is at an all time high. TOM came for a visit and I've had an upper respiratory infection that has basically kicked my butt. I'm in survival mode. I've been on a see-saw plateau for awhile now. It's frustrating and hard. It's all I can do to hang in there and not shove carbs down my throat in order to cope.

I guess I'm human after all.

Planning has come to a stand still. I have a freezer full of meat. I pick something, defrost it, and cook it. Vegetables come in a frozen bag or can. I've been eating a lot of Slim Jims and salads. The salads come from the drive through fast food places. It's not ideal, but at least it's on plan (sort of). I'm out of sorts to the point that I'm just not focused. How do I pull myself back together?

I'm going off plan tonight. On purpose. I'll probably feel sick from it tomorrow, but I need a break. I need a dose of priority. I've got one more month to get through before I am given a short time of freedom. May is an extremely busy month for me. The stress will increase, and the time I have to cope will decrease. This is my last weekend to before my world goes topsy-turvy. I'm going to eat Mexican food.

I know, I know. Forgive me, my low carb friends. I won't go crazy, I promise.

This weekend I will plan and shop for May. I'll figure out a way to slide on the slippery slope to success. But tonight, I am going to take a break from life and dieting for an hour with my family enjoying something I haven't indulged in for months. I will forgive myself and move on. Tomorrow is a new day. This weekend is a time for renewed commitments. I need a fresh start. Stay with me.

What's In Your Freezer?

I've been rather busy this weekend, and payday comes in the middle of the week, so this week it's all about what's in the freezer. I'm learning to pick up extra meat when it's on sale. This keeps my freezer full of choices when life gets busy. I also keep around bags of steamable vegys.

This morning I pulled out pork chops for dinner. I poked around my freezer and discovered hamburger patties, steaks, a roast, pork loin, and Bratwurst sausage DH must have bought because I will never, ever eat it. I think that will cover us for a few days.

I have some vegys I need to cut up and steam before they go bad. Actually, I better check -they might already be gone. Yikes! I'm terrible when it comes to using up the fresh vegys I buy. Frozen bags work for me.

Strawberries are the lowest carb fruit, and even lower than many vegys. Recently strawberries have been on sale. I bought several packages for .99 cents each! Strawberries for dessert! Sometimes they are sweet, sometimes not. If not, I'll sprinkle a little Splenda on them and let them sit. Not too much though, Splenda does have carbs.

Tip 1: Pick up meat when it's on sale and throw it in your freezer.
Tip 2: Keep frozen steamable vegys in your freezer.
Tip 3: When you get too busy to plan -raid your freezer!

Dinner Menu Week of April 6 - 9, 2010

I found a 1 carb per 3 oz. ham at the grocery store. I didn't add any glaze to sweeten it up, so it will be a plain ham to go with my plain green beans. It's a plain Easter dinner. At least I have Easter eggs! This is going to be a tough week, so I'm keeping it simple.

Monday

Bacon, cheeseburgers without the buns and a side salad

Tuesday

Beef fajitas on low carb tortillias

Wednesday

Variation of chicken fried steak (dip the steak in Worcheshire sauce and Carbquik) & steamed vegys

Thursday

Pan fried pork loins & steamed vegys

Friday

Homemade chicken wings & salad

Gone Into Hiding -Life Is NOT a Bowl of Cherries

A cup of cherries is 21.4 carbs.

Okay, I confess, I've been in hiding. I've hit a weight loss wall. I'm frustrated, tired, cranky, and ticked off. I'm a teacher, and this is my testing time of the year which equals a woman's time of the month, except it's longer and more painful. Actually, it's just stressful.

It's hard to think about what I'm putting in my mouth when I'm worrying about 70 kids passing a state test. I'm working double time right now trying to stay positive and keep things interesting. Last week I didn't plan. I winged it.

Winging it is not a good thing. I managed, but it wasn't easy. I had wings out at least twice, Cracker Barrel's low carb menu once, a steak from Texas Roadhouse, and drive through grilled chicken salads. Winging it is also expensive.

I remind myself daily: I'm not on a diet. This is my way of eating for life. Carbs equal high blood sugar.

But I'm also on a diet. I'm halfway to my goal, and now I've hit a stall wall. I started see-sawing back and forth (3 pounds come and go) two months ago. Other dieters tell me this is a plateau. Everyone experiences it. Sometimes they last for months. I want to be at my goal weight this summer, so I'm having a hard time accepting this stall. I've tried different "tricks" to no avail.

Next week is testing week. It's long, hard, boring few days. In the past I've snacked my way through the day. I can't do that this year. I've got to plan ahead. Yesterday I bought 3 dozen eggs. It's Easter. I'm going make lots and lots of Easter eggs for the week. Easter eggs taste better, don't they?

I'm going to Sams today and raid the meat department. Part of my problem last week was that I didn't have extra meat in the freezer. It was time to stock up but I was at the end of the month if you know what I mean. I bought meat that was on sale at Krogers yesterday. Today I'm going to try cutting up vegys (zuchinni, yellow squash, bell pepper, carrots, brocolli, and cauliflower) and mixing them up in plastic bags for the week. That way I can steam them in those steamable bags. Planning is crucial for survival this week. Today is the day to plan.

If you are wondering about my weight loss challenge, I'm stalled at 179, and today is weigh in day. I've lost two pounds in 8 weeks. No wonder I'm depressed! Well, this is not the time to stop. It's the time to move forward and continue again. I'm going to start a new challenge: 13 by 31. My goal is to lose 13 pounds by Memorial Day (May 31st). It's an inverted lucky 13. Join me, leave comments (encouragement), and let's help each other make it. Are you in?

Dinner Plans for March 22 - 26, 2010

I've decided to try something a little different this week. Well, okay, the food isn't different, just the time spent cooking. Can we say casseroles and microwave? All together now...

All in one evening (okay, Sunday would have been better if I didn't get all lazy, but I did work out for the first time in a few months, so that should count for something) bake up -

Low Carb Meatloaf (I like to add chopped onion and bell pepper.)

Cheeseburger Pie (I like to add a package of real bacon pieces and a healthy dose of Greek Seasoning. I added a tsp. of seasoning salt tonight. We shall see...)

Supper Popover

Now keep some quick grilling sausage in the fridge, frozen bags of steamable vegies, and you are good to go for lunch and dinner. Good thing too because DH is working late. Perhaps I can talk him into frying me up some wings on Friday night...yum (Frank's Hot Sauce & butter). I really need to talk myself into going to the store and buying eggs. I'm out and I think it would be a good idea to boil a dozen (not to mention I need eggs for breakfast), but it's 8:00 p.m. and I have a novel to write, so perhaps I can talk DH into picking up eggs on the way home (rolling eyes).

I realize this is a simple week of meals - nothing new (the Supper Popover is new), but I need an easy week of cooking, so it's good to make plans and cook ahead at times. And when all else fails - go out! Okay, maybe not.

Supper Popover

I'm beginning to learn that it's possible to enjoy favorite foods when you alter the ingredients to make a low carb version. I have a wonderful Supper Popover recipe I've avoided for years due to the flour. Now that I've discovered Carbquik, I was able to recreate one my favorite dishes.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Brown, drain 1 lb. of ground beef

Stir into the ground beef:

1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
2 tbsp. Carbquik
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. parsley flakes

Heat to boiling for 1 minute & stir. Pour into an ungreased rectangular pan or casserole dish (about 9 x 9).

Spread 2 cups of cheese over the ground beef mixture.

Mix:

2 eggs (beat)
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp. oil
1 cup Carbquik (sifted)
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour the mixture evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle diced onions on top of the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. 6 carbs per serving.

I'm In Love - Low Carb Chocolate Heaven

I just died and went to chocolate heaven.

Okay...seriously. I just found Chocoperfection. I was in my local health food store the other day when I ran across a chocolate bar that claimed to be low carb. I laughed and thought, "Yeah, right. Like those Russell Stover's so called sugar free chocolates." I turned the bar over to look at the nutrition facts (always look on the back for the nutrition facts of a product).

Total Carbohydrate: 16 grams
Dietary Fiber: 14 grams

2 net grams of carbs for the entire bar! Are you kidding me? Zero sugars. I thought, "I bet this tastes like dirt."

I forked over nearly $4 anyway.

OMG! I've tried Ghirardelli dark chocolates coming it at about 4 carbs per square. They work. I've tried Godiva dark chocolates coming in at about 3 carbs for a small bite. It's good. But who needs the leaders in chocolate when there is Chocoperfection?

The smooth, sinful European dark chocolate is naturally sugar free, gluten-free, and made with 60% cocoa. And it tastes a little milky, you know, like milk chocolate instead of just bitter dark chocolate. I can break off a piece and let it melt into my happy mouth. I'm satisfied. I can literally live off of a piece a day, but if I want, I can indulge in the entire bar.

In case you were wondering: dry cocoa solids, 60% Oligofrutose (a prebiotic fiber?), cocoa butter, soy lecithin(no tummy aches, so I'm ignoring this ingredient), and natural flavors (chocolate?). I honestly don't know what all of these things are, and quite frankly, I don't want to know. I've found chocolate heaven! And I'm staying there.

This is exactly what I was looking for and it's worth the price (although I wouldn't mind if the price were lower). There are times when I need chocolate. Really I do. It's a girl thing. Kind of like shoes. Speaking of needing chocolate. I finished off the last bar. Gotta go...

Wing Stop - The CARBS Are In!

First let me say this is a sad, sad post. I love Wing Stop wings. I can eat 20 without taking a breath, but I was concerned that I was gulping down too many carbs. I checked their website for the nutritional info. Nada. I asked in two different store locations. Nothing. No info.

Today I received an email back from their corporate office. For every two wings, you get 1 carb. 20 wings = 10 carbs. Yikes! That's half my daily allowance. Now let me tell you. I will still eat their wings. Especially on DD's dance night when I am stuck across town for three hours in the evening. I will plan for a zero carb breakfast and VLC lunch. I can indulge in my wings guilt free if I plan right.

My rolling eyes occur due to the times I assumed (and we know what assume means) that my wings were 0 carbs. Not all wings are made equal, or carb free. Lesson learned.

Low Carb Restaurant Review - Logan's Roadhouse

Yesterday I went to Logan's Roadhouse for the first time. I wanted to go somewhere different (and did despite the balking of my two kids). We entered the nearly empty restaurant between lunch and dinner (what I call "dunchtime"). And waited. And waited. And waited. I was about ready to give up when a chippery girl finally approached us and showed us to a table right away.

The menu was as I expected. The usual steak, chicken, burgers, shrimp. No problem. They had "healthy" selections. I selected a 6 ounce sirloin, broccoli, and a side salad (I asked for full fat dressing). DH had grilled tilapia, broccoli, and a side salad.

The salad was simple: lettuce, a little diced tomato, and a few strips of carrots. It was just the right size and fresh.

The steak was okay, not Texas Roadhouse, but as good as it gets at home. The portion of broccoli was small. I was still hungry when I finished. Next time I will add seasoned vegys or something. DH said his tilapia was well seasoned, but like me, he was still hungry when he finished his meal. It was a low calorie meal that didn't last long. The price was a little higher than Texas Roadhouse for less food. Not sure how I feel about that.

I give Logan's Roadhouse 3 stars out of 5 for the food, and 4 stars out of 5 for low carb choices.