Low Carb Dinner Menu, Week of July 22-26, 2012

It's time to get back to menu planning. Life is easier when you plan.

Monday
I bought a bag of crab legs and a bag of cooked shrimp at Sam's. I plan to whip up a salad to go with it. I'll get DH to make some low carb cocktail sauce to go with the shrimp. Of course, you can dip crab into some melted butter. Yum!
Tuesday
I'm going to try making zucchini boats. You cut off the ends of the zucchini, then cut it in half lengthwise. Next, you scoop out the seeds. Brown some ground beef with garlic and olive oil (and other Italian seasonings). Spoon some of the ground beef into the zucchini boats. Top with slice cherry tomatoes or low carb spaghetti sauce (or season tomato sauce) and parmesan cheese. Broil for a couple of minutes.
Wednesday
I love cube steak! Dredge the steaks lightly in Worcestershire sauce and Carbquik, then fry them up in vegetable oil. I'm a bit fond of eating cube steak with reduced sugar ketchup. I'll add a salad for a side.
Thursday
Several years ago, I created a recipe that my DH loves! I call it chicken breast with vegetables. I season my chicken breasts, then add some fresh tomatoes on top, and chopped zucchini and summer squash. Sprinkle the veggies with some seasoning (I use Greek seasoning). Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Top each breast with cheddar cheese, and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes.
Friday
I think I'll make a pork tenderloin, but I need to Google to find a seasoning recipe that appeals to me.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups with Coconut Oil

You don't need me to tell you the benefits of coconut oil. It's rich in vitamins and minerals, and is called the healthiest oil on Earth. If you are a believer in CO, but have a hard time forcing it down your throat, then you must try this recipe for chocolate peanut butter cups with coconut oil. It's a delicious, low carb treat packed with healthy goodness.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of expeller pressed coconut oil (you can also make this with 1/2 a stick of butter)
2 squares of 1-1/2 squares of Baker's Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
1/3 cup Splenda
1 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp. Jif Natural Peanut Butter

Put 15 mini muffin papers into a mini muffin pan (do this first). Spray with Pam. Place the chocolate in a glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave for one minute. Take it out and stir it with a spoon. Quickly dump the rest of the ingredients in the measuring cup. Place the measuring cup back into the microwave for one minute. Take it out and stir it well. If the ingredients need to melt more, place it back in the microwave for 30 seconds. Take it out and stir it until it's well blended. Pour the mixture into each muffin tin (almost all the way up). Place the muffin pan into the refrigerator. Once the chocolate peanut butter cups are set, you can take them out and eat them. Store them in a plastic zip baggy in the refrigerator. 2.6 carbs each (Be careful with these! You don't want to overeat them.)

UPDATE: I just made a batch, but I didn't feel like messing with the mini muffin pan and papers. The batch fits perfectly into a rectangular Pyrex storage container. I'm going to cut it like fudge! I also added 1 T. of DaVinci's Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup to get it a little more chocolaty without the extra carbs. 

Low Carb Strawberry Milkshake

Hold onto your taste buds, because you are not going to believe this until you try it. I did it totally by accident. I created a low carb strawberry milkshake (minus the milk and ice cream). The only thing that is missing is the thickness that comes with the ice cream. I was just throwing stuff into the blender, but I had no idea it was going to taste just like a strawberry milkshake. I even though to myself, "Oh, this tastes familiar" (that's how long it's been since I've had a real one). Then I took another sip, and just about flipped when I realized what I did.

Ingredients:

1 packet of Jay Robb's Whey Strawberry Protein Powder (this will not do it alone)
2/3 club soda
1/3 heavy whipping cream
good splash of Davinci's sugar free strawberry syrup (makes the difference)
1 tbsp of chia gel for good measure

Whip it up in the blender. Add ice and set to chop. Pour in a glass and drink up! 3 carbs

Sneaky Carbs

One of the biggest sabotagers of a low carb diet is sneaky carbs. You've been working hard counting your carbs, but you still can't lose weight. What gives? It's time to sniff out the sneaky carbs. Here are some tips for eliminating unwanted carbs from your diet.

Tip 1: Assume Nothing. Read the nutritional information on the back of every package. Ignore the front of the package, especially packages that claim low net carbs or sugar free. Nine times out of ten it's a bunch of bunk. Personally, I think it should be against the law to call a food item sugar free if it has carbs in it, after all, we all know that carbs break down as sugar in our bodies. Watch out for so-called net carbs too. Food companies (including Atkins) remove xylitol from its carb count. This stuff effects different people in different ways. One person may be fine with it, yet another person may experience blood sugar spikes. Watch out for any ingredient that ends in -ol. Look at the actual carbs on the nutritional label yourself. You can subtract fiber for your net carbs, but that's it. Hidden carbs in packages are sneaky little boogers.

Tip 2: Round up. If the package says less than one carb, round up to one. Less than one carb doesn't equal zero carbs. Round up to avoid over eating carbs.

Tip 3: Factor in the Serving Size. Make sure you look at the serving size on the nutritional ingredients label. You turned over the package, and it says two carbs. But that two carbs is for ONE TEASPOON. Factor in the serving size. Is that all you are going to eat? One teaspoon? Serving sizes can make or break the carb count.

Tip 4: Weigh and Measure. Keep a tight count on carbs by weighing and measuring your food (especially vegetables and fruit). This isn't my idea of fun. I would much rather eyeball it, and I can if things are going well, but if I get stalled, out comes the scale. Write down your carb counts or enter them into an online program, but if you are seriously worried about over eating carbs, you will need a good kitchen scale.

Tip 5: Carry Stevia. Carry a small bottle of Stevia in your purse, backpack, briefcase, or whatever you carry around. Next time you grab an iced tea, skip the Splenda or artificial sugar and use Stevia instead. It's zero carbs (unlike Splenda). This way you don't get caught in a pinch. I hate the taste of aspartame (not to mention it scares me), so I'll use Splenda, but Splenda does have carbs, so I carry a little bottle of Stevia in my purse to sweeten tea and coffee on the go.

Weekend Fat Fast

I've decided to try a hybrid of Atkin's Fat Fast over the weekend. I am not at work on Friday, so I'm going to do a three day fat fast to see how it goes. On the Atkin's Fat Fast, you are supposed to get 90% of your calories from fat, eat 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day, and stick to 1000 calories. I've decided to try 1200 calories with one meal being a protein shake. I'm going to have five mini meals each day. I've worked out the calories (not that I'm a big believer in the whole calorie thing, but I'll play for a weekend), fat, protein, fiber and carbs. If I want to back up to 1000 calories, I can nix the protein shake. I plan to eat a mini meal every 2 to 3 hours.

Mini Meal # 1
2 scrambled eggs in 1 tbsp. butter

Mini Meal # 2
1/2 cup Super Jello

Mini Meal # 3
1 -5 oz can of tuna with 1 tbsp. of real mayo (plus a little sugar free relish, Morton's Lite Salt, and pepper)

Mini Meal # 4
2 deviled eggs (from 1 whole egg made with 1/2 tsp. real mayo, a little sugar free relish, a dash of salt and pepper, a smidgeon of mustard, and a dash of paprika on top)
6 macadamia nuts
2 tbsp. HEB's Natural Guacamole

Mini Meal # 5
Jay Robb's Protein Shake (1 scoop of protein powder, 3/4 cup club soda, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tbsp. DaVinci's, 1 tbsp. chia gel, 1 tbsp. flaxmeal)

Liquids: coffee, tea, water (sweetened with Stevia)
I am going to drink a lot of Oolong tea throughout the weekend. Oolong tea is delicious and known for helping with weight loss.

I will continue my supplements during my Weekend Fat Fast. My weight today is 189. I will report my results on Monday morning.

Low Carb Book Review: How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds by Dana Carpender

    I just finished reading How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds by Dana Carpender. I knew her name based on her reputation for creating great low carb recipes and cookbooks, so when I saw her book, I decided to purchase it. Dana's book is just what I needed to help me get back on track. Here's the thing: the woman has done her homework, explains medical and science stuff in normal speak, and has eight years of low carbing under her belt. She's a walking example of how anyone can live a low carb lifestyle.
Dana is an Atkin's gal, but she recognizes that different people have different bodies, and what works for one person might not work for another person. She does a great job of explaining the reason everyone should eat low carb (based on scientific and medical research studies), but then she goes on to explain some of the different low carb diets out there -the pros / cons, and reasons why a diet may or may not work for a person. She doesn't say, "You have to do this, or you have to do that." Instead, she tells you the various options, and even talks about creating your own hybrid plan. It's all a great low carb experiment to figure out what works best for your body, lifestyle, and weight goals.
I read her book on my Kindle. There were some fabulous recipes (how to make your own yogurt), resources, and references. It was enough to get me to finally figure out how to highlight/bookmark pages (which is really easy btw). If you are new to low carb, or a veteran, I highly recommend this book. It's a great, easy to understand read.

Magic Weight Loss Meal

This is an experiment of the low carb kind (less than 2 carbs). Can a mini magic meal jump start weight loss? Can it help a person become *cough* "regular"? I'm convinced my mini magic meal could do the trick. At the very least, it will give you a nutritious bang for your buck.

Magic Weight Loss Meal

1/4 cup of flaxmeal
1 tbsp. of butter
1 tbsp. of heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. of chia gel
2 tbsp. of hot water

Pour your flaxmeal in a bow. Cut the butter into small squares and spread it around on top of the flaxmeal. Pour in the hot water and stir until the butter is melted. Add the heavy whipping cream and chia gel. Stir well. It's kind of thick and goopy and okay, it's brown, but it tastes good -very much like oatmeal, and it keeps you feeling full and satisfied.

Note: You might want to try this on a day that you are home for a couple of hours after eating. It's a good idea to see how your body reacts to it first. So far, my body has reacted very well (normal), but rather quickly (the urge to purge comes rather fast if you know what I mean).

How to Make Chia Gel

Mix 1/3 cup of chia seeds with 2 cups of water. It takes about 10 minutes to gel. Store it in the fridge. It lasts for about a week. It's rather tasteless. Mix it into protein shakes or any baking recipes. I've also heard that it help to moisten ground turkey and meatloaf type meals. You can also add chia seeds to your salad. It's the newly discovered (yet, rather ancient) super food! Read more about chia seeds here.

Are Freezer Vegetables Healthy?

Yes. IF you make them yourself.

Let me explain. I like convenience in a microwave package. Just like everyone else, I'm in a hurry all the damn time. Grabbing a bag of vegetables out of the freezer and popping them into the microwave makes my life easier. So I didn't think twice about buying vegetables out of the frozen food section of the supermarket. I just assumed (and we know what that means) that my freezer vegetables were just vegetables (and perhaps EVOO, butter, herbs, and spices).

So in my quest to go very low carb again, I decided to take a look at the carbs on the frozen vegetables I have in the freezer - you know, just to make sure. SHOCK! Why didn't I look before now? Fourteen carbs for a half cup serving! Say what? How is that possible? There's a smidgeon of carrots in there, but really, FOURTEEN carbs? Really? So what gives?

The words "fructose, corn starch, and modified" were enough to have me running for the hills. And that's just the beginning of the list. What possessed the food companies to load a bag of healthy vegetables with a bunch of unhealthy crap? And how dare they put the word "healthy" on the box when clearly it's not!

Moving on to plan B: I'm going to make my own freezer bag vegetables (as soon as my Foodsaver arrives). I'm dreaming up vegetable combos, and searching for herbs and spices to complement my healthy freezer vegetables. This is how I see it: one day, lots of veggies, chop, bag, add spices (and EVOO or butter), suck out the air, freeze (in a steamer bag). Who needs Green Giant? I can spend one day making a month's worth of vegetable freezer bags. The end result: a healthier, happier me. I'll post my vegetable combos soon, so stay tuned.

Super Jello

Do you need to add some fat to your diet? Are you looking for a very low carb snack to keep you from going on a carb binge? I tinkered around with sugar free Jello until I came up with a creamy sensation. A little Super Jello goes a long way to satiating hunger.

Ingredients:
1- 0.30 OZ box of sugar free Jello (any flavor of the smaller box)
1/2 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese (4 carbs)
1 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

Directions:
(1) Boil one cup of water.
(2) Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place in a microwave safe glass bowl. Place the cream cheese into the microwave for about one minute. Stir the cream cheese until all of the lumps are removed and the cream cheese is smooth.
(3) Pour the Jello into a bowl (I used a plastic bowl with a lid, so that I could put it straight into the fridge). Pour the hot water into the Jello and stir quickly until all of the gelatin is dissolved.
(4) Pour heavy whipping cream into the bowl and use a hand whip to stir until well blended.
(5) Use a spatula to pour the cream cheese into the Jello mixture. Use the hand whip to stir the mixture until well blended. Put the lid on the bowl and place it in the fridge until it's completely gelled.

1/2 cup per serving, 4 servings, 1 carb per serving

Kick It Up a Notch:
You will quickly find that this rich and creamy treat is very satisfying. You probably won't be able to eat an entire half cup serving at once. I spoon out two to three spoonfuls and I'm a happy girl. But perhaps you want to kick it up a notch on the nutrition ladder? Add a couple of tablespoons of chia gel to your Super Jello to make it super nutritious!

Return of Low Carb Underground

I'm back! If you read my last few posts, you will see that after losing 50 pounds, I hit a stall wall. I couldn't find a way around, under it, over it, or thru it. After months of seeing absolutely no results, I began to slip down the slippery slope of carb eating evil. I gained it all back, plus some! Not good, right? After a year of going back to the devil, I began to lose weight eating anything I wanted. Oh, I would have a low carb day here and there. I even avoided flour and sugar (most of the time), but I didn't pass up the desserts on goody day at work, or miss out on a bowl of ice cream when I was in the mood for it. But I was losing weight!

You guessed it. High blood sugar = unhealthy weight loss. My vision went wonky again. I was tired, sick, and suffering from recurrent yeast infections. I lost almost all of the weight I gained, but not in the right way. My blood sugar is officially out of control. And here I am again. I now resolve to eat low carb even if I stall! It's not just about weight loss anymore, it's about my health. Sugar is the devil incarnate. It's evil. It's toxic poison and I'm determined to get it out of my system. So here I go again, but this time, it's for a lifetime.