Yogurt for breakfast, snacked on some Veggie Straws while watching an early afternoon movie, and broiled steak with buttered broccoli and a little shredded cheese on top for supper.
A note about Veggie Straws: Yeah, they're kinda carby, at 14gN per 38 straws. I measured out 50 straws into a bowl and count it as 20gN; 50 straws will fill exactly even with the top of one of my bowls, so that makes it convenient and I don't count every time.
By all means, if you are trying to lose weight eating low carb, don't eat these things. The carbs are almost pure starch. They don't make me gain but if I were wanting to lose, they'd definitely stop my weight loss, no matter how few I ate. Be warned.
(As my occasional reminder, I'm not eating to lose weight at present, although I seem to be losing anyway, albeit very slowly - 18# last year according to my doctor - but I do try to keep my daily net carb allowance to 40-50gN/day. Most days it's less, some days it's more, occasionally it's a lot more, but overall the way I eat may not be the way others on low carb eat. Please take whatever is useful from my experience and recipes and ignore whatever I do/eat that doesn't fit into your particular plan. Should I decide to lose the rest of my weight at some point, I will do things differently and you will be the first to know :).)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
#Lowcarb Recipe: Enchilada Bake
Last recipe post for the day - and probably for the week :). This is one I threw together because I had an intense craving for Mexican food. It's maybe a little carbier than some of the others but was definitely worth it - and tasted even better reheated the next day!
I put some enchilada (carb-cheap! who knew?) in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish, then a low carb tortilla onto which I'd spread some refried beans, then sprinkled a handful of shredded cheese on it and spooned some sauce over; then another tortilla, a layer of crumbled ground beef that had been browned with chopped onion, cheese, and sauce; another tortilla/beans/cheese/sauce; another tortilla/beef/cheese sauce; and a final tortilla with beans, then sauce again, and topped it with a big handful of shredded cheese. Baked it in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes, or until the cheese started to brown on top, then served it with a generous heap of full fat sour cream on top.
This was EXCELLENT! The photo below shows one serving, or 1/8 of the entire recipe. I haven't figured up the carbs yet because I threw away the cans for the beans and the sauce without thinking but I will be buying more. Certainly the tortillas (7gN each) and the beans were the carbiest parts, and if I had to try to remember what the cans listed for net carbs, and do the math in my head, I'd say there were close to 100gN in the entire recipe, plus the sour cream...but that's 8 portions, so only 12-13 per portion, plus sour cream. But that could be way wrong :). I'll check when I go to Sav-a-Lot tomorrow.
Here's a photo, you can see that the servings are plenty big!
I put some enchilada (carb-cheap! who knew?) in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish, then a low carb tortilla onto which I'd spread some refried beans, then sprinkled a handful of shredded cheese on it and spooned some sauce over; then another tortilla, a layer of crumbled ground beef that had been browned with chopped onion, cheese, and sauce; another tortilla/beans/cheese/sauce; another tortilla/beef/cheese sauce; and a final tortilla with beans, then sauce again, and topped it with a big handful of shredded cheese. Baked it in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes, or until the cheese started to brown on top, then served it with a generous heap of full fat sour cream on top.
This was EXCELLENT! The photo below shows one serving, or 1/8 of the entire recipe. I haven't figured up the carbs yet because I threw away the cans for the beans and the sauce without thinking but I will be buying more. Certainly the tortillas (7gN each) and the beans were the carbiest parts, and if I had to try to remember what the cans listed for net carbs, and do the math in my head, I'd say there were close to 100gN in the entire recipe, plus the sour cream...but that's 8 portions, so only 12-13 per portion, plus sour cream. But that could be way wrong :). I'll check when I go to Sav-a-Lot tomorrow.
Here's a photo, you can see that the servings are plenty big!
#Lowcarb Recipe: Creamy Beef Mushroom Casserole
This is something I made just today. I wanted warm creamy comfort food and this absolutely filled the bill!
First I rinsed, drained, and lightly chopped some shirataki noodles. Then I crumbled ground beef into a pan with the noodles and cooked it until the beef was browned, and added about a half-cup of frozen asparagus that I had left, chopped into 1/2" pieces, plus a can of mushrooms and 2 Tbsp of Knorr Alfredo Sauce mix to coat it all with 2 Tbsp of butter and a little sea salt. When the butter was melted I added a cup of cream, and let it come to a boil, stirring constantly, then down to simmer. When the sauce had thickened.
This is just very basic, and, although delicious, could be easily modified with any meats or vegetables you might have in the house, and any spices you'd care to add as well. If I liked spicy, for example, I might have added pepper flakes. And now that I'm out of frozen asparagus, I could see adding green beans or brussels sprouts (halved probably), or spinach. Certainly it would work with chicken or pork also. But it was quick, easy, cheap, basic, filling, comforting, and low in carbs. Perfect!
First I rinsed, drained, and lightly chopped some shirataki noodles. Then I crumbled ground beef into a pan with the noodles and cooked it until the beef was browned, and added about a half-cup of frozen asparagus that I had left, chopped into 1/2" pieces, plus a can of mushrooms and 2 Tbsp of Knorr Alfredo Sauce mix to coat it all with 2 Tbsp of butter and a little sea salt. When the butter was melted I added a cup of cream, and let it come to a boil, stirring constantly, then down to simmer. When the sauce had thickened.
This is just very basic, and, although delicious, could be easily modified with any meats or vegetables you might have in the house, and any spices you'd care to add as well. If I liked spicy, for example, I might have added pepper flakes. And now that I'm out of frozen asparagus, I could see adding green beans or brussels sprouts (halved probably), or spinach. Certainly it would work with chicken or pork also. But it was quick, easy, cheap, basic, filling, comforting, and low in carbs. Perfect!
#Lowcarb Recipe: Simple Cabbage Noodle Side
This was so easy...I rinsed a package of shirataki noodles. While they were draining I cut some onion into skinny slivers and put it, along with a bag of slaw mix, into a hot pan with a little bacon fat in the bottom. When they started to get limp, I added the noodles, and handful of fresh pea pods, and some sliced mushrooms, then seasoned it all with sesame oil and soy sauce, along with powdered garlic and ginger (heavy on the ginger!). Reduced the heat, covered, and when the cabbage was cooked, served it with some chicken that I'd brined with garlic and lots of ginger, in addition to the sea salt and some Diabetisweet Brown Sugar sub before roasting.
#Lowcarb Recipe: Stuffed Chicken Breasts
I know it says breasts but I think it would be great with thighs also...I had breasts I'd just gotten on sale though (99¢/lb) so I used those.
For the stuffing I combined equal parts (maybe a couple of Tbsp each) of full-fat cream cheese, butter, and parmesan from the green can. Then I mashed in about a Tbsp of Knorr's Alfredo sauce mix.
I took the resulting glop and, after separating the skin from the meat to make a pocket, stuffed the breasts. (I didn't think of it, but afterward I realized I could have cut slits into the meat to get the flavor even more into it.) After all 4 were stuffed, I brushed the tops with olive oil and put them into a 375ยบ oven; because the breasts were enormous, it took them nearly an hour to get done.
But OHHHHHHH were they worth it! The meat was so juicy, and infused with the flavors of the stuffing...it was AMAZING!!!
For the stuffing I combined equal parts (maybe a couple of Tbsp each) of full-fat cream cheese, butter, and parmesan from the green can. Then I mashed in about a Tbsp of Knorr's Alfredo sauce mix.
I took the resulting glop and, after separating the skin from the meat to make a pocket, stuffed the breasts. (I didn't think of it, but afterward I realized I could have cut slits into the meat to get the flavor even more into it.) After all 4 were stuffed, I brushed the tops with olive oil and put them into a 375ยบ oven; because the breasts were enormous, it took them nearly an hour to get done.
But OHHHHHHH were they worth it! The meat was so juicy, and infused with the flavors of the stuffing...it was AMAZING!!!
Catching Up - AGAIN! and Restaurants #lowcarb
Seems like life gets in the way of blogging every so often. Plus, when things are just going along smoothly, we're eating the usual things every day with not much new, it is hard to get inspired to blog about it. And that's about how things have been the last couple of weeks, it seems.
If I'm going to eat carbs, it is almost always at a restaurant. For some reason I have a mindset that restaurants are "special" and the rules don't apply. Of course I realize they do, I still use utensils instead of my fingers :) but when in a restaurant, I have an "it's ok, this is different" sort of mindset that I don't otherwise have.
Overcoming that is sometimes done by compromise. "If I eat a big salad first, then veggies and meats, if I'm still hungry I'll have a potato skin with butter and sour cream!" That works at places like Ponderosa or Coyle's, both buffets.
Just a note here: I tend to do better at buffets. That seems backwards, but being able to "load up" my plate feels great. Doesn't matter that it's all low carb fare, it just feels good.
So we ate at Ponderosa early last week. I got a meal - only $1 more than the buffet but before it came I ate a big salad. Then the food came, and I had my meat. Then I scooped out the potato skin thoroughly, wrapped it around butter and sour cream, and it was great! (Most of the carbs in potatoes are in the white centers...but I'm sure you already know that.)
Not so well at the Chinese buffet this week. The peanut chicken got me. I need to learn how to make that at home, really. Then it won't be such a big weakness at the Chinese place.
Both times, those meals were the only meal of the day. I find myself doing that a lot more lately, not getting hungry, eating a meal mid-afternoon, maybe a small snack early evening or maybe not...then not getting hungry again until the next day.
I have a couple of dishes I've made, but will enter those as separate entries so that they're easier to find later.
If I'm going to eat carbs, it is almost always at a restaurant. For some reason I have a mindset that restaurants are "special" and the rules don't apply. Of course I realize they do, I still use utensils instead of my fingers :) but when in a restaurant, I have an "it's ok, this is different" sort of mindset that I don't otherwise have.
Overcoming that is sometimes done by compromise. "If I eat a big salad first, then veggies and meats, if I'm still hungry I'll have a potato skin with butter and sour cream!" That works at places like Ponderosa or Coyle's, both buffets.
Just a note here: I tend to do better at buffets. That seems backwards, but being able to "load up" my plate feels great. Doesn't matter that it's all low carb fare, it just feels good.
So we ate at Ponderosa early last week. I got a meal - only $1 more than the buffet but before it came I ate a big salad. Then the food came, and I had my meat. Then I scooped out the potato skin thoroughly, wrapped it around butter and sour cream, and it was great! (Most of the carbs in potatoes are in the white centers...but I'm sure you already know that.)
Not so well at the Chinese buffet this week. The peanut chicken got me. I need to learn how to make that at home, really. Then it won't be such a big weakness at the Chinese place.
Both times, those meals were the only meal of the day. I find myself doing that a lot more lately, not getting hungry, eating a meal mid-afternoon, maybe a small snack early evening or maybe not...then not getting hungry again until the next day.
I have a couple of dishes I've made, but will enter those as separate entries so that they're easier to find later.
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