THIS is what happens when I'm not a really careful shopper. Today I was in a bit of a hurry, and made the choice to get everything at one store rather than go to my usual several stores for the things I needed. You will see a difference from the shopping lists I've posted in the past (which is why I'm posting this one as a contrast):
(2) ½ gallons SF Blue Bunny Ice Cream @ $3.78 each
(1) 34 oz. can Maxwell House Daily Brew @ $6.00
(1) carton sea salt @ $1.56
(1) 32 oz. jar mayo @ $2.42*
(2) quart cartons heavy cream @ $2.98 each*
(4) quarts half'n'half @ $1.50 each*
(1) bag granulated sucralose @ $5.46*
(1) bottle Heinz S Ketchup @ 2.16
(2) 32 oz jar Ragu NSA sauce @ $1.86
(2) 8 oz. shredded italian cheese blend @ $2.12 each*
(1) 24-pack string cheese @ $5.88
(1) half-gallon 2% milk (for my daughter) @ $1.98
(2) quarts Soy Slender SF chocolate soy milk @ $1.76 each
(4) 4 oz. cans shitake mushrooms @ $0.76 each
(2) 18-packs large eggs @ $2.22 each
(1) gallon canola oil @ $6.54*
* = store brand
Total = $71.98
This is sort of a fill-in shopping to get us through until our next big one where we load up on the meats and frozen veggies.
I haven't been posting every shopping trip because it gets kind of redundant after a while; I pretty much buy the same things every month...if someone asks or is interested, though, I can go back to posting them. Otherwise I will just figure up the costs of some of the meals to stay on the "Cheap'n'Easy" track :).
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
What I 8 Today (2/25) #lowcarb
Lunch was leftover broiled steak from yesterday. It had been seasoned well (seasoned salt, garlic powder, and chili powder) and needed nothing else.
Supper was the last of those wonderful ocean perch fillets from GFS, about which I'd written earlier this week. Nothing else with them.
Snack was ONE serving - lol - of SF chocolate ice cream.
I've had a funny tummy today so have been eating lightly.
Supper was the last of those wonderful ocean perch fillets from GFS, about which I'd written earlier this week. Nothing else with them.
Snack was ONE serving - lol - of SF chocolate ice cream.
I've had a funny tummy today so have been eating lightly.
New Blogs Worthy of Mention! #lowcarb
The first is so important, to help set right all of the misinformation and old information that is everywhere right now: http://debunkthejunkscience.blogspot.com is the link. Carol Bardelli, a very well-informed and trustworthy source, is the author of this one, and I'm excited to see where it will go and what it will teach us all!
The second is from well-known low carb diva Jamie VanEaton (aka Cleochatra) and offers even more places to find great low carb information, recipes, etc. The URL is http://fabulouslowcarblinks.blogspot.com/. And don't forget about her The Lighter Side of Low Carb blog either.
These 2 ladies are also active on Facebook (as are many of the other "low carb greats") and are a constant source of information and encouragement to so many of us!
The second is from well-known low carb diva Jamie VanEaton (aka Cleochatra) and offers even more places to find great low carb information, recipes, etc. The URL is http://fabulouslowcarblinks.blogspot.com/. And don't forget about her The Lighter Side of Low Carb blog either.
These 2 ladies are also active on Facebook (as are many of the other "low carb greats") and are a constant source of information and encouragement to so many of us!
What I 8 Wed. (2/24) #lowcarb
Lunch was a lovely taco salad. Pete had set up a taco bar for us, and had bought taco shells (7gN each) but I decided to forgo them and just make a salad. It was delicious.
Supper was a big fat steak, broiled. I ate half of it and am having the other half right now, for breakfast/lunch.
Dish of SF chocolate ice cream as a snack was soooo good that I 8 a 2nd dish - first time I've ever done that! Sugar alcohols have never bothered me before but there's a first time for everything - lol. I have never had a double serving of them before I guess! But it was sooooo goood...thought the extra 7gN were worth it. Turns out they weren't!
Supper was a big fat steak, broiled. I ate half of it and am having the other half right now, for breakfast/lunch.
Dish of SF chocolate ice cream as a snack was soooo good that I 8 a 2nd dish - first time I've ever done that! Sugar alcohols have never bothered me before but there's a first time for everything - lol. I have never had a double serving of them before I guess! But it was sooooo goood...thought the extra 7gN were worth it. Turns out they weren't!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tonight's Supper Recipes #lowcarb
Tonight I made a "triple meat" dish. Sounds strange but was SO GOOD! As always, super easy...not as always, a little pricier - but I didn't have to buy the can of crab meat ($2! I'd never buy it!)
I started with b/s chicken thighs, which I flattened. Onto each piece I put a generous blob (technical culinary term) of a mixture of cream cheese and crab meat - 1 block and 1 can, respectively. Then I rolled them up, wrapped them in bacon, and stuffed them - literally - in a Pyrex loaf pan; after 90 minutes in a 325 oven they were done. SO EASY but fancy-looking and delicious! No seasoning required.
With it I served some Dreamfield's penne pasta tossed with chopped spinach and butter, seasoned with sea salt (remember, I don't like pepper), and sprinkled some Italian blend shredded cheese.
GREAT MEAL!
I started with b/s chicken thighs, which I flattened. Onto each piece I put a generous blob (technical culinary term) of a mixture of cream cheese and crab meat - 1 block and 1 can, respectively. Then I rolled them up, wrapped them in bacon, and stuffed them - literally - in a Pyrex loaf pan; after 90 minutes in a 325 oven they were done. SO EASY but fancy-looking and delicious! No seasoning required.
With it I served some Dreamfield's penne pasta tossed with chopped spinach and butter, seasoned with sea salt (remember, I don't like pepper), and sprinkled some Italian blend shredded cheese.
GREAT MEAL!
I've Decided to Change the Way I Eat #lowcarb
When I started eating lowcarb, I lost nearly half of my excess weight in the first year...well, actually in the first 9 months. Then, for reasons I will explain below, I decided to stop for a year. Now, I have decided to start losing again. Here's the story:
After that 90# weight loss I didn't feel better about my body, I detested it. It was - and still is - a source of great disgust to me, with all of the hanging skin and flab everywhere. None of my clothes fit properly anymore, and I developed the saggy shape that is typical after a larger weight loss. You can see it in my picture: smaller on top but just as big between hips and knees because of all the flab that fell there...and looking even worse because it's saggy and totally out of proportion. In addition, all of those extra skin folds created a lot more work. No longer was a shower something that took 10 minutes after I brushed my teeth in the morning...and if I tried to abbreviate the processes that became necessary, I was rewarded with miserable rashes. So rather than "lather, rinse, dry, dress" it became "lather here, lather there, move this flap and lather under it, then repeat with a half-dozen more flaps...rinse in the same order...blow dry each, apply medicated powder...etc. A half-hour later I was ready to get dressed. (Ruby, of TLC fame, said that her morning shower ritual took her TWO HOURS!)
Enough was enough. I felt so good, and that was all that mattered. I didn't want to look even more out of proportion, didn't want flab hanging to my knees, didn't want to make my morning rituals any longer...besides, I was told that if much of my excess skin issues would resolve on their own in a year or two...
Well, now it's been 5. And no resolution of any sort. But my legs are becoming deformed, and deformity trumps everything else.
I've had arthritis in my knees (and spine, hips, and right foot) for years, according to rads, but it never bothered me all that much unless I was using a lot of stairs. And I walked on uneven terrain several miles every day without a problem, even, so I've taken them for granted. Now, however, according to my doctor, the outside of my right knee is wearing down while the inside isn't. So the lower half of my right leg is increasingly pointing out to the side; it looks more and more like a hockey stick when viewed from the front or back. And as it worsens, it is causing numerous soft tissue pain issues in muscles, ligaments, tendons, and even nerves as they are pulled and twisted with the changes in my leg, as well as the joint pain; altogether it has been so bad some days that no amount - or type - of painkiller will touch it, and I wish for a hacksaw. Literally. The ways it has affected my mobility and quality of life are so numerous I won't even try to mention them...but when I have to give up time babysitting my almost-toddler grandson, or deny him crawling activity, all because I can't walk due to pain, even with my now-ever-present cane - I need to make changes.
Still, I was procrastinating. Until last night, when I was sitting in my recliner, looked at my legs, and saw that my other leg was starting to do the same thing. I'd had pain in it for several weeks, yeah, but assumed it was because it was taking more of the weight load that I was taking off of my right. But when I saw that, and tried to straighten my leg and couldn't, I started to sob.
I am 52 years old. Will I be in a wheelchair before I'm 55? I would not be able to walk at all - or only very short distances, with a walker maybe - if my left leg started to do as my right is doing. And even if I did have health insurance and therefore access to a specialist, they don't replace knees in people who are 100# overweight.
So...out of all this comes a decision: I need to lose more weight. So how I eat will change. I'm not going all Atkins induction, but the occasional cheats will be much more "occasional"...the restaurant meals will become sparse...in short, I'll be going back to what I know worked for me before: more fats and fewer grains. I don't weigh myself regularly but when I'm eating to lose weight, it happens whether I step on the scale or not - the numbers don't matter to me. For now it's all about not becoming more crippled than I already am.
What won't change: my way of eating will still be cheap, and it will still be easy :).
After that 90# weight loss I didn't feel better about my body, I detested it. It was - and still is - a source of great disgust to me, with all of the hanging skin and flab everywhere. None of my clothes fit properly anymore, and I developed the saggy shape that is typical after a larger weight loss. You can see it in my picture: smaller on top but just as big between hips and knees because of all the flab that fell there...and looking even worse because it's saggy and totally out of proportion. In addition, all of those extra skin folds created a lot more work. No longer was a shower something that took 10 minutes after I brushed my teeth in the morning...and if I tried to abbreviate the processes that became necessary, I was rewarded with miserable rashes. So rather than "lather, rinse, dry, dress" it became "lather here, lather there, move this flap and lather under it, then repeat with a half-dozen more flaps...rinse in the same order...blow dry each, apply medicated powder...etc. A half-hour later I was ready to get dressed. (Ruby, of TLC fame, said that her morning shower ritual took her TWO HOURS!)
Enough was enough. I felt so good, and that was all that mattered. I didn't want to look even more out of proportion, didn't want flab hanging to my knees, didn't want to make my morning rituals any longer...besides, I was told that if much of my excess skin issues would resolve on their own in a year or two...
Well, now it's been 5. And no resolution of any sort. But my legs are becoming deformed, and deformity trumps everything else.
I've had arthritis in my knees (and spine, hips, and right foot) for years, according to rads, but it never bothered me all that much unless I was using a lot of stairs. And I walked on uneven terrain several miles every day without a problem, even, so I've taken them for granted. Now, however, according to my doctor, the outside of my right knee is wearing down while the inside isn't. So the lower half of my right leg is increasingly pointing out to the side; it looks more and more like a hockey stick when viewed from the front or back. And as it worsens, it is causing numerous soft tissue pain issues in muscles, ligaments, tendons, and even nerves as they are pulled and twisted with the changes in my leg, as well as the joint pain; altogether it has been so bad some days that no amount - or type - of painkiller will touch it, and I wish for a hacksaw. Literally. The ways it has affected my mobility and quality of life are so numerous I won't even try to mention them...but when I have to give up time babysitting my almost-toddler grandson, or deny him crawling activity, all because I can't walk due to pain, even with my now-ever-present cane - I need to make changes.
Still, I was procrastinating. Until last night, when I was sitting in my recliner, looked at my legs, and saw that my other leg was starting to do the same thing. I'd had pain in it for several weeks, yeah, but assumed it was because it was taking more of the weight load that I was taking off of my right. But when I saw that, and tried to straighten my leg and couldn't, I started to sob.
I am 52 years old. Will I be in a wheelchair before I'm 55? I would not be able to walk at all - or only very short distances, with a walker maybe - if my left leg started to do as my right is doing. And even if I did have health insurance and therefore access to a specialist, they don't replace knees in people who are 100# overweight.
So...out of all this comes a decision: I need to lose more weight. So how I eat will change. I'm not going all Atkins induction, but the occasional cheats will be much more "occasional"...the restaurant meals will become sparse...in short, I'll be going back to what I know worked for me before: more fats and fewer grains. I don't weigh myself regularly but when I'm eating to lose weight, it happens whether I step on the scale or not - the numbers don't matter to me. For now it's all about not becoming more crippled than I already am.
What won't change: my way of eating will still be cheap, and it will still be easy :).
What I 8 Sun/Mon (2/21-22) #lowcarb
Sunday I had a string cheese stick before church but, for some reason, was famished after church so got a $1 double burger at McD's drive thru on the way home. (Hint: if you live where there are seagulls, they love the buns!) For supper I made a fish dinner, photo below. The sauce is simply mayo with a little dill weed, a splash of lemon juice, a sprinkle of Old Bay, and a little cream to thin it out. I also roasted (with olive oil and sea salt) a mixture of parsnips, zucchini, and brussels sprouts, and made my lovely cole slaw.* For an evening snack I ate the remainder of the Veggie Straws. (Note to self: Find a way to make something similar at home, and save the $.)
Re: the fish - This is ocean perch from GFS. The box says that it is 20gN for "1-2 pieces" which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But it fits well into my budget and "cheap'n'easy" life. I've mentioned previously that we like to go out for the AYCE fish fries on Friday evenings? For the 2 of us, it's about $20 a visit. I rarely eat more than 2 pieces anyway. For this box of MOST-EXCELLENT fish, out of which we get 6 meals (2 pieces for me and 3 for Pete each meal), it is $19.95. And I can fry up some crunchy root vegetables, or roast, or whatever...and make up a big bowl of my delicious cole slaw that I like better than any other anyway. I just don't know about that strange carb count as listed on the box. However, even if I only eat half of the coating on the fish at the restaurant, I probably eat more carbs than that. So we can have a really great fish dinner at home, for fewer carbs (even if I don't know exactly how many), and a LOT less $. Then we have our "dates" that don't revolve around food...but that's a topic for another post :).
OK, what I 8 Monday - another one-meal day: Roasted chicken breast with olive oil rubbed on the flesh under the skin before roasting, seasoned only with sea salt, plus the leftover roasted vegetables and cole slaw from Sunday. And a bowl of heavily buttered popcorn for an evening snack. The chicken breast was on sale for $1.29/lb. I usually get thighs or leg quarters because we love the dark meat but I thought the breasts would be different for a change...
*My cole slaw recipe - I buy great big bags of shredded cabbage at GFS for under 5 bucks. Using some of that, I add a sauce of mayo/cream (3/1 ratio, approx.) which I whip - then a generous amount of seasoned salt and splenda to taste. Simple, and whipping it helps keep the dressing from running to the bottom of the bowl.
Re: the fish - This is ocean perch from GFS. The box says that it is 20gN for "1-2 pieces" which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But it fits well into my budget and "cheap'n'easy" life. I've mentioned previously that we like to go out for the AYCE fish fries on Friday evenings? For the 2 of us, it's about $20 a visit. I rarely eat more than 2 pieces anyway. For this box of MOST-EXCELLENT fish, out of which we get 6 meals (2 pieces for me and 3 for Pete each meal), it is $19.95. And I can fry up some crunchy root vegetables, or roast, or whatever...and make up a big bowl of my delicious cole slaw that I like better than any other anyway. I just don't know about that strange carb count as listed on the box. However, even if I only eat half of the coating on the fish at the restaurant, I probably eat more carbs than that. So we can have a really great fish dinner at home, for fewer carbs (even if I don't know exactly how many), and a LOT less $. Then we have our "dates" that don't revolve around food...but that's a topic for another post :).
OK, what I 8 Monday - another one-meal day: Roasted chicken breast with olive oil rubbed on the flesh under the skin before roasting, seasoned only with sea salt, plus the leftover roasted vegetables and cole slaw from Sunday. And a bowl of heavily buttered popcorn for an evening snack. The chicken breast was on sale for $1.29/lb. I usually get thighs or leg quarters because we love the dark meat but I thought the breasts would be different for a change...
*My cole slaw recipe - I buy great big bags of shredded cabbage at GFS for under 5 bucks. Using some of that, I add a sauce of mayo/cream (3/1 ratio, approx.) which I whip - then a generous amount of seasoned salt and splenda to taste. Simple, and whipping it helps keep the dressing from running to the bottom of the bowl.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
What I 8 Today (2-20) #lowcarb
Breakfast wrap and some hash rounds at BK - carby! - for breakfast. Roasted pork and butternut squash for supper. 2 snacks: Veggie Straws in the afternoon, and a small dish of Sf ice cream in the evening.
Definitely a carbier-than-usual day today - ugh!
Definitely a carbier-than-usual day today - ugh!
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