Saturday, May 1, 2010

What i 8 Friday (4/30) #lowcarb

Some fish with mayo, and splurged on about a dozen waffle fries but took my carb blocker first, FWIW...later had some cole slaw for a snack.

Yeah, that's all I ate all day...

Tomorrow - well, I guess it's after midnight so it's today now - is my mom's birthday. We're going to take her to lunch at Coyle's, a local landmark. I have a hard time resisting the homemade cinnamon raisin bread on the bar there, and usually don't even bother trying. I only go to Coyle's once every few months. We'll see how I do with it tomorrow :). The one thing about Coyle's is that, even back when I had more of an appetite, I only ate one meal when I ate there. Now that I don't have much of an appetite it will still be one meal but a smaller one I'm sure!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What I 8 Today + #lowcarb Coneysagna & Motzels Recipes

I had some string cheese that wasn't stringy and I didn't care for too much, so today I cut several of them in half (across) and then into 6 "matchsticks" per half - for a total of 12 "matchsticks" per 1 ounce string cheese piece. I laid them out on parchment paper, sprinkled with a little garlic powder, and put them into the oven at 325 until they got quite brown but definitely not burnt - I had to watch carefully after a certain point. When they came out they were delightful little crispy sticks, kind of like skinny pretzels, perfect for dipping or eating plain. GREAT, cheap'n'easy too!

The for supper I had some leftover grilled brats, and also an eggplant that was starting to look a little pathetic. I thought of making lasagna with eggplant noodles but decided to shake it up. I used the thinly slice eggplant like noodles, the chopped up brats for the meat, chopped onions, and SF canned chili sauce (9gN for the whole can!) with a generous amount of plain yellow mustard mixed in for the, well, for the sauce.

I made it like lasagna in my 9x12 anchor baking dish, and put it in the oven at 350 covered with foil for about 40 minutes, then covered it with shredded sharp cheddar and uncovered for the last 15 minutes or so - until the cheese got all melty and started to brown.

I served it with cole slaw I made earlier in the day with shredded cabbage, mayo, heavy cream, sea salt, celery seed, paprika (yes, my cole slaw is always pink - but I really love a lot of paprika in it!), and my sweetener blend...

I don't think I've mentioned my sweetener blend yet...it's just a half-and-half blend of granulated Splenda, and Ideal.

So it was a great supper, and great Motzel snacks earlier in the day, all cheap, all easy!


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Pot Roast and Leftovers #lowcarb

Haven't had much to post, really. My appetite has been a little better but I'm still not eating as much as usual, so I haven't had much to write about.

Tonight I had a leftover piece of pot roast that I had done in the crockpot yesterday. It was delicious. I'd cut it into 4 oz chunks and cooked it 4 hours on high with heavily seasoned water: sea salt, onion and garlic granules, chili powder, and worchestershire sauce. It was tender and delicious! I served it with yellow squash medallions (frozen slices, tossed with olive oil and sea salt, sprinkled with parmesan, and baked at 375 for about 30 minutes - but I like fresh better than frozen!), and baked potatoes. For me, I just had the scooped out skins with butter; my 1YO grandson was more than happy to eat the middle! It was a one-meal day, as most days are lately, although I did have a small dish of SF ice cream as a snack as well.

Today I chopped a small onion and cooked it in bacon in my dutch oven until just translucent, then added 2 bags of rinsed/drained shirataki noodles; stirred until heated through, then added the leftover roast, cut into bite-sized chunks, stirred until heated through; added 3 cups reserved liquid from the crockpot and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum and heated to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Added thyme, marjoram, parsley, and sea salt, then lowered heat to let it simmer for a while and the flavors meld.

Meanwhile in another saucepan I cooked up frozen brussels sprouts in bacon fat/butter, seasoned with onion and garlic granules and sea salt; once they were starting to brown a little bit I added just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan to about 1/4", covered, and lowered the heat to let them finish cooking until tender.

Right before I served supper I stirred about a half-cup of full-fat sour cream into the meat/noodles/gravy...and dang it wouldn't you know I forgot to add mushrooms! I really wanted some too. Anyway, it was a very good meal, with the brussels sprouts on the side, nicely coated with the garlic & onion almost like breading.

This made over half the dutch oven and there is plenty left for tomorrow's lunch!

The pot roast was 3.88# and cost right around $10. The noodles were $1.98/bag. Those are the only prices I can remember, although I could go back to my shopping post and look up the other things...but it's late, I'm tired, and I don't think it's that big a deal. I'm sure that both dinners and tomorrow's lunch together were <$20, EASILY. Definitely cheap'n'easy - and delicious!