AMAZING #Lowcarb Supper!

I was going to post about what I 8 yesterday...but it is all gone from my head now, after the supper I just had! Seriously, I don't remember a thing from yesterday, not with all those great cheap'n'easy flavors and textures rolling around in my memory!

But first I made dessert. Using the tried and true low carb batter of whipped egg whites folded with the yolks and other ingredients, I made a delightful panful of cake that had the delicate consistency of the best white cake you've ever had, yet tasted like vanilla wafers but with a hint of cinnamon. I had spread it out thinly in the pan, so the finished product was less than ½" thick, then created a light, fluffy spread for the center. The end result was perfect with our coffee (we are BIG coffee drinkers around here, so we don't like our desserts too sweet), and will be perfect in the morning too - if it lasts that long!

While my egg whites were whipping up with a little cream of tartar, I added a little almond flour, a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, some sweetening (I mixed SF caramel syrup, a little granulated Splenda, and a little xylitol), a dash of vanilla, a pinch of xanthan gum, a generous shake of cinnamon, and a bit of salt to the yolks, and blended with an immersion blender. After folding it together with the whites, I spread it in a parchment lined 10x17 baking sheet (spray parchment with nonstick spray too), and baked it in a 325°F oven until golden and springy; cut into squares (I made 12) and remove from pan/paper to a rack to cook and firm up a bit.

Then I combined a half-stick of butter (the real thing of course) with 2 oz of cream cheese, 2Tbsp of SF caramel syrup, and a sprinkle of cinnamon in the mixing bowl and whipped it on high (using the whipper attachment) until it was light and fluffy. Because the cakes are delicate, dollops of it sandwiched between 2 pieces spreads it out evenly without tearing the cakes.

This is AMAZING. Light, sweet, perfect with coffee...Pete said that they remind him of the banana flips we enjoyed as kids - YES! That's IT! Next time I will definitely use banana flavoring in the creamy center! Meanwhile, these were...well...amazing!

I didn't make our entire dinner tonight because of my legs, and ended up in my recliner directing Pete as he picked up where I left off, and finished it. So when I say "I" did this or that...it was Pete :).

In a zipper bag I had already mixed up equal parts almond flour, corn bran, and parmesan from the green can, plus a hefty portion of seasoned salt. I used some b/s chicken thighs that I'd gotten on sale ($2.71 for 4) to dredge and then fry in about ½" of oil

Meanwhile, Pete had used my most-excellent julienne peeler from Pampered Chef on several parsnips ($1.99), and finely chopped half of an onion. In another pan he fried those together, then seasoned them with garlic powder and sea salt after they were done...

You can see from the photo below how beautiful this supper was. Hard to believe it was low carb, eh? Parsnips and onions are a little carbier than some vegetables but the entire supper, including one of my dessert cakes, still kept me way under my 50gN daily allotment...especially since it is another one-meal day.

(NOTE - I took this photo with my cell phone, so the size and quality aren't as they usually are...)

Cheeseburger Soup Made My Way #lowcarb

I got this idea from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. As usual, when I see something interesting on TV I don't look up recipes or try to copy; I take the idea and make it my way. (Usually I've forgotten everything except the general idea by the time I get around to making it anyway!)

I started with a few sliced of thick-cut bacon, cutting them into small pieces and browning them until crisp in the bottom of my biggest pot - a big stainless professional one that I used in my business, don't know the size but would guess a couple of gallons, anyway. Then I removed the bacon, and browned an onion, coarsely chopped, and 1# of ground beef in the same pot. When that was done I added a can of beef broth and some garlic powder, and let it simmer a few minutes while I sliced up a pound or so of "Velveeta-wannabe" cheese and drained 2 cans of diced tomatoes and a can of shitake mushrooms, all of which I then added to the pot, with a couple tablespoons of yellow mustard. Covered and let simmer until the cheese was melting down; cut up half a head of iceberg lettuce - good and crunchy - into bite-sized chunks. Once I stirred in the cheese and the soup was thick and creamy I added a pint of heavy cream and all of the lettuce. Stirred it until it was just heated through - you don't want to wilt the lettuce, just heat it - and tasted for seasoning. (I didn't add salt earlier because that cheese is pretty salty) Then I served it, with the crumbled bacon on top as a garnish. I would have sprinkled a little shredded cheddar on top also, if I'd had any within reach...

It was rich, filling, and tasted JUST LIKE a bacon cheeseburger! And the crunch of the lettuce and bacon were PERFECT! I was really full for the rest of the day, couldn't eat another bite, even though I didn't serve anything else with the soup.

It was easy, even though it had more ingredients and took longer hands-on than my usual dishes. As for cheap...I had paid $1.49 for the ground beef, $1.99 for the 3# bag of onions (and this was MAYBE 6 oz.), $3.99 for the brick of cheese (I usually keep it in the house just to flavor sauces, and use only in small amounts) and used about 2/3 of the brick; lettuce was 99¢ for the whole head, of which I used half, heavy cream was $2.89 for a quart, of which I used half. Diced tomatoes were 59¢ a can, as was the beef broth; mushrooms were 72¢. The cost for the mustard, sea salt, and garlic powder were negligable. It made half of the pot, or, in terms that I can better express, 5 bowls yesterday with about the same left over. 10 servings for less than $12, figuring high. And worth 10 times that!

DELICIOUS!

What I've Been Eating #lowcarb

Saturday was a carby day. We won't even go there :). Chinese restaurant, fried rice, eggroll, blahblahblah. Now is history and I'm looking forward, not back.

Sunday was one of my favorite stand-by meals: pork and cabbage. I fill my big baking dish nearly to the top with shredded cabbage, and add 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar to about ½" in the bottom, then 2 Tbsp (yeah that much!) sea salt over it, and toss. Lay the pork - in this case boneless steaks - across the top and season as normally. Sunday this meant chili powder, garlic and onion powders, sea salt, brown sugar sub, cinnamon, cumin, and thyme. Cover and roast at 325°F for an hour; uncover and continue for another 30 minutes (or less, depending on the thickness of the meat; you want to brown it but not dry it out). Then I had a dish of SF ice cream for a snack later.

Monday - yesterday - I had a tuna melt on thin-sliced sourdough bread for lunch. Supper was something my husband called "A deluxe bacon cheeseburger served on two slices of soup" :). I'd seen a cheeseburger soup recipe on TV and, like I usually do, I take the idea and run with it. I will make a separate entry with how I made mine.

One other note: I've been eating a couple of prunes every day. Yeah, carby and have sugar in them (natural or not, it's sugar) - but it is one of the necessary tools in my arsenal with my digestive tract damage. 25gN per ¼c, which is about 8 of them. I eat 3 each day. I won't mention them every day, they're just a necessary evil at times.

And now to write about Cheeseburger Soup!

Today's Shopping List

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 :).

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.

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!

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!

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'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 :).

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.

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!

What I 8 Today (2/19) #lowcarb

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 :).)

#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!

#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!

#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 375º 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.

What I 8 Fri/Sat #lowcarb

Yesterday Pete picked up some pork bits on sale (like ends and pieces of country ribs) and cooked them up in the electric fryer with onion and mushroom and seasonings. We had buttered green beans with them. 50c for the beans, $2.32 for the meat, 35c for the onion, and 59c for the can of mushrooms. All served 2.

Today we had a rack of spare ribs that needed to be cooked, so they spent the day in the oven. I added BBQ sauce that wasn't low carb, so didn't intend on eating any, but ended up have 4 bones from the shorter end. That's all we ate, but later had a little dreamfield's with butter, olive oil, garlic, and cheese. Was a strange day, meals just didn't happen, we just ate when we ate. The ribs had been on sale for $4.80; 1/4 box of dreamfield's 70c, then add a sprinkle of cheese on top, the butter, the olive oil, and the granulated garlic...perhaps another $1, generously speaking.

One-meal day on Friday, just a couple of snacks, really, today - although either could have been a meal.

Tomorrow we'll have to load up with veggies, I'm craving them after not having any today.

What I 8 Wed/Thurs #lowcarb

Wednesday: a day of mini-meals - some fish, some veggie sticks, some cheese slices, some salami - not all at the same time. Slept much of the day from pain meds, and just nibbled on what we had when I was awake.

Thursday: shrimp salad (with homemade SF cocktail sauce) for lunch; a lovely steak dinner with sauteed onions and mushrooms, and green beans cooked in bacon fat with butter. Will have buttered popcorn later this evening.

I can't believe we finally finished up all of those 2/$1 bags of ready-made salad and greens...but gone they are!

What I 8... #lowcarb

Sunday was some lovely chuck steak that was on its sell by date, and was $2.00 off the package. We had salad with it (the pre-mixed greens that I'd bought for 2/$1.00). Just one meal.

Monday was chicken, mushrooms, chinese vegetables (cabbage, sprouts), and some sugar-free chocolate ice cream as a snack.

Tuesday/today was another one-meal day, consisting of pork chops marinated, with butternut squash medallions, and salad. Also had some veggie straws as a snack.

I'm not feeling much better these days, still having the same issues I wrote about a few days ago, and the constant pain and difficulty getting around affects my appetite; I don't get hungry, or I don't want to deal with the pain caused by going to the kitchen and preparing food.

Recipes - for the marinade: dijon mustard, a few shakes of sesame oil, a few shakes of soy sauce, and a few shakes of liquid smoke, plus onion and garlic powder, ginger, sea salt, cinnamon, and diabetisweet brown sugar sub; marinated for 3 hours at room temp, then roasted on a rack @ 375 for 25 minutes. For the squash medallions, I peeled and sliced a butternut squash, then tossed the slices with olive oil, sea salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of diabetisweet brown sugar sub. Layed the slices on a large sheet pan and roasted them at 425F for 20 minutes, then 375F for 25 minutes after I put the pork in the oven. I turned the medallions once, also at the time I put the pork in the oven.

Pork was $1.29/lb; our package was $2.37 and fed 4 adults with some left over. The squash was 69c/lb and cost under $1.00 (don't remember exactly how much); also fed 4 adults with some left over. Used a 50c bag of mixed greens. Add the salad dressing and seasonings for another $1 - a VERY liberal guesstimate, I'm sure it wasn't nearly that much - and all 4 of us had a great meal for about $5.00 total.

(Have I dispelled the "low carb is so expensive!" myth yet? :).)