And now it's Thursday!

Still sick...since last Friday. Not much of an appetite but what I am eating, is good low carb stuff. Salads, pizza (with Jamie VanEaton's wonderful cauliflower crust), meat...I did have 2 pieces of lowcarb toast, buttered, around a hunk of leftover steak this week, because it sounded good. Maybe when I start feeling better (no improvements yet) I will get my appetite back. But it is certainly possible to lowcarb cheap'n'easy on mostly leftovers, eggs, and salads - it doesn't get easier or cheaper than this!

Eating - or Not

I'm still sick. Over 96 hours, and I'm not getting any better, if anything I'm getting worse every day. But the good news is, no appetite! I don't care if I eat or not. For lunch I felt like I should eat, even though I wasn't hungry, and had a small salad with ham and ranch dressing. A little while later my precious baby girl (my daughter, a mom herself, will always be my baby girl!) fixed me another salad, this time with chicken and ranch. Then tonight hubby grilled steaks, and I had part of half a steak.

I want to know this: how do I keep my appetite away when I'm NOT sick? Hmmm???

Catching Up On Monday Morning

It's no fun being sick, no fun at all. I started coming down with whatever this awful bug is on Friday evening, and I went from being fine to being totally miserable in about 2 hours. I don't know about you, but when I'm sick I don't care what I eat; in fact, I don't care if I eat. I don't even recall everything I ate over the weekend, but I know yesterday's main meal wasn't low carb. I told the fam that I wasn't making Sunday dinner, after church I was just going to bed. When I woke up several hours later, I had Burger King (where my daughter works) waiting for me.

Still sick and miserable, but alone today while husband and daughter are at work, and baby is at day care (because I can't watch him and do my phone answering job also), so will be fending for myself if I get hungry - and all we have in the house is low carb food. It's all ok, maybe just a couple of scrambled eggs. And we'll have simple hamburgs for supper, and green beans or some other frozen vegetable.

Not every day is a perfect low carb day. Some days I just "make do", and this weekend was 2 of those days...

10/16/09 - Leftovers Lunch

I was hungry and wanted something quick. Opening the fridge I saw part of a serving of Dreamfield's, which had been served previously with butter, olive oil, garlic, and cheeses tossed with it. I also had about a half-pound of heavily-seasoned ground beef. I pulled them both out and gave them a toss together, then nuked it for 2 minutes. While that was heating I opened the fridge again, and saw shredded colby-jack cheese, and sour cream. I also saw salsa and green onions, but since the pasta and the beef were already well-seasoned, I ignored them.

By this time the food was heated through, so I sprinkled cheese on top, then plopped some sour cream on it. I took this picture before I spread out the sour cream so I could show what was under it - there wasn't as much as it appears...although if there were, that would have been fine with me! (Did I ever mention that my middle name is Nosuchthingastoomuchsourcream?)

[NOTE: In case I never mentioned it, I only use full-fat dairy. In addition, I add fats in the form of butter, bacon drippings, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. whenever appropriate.)

The result was totally delicious, took less than 5 minutes, and the cost was about a buck and a half: 50¢ for less than 1 serving of Dreamfield's, 50¢ for a half-pound of pre-seasoned ground beef that I got on sale for 99¢/lb, half-cup (probably less, but easier for the purposes of math) of sour cream @ 30¢, and < 1/4c of shredded cheese at a cost of <20¢ (bought on sale for $1.99 for a 3c package). AND it made 2 servings - so my own lunch was only 75¢!

Today is Friday, which means the AYCE fish fry at just about every restaurant in our town-on-the-largest-lake-in-Michigan, Houghton Lake, and Pete and I try to never miss one. I partake, but have learned to minimize the carb impact: ignore the potatoes and get a big salad and/or vegetables instead, get battered rather than breaded (yeah, very small difference, but a difference nonetheless!), and remove the batter from the top - or bottom - and sides of each piece. Don't worry, you'll still get that great battered/fried flavor, most restaurants really load up on that batter anyway for AYCE dinners, to fill people up so they eat less fish, and save money that way! So, supper will be $6.95 plus my cup of tea and the tip. Still, $10 or less for the day, including a restaurant meal...definitely cheap'n'easy!

My Cheap'n'Easy Low Carb Day - 10/15/09

I'm not a breakfast eater. I can read all the articles by experts about how important breakfast is for all kinds of reasons, but that doesn't stifle my gag reflex in the morning. Deal with it. :).

But I do put heavy cream in my morning coffee - so I'm getting a good boost of fat and calories, and maybe a little protein, which is better than nothing I guess! All that to say that "breakfast" costs the price of a cup of coffee with 10¢ (2Tbsp) worth of cream - hardly worth mentioning, but I'll consider it as a quarter every morning.

(Speaking of cream: Quite a while ago I discovered that I could mix heavy cream 50/50 with water in a pitcher in the fridge and use that in my coffee. It effectively doubles the $3.12 quart, and coffee still tastes rich. Adding some SF syrup to it makes my coffee taste every bit as decadent as if I were using a high-priced non-dairy - fake - "creamer" that costs a LOT more!)

Today for lunch I had a serving of Dreamfield's pasta, with olive oil, butter, and cheeses. Cheap: 70¢ for the pasta, a nickel for the butter, a quarter's worth of olive oil, and 15¢ worth of cheese, for a total of $1.15 for my lunch. Easy: Boil the pasta (don't overcook, or you lose the low carb benefit of Dreamfield's!), strain and plate, toss with butter and a drizzle of olive oil, top with fine-shredded cheese of your choice while still hot, final toss, and serve. 10 minutes, no recipe required :). Double that or my husband, and it's less than $2.50 for us both.

Supper for my husband and I was a little more time-consuming, but just as easy, and under $5 for BOTH of us! I sliced 2 yellow squash ($1.60) on a severe angle, tossed them with just enough EVOO (25¢) to coat, laid them out on a rack over a baking sheet, sprinkled with onion and garlic powders and sea salt (probably less than a nickel total), then topped with parmesan cheese from the jar (est. 15¢ worth), and baked at 425 for 30 minutes - until browned and starting to crisp up like chips. While those were cooking, I sliced up half of an onion (30¢) and started it cooking in a frying pan with a little bacon fat, then sliced up a package of smoked sausage ($1.99) and added it to the bacon. Covered the pan, and still had 15 minutes to kill until supper so it wasn't really all that complicated. In fact, very easy - and WAY less than five bucks worth of cheap - for 2 people!

I will continue to post my menus and costs although probably not every day, but as time permits. You will see that you don't need complicated recipes, cupboards full of ingredients, or a fat wallet and lots of time on your hands to do well eating low carb!

First Day of the New Blog

I know there are already posts here, but that's because I moved them from my other blog, ChiaChatter, where I write about everything. Low carb is important enough that I think it needs its own space - so here it is!

For my first post of my new blog, I want to introduce you a little bit to my own philosophies about low carb eating.

First, not everyone eats low carb for weight loss. I don't. Yes, I still have weight to lose, but have chosen to hold off for the time being. I lost 90# in the first 5 months when I started, then decided to stop indefinitely.

Second, I'm not a low carb nazi. If I choose to have a carby meal every now and again, I've learned that it won't kill me, that all of my lost weight won't instantly pile back on, and that it doesn't sabotage my future efforts. YMMV.*

Third, low carb isn't just a way of eating for me, it's a philosophy. It isn't only about carbs. It's about fresh, unprocessed, no junk. I can eat 50g/N (read as 50 grams Net) of wheat bread a day and my body does NOT respond the same as if I'd eaten 50g/N of veggies, eggs, and nuts with some good high fat meat. My philosophy is this: Eat the naturally low-in-carbs that make me feel good, not the low-in-carbs foods that give me headaches, loginess, bloating, and mental fog. The whole point is health - and discomfort is a sign that I'm not eating healthy. I've read that the healthiest foods don't come with nutrition labelling...and that's certainly the truth! Fresh dairy, veggies, greens, meats, nuts, and seeds - all naturally low in carbs, unprocessed, and part of my philosophy.

Fourth, if it's carby it has no business in my house. I wouldn't have porn in my house, or deadly gases or anything else damaging to myself and my family, so why waste my money on something that's not healthy for us? I don't.

Fifth, and maybe the most important to my low carb philosophy: It doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have to be complicated. I spend no more time cooking now than I did before 2004, and I spend less on groceries than I did back then.

So whatever recipes and ideas I share here will be pretty consistent with these 5 points, as well as dispel the myth that low carb shopping, cooking, and eating has to be expensive or complicated. I hope that you'll be able to use these as a starting point to launch your own creativity! :)

* Your Mileage May Vary. I say that a lot. It means you may not get the same results.

A Successful Squash Dessert Thrown Together

Made a buttercup squash tonight, just sliced in half, seeded, and roasted, nothing special. Planned to have it with our pork steaks, but the timing wasn't exactly right so we ate the steaks (they were HUGE) alone.

After supper I scooped the squash out into my mixing bowl and started mashing it up with the KitchenAid. Thought I'd add some butter, cinnamon (great for blood sugar control!), and DiabetiSweet brown sugar sub. Hmmm, thought I, it looks almost creamy...maybe it can be dessert. So I added a generous scoop (1/2c or so) of full-fat ricotta to cream it up a bit, then some ground cloves, since I was out of pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg both (how could that happen??)...some SF vanilla syrup...a little xylitol (because a combination of sweeteners always tastes better)...and finally some heavy cream (1/4c-ish). Then I combined it and turned the mixer on high until it got almost fluffy - certainly much lighter.



This is DEFINITELY a keeper recipe. Made enough for 4 generous servings. I don't know the carb count but the carbiest part of it was the squash. Next time I'll try it with that can of pumpkin that's been sitting in the cupboard since last Thanksgiving.

Oh my goodness, I want MORE!

LowCarb Eating, and Bread: My Own Experience

This won't be a bunch of recipes; a google search will turn up a bazillion of them. But it's about what works for me.

First, I do buy lowcarb breads of various types for my husband, as he loves his sandwiches and I think they're better than the carby breads. And about once a week I will make a couple of slices of toast with it. But they all contain wheat in some form and I do my best to minimize my wheat intake, which brings us to my second point...

Second, I try to avoid wheat. When I was a child I had an allergy to it. As an adult, I've suffered various problems from heartburn to bloating, from acne to insomnia...and all of them stopped when I did Atkins' induction over 5 years ago. As I added back grains, the symptoms recurred as soon as I added wheat back into my diet. The next few years of experimentation, as well as the experience of countless others, have proven to me that wheat is indeed the culprit. So I try to avoid it.

That said, however, sometimes I weigh the consequences and eat it anyway, usually in the form of Vital Wheat Gluten for my baking, or when I have purchased Carbquik in the past, or when I choose to have lowcarb bread or a tortilla or other premade lowcarb product. (A package of 10 torillas lasts me several months - I freeze them .)

I should note again here that, even though I'm still 100# above my desired weight (which differs from weight charts), I am not wanting to lose any more right now. The reasons for that are irrelevent here, but if I were, I would probably avoid most grains altogether since in the past they have slowed my weight loss incredibly.

So...back to bread. My current favorite way to eat a sandwich, or toast, is using my own version of one-minute microwave bread as inspired by this video . However, I've made a couple of changes to it: for the dry ingredients I use a combination of protein powder, flax meal, and almond flour in approximately equal quantities. I also add a tad less of the dry ingredients, so I don't get as heavy a bread. I whip my egg until really frothy, then I add in my baking powder, cream, and oil while still whipping to keep the volume. Then I stir in my dry ingredients so I don't lose too much volume before I nuke it. The difference between the video and my version isn't huge but I just like it a little better :). I've never followed a recipe in my life without making my own changes, and this is no different!

So, those are my answers to bread :). With the plethora of recipes online there seems to be a bread solution for everyone. If you have a favorite I hope that you'll let me know!

Some Nice Little Cookies (low carb recipe)

Yesterday I wanted something light and not too sweet to have with coffee so I went to my kitchen to create something from what I had on hand. This recipe gave me about 6 dozen delightful little delicate cookies that filled the bill perfectly!

1 stick butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4c xylitol
1/2t salt
1/2c SF vanilla syrup
2c almond flour
1/4c polydextrose
1/4c coconut flour

whip together butter and cream cheese until creamy; whip in xylitol and
salt; add vanilla syrup and whip until well-blended. Add almond flour,
polydex, and coconut flour, and blend well.

dough will be light if it has been well-whipped. (I didn't even use the
paddle, just stuck with the whip in my mixer.) Scoop onto sprayed cookie
sheet in walnut-sized spoonfuls, bake @ 350 JUST until the edges start to
brown; remove from oven and let stand on cookie sheet for a few minutes
before removing, as they are light and delicate will break apart unless
given time to pull together; once they're a little "tighter" you can remove
them to finish cooling.

Do not seal up to store, they become too moist; I left these on a platter, open, on the counter last night and they're still very moist and good - sealing them up they would have been wet by morning.

I didn't do the math and figure up the carb count but it's around 30gN for the whole recipe. If you want/need to be more exact, http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=17032

What Low Carb Eating Is - and What It Isn't

I'm seeing lots of misconceptions around the 'net about what low carb eating is, and what it isn't. Even within the variations of different plans, there are certain physiological truths that simply don't change.

First and foremost: There are lots of people who say, "Low carb didn't work for me" or "I did Atkins once but I gained all the weight back." To which I say: If you think you "did Atkins" then you didn't. Because Atkins is a lifelong plan. There is no "did" there is only "doing" and if you aren't "doing" it then you didn't do it - so you can't blame a plan you didn't follow when you gain back your weight. To whose who say "low carb didn't work for me", I ask the following questions: Which plan did you use - was it truly low carb or a "bandwagon" plan? Were you 100% faithful to the instructions? Did you cheat even a little? Did you lose weight and then gain it back again, so you consider the plan is what failed? Did you try a different low carb plan that maintains the tenets of true low carb eating but in a slightly different way? I understand that every low carb doesn't work for every body but before you blame the way of eating (WOE), make sure it was followed, 100%, perfectly, all the time. A car won't run if you do everything right, except decide that it won't hurt, just this once, if you don't fill the gas tank. You can't blame the car for not working then, can you?

Second. If you are doing low carb - properly doing low carb - you don't need to do low fat. In fact, you SHOULDN'T avoid fats, for several reasons:
(a) Your body needs energy at the ready and can get this quick energy for its functions from either fats, or from carbs. Protein needs to go through processes (which themselves use energy) to be utilized. If you are robbing your body of both of the "quick" energy sources it needs, you can really mess yourself up.
(b) Omitting both fats and carbs from your diet means you will have a much lower caloric intake. That's good, right? WRONG! We all know that when you lower your caloric intake you will send your body into "starvation mode" where your metabolism slows, you burn even fewer calories, and weight loss becomes increasingly difficult. If you eat fats, you keep that from happening.
(c) Your liver needs fat to burn fat. If you're expecting to burn off body fat without stoking it, you will be sorely disappointed.

Low carb eating causes certain physiological and chemical changes which is what makes it so excellent for weight loss, blood sugar control, blood pressure control, better blood lipid levels (HDL/LDL/triglycerides/cholesterol levels/etc. on your reports), and resolution of numerous other health issues. If you are eating carby foods - sugary fruits, pastas, grains, etc. - then you are preventing these changes that are the key to success. Your choice of course...but don't call it low carb eating and then claim that low carb failed you when it didn't work.

And a few general comments:
1 - Forget what you think you know about weight loss, what you've read and heard over the years about counting calories, how bad fat is, that you have to go hungry, etc. That isn't low carb advice, and people following it for the last few decades is why 95% of diets fail, and our population is getting fatter. Forget all of it, it doesn't apply to low carb eating.
2 - If you're not following a low carb WOE, don't tell people you are. If you claim low carb, yet eat sugar-laden (even natural sugars!) or grain-based foods for energy, then you're not doing low carb.
3 - Remember that the key to low carb eating is in keeping your carb intake low - hence the name of the plan. Not keeping your calories low, not keeping your fat intake low - it's about the carbs. Don't thwart the plan; it works when it's followed.
4 - You will fail if you don't give your body what it needs. It doesn't need all those carbs. It needs fat, it needs protein. If you don't provide fats and proteins (in that order), it will soon demand them, and you will fail. This isn't an opinion.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, if you are "dieting" to lose weight, and then go back to eating the way that made you fat in the first place, you will get fat again. It's simple. Follow an actual low carb plan. Don't deprive your body of the fats and protein it needs. Get your carbs from vegetables (not the starchy ones!). Eat until you're satisfied. Don't let yourself get so hungry you'll eat anything you can lay your hands on. Don't stuff yourself. Don't go cheat on your low carb plan, and don't go back to your old ways of eating. If you are following a low carb WOE faithfully, and if you are allowing your body to change how it gets its energy (from body fat instead of carbs), you will be successful, you will be healthy, and you will not have to say, "Low carb doesn't work."

My Most Excellent Low Carb Mother's Day Feast!

Got raves from all for dinner yesterday!

Rubbed a pork tenderloin (about 5#) with garlic powder, chili powder, S&P, and rosemary; roasted covered for 2 hours @ 325, then uncovered for 30 minutes @ 350. Rub made a nice crust!

Tossed chunks of frozen cauli, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots (I didn't eat carrots) with oil, garlic salt, dried onion, and italian seasoning blend, then roasted in an uncovered baking dish for the last half hour with the pork, stirring once.

Made Sam's napa cabbage salad (http://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/recipe.php?id=113) with a few changes: made my own dressing with dijon mustard, oil, and sweetener; used feta cheese instead of blue cheese; cooked thinly-sliced onion with the mushrooms.

We don't eat desserts typically.

The whole meal was a huge hit, and looked very fancy even though it required very little work and left me lots of time with my guests! Nobody missed the bread or potatoes :).

Tonight's Low Carb Supper: Meatloaf with Sauce

Meatloaf was standard stuff: ground beef and ground sausage, 1/2 of a medium onion chopped fine, 1/2 bag of porkies, a couple of eggs...mixed well and baked at 350 for about an hour. With it we had one of the wonderful big chunky vegetable medleys we get from GFS. This one has yellow carrots (carby but I ate 3 slices anyway), broccoli, whole green beans, and red peppers.

The sauce was easy: in a small saucepan on top of the stove I mixed about 3 Tbsp ranch dressing with equal parts sour cream (full fat of course) and water, then added about 2 tsp of beef soup base, and a drained can of shiritaki mushrooms. Heated it while stirring, just until heated through.

The sauce is quite flavorful, so not much spice needed in the meatloaf...although I served it over the vegetables also. A nice slice of meatloat, with a half plateful of vegetables, and sauce over all...VERY good, VERY filling!!