P1: 'Milk' Shake - 2-4g

I had some dental work done on my lunch break today, so I needed to find a clever way to satisfy my chatty stomach without irritating my teeth. If you've followed a low carb diet before, you can understand just how hard it was for me to come up with something 'smooth' to eat.

Ingredients:

1/2 C Atkins Advantage shake (found in the diet/health section of your grocery store)
1/2 C Almond Coconut milk - unsweetened

Easy as that! And the combination of the 2 helps to cut down on the 'diet-shake-flavor'...

The carb count will depend on the flavor of shake you prefer.  Dark Chocolate is my favorite, but it has 6 g/container. Strawberry only has 2, but more of a diet taste. I tinkered with both today, and chocolate was the winner by a landslide. However, I'll still appreciate the strawberry in a moment when I need a quick sweet treat.

I've recently discovered this Almond Coconut milk - 1 cup has only 1 carb and 45 calories! Fat is higher, but I rest easy knowing it's a 'good' fat.

P1: Egg 'n Ham Cup - 1g

Found this on Pinterest, and couldn't resist!

Ingredients:
1 (round) slice of ham
1 egg
Pepper
Cheese, if you prefer

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray your muffin tins with cooking spray, and gently form your ham around the sides of the muffin cups. Crack 1 egg into the center of the ham. Don't worry if some happens to run out the creases... it's all going to the same place anyway!

Top with cheese if you'd like, and place in the oven for 20 minutes!
(more or less depending on how you prefer the consistency of your yolk)

P1: Tuna 'Noodle' Casserole - 5g

It's been a busy night in the kitchen - it's too bad I'm not getting paid for this!

I never had tuna noodle casserole growing up, so it doesn't make me nervous like it might some of you.  If you don't like tuna noodle casserole, don't make this dish (well, you're probably not even reading this post). The best part about it is that I had all of these ingredients in my house already, except for the noodles. Pantry, freezer and refrigerator were stocked with just about anything I needed today.

Mine had a stronger onion flavor, but I love it that way, so I won't change a thing!

Ingredients:
3 drained cans of tuna (*I accidentally used 1 can of chicken)
1/2 C mayo
1/4 onion - chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 C chopped steamed veggie of your choice (*frozen cauliflower and broccoli medly)
1 bag shirataki noodles - drained and rinsed
1/4 C almond meal
1 Tbsp butter/substitute (*Smart Balance)
1/4 - 1/2 C shredded cheese of your choice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix tuna, mayo, onion, garlic powder and veggies together in a bowl.  Place your shirataki noodles on a cutting board and 'chop' into bite sized noodles. Stir noodles into the tuna mixture.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking oil. Pour the tuna mixture into your baking dish and smooth out.  Sprinkle the top with almond meal and melted butter. Place in the oven for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and add your cheese.  Bake for another 15-18 minutes.

Let cool for 20 minutes to 'set' the casserole.

P1: Asparagus with Almonds - 4g

I bought a great bunch of asparagus a few days ago, and now it's up to me to consume it.  Just one more delicious way to cook asparagus!

Ingredients:

20 (slender) asparagus spears (about 1 cut into 1-2 inch pieces)
1 Tbsp sliced almonds - I used the roasted garlic salad topper kind
1 Tbsp olive oil
Supreme Shallot Salt

Heat the oil on the stove at medium heat and chop up the asparagus.  Add the asparagus to the oil and cook for about 5 minutes (depending on the thickness of your spears). When the asparagus has turned a darker green, add your almonds & shallot salt and cook for another 2 minutes.

P1: Bacon Wrapped Asparagus - 3g

One of my favorite parts about following a low carb diet is that you can wrap just about anything in bacon... and it's OK! I choose to use low sodium turkey bacon in order to feel a little less guilty about my frequent bacon consumption. It's entirely up to you though!

Ingredients:
20-24 asparagus spears
4 slices turkey bacon
1/4 C toasted sesame oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the bottom inch off of the spears of asparagus, and lay flat on a baking sheet covered with tin foil (makes clean up SO much easier).

Mix the oil, garlic and ginger in a small bowl, and brush the mixture over top of the asparagus spears.

Cut the bacon into 3 strips, with 12 in total.

Wrap 2 pieces of asparagus together with a strip of bacon, securing with toothpicks if need be. I broke a couple of toothpicks in half and used them on a few of the 'stubborn' ends of the bacon/asparagus spirals. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes (a little less for very thin asparagus, a little longer for thicker).

P1: Sesame Peanut Chicken - 2g

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp Organic No Sugar Added Peanut Butter
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
Sprinkle of Sesame Seeds
1 chicken breast - cubed

These measurements are 'esti-ments' (I'm going to copyright that word if no one else has!), since I just poured some stuff that I had around the house together in the frying pan.

I heated up all the ingredients (except the chicken) in a sauce pan for about a minute, then I added the cubed chicken.  Stir this one frequently, otherwise the sauce will turn into chunks and potentially burn.

P1: Shrimp Scampi Spinach Salad - 3g

Say that 5 times fast! This was my lunch today, making use of my left over shrimp scampi. Delicious!

Ingredients:

3 C of spinach leaves
1 C shrimp (use as much of the 'sauce'/butter as available)
1/4 C shredded italian cheese blend or grated parmesan

It's as simple as that - the shrimp were still moist and there was a little butter left over from the heated up shrimp to drizzle over and use that as a salad dressing. A great way to utilize the leftovers! :)

P1: Shrimp Scampi - 0g

After 5 days straight of 'cheating' (which is equivalent to not counting carbs, and drinking every day), I'm going back to Ground Zero. I want to put my body through ketosis again - if at all possible. So this meal had virtually NO carbs.  It was a good place to start.
Ingredients:
2 lbs raw shrimp - peeled
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp crushed garlic (you can use minced, but I would suggest using a little more then)
4 basil leaves
1 tsp dried basil
5-7 sage leaves
Dash of "Shallot Salt" 
*You can add some diced onions if you'd like - but they add a few extra carbs.

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan/wok.  Just as butter starts to bubble, add the garlic and mix together. Next stir in your shrimp, and keep the heat on medium to medium-high. As the bottom side begins to turn pink, chop the basil and sage leaves into very fine pieces, and sprinkle in with the shrimp and add dried basil. Continue stirring until both sides have turned a salmon pink color.  Add the shallot salt (or plain salt, and perhaps add a chopped onion to the melted butter at the beginning to saute in the flavor?) to your liking, and enjoy!

It starts with a change!

It starts with a change.  If you are gaining weight, unhappy with your weight, or stagnant, I hate to break it to you but... you're doing something wrong.

"I'm not doing something wrong, I'm just eating what I want, when I want it. Why should I have to deny myself that?"

Because the things you have introduced your tongue, mouth, mind and body to - those things you think you're craving? Yeah, most of the time, they happen to be things that our body is not supposed to be consuming.

Ice cream filled with preservatives, food coloring, and a cup full of sugar? Really?

Dairy products that originally come from a cow with the sole purpose of taking a 100 lbs calf to a 2,000 lbs animal. (Yes, I'm guilty of using cheese, but I intend to begin weaning myself off sometime soon...)

Pasta - made of flour (very little, if NO nutritional value) and water? Maybe part of an egg if you're lucky, but let's not forget the preservatives in there, too.


I read an article the other day about grains, and took away two very interesting points that I have been focusing on as of late:

1) Grain was not meant to be ingested by the human body. Plants and insects use defense mechanisms -and grain's defense mechanism is to go right through your system. Unless it is broken down & 'refined', our body gets very little nutritional value from its pass through our digestive track.

2) Grains are very cheap to mass produce, and high in caloric content, therefore are the diet of choice for poor countries and starving children. My guess is that probably doesn't include you. Sure, the majority of us have been a little down on our luck before, scraping by, buying cheap, but where is that getting you in the long run? A visit to the doctors? A higher number on the scale? Diabetes? Heart disease? None of these happen to be tourist destinations on my map of life... I will do my best to cut corners elsewhere, and steer clear of these tragic dead ends. No pun intended.

Am I saying that I will never again consume a bowl of ice cream? No. Am I implying that a piece of bread, noodle or grain of rice will never again enter my digestive track? Hardly.

But what I am saying is that it takes a change. A change in the way you think. A change in the way you buy. A change in the way you read labels. A change in the way you enjoy your food. A change in the way you prepare/serve your food. To summarize, a change!

A wise man once said:

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

~ Albert Einstein

P1: Japanese Hibatchi - 6g, White Sauce, 4g

I absolutely love hibatchi. And nothing goes better with hibatchi than the typical Japanese White Sauce! (also known as shrimp sauce, and probably some other names that I'm unaware of)

In case you can't find this white sauce in your local grocery store (Harris Teeter carries 2 different types), I will include the recipe I used over this past weekend.

*Warning: Those of you who are used to having rice piled high with this dish will miss that - but it's ok... you will SURVIVE! Once you add the white sauce, you won't notice that it's missing. And since you're omitting the carbs, you can technically have twice the service size of veggies & chicken, fill yourself up, and still have a very satisfying meal.

Hibatchi/Stir Fry Ingredients: (may vary, depending on your vegetable preference)

2 C cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 C zucchini, chopped relatively the same size as your chicken pieces
1 C broccoli
1 large onion, chopped
1 C sliced baby bella mushrooms
1/2 C sliced carrots

3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame seed oil
2 Tbsp vegetable oil/olive oil
1 Tbsp butter


Start by warming your wok/skillet, and adding the condiments (all but 1 Tbsp vegetable oil).  Once the skillet is warm (butter has melted) add your chicken and saute for about 2 minutes. 

Next, add your vegetables, and cook with the remaining oil until the chicken is done (time depends on the size of your chicken cubes).

It's as simple as that!

Now, onto the white sauce:

Ingredients: 4g/serving - makes about 5 servings (depending on your obsession)

1 1/4 C mayo

1/4 C water

1 tsp tomato paste 

1 Tbsp butter (melted) 

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 dash cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, and there you have it - your Japanese steak house white sauce!

P1: Almond Cheesecake - 7g

So I did a rough estimate - using the low fat/fat free/butter substitute options below, this cheesecake comes in around 175 calories per slice - compared to Sara Lee Cheesecake which has 320 - and not to mention 36g of carbs, as opposed to this slice's 7! That's a savings of 145 calories and 29g of carbs!

Crust:
1 C almond meal -
2 1/2 Tbsp butter/butter substitute
2 Tbsp artificial sweetener -

Filling:
3 packages of cream cheese (I used 2 - 1/3 fat, and 1 fat-free)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp almond flavoring
4 eggs
1/4 C sour cream
1/2 C ricotta
1 C artificial sweetener

Mix the almond meal, butter and the artificial sweetener. Spread evenly in the bottom of a spring form pan. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes (or until it starts to brown slightly).
When the crust comes out, turn the oven to 400.

Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese with a mixer until 'fluffy'.

Be patient - this took me a good 3 minutes will slightly chilled cream cheese (and if your cream cheese is cold, it could take even longer).

Next, start adding one ingredient at a time, mixing thoroughly each time, using a spatula in between each to scrape all the extra off the side of the bowl.

Once all ingredients have been added, scrape and mix together one more time. You should not see any lumps (or very tiny ones, if you're using the ricotta cheese). Pour the batter onto the crust, and place it in the oven, and about 1 minute later, turn the oven down to 200 degrees.

Bake for 90 minutes (while the oven is slowly cooling itself off).
**Check after 60 minutes to make sure the middle is no longer liquid, but of more of a jello consistency. My oven ended up taking 90.

Remove once done baking, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled. Slice up into 16 pieces, at 7 carbs a slice, and enjoy!

P1: Steak Salad - 6 - 8g

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I hope these 'thousand words' sell you on just how delicious this salad was!

I'm not going to bother making a list of ingredients, because all of the ingredients can be found in other recipes throughout my blog. All the salad consisted of was spring greens, mozzarella, baby bella mushrooms, grilled marinated steak and asparagus (marinade from another post for 24 hours), and the shallot and herb dressing (also another post).

And voila!

I know I've said it before... but sometimes I forget I'm on a diet! I served myself this salad with a (wine)glass of pear & ginger sparkling water I found at Marshalls today. I couldn't have asked for a better meal.

Sometimes all it takes is a wine glass...

Over the course of the past month, I have successfully shed 11-12 pounds (depending on the day), and it feels great! I'll be honest though. It has been tough when my coworkers are sitting next to me, eating ice cream, pasta, and more. But when I'm alone, or planning my meals, even walking through the grocery store, the carbs aren't clawing at my self-control. The cravings are gone! (I never thought I would say that...)

The longer I have gone without breads, pastas, and sweets, the more I understand how much of a 'filler' they are. They help deliver the flavor/goods - but they don't provide much good.

And then there is alcohol. I happen to work in a brewery (every so often). Giving up beer for good is just not an option. Wine is also another 'pleasure' of mine, but while the carb count is relatively low (compared to beer), the downfall comes from the bottle itself. It's just sooo hard to have ONE glass of wine when you know the remaining wine only has a limited amount of days before going bad...

My solution to the wine conundrum? 0 calorie beverages. Grape flavored crystal light. Pear & Ginger sparkling water (as seen above). Even water alone can be enough - when all it really takes is a sip from the wine glass to fool your senses. Sometimes all it takes is a wine glass!

Cheers to 12 pounds - and here's to 8 more!

P1: Shallot & Garden Herb Dressing - 4g

Got this recipe/idea from a co-worker. I just used what I had fresh in my garden - I'm not sure I would attempt this recipe with dried herbs...

This dressing was so tasty, I almost went to the store to go buy more lettuce to go with it, but I refrained. I treated myself with a piece of low-carb cheesecake I had hiding in my freezer instead. It was a delicious dinner - marinated steak, asparagus fries, a side salad and a piece of cheesecake. Have I mentioned I'm on a 'diet'?

Ingredients:
1/3 C Balsamic Vinagrette (4g carbs/Tbsp)
1/3 C Olive Oil
5 sage leaves
3 oregano leaves
1 large basil leaf
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1 shallot

Finely chop the shallot and fresh garden herbs. Mix all ingredients together for a delicious salad dressing! I made a salad with shredded Italian cheeses and fresh baby bella mushrooms.

P1: 'Pan-crepes' - 1.5g

This recipe turned out to be closer in flavor and consistency to crepes, hence my 'franken-name' of pan-crepes. These don't fluff up like real pancakes do, but if you like crepes, you will enjoy this recipe.
If you are looking for the taste/thickness of pancakes, use my other pancake recipe.

Ingredients:

4 oz 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese (8g)
1/8 C Half & Half (2g)
2 eggs
1/8 C Almond Flower (1g)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Packets Splenda (1g)

Beat the cream cheese (room temperature) until smooth. Add the half and half and eggs, and continue to incorporate. Next, add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Last, cook pancakes on a griddle/pan however you normally would. I would suggest keeping the pan not quite as hot as you normally would, as these will take longer to cook all the way through.

1.5g carbs/pancake

For my 'light' butter+syrup recipe, see the other pancake post.

P1: Asparagus Fries - 4g

Sure, potatoes may be out of the question, but that doesn't mean that you can't have something of a similar shape and size, and not to mention, tastes delicious!

*Best served hot & fresh. Kind of like french fries...

Ingredients:
7 asparagus spears, tough ends cut off about an inch - 2g
1 egg
1/4 C Almond flour - 2 g
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Scramble the egg in a dipping dish, and mix the dry ingredients together in another. My parmesan cheese was shredded into pretty long strands, so I tried to grind it up a little more in my hands.

Dip the asparagus spears into the egg, and then roll in the dry ingredients, and place on a tin foil lined baking sheet. I added a liiittle more parmesan cheese to the tops of them right before I put them in the oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.