Category Archives: quick meals
Day 62: Birthday party again
Weight loss: 15 pounds; next weigh-in: Sat., Mar 17th
I woke up the day after cheat day with no appetite and a huge stomach. I decided to have a light breakfast, so I ate a low-carb blueberry yogurt.
We attended our granddaughter Danielle’s birthday party at noon. I made some chili/cheese dip to take, but decided to use up the low-fat cream cheese I had on hand, which made it off limits for me. They served Pizza Hut pizzas, so I ate the toppings off of 2 slices.
The cake looked delicious, but I wasn’t really tempted to eat it. The Superman ice cream REALLY didn’t tempt me. LOL
Back home after the party, I worked on Ebay listings until about 8 p.m, at which time I was pretty darned hungry. Rick got out of his sick bed to bicycle up to the store for a chicken and Beddar Cheddar sausages. I ate 2 with mustard.
I hadn’t eaten much all day, so I was still hungry when Rick too his freshly barbecued rotisserie chicken off the grill. I took a small piece of the breast and whipped up some cauliflower mashed potatoes for a second late late dinner. We each had a piece of low-carb fudge afterwards. I was still 5 carbs under for the day.
Day 59: More of the same
Weight loss: 17 lbs; next weigh-in: tomorrow
Yesterday began with eggs at work. For lunch, I heated leftover taco meat and assembled 2 tacos in Mama Lupe tortillas. They made for a delicious and filling meal.
I left work at a reasonable hour and had an early dinner. I used the spaghetti squash I had prepared earlier in the week as a base for Cincinnati chili. It was just okay. I think something happens to the texture/flavor of squash after a few days in the fridge.
We were out of cocoa, so I made sugar-free lime jello with cream cheese mixed in for dessert.
Day 55: Hanging out around the house and trying some Carbquik recipes
Total weight loss: 17 pounds; next weigh-in: Sat., Mar 10th
Sunday morning was a little stressful. Friday night, I found an IM on Facebook from Rick’s cousin Bob in Valparaiso, IN. He said Rick’s cousin in Chicago had died. Rick wasn’t close with his cousin, but he did want to attend the funeral, which was today.
Unfortunately, I forgot to tell Rick about the IM. Saturday night when I went to bed, I found the obituary posted on his cousin Bob’s FB page. UHOH. I emailed Rick (he goes to bed much earlier than I do, so I email him at 1 a.m. if there is anything he needs to know when he wakes up in the morning–it works for us). When I awoke at 8:30, Rick was looking up the last minute flights. Turned out we couldn’t get a flight back until Monday, so I couldn’t go due to work and other commitments. We hightailed it to the airport, and Rick made it in time for the 3 pm service.
I was on my own, so I made the best of it. I watched old romance movies (Jane Eyre), I recleaned the kitchen and cleaned out the fridge. Then I did 2 loads of laundry, played around with old audio tapes from my 13th birthday (trying to record them and make mp3’s), and generally relaxed.
Back to the topic, keto:
Breakfast was 3 eggs with cheese and onions. Snack at noon was almonds.
I was super hungry by 4 pm, and I reheated Indian butter chicken leftovers and made up some fresh “c-rice.”
In the evening, I decided to experiment with the new Carbquik, and I made some cheesy garlic biscuits. They probably could have been cheesier, but they tasted similar to the authentic Red Lobster rolls. The texture and look were the same. The Red Lobster version is 17 grams of carbs, and this is only 2 grams, so it’s a nice substitute. I ate two topped with butter. 
I also made a batch of deviled eggs. I ate 3 of them with the biscuits in lieu of dinner.
Day 54: Delicious low carb tortillas and surviving a birthday party
Weight loss to date: 17 pounds; next weigh-in: Saturday, March 10th
Yesterday was Saturday. We decided to eat breakfast at home. I started playing around on the computer, and by the time I made myself breakfast, it was actually brunch. I decided I get enough eggs during the week, so I cooked some “Beddar Cheddar” sausages. They were meaty and moist, and I ate a handful of almonds as a side dish.
We spent the day cleaning for our granddaughter’s birthday party. I enjoy having parties, just because it means I’ll clean the house from top to bottom — then get to enjoy how great it looks for a couple of days.
I didn’t get a chance to have lunch, and I didn’t want to waste the pizza the kids were eating by tearing off the top, so I heated up some taco meat and tried the new Mama Lupe’s tortillas I received from Netrition.com. They were really good and only 3 net carbs each.
Next was cake and ice cream time. My step-daughter Cindy made some beautiful fondant cakes and it was hard to resist. When everyone was busy filling their pieholes with rich cake and creamy ice cream, I whipped up some low-carb chocolate mousse. Of course, the adults wanted some of that, as well, so I made a huge batch. I only ate one portion, and it took away the craving for all that carb-laden dessert around me. I had a portion left over, so I froze it to see if it turns out like ice creams. Fingers crossed.
After everyone left, I sat down to watch some TV and was a bit hungry. The only problem was that my carb count was at the max for the day. I poured a big glass of zero carb almond milk, and that hit the spot.
Day 45: A successful bread discovery
Weight loss to date: 14 pounds
Next weigh-in: Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012
Yesterday began as usual, at work with a McRick breakfast. I had an almond snack about 11.
I didn’t eat lunch until around 2. I brought taco salad to heat up, but I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I was debating just going out to search for low-carb fast food, but I didn’t have the gumption or the time. I was hungry, yet nothing I could think of appealed to me.
Brandon offered me a low-carb Kroger yogurt. He had 3 in stock back in the kitchen. I tried the raspberry and it was really flavorful. That will be going on my (Rick’s) grocery list right away. It was only 4 carbs and it really hit the spot.
After work, we stopped by to visit my dad, but he was sleeping. We headed on home and I immediately tried a recipe I had found online and been meaning to try. I haven’t missed bread because I crave the flavors or taste of it; I’ve missed having something to use for a sandwich or to convey dips to my lips.
This recipe for foccacia-style flax bread was on about.com in their low carb recipe section. It appeared to be pretty simple, so I started assembling the ingredients when I got home: milled flax seed, eggs, oil, baking powder, and water. After mixing those together and letting them sit for about 5 minutes, I poured the batter(?) into a 10×14 pan lined with parchment paper. I sprayed the paper with a little Pam first. I baked it for about 20 mins at 350 and it couldn’t have been easier.
The bread had a nice texture, but was very cake-like. It also doesn’t taste like much. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad at all. It just doesn’t have much flavor. I don’t think Wonder bread has much flavor either, but it gets the sandwich ingredients to my mouth, and that’s about all I was hoping for.
Rick was about to make himself a couple of chicken sandwiches, so I stole a bit of the chicken and some onion. After assembling the sandwich, with the addition of some mayo, of course, I realized that bacon would add some zest.
I ran down to the freezer, got out a pound, and thawed it in the microwave. As it was cooking on the stove, I made a few tiny appetizers using the bread cut in small pieces and topped with crab spread. YUM.
After the bacon was cooked, I added that too my sandwich. It was a pretty good dinner, with some chili lime almonds on the side.
This bread is labeled: SUCCESS
I intend to make up another batch in a day or so. This time, I’m going to experiment with adding some garlic or cheese (thanks for the idea, Matt and Brandon).
Dessert was chocolate mousse.
Day 41: Indian butter chicken cooked the right way
Weight loss to date: 14 pounds
Next weigh-in: Saturday, Feb 25th
I had another relaxing Sunday, yet accomplished a lot. Breakfast was at home. I ate the leftover pizza from last night while doing the NYT Sunday puzzle.
Lunch was piecemeal. I had a handful of almonds while I worked on websites. I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and by then it was time to go tile the floor at the rental house. I grabbed the leftover 1/4 dish of Cincinnati chili and warmed it up when I got there. It wasn’t enough to call lunch, but it held me over until dinner.
Brandon made crackers from a recipe I found yesterday. They weren’t very good, but the jalapeno yogurt dip tasted very good on top. I guess we’ll all stick to bbq pork rinds to use for dipping.
For dinner, I decided to try to cook the Indian Butter chicken correctly this time. I microwaved it for 22 minutes on medium power, and it turned out well. I took a new picture of the way it is supposed to look, not dried up like my last venture.
I cooked a half a head of grated cauliflower in the microwave and served the butter chicken over the top. I certainly have eaten more cauliflower than I ever have in my life.
I had mousse for dessert.
It felt odd not to weigh myself this morning, but I am definitely going to hold out until next Saturday.
Day 39: Progress!
Weight loss: 2 pounds Total weight loss: 14 pounds
Oh, this is much better. It’s been 4 days since my last weigh-in and I’ve lost 2 pounds. I will now continue to weigh in only once a week, on Saturdays. I knew logically that if I continue to eat on this plan, I will lose weight, but going up and down a 1/2 pound or a pound at a time was very frustrating after eating nearly perfectly to the ketogenic plan. Seeing bigger numbers once a week should be much more satisfying.
I only needed to go into work for 4 hours yesterday, so Rick and I had a leisurely breakfast at the diner. I chose the spinach/feta/tomato omelet with 4 pieces of bacon. It was a filling start to the day.
After work, we went to Costco. I walked through the cheese and dip section looking at the carb count on all the products. I purchased the tzaziki sauce (2g), a jalapeno yogurt dip (1g), a crab dip (1g), guacamole (1g), and of course, Dubliner cheese. I’ve been eating a couple of avocados a week, but they spoil quickly. I’ve had the Costco guac at my friend Walter’s house and it was pretty good, so I thought the guacamole would be more cost-effective than avocados, due to the individually wrapped portions.
I walked through the cracker/chips aisle hoping to find something low carb, to no avail. Nothing good in the frozen section, except the vegetables, of course. I thought I might find pre-made eggplant lasagna or something like it, but nope.
I looked at the nutritional info on so many items, that I automatically checked the back panel on the shampoo I was looking at! Oops.
After making it through Costco for just under $200, we were both hungry. (We NEVER get out of there without spending lots of money, but we do have plenty of toilet paper and paper towel!) I had been craving a 5 Guys burger earlier in the week, so we dropped in there. Rick was concerned that I would be tempted by the french fries, but I’ve never been a big fan of theirs.
I ordered a bacon cheeseburger (the 2 patty version) with mayo and double grilled onions (no charge). I wasn’t sure if their relish is sweet pickle or regular pickle and the sweet type has a few more carbs, so I passed on the relish. Rick automatically ordered two pops, so even though I’ve cut down drastically on my diet soda intake, I decided to live it up! They had a cool new pop dispenser and I found Coke Zero lime, which was really a treat.
Back at the table, I removed top and bottom bun (of course) and ate with a knife and fork. It was a flavorful experience, and I ate slowly while finishing a crossword puzzle. Low carb, good flavor, win, win.
After a visit with my dad, we went home for the evening, and I headed to my office to work on client websites. We’re also updating our own website. It’s been a few years since we revamped it, and we were never really satisfied with the lack of information on the original site (the shoemakers children, etc.). While working, I snacked on some cocoa-flavored almonds. They were just okay, but I could see how they might be a nice treat if I am ever craving a chocolate fix.
For dinner, I reheated the other half of the Indian butter chicken and cauliflower, topped it with sour cream, and enjoyed it just as much as I had the day before. Dessert was chocolate mousse.
This keto plan is really the most satisfying I have ever come across. I have craved carbs maybe one time in the last 5 1/2 weeks. I don’t crave junk food, and I can pass up donuts, sweets, and chips without batting an eye, because I know that there is some form of low carb treat I’ll be able to eat instead. Of course, I have to give a big shout out to Rick! He has gone out of his way to study which foods are low carb, keeps the larder stocked, and cooks up dinners that I can eat on the plan, even while he sometimes makes a second meal for himself. The ironic thing is that he likes BBWs. That’s true self-sacrifice on his part. LOL
Thanks, honey.
In three days, I will have been eating on this plan for 6 weeks and so far I’ve lost nearly 15 pounds. I think I have gone over on my carb count 1 or 2 times – barely – and I have enjoyed many many of the meals. I have more energy, and it’s pretty thrilling to feel my clothes get looser. I haven’t had this much success on any of the past 5 or 6 attempts to cut calories and exercise. Viva keto!
Day 38: Indian food on the keto plan
Total weight loss to date: 12 pounds
Next weigh-in Saturday, Feb. 18th
Yesterday didn’t start well for my nutritional intake.
We were out of sausage, so I opted to take leftover Cincinnati chili w/ squash for breakfast and grabbed a pack of hotdogs for lunch. I decided I could put some of the chili over the hot dogs to spice them up a bit, since bunless franks are a bit droll.
When I got to work, I discovered that the microwave was broken. Ok. I can adapt. I thought I’d make the hotdogs on the toaster oven for breakfast instead. Only there never was a good time. We had meetings, I had deadlines, and I never got back to the kitchen for breakfast.
At 2 p.m., I went back to make those hotdogs and found a new microwave, not yet installed, but set up for use. I ate the Cincinnati chili.
Rick called about 4 pm with a dinner idea he discovered while down in the pantry. Last year, he built himself a fabulous larder in the back corner of the basement. It’s pretty barebones, but it does have overhead lighting and lots of built in shelves where he stores cases of food or paper supplies he buys at Costco or onsale at Kroger. I also buy alot of our staples on Amazon through “subscribe and save,” so we had need of a place to store these items.
He was getting something from the larder and noticed my packets of Kitchens of India butter chicken seasoning paste. I love this product! It’s about as close to the traditional Indian restaurant dish as I’ve ever had. Lo and behold, one serving [the packet makes 4] is only 5 grams of carbs! Needless to say, I was a happy gal.
When I arrived home that evening, I had a glass of cabernet while waiting for a pound of chicken tenders to finish thawing. I usually make the meal on the stovetop, but discovered it can be made easily in the microwave – my kind of cooking!
I cut the chicken into bite-size portions. I threw those, the packet contents, 3 tbsps of butter, and a cup of water into a covered glass dish and set the micro to 22 minutes. WRONG! I sadly discovered it was supposed to be set at 22 minutes on MEDIUM. Oops. It was pretty dried up, and less appealing that usual, but DELICIOUS.
While the chicken was cooking, I set out online to discover what to use in place of rice. Cauliflower, of course. Processed it with the grater blade on my food processor, put in a covered glass dish, and put it in for 5 minutes after the chicken was finished.
I topped the “rice” with my somewhat dried out chicken, and added some sour cream. What a tasty treat it was!
I took a picture for the blog, and discovered even better news! There are 2 grams of fiber in a serving. My net intake for 2 servings was only 6 grams of carbs [not including the cauliflower]. WOW
You can bet this will become a weekly staple of my eating plan. Next time, I’ll be careful to cook it correctly, so I end up with some of that savory sauce instead of the dried up [but did I say DELICIOUS?] meal.
I’m sure glad Rick took the time to investigate. He knows how much I like this dish, and his thoughtfulness made me a happy gal.
Day 34: Lime cheese cake and weekday preparations
Lost: 0 Total weight loss: 12.5 pounds
Zero, zero, zero. Sigh. My plan to start weighing once a week after I hit 15 pounds may have to change. I’ll give it a couple more daily weigh-ins, but if I continue to see no progress on the scale, I may stop weighing for a week or so. Today, I think I’ll drink about 12 glasses of water. I’ve been reading ideas about how to get the pounds to start coming off when the progress is stalled.
I spent yesterday at home working on client sites and a revamp of our own business site. Before getting started, we did take an hour to have breakfast at the local diner. I had the feta omelet and bacon, and gave Rick all the extras that came with the meal.
For lunch, I cooked up some hamburger with taco seasoning and topped it with cheese, onion, and a couple of tablespoons of salsa.
I was in the mood for pizza, but didn’t have enough ambition to try creating a crust from cauliflower. Instead, I adapted a recipe I found that used a mini muffin pan. I put a piece of pepperoni in the bottom of each muffin slot, topped with mozzarella and a bit of onion and green pepper. Then I sprinkled them with pizza seasoning and put chopped jalapeno peppers on half.
I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes. The original recipe called for cream cheese, eggs, and other items. I think that would have been more like a quiche.
The result was just so-so. They were tasty, and they were cute little cups, but the jalapeno pizzas were too salty. I ate about 8 of them, but that was the extent of my dinner.
I learned my lesson about planning last week. It seemed like I was always looking for a quick meal or having a snack for dinner. While my tiny pizzas were cooking, I prepared spaghetti squash and cooked up some Cincinnati chili. Then, before bed, I layered all the ingredients for a 5-layer chili dish into plastic dishes, so I could grab one for lunch as I left the house this a.m.
Last night’s dessert was something I’ve been meaning to try; however, again, I adapted the recipe to an easier version. I had found a few recipes that used sugar-free lime jello and cream cheese to make a sort of mock cheese cake. Some called for cooking, some called for crust. I just mixed the jello and cream cheese together and chilled for a couple of hours. Before serving, I topped with whipped heavy cream.
It was heavenly. Rick said it hit every one of his taste buds. The flavor of the cream cheese blended well with the lime taste.
Day 33: No brownies for me, thanks
Lost: +.5 Total weight loss: 12.5
Sigh. Gained a half pound back. No reason I can think of. I guess I have to do something…drink more water? ride my bike? I’ll investigate the best way to jump start my system this afternoon.
I worked at home yesterday, first on my day job as a writer/editor, then for a couple of hours helping Rick create websites.
I made my favorite weekend treat: peanut butter pancakes and topped them with a tbsp of Polaner grape jelly.
Lunch was late and followed a handful of habanero almonds: 2 chicken shawarma, wraps minus their wraps.
Dinner was a quick couple of hotdogs with beanless turkey chili and cheese topping.
Jo came by to watch the 2nd and 3rd Stieg Larsson series Swedish movies, and she brought a pan of her famous yummy chocolate brownies. I abstained and whipped up some fake chocolate mousse.
I continue to look at breads, rolls, donuts, chips, and sweets and think how many carbs they would add to my day. Even one would essentially throw me out of ketosis. I have spent 33 days eating fewer than 20 carbs a day. At the most, I’ve gone up to 25 a couple of times accidentally. That makes it easy to say no to the carb-laden food.