2018-Gonna reboot the blog.

2018 is here and not a moment too soon. I am overhauling ME this year beginning today, January 1, 2018.

Rebooting means logging food choices, weight losses and gains, and keeping a real commitment to my health.

Honestly, I feel poorly a lot of the time. I also know that I will feel worse before I feel better. Short term this is going to stink but long term it will be worth it.

Today I actually made it to the gym. Did 30min on the elliptical and 30min on the treadmill. I feel like I have been hit by a truck and cannot wait to go to bed, lol. All in all, I hit every goal I set for myself today, New Year's Day. So that makes me feel better even if my body is steadily complaining.

Food choices today::

64oz of water

atkins bar

2 cheese wheels

8oz low carb chocolate milk

16 oz coke zero

at Lucky's-

1 coconut chicken tender

2 hot wings

salad w.bleu cheese dressing

pint of unswt tea-no sweetener

2 tbsp peanut butter with 4oz stevia sweetened dark chocolate [Lily's]

Chik filet-12 nuggets, yogurt, lge coke zero.

 

It is not completely low carb yet [chicken nuggets and yogurt] but it is a far cry from all the junk of the holidays. I know the scale will respond.

 

 

Let's go 2018!

 

 

Homemade Cauliflower Rice

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and I have to agree. I have been subbing out rice in my low-carb cooking with riced cauliflower from Sam's Club so recently when I went by there to get some, they had none. Needless to say I was pretty panicked as I was cooking for several friends who are doing low-carb and they were expecting the LC version of homemade chicken & rice and I was about to fail to deliver.

I went online and started looking for ways to make riced cauliflower from scratch myself and there were tons of recipes. I have yet to try a recipe of the Pioneer Woman and have been a long-time follower of her blog from the days BEFORE she was on the Food Network so I clicked on her recipe first.

I'm glad I did. I ended up making the oven roasted version and it was delicious.  I used rosemary sea salt, black pepper and a garlic parsley blend of spices and olive oil as opposed to her suggestion of spices and avocado oil.

I tried to rice the cauliflower 3 ways and by far the food processor version was best. First I tried the magic bullet. It riced the CF into a pulp almost. Then I tried chopping it by hand, which was better than the magic bullet but time-consuming, messy and tiring. Last but not least was the food processor. I pulsed it and kept it a rough chop to maintain some bulk to it and it came out great.

After ricing, I spread the cauliflower out in a pan and mixed it with the spices and some olive oil, stirring well. I spread it out again and roasted it for 30min. at 425 degrees, stopping every ten minutes to stir it up.

Here are some pics:

Just finished roasting:

 Up close shot of plain roasted cauliflower

 Mixed together as chicken and cauliflower rice:

And here is a link to the original recipe:


Cauliflower Rice--Original Recipe

Five stars--will be making again! And will be using roasted cauliflower rice for chicken and sausage gumbo, too!

Sugar Free/Low Carb Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This chick Hilda can cook! I just made her Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe and it was fantastic! It is made with almond meal/flour and the best price I have found locally in Panama City FL. on that is at Grocery Outlet in the Bob Red's Mill section. Below is the recipe and a link.

I wish I had taken pics of mine but it disappeared very quickly.

Hilda's recipe calls for Swerve sweetener. I  found it locally at Fresh Market in Pier Park.

1 ¼ c almond flour

¾ c of swerve or other sugar substitute

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp of salt

4 eggs

3 ½ oz cream cheese

4 tbs softened butter

1 tsp of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl mix with an electric mixer on high beat the butter with the sugar substitute until well mixed then add the cream cheese next add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Next add all the dry ingredients until well combined.

In a well- greased cake or loaf pan bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Click Here for the link on Hilda's Site

Well.....It has been a minute...

It has been a minute or two since I last blogged so I am going to take another swing at this and hope I can be semi-regular about it.

Since the last time I blogged I stopped eating healthy and gained all of my 30lbs lost BACK again. 

I have lost the first ten of it, twenty to go!

I refuse to be stressed about it. I am an optimistic and happy person by nature. Not going to let this stuff get me down or slow me down.

Onward and downward!

I Really Hate Working Out!

But I do it anyways. Sometimes as often as 6 days per week. I had to quit for a while from Dec 10-Jan5. I wiped out on my Vespa on some gravel/sand in a parking lot and tore up my left heel and calf. I lost some ground with the weights but I have been back in the groove since early January. I am still on Doctors orders not to do the leg press due to an inflamed bone spur but it is getting better so hopefully by summer I will add that back. Since today was lower body day I will just do this--Here is where I was in October of last year:

Leg extensions: 3 sets/50lbs/12 reps
Leg curl: 3sets/50lbs/12 reps
Adductor/inner thigh: 3 sets/60lbs/15 reps
Abductor/outer thigh: 3 sets/60lbs/15 reps
Leg press: 5 sets/180lbs/200lbs/220lbs/240lbs/260lbs/12reps
15 mins at level 4 on stationary bike
15 mins at level 4 on elliptical

 Here is where I am now:

Leg extensions: 3 sets/50lbs/12 reps [same]
Leg curl: 3sets/40lbs/12 reps [down 10lbs]
Adductor/inner thigh: 3 sets/100lbs/15 reps [up 40lbs]
Abductor/outer thigh: 3 sets/110lbs/15 reps [up 50lbs]
Leg press: NONE--Dr's orders
15 mins at level 4-6 on stationary bike [able to go up 2 more levels for periods of time]
15 mins at level 4-6 on elliptical [able to go up 2 more levels for periods of time]


 Eating low carb about 90% of the time.  Planning to increase that as of this week.

Did a visual comparison of me now vs. me about 1-1.5yrs ago.

My scale has slowed down but my body is changing and my doctor tells me my health is steadily improving. And in the end, I think that's what matters the most, good health and a body transformed.

And......after looking at that photo, maybe I don't hate working out as much as I did a little bit ago when I was leaving the gym.


 As an afterthought, just wanted to post this here again because I am making it this weekend for a get-together with friends that are all bringing pizzas. One of my friends is diabetic and this is very diabetic friendly as well as low carb.

Fabulous Low Carb Pizza

RECIPE REVIEW: Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breasts

As I am sitting here eating one of the best salads I have ever made personally, I am reminded that I have not shared this GEM of a recipe on any of my blogs and really, it NEEDS to be shared.

Baby lettuces with red onion, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, homemade ranch and topped with diced Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breasts. If you're ready for a new take on chicken that rivals anything you would eat at Carrabbas, Outback or anywhere else for that matter, this is the recipe for you!

The recipe originates with George Stella, a professional chef who went on low carb and went from 467lbs to 217lbs and ate like a king the whole way down.  I first found him many years ago on the Food Network where he had a cooking show called "Low Carb and Lovin' It!" He has since moved on but has a website, which I will link to at the bottom of this post. I am also including my own tweaks at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients

1 pound (2 large breasts) boneless skinless chicken breast, butterflied
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Cilantro Herb Butter, recipe follows
Fresh parsley, optional, for garnish

Directions

Preheat a grill or grill pan over high heat.

Lightly coat chicken with oil and sprinkle each evenly on both sides with the salt and pepper. Grill chicken breasts for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until thoroughly cooked; the meat should be solid white throughout and the internal temperature will read 165 degrees F. Remove from grill and immediately top with cilantro herb butter. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve as butter is melting.
Cilantro Butter:

Scampi Butter, recipe follows

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Follow the scampi butter recipe, but use only half of the garlic, and replace the parsley with 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro.

Yield: 12 servings
Scampi Butter (Base):

1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dash white pepper

Dash Worcestershire sauce

1 lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon white wine

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Use the Scampi "base" to make different flavored butters.

Recipe courtesy George Stella
© 2015 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

My tweaks:

*I do NOT butterfly the chicken breasts. I pound them thin, instead and slice each one in half from there.

*I don't grill very much so I had to find a tasty way to cook the chicken and infuse lots of flavor. What I ended up doing was heating a non stick skillet on med-high and putting a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in to heat. While that heated I generously seasoned the chicken breasts with garlic powder, fresh ground pepper and fresh ground salt. When the oil sizzled from a flick of water from my finger tips, I added the chicken breasts, cooking each side til it caramelized slightly, about 5 min or so per side. I kept the chicken warm and when it was all done added the butter. Let me know what you think if you try it!

*The original recipe will tell you to cut the garlic in half when you do cilantro instead of parsley. I keep the full amount of garlic.



If you want to see the original recipe with reviews, click here:
Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breasts

George stellas Site:
George Stella's Low Carb Website

Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers

I plan to be in Chicago with the Million Dollar Band for the Ronald McDonald Thanksgiving Day Parade next week and I knew I had one pair of jeans that fit.

Normally clothing shopping for me is NOT FUN. I have the opposite of bulimia or anorexia. Instead of looking in the mirror and feeling like I am fat when I'm not, I have the mentality that I am a lot skinnier than what I really am so when I actually catch a glimpse of myself in  mirror or storefront window I don't always recognize myself and then am shocked when I realize that fat girl looking back at me is ME.

So last week I started shopping. I had gotten rid of all of my jeans because they had begun to fit so poorly they were sliding down my hips at inopportune times. I was shocked and excited to find I was down 2 sizes in pants and one size in tops. Man was I STOKED! I don't think I look much different but the proof is in the dressing room at JC Penny's! WOOT!

Suddenly, shopping was a lot more fun. As I gazed longingly at the next sized clothes from where I am I felt super motivated to KEEP GOING and not get comfortable where I am.

I have been trying to have as much variety in my food choices as possible so I don't go slap off the rails at times and this one was a huge hit at a recent dinner party. Please keep in mind I do eat as low carb as possible, and keep LIMITED whole wheat products in my diet as well, per my doctor.  I modified this recipe a tad by using my sisters taco meat recipe, which I am also listing.


Original recipe:
Mexican Stuffed Peppers

My sister's taco meat recipe: [best I've ever had]
 Debby's Taco Meat Recipe


As far as whole wheat goes, I limit that to once or twice a week and most weeks not at all. That would be whole wheat bread/buns for sandwiches/hot dogs/hamburgers/etc or whole wheat pasta as Italian restaurants.

If you are interested in lower carb foods for quicker and more efficient weight loss without starving yourself, then check out Linda Sue's Low Carb Recipes and Menus. I have been using them since the 90's and her ratings have really helped me figure out what's good and what isn't.

That's it for now. Been a week since I hit the gym and going to head there later today if possible. Will post stats later, ;]