Chia Eggs

Chia Eggs

I have discovered chia seeds.  I'm super impressed with this fiberful little seed that is geared to make my life better.  1 tbsp of chia seeds has 1 carb and 6 grams of fiber.  I'm going to try to incorporate them across the board and try to get in a tbsp a day.

One of my husband's favorite things to eat are poached eggs.  He's been loving the low carb diet because I'm always making poached eggs.  I didn't know how to make hollandaise sauce and this morning I found a recipe which didn't call for a double boiler, but a blender and steaming hot butter.  I guess the butter cooks the egg yolks enough to make the sauce.  There isn't any carbs in hollandaise sauce so I decided to give it a shot.  

I didn't have everything this particular recipe called for so this is how I did the hollandaise sauce:

3 egg yolks  1.4 carbs : 0 fiber
1/4 dijon mustard  scant : 0
1 tbsp lemon juice  1 : 0
splash of Srirachi sauce  1 : 0
1/2 cup of butter  0 : 0

Blend in a blender for 5 seconds the egg yolks, mustard, lemon and Srirachi.  Make sure butter is HOT and while pouring into the blender blend it on the highest setting.  You may want to pour with one hand and hold the lid over the blender with the other as I had a bit of a mess to clean up after!

This is hollandaise for 6 servings:  Carbometer:  3.4 : 0  per serving  .5 carbs.

For my husband, I used a Chia Seed/Flax bread I found at Trader Joe's for his bread, I didn't have english muffins, regular ham and then two poached eggs.

His Eggs Chia  Carbometer:

1 slice toasted Chia/Flax bread: 24 carbs  : 3 fiber
2 poached eggs : 2 : 0
Ham: 0 : 0
Hollandaise: .5 : 0

Total Carbometer: 26.5 carbs : 3 fiber

For me, I used one mini pita bread and cut it in half and lightly toasted it. - 7 carbs : .5 fiber
I also sprinkled Chia seeds over the top of my eggs, about 1/4 tsp worth: .25 carbs : 1 fiber


My Eggs Chia  Carbometer: 9.5 carbs : 1.5 fiber

Saturday progress report.  I broke the plateau finally.  I have managed to lose a half pound, may be the tipping point to a bigger drop.  I have 13.5 lbs to go to my target weight now.  YIPPEE!!

I'm taking my son on a 4.5 mile hike today and started wearing my STRIIV again which is like a fitbit but has a weird game to play.  Walked 11.4K steps yesterday!

Eat your chia!  Happy Carb Counting!!!

Find Your Mountain

My Mountain Hike

In my first post, I mentioned how I'm not the type to do heavy cardio workouts.  I won't be in the step aerobic class or boot camp.  It's not that I wouldn't want to be, but an injury when I as fourteen caused some internal damage to my knees.   This put a stop to any jarring or high impact sports.   I do use the machines like the elliptical but mainly I hike and swim.

The workout which I feel helps me the most is my hike.  I am lucky to have a great hiking trail literally in my back yard.  I try to get there as much as possible and I would hike it everyday if I could only find the time.   It's about a 2 - 2.8 mile hike round trip, depending which trails I take I can do the hike in 50 minutes or 90 minutes.

What is great about the hike is that it's a natural endurance course.  I go up for about 30 minutes, in some areas steep enough that I would not recommend going down that way.  The trail then levels off but then naturally goes up and down on the way back down, keeping the muscles working relatively well until the cool down for the walk home.

View from Top of Mountain

I do think, this hike in particular, helped me lose the weight to my first target goal in the fall.  The weather was great then and I could literally go daily because of the long hours of light.  Once the time changed, so did my workout :-(.  I then started swimming at the health club and doing a yoga class here and there.   I maintained my weight, but didn't really lose any more.

Now that the time has changed back, I'm trying to get back in the swing of the trail.  There still isn't enough light hours yet for me to make it everyday, but I am looking forward to when I can.

There are many benefits to the hike, I don't speed through it or listen to my favorite music, I mainly listen to myself.  Think about things, I normally don't have the time or quiet to think about when I'm surrounded by my family or my work.  It's a good feeling, a refocusing moment, helping me to keep going.  I highly recommend finding a mountain and visiting it frequently.

Eating Out on a Low Carb Diet

Awesome Lasagna!

It's going to happen.   You will need to go out with family or friends and they may choose a place which is serving some great lasagna that everyone is raving about.  Hopefully you can order off the menu but sometimes, you can't.  I had that experience recently.  A fundraiser for school.  A lasagna dinner.

At each table was an older student to welcome a younger student. It was a nice touch, except at our table, was the daughter of the mother who made all the lasagna for the evening. When I found that out, I explained to her, that I was certain that her mother's lasagna was fantastic, but that I would only be eating the meat and cheese.

That's right, I ate the lasagna filling, but not the pasta.  I'm sure I need to account for some transfer carbs, but pretty much I successfully removed the lasagna pasta from the dinner.  It was great.  Here's what my projected Carbometer is on the filling and side salad:

1/4 ground beef cooked: 0 carbs : 0 fiber
1/2 cup tomato sauce (likely less but wanting to be generous): 9 : 1.4
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese: 0 : 0
spices? - I haven't yet found spices with carbs.

Side salad:
1 cup iceberg lettuce: 2.3 : .9
scant carrot shavings: 1 : .3
1/2 oz of walnuts: 2 : .9
(The salad also had dried cranberries, which I removed as they are 23 carbs per oz)

Total Carbometer: 14.3 carbs: 3.5 Fiber

If I would have eaten the cranberries, I would have gone over my target.  That would be fine of course, that's a personal choice what to do in this situation.  The tomato sauce is a secret carb holder for sure!

I'm trying to get more exercise and walking/hiking in each day.  I'm trying to break through my plateau so that on Saturday, I can share some progress.  I tried a pilates class over lunch yesterday.  Interesting. It was with balls, not machines.   I do think I need to do some of this work as well, I've hit the stage where I need to tone.

I like to get on the scale everyday.  I actually spend a bit of time there, still in wonderment of the number I'm actually seeing and that it's below the one on my driver's license always brings a smile to me.

Happy Carb Counting!

Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies!

My "My Great Recipes" Collection

That's right!  There is such a thing as low carb Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies and I'm sure I could find numerous other ones, but I decided this last weekend to make Chocolate Chip Cookies with almond flour.  What came out was something like biscotti or even a breakfast bar, good for dipping.   Though I only made twelve of these cookies, you really could only eat one, they were so filling.

There are a few things I've learned from my kids regarding treats.  There is a certain expectation, depending on who you are as to what a chocolate chip cookie should taste like.   My twelve year old son is at that point where he doesn't care and he ate two cookies and about a half a gallon of milk before roaring at me that he was still hungry. My nine year old daughter, politely informed me that she had tried one of my chocolate chip cookies and though she ate it all, she would not recommend I make more.

Anyway, I love chocolate chip cookies, I grew up making them; made tons of different kinds. Growing up on a farm, I started out in the kitchen early and baking was a major part of my chores.  Yes, chores.  It was not unusual for me to wake up on a Saturday morning and my mother would rattle off all the things we had to make.  Maybe a pie, cookies, a cake for a church event, biscuits, if a special occasion even kolaches (a Czech danish).  Food and preparing food was such a part of my life that I collected recipes and was a member to a recipe club called "My Great Recipes"

I would wait for those recipe cards to come in the mail, I think I would get either 10 or 12 at a time, twice a month.  I still have those recipes.  There are about 15 different types of chocolate chip cookies, in that collection and none of them are low carb.  The recipe I chose to try comes from www.thewannabechef.net.  I believe they are not the authors either, so I actually don't know who to properly attribute with the recipe; I put my own twist on it making it low sugar as well.


Here were my ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almond flour  36 carbs : 18 Fiber
1/4  cup coconut oil:  0 : 0
 4 1/2 tsps of Truvia sweetener: 18 : 0
1 egg:  1 :  0
1/4 tsp salt: 0 : 0
1/2 tsp vanilla extract: 0 : 0
1/4 tsp baking soda: 0 : 0
1/4 cup chocolate chips 40 : 4
I need to find sugar free chocolate chips :-(

Total Carbometer: 95 carbs : 22 Fiber
or 7.9 carbs : 1.8 fiber per cookie

Compare to a Carbometer with bleached white
flour: 201 carbs : 8 fiber/ 12 cookies = 16.75 : .6  per cookie.

I would eventually like to try this with unsweetened chocolate chips or replace with peanut butter chips or mix'em.

Anyway, remember - biscotti...not your traditional chocolate chip cookie.

Tuesday progress report.  I still have 14 lbs. to go.  I have to increase the excercise, I've got to find the time to hike.  Just checked the weather forecast...rain showers for the next three days.  My hiking, may be on a machine.  But, I'm not complaining, we need the rain.

Have a Happy Carb Counting Day!

Low Carb Pizza!

Pizza with a Parchment Cracker Crust

Pizza was always a staple on my family's diet, especially a Friday or Saturday night.  With my low carb diet, I usually just forgo having any pizza and stick with the salad bar when we go out for pizza.  However, yesterday, in the midst of a mega play date, the kids wanted to make their own pizza.   I thought, what a great time consuming idea, doing something creative together instead of exploding dresser drawers and the closet all over the floor in my daughters room!  Let's do pizza!

We went to the grocery store and I was pleasantly surprised by what the girls wanted to put on their pizzas.  Basil, sweet sausage, green peppers, Canadian bacon; these pizzas were going to rock!  They wanted real dough, not the pre-made crusts so we did cheat a little and used the Pillsbury brand pizza crusts, each crust makes cookie sheet sized pizza.  The girls split them in half and made the pizza in the shape they wanted.  One did look like a butterfly, but mainly most looked like a long hoagie bun.

I really wanted that pizza, but I knew I just couldn't afford that dough and the pizzas were so good coming out of the oven that there wasn't a lot left over for me to just pick off the toppings.  Then I remembered...I had parchment like crackers from Trader Joe's that just might work.  The crackers are called Pane Guttian and are Sardinian Parchment Crackers.  There are 8 grams of carbs per cracker and the cracker is large, it fills up the center of a plate.   This could work...and it did.  Here's my pizza and it's Carbometer:

1 Pane Guttian Cracker: 8 carbs : .5 Fiber

1/2 Mozzarella shredded cheese: 0: 0

1/8 cup sliced mushrooms: 1.2 : .5

1/8 cup sweet sausage:  1 : 0

1/8 cup sweet mini peppers:  1: 0

4 pieces of pepperoni: 0 : 0

2 tbsp. of pizza sauce: 3 : .5

2 pieces of basil, sliced and sprinkled on pizza sauce before toppings and cheese: 0 : 0

Total Carbometer: 14.2 : 1.5 Fiber

It was AWESOME!  I'll definitely do this again. 

I did read up on some other creative ways to have even lower carb pizzas.  Try a bacon crust (I couldn't handle the thought of all the salt), or to make parmesan crisps and place the pizza on that.  That could bring the carb count down considerably.  However, I must say, that cracker tasted awesome, all 8 carbs of it!

Chips and Dips on a Low Carb Diet

Cucumber w/ Cream Cheese Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

I'm hoping to get away to the beach again this week with friends with kids.  I know the day will be filled with all kinds of starchy snacks that I could not even possibly think of having.  I've been practicing making low carb snacks.

I shared the mini pita and cucumber sauce, and the seaweed chips but there are many more snacks that would be appropriate, like cucumber chips and dip.




This is a very low carb snack coming in at just 4 carbs for this entire plate of cucumbers and dip. That is just 2 tbps of dip, I've divided over the chips.

I'm looking into other things that will taste great on cucumbers now that I'm seeing a great supply in the grocery store.  Also, looking forward to trying some artichoke recipes too.

It's Saturday and that's one of the days I tell you how I'm progressing.  I'm still plateaued with 14 lbs to go, but I have expected this just from the type of pattern I usually have when trying to lose weight.  If I can get through another week without breaking the diet, I'll continue to drop weight.

Have a Happy Carb Counting Day!

Frozen Foods on Low Carb Diet

First bloom from my lilacs

Yesterday I mentioned I had a packaged frozen entree from the Atkins Diet line which is also concerned about carbs.   They count carbs differently than I do, they subtract the fiber from the carbs to lower the carb amount.  This difference is referred to as the NET Carbs.  I still look on the back label.  What I do like about the Atkins Diet entrees are that they are usually very high in fiber which is something I have a difficult time getting enough.

I was asked yesterday if I liked any of the other frozen diet entrees that are available.  Actually, the Atkins really is the only one I purchase.  However, I do like non-diet branded entrees from Trader Joe's.  I have found several that are low carb as well and are delicious.  I'm sure if you just spend some time in the frozen food isle of your preferred grocery you will find packaged meals that will fit the low carb diet.



At Trader Joe's here are some of my favorites:

Hake En Papillote - a white fish with grilled zucchini and pesto - 8 carbs

Mojito Salmon - salmon with a tomatoes, tomatillos and red bell pepper sauce - 6 carbs

Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers - 3 carbs

A real treat, when the kids want pizza and so do I, try:

Taste d'Alsace's Flat Bread with Ham, Caramelized Onions & Gruyere Cheese - 13 carbs

Basically, any meat or fish dish is fine but still do look at the labels.  The sauce or the way it's prepared can add significant carbs to the dish.

I try not to eat a lot of frozen foods.  Once a week, if I'm in a real time crunch is when this usually happens.  With the right planning, I think everyone can eat fresh, get plenty of fresh veggies and make their own food.  I feel it's really best to control what goes in your food.  All the foods I mentioned above have some form of preservatives in them.

Hope this helps you grab something on the go when you are carb counting!

Meals for Entertaining and a Plateau

Mini Pepper and Spinach Open-Faced Omelete

If you look at the last few postings and you happen to be a Facebook friend; you'll see I've had a wonderful weekend with friends visiting and a rare chance to escape with my son on a kayaking trip.  What I have yet to share and I forgot to mention it yesterday on weigh in Tuesday is that I've plateaued....I'm sure that mixed berry tart is to blame :-).   Anyway, the scale is not going down and quite frankly, I really am not putting more in and I am doing more.  I have noticed this, I've even seen it happen on those TV programs where they track people's everything it seems.  Sometimes, the body just STOPS giving up the weight.

For me, these patterns will last at least a week. It's frustrating and I do think for some, makes them quit their diet.  I rebelled yesterday, I had an Atkins packaged lunch!  Crustless Chicken Pot Pie and it was GOOD.  I have found that the Atkins pre-packaged aren't that bad as long as I don't depend on them.  Maybe once a week, I'll have one.   Yesterday was just busy and I didn't have the time to do anything physical...thankfully I had the Monday kayaking. 

While I had help eating that lovely Mixed Berry Tart, I also made breakfast with my visiting friends. Just because I'm on the low carb diet doesn't mean everyone in the house is.  So there was plenty of pancakes with 52 carb syrup for my guests and kids and turkey bacon and an open faced omelete to share with all. 

The omelete turned out really nice.  Here's what was in it:

8 eggs - 8 carbs: 0 Fiber

1/2 cup Queso cheese - 0 : 0

5 mini peppers - 7: 1.5

2 cups spinach - 2 :  1

Total Carbometer: 17 carbs / 4 servings = 4.25 carbs  Fiber: 2.5 /4 servings = .625

Progress report - Still 14 lbs to go.  No weight loss from Saturday.

If you are following along and have experienced something similar...don't give up...walk three steps further...

Have a Happy Carb Counting Day!

An Awesome Day!

Morro Rock - view from ocean side of the dunes

Being on a low carb diet is not just about the food.  It's about what you do with your time as well.  My son had St. Patrick's Day off from school.  I decided to take the day off as well and keep him out of the house.  I knew if I didn't do this, the entire day would be spent with a game controller in his hands and we live in such a spectacular place that would be a waste of his eyes!

One of my favorite before children activities was to kayak.   I stared out ocean kayaking and now I like to refer to myself as a flat water kayaking.  Granted, there can still be a workout when currents or wind come into play.  But now, I like the quiet kayaking can bring.

This is where we went:  Morro Rock - other side of the dunes.

As for low carbing, I did that too.  I ate eggs and spinach, unsuccessfully tried to make corned beef and cabbage and had a great tostada (minus the beans and the tostada of course) at the locally famous - Martha Stewart mentioned Taco Temple.  AWESOME!

Comical Take on Family Involvement: Mixed Berry Tart

Almond flour crust with mixed berries sweetened with Truvia

This low carb diet has become such a strong part of my family that both of my kids wanted to be involved in the making of the blackberry tart aka Mixed Berry Tart.  So, we decided to film it.   It's pretty comical because my son, the camera man is a bit of a funny man himself.  Even when he tries really hard to do something nice for mom, that urge to do something else is just too strong.   I certainly have my own moments of epic fail, but it's too funny not to share with you.

Enjoy the clips below, but be sure to come back for what sweetener was best in the taste test!

Here's our first take:How NOT to Make Tart Crust

A more successful take but my camera man is losing interest: Successful Tart Crust with Bored Camera Boy

The last bit of useful video: Pressing Out the Almond Flour Tart Crust

If you watched the videos, you know one of the goals of making the tarts was to try three sweeteners.  However, I found two, were actually the same stuff, so it came down to a comparison of monk fruit or stevia.  I made the mini tarts with monk fruit and the large tart with stevia.

Almond Flour Tart Crust
For the recipe of the almond flour crust, I used one that I found online here: Elana's Pantry's Gluten Free Tart Crust  This crust was so excellent, I will have to start following Elana's recipes.  Her recipes appear to be Paleo diet based.

She didn't provide baking instructions, but I baked the crust before I filled at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  I didn't like the oil sitting on top of the crust, so I did soak it up with paper towels, but the oil does soak back into the crust, so you don't have to do that.

The Carbometer on the Crust per serving is: 5 carbs
Use flour and it would have been 23 carbs

The coconut oil used to make the crust spelled so wonderful, it was like my kitchen was on a tropical vacation.

Mixed Berry Filling
The mixed berry recipe is a conglomeration of recipes from all over the place.  I didn't want jello in the tart mix, or more eggs...I just wanted berries and sugar for the most part.   I ended up using for the most part the filling from a Martha Stewart Cobbler recipe which for what I had was this:

5 cups of mixed berries -  Raspberries, Blueberries and Blackberries (mainly blackberries)
4 tsp. of sweetener
2 tbsp. of cornstarch.

You just sprinkle the sweetener and cornstarch over the berries and mix it up, making a little berry sauce. Then fill the tarts.  I baked the tart and mini tart for another 20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees and let sit and cool for 30 minutes.

Mini Tarts made with Nectresse sweetener

Carbometer on the berry filling for 1 pie: 9 carbs

Total Carbometer on a piece of this lovely mixed berry tart:  14 carbs

Carbometer on 1 mini tart: 4.5 carbs

Sweetener taste test:  I had 5 people test both a mini tart and small piece of the large tart.  The crust on the mini was awesome, more crust per bite.  The fruit mix on first taste was awesome but then the sweetener aftertaste lingers for a while. The mini tarts were made with Nectresse sweetener with monk fruit.

The large tarts taste was good and stayed good consistently.  The testers asked for a thicker crust...some true sweet tooth testers could still taste the fact that it wasn't sugar, but they ate all of their tart anyway.  The large tart was made with Truvia and that's the TRUE winner of the sweetener taste test and what I'll be using until I find something better.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.  It was fun to involve the kids.  Here's a look at the mini tarts:

Asparagus! Asparagus and Mushroom Omelete

Asparagus and Mushroom Omelet

Happy Saturday to all my carb counting friends.  Today is the day I try to make a blackberry tart with almond flour, but for now I'm going to share with you my joy of asparagus.  When I was growing up, my parents had this huge garden on their farm.  It was awesome as much as it was a pain to care for. The weed pulling, the watering, the hoeing, but best of all was the eating.  In the garden, I had a favorite patch which had strawberries, asparagus, dill, and scallions planted.

Every morning in the summer I would go out with two buckets and a paring knife.   One for strawberries and the knife and other bucket for asparagus.  GALLONS of strawberries would be picked at the height of the seasons and at least a full bundle of asparagus.  I'm just getting started planning a garden, and strawberries, asparagus and blackberries are on the list.

I love asparagus blanched, broiled, and fresh.  The omelet I'm sharing will serve 2 as a meal, 4 as part of a meal.  Ingredients:

4 eggs: 4 carbs : 0 fiber
1 cup sliced mushrooms: 2.2 : 1
1 cup asparagus tips: 5.2  :  3
1/4 cup shredded queso cheese: 0 : 0
1/4 cup of avocado: 3 : 2

In an cooking oil sprayed skillet, I sauteed the mushrooms and asparagus on medium high, to a desired look to soften them.  Set aside the mushrooms and asparagus.  Turn down the skillet to medium heat

Whisk the eggs together and pour in same skillet.  I use a nylon spatula to keep the omelet together by lifting the edges and letting uncooked egg flow to the underside of the omelet.  When almost completely cooked, I place the mushrooms and asparagus on one side of the omelet and top with the queso cheese.  Flip the side without ingredients up an over on top of the side with ingredients, let set for 30 seconds and then transfer to plate.   Garnish with avocado.

Carbometer: 14.4/ 2 servings as a meal = 5.7 per serving;  Fiber: 3 per serving
Carbometer: 14.4/4 servings as part of a meal = 2.85 per serving; Fiber: 1.5 per serving

My progress update: I'm now down 6 lbs with 14 lbs to go to my goal weight.  I'm averaging 28 - 30 carbs a day.   I am actively trying to lose weight.  My activity level has been moderate, 30 to 45 minutes walking mainly, one day with yoga, one day with water aerobics.

Now...to the Blackberry Tart!  Have a happy weekend!

Grocery Stores and Processed Sugar

Grocery Store Trips - One Backpack at a Time

I'm lucky that I live in an agricultural area and Farmers Markets are available on a daily basis if I just know where to go.   However, I'm not that organized.  I shop out of convenience.   I love the fact there is a grocery store within a mile from my home, so I walk there.  By walking it really limits my ability to buy whatever my sense is telling me to.

My sense...that's right, whatever my nose is telling me to.  I've noticed over the last several months that the grocery store smells odd.   It was a slow process, maybe even undetected for the first several months of my low carb diet back in September and October, but now, I almost become sick walking through the doors.  I have finally identified the smell.  It's processed sugar.

There are so many processed sugar products in the larger chain grocery stores.  Think of the rows of boxes of cereals and quick mixes, the snack isle.  There is so much choice in these items and pre-made mixes with all their processed sugar and other heavens only knows what preservatives are inside their cardboard boxes.   I've been off sugar long enough that that's all I smell.

Ironically, I don't have this feeling at places where the grocery section is in another store as well, like some Target's and Walmart's now have grocery areas inside. I don't know if there are just enough other products to absorb those extra sugary smells.  I also don't get the feeling at Trader Joe's, likely because there isn't all that choice there.

I would relate this smell to the first time you open a box of cereal - one with sugar in it.
If you want the full on effect, pick one you know has a lot of sugar content like Lucky Charms.  Upon the first pull of that sealed bag, that first rush of air that greets you; that's it...it's like that very same blast of air greets me in the grocery store.

Strategically, I make a beeline for the areas I need now.  Only enter on the produce side; check the meat specials, grab milk and paper plates. I wonder if you'd like to try an experiment with me, just to check that I'm not crazy. Would you give up sugar and processed sugar food for a six to eight weeks trial to see if you notice any difference?  

My kids usually beg for some ultra sugar cereal during spring break...no more letting in.  I'm slowly breaking them of sugar. I'm looking now into cooking with almond flour and stevia. Not a huge fan of stevia, tried growing it, like the first taste, but it has a bit of an after taste for me.

Changing the way I bake is a big deal for me. I grew up on a wheat farm, so many of my fond memories of food involve baking family recipes with lots of flour and sugar. The first thing I want to try to make will be a Blackberry tart on an almond flour crust.  I'll try that this weekend.  I'll let you know how that goes. If it's good, I'll share the recipe.  For now, I thought I'd share a picture of what my grocery store haul of products usually looks like these days.

Happy Carb Counting!

Italian Salad is a Hit!

Italian Salad!!

I buy spinach by the lb., there is always spinach in my house.  I think I must consume at least 1and 1/2 lbs of spinach a week, if not more.   So, for this blog I bring you another spinach salad.   An italian one, which broke my carbometer yesterday so I'm suggesting that you halve this salad if you make it for yourself and not ruin your dinner opportunities.

How could I....the author of The Carbometer, break my own carbometer?  There was perfectly good spinach about to go to waste!  There isn't anything more distressing than having to toss out a bag of spinach because the leaves are turning dark and wet.   That was happening on one of my bags so instead of saving some for dinner to cook, I put it all in this salad.  So, you need half this spinach.  I'm pretty sure I had four cups of spinach in this salad pictured above.  Here's my Carbometer and Fibermeter on it.

My Italian Salad:

4 cups Spinach - 4 carbs : 2.8 fiber

Italian Salami low sodium - cut into quarters - 2 : 0

1 cup of mushrooms - 2.3 : 2.1

1/4 cup feta cheese - 1 : 0

3 heirloom mini tomatoes - 1.8 : 0

1/2 cup sliced cucumbers - 1.9 : .7

1/2 cup of avocado cubes - 6 : 5

Oil and Vinegar dressing

A whopping carbometer: 19 carbs!   Fibermeter: 10.6

A more moderate version:

2 cups of Spinach - 2 carbs : 1.4 fiber

Light Italian Salami cut into quarters - 1 : 0

1/2 cup of mushrooms - 1.2 : 1

1/4 to 1/2 cup Provolone cheese sliced  - ZERO : 0

3 heirloom mini tomatoes - 1.8 : 0

1/2 cup sliced cucumbers - 1.9 : .7

1/4 cup of avocado cubes - 3 (optional) : 2.5

1/2 cup of mini sweet peppers - 1.6 (missing from mine - but would really color up the salad) : .325

Oil and Vinegar dressing

Carbometer: 12.5 - 9.5 without avocado  Fibermeter: 5.925 -3.425

My version of the salad would be something perfect to share, take to a potluck.  I've found, you need to take something pretty substantial to a potluck when you are on a low carb diet, because most people aren't.   I'm happy to see cucumbers that look good back in the grocery store.  I love cucumbers and they are relatively low in carbs. 

Enjoy this salad...I did.  Happy Carb Counting!

A Zero Carb Meal - Nearly

Turkey Bacon Lettuce Sandwich

I consider myself a fanatic when it comes to counting carbs, thus the blog.  One of my friends asked me what do I do when I have run out of carbs for the day and I'm still hungry.   This is when protein is so helpful.  I don't know if you have noticed or not, but I really don't overdo the protein.   However, I have "overcarbed" during the day and need to have close to a zero carb dinner.

I had a fabulous salad today and that was what this blog was going to be about.  However, right about dinner time I realized I had only 2.5 carbs left to eat!  That really limits my options.  Remember, you can have between 30 - 50 carbs a day and likely still lose weight, but I have found that I need to stay on the lower end of the scale so I go to extremes in situations like this and I will not go over the 30.  

One of my favorite zero carb meals is the BLT minus the T and the bread, of course.   I use romaine lettuce leaves as my bread and I still do use a little mayo and mustard, both zero carbs and turkey bacon.   A leaf of romaine lettuce has .2 carbs. for the inside leaves.  I have two "sandwiches".  If I'm still hungry, I'll have a slice of Havarti cheese or Provolone cheese; both of which have zero carbs. 

The Carbometer on the BL Sandwiches is .8 carbs

Is it worth it?  To me it is.  I experienced a rapid weight drop today of 2 lbs.  This is the difference between the weight loss of 1 lb I reported on TUESDAY and then 2 more today WEDNESDAY.   I'm now 4 lbs down from when I kickstarted the diet a week ago.   I have 16 lbs to go.   So, I celebrated with these lovely sandwiches and a four mile walk. 

Now, I'm going to go make CHOCOLATE BROWNIES for two growing kids to take to school tomorrow for snack!  Sometimes it's easier to make treats like this when I know I absolutely can not have any of it.

Happy Carb Counting

Egglicious - A Must Try Recipe

Eggs a la Queso prep

As you may have observed, I eat a lot of eggs and spinach.   I try to limit my egg consumption to two day and usually for breakfast.  Sometimes, if I'm pressed for breakfast due to early work meetings, I'lljust do turkey bacon.  Yesterday, I was so FULL still from the fiber filled egg scramble of the day before, I couldn't eat breakfast.   So I had my eggs for lunch. 

I have created something so wonderful that I have to give it a french name.   It is awesome.   The reason it's awesome is because of the shredded Queso cheese I have started to use.  Queso cheese is cheese found in quesadillas and on top of refried beans in mexican restaurants, it is a white soft cheese. It has ZERO carbs.  Most cheese has 1 carb.

Since it had zero carbs, I wanted to try it on eggs.  My husband hadn't eaten lunch yet and one of his favorite eggs dishes is eggs benedict.  I was going to try to make a low carb eggs benedict but with the queso cheese instead of the hollandaise sauce.  Hollandaise sauce has scant carbs in it by the way so I'm not saving anything really....I just didn't want to make hollandaise sauce.

It was amazing.

I poached the eggs, while the eggs poached, I sprinkled half the queso on the spinach and blanched that in the microwave for 30 seconds.   Placed the poached eggs on top of the spinach and sprinkled with the remaining queso which melted on contact.  I did season this with a little salt and pepper.  Here's the ingredients I would suggest:

I used 1 cup of spinach - I now would use 2 cups because the spinach really shrinks in the blanching.
1/4 queso
2 eggs
Carbometer: 3 - 4 carbs

I didn't think that would be enough....so I also blended a blackberry strawberry low fat, greek yogurt and also to help up my fiber count.  I couldn't finish the yogurt...the eggs were so filling.

Here's the final presentation:

Eggs a la Queso with Blackberry-Strawberry Yogurt

Oh....Mushrooms! Spoiler....Funny!

Spinach and Mushroom Scramble with Avocado Prep

Well, I did it, almost.  I had a 20 grams of fiber day yesterday, under 30 carbs and I'm still full.  Seriously, I don't think I can eat a bite till noon.   I didn't even have a humongous spinach salad either.

I did some reading last night and found that MUSHROOMS have a ridiculously high fiber count.  That their fiber count is almost half the carb count.  I'm trying to identify foods like that.  The avocado has a higher than 50% ratio as does Almond milk, which is 100% carb to fiber.

The dietary recommended fiber for a woman is 25 grams.  There is no way that is going to work for me without some type of supplement.

Spinach and Mushroom Scramble with Avocado

I made an egg scramble yesterday for lunch.

2 eggs
1/4 cup Mexican Shredded Cheese
1/2 avocado = half a cup
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup raw spinach

Paired with 1 glass of almond milk

Carbometer: 13.5 carbs  FIBER: 8 grams


It's weigh-in Tuesday morning.  I'm down another pound.  18 to go.  The scale didn't quite want to give it to me, the needle kept bouncing back and forth.

I've been walking mostly.  No major hikes yet, just around town doing errands.  If it's not a mile away...I walk.   Drives the kids crazy.  "Please, can we take the car!!!"

I also made Banana Nut Muffins for the kids last night.  My son asked me to make a pie.  He said; "I need something sweet, will you make me a pie?  You used to always have dessert in the house...."

Is that success!?  When your children notice things have changed?

No, I didn't eat a mini muffin....but I did make mini muffins because I thought...maybe I would...but I didn't.

Fiber Up with Avocados and Almond Milk

One of my friends has made an important observation on my diet musings so far.....where's the fiber?  As I had mentioned in my first blog, I've been more concerned with counting carbs than counting calories, I felt there was a natural lowering of calories because most low carb foods are actually low - low calorie....Spinach has a whopping 7 calories a cup.

Just to see how low my fiber was going I went back and started to calculate that too.  The obvious answer is too low.  I did some reading and the average adult consumes 15 grams of fiber a day.  For women, it is recommended to get 25 grams of fiber a day and for men 30 grams.   In most cases, this last week, I was getting 8 - 10 grams a day.   I have realized that everyone is different in this world, their bodies are different and what works for us may not work for others.  I have been fine with the lower fiber for the most part.   But I am going to try for an increase and see what that does for me.

First up, I found a great article which shares some of the high fiber, low carb food out there. High-Fiber Low-Carb Foods on About.com. For example, those avocados I love...super high fiber.  I have been using them too sparingly because they are a little higher in carbs than other veggies I use in my salads.  I'm increasing them.  A cup of avocado has 12 carbs, but 10 grams of fiber.  By incorporating the avocado, I'm almost half way to the recommended dietary amount.  I may have to skip that glass of wine...but the trade off is good.

Almond milk, surprisingly low in carbs at 1 carb per cup, is also 1 gram of fiber.  I'm using this instead of my treasured whipped cream in my coffee to see how that will help.   I was worried about the taste, actually...not bad, I even tried a little with a teaspoon of Nestle's Quick, a nice shake, relatively low in carbs at 3.3 carbs a cup.

So, here's to modifications!  Enjoy your almond milk and avocados and all those other lovely high fiber low carb foods out there.

Low Carb Day with a Dessert and Snack

The biggest rule I follow on my low carb diet is to stay between 30 - 50 carbs a day.  I find doing too many days below 30 leaves me not feeling my best.  So I try for 30 and if I'm over a little, that's okay.

Snacking isn't something I do much of anymore.  I used to try to do those diets where you eat six little meals a day, didn't work for me.  But I do have some occasions where I need something to make it to the next meal.  Usually this happens when I've done some carb splurging on an earlier meal. I have found a little snack at Trader Joe's which comes in handy on these days: Trader Joe's Roasted Seaweed Snack.  1 carb!  They have become my "chips".

I try to monitor my carbs to be less than 10 for breakfast, 10 for lunch and then less than 10 for dinner. I find that dinner is actually the lowest carb meal for me.  For example last night I had Trader Joe's Pork Belly and Asparagus for 3 carbs. 

Let's take a look at yesterday's meals which earned me a dessert and snack. 

Cream Cheese Pancakes with Whipped Cream for breakfast: 3.5 Carbs

2 cups of coffee with Whipped Cream:  2

Mini Pita and Tzatziki Dip snack

2 cups of Spinach:  2 

Turkey Bacon 4 slices: 0

Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup: 1

Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing: 0
SNACK1 mini pita: 7
SNACK 2 tbsp of Tzatziki dip: 2

Trader Joe's Pork Belly: 0 

Asparagus spears: 3

A glass of Pinot Gris: 3.3

Lotsa water 6-8 glasses

------------------------------------------

Carbometer for the day: 23.8 carbs

I had some room left to get to 30 carbs.  I spent them this way:

Cream Cheese pancakes with Belgium chocolate .325 ounce or 1/2 a square of 7 oz bar, and whipped Cream  9.5 carbs

Carbometer for the day after dessert: 33.3

Pancakes! Pancakes!!

Weekend bloomer

The most requested breakfast meal from my children are pancakes.  Homemade ones only occur on the weekends, which I make with my former friend Bisquick.   This morning was no different, but I also decided I would make a new kind of pancake for me....Cream Cheese pancakes which I found on the foodie site I Breathe....I'm Hungry....

I have been on the Adkins diet before and I know that a lot of the recipes contained cream cheese.  I'm not really a fan of a lot of fat, but I do like cream cheese.  To keep the fat down, I used light cream cheese from Trader Joe's.  The recipe also called for Stevia or other sweetner package, I'm not a fan of sweetners, even stevia so I used my favorite; whipped cream!

Here's the ingredients:  2 eggs, 2 oz of cream cheese, marked by the red line on the package in the photo below, 2 tbsp of whipped cream.  Use your blender till batter is smooth.  Pour carefully into a skillet or electric skillet set at 300 - 350 degrees.  I noticed these took longer to set up than regular pancakes, likely by twice the amount of time.

Prep for Cream Cheese pancakes

The Carbometer on this dish is quite incredible.  Since this makes at least 4 servings, the carbs are incredibly low - 2.5 carbs.

Just for fun, I looked up the carbs for the breakfast my kids had:

Bisquick Pancakes - 3 each
1 oz of Syrup - A WHOPPING 26 CARBS
Whipped Cream

50 CARBS total

Cream Cheese Pancakes

My son added on 2 hash browns for 28 more carbs.

Looking back at the cream cheese pancakes, I have to say they were good.  I wouldn't say spectacular, but good.  I think I may consider them for a dessert for a special occasion with Whipped Cream and chocolate shavings.

Progress update - 1 lb lost since Tuesday.  To celebrate yesterday, I tried on size 6 jeans.  They didn't fit well, but they ZIPPED UP!

I have NEVER been a size 6 - as far back as 7th grade, I remember being a size 7.  Most of my life I've been a size 9 or 10.   I'm still wearing my 10's but I need a belt, I think I'm an 8.  I don't have any 8's.    If you have size 8 clothes and you want to give them to me...let me know. I can't afford a new wardrobe :-).  Pounds to go....19.

Have a great weekend!  May there be new spring blooms in your garden and lovely weather on your
horizon.

Taste Bud Sensations: Poppy Seed Spinach Chicken Salad

Prep for Poppy Seed Spinach Chicken Salad

Have you ever heard the phrase; "My mouth is on fire!"?

I'm sure you have sometime in your eating experience.   Or the favorite of my kids; "This is too spicy!"

Before my low carb diet, I either stayed away from those type of foods or I just had overwhelmed my mouth with them that I didn't feel them anymore.  I could eat anything relatively hot or spicy.  However, I did have a few incidences where my taste buds did tell me something was amiss.

I remember one specific taste bud encounter with extreme clarity.   One morning, 13 years ago, I went to take a sip of my morning coffee and came back fast with a taste of extreme sodium.   It was as if I was going to gargle my mouth with salt water rather than drink my favorite cup of joe.   I thought something was wrong with the coffee pot.  I dumped it out and made another pot.  Same thing.

My husband came into the kitchen at the same time I was going to dump the 2nd pot of coffee and he said, "WAIT, not until I get my cup!"  I watched him closely drink the coffee waiting for him to spit it out and he didn't.  "There's nothing wrong with this coffee."  he said and walked out of the kitchen.

After work that day, I went to have a mini Corona Light beer.  Same experience.  Salty, salty beer.  I phoned my mom that evening and she said... as only mother's can..."I bet your pregnant."  I ran out and got a pregnancy test and I was.

That was amazing to me that hormones could effect your taste buds.  I had a similar experience when I was pregnant with my daughter.   I'm having a similar experience now when I splurge and allow myself to have something being carbo-rifficly good.

Biscuits!  I loved biscuits (23 carbs each).   With butter and jam, with syrup, in sausage gravy and as shortbread for Strawberry Shortcake.  Bisquick and I are good friends.  After being on the low carb diet and reaching my goal of the 21 lb loss, I treated myself to a McDonald's biscuit (I know....really, a McDonald's biscuit, what was I thinking).  A result of drive through convenience with kids demanding breakfast from McDonald's.

Imagine me coveting that biscuit.  I wait till the very end of my breakfast, to break it open, to put on the butter, I put it in my mouth mmm... SALT.  So bad, I spit it out.   I took it to my husband and I said, "Taste this and tell me if it's salty."  He took a bite equivalent to about half the biscuit and said..."There's nothing wrong with this biscuit."  I KNEW I wasn't pregnant, but I also knew my body was telling me that biscuit was no longer good for me.

Yesterday, I made a salad for lunch which took my taste buds on a mini trip of sparkly goodness.   I call it my Poppy Seed Spinach Chicken salad.  The prep photo is featured at the header of this blog.   I use Trader Joe's "Just Grilled Chicken Strips".

Poppy Seed Spinach Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup of cooked grilled chicken
 2 cups spinach
1/4 of an avocado
1/4 cup red onion slices
3 cherry tomatoes sliced into quarters
1/8 cup of parmesan cheese
1 tbsp of Brianna's Poppyseed dressing
1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Carbometer: 13.5 carbs

I stretch the salad dressing, which has 7 carbs a serving.  I half it to 1 tbsp and combine it with the white vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.  I use little disposable 2 oz cups that have lids to make my dressing so I know exactly how much I'm using.  I shake it up and pour it over the salad.   I count these carbs as there is usually nothing left in the bottom of the bowl.   It's an excellent salad, the red onion and the white wine vinegar with the sweet touch of the poppy seed dressing had my mouth singing!

Tell me about one of your taste bud stories.  I'd love to know I'm not alone in my taste bud adventures.   Have a happy carb counting day!

Low Carb Favorite Meals

I am really thankful for everyone who read the first blog.  I did not expect to have such an interest. A great request that came through was to share some of my favorite meals.  This blog is dedicated to a few of the favorite meals I actually prepared today!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent and there are a few rules I'm following because I'm Catholic.   I definitely do EAT more than this everyday but today, I'm technically fasting so the amount you see is equivalent to a full meal.

Preparing Sweet Pepper and Spinach Omelet

I have never liked fasting, so I strategically wait until I'm absolutely starving before I make my first "snack"  Today, that first snack was one of my favorite omelets.   I have found mini sweet peppers at the grocery store (Von's, Trader Joe's, Target).  I like them along with spinach and mexican cheese in a two egg omelet.  I am sharing a picture to give you an idea of the portions.   Ingredients: Spinach 1 oz, peppers 1/4 cup, cheese 1/4 cup and 2 medium sized eggs.   Carbometer: 5.5

Pair the omelet with a tall glass of ice water or ice tea or a coffee with whipped cream (add 1 carb to the carbometer for the whipped cream).

Prepared Mini Sweet Pepper Omelet                

I am looking forward to farmer's market time.  I haven't been going even though there is a famous one just a few miles from my home in downtown San Luis Obispo.  I will need to make an effort to make sure I get there on Thursday nights.  There is also an excellent Farmer's Market in Templeton, which is even closer.  I will definitely visit more often in the summer.

Enjoy your food.  I've learned to do this.  Especially when fasting.  I believe it took a full 30 minutes for me to eat this omelet today.

Preparing salad

For dinner, FRUIT made a special appearance.  I made a spinach (I eat A LOT of spinach), feta and strawberry salad.   The strawberries have the most carbs in them.  I normally don't measure everything, but I thought showing portions
would be helpful.   Ingredients: Spinach 4 oz, strawberries
1/2 cup, feta cheese 1/4 cup,  2 tbsp. Brianna's Blush
 Wine Vinagrette.   Carbometer: 12

I don't believe to measure the full amount of carbs on the sauces or dressings if they are overly watery.  The Brianna's Blush states it's 14 carbs for 2 tablespoons, but there is a full two tablespoons left at the bottom of the salad when I'm finished and I'm not going to DRINK it, so I don't count it.   YIPPEE 14 free CARBS.

The salad!

I would pair the salad with a large 10 oz glass of ice water.

I'm having a glass of wine.  I really should give it up for lent, but it's the only drink other than water or tea that I can drink.  It's a Pomar Junction, Picnic Chardonnay and it would go very nicely with either of these meals.  Add 3.2 carbs.

I had two cups of coffee with the whipped cream, so that's 2 carbs I need to add in.

Carbometer for the day:  22. 7

Carbs to spare.....as IF it's a bank...7.3...more wine?

Just to share also, I did exercise today: water aerobics. 1 hour, walked 10 minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this and got some ideas for low carb meals.

The Wakeup Call

Back in September I had my annual physical, something everyone should do.   My biggest surprise this year was that I had gained 11 lbs.   What was even more shocking was that I had experienced  a weight gain the year before of 10 lbs.   I had sworn the year before that I would lose those 10 lbs.  Which were now 21 lbs.   I quickly realized that I weighed as much as I did the day I delivered my daughter who is now 9.

These are not HUGE numbers.  I wasn't gaining 20 lbs or 30 lbs a year, but I think I was gaining what people normally do as they age and do not change their eating habits.   I certainly couldn't afford to get much bigger, I'd need a new wardrobe.  I asked my doctor what should I do.  What diet did she recommend?  She said the low carb diet always worked for her.  I asked which one and she said, just look it up, there isn't any one over the other, just watch your carbs.

I did a search online and I found that if you LIMIT yourself to 30 - 50 carbs a day, you lose weight.  I lost all 21 lbs + 6 more by Thanksgiving. I combined my diet with walking everyday, at least 40 minutes and drinking 6 - 8 glasses of water.   I'm not a big workout fan, I go for the endurance of a long leisurely, hilly walk.  It's now March and I've kept the weight off.  I haven't been able to exercise as much because of the weather, but I'm getting ready to get started and I've decided I want to go for my IDEAL bodyweight.   For me, that's 125 lbs.   Another  20 lbs.

I want everyone to know I'm NOT doing a HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH FAT diet.   You can DO a low CARB diet without overloading on the protein or fat.  I'm not counting calories, I'm just counting carbs.

I certainly don't expect this next 20 lbs  to come off as easily and may take from now till next Thanksgiving, but it was EASY enough before. I'm confident I can be successful.

I'm starting this blog, because I want to share with others just how easy this is.  Just how simple and not painful, though it does get boring sometimes with what I eat, just because I'm not creative enough.

The really big benefits for me so far are:

1. More energy
2. Less cravings
3. No more swelling (my ankles had started to swell)
4. I can wear everything in my closet now!
5. Saving MONEY - I'm not buying prepackaged meals, or supplements and I don't eat out a lot
6. Eating fresher
7. I drink more wine

The real downers:

1. I miss fruit
2. I'm not fun to go out to eat with
3. I miss beer margaritas
4. When I do splurge, the foods I remembered as my favorites, TASTE AWFUL and I usually get a bad stomachache and things which come with that (gas, bloating...ect.....a LONG night)

Sometimes, I wonder, if this low carb diet, isn't really my natural diet, the one I need to be on forever.  I certainly feel soo much better and once I do hit my IDEAL weight I can add back in the foods which don't bother me, like the fruit, but I do know in order to maintain my weight I need to stay between 50 and 100 carbs a day.

The first exercise in successful carb metering is understanding what has really high carbs and avoiding those foods.  Both of my parents, who have adult onset diabetes told me to not eat anything white.   That actually isn't such a bad rule.

White bread, white rice, white potatoes ect.   If you do, do it with moderation.   Have an OPEN faced sandwich, measure out the rice you give yourself, pay attention to quantities.

With the blog, I'll share what I do, pictures of sample meals, how much time I exercised.  I hope it helps someone else lose the weight they want to, easily and healthily.

My big hint for the day...if you like coffee drinks...coffee alone has scant carbs, add milk and sugar and you are up to 7 carbs at least.  Like a speciality drink, like a whipped frappa with some caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles every morning and you've blown your carbs for the day.

Brew your own coffee and use whipped cream, just a quick swirl, mind you, and your at 1 carb, and if you are a specialty coffee drinker....I just saved you $5.50 AT LEAST.

This is the website I visited to get myself started: http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight

The experience above is my own and I am not a medical doctor.  You should consult a medical doctor before you start any type of diet to ensure it's safe for you.