Family Friend Low-Carb Part 5: Spicy Cauliflower Casserole

We have quite a few nights every month where there are multiple appointments, errands that need to be run as soon as The Wife gets home from work, teenager crisis that need to be handled, animals that need to be fed. It can get a bit chaotic.

This is another one of those quick meals that is super easy to prep. Because it's an oven casserole, it takes a hour to bake, but the prep literally takes about five minutes. We use it on nights when we have a ton of other things happening around the house that takes up. (This recipe also has a slightly higher than normal carb count than we would normally consume at dinner. So, when you make it, make sure the rest of your day allows for additional carbs.)

1 lbs spicy breakfast sausage
1 can/box condensed cream of chicken soup (we like Pacific Naturals Organic)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 small head cauliflower
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Season to taste (I generally use sea salt and black pepper, but that depends on which soup we use)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown sausage and drain. Chop cauliflower into to bite sized pieces or finer. Layer cauliflower and top with sausage. Combine soup, cream, and water in a bowl and pour over cauliflower/sausage. Bake in foil covered casserole dish for one hour. Remove foil, top with cheese, and bake for five additional minutes to melt cheese.

So easy. So delicious!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 452
Protein: 20
Fat: 36
Carbs: 11
Fiber: 3
Net Carbs: 8

Packing Low-Carb Road Trip Snacks

I've learned a great new trick this week thanks to the lovely Katie over at KTJ Weights In.  This week, I took on the phrase "I don't eat that".  It feels so much less depriving than "I can't eat that". And reminds me that the reasons for us eating (modified) Keto go so far beyond just losing weight. Give it a try. Let me know how it works for you.

Since we don't eat sugars and grains, roadtrip snacking and meals can be a bit difficult. Fast food just is not an option for us anymore. We don't eat chips, candy, pretzels, popcorn, and most standard convenience market snacks. So, what does a family do when an 8 hour road trip is unavoidable and they need to keep things low-carb?

CHEESE!

Cheese is your low-carb friend!  For our holiday trip this year, I packed cheddar and colby to munch on, but most cheese are zero or very low-carb.

MEAT!

There are so many pre-cooked meats that you can use as snacks, but as far as road trip friendly food, you con't want things that require a large amount of refrigeration. We'll have a small cooler with us, so we're sticking with summer sausage and pepperoni. I also packed up a few packets of zero-carb beef jerky, but keep an eye on that, because most jerky is not zero-carb.

ALMONDS! 

Okay, so almonds are not zero carb. They average 6-9 carbs a serving. What we have found though is that because there is such a huge variety of flavored almonds that we can cure almost any craving with one serving. They're packed with protein, so they keep us satisfied much longer than other snacks. Basically, I'm saying that they are worth the carbs. For this trip, I mixed together dark chocolate and vanilla roast almonds by Emerald. 

And with that last photo you may have picked up on what is my best tip for packing snacks if you are attempting to maintain a low-carb diet while traveling.  LABEL LABEL LABEL. 

I am way to reliant on technology for tracking my food every day. And I know that if I tried to bring a notebook and pen along with me, I would forget to write things down or I would lose either the open or the notebook in the shuffle of the car.  I individually portioned each snack item and then labeled the bag with the amount, the carb count, and the calories. This helps us to stay on top of it. And for those of us that don't have the greatest memory, you can just  pull the label off the package and stick it on the dashboard to serve as your food log for the day. 

Family Friendly Low Carb Part 4 - Broccoli Bacon Cheese Soup

It's cold! I'm trying not to whine too much about it, especially since we just had the upstairs of our house insulated and the average temperature indoors has gone up ten degrees.  But it's FREEZING! And we haven't even hit December 1st yet. I am absolutely not prepared for winter temperatures this year.

When it's cold, I want soup! I want something that is going to warm me from my core, both physically and spiritually. Because soup tends to take a number of steps to prepare, I feel like it's just full of love. Cook the meat, chop the veggies, make the stock; all labors of love. And preparing soup for my family makes me feel like I am truly nourishing them. It's just good all the way around. 

Broccoli Bacon Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon 
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cups broccoli - coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese 

In a stock pot, cook bacon until crispy. DO NOT DRAIN THE GREASE. 

Add the stock, salt, and cayenne to the bacon. Bring to a simmer. 

While you are waiting for the stock to come to a simmer, steam the chopped broccoli. 

Add the broccoli to the stock and allow to simmer for five minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Just before you serve the soup, add the cream, water, and cheese.  

Stir constantly until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Family Friend Low-Carb Part 3: Chili

I am very lucky to be home during the day so that I can do any meal prep throughout the day. But I still try to keep meals very simple to prepare, because I really treasure the time that my family is home. We already lose 10 hours a day to the annoying work/commute monster. I’m not going to give up any more time than necessary to the kitchen monster.

This recipe requires that you brown your meat a  head of time, but if you find that takes too much time and want to really simplify your weekday meal prep, brown enough meat on Sunday for all of the recipes that call for browned ground beef. Separate it out into individual recipe containers, or store it in one large bowl in the fridge and measure it out on the day of.

Keto-Friendly Chili

Servings: 6

Carbs: 4.2 g

Fat: 20.0 g

Protein: 31.7 g

• 1.5 lb Ground Chuck Beef 80/20
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp Minced Garlic
• 2 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Ancho Chile 
• 1 reg. can Petite Diced Tomatoes
• 1 flat White Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

In a large skillet, brown meat on medium heat. Add cumin, garlic, chili powder, and ancho powder. Combine beef mixture with peppers and mushrooms in crock pot on low heat. Cook for 5-6 hours and top with cheese & sour cream.

Family Friend Low-Carb Part 2: Meatloaf Muffins

The first time that we started eating Keto, I was at a complete loss for dinner ideas.  We ate lots of chicken breasts wrapped in bacon, hamburger “steaks”, and spinach salads. We started trying recipes that we found on Pinterest and all over the internet. Though we learned quickly that just because someone lists something as Keto-friendly or low-carb, does not guarantee that the recipe is. Check the nutritional info. Let my mistake be your lesson!

Being a creature of habit, I tend to stick with a pretty simple breakfast and lunch routine. Usually some sort of veggie and egg scramble when I wake up and a spinach salad around lunchtime. Throughout the day I will munch on cheese or almonds if I find myself getting snacky. But dinner. Oy dinner.

And so, the “week of Low-Carb/High-Fat Dinners” has been inspired.

Meatloaf Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Fat: 21 g

Carbohydrates: 4 g

 Protein: 19 g

• 2 lbs Ground Beef
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Pieces of Raw Bacon, Cut Very Finely
• 1 cup Parmesan (Use the shaker kind. This is your binder.)
• 8oz Tomato Paste
• 3 Tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbs Onion Powder
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste
• 4 Cloves Minced Garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients well. Divide into muffin tin. (I’m a bit finicky about things like this and weighed my entire recipe out, 1200 g. So each muffin tin got 100 g.) Bake. 25-35 minutes You’ll want to check the internal temp of the muffins. It should be at 160+. Allow muffins to rest for ten minutes.

Family Friendly Low-Carb pt. 1

Last night was one of THOSE nights.  The Boy had bass lessons directly after school.  The Wife had errands to run including picking up our little foster kitten from the vet. Between those two things, there was no way we were going to sit down to eat until after 7:00 p.m.
When we’re short on time, our family has a few tried and true recipes that we stick to that are quick, low-carb, and delicious!
One of our favorites is Chicken Lazone. I found the recipe on food.com quite awhile ago. The description there says that this recipe is based on the Chicken Lazone at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans.  I have to say, it’s delicious enough to be served in a restaurant.

Brennan’s Chicken Lazone

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

:Combine the seasonings and coat chicken breasts.

In large sauté pan melt half of the butter and cook chicken over medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes, turning once.

Pour the cream into the skillet and lower the heat.

Simmer for several minutes, stirring until the sauce thickens then add the remaining butter.

When butter is melted place chicken breasts on four plates and top with the sauce.

LCHF again and a Crustless Spinach Quiche recipe

Somehow I managed to convince myself to give LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) another try. If you don't know much about it, you can read up on the eating style at the Diet Doctor or Low Carbs High Fat.  Essentially, it's an eating style that focuses on getting your calories from approximately 5% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 70% healthy fats. There's plenty of research and scientific info out there. If you can't find it on your own and your interested, let me know and I'll show you some great resources.

Anyway, all of the research I have done has shown me that for someone who has issues with insulin resistance and hormone regulation, like myself, a diet that is low in carbohydrates is the most effective method of not only losing weight but balancing hormonal levels and blood sugars.

Because of my history with eating disorders, the last time we attempted LCHF, I really triggered myself. I was hyper-analyzing ever single micronutrient and macronutrient of my diet. I've decided to give it another go for a few months, but this time I am only going to pay attention to my carb, fat, and protein intake and trust that my body will crave the appropriate foods to get all of my vitamins and nutrients in (on top of my normal daily multi-vitamin).

Trusting my body. Huh. That will be a new concept and something that will probably be really good for me.

I'm also not focusing on this being about weight loss. Because what I really want to do is get my hormones working in the way that will help us to get pregnant when we start trying in a few months. However, I will, most likely, lose weight.

World's Easiest Crustless Spinach Quiche 

5 eggs
1 ten ounce package frozen spinach,thawed
3 cups shredded cheese (any type you like best)
1 tbs butter

In a tea towel, drain your spinach as well as you possibly can. Squeeze the heck out of it and get the water out.

Saute the spinach in a pan with a tablespoon of butter. You can choose to season the spinach now. I generally just use sea salt and black pepper, but you could add some garlic or any other favorite spice, too. 

While the spinach is sauteing, in a large bowl, mix together the eggs and cheese. 

And then fold in the spinach.

Grease a 9 inch pie pan and pour your mixture into the pan.

Bake that at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until the eggs are set. 

Done! Enjoy! I told you! Easiest Quiche in the world! 

Keto No More

I stopped Keto. Long story short, it was leading to very, very disordered eating patterns for me. I was thinking about nothing but food and eating. I was obsessing. And panicking when I 'screwed up'. It was no longer healthy eating and whole food choices. It had become about controlling my body and my world. I don't want to go into it much beyond that, because it starts getting too personal. I have managed to stabilize my weight again, and am going to start working on being more active again.

I've been going to a weekly yoga class to help myself learn to be more comfortable in my body again. I adore yoga. I never thought that it would be something I would enjoy, but I am taking a class that is designed for larger bodied folks and it is so wonderful. I leave feeling strong and challenged and relaxed.

We're 32 days out from the wedding and getting so excited. All of the tiny details are complete and we just have some last minute things that need to be taken care of. Unfortunately, the nerves and stress has also gotten to me and I started smoking again. But I also have a prescription waiting for me at the pharmacy to get rid of that little issue again.

What We Ate, Vol. 1

Every time I talk about what I'm making for dinner on the Facebooks, someone asks me for the recipe. 
So, I guess we'll be setting up a new segment of this blog!  

Most of the time I am altering a recipe that I found elsewhere on the internet. I will absolutely make sure to give credit where credit is due when I'm posting, but I will be making change to the original recipes. 

Debuting for the first time ever in Internet History.....

What We Ate!

Tonight we had Shepherd's Pie.  This recipe calls for a enormous amount of ground beef. It also does not call for a whole lot seasoning. So, my alterations are reflected that a bit. 

So, here we go! 

LOW-CARB SHEPHERD'S PIE
6 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Small onion, chopped (I left this out due to allergies, but it would really add a lot of flavor!)2 teaspoon toasted onion powder 
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 egg, beaten
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
16 ounce package frozen green beans
2 sixteen ounce package frozen cauliflower
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup sour cream 

Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

1) Brown ground beef and onion, seasoning liberally with salt and pepper as you go. 

2) Remove from heat and drain. 

3) Mix together beef, onion, 1 cup of cheese, bacon, eggs, onion powder and garlic powder. Spread into the bottom of a 9x9 pan. 

4) Cook green beans. Melt 1 tbsp of butter into the beans and layer them on top of the beef mixture. Salt and pepper.  Really! Don't forget to add some salt and pepper. This is a pretty bland recipe without some seasoning. 

5) Cook both bags of cauliflower until very soft. 

Here is the trick to make this into "potatoes"- GET RID OF THE WATER! I drain the water out of my pan, dump all of the cauliflower into a tea towel, put it in a colander  and press the water out with my hands. But YMMV. You want it get quite a bit of the water out, but you'll have to experiment to get the consistency that you like best.

Blend 3 tbsp butter, sour cream, and cauliflower in a mixer/food processor/giant bowl with a potato masher. You want to get it pretty smooth and creamy. I like a few lumps in mine, but I think it's probably the same as with mashed potatoes. Some folks like the lumps and some folks just want smooth sailing.

6) Press and spread the cauliflower over the green beans. 

7) Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. 

8) Bake for 35 minutes until all bubbly and brown and delicious looking. 

Makes 8 Servings

Nutritional Info

Calories -- 494

Fat -- 38g

Protein -- 25g

Carbohydrate -- 9

Fiber -- 3

Net Carbs -- 6

Three steps forward, Two steps back.

I actually gained one pound this week.  I'm thinking that it is what is known in the Keto world as P.I.S.S, post-induction stalling syndrome.  My body is just evening out. But it could also be trying to get back in the swing of things after last weeks' cheat day.  I am trying to pay close attention to the effect that "cheating" has on things like stalling my losses and how I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I've already proven to myself that my body functions better when I am limiting my carb intake. It's simply a matter of sugar addiction, emotional eating, and societal influence.  Giving up sugar has honestly been more difficult for me than giving up cigarettes. With cigarettes, there was medication support to get me through the first weeks when the cravings were ridiculously difficult. With sugar/carbs, there's nothing but me and my will power that keeps me from buying a candy bar every time that I stop to get gas or cruising through the McDonald's drive-thru to grab a delicious ice cream treat.  Thankfully, those things haven't stopped me up yet.  Little day-to-day life circumstances have; a tray of cookies at a party, a birthday cake at a pre-preschooler's birthday dinner.

I made much better decisions in both situations, eating only a bite of the birthday cake and 3 cookies opposed to the normal six or seven that I would eaten in the past. But I was still completely incapable to avoid the temptation. I suppose that is an improvement and it's all about small steps in the right direction. I struggled a bit last night with feeling bad about my slow progress, but I must remind myself that any progress is progress- even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the scale.

One month progress update

So, as of today, we have been on Keto for 28 days.  And in that month, I have lost 11 pounds.  Of course, I would be much happier if this was a larger number, especially when I compare that number to some of the outrageously awesome losses I have seen from others.  BUT eleven pounds is nothing to balk at!  And that's 11 pounds comfortably, easily, and consistently. I'm going to try to get some measurements later today and perhaps some one month progress pictures, though I'm pretty sure you won't be able to see much.  Eleven pounds just isn't as evident on my frame.

If I stay on this consistent loss schedule, hopefully in the next month,
I'll start noticing it in my body. I'm going to go through my clothes this week and maybe I'll be able to pick out some things to track some of my non-scale related progress with.


More importantly is how great I feel!  I never felt particularly deprived. We've been trying a ton of new recipes, including yummy sweets and breakfast options.  We've been eating 95% whole foods, which is super important to me. I'm so much more aware of the food that we're putting into our bodies.  My energy level is more consistent than it has been in years. Combined with my medication and exercise, my mood is super stable. This style of eating really, really works for my body!

Keto Trial Week One

Wendy and I decided last week to give following a new eating style a trial. Now I know that the keto diet has some skeptics and some folks who are downright opposed to it. With the vehement nature of some of the responses we have gotten, I am starting to feel like there are some moral implications that I am unaware of. Really!  Folks get downright hostile about it!

I can make you a gargantuan promise, my dear friends. With as many problems as I have had with food, body image, nutrition, and fitness, there is absolutely no way that I would take on a dietary change without a very large amount of research and consideration. I am not, and have never been, a fad diet follower  I never tried Atkins, South Beach or the Zone, didn't jump on the cabbage soup diet or Slim Fast. The Biggest Loser style of dieting scares the bejeezus out of me.

I have read so many peer reviewed research studies on the topic that I feel as though I could probably be published in an academic journal myself if I were inclined to write my own paper.

Not being someone who enjoys preachiness OR conflict, I think I'm just going to start carrying around a list of resources and references to hand out for anyone who asks about it. That way I  can stop feeling the need to justify my decision to everyone that asks about it. We'll see.  Hopefully the questioning will slow down as people get used to us eating this way.

In the past week, we have eaten better than we have eaten in years! I've been absolutely impressed with our decisions.  Every meal has been whole foods and cooked from scratch. There are no "frankenfoods" in our house. We've tried a number of new recipes, including an AWESOME one that I made up on my own yesterday morning. I might even get around to posting it here once I do some tweaking.

I've lost a few pounds, but more importantly, I feel good. I haven't been having having my normal 2 pm energy crash. My mood is surprisingly consistent. Considering it is early March, this is miraculous for me. Normally Seasonal Affective Disorder would have left me in a very, very dark place. Now, I am by no means claiming that not eating carbs has cured my mental illness. My anxiety is still through the roof. I've still had down days. But, even if it's a placebo from taking better care of my body and getting a little self-esteem boost, there is a definite difference in the stability of my moods.