Eating: Low Carb

I know, I know, it's the middle of the holiday season and I'm not being perfect right now with my low carb eating; but I've been getting a few emails asking about my eating habits. So, I thought I'd write a big long post about it. Just kidding- it's going to be pretty boring as I eat a lot of the same things over and over.

I'm not a nutritionist so don't think I know anything but I do know my body and what has worked for it. For me it's low carb as much as I hate to admit it because who wants to admit that living a life with less carbs in it works? Not me but it's true. I feel better, I lose weight, I have energy (after the dreaded first 3 weeks), and surprisingly I eat less calories naturally because carbohydrates usually have more calories in them than protein. I also get fuller quicker and I stay fuller longer - those yahoo articles are right about protein being more filling than carbs. Who knew?! Anyways, I've been eating like this for six months now with one cheat day each month. Okay, so it's more like the dinner the night before cheat day and cheat day it's like Christmas Eve and Christmas. You have to open one present the night before because you're so excited right?! Exactly, moving on here are some examples of my typical breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinners. #dontjudgeme

BREAKFAST

Eggs... so many eggs. They fill you up and are great for you. I don't care if you think the yolk is bad I eat at least 2 of them a few times a week.

Bacon... I go in waves of eggs and bacon for breakfast but I've been eating less bacon lately and more egg. Any kind of meat is good for breakfast so I sometimes switch it up with sausage, steak, and veggies. But most of the time it's just plain ole bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast.


Protein shake... I've been drinking these a lot lately instead of eating a meal for breakfast. I make them at work with hot green tea, a scoop of PEScience, and a few cubes of ice. Shake it all together and I swear it tastes like a warm chai latte.

My favorite protein powder: SELECT Protein Chocolate 
Why: LESS THAN 1 CARB a scoop! Rich and creamy tasting! 110 Calories! 24 grams of Protein! It's the best I've tried yet. Oh and you can always get 50% off any purchase if you use code Melina50 (She's one of their Athletes)

Low Carb Pancakes...I'll post my personal recipe soon but you can google them as well. Basically just eggs and mashed bananas or cream cheese with disgusting "sugar free" syrup. I hate that syrup but it's decent enough to manipulate myself into thinking I'm eating real pancakes with syrup. I do like the after feeling with these pancakes vs real ones - I'm never bloated-gross full with them. The way I feel now after I eat a lot of bread is horrible compared to how I good I feel after eating a bunch of meat and veggies.

That's pretty much all I eat for breakfast but other options you might like are veggies in your eggs, cheese, meats, smoothies, etc. (Told you I'm boring) 







LUNCH 

Salad... I eat a few different salads but I'm sure someone not as picky as me would have even MORE options but this is what I do: taco chicken, taco beef, pepperoni, tuna, and steak loaded with cheese, and any other veggie I want usually on top of spinach. I don't like salad dressing so I always eat my salads dry. (Yes, I know I'm a freak but I think you're a freak for eating a slime like texture all over your food.) 

Breakfast... see above for example. If I end up drinking a protein shake for breakfast sometimes I will eat eggs and bacon for lunch. It's quick to make and yummy. Oh and I guess I should mention that I'm really lucky and work like five seconds away from my apartment so I come home every day for lunch. If I couldn't do this it would limit a bunch of my cooking options.

Meat/Cheese/Protein shake... I really like summer sausage and cheddar cheese. Both are low carb options and feel like I'm cheating my butt off but I'm not! Finish up that with a cold chocolate protein shake in my Vitamix and it makes me think I just had a full fat milkshake. It's my favorite guilty but innocent lunch.

Leftovers... Anything I cook for dinner fair game the next day.


DINNER

Beef Pasta (without the pasta)... So I used to really love Hamburger Helper and one day I tried making it from scratch instead of a box. Turns out it's super easy and all you need is a packet of Brown Gravy Mix / 1lb beef / pasta and some water and milk. Then when I started doing Low-Carb I thought - HEY, what if I replace the pasta with green beans. Cue life changing moment and my new favorite comfort food.

Lasagna... with pepperoni layers instead of noodles! It's so greasy and cheesy and good I might have squealed while typing this.

Pork Rhine Crusted Chicken Tenders... It's so good I don't even know where to start. Crush up some cracklings and put some Tony's in there - bread those chicken tenders and bake or fry them up. Top with cheese and bacon if you really feel like getting sassy.

Salads... Just like the lunch ones.

Spinach Crust Pizza... my Gluten Free friend turned me onto this one. Who knew they actually do have some tasty food and no Gluten sometimes means no Carb! In this case it you use spinach, eggs, and cheese in place of dough so it is Carb free!

Protein and Veggies... you name any combo and I have probably eaten it. Chicken/Steak/Fish every green vegetable under the sun any of those low carb options make GREAT dinners.














SNACKS

Questbars... Low Carb and dangerously delicious. I should probably cut back on these guys but they are just so yummy.

Fruit/Veggies/Meat/Cheese/Peanut Butter... I eat any of these for snack. It's all good.

Protein Shakes... see above. I love PEScience.


And that just about does it - pretty boring and very repetitive but I like it. I average 1700 or less calories a day / 35 or less Net Carbs /120+ of protein. This is what has been working for me - I think you just have to figure out what will work for you and until you do just keep trying everything. I always say give each new thing a month then move along if you aren't happy. Remember to love yourself along the way and know that no matter what it is in life just keep trying until you get it. Never give up and you won't ever fail.

I'm currently driving across the country with my husband and dog but trying to low-carb it the entire way. It's my birthday in a few days and those are automatic "cheat days"so no guilt here! I hope you got everything you wanted for Christmas!

XOXO

Chess Square Coma

My Daddy came to town this week and in preparation for his time with us I knew I had to make his favorite treat. (I'm from the South I show my love through food) I remember growing up and whenever my mom would make these things the entire house would smell like heaven. Honestly, you can't eat a ton of these...okay, well if you're my father you can. I swear after making these I realized they are literally nothing but sugar and butter. If you haven't ever had these babies you must go and make them immediately. Go ahead and get the insulin shot ready.

Ingredients:

Part 1:
1 Box of Butter Cake mix (you MUST get the Butter Cake)
1 egg
1 stick of softened butter

Part 2
1 8oz pack of softened Cream Cheese
3 eggs
1 box of confectioners sugar (1lb)

Mix Part 1 together and then press out the dough into the bottom of a sprayed 9x13 pan.

Mix Part 2 together (slowly add the sugar to the liquid or it will go EVERYWHERE)

Once it is all gooey and amazing pour it into the pan on top of the dough



Bake in the oven at 350 for 30-40 Minuets. Take out and let sit for an hour or so and then dig in and enjoy! I cut these and wrapped them individually so that I wouldn't eat then entire pan and I could give my father all of them to munch on during his work trip. If there is any left he can take them on the plane but I doubt they last that long!

The nutritional information on these was not calculated but I'm going to guess you can get about 20 squares at 700 calories each and 45 grams of fat. That's a lot of love my friends.

Pumpkin Brownies

It is Fall Y'all!!! One more reason I absolutely LOVE Seattle is that when September comes Fall arrives. No 88 degree weather like back home in Mississippi just nice crisp cool air, leaves turning that golden color, and the scent of pumpkin filling the air. Fall is my favorite season. I think after years of burning up during the summer (which is from March until October in the South) Fall gives you a breath of fresh air. I love the clothes, I love the foods, I love the season!

What better way to start off Fall this year than with a new easy recipe that of course I found on Pinterest. Pumpkin Brownies!

All you need is TWO things (I used three but I'm an overachiever by nature)
1. Boxed Brownie Mix (you can make your own if you turn your nose up at boxes)
2. 1 Can of Pumpkin Pie Puree
Optional #3 - 2 Teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice or really, as much as you want.

Mix ingredients together until they look like brownies (Duh)

 

Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 Minutes. Use a 9x9 pan because these brownies do not rise and they won't end up dry. You can stick a toothpick in it if you want but it's going to come out wet. They are a different kind of texture, kinda fudgy. I absolutely love them but keep in mind these are PUMPKIN brownies. They will not taste like a regular brownie.

I let mine cool down for a few hours and then I sliced them up and wrapped them individually. I've found that if I do this I won't eat the entire pan at once. Notice there are only about 5 pictured. I got 12 out of this batch on Friday night and I have almost half left on a Monday? That my friends is unheard of in my family and I assure you it's not because they aren't good. They are just super thick, rich, and filling. I thought that these babies were healthy but after doing the nutritional facts I found out that was a lie. I'm sure using PUMPKIN makes it better than oil, butter, and eggs but they are still packing about 200 calories per brownie with about 5 grams of fat.

If you like Pumpkin try this out and let me know what you think!

What is your favorite Pumpkin recipe?

New Things

I have fallen in love with a new veggie... ready for it: BRUSSEL SPROUTS!

Just DON'T boil them. Bake them! With Corn! AND Tony Chachere's!

When our friend's brother (who is a chef) came up for a visit a month or so ago he invited us over for dinner. This wasn't just any dinner... it was filled with gourmet cheese, salamis, grass fed beef, salmon, and fresh veggies! I just wanted to cry when I walked in the door and saw all this food that I didn't have to cook... and it was AMAZING! When I saw the veggies for the night I was so excited to try the brussel sprouts. My only memory of brussle sprout included a horrid childhood dinner with BOILED, mushy, soggy, sprouts. Really Mom! How dare you taint my love for these magical mini cabbages. He prepped them by washing them and then slicing the little root at the end off then cutting them down the middle into halves. Then he added fresh corn, carrots, and something else but the big star of the dish was the Tony's seasoning. Holy cow. It made the little sprouts taste like little balls of spicy heaven! Make this dish right now... really go, RUN to the kitchen and put Tony's on these suckers... even picky eaters like my husband will admit that this is there new favorite veggie! 

How to make: Wash and halve sprouts, take fresh corn (or canned) and add to baking pan. You can add sliced carrots, onion, zucchini, or whatever else you think might taste good. Then lightly drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies. Add Tony's seasoning... don't get to carried away this stuff is SPICY a little goes a long way...

 

Then bake in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes! I made a big batch of this pictured above to eat on for lunch all week. It's even better reheated. (I can't believe it either)

 

In other news I found an awesome deal on a Michael Kors bag at Ross the other day...

I usually hate the initial print on bags... but this one I fell for because of the material it's made of (and it kinda reminds me of  how DNA looks)... I don't know what it is but it's PERFECT for the beach and outdoor adventures. We have several trips coming up this summer so I couldn't pass this $130.00 bag for over half off at $59. SCORE!

 

Where do YOU find discount stuff??

Chicken Stir Fryyy

I'm on to something epic you guys!

Chicken Stir Fry Amazingness! I totally ran with this idea after reading Krista's Blog and being inspired from her version of this dish. I went a little Green crazy and created this YUMMY, Filling, Powerhouse of a meal!

I made a HUGE amount on Tuesday night for dinner and the rest of the weeks lunches. Another great thing about this is that it seems to keep tasting better every time I eat it and that is fantastic that I am not burnt out on it yet because I have been eating it everyday.

Here's my version:

1 white onion

8 Chicken tenders

Soy Sauce

Olive Oil

Brown Rice

1 Bag frozen Broccoli

2 Eggs

1 Bunch of Kale

Salt & Butter

How to make: The very first step is to start cooking the brown rice. Follow the instructions in your rice cooker or on the stove for the amount you want. I cooked about 4 cups of brown rice. Then you have to cook the chicken. I like to take a frying pan and put enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Get the cpan & oil hot and the place the chicken tenders into the pan. *Be careful the oil will pop you like a pissed off momma* season the chicken with a little salt let cook for about 5 mins then flip the chicken to cook the other side. Let cook 3 mins or so and then remove chicken from pan to cut up into bite size chunks. Add cut chicken back into the pan to finish browning. At that time add Soy Sauce. You can add as much or as little as you like, we like Soy Sauce in our Family so I added about 2 tbsp. Cook the Soy into the chicken for a few mins (maybe 3 I'm eyeballing it people) Take chicken off heat and set aside.

The next step is dicing up the Onion and cooking it. I placed the chicken back into low heat, add the diced onion, and added a little more Olive Oil and butter to the pan (about 1 tbsp) drizzled on top of the onions with a little salt and soy too. (just quick splashes this is optional to your liking!) On low heat I slowly let the onions cook with the chicken for about 5 mins. Leave this pan on low heat for the rest of the cooking!

The next step is cooking your frozen broccoli. I used a steamer bag and just microwaved it according to the directions. Once that was done I added it to the Chicken,Onions, and Kale.

(IF you wanna pack this baby out with green veggies add Kale. This is what I did right before the broccoli step. I had a bunch of Kale that I separated from the stems and washed then dried the leaves. I then cut it into bite sized chunks and added to the chicken and onions before the broccoli so it could cook down a little bit. My pan was over flowing for a few mins until it cooked down.)

While that cooked I fried up 2 scrambled eggs and once they were done added them to the chicken and veggies. Then came time for the fun part: adding more soy sauce and salt to the pan to get the mixture tasting like I wanted it to. Everyone is different so start adding slowly that way you don't go overboard and can get it to your personal liking.

Cook that on low heat until your rice is ready. Once your rice is ready drain any remaining water from it and then dump it into the chicken and veggie pot. Add more Soy if you want and TA DA it's done!

Workout: 20mins 1.4m mill, 20mins 2.6 elliptical, arms & abs  --- then 1.5 mile walk with olive 30 mins (She is SOOO out of shape)

What's your favorite new recipe that you would share with me?