Wednesday, June 30, 2010

6/30/10

I had an omelet in the middle of the day!  It was ham, cheese, onion and mushroom.  I also had tomato slices and a side of bacon with it.

Later I had 2 Arby's jr. roast beef sandwiches without the buns.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

6/29/10

For lunch I had a taco salad with seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, sour cream and guacamole.  It came from Taco Bueno, so I didn't eat the fried tortilla bowl.  It was filling, I'll say that.

When I got to work a girl here decided to order pizza for everybody.  So we ordered thin crust pizza from Domino's with lots of meat and veggies.  I had 1 piece with crust, and 2 pieces without crust.  I just ate the topping from it.  :-)  I'm not sure I'll be eating the dinner I prepared!

I made a chicken salad last night with a baked chicken breast, mayo, onion, egg whites, celery, salt and pepper.  I put it in some lettuce bowls.  I think it looks pretty with a couple of tomato wedges.  I also have some cucumber slices, some shaped gouda cheese (2 kitty cats, a heart and a butterfly) and some strawberries, grapes and kiwi. 


Sunday, June 27, 2010

6/28/10

I went to lunch with my mom today and we had Chinese.  I had steak, lamb, roast beef, chicken w/fajita vegetables, green beans and 2 pieces of (not so good) sushi.  So I kept up with the no carbs rule, but I think I ate too much steak.  Is there such a thing??!!

For dinner today I did a grilled chicken salad.  I made a salad with lettuce, tomato, black olives, and some salad topping stuff I had in the fridge which has soybeans, sunflower seeds, dried herbs and a lot of other stuff.  It's got 2g of carbs per serving.  On top of the salad I have a smoked gouda butterfly and a smoked gouda flower.  I also have a car egg.  Vroom!


Over on the side I have some fruit (2 strawberries, some canteloupe and grapes) as well as some broccoli with ranch.  The ranch is in the adorable little elephant and lion sauce bottles.  They are too cute!

When I got home I cut up some fruit and ate part of a kiwi, some grapes, and a plum.  I made some chicken salad for tomorrow's lunch, and I ate the leftover.

Gluten free corndog muffins

My two year old daughter really loves the corndog muffins I found on this site. I have a 2 year old neice who I thought would love them as well, but she's allergic to eggs and wheat, so they had to be modified somewhat. 

I was at my mom's house all day today, and we decided to make her some gluten/egg free corndog muffins.  They turned out really good!  This is an excellent cornbread recipe to use without gluten and using egg replacer instead of an egg.


Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1     cup milk
1     egg (we used egg replacer, which can be found at the health food store)
1/4  cup oil
1/4  teaspoon vinegar
1/3  cup potato starch (can be found at the health food store)
1/2  cup cornstarch
1      teaspoon salt
1/4  teaspoon baking soda
1      tablespoon baking powder
3/4  cup cornmeal
1/2  cup sugar
1/2  teaspoon xanthan gum (this can be found at the health food store)
4      hot dogs, sliced thin
3/4  cup shredded cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In medium bowl, combine milk, egg, oil and vinegar.  Mix well.  Add all other ingredients and mix well, being sure to remove any lumps.  Batter will be thin.

Pour batter into greased 8x8 baking pan.  Bake 28-32 minutes, until cornbread tests done with a toothpick and top is lightly browned.

We used a standard cupcake pan instead of an 8x8 baking pan, and we only baked them for 16 minutes.  We got an even dozen from this recipe.






6/27/10

This morning I had some bacon and sausage.  For lunch I had a piece of grilled chicken and a hot dog (no bun) with onions, mustard and relish.  For dinner I had a piece of grilled chicken and a hamburger patty with a slice of gouda cheese on it.  I was at my mom's house all day, so there was nothing creative going on.

I feel like I'm sadly lacking some fruits and vegetables for the day so I'm about to have a salad and some grapes and strawberries.  Maybe I'll even have some canteloupe!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

6/26/10

On the way to work I had some canteloupe, grapes and strawberries for breakfast.  I am NOT a morning person, so I had a Coke Zero as well.  I only have soda once a week, on average.  And it's usually Saturday morning.

For lunch I prepared some tuna salad with tuna, egg whites, onion, mayo and salt and pepper.  I put that on top of a lettuce and tomato salad.  I also have some canteloupe, strawberries, kiwi and grapes.  This is my first time trying kiwi, and it's pretty good!  Very different.

I also made my daughter her very first bento!  My sister watches her while I go to work on Saturday mornings, and she usually takes her to McDonald's for nuggets.  That really bugs me, so I decided to make her a lunch. 


She has half a corndog muffin, a car shaped egg (she picked the shape) and some broccoli in the top tier.  In the bottom tier she has 2 strawberries, some grapes, some kiwi and a canteloupe butterfly.  I'm curious to find out how much of it she ate.

For dinner I had a hot dog, 2 pieces of chicken and some squash, zucchini and mushrooms off the grill.

Friday, June 25, 2010

6/25/10

For brunch I had a ham and cheese omelet with onions and mushrooms.  I also had 3 big slices of tomato and 2 pieces of whole wheat toast.  Ooh, it was so good!

This meal is called "We're out of food and need to go grocery shopping."  I just raided the fridge and cabinets to find something to pack for lunch/dinner.

I put things together for a grilled chicken salad.  In the top tier I have some cut up chicken and a heart shaped egg.  In the bottom tier I have some lettuce, tomato, black olives and a couple of cheese butterflies.  (Who says only kids can have cutesy stuff to eat?)





And for the second half of this meal I have some sauteed spinach (I got the idea from my sister.  She said she had it in a restaurant, and it was great.  We'll see) with some sauteed zucchini, a bright roma tomato and the last 2 strawberries.

When I got home I was making lunch for tomorrow.  I had some leftover tuna salad so I ate that.

New Bento Box!

When I came home, I had a package all the way from Japan.  I was excited, because I knew it was the bento box I ordered from eBay.  When I opened it, I knew it was perfect. . .FOR MY 2 YEAR OLD!  I guess I didn't read the specifications well enough, because seriously, this box is like 6 inches long, LOL.  So I've decided it's my daughter's bento box, and I'm still on the hunt for my own.  I made her a little snack/dinner so she could have a picnic in the living room floor.




She had a flower shaped grilled cheese sandwich and a heart shaped grilled cheese sandwich in the top tier.  In the bottom tier she had a strawberry sliced up, and some goldfish crackers.  (Ok, they are whale crackers from Target.  But the 2 year old believes they are goldfish!)  So it's a really adorable box for her. . .too bad I paid $14 for it.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

6/24/10

I was in a rush this morning, and when I left the house I grabbed 3 hard boiled eggs out of the fridge to eat for breakfast.  It's great that I have stuff like that on hand so I'm not tempted to make a fast food run.

I went to lunch with my mom, and she suggested Buffalo Wild Wings.  I just couldn't say no.  So I had 7 garlic parmesan wings and 3 sweet bbq wings.  They were so good that I don't feel bad about all of the carbs!  (BTW, I looked up the carb count of the wings, and I consumed about 6 grams of carbs.  Not as much as I thought!)

I've been wanting tacos for a couple of days, so I decided to make a taco salad.  I browned some hamburger and seasoned it with taco seasoning.  (It was pretty hard to find one that didn't contain added wheat).  I also added some chopped mushrooms.  While that was browning I shredded some cheese, and cut some lettuce, tomato, onion and olives for the top of the taco salad.

















I wanted some sour cream to go on it, but I'm not sure if I can have that in the phase of Atkins I'm in.  Also, I forgot it at the store :-).  I put the meat in a seperate container so I could heat it up when it's time to eat.  And then, of course, I have my strawberries, the last of the canteloupe and some grapes.  Fresh fruit has never tasted as good as it does this summer!  I think this will be a pretty filling lunch/dinner.

When I got home this evening, my daughter and I ate the rest of the grapes.  They were good.  Really good.  :-)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

6/23/10

For lunch today I made some meatballs for myself and my daughter.  I mixed hamburger meat with garlic, onion, an egg, salt and pepper and shaped it into small balls.  I put them in a skillet and browned both sides then added a can of ro-tel and let it finish cooking.  They were pretty good, but I forgot to get *mild* ro-tel, so they were a little spicy.  Karma ate a bite of one and told me she didn't like it, and decided she wanted corndog muffin.  So I ended up making a batch of corndog muffins.  I got the great idea from this website.  That lady is so creative! 

For dinner I decided to use the rest of the lettuce and tomato salad I had from earlier this week.  I added cucumber, some homemade tuna salad and shredded cheddar cheese on top along with a fish shaped egg.  (I know, I know!  The shaped eggs are supposed to be for kids, but they amuse me.)  The tuna salad is really simple:  canned albacore tuna, a couple of boiled eggs, some onion, a little bit of mayo and salt and pepper.   The cool thing is that the tuna salad acts as a dressing for the salad.  Since I'm excited that I can eat fruit now on Atkins, I'm trying to eat some every day.  I have some canteloupe, grapes and a couple of strawberries.  Yummy!



When I came home from work I had a fruit salad with strawberries, canteloupe and grapes.  I also had some taco salad with lettuce, tomato, onion, olives and some meat I seasoned with taco meat and added mushrooms to.  I also made it for lunch tomorrow.

6/22/10

I rolled out of bed today at 11:30 am.  I'm always so tired in the mornings!  I went for a sleep study and found out I have sleep apnea.  So I have to go back to the sleep clinic to be fitted with a CPAP machine.  Hopefully that'll stop the apnea, and I'll be able to get some good rest.  Of course, continuing to lose weight will also help.  When I got up I had 1.5 meatloaf balls left over from the other night.

I was up last night making my lunch for today.  But first I made some chicken and vegetable muffins for my daughter.  I just used some bisquick to make a dough and added chicken and frozen vegetables to it and baked.  They came out as muffins :-)  We'll see how she likes them tomorrow.

For lunch today I cooked some tilapia, steamed some yellow squash, and added some grapes, strawberries and canteloupe.  Then I ran out of room, so I made a side salad with lettuce, tomato and cucumber in a seperate container.  I ordered an authentic bento box from eBay, but it's not here yet.  *sigh*.  When it comes I'll have 2 tiers to use, instead of having to use two seperate container. 






I found a cute lunch bag at Target in their value/dollar aisle.  It's pretty roomy inside and it's (sort of) insulated.  I think it's the perfect color for summer.



When I got home I had 2 pieces of baked chicken, and some more yellow squash.  Then, since I wanted something sweet, I had some carb smart ice cream with the last of the fresh blueberries.

Monday, June 21, 2010

6/21/10

I woke up with a bellyache early this morning.  I think I had too much brisket last night.  Not good.

For lunch today, I had a salad with tuna, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomato, bell peppers, olives, onions, banana peppers from Subway.  I added some zesty italian dressing I keep at work.

When I got home I had some broccoli with cheese sauce and some leftover brisket.  Just a few slices this time.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

6/20/10

Happy Father's Day!  Today I'll be going to my sister and brother in law's house to hang out and spend Father's Day with the family.  I'm not sure what's on the menu.

For breakfast, I had 3 hard boiled eggs.  I'm a bit pressed for time, and they're easy to eat in the car :-)

For Father's Day my brother in law got a smoker.  So we had smoked turkey legs, smoked beef ribs and smoked beef brisket.  Also, I skewered some mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash so we could have some veggies.  Everything was so good!  I just got home, and I'm about to have some carb smart ice cream with fresh blueberries.

New Egg Molds!

I ordered some egg molds from Japan off eBay.  They came today!  The adorable fish and the car.  Of course when they came I was out of eggs!  So I ran to the store to buy some, so I could shape them.  :-)  I posted some pics on 6/19/10.  Too cute.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

20 lbs!


I've been on Atkins for one month, and according to my scale this morning I've lost 21 pounds since I started.  That is fantastic!  I'm really excited, and that's great motivation to keep it up!!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

6/19/10

For breakfast I had 3 hard boiled eggs and a cherry Coke zero.  I know, I know, the Coke is hardly nutritious.  But I needed the caffeine, and it was zero calories.

I made my dinner the night before so I wouldn't be caught without anything but fast food to eat again.  It's very hard to stay low carb with fast food.

For today's midday meal I have half a chicken thigh and half a chicken leg.  (Weird story - I thought I was buying split breasts at the grocery store, but I was actually buying split leg quarters.  They're strange.)  I also have some steamed broccoli, a lettuce and tomato salad with a bit of cheddar cheese, and some grapes and blueberries.  Did you know that blueberries aren't blue all the way through??  I didn't until just today.


For dinner I had a salad with egg (ala my new egg molds!  My daughter ate the fish egg ), some green beans and some meatloaf balls made with ground beef, an egg, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and what I thought was ketchup, but turned out to be Heinz 57 sauce.  Not bad, actually.  I covered them in tomato sauce and baked them at 350 for about 30 minutes.  I find that the balls take less time to cook than an entire loaf.  I do love meatloaf.  I tried to take a good picture to show the details of the egg shaped eggs, but I don't think I quite pulled it off.






6/18/10

I was up late taking my final exams last night, and I completely forgot to pack a lunch for today.  Then I had to get up and leave early to go to the dentist before work.  So I ended up having a hamburger patty with swiss cheese and mushrooms from McDonald's.  I also had a salad from Subway with lettuce, spinach, tomato, red onion, black olives, bell peppers, banana peppers, cucumbers, 2 scoops of their tuna and ranch on the side.  It was actually pretty good!

When I got home I had 2 hard boiled eggs, a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and tomato (my first sandwich, post Atkins) and some grapes and blueberries.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

6/17/10

For breakfast I had a couple of the scrambled egg muffins I made yesterday.  I also baked some chicken for my lunch/dinner tonight.  I brought to work a baked chicken breast seasoned with salt pepper and lemon pepper seasoning and brushed with a little bit of olive oil; half a steamed zucchini and half a steamed yellow squash; a lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad; some grapes and raspberries and some cheddar cheese.  I also had some rotisserie chicken left over at work.  I heated some of that up and put it on my salad to add some protein.

When I got home I had a baked chicken leg and some more zucchini and squash.  I also had some carb smart ice cream.  And a smoothie that I made from ice, Splenda, raspberries and blueberries.  (BTW, the smoothie was NOT good.  Maybe because I added a little water.  Plus the blender didn't crush all of the ice.)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

6/16/10

I went to lunch with my mom today and we had parrillada.  I hope I spelled that right!  It's grilled steak covered in fajita style bell peppers and onions, bacon and cheese.  It came with a side of pico and a side of sour cream.  So good! 

I packed a lunch for myself to bring to work last night.  It includes 3 scrambled egg muffins which have eggs, turkey, green chilis, spinach and cheese.  Also I have a lettuce & tomato salad with Italian dressing, a small piece of cheese, and my first fruit since starting Atkins; grapes and raspberries!  The raspberries look pretty, but I've decided I don't really care for the taste or texture.  Too bad I have almost a whole container to eat.


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

6/15/10

I was up preparing tomorrow's lunch, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it.  We have a tilapia filet sauteed in olive oil, steamed zucchini, a lettuce & tomato salad with zesty italian dressing, some cheddar cheese and two stuffed mushrooms.  Tasty!


I left my lunch at home today :-(  so on the way to work I bought a rotisserie chicken and some frozen broccoli that I can microwave/steam.  I've eaten 2 pieces of chicken.  It was good!  I'll be eating my above pictured "lunch" when I get home!

Monday, June 14, 2010

6/14/10


Today I had a mushroom and swiss hamburger with no bun.  I also had a little bit of macaroni tuna salad that a guy at work brought.  It was pretty good.  It was kind of weird to eat macaroni after not eating it for a few weeks, though. 

I weighed myself this morning, and I've only lost 1 pound since last week.  That's kind of a bummer.  I'm a little curious to see what my weight is going to be at the end of a month on Atkins!

For dinner I had 2 tilapia filets, some steamed broccoli and grape tomatoes.  Karma had the same :-)

6/13/10

I made some scrambled egg muffins with eggs, bell peppers, a little bit of pork sausage, onion, and mushrooms and I put a little cheddar cheese on top.  I had 3 of those, which equaled out to 2 eggs.  (I used 4 eggs total, and it made 6 muffins).  I also had some beef brisket, a salad with zesty italian dressing and some sausage stuffed mushroom.  A good day!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

6/12/10

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday.  .  I had 2 tilapia filets, some grilled vegetables, some olives and 1 oz of cheddar cheese.  I also had a big bag of popcorn at the movies along with a diet coke.

Friday, June 11, 2010

6/11/10

Today I went to Ryan's buffet.  I had 2 pieces of grilled chicken, some cabbage, broccoli and steamed fish.  Then, the dessert was calling my name, so I had a piece of chocolate cake.  It was 1 inch square - very tiny!  So I won't be beating myself up over it.  It's the first kind of sweet thing I've had in 3 weeks, and boy was it good!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Stuffed Bell Peppers


I've loved these since I was a kid. This isn't my mom's recipe (which is fantastic, BTW) but it's still pretty good. The cheese is optional; I actually prefer without.


Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe

6 large bell peppers (green, orange, red or yellow)
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small can mushrooms, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup tomato juice
Ketchup
Shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Prepare bell peppers for baking by cutting off the tops and removing the spines and seeds. The peppers need to be softened before baking. Softening the peppers can be accomplished in one of two ways: 1) Steam the bell pepper on a wire rack above water for 10 to 15 minutes, or 2) cover the bell peppers with water and boil for 3 minutes. After the softening process, set bell peppers aside.

3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until it is browned. Next, add onions and garlic cloves and cook while stirring for an additional 3 minutes.

4. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in mushrooms, salt, pepper, thyme, and tomato juice. Mix all ingredients well, and then stuff mixture into peppers.

5. Place stuffed bell peppers upright into shallow baking dish and top with ketchup. Cover with aluminum foil and bake stuffed bell peppers at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Remove foil, add cheese topping and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until cheese melts.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms


I love stuffed mushrooms. . .usually the variety stuffed with crab, and breadcrumbs, and various cheeses. Here's a low carb version that's calling my name.


Baked Stuffed Mushrooms With Sausage And Mozzarella

24 Servings
preconditions: Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 pound large fresh white mushrooms - (abt 24) - cleaned
2 tablespoons vegetable oil - divided
4 ounces bulk Italian sausage
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 garlic cloves - pressed
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese - plus 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese - divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation Method:

Remove stems from mushrooms; finely chop enough stems to equal 1/2 cup and reserve (save remaining stems for another use). Place mushroom caps in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon oil. Arrange caps cavity side up on a shallow baking pan; set aside. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, green onion, garlic, Italian seasoning and reserved chopped mushroom stems. Cook, stirring, breaking sausage into smaller pieces with a fork, for about 5 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from heat; add 1/2 cup mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese and stir just until cheese melts.


Stuff mushroom caps with sausage mixture; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons mozzarella.
Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until mushrooms are tender.

Carbs:
Carbohydrates: 1 grams
Net Carbs: 1 grams

6/10/10

I ate for the first time today at about 2 pm. I had a salad from Subway with lettuce, tomato, black olives, red onions, banana peppers, bell peppers, crumbled bacon, and extra grilled chicken. I had light ranch on the side.  2 rotisserie chicken thighs.

Yesterday's dinner was so good, that I had round 2 tonight!  Grilled mushrooms, zucchini and chicken breast.  Yum!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Scrambled Egg muffins


I love "eggs with stuff in them"! Check out this low carb portable version:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Scrambled-Egg-Muffins/Detail.aspx

6/9/10

Yesterday I got sick from not eating enough. Won't be making that mistake today!

Grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, lil' bit of mayo and swiss cheese, no bun. Marketside cobb salad from Wal-Mart (romaine, tomato, grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, 1/2 hardboiled egg, crumbled bacon, ranch dressing). I only used half of the dressing.

Hamburger patty with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and grilled onions.



Grilled skewers with chicken breast, yellow squash, zucchini, and mushrooms. I cut the vegetables up and brushed them with olive oil then added salt and lemon pepper. They were brushed with a bit of butter when they came off the grill.


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

6/8/10

Swiss and mushroom angus burger from McDonalds minus the bun. Large diet coke. Rotisserie chicken breast and wing, 7 oz. steamed broccoli with "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray. 1.5 cups cooked shrimp with 1/4 tsp. garlic butter. 1 atkins bar (suitable for phase 2). 3 oz beef jerky.

Monday, June 7, 2010

6/7/10

6 thin sizes of turkey deli meat (1 serving), 1/4 wheel of smoked gouda (about 4 oz). 3 pieces of rotisserie chicken. 2 tilapia filets cooked in olive oil, 1 1/2 zucchini sauteed in olive oil. 1 sugar free jello.