Italian Casserole

I've gained back a little bit of what I lost but am still down almost 20 pounds so considering that I've finished one week of vacation, I think I'm still doing good.

On my yahoo group, somebody posted an Italian Casserole which is low carb.  4 net carbs per serving.

I thought it looked particularly good and might make it one day.

ITALIAN CASSEROLE 

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
8 ounce can tomato sauce
Salt, to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or to taste
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded, 1 cup

Topping: 

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese *
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded, 1 cup

Brown the meats along with the garlic, onions and mushrooms; season with a little salt and pepper. Drain fat; stir in the remaining ingredients. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and put in a greased 7x11" baking dish.

Combine the topping ingredients and spoon over the surface of the meat mixture. Spread evenly with a spatula. Bake at 350º about 40 minutes until the topping is nicely browned.

Makes 8 servings

* The canned kind of parmesan works just as well and costs less.

Per Serving: 463 Calories; 38g Fat; 24g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

Diabetic Cookery from early 1900s

One of the people in my facebook group posted this and I thought I'd share with you. 

http://www.archive.org/stream/diabeticcookeryr00oppeiala#page/n0/mode/2up

Here is a mini book reader in case you need to use it to read the book.

Updates and recipes

It's another Saturday which means it's another weigh in.  Not bad.  I lost another 1.8 pounds.  That makes it I've lost 22.2 pounds since May 5th.

I've branched out on my eating so it will probably slow down now.  Also when I start to exercise and when I start to tone up, I've been tone that the weight will slow down or stop for a bit because muscle weighs more.  Who knows.  Me gaining muscle instead of fat is a weird concept so we'll see.

Some things that I want to make this week are:

Cheese crisps = take cheese slices about 1/4" thick and microwave them to melt and crisp up.  The recipe says that it is good as a dipper and they used dried dill and chives on a dollop of sour cream.

Chocolate dessert = take around 40-80 g of Dark Chocolate (as dark as you can enjoy) and one egg.  Less chocolate will create a lighter cakier texture, more will create a denser brownie like texture.  Basically melt chocolate in a mug using your microwave.  Beat egg into the melted chocolate and microwave again 30 seconds at a time.  Usually takes around 1.5 minutes.  tip on plate and eat after it cools a bit.

cream cheese pancakes

crepes - using ricotta cheese, eggs, artificial sweetener, salt and butter. Only .8 carb per crepe.

Mocha Latte clouds = butter, cream cheese, 2 tsp instant coffee crystals, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, artificial sweetener

I also bought Atkins Advantage Snack/light meal bars.  Coconut Almond Delight Bar.  2 net carbs for it and I hope to have this as a snack.  Working 10 hour days tends to throw off the schedule of eating.  I sometimes forget to pack something either for lunch or snack for office.  I'll probably keep them at work for when I need something to carry me until I get home.

I'm also trying Detox water today.  It has fresh lemon, cucumber, ginger and mint leaves.  It's steeping right now so I'll report on how it tastes.  I don't mind lime in my water so we'll see how it goes.

That's all to report right now.

Until next time .....Have a good day.

Cream Cheese Pancakes

This sounds interesting and I might make them.  I think I have everything at home tonight to make them.  Hmmmm.

Cream Cheese Pancakes

Yield: Four 6-inch pancakes

Serving Size: 1 pancake

Ingredients

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 packet stevia (or any) sweetener
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Put all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Blend until smooth. Let rest for 2 minutes so the bubbles can settle. Pour 1/4 of the batter into a hot pan greased with butter or pam spray. Cook for 2 minutes until golden, flip and cook 1 minute on the other side. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve with sugar free syrup (or any syrup of your choice) and fresh berries.

Notes

Approx nutrition info per batch: 344 calories, 29g fat, 2.5g net carbs, 17g protein

If you want to read more about it or check it out for yourself, here is the link.

http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cream-cheese-pancakes.html 

 

Memorial Day weekend results

It's kind of funny.  I wanted to be extra good on following my diet over the holiday because home is the worst part for me and eating.  I did very good and lost another pound but then the day AFTER Memorial Day I gained.  Go figure.

It was rainy here so I didn't want to cook out (never my favorite thing to do anyway) so I got out a pan and some chicken wings and cooked them in my toaster oven.  I love my toaster oven.  I can fit a 9 x 12" pan in it so I can do a lot.

These were dipped in sugar free/carb free ketchup which I had sweetened up a little with Splenda.  Then I added some spice by adding hot sauce.  They should have been zero carbs.  They sure were goooooood.  Next time I will have to use more hot sauce on them or add it before after they are cooked.  I don't like a lot of spice but these could have used some more.

I also made some cole slaw which was carb friendly and I really loved that.  Perhaps I had too much of that.  Actually I have noticed that if I do not write down in my journal how much water I drink or what I ate, I usually gain.  It is easy to forget to drink the water which is essential in this so today it was back to being a bit stricter to test that theory.

I hope everybody had a good weekend.  Until next time....

garlic shrimp

Tried a new recipe last night.  Simple and quick.  It was garlic shrimp.  I might have to make this more often.

Nana Michelle Aloha Recipes & Son, Anthony's Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients:

Shrimp 1-2 lbs.
5 -6 large cloves of garlic finely minced
1 medium onion sliced thin
Fresh cracked Black Pepper to taste (at least a tsp. or two or three)
Garlic Salt to taste (1 tsp. at least to get the flavors going)
Crushed Red Pepper to taste (at least 1 tsp.)

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions and garlic together in 1 tbsp. of canola oil until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the Shrimp, garlic salt, black pepper, red pepper.
3. Sauté the Shrimp until they turn color to the bright red and remove them from the heat.
4. Serve hot

Still losing

A lot of people don't like the low carb diets or way of life but for me it seems to be working.  I started this low carb journey (Atkins) on April 15 and by May 15th I had lost almost 20 pounds.  I'm not hungry and I'm drinking a lot more water.  It's a higher fat, higher protein and lower carb plan.  I'm not saying it's for a lot of people but for me it's working so far so that is what I"ll continue to follow.

So what does one eat?  Lots of meat no fruits and limited veggies.  For lunch I have a small salad and some meat.  Sometimes it will be tuna salad on top.  Sometimes it is a hamburger or chicken or whatever.

Basically I am cutting out starches, sugars (although artificial sugars are allowed in limited quantities and not aspartame) and limited caffeine.  I'm trying to stay around 20 carbs a day.

Today I might make Alice Springs Chicken.

ALICE SPRINGS CHICKEN

4 boneless chicken breasts
8 pieces bacon, coarsely chopped
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Season the chicken with the seasonings of your choice; grill until just done. Keep thechicken warm. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp; drain on paper towels. In the same skillet, sauté the mushrooms and garlic in butter, seasoning with salt to taste. Cook until the juices have evaporated. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet. Top each piece of chicken with 1/4 of the mushrooms and bacon, then with the shredded cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings

I think this could be frozen

Per Serving: 356 Calories; 20g Fat; 40g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs