Category Archives: Cauliflower – the keto savior
Day 3: Successfully dodging the temptations at work
Yesterday was hump day. I started the day with breakfast at home: scrambled eggs with cheese and a side of bacon.
I decided to start acknowledging the successes in each day:
- There was a workshop going on at work. I circumnavigated the donut and juice table and went to my cubicle.
- On the way to the printer, I passed the Doritos, grabbed my paper and returned to my cubicle.
- After a skype meeting with the boss, I ignored the candybar bowl and grabbed a handful of almonds from the can in my drawer.
WHEW. I made it! I may “fail” quite a bit at staying on plan, but I also succeed several times a day/week/month.
I heated up my Indian butter chicken over cauliflower for lunch.
Once home, around 7pm, I relaxed with my man and a Michelob Ultra 2.5 carb beer. For a snack, I had barbecued pork rinds. I can’t believe it myself. The thought of pork rinds used to make me gag. They weren’t so bad, especially since they are zero carb. I can see this is one of those items I need to buy in bulk from Amazon. In fact, I’m a little disappointed that Amazon no longer offers 3 packs of chili lime almonds. I can only order one pack as an add-on to any $25 order. Bring back the cheap 3-packs, Amazon! I need my daily almonds.
For dinner, I heated a Costco pot roast and made 2 or 3 days’ worth of cauliflower mashed potatoes. It’s good to be prepared!
Rick and I have started watching old episodes of the Twilight Zone on Hulu. We each had an Adkins coconut bar.
Day 302: Costco foods that are keto friendly
Total weight loss: 41 1/2 pounds
Yesterday after our celebration cheat meal, we went to Costco to spend money – I mean, to stock up on supplies and food. They have a few options that are quick, easy, and keto-friendly, like the roast beef with gravy, lots of cheese and low carb dips, and something we hadn’t tried yet: chicken breasts stuffed with artichoke, spinach, and parmesan cheese.
The meal is only 5 grams of net carbs per serving (4 per container).
I decided to try it last night. First, I microwaved a 10-ounce bag of frozen cauliflower, then nuked the chicken. While it was cooking, I made the cauliflower mashed potatoes.
The result was a really delicious meal. It was like chicken cordon bleu, only tangier with the flavor of the artichokes and spinach.
It was a hit with Rick, too. We’ll be having this again soon.
Day 293: Trying a new chicken piccata recipe
Total weight loss: 41 1/2 pounds
Sunday morning and we decided to stay in for breakfast. It was a chilly, but sunny day and it was nice to eat in our cozy home. I had a leftover egg/sausage/cheese bowl that Rick had made for my Friday breakfast at work. I didn’t get around to eating it, and it was a perfect easy-peasy breakfast for someone who doesn’t love to cook. I ate that while attempting the NYT puzzle. This week’s was a bear!
On to the busy day: we went for one last clean out at the house we sold. I spent the day washing out the fridge, washing floors, vacuuming, sweeping, and for the grand finale: carrying old boxes, paints, and sundry items out of the basement. It was good exercise, but I was achy when finished.
We took a mid-day break at the Del Taco nearby. I wonder if that’s the last lunch I’ll have there, now that the house is sold. I ordered the macho beef burrito and was eating it without the tortilla, when I realized that it had beans in it. The guy taking our order did keep messing up, so I wasn’t surprised. I decided to eat it anyway, since I already had planned to have a cheat lunch due to the addition of 2 churros.
Eating the cheat lunch didn’t stop me from trying out a new keto-friendly dinner recipe. I think I am getting the hang of being balanced about this plan. I used to be so “all or nothing” that I would have just eaten a lot of carbs for the rest of the day since my lunch consumption was far from perfect. After more than 9 months on keto and nearing the 50 pound mark (woohoo!), I have learned to jump back on the wagon right away.
Chicken piccata ingredients include chicken (duh), garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and capers. I added mushrooms to make it similar to the meal I had at Angelo Brothers a few nights ago. Rick kindly shopped for the ingredients, and even cut the chicken and pounded it flat with a mallet. After that, the whole recipe took me less that 20 minutes to complete.
I sauteed the chicken in olive oil and butter, then transferred to a plate. Then I sauteed garlic and mushrooms, added wine and lemon juice, then added capers. I let this simmer.
I had some leftover cauliflower mashed potatoes and those made a great side item, since the soaked up the delicious gravy.
All in all, it was pretty good, but I need to work on it. I was tired from a long day, and didn’t feel like cooking, but it was a really nice and quick meal. I’ll attempt it again next week and see if I can get the proportions right, then I’ll post the entire recipe on the blog.
Six months on Keto: thoughts and resolutions
Total weight loss: 35 pounds
For anything to be successful, one needs to look back over the successes and failures to plan for a better future.
Things I’ve learned:
Plan meals in advance
Always have keto-friendly snacks on hand
Always have keto-friendly cooking ingredients on hand
Remember which cheat meals didn’t satisfy
Keep a list of fast food keto-friendly foods in mind
Look at bread, rice, buns, tortillas, pasta, cakes, cookies, donuts, and other high carb food and think negative thoughts: “how pasty looking that is,” “it looks good, but it’ll make me feel lethargic and half-dead after I eat it,” “that rice under Chinese or Indian food, will make me gain, and really doesn’t have much flavor; cauliflower rice tastes just as good”
Even if you eat twice the amount of almonds you’ve planned, it’s still better than potato chips
Cheat meals/days must be thought out VERY carefully. Pick something that will really satisfy you and allow you to keep on the keto plan longer
Drink lots and lots and lots of water
Drinking no-carb alcohol may be okay, but keep it in limits. Over indulging makes me gain water weight and being drunk makes me really tempted to binge on whatever high carb party food is on the table.
There is ALMOST ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU CAN EAT in a fast food place or restaurant. For example, what about chicken marsala in an Italian place?
And there is usually some salad option anywhere you are. Burger joints, just remove the bun.
Mexican and Chinese restaurants give me the most difficulty, because any low carb option is not the reason I would go to the restaurant in the first place.
If you MUST go to a Chinese buffet (I attended a funeral dinner at one), you can find options, but they probably aren’t going to be your favorite General Tso’s. How about the salad bar choices? eggs? the insides of eggrolls, and I even ate the insides only of crab rangoons. Leaves quite a pile of discarded shells on the plate and look like you really waste food.
That’s all I can think of right now, but these ideas have helped me realize the first real weight loss I’ve achieved in more than 15 years! YAY KETO!