Category Archives: meal ideas
Day 36: Valentine’s Day steak dinner
Lost: NOT WEIGHING FOR A WEEK Total weight loss: 12 pounds
I decided to give it a rest. I’m tired of watching 1/2 pound come and go every day. Let’s see if I can see a significant loss in a week. Fingers crossed.
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. The day began with my egg breakfast. Lunch was Cincinnati chili. Snack: almonds.
For dinner, Rick and I decided not to cave to the Hallmark holiday pressure. He said he didn’t buy me chocolates, because why bother? We really don’t like crowds, so eating out didn’t appeal. And with Netflix at home on our big screen tv, who needs the movies on a traditional big date night?
We opted to have grilled steaks and watch a movie at home. Being in a really festive mood, I had a big glass of vodka and Diet Coke (ZERO carb drink!), and we played 3 Boggle matches while waiting for the steaks to cook. In all modesty, I won’t say who won, but they were all close matches.
We each had 2 great big grilled portobello mushrooms with our steaks, and they were a really delicious accompaniment. I didn’t miss potatoes or any other high-carb side dish. Although for about 10 seconds, I fleetingly pictured enjoying some bread and oil with the meal. It must have been the vodka messing with my inhibitions!
We ended the meal with some freshly made lime “cheesecake.”
I’m still not used to see only 1 or 2 carbs after entering a huge meal into myfitnesspal.com. A big steak, 2 mushrooms and dessert hardly moved the numbers, but I was very full and very satisfied.
Day 35: 12-hour workday; planning ahead pays off
Lost: +.5 Total weight loss: 12 pounds
ARRRRRRRRRRRGH! This is going backwards! I ate under 20 carbs, yet again, and the pounds are going up, instead of down. I did only have 5 glasses of water yesterday. And I ate dinner at 10 pm. Otherwise, I am eating according to plan, so this is quite a downer. [except pants, fresh out of the wash, fit much, much better!]
I’m sure glad I planned ahead Sunday, because yesterday I had no time to cook.
Breakfast – eggs/sausage/cheese in a bowl. We had two long meetings at work, so I didn’t get a chance to eat until 11 a.m.
We had a print deadline at work, so I stayed at my desk until 8:30 p.m. At around 4, I started getting hungry, and lo and behold, I had leftover Cincinnati chili. Actually, it wasn’t leftover, since I hadn’t eaten any since I made the batch in preparation for the week. It was a small bowl, but it filled me up so I could keep working.
I had some habanero almonds for a snack a couple of hours later. I miss the chili lime. I have to buy some next chance I get. A couple of us were comparing almond prices. Meijers has them in one pound bags for $6. Amazon sells 3 one-pound bags for about $20. Neither tops the 2 for $4 sale they had at Walgreen’s. I hope they have that again soon.
The book was finally ready, and I gladly left work at 8:30. By the time I got home, I was pretty hungry. I had another plate of chili over squash at 9:30. Rick and I ate the last of the lime jello “cheesecake” for dessert.
I need to find some lavash bread that Brandon let me try today. It’s a huge piece of pita-like bread that only has 8 grams of carbs for one. He made something like a quesadilla with one and it was big enough for a meal. I’ll have to get the name and brand from him and pick up some soon.
Day 34: Lime cheese cake and weekday preparations
Lost: 0 Total weight loss: 12.5 pounds
Zero, zero, zero. Sigh. My plan to start weighing once a week after I hit 15 pounds may have to change. I’ll give it a couple more daily weigh-ins, but if I continue to see no progress on the scale, I may stop weighing for a week or so. Today, I think I’ll drink about 12 glasses of water. I’ve been reading ideas about how to get the pounds to start coming off when the progress is stalled.
I spent yesterday at home working on client sites and a revamp of our own business site. Before getting started, we did take an hour to have breakfast at the local diner. I had the feta omelet and bacon, and gave Rick all the extras that came with the meal.
For lunch, I cooked up some hamburger with taco seasoning and topped it with cheese, onion, and a couple of tablespoons of salsa.
I was in the mood for pizza, but didn’t have enough ambition to try creating a crust from cauliflower. Instead, I adapted a recipe I found that used a mini muffin pan. I put a piece of pepperoni in the bottom of each muffin slot, topped with mozzarella and a bit of onion and green pepper. Then I sprinkled them with pizza seasoning and put chopped jalapeno peppers on half.
I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes. The original recipe called for cream cheese, eggs, and other items. I think that would have been more like a quiche.
The result was just so-so. They were tasty, and they were cute little cups, but the jalapeno pizzas were too salty. I ate about 8 of them, but that was the extent of my dinner.
I learned my lesson about planning last week. It seemed like I was always looking for a quick meal or having a snack for dinner. While my tiny pizzas were cooking, I prepared spaghetti squash and cooked up some Cincinnati chili. Then, before bed, I layered all the ingredients for a 5-layer chili dish into plastic dishes, so I could grab one for lunch as I left the house this a.m.
Last night’s dessert was something I’ve been meaning to try; however, again, I adapted the recipe to an easier version. I had found a few recipes that used sugar-free lime jello and cream cheese to make a sort of mock cheese cake. Some called for cooking, some called for crust. I just mixed the jello and cream cheese together and chilled for a couple of hours. Before serving, I topped with whipped heavy cream.
It was heavenly. Rick said it hit every one of his taste buds. The flavor of the cream cheese blended well with the lime taste.
Day 31: You really can eat carryout on keto: meet the unwich
Lost: .5 pounds Total weight loss: 13 pounds
Wow, this scale is moving slowly, but at least it’s in the right direction.
Yesterday began with the traditional eggs ala Rick breakfast.
Lunch was a new adventure. Brandon was going to Jimmy John’s. I completely disagree with Mr. John’s political leanings, and make it a habit to avoid his franchise. However, I was pretty hungry and my scruples lost the battle: I ordered an Unwich. Brandon recommended the Lulu, which is basically a club sandwich in a lettuce wrap. I must say, it was quite delicious. This picture isn’t of a Lulu, but it gives you an idea of the convenient lettuce wrapper.
I left work early to meet a web client at Panera Bread. You may be thinking that it was an odd choice for someone avoiding carbs, but they have wifi, and it’s a pretty good place to meet when discussing websites. I ordered a Diet Coke.
After escaping “Bread Heaven,” Rick and I went home to enjoy some chicken kabobs. While waiting for them to grill, I had a handful of habanero-flavored almonds. It was a satisfying end to a busy, yet satisfying day.
Day 30: Almond milk and cocoa don’t mix
Lost: .5 Total weight loss: 12.5 pounds
Well, I lost some of what I gained yesterday. Can’t wait for the scale to show more progress. Once I hit a 15 pound loss, I’m going to start weighing once a week. It would have to be more satisfying to see the progress in larger amounts vs. this yoyoing back and forth of a pound or 1/2 pound at a time.
Breakfast – Rick’s egg bowl
Lunch – Salad with blue cheese dressing
Snack – Haberno Almonds
Dinner – Once again, it was a busy day filled with my day job, plus items I needed to do for my web business. I was tired, cranky, hungry, and the larder was empty. Rick and I had planned to do a meal schedule and shop, but he was busy working on a client newsletter plus painting and installing doors at our rental house.
I fried two Hebrew National franks in coconut oil, then topped them with turkey chili no beans, onions, and grated cheese. It was a gooey mess of goodness, and satisfied my hunger.
Snack – Discovery! Almond milk and cocoa do not mix well. I had a not-so-lovely clump-filled glass of chocolate milk. The cocoa simply would not mix into the milk. However, it assuaged my need for a bedtime snack, and I hit the hay early.
Day 28: Fighting off the carb attack
Lost: 0 Total weight loss (in one month): 13.5 pounds
Another day, another zero. The scale isn’t moving at all, but I’ll keep up the fight.
And fight it was yesterday!
No time for breakfast, so I ate a handful of almonds and decided to try Arby’s for lunch. Various sites said they have a low-carb option – a beef and cheddar on a piece of lettuce = 2 carbs (or just beef = 0!). I thought it would be a simple thing to order, but when I asked for my beef and cheddar on a lettuce wrap, the cashier suggested that I must mean the one they sell in a tortilla-like wrap. No, I explained that I didn’t want bread at all.
She made it a special order, asked if I wanted chopped lettuce or a leaf. I chose leaf. She was very pleasant about it, but it was apparent this wasn’t a common menu option. I added a side salad and sat down.
A few minutes later, they brought me my order. Sigh. It was a pile of beef on a piece of lettuce. Apparently in all the confusion, she didn’t hear the “cheddar” part of the order. Instead of going and asking for some probably chemical-laded process cheese, I opted to add a couple carbs of Arby sauce. It was an okay lunch, but nothing to write home about.
After settling my dad in at the nursing home, and going back for a couple more hours of work, I was hungry again. It was still a couple of hours until trivia, so I had another handful of almonds and a cup of Greek yogurt with peanut butter.
For my next “carb battle,” I decided to order the fajitas at trivia. I asked the waitress to put the tortillas in a to-go container. A few minutes later, she dropped off a large basket of nacho chips and salsa. Little did I know, it comes with the meal. I ate one, then dumped the rest into the to-go container.
Dinner was served. A huge plate of which 2/3 was rice and refried beans, covered in melted cheese. Sigh. I can’t get away from the carbs! They attack from all fronts! I asked for another to-go container and dumped the entire mess into it for Rick to eat later.
The chicken that remained after the “battle” was pretty tasty, but not as good as the fajitas I had a couple of days ago. It was at least a filling dinner after another day of hit or miss eating. Tonight, Rick and I plan out a couple of weeks’ menus.
Day 25: Peanut butter pancakes
Lost: 0 Total weight loss: 13.5
No weight loss again – but no gain either. I anticipated bad news because I went over on my carbs yesterday. I guess I worried for nothing. I also finally took my measurements. I keep reading accounts of people who don’t see a loss on the scale, but see a big difference in their measurements. Time will tell.
Yesterday was Saturday, so I had some time to experiment with breakfast. I had found this recipe for pancakes at “thelowcarbrecipes.com” while browsing Pinterest. Thought I’d give them a try. By the way, there are lots and lots of great sites out there to find delicious low-carb recipes that make this diet more of a fun experiment than a hardship.
Mixing the cream cheese with the egg didn’t go perfectly…I ended up with some tiny clumps. The first pancake looked more like a crepe. However, the final 3 looked like the real thing, if a little on the thin side.
The pancakes had a nice texture, and just a tiny bit of peanut butter flavor. After tasting, I tried to think of a syrup substitute. I remembered that my friend, Walter, had turned me onto Polaner jelly, and that I had an unopened jar in the larder (I hadn’t opened it because I couldn’t think of anything to put it on, since I’m not eating toast anymore.)
Two tbsps of jelly on the pancakes, and I was in pancake heaven! I really enjoyed them. I’m not a fan of using 8 of my 20 carbs at the first meal of the day, but it will be a nice weekend treat. I washed them down with almond milk. I switched to the Silk brand when Rick pointed out that it was 0 net carbs, compared to my old brand (which had 1 gram per serving). I may as well conserve carbs when I can.
Lunch was on the run. I was putting down a tile floor at our soon-to-be sold (I hope!) rental income house. I ate my 28-almond ration and about 1/4 cup of leftover alfredo from dinner the night before. Brandon also had me taste a quiche-like recipe that Lindsey had made. Pretty good.
By 8:30 pm, I was done with the tiling for the day, and had just left the hospital, where I was visiting my dad. I was famished and on my way to trivia at Max and Erma’s. I ordered the fajitas, ignored the tortillas and salsa, and had a filling and delicious meal. I’m not sure of the carbs. I put 8 grams in My Fitness Pal, and went over my allowance for the first time in 25 days. Oh well, I don’t feel I cheated, and I needed the protein.
Day 23: Hey, chicken shawarma is keto-friendly!
Lost: 1.5 pounds Total weight loss: 13.5 pounds
Today’s weight loss was satisfying, and a nice start to the day. I hoped that it was a sign that today may be a little better than yesterday, when I was busy busy busy, from dawn until dusk.
I had a funeral to attend, so I dropped in work at 8 for the morning meeting, but left by 9:30. I didn’t have time to heat my breakfast at work, so I heated it and ate it in the car on the way to the funeral. It is a nice portable breakfast in a small plastic bowl with a twist top. Who needs McDonald’s breakfast?
There was a nice lunch after the service. It was also my first attempt to eat at a public gathering with a wide selection of forbidden foods. I grabbed a croissant sandwich and removed the croissant, which left me with 2 slices of ham and a slice of cheese. I topped it with a tbsp of mayo. I bypassed the hot pastas, the macaroni salad, the cold pasta salad, the bread…well, you get the idea. There was a bowl of salad greens, so I partook of that with vinegar and oil for a dressing.
I watched Rick enjoy 2 desserts while I sipped my water, but I must admit, it wasn’t difficult. I think the secret to staving off the cravings for carbs is to avoid them entirely.
The afternoon was spent trying to line up a nursing home for my dad, which was a bit stressful. Our truck was still in the transmission shop and we were waiting to hear how many more millions of dollars we’d have to fork over. I guess the $1200 we’d already wasn’t enough to get it fixed right! So, we borrowed Brandon’s car and ran all of our errands. By the time we were done, in the late afternoon, we received a call saying the truck will be ready the next day and cost ZERO dollars more. Yay!
Having not eaten a whole lot for lunch, and after stressing all afternoon, I was pretty hungry by dinner time. Somehow we began talking about a local restaurant that makes really good chicken shawarma. I instantly thought, oh, I can’t have that. Then it hit me: I can! If I avoid the rice and/or pita wrap, all that remains is chicken in a garlicky marinade/sauce made from yogurt, vinegar, garlic, tahini, and spices – with a small pickle that peeks out, as well.
Sooo…I gave Baba’s Kabob and Chicken a call and ordered carryout. It had been a pretty long day and I was exhausted. After dropping by to pick up 4 shawarma wraps and a kibbee (for Rick), I was looking forward to an enjoyable meal in the recliner watching Downton Abbey on the big screen TV.
I picked up my meal from the drive thru (and gave my sales pitch about the importance of them having a Palmerworks-designed website) and hied on home. I was a little disappointed to see how little of the carb-friendly portion remained after removing the extra large pita. It wrapped quite a few times around the shawarma. I denuded 2 and the result was a full plate, if not a very high pile of chicken. I spooned on a little garlic sauce, took my time eating and relished the flavors.
Mmmmmmm…I was quite full by the time I was finished, and I was not disappointed. Baba’s shawarma is the best in town. I admit, it was difficult not eating the pita portion; not because I’m a huge fan of pita bread, but because it was dripping with the delicious sauce from inside. I ripped off a 4×4 piece and added that to my plate. I was still under carb count by the end of the evening.
I forgot to take a picture, but this photo I found online looks about the same before I stripped it down.
Since dinner was around 5, I was hungry for a snack around 8. I took out my Greek God’s yogurt, swirled in 2 tbsps of Smucker’s natural peanut butter, and let myself believe I was eating some type of peanut butter mousse. It was good enough that I convinced myself pretty easily!
Day 21: Ups and downs
Today’s loss: +1 Total weight loss: 11
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day and it started with a one-pound weight loss. Today, I woke up to find that pound has returned!
I see no reason why I would gain today, so I’m just going to put it down to the vagaries of life, and keep on truckin’.
Last night, I was reflecting upon how this lifestyle change is progressing. It’s really a “livable” plan. I doubt that I will be able to forgo carbs completely for the rest of my life, but I was going over some of my favorite keto recipes in my head, and I’ve enjoyed them all quite a bit. I really liked the Cincinnati chili, tacos in cheese shells, spaghetti squash alfredo… and the fried eggplant was pretty good, too. Most of these recipes taste as good as any of the carb-rich foods I used to enjoy. Some taste even better.
I had Rick’s bacon and sausage special for breakfast. Lunch was leftovers again: Cincinnati chili. After work, I wanted to take a couple of hours to finish assembling my new desk. I hadn’t had any time over the past few days. Before I got started, Rick invited me out to the gazebo in our yard for some “wine time,” but I was reluctant to use up my valuable carbs.
Instead, we looked up vodka – zero carbs. I combine it with Diet Coke, and had a no-carb drink. I only drank one, because some of the sites I found online said your body will burn the drink calories before it will burn the fat. I don’t want anything to delay the fat-burning process.
For an appetizer with the drink, I had some BBQ pork rinds with spinach and artichoke dip. Since I had staved off the hunger pangs for a bit, I went in and finished the desk.
Late dinner (after 9) was two tacos made from leftover taco beef and freshly micro’d provolone shells. Somehow my carbs were all used up by that point (I thought), so I just drank water the rest of the evening. Later, I went over the list again and found that I inadvertently put in a glass of wine. I guess while playing with the alcohol choices to see which were bad choices, I left that glass in my daily count. I ended up going to bed with 4 carbs to spare. I’m sure I’ll make them up another day.
Day 19: Cincinnati chili – another favorite adapts well to the keto plan
Lost: .5 Total weight loss: 12 pounds
Since our truck is back in the transmission shop, Rick and I were stranded at home today, and I think we both enjoyed it very much!
It was a snowy cold Michigan day, and our NY Times was delivered on time, so we each whipped up a breakfast of choice and hung out with the paper over our meals. I chose to make a 2-egg omelet of cheese and a bit of onion. I topped it with sour cream my son and his fiance picked up for us from Calder’s Dairy. Two breakfast sausage patties completed the meal.
I wasn’t hungry for lunch, so I have nothing to report.
Dinner was Cincinnati chili experimentation time. As I reported yesterday, I already made the chili part with a pound of ground turkey. All I needed to do today was cook the spaghetti squash. My son Brandon reported that he had a lot of difficulty cutting and cooking his a couple of weeks ago. The last time I made it (for spaghetti alfredo), I had no difficulty with it at all.
Well, I guess I was just lucky that time. I used the same process (micro’d one minute before cutting) but I could NOT get my knife to easily divide this squash. Perhaps it has to do with the ripeness?
Anyway, after finally severing the squash into about 5 pieces, I put them face down in a dish with 1/2 cup of water. I cooked the squash in the microwave for 6 minutes, then 6 MORE minutes, then 6 MORE minutes. Finally, it was ready to scoop out. I repeated the process with another squash, because I wanted to be sure to have enough to match the huge pot of chili, which would serve us both a few portions in the next couple of days.
While waiting for the second squash to cook, I made deviled eggs out of some eggs I had boiled while breakfast was cooking. I’m starting to get the hang of cooking ahead and making more than one meal item at a time. Rick and I each had an egg while waiting for the second squash.
When the squash was all finished, I made us each a traditional plate of Cincinnati chili: 1st layer – spaghetti (squash); 2nd layer – grated cheese; 3rd layer – chopped onions (just a few for me, carbs you know); and….no 4th layer because beans have too many carbs. I am planning to try black soy beans, but haven’t ordered any yet.
Okay, so it doesn’t look as appetizing on squash as with traditional spaghetti; however, it WAS DELICIOUS! I liked it BETTER than the traditional dish. I think the flavor of the squash blended very well with the rest of the components. This was a hit. And it was very very filling. I couldn’t eat the entire dish, and I can usually plow through one plate and even another small serving. Rick was very full as well. Must be all that great fiber in the squash.
Looking forward to leftovers for lunch and for dinner one day this week, as well.