Category Archives: rice substitutes
Day 174: Almost perfect keto day
Total weight loss: 31 1/2 pounds
The day started well when I put on last year’s bathing suit. It used to be tight, but no longer! In fact, it’s a bit loose.
I am feeling really good about the keto plan. It’s not quick, but it is the absolute best plan I have been on in years. I just passed the six month point, so at a 31 1/2 pound weight loss, I’ve only averaged 5 pounds per month. However, that’s fine and I’m happy. I can stick to this plan, and it is now an ingrained habit. I have a long way to go, but knowing I will probably have 60 pounds off by the end of the year is something more to look forward too. A year from now, it could be 90 pounds off. It just gets better and better.
So, back to the journal…after Saturday’s carb coma, I jumped back into keto full swing on Sunday morning.
Breakfast was at home on the deck. Being the loving and dedicated wife that I am, I made Rick a couple of dozen blueberry pancakes to go with his eggs and sausage, but didn’t touch a one. I made a grilled onion and cheese omelet for myself, and nuked 4 pieces of bacon to go with. The NYT puzzle was pretty easy, and I followed breakfast and puzzle with an hour in the pool.
In the afternoon, we got to work on the house, painting, cleaning, etc. etc. Cindy and Taylor helped and they also ran out to get some Del Taco for lunch. I ate the macho beef burrito with no tortilla. I did indulge in 3 chips with salsa.
We were tired and dragging at the end of the day. We didn’t get home until 8 pm. I was mulling over what we could eat that wouldn’t take much effort. Rick was in the mood for pizza, but wasn’t married to the idea. I finally remembered that we had some kielbasa and sauerkraut in the fridge. They’ve both been there for awhile, but were still good. I threw the kraut in a pot, chopped up the kielbasa and started them to boil.
I found some frozen cauliflower and cooked it in the microwave for about 5 minutes, then put it in the food processor with 6 oz of cream cheese and a tbsp of butter. I had my faux potatoes ready, then made Rick some “real” mashed potatoes from a packet I found in the larder.
That was easy. When the food was cooked, I put a lid on it, and joined Rick on the deck. I drank a Michelob Ultra and we chilled a bit. Afterwards, we ate our meal and the faux cauliflower mashed were hardly any different than the regular when paired with the kraut and keilbasa.
Now for the flaw in the day…I was out of 70% chocolate, and I wanted something. I ate a DONUT. sigh. I can’t believe it myself. I have no excuses. It’s done.
Day 172: Small weight loss is better than a gain
Today’s weight loss: 1/2 pound
Total weight loss: 31 1/2 pounds
Not thrilled, but still happy to be maintaining and losing size. I decided to have a cheat meal today and, hopefully, kick the weight loss up a notch.
Yesterday was Friday. I had a yogurt for breakfast and almonds for snack.
Rick came by and took me to the My Place Diner. I once again ordered a flaming cheese and a single coney dog without bun. It was a nice afternoon break. I usually worked through lunch at my desk, but I’ve decided to get out more often, because I come back refreshed and ready to get back to work, especially now that I eat low-carb lunches. Back in the day, I would eat something heavy and carb-laden and want an afternoon nap afterwards. Keto has changed all that.
We decided to skip working on the house. It was a beautiful, hot hot day, and I wanted to get to the pool. I quickly threw together some Indian butter chicken and popped it into the microwave. There is nothing easier! Water, butter, a packet and some quickly thawed chicken tenders chopped into bite-size pieces. Nuke for 22 minutes on half power, and voila!
While the chicken was cooking, I shredded half a head of cauliflower in the food processor. When the chicken was done, I put the cauliflower in for 5 minutes. Then I popped out to the pool.
A few hours later, I was soggy and happy. I joined Rick on the deck and drank two bottles of Michelob Ultra – 2.6 carbs each, then warmed up my Indian meal.
It was a perfect keto meal and great end to the day. Dessert was 2 squares of 70% chocolate with natural peanut butter.
Day 96: Inches coming off
Total weight loss: 26.5 pounds. Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 21st
Day 94: Back on track
Total weight loss: 27.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 14th
Yesterday continued my vacation week. We had more construction work to do, and we decided to try another new restaurant.
I woke up late (the perks of vacation!) and had brunch for my first meal. I chose two lovely chili dogs with no buns and topped them with mustard. Skip the fries, etc.
After another day of accomplishment at the rental, Rick and I headed home. I worked on Palmerworks websites for awhile, then decided to make a quick Indian butter chicken meal and use up the rest of the cauliflower for rice. I topped the dish with sour cream and it was heavenly. It was so delicious, I wanted to eat the entire recipe, instead of half. I decided to sit it out for a few minutes, and after letting the food actually hit my stomach, I was okay with one serving. It’s all about timing, eh?
I made chocolate mousse for dessert. Back on track, still under on calories, but it’s good to get back in the keto groove.
Day 80: Anyone else like cream cheese?
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: tomorrow!
I started work at 8 a.m. Another crazy day at work, another missed breakfast.
At noon, Rick took me to get coney dogs at the local diner. I asked for them without buns, and all was well.
Around 4, I ate the usual handful of almonds.
At 7:30 p.m., I left work tired and hungry. Thankfully, I had a serving of Indian butter chicken and cauliflower rice left over.
Around 9 p.m, I wanted a little snack. I still had about 8 carbs left. I ate 3 oz of cream cheese. Odd, I know, but delicious.
As a side note, I found this about the benefits of eating cream cheese. Okay, it was a site for pregnant women, but the bennies still hold true for the rest of us.
Benefits of cream cheeses:
Cream cheeses, unlike other unsafe cheeses are made from pasteurized milk which makes it safe to eat.- They are a good source of protein.
- Calcium and phosphorous content of cream cheeses can be trusted highly in preventing bone decalcification.
- The carbohydrate content of cream cheeses is in a minimum extent so would not add on weight to your body.
- They have considerable amount of vitamin A.
I was still well under carb count (and calorie count) for the day. I just hope I don’t UNDER do it and trigger starvation mode (if it even exists!).
Day 79: Surviving the celebration lunch at work
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
Yesterday was our celebration day at work. Our first shipment of the new engineering textbook we’ve been working on for more than a year was due. As it happens, the shipment didn’t come in on time; however, lunch went on as planned.
I ate a yogurt for breakfast, since lunch was at noon and I wanted to be hungry enough to enjoy it.
We went to Hayden’s, which is one of my favorite area restaurants. I hadn’t been there since my birthday last November, which was before keto.
The menu offered a few keto-friendly sandwich and entree choices. The appetizers were not anything that I could eat. The boss ordered some fried mozarella balls. I tried one and it didn’t have a lot of breading, so I ate 2 more. I’ll have fun trying to figure out the carb count on those.
I opted for the blue cheese, bacon, balsamic burger. It came open-faced and I moved the bun to my bread plate, but ate the burger using the bottom bun as a sort of bed. The bacon was nice and crisp and the burger was well cooked. It was a great low-carb choice.
Dessert. Hmm. Since it was a celebration, the boss told us to select whatever we wanted. There DEFINITELY wasn’t a good choice on the menu. Cheesecake, ice cream, waffles, carbs, carbs, carbs. I was a little tempted to call it a cheat day and order the deep fried Oreos, but nah. If I’m going to have a cheat day, it’s going to be on my own terms with at least 2 of my favorite forbidden meals.
My coworker Jim and I are also on the Monday night trivia team. We often share what we order. He piles his jalapenos on my plate, and I give him extras of things I don’t like. He very graciously gave me a small bite of his cheesecake. It was okay. No big temptation and crisis averted. Here’s a lovely picture of what I DIDN’T eat.
I wonder if I would eat a deep-fried Oreo on a cheat day? Maybe, maybe not.
I worked until 6:30, and I became a little hungry by 5. I ate a handful of almonds.
Back home after work, I did a few chores, then thawed and cooked some chicken tenders in Indian butter chicken sauce. I put it over the usual cauliflower “rice” and topped the dish with sour cream. YUMMMMMY. I followed it with a bowl of keto-friendly chocolate mousse.
Day 53: Weigh-in day did not disappoint
Today’s weight loss: 3 pounds
Total weight loss in 7 weeks: 17 pounds (woot!)
I had been assuming that today’s weigh-in would not go well. Not because I went off, or went over carb count, but because the past few weigh-ins have been so disappointing. I know my clothes are looser, and I have lots of energy, but the more I thought about only losing 14 pounds in 6+ weeks, the more this keto plan didn’t seem like the quick weight loss dream I thought it would be.
I know 2 pounds a week is a safe and practical amount to lose. But when one accomplishes a 14-pound weight loss on day 39, and that hasn’t changed by day 46, it becomes frustrating.
Wait. What did I just read? It was only one week later that I weighed in and had a zero weight loss? And, now, a week later, I’ve lost 3? That isn’t bad at all!
I’m guessing most of the frustration developed in that week between day 39 and day 46, when I was weighing myself daily. Now that I’ve settled on a weekly weigh-in, it should show a little more progress than tiny increments of weight loss per day (or no weight loss per day). I’m still doing well; I think I’m just used to seeing those big numbers the contestants accomplish on The Biggest Loser. Even in terms of a 2 pounds a week goal, I should only have lost 14 by today, so I’m 3 pounds ahead. I think I’d better focus on continuing with the plan and not focus so much on the scale.
C’mon 20! [Okay, not focusing on the numbers is going to be difficult.]
Yesterday, I had some errands to run and things to accomplish before starting work at 10. We didn’t have time for Rick to cook, so I bought 2 McDonald’s sausage, egg, and cheese, breakfast sandwiches (on sale for $3 for two). Of course, I removed the delicious smelling biscuits. I’m glad I ordered two, because after the biscuit removal, and with no hash brown patties, one would not have satisfied me.
At 2pm, I discovered that I did not have a yogurt in the fridge. Oops. I ate 2 ounces of almonds and a beef stick. Yum.
After work, I was pretty hungry, but we needed to get groceries. Usually Rick goes without me, but I was interested in looking over the health food aisle to see if there was something I was missing out on. I bought some soy hummus (1 carb per serving) and some almond “peanut” butter – $9.99!!! This had better be good.
Rick has some kind of whole grain bread that he buys, and he said it was only 5 carbs per slice if I ever wanted a tuna fish sandwich or something. I’m not willing to sacrifice 10 of my 20 grams of carbs for a sandwich, but I did decide to toast one piece and top it with the almond butter to stop the hunger pangs while I started making dinner. The almond butter had about 1 1/2 inches of oil on top and I could not get it to mix in with the thick and dry substance below it. Maybe at 10 bucks a bottle, no one is buying it and it sits on the shelf awhile. Rick manage to dump the whole thing in a bowl and use his formidable muscles to stir it into a nice gloppy, spreadable butter. It was pretty good.
I thawed some chicken breasts for Indian butter chicken, and mistakenly started getting the spaghetti squash ready. Then I realized that I use chopped cauliflower as a rice substance. I finished cooking and forking out the squash anyway, so now I’m ready for another dish that uses that.
I had leftover cauliflower rice (“crice”) from the Mexican rice recipe, so I heated that, topped with microwaved butter chicken and enjoyed a delish meal. Dessert was the usual chocolate mousse. It never gets old. LOL
Oh yes, I almost forgot. My low carb food order from netrition.com came in. That was very quick. Almost tops Amazon. I now have some experimenting to do: low carb “Carbquik” for pancakes and other pastries, those odd shiritaki pasta, Mama Lupe low carb 7-inch tortillas, barbecue sauce, and Margarita mix (I couldn’t resist that last one). Let the experimentation begin!
Day 50: Excellent Mexican rice
Weight loss: 14 pounds
Next weigh-in: Saturday, March 3rd
Day 50 and I’m still going strong. I’ve had a couple of disappointments on the scale, but the clothes keep getting looser. And–with Rick’s help–this has been fairly easy. The recipes that create mock food items, like spaghetti squash and cauliflower mashed potatoes, make me feel like I’m not missing anything. The high-fat and protein dishes keep me feeling full, and also keep me from feeling cravings when others around me eat sweets or bread.
The steak fries tempted me a couple of times, but as they say, “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.” Yeah. We’ll see if I can get to that “thin” part. LOL
Yesterday started with my egg breakfast, followed by a yogurt lunch and an almond snack.
By dinner time, I was ready to experiment with something tasty.
I cooked some hamburger in taco seasoning and prepared 2 slices of provolone cheese “taco shells.” Then I took out my trusty cauliflower and a recipe Brandon gave me for Mexican rice. He found it here, tried it, and had very good results.
I grated the cauliflower, then put the rice-like substance in the microwave for 5 minutes. In the meantime, I put 3 tbsp of butter and a 1/2 cup of onion in a saute pan. When the onion was translucent, I added about 2 cups of the cauliflower and 1/2 cup of salsa.
The recipe called for a “small” head of cauliflower, but even using only 3/4 of it seemed too much and it didn’t look very colorful. I added another 1/2 cup of salsa.
The results were pretty impressive. It looked and tasted like Mexican rice! Eureka! Another great substitute.
I felt like I was eating an authentic Mexican meal (well, authentic “American Mexican”, at least). It was no Xochimilco, but it was as good or better than Taco Bell. I totally forgot that I have some Costco guacamole in the fridge. I guess I’ll use that for tonight’s leftovers.
I know I added at least 2 more grams of carbs by doubling the salsa, but the results were pretty good.
Rick had leftover spaghetti, and it didn’t bother me in the least. I’m really not craving the pasta with these great available substitutes for the starchy things I used to eat. We ate quickly, then set off to pick up our friends Wally and Karl from the airport. Our home is close enough to DTW to make us a handy shuttle service.
Upon our return, dessert was the usual chocolate mousse.
Clever pasta, rice, and potato substitutes
There is nothing I love more than pasta. Fortunately, the keto plan has left me satisfied, and I’ve had few real cravings for breads, pastas, and sweets. However, there are some meals that just NEED pasta to be complete.
For Cincinnati chili, I have been using spaghetti squash as a base in place of, well, spaghetti.
For Indian butter chicken, I have used “riced” cauliflower.
I have also gotten the cauliflower mashed potato recipe to turn out well. Years ago, we tried it when Rick was on a diet, and it never turned out quite right as mashed potato substitute. However, now I make it by cooking it in the microwave without water. Then I throw it in the mixing bowl with 2 tbsp of cream cheese, and 1 tbsp of butter. That’s it! Mix it on high for a little bit and it comes out just right. I experimented with adding a clove of garlic one time, but it came out a little to “tangy”–and I’m a garlic lover. Perhaps next time, I’ll precook the garlic.
I found a site with lots of substitution ideas for low carbers:
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/cooking/a/pastasubs.htm