Category Archives: potato substitutes

Day 289: KFC on Keto

Total weight loss: 41 pounds

Breakfast yesterday was Rick’s sausage, egg, and cheese in a bowl.

Lunch was leftover Keto lasagna.

Dinner was late. I was hungry. We took 31 bags of leaves to the curb and packed up a couple small boxes at the sold rental house. I wasn’t in the mood for a restaurant, so we stopped at KFC and I picked up a grilled chicken breast. I was thinking the cole slaw might be okay on keto. I asked for the nutritional information brochure. Nope. 20 grams of carbs and no fiber. The only side that was keto-friendly was the green beans. EEEWWW. I guess it’s obvious that I don’t care for green beans, soooo…..

Once home, I nuked a package of frozen cauliflower and made mashed “potatoes.” It was a quick and easy dinner and filled the void.

I ate NO Halloween candy, although I watched my granddaughter sort through her bag of goodies, and I watched my husband eat some of those goodies. Of course, polite Beccy offered me some of the candy, but I abstained and ate a few chili lime almonds.

Later, I ate an Adkins coconut chocolate bar, and hit the hay early. The orange frosted Hostess cupcakes that we picked up for our other two grandchildren were sitting on the kitchen island, and I avoided them by going to bed before I lost my battle. I know I don’t even like them that much. It was a totally emotional temptation.

Drank a glass of water, read a little, and drifted off with no cheat meal or snack behind me.

Success!!

Day 285: Yummy steak with onion blue cheese sauce

Total weight loss: 41 pounds [I like typing that]

Saturday morning breakfast at the diner – cheese/onion omelet with a side of bacon

We worked on emptying and readying the house we  [finally] sold. We packed and cleaned for a few hours. This stuff seems to multiply. Afterwards, we went to Del Taco. I had the usual macho beef burrito and opened up and ditched the tortilla.

My 2 pounds weight loss yesterday morning buoyed my spirits. I’m sometimes tempted to “reward myself” with some kind of cheat meal, but realized it would be better to save that for when I’m not losing, to perhaps shock my body into responding to the diet. So, I didn’t have a cheat meal, but my compromise was eating 1 1/2 cinnamon churros. I have to admit they were good. Now I will look at the carb count…..egad – 21 carbs per churro. So much for being in ketosis. Sigh. So, I had approximately 32 extra grams of carbs yesterday. Not good.

Oh, another tip: carry a “real” fork with you. I carry one in my purse and it comes in handy when I order things like this burrito, or a burger with no bun. I HATE using a plastic fork, and some of those burgers actually break them.

Dinner was legal and delish. Rick grilled steaks. I made the accompanying blue cheese onion cream sauce and some cauliflower mashed potatoes. Before dinner, I cleaned the house, put the tv/pc back in order (the old hard drive had failed), and generally spruced up the place. While cleaning out the sold house earlier in the day, I had grabbed Brandon and Lindsey’s lamp set, which they aren’t currently using, and I put one on each side of our Ansel Adams print next to the table. It looked warm and elegant, so we ate our gourmet dinner using cloth napkins and each had a glass of cabernet. I had one more glass out on the deck [oh, what the heck? I already ate 30+ carbs of churro earlier – bad attitude, I know].

Dessert was the usual choco/peanut butter low carb treat.

Day 283: A really good salad: Big Boy’s buffalo grilled chicken salad

Total weight loss: 39 pounds

Well, I really enjoyed that early morning breakfast Wednesday, so I made the effort to rise early and try it again. This time, we went to the Senate Coney Island, which is a bustling diner even at 7:30 am. I ordered a cheese omelet, asked them to add grilled onions, and skipped the toast. The side of bacon was enough for me to share with Rick. I topped the egg with sour cream (of course) and called it a meal. The service was fast, the omelet was delish, and the bacon was perfect. No extra hash browns to deal with and I just skipped the toast. We’ll be back.

Lunch was on the run, again. More paperwork and banking to do. This house closing is dragging on, and there are still details to cover and items to move from the house.

chicken-saladWe went to Big Boy. Since this blog is all about honesty, I had a really difficult time deciding NOT to eat carbs. I love BB fish and chips, so that was hurdle one. I was tired, stressed and hungry (too hungry), so my decision making processes were hampered by the need for some comfort food. I had tried the buffalo chicken salad a while back and decided to try that. The spiciness might make me feel like I was having some tasty treat, and the blue cheese dressing that comes with would be creamy and fill that need for comfort.

It was a hit! I was a little worried that I made a wrong choice when I saw that the chicken had some kind of coating on it, but at that point, I was eating it no matter what. The tangy buffalo sauce was subtle on the small slices of chicken and blended well with the blue cheese. It was filling and delicious.

Again, I forgot to take a picture, so here’s one that looks similar. I will definitely be ordering this again soon, so I’ll get an authentic one on my next visit.

I looked up the nutrition information when I got home and it passed muster. Without croutons (which I removed), it’s 10.2 grams of carbs minus 2.3 grams of fiber, for a net of 7.9. That’s not counting the blue cheese dressing, but after a really low carb breakfast, I knew I’d be able to stay under 19 for the day. It also looks like they have similar salads at Chili’s and other restaurants.

Bad afternoon – I worked until 6:30. At 5:30, that damned Halloween candy bowl at work called my name. I ate a peanut butter cup and 9 whoppers (actual circles of candy, not packages).  I have no defense. I do think a salad doesn’t stick with me long enough to ward off the temptations. Whatever. I guess I’ll just have to plan ahead in case I’m tempted again tomorrow – drink a lot of water and eat almonds in the late afternoon?

Dinner – home late again. Rick didn’t feel like cooking, so we stopped to pick up a rotisserie chicken. Again, I was tempted. I had already eaten candy, so how about some macaroni salad on the side? NO NO NO. Rick didn’t buy it, and I made cauliflower mashed potatoes instead. Wonder why this is so difficult lately.

Oh, here’s a tip I figured out in the past few months. I really like the cauliflower mashed potatoes, and I really don’t like cooking very much (in case you didn’t figure that out). I now buy small frozen packages of cauliflower and have about 4 on hand. I use the same recipe as I have posted here, but here are the amounts of the ingredients I use with this size package….

Easy peasy cauliflower mashed potatoes – open one bag of cauliflower, pour in bowl, microwave 5 minutes. Put the cauliflower, 3-4 tbsp of cream cheese (definitely less than half a package), and one tbsp of butter into a food processor. The cauliflower should be steaming hot to melt the cheese easily. Process and eat. One package makes a little more than 2 servings. If Rick doesn’t eat his, it warms up well the next day.

Well, that quick recipe was a life savor, and I avoided the carby macaroni salad. I ate about 6 ounces of chicken with the “caulitatoes.” Dessert was 2 squares of chocolate with natural peanut butter.

Day 62: Birthday party again

Weight loss: 15 pounds; next weigh-in: Sat., Mar 17th

I woke up the day after cheat day with no appetite and a huge stomach. I decided to have a light breakfast, so I ate a low-carb blueberry yogurt.

We attended our granddaughter Danielle’s birthday party at noon. I made some chili/cheese dip to take, but decided to use up the low-fat cream cheese I had on hand, which made it off limits for me. They served Pizza Hut pizzas, so I ate the toppings off of 2 slices.

The cake looked delicious, but I wasn’t really tempted to eat it. The Superman ice cream REALLY didn’t tempt me. LOL

Back home after the party, I worked on Ebay listings until about 8 p.m, at which time I was pretty darned hungry. Rick got out of his sick bed to bicycle up to the store for a chicken and Beddar Cheddar sausages. I ate 2 with mustard.

I hadn’t eaten much all day, so I was still hungry when Rick too his freshly barbecued rotisserie chicken off the grill. I took a small piece of the breast and whipped up some cauliflower mashed potatoes for a second late late dinner. We each had a piece of low-carb fudge afterwards. I was still 5 carbs under for the day.

 

Day 48: Sunday at home; steak dinner

Total weight loss: 14 pounds

Next weigh-in: Saturday, March 3rd

Yesterday morning was a quiet pleasant Sunday. I made myself three scrambled eggs with cheese and onion. I had some leftover bacon, so I warmed that up to go with the eggs. I usually eat while doing my NYT Sunday puzzle, but I wanted to catch up on Downton Abbey, so I watched the Christmas Special, instead.  I enjoyed the leisurely meal and entertainment.

We intended to go work on the rental house, but Rick started cleaning out the garage. This led to a couple of bins and boxes of my dad’s paperwork landing in my office. Since I have been looking for some of his documents, plus I didn’t want my office to get messy, I spent the afternoon and evening going through everything. I stopped for a quick almond snack around 3, but worked straight through until about 8:30.

Lucky for me, Rick took care of the cooking. When I finally came up for air, he had a grilled steak and portobello mushrooms waiting for me. Those big juicy mushrooms make up for my usual baked potato, or baked sweet potato, and I don’t miss either of those foods.

We watched the Oscars while we ate. The meal was delicious. I had a big glass of Silk unsweetened almond milk (zero net carbs) to go along with the meal.

Dessert was chocolate mousse. I think the result was my lowest daily carb count so far: only 6 net carbs!

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

 

 

Day 9: Surviving a 7-hour hospital ordeal and keeping keto

Weight loss:  1 pound     Total weight loss: 10 pounds

Yesterday was quite a trial. I slept late because I’m still feeling mighty poorly. I had to get my dad to the doctor by 11:30, and that was a very long trek due to hazardous roads. By the time I showered and got out the door, I didn’t have time for breakfast, so I grabbed a tall water and kept on moving.

Wait, wait, wait, by 1 pm, I knew I was going to be trying to get my dad admitted thru the hospital ER (we were sent by his regular physician with suspected bronchitis). My stomach was begging for some nourishment, but no time.

After I got him settled in an ER bed, my savior, Rick, ran out and got me a bacon cheeseburger with no bun. It did the trick…for a while.

6 pm and I was finally back at my keto-friendly kitchen. I wanted something FAST. I threw some butter in a pan, added a chopped up yellow summer squash and a slice of onion, then, when it was almost cooked, I threw in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. I added some rewarmed cauliflower to the plate and it looked pretty impressive for a 5-minute meal.

I grabbed some Greek yogurt with peanut butter and called it a night.

Here’s hoping today is a little more “ordinary” and I can have some structured meal time.