Fajita Cauli-Rice

Okay, so we're on a cauliflower kick here, especially now that our grocery is carrying Green Giant's frozen riced cauliflower.  So easy!

I haven't bothered to make cauliflower in all this keto time because I didn't think Mark would touch it.  But this way it's seasoned and it really does seem like rice.

I used some leftover chicken, green pepper, a little onion, about a half cup of salsa, and plenty of fajita seasoning all stir-fried in some bacon fat with the package of riced cauliflower.    It makes about 3 cups.  For each cup: 8 carbs, 2 fiber; 6 net carbs; 10 fat; 10 protein; 160 calories.

Fathead Alternative

My mom made this pizza for us when I was visiting with her last month.  She's 81 years young and has been on her own low-carb journey.  She's lost 30 pounds and is now maintaining instead of trying to lose any more.  YaY :)

I am so proud of my mama--she knows her way around the blogging world and is the best cook I know. My sister is next best :)  This one is similar to fathead but uses a little parmesan cheese rather than mozzarella and is nut-free.  It might be a little more fragile than fathead, but I like the taste equally well.  Neither is a strong crust that you can use to pick up a slice.  These are use-your-fork crusts!

1 pkg cream cheese
2 eggs
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan 
Beat together well.  Spread in a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake at 350 til golden brown. 
Eight slices, each one:  132 calories, 1 carb, 12 fat, 5 protein.
Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake again til bubbly.

with my sis and my mom

Who Needs to Cheat When You Can Have Cheesecake?!?

Keto Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust:  1.5 cups pecans, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbls swerve, 6 Tbsp butter
--Crush nuts and mix together.  Press in pan and bake 300 for about ten minutes, til browned and toasted.

Filling:  2 blocks cream cheese, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup sour cream, 3 eggs,  1 Tbls vanilla, 1/2 c swerve or to taste.
--Mix together well, pour into crust.  Put a pan of water on bottom shelf of oven.  Bake 300 degrees on top oven shelf for about 40-50 minutes until middle is just past jiggly stage.  Let sit out til room temperature, then cool in fridge.

Topping:  Simmer one pint blueberries in a saucepan with a little water til soft.   Add a tablespoon over each slice before serving.

If I can do this, you can do this!  To get more info and support, join the Ketogenic Success group on facebook or go to Ketovangelist.com.

55 pounds gone--I can hardly believe it myself!

Keto Update

The year 2016 is going down as our Keto discovery year.  Mark's recovery from diabetes and high blood pressure has been incredible.  He's down to one med for his blood sugar and off blood pressure meds entirely.  I've lost 55 pounds and am off all anti inflammatory meds for pain.   And best of all, this is something we can live with--we're not hungry, we're eating great food, and we feel so so so much better.

There's lots of info out there about this way of eating. You may not hear about it from mainstream media and health care professionals yet.  But if you're on the lookout, you'll see healthy fat making a comeback.  The success stories  are amazing.  If you're interested in learning more, here are some resources:  

• Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore  
• Ketovangelist.com 
• Facebook group Ketogenic Success  
• Dietdoctor.com    

  

  Recent keto lunch at Augie's: Burger of the day sans bun and salad with blue cheese dressing.

We're Still Keto Strong :)

Top image was taken at Ryan's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  Bottom is from back in 2012. 

A few pictures of what we've been eating lately:

cheeseburger, no bun with a side salad & ranch dressing--lunch at Augie's

Carne Asada with scrambled eggs & cheese @ Boone's

wings from Canada Garden :)  one of our favorites this summer

poppers.  who says this is a diet?

beautiful salad at Mangia in downtown Springfield

 Yeah, we're so not deprived on this way of eating!  I'll be so happy when everyone knows what  grains and sugar have been doing to us.  If you're interested in knowing more about keto, here's another good website, Ketovangelist.

Fathead Pizza

This recipe is all over Pinterest because it's just that good!

• Mix 1 3/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup almond flour together in the food processor. 
• Add 2 Tbls. cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and mix together until the dough sticks together in a ball.
•  Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper to desired shape & size.  Take off the top paper and bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes til golden.  
• Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake til cheese is melted & browned.

Some of those pinterest recipes  melt the cheese & cream cheese together before mixing and  bake both sides of the crust.  I haven't found either of those steps necessary; but if you're interested, you can find those directions here. 

One recipe of the crust will also make 8 mini rounds.  Those can be baked, kept in the fridge, and then toasted for breakfast with lots of butter. 

If you want cheeze-it crackers, make the recipe using cheddar cheese.  Once the crust is baked, cut into cracker or chip shapes & fry in coconut oil.

Once you've made this a couple of times, it becomes an easy recipe to make.  I can hardly believe that we've lost all this weight while still eating good pizza!  If you're on the low-carb way of eating with us, treat yourself to fathead :)

Drink Lots of Water

Getting myself to drink enough water has always been a challenge and even more so on this way of eating.  These little Stur water-enhancer drops are sweetened with stevia and fruit extracts and have no aftertaste.  My favorite is strawberry-watermelon and Betsy likes fruit punch.

All In

We went to breakfast at Boone's with friends this morning.  We used to love their wagon wheel pancakes & green-onion-garlic hash rounds.  Sigh.  But we're doing so well with our weight loss,  feeling good, and Mark's blood sugars have never been lower.  So.  Now we have huge omelets--meat lover's for Mark and cheese for me with a side of sauteed mushrooms.  The potatoes have only the tiniest bit of come-hither power any more and we just don't pay any attention to them.  

Over the course of our breakfast this morning, a warning comment was made:  "Be careful with low-carb.  When you go off it, your weight goes way up."   Yes, that's exactly what would happen.  That's why we're not going to go back to eating carbs. . . 

What we really need to be careful about:  Dwelling on never having  potatoes or cherries or cake again.  That will bring on a serious depressive episode.  Guaranteed if we feed that carb-craving monster, it will grow.   So, whenever those thoughts come up, I think about everything good that's happened in the last six months.

• We get to eat really good food.  Like butter.  Tonight we had green beans that tasted like my mama's.  Cooked in bacon fat.
• I get to eat until I'm full.  And when I get hungry, I get to eat again.
• I now fit into non-plus sized pants.  
• Everything in my closet fits or is too big.  
• I don't have to worry about what I'm going to wear tomorrow.  I don't dread getting on the scale.  
• I don't have to take anti-inflammatory meds anymore.  I don't ache all over. 
• Mark's blood sugars got down into the 60's twice today and he HaD to eat! 
• His feet don't hurt any more.  
• He doesn't need as much medicine now.  From today's numbers, maybe his doses will go down even more.   

If you'd like more information, check out this online  support community  that can give you information, encouragement, inspiration, and hope every day.     If I can do this, you can do this too.

So if someone says to you, "be careful you'll gain it all back when you go back to regular eating", just smile and agree.  And keto on!

Low Carb Happy @ 6 Months

Well, here we are at the 6-month point and we're still going StRoNg!  Meaning this is something we can live with and trust.  Mark is feeling much much better and we're looking forward to new lab work in a couple of months.  It's certainly a different feeling to be looking forward to getting lab work done rather than dreading it as we have for so many years!

I've lost 45 pounds in this six months.  Some people lose much more quickly than this, but I'm averaging a 6 pound loss a month these days.  Six pounds a month at 60 years old--I'm so thankful to have finally learned that grains, potatoes, and sugar (GPS as Dr Hallberg says) are the culprits and that we only needed the right information and the right support in order to lose weight and heal our blood sugars and feel so much better. 

 I have to say thank you to my mama & sister who were so supportive during my visit this month.  In past visits, we were all into cake & pie & pasta & bread and well, you get the picture. . . But we had a great visit even without the bad carbs, which again helped me learn that going low-carb  actually means eating lots of full-fat healthy foods, not being hungry, and feeling satisfied and happy--not deprived! I even lost a pound while I was there on vacation! 

PJ made this wonderful loaded cauliflower casserole.  Mama made a yummy almond flour biscuit and Jeff grilled hot wings for us. And did I mention the fresh strawberries from Peggy's u-pick farm??  

Let's see, what else have we been eating? Fathead pizza is one of my favorites.  Yes, pizza! No, they don't deliver it from Antonio's--unfortunately, but maybe one day??  Actually, someone should talk to them about that.  Anyway, until Antonio's finds their way to low-carb, fathead is easy to put together and well worth the effort.

This is what I've been ordering when I go to Starbucks:

And this lemon cloud pie was a hit!

For the recipes, check out my pinterest low-carb board.  If you explore Pinterest, there's an endless supply of low-carb recipes--pretty much anything we want to eat, there's a way to make it low-carb.  

For those of you who have joined me in this low-carb way of eating, thank you so much!  It makes me happy to hear about your successes, your weight loss, your lowered blood sugar numbers, your new-found energy.  You help me keep going too!

If you're interested in knowing more about low-carb, check out those facebook groups Ketogenic Success and Low Carb & Losing It Original Group.  There's a mother-lode of support, inspiration & hope that will show up in your news feed.  And if you have questions or need help getting started, get in touch with me and let's talk. We can do this!

We've Been Cooking

Layer of chorizo with two eggs sprinkled with melting cheese and baked. Mark gave this one two thumbs up.

Layers of ground beef,  no-sugar added pizza or spaghetti sauce,  mozzarella cheese, and topped with pepperoni. 

Soul Bread--it was really good just out of the oven with butter and then later toasted with cinnamon-swerve-butter. And pretty good for a grilled cheese "sandwich".

Cashew waffles--still our favorite.

And a picture of Bets & Kyle with their strawberry harvest!  While we might not be eating pie these days, a few strawberries fresh from the garden with the grandkids sounds like a perfect food plan :)

Low Carb Happy @ 5 Months

If weight watchers works for you, then that is terrific! I'm happy  for you and wish you the very best.  I wish it had worked for me. But if--like me--joining weight watchers for the 11th time leaves you feeling rebellious and mad and sad and just plain hungry--well then no more.   No.  More.

Maybe my (your?) body is just not going to process those carbs in a way that makes us feel healthy and energetic and alive. Maybe bread--and yes Oprah I love bread too--causes my body to release insulin and then stashes every single calorie securely in my fat cells.

Maybe eating bread and pasta and yes, even my beloved sugar -- has been making me fat and sick.

I think so. Because now that I've been lchf keto for the last 5 months, here's what's happened:

•  I don't have cravings. I eat good filling food when I'm hungry.
• I know that "cheating" doesn't make me happy (actually when does cheating in any part of life ever make you happy??).  
• I've lost 39 pounds. 
• Everything in my closet fits or is too big. 
• I'm off the NSAIDS for the first time in ages.  Most all of my aches and pains have disappeared.  Without medicine.
• I have peace of mind.   I don't worry about gaining weight week after week after week and where am I going to end up? 
• I'm getting better healthier leaner.  And not knowing what to do about being fat is not one of my life's problems anymore.   

If any of this sounds familiar, join me in learning more about the low-carb high-fat way of eating.  There's tons of research out there, but by far the most inspiring place to start is the online facebook support group:   Ketogenic Success.

Don't let the closed group status scare you--just send a request to join and you'll be part of a group of thousands of people who are losing weight, getting healthy, and lowering their blood sugar.  If it's not for you, you can always leave the group too.  No cost, no commitment, but be forewarned--all those stories of inspiring change and yummy recipes and helpful advice is addicting!

Or if you need to hear it straight from a medical doctor, check out Dr. Sarah Hallberg's video  Reversing Diabetes Starts with Ignoring  the Guidelines.   She practices in Indiana, right next door to us. 

Do you have questions or need any further info?  I would love to help you find this kind of positive change in your life too.   If I can do this, so can you!

What?!?  I can hardly believe it myself. 

What's for Breakfast?

My hat is off to all those professional food bloggers out there.  Photographing food is much harder than flowers!

This was my breakfast today--cashew waffles with blueberries.  Does this look like a diet?  And if I had had some whipping cream made up, that would have been okay too!   Sunday mornings are  waffle mornings here.  Mark loves them and he takes the leftovers  to go with his first coffee when he gets to work.  They help him resist whatever sweet breakfast foods might be around.

As for an update on our journey, we both came back from vacation with weight loss!  Has happened never!  What's it like to go to Patti's 1800's settlement and not get the mile-high pie?  Well, in some ways it's tough.  There is a grief when you give up sugar, potatoes, and grains (GPS as Dr. Hallberg says).  It requires a willingness to embrace the positives.  Like not feeling sick to overflowing after you eat.  Like your pants fitting, even after a good meal.  Actually Patti's can actually be a pretty good place for low-carbers.  Their pork chop sauce is less than 1 carb per serving.

I'm so happy and grateful to have found this way of eating.  I'm thrilled when friends and family  express an interest in going along for a test-drive with us.  One of my friends just lost 12 pounds in her first week!  You go girl!  One of my family members just told me that her digestion has been so improved that she doesn't have to worry about staying close to the bathroom anymore.  Mark's diabetes & blood pressure meds have been halved.  Okay, well you get the picture :)

Are you sticking around for the waffle recipe?  It's adapted from Danielle Walker's Against All Grain,  I love her cookbook and her story.  She's not strictly low-carb, but her bread recipes are easily adaptable to LCHF/Keto.

Cashew Waffles:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream or almond milk whichever you have on hand 
• 1 cup cashews raw & unsalted or roasted & salted whatever you can find for a good price.  I get ours in the bulk section of the grocery.
• 3 T coconut oil
• 3 T coconut flour
• 1/2 t baking power and 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt; if you're using salted nuts, may not need the extra salt
• 4 T flax seeds

Mix them up in a food processor and bake in the waffle maker.  Each waffle is 1 net carbs (as opposed to 30 for your general everyday waffle). Be sure to top with butter.  Butter is our friend even though we've been brainwashed for the last 40 years to believe otherwise. 

The blueberry topping is  frozen blueberries cooked in a saucepan with a little water until they're soft and the liquid is cooked down.  Blueberries are the lowest carb fruit out there.  Still they're 11 carbs for a half-cup with 2 fibers. Total carbs minus fiber equals net carbs, so that little half cup berries is 9 carbs.   But just a tablespoon or so of blueberries is a good way to use them.  It's just enough to light up the waffles and not so much that they spike your blood sugar or stall your weight loss. 

Okay, bye for now!  Thanks for stopping by and checking this little spot of the infinite world of blogs :)

 








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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Mark, aka the best husband in the whole wide world!  I am so proud of him--this low-carb-high-fat way of life has taken his beloved potatoes and bread away but he's seeing amazing results.  His A1C is down by a third, he's gotten off two long-term meds, and all of his clothes are too big.  YaY Mark!  I love you so much and am so proud of you. 

Low Carb Happy

Christmas 2015.  231 pounds.  I was miserable unhappy eating all the time. And I. Did. Not. Know What. To. Do.  I didn't want to be overweight.  I didn't want to see the scales go up every time I stepped on them.  But I didn't want to be hungry either.  And changing my eating had always meant being hungry.  I love you Oprah, and I love bread too, but every time I went on Weight Watchers I was HunGrY.  And mad about it.  Oh wait--that's another blog post. 

Through some unknown way, I found a  facebook group that told me about a low-carb-high-fat ketogenic way of eating.  Yes.  Low Carb and High Fat.  Keto.   And now I'm down 32 pounds.  My husband is managing and reversing a serious case of diabetes.  Seriously, this group and this information changed the course of my life.

Here's the link--just ask to join and they'll add you as a member:

Ketogenic Success  (11,000+ members and counting)

I'd also recommend the book  Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore. 

The New Atkins book. 

And Dr. Sarah Hallberg's Ted Talk   

Reversing Type II Diabetes Starts with Ignoring the Guidelines 

And Butter Bob's Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off . 

Pinterest is full of low carb recipes.  If you have a favorite high-carb food, there's a low carb version of it out there.  It may take a while for your sense of taste to adjust, but  it will.

And one last link for now:  MyFitnessPal a free app where you can track carbs, fat, & protein.

Some doctors are on board with LCHF keto way of eating.  My doctor is.  I hope yours is too, but don't be surprised or sidetracked if you hear the 50-60 carbs per meal message--that's still part of the ADA's food pyramid.  See Dr Hallberg's video above for more on that.   

We don't have to be overfed or starve and feel deprived.  It really is possible to be Low Carb and Happy. And if you need some help along the way, join me in the support group, read and watch the links above.  And let me know how it goes!  I wanna hear about your journey too :)

LCHF Ketogenic WOL (Low-Carb-High-Fat Way-of-Living)

Two months ago, I found  Ketogenic Success on facebook.  They  provide a daily stream of education, hope and inspiration on my news feed.

With their help, I've lost 22 pounds.  
And I'm off NSAIDs for the first time in 15 years.  

I used to think there was something wrong with me because I couldn't lose weight--that I was weak and had no willpower.  Turns out the sugar and grains were making me fat and keeping me hungry & craving all the time.

If you're interested,  join us at  Ketogenic Success.
And let me know what you think!