Hey Shaun - way to go - I know you said how you hate exercise...I just finished today's workout - an hour of core work - and I'm enjoying a dish of leftover pearled barley risotto. Also had a protein drink.

I can not wait until this weather breaks a bit so that I can get outside and walk Sammy! I'll still do my workouts inside, because I know I need the resistance training and yoga - but some fresh air and a little more cardio will do me so much good. Ain't no way I'm going out while there's ice covered sidewalks or 40 mph winds or single digit temps. nope.

What are you going to do with the tilapia? I can't get excited about that kind of fish, but saw in that magazine a recipe for it kind of glazed with I think soy sauce and a little pineapple juice. it looked good.

I don't know about dinner here.

Stacy I put fresh garlic, salt, black pepper and olive oil on the tiliapa and bake it. That's it. And I have a salad with that and it really is yummy......even Anthony loves it like that!!

Shaun,

Do some research on the tilapia. I got some last week to try out and it was good but when my mom asked about it I did some checking. I don't remember who the source was, but it said they are worried about the increasing amounts of tilapia being sold in the US because it contains the bad stuff--not the omega 3 stuff. It's supposed to be bad for people who already have high cholesterol (that includes me and mom). So, I'm switching back to one of the other white fish--cod or halibut. Just double check so you don't end up trying to eat healthy with fish and end up worse off.

For menu ideas, it really is based on what foods appeal to you. Hubby and I are not bean or veggie eaters--otherwise we could probably jazz up our meals some.

When we were lo-carbing before, we each had a boiled egg for breakfast 5 days a week. We both work so I need something easy for breakfast.

This time around I bought the egg whites in the carton (not the egg beaters--these are the plain egg whites as in that's all that is listed in the ingredients). I've been pouring some in a small skillet and taking some already browned lean sausage and adding that along with a little shredded cheddar cheese or a slice of american cheese. I fold if over when almost done and it's not a bad egg white omlet.

I'm in search of some breakfast casseroles right now so I can cook one on Sunday and cut out squares for the rest of the week.

Last time we lo-carbed we would get a pound of sliced brisked and sliced turkey at the BBQ place and eat some of that for lunch every day. I also threw in a mixed green salad every once in a while with chopped up turkey lunch meat and ranch dressing. This time around we are adding hamburger in a bowl. We grill a bunch of ground meat and I put one patty in a bowl and you can add whatever fixings you normally like on a burger without the bun--bacon, guac, cheese, mushrooms, onions, etc. I make a mixture of mustard, mayo and no sugar ketchup as a side dip.

Dinner is the easiest with cooking a meat dish with side of broccoli or cauliflower (I usually steam the broccoli and add cheese and I steam the cauliflower and then turn them into mashed potatoes). We've had pulled pork, the crustless quiche, I'm planning on trying Riverrat's chili, baked fish, I think I still have a recipe for eggplant parmesan, scrambled eggs and bacon, steaks, baked chicken with cream cheese and bacon, crab au gratin, and meatballs with my homemade alfredo sauce. I think I have an old recipe for pizza as well that you make the crust with cheese and eggs and then add you favorite toppings.

When we go out to dinner, we try to go to places that serve breakfast, like Dennys. I have a toddler so it's easy to find him something to eat there. We also go out for Mexican food and order fajitas. We get an order of queso and pile our plates with the fajita meat, grilled onions and top with queso. We pass on the chips and the tortillas. It's hard at first but you get used to it. We also go out for salads. One of the restaurants by us sells a t-bone steak salad. We also eat cesar salads out--I don't like making salads at home--they taste better to me at a restaurant for some reason. We don't usually frequent Red Lobster but we do while on this diet because we can eat the crab legs (and the butter).

For dessert I make the cheesecake pudding and keep that in the frig. We top it with the whipped cream in the can and it satisfies the sweet cravings. I'm on the hunt now for something low-carb I can make in my Kitchen aid ice cream bowl.

For snacks we eat shredded or sliced cheddar cheese or string cheese, peanuts in the shell (so it takes longer to eat them), fried pork skins (hubby eats these--I don't care for them). I also make deviled eggs for breakfasts or snacks when we crave them. I also buy jalapenos and cut them in half lenghtwise and stuff them with cream cheese, wrap in bacon and grill on the pit. We've also bought boned quail and wrapped that in bacon and grilled for an appetizer.

If any of this sounds appealing, let me know and I can get you the recipe. Sorry I rambled on and on.

dktrahan oh dear! I hadnt heard that. I do have high cholesterol too. Well I bought a lot of Tilapia at Costco so after it's gone, I"ll buy halibut if I can find that, I love that one too.

Please dont apologize for rambling on! I was interested in every single word you wrote and if you feel like posting recipes, go for it! (no quail for me tho)

Let me share this low carb site a friend told me about - it's the best!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Low Carb Site

Yes, very interesting about the tilapia dk. Dh has high cholesterol.

Shaun thanks for the link. I will check it out.

Tonight we are having another recipe from Clean Eating. Tortilla Soup with lime crema. Will wants pasta - so that's what I'll make him. I'm trying to limit our pasta to during the day and whole wheat. The soup is topped with baked tortilla strips - so I used low carb ones.

I'm having a hungry day. Some days I do fine with this, but for some reason today, I want to nibble all day long...sigh.

It's a fine line with working out because I want to have enough complex carbs to get through my workouts but not go overboard.

Stacy

Thanks for the link. I'll have to try some of the melted cheese crackers.

Here are some of the recipes I use. I've collected these from all over the web and I don't have references for where they came from.

Creamy Alfredo Sauce

1 stick Butter
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 c heavy cream
Dash white ground pepper

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Serve over cooked chicken, beef or vegetables.

Deep Dish Pizza

4 oz cream cheese
3 eggs
1/3 C cream
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
2 C mixed Italian cheese
1/2 C low carb pizza sauce
1 C mozzarella cheese

Pizza toppings:

Put any topping you like. Pepperoni, ham, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, bacon, browned sausage, ground beef, parmesan cheese for topping. I like to use spinach leaves and some feta cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add cream, parmesan cheese and spices and mix again. Spray oblong casserole dish with Pam. Sprinkle 2 cups Italian cheeses into dish and pour egg mixture over it. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes. Spread on pizza sauce, sprinkle 1 C mozzarella cheese and pile with favorite toppings. Then sprinkle with more parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake until bubbly and brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 c Pet evaporated milk (I use heavy cream)
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
1 small onion (I use chives--less carbs)
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz feta, crumbled
4.5 oz can mushrooms, drained
3 cloves garlic (I use minced garlic for ease)
1/2 c butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach (squeeze out excess water), mushrooms, feta and cream cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie plate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into pie plate, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Note: This is a base recipe. You can add or subtract anything you want--bacon, ham, veggies, etc. I've even used broccoli instead of the spinach and you can use a combination of different cheeses.

Cheesecake Pudding

8 oz heavy whipping cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz sour cream
c Splenda (I've switched to sugar free vanilla syrup and add to taste--it tastes less chemical than the Splenda)
1 tsp vanilla (I omit this if using the vanilla syrup)

Whip the heavy cream until stiff peak forms. Set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream.
I usually double this recipe. This does have some carbs so I portion this recipe into 8 portions (16 if I double). We spray the canned whip cream on top and it makes it look like you're getting more. It has to be the whip cream--not cool whip. Cool whip has sugar in it.

This recipe came from Chow Hound and we love it loaded up with a little bbq sauce, cheddar cheese, chives and a small spoon of sour cream.

Pulled pork .... in under an hour. Cut the boston butt into 1 - 1.5 inch slices. In an 8 qt pot, put about 3" of water, 9 (yes, 9) beef bouillon cubes, a couple TBSP brown sugar, 1/4 cup liquid smoke, 1/4 cup dehydrated onions, 2 tsp black pepper, about 3 to 4 TBSP soy sauce, a few shakes of cayenne and some Caribbean Jerk seasoning if you like. I've even thrown in some rib rub. The brine should be almost unbearably salty and spicy .... thats fine. It won't be nearly that strong at the end. Bring to a boil, then add your sliced roast. Dip out some liquid if the level is too high. Bring to pressure and keep it there for 45 minutes. Take off the heat and let it come down by itself. Drain, and you will not need a fork to pull this. Use the back of a wooden spoon!

Great sounding recipes! Thanks.

here is the tortilla soup. I spiced it up a little and it was really good!

Wish I knew where to get low carb tortillas. My friend gets them and I really like them.

I make low fat cheese spread by mixing grated cheddar and low fat cottage cheese. You can add scallion or chives if you like, and dill is good with this too. Less fat than a cheese sandwich. I like to eat cheese sandwiches with pea soup, which is what I'm eating this week since I made a huge batch of it this weekend. I don't do low carb, but I try to do low fat, and moderate, whole grain carbs, low sugar.

I just can't get motivated to exercise. The wind is blowing outside and making the most awful cold sounding noises and I just want to curl up in bed with my big fluffy quilt. I also cannot get motivated to go to the gym. I wish I could afford some snazzy gym clothes. I know it sounds weird, but my workout clothes are so frumpy I just dread putting them on. There is a free gym where I work, a beautiful one, so I really should take advantage of it.

Stacy what beautiful soup! Wow! I need to look for low carb tortillas too. I'm pretty sure I've seen them being sold in our grocery store.

lpinkmountain I know what you mean about workout clothes. A couple of years ago I joined a gym whose mantra was "No Judgement Zone". That was the only gym I had ever gone to in my life where the girls weren't all in full makeup and hair done, spandex, high heel sneakers. You know what I mean. Not that the women were dumpy, no, just that they weren't there to impress anyone; they were there to work out. Big Tee shirts and sweat pants and things like that. Always clean looking but not over done.

I'm thinking of re-joining that gym. Even though I have a treadmill in my house; it's more fun to go there and have the option of using their equipment; more to choose from.

lpink your cheese spread is a great idea. thanks for sharing that one. And I too know what you mean about the workout clothes. Even at home, I feel better when I am not dressed in one of Scott's old T-shirts. I picked up a cute pink Nike T-shirt the other day for $5 - and I'm waiting to get it out of the dryer to wear it for today's workout - LOL.

Shaun - "high heeled sneakers" LOL! And thanks for the info on the fish. I will try the garlic EVOO S & P suggestion maybe on another kind? What temp do you bake it at?

We do belong to the YMCA which has a great selection of equipment - but my goal was to get Scott motivated - as he has all kinds of cholesterol issues and stuff going on and he need to lose some weight(well, I did too). So I ordered some DVD's and it has worked. Even though we don't do them together most of the time, it is a connecting point - and one of us will motivate the other on an off day. It's a 90 day program and we are just finishing up phase 2 of it - on to the last phase on sunday. We're doint P90X and today's workout is Kenpo karate - it's a fun one - really gets your heart rate up!

OK, back to the topic at hand. I had eggs, brown rice bread a couple grape tomatoes and black coffe for breakfast.

Stacy

We try to do mostly low-carb, but can't completely cut out the carbs. We've tried that and after two weeks, we wanted to gnaw the baseboards off the walls! So, hubs and I are doing mostly low carb with Weight Watchers recipes thrown in.

On Sunday, I made a pretty decent slow cooker lasagna (Weight Watcher recipe). I liked it because we were doing yardwork all day while this cooked away all on it's own!

I had a lot more sauce than it called for, so I just doubled the cheese mixture and made more layers in the crockpot. This was ESPECIALLY good with a couple of jars of my homemade tomato sauce from canning! I bet this could be done with low-carb pasta too. Hmmm...

Slow Cooker Lasagna
WW Points: 8 Servings: 6

1 lb uncooked lean ground beef (7% fat)
1 small onion, chopped
1 med garlic clove, minced
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
15 oz canned tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 ½ cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup parm cheese, shredded
6 pieces dry lasagna noodles (not cooked)

Sautee beef, onions & garlic. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil, and red pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella. Set aside.

Spoon 1/3 meat mixture into a greased (spray with Pam) 5 quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture. Top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with 1/3 beef mixture.

Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 6 hours. Combine remaining ½ cup mozzarella with the parmesan cheese and sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside till cheese melts and lasagna firms up.

No breakfast today - bad bad, I know but I couldn't avoid it this time.

Lunch was a steak salad but I caved in and ate the fried onion rings they put on the top. If I had remembered that they put those on there I would have asked to keep them off. Sadly I forgot. And sadly I ate them.

Moving right along - dinner is going to be burger w/cheese & bacon and grilled onions, side of broccoli and a salad.

We're doing grilled sausage tonight with a side of broccoli.

I'm going to get the ingredients to make this breakfast casserole tonight for the rest of the week:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground sausage (use spicy if you like it)
8 oz cream cheese
half an onion
half a green bell pepper
carton of fresh mushrooms
6 or 7 eggs (depending on how eggy you like it)
shredded cheese (2-4 cups depending on preference)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop veggies and saute them in large pan in olive oil. After they soften toss in the meats and get them browned. Salt & Pepper. Drain grease and return to pan. Put in block of cream cheese over low heat to help melt until thoroughly mixed. Spread mixture in a well greased 9x13 pan. Don't pack down. In a separate bowl beat up the eggs and salt and pepper. Pour eggs over meat mixture and then cover with your favorite shredded cheese. Cook for about 30 minutes.
NOTE: This is a base recipe that can be added to.

I made a quiche last night to box up for lunches for the next 2 days. I made meatballs with alfredo sauce for dinner last night.

Happy cooking!

dktrahan YUM! I wish you'd come cook for me! That sounds delicious. All of it.

Wed. Menu:
Pumpkin pancake w/ egg and ham, oranges
Raw carrot, red bell pepper, celery, olives, summer sausage
Unfried rice (barley in this case), BBQ pork and egg rolls
Air popped popcorn and a glass of wine.

I always have WW Chocolate cake snacks, Fiber One bars, rice cakes, etc. in my desk drawer in case I'm STARVING!...........................................................................yeah. right.

Deanna

My menu sounds terrible! But it's all low carb.

Breakfast - 3 slices of deli ham and string cheese
Lunch - 2 hard boiled eggs, 3 slices deli ham, a pickle and a slice of swiss cheese
Dinner - Turkey pattie, a green salad w/hard boiled eggs, bacon, cheese and dressing.
Snack - beef jerky

Would those be Omega3 eggs? --just teasing ya! But they are better!

Deanna, I don't know how you can have those snacks in your desk! My willpower at work is Zero!
I really like those puffed air dryed apple snacks that have about 35 cal. I buy them by the case at Costco. Brothers All Natural Healthy Crisps.

I'm trying, but yesterday's cortisone shot has made me so very hungry! Today I began with two scrambled eggs and a soy cookie. By noon I was starved again and had a bit of leftover steak, cucumbers, and mixed berries. Later on more cucumbers and some coffee with flavored creamer (ack!) and now about 1/3 of a container of Fage yogurt.
Now that I don't eat wheat or yeast, I seem to tolerate some dairy products better. Who knew?

It sounds good to me! That's all stuff I like to snack on anyway so it would be a treat for me to eat nibbles like that all day!! I'd probably eat several pickles though!!! LOL

Deanna

I use Egglands Best!

I'm eating my breakfast casserole now--it turned out way better than I thought it would. I left off the bell peppers because the grocery store only had some from Mexico.

We went out to eat last night since we've been so good. Went to a Greek place I've never been to and ordered a Greek salad (minus olives) with gyro meat on top. It was fantastic! Tons of feta and the meat was melt in your mouth good. With all the cooking you have to do to stay low carb it was nice to have someone else cook for me.

Happy Anniversary Shaun and Lou!

Thanks Stacy!!

Hey DKtrahan that salad sounds like something I'd lke to have today, right now even. I love gyros but I'd settle for the salad with all the gyro stuff on it! (cept the pita bread)

OH I made this and it's so good words can't even do it justice!! You gotta make it. I did not make the full recipe; just made one box of spinach and added what I thought to be enough of all the rest of the ingredients; here's the recipe:

SPINACH GRATIN
50 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
4 tablespoons butter
2 small onions, chopped, 5 ounces
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Spicy Seasoning Salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded, 1/2 cup
2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup

In a medium skillet, sauté the onion in the butter 15 minutes. Blend in the cream cheese on medium-low heat. Gradually blend in the cream until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the garlic powder and nutmeg. Squeeze all of the liquid from the spinach and place in a greased 11x7" baking pan. Pour in the sauce mixture and mix well (I found that using 2 forks to do the mixing worked well). Mix in the salt, seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Spread evenly in the pan, then top with the Swiss cheese and remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Bake at 425º 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Makes 10-12 servings
Can be frozen

Per 1/10 recipe: 295 Calories; 25g Fat; 13g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs
Per 1/12 recipe: 246 Calories; 20g Fat; 11g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

OH I made this and it's so good words can't even do it justice!! You gotta make it. I did not make the full recipe; just made one box of spinach and added what I thought to be enough of all the rest of the ingredients; here's the recipe:

SPINACH GRATIN
50 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
4 tablespoons butter
2 small onions, chopped, 5 ounces
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Spicy Seasoning Salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded, 1/2 cup
2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup

In a medium skillet, sauté the onion in the butter 15 minutes. Blend in the cream cheese on medium-low heat. Gradually blend in the cream until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the garlic powder and nutmeg. Squeeze all of the liquid from the spinach and place in a greased 11x7" baking pan. Pour in the sauce mixture and mix well (I found that using 2 forks to do the mixing worked well). Mix in the salt, seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Spread evenly in the pan, then top with the Swiss cheese and remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Bake at 425º 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Makes 10-12 servings
Can be frozen

Per 1/10 recipe: 295 Calories; 25g Fat; 13g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs
Per 1/12 recipe: 246 Calories; 20g Fat; 11g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

oopsie!