I'm not lost!

To all my peeps out there, thank you so much for reading! I've taken a little unplanned break from blogging because of vacation and I've gotten out of the groove. But I'm bursting with new blog posts and recipes and a weigh-in so stay tuned!! Also, I'm able to post from my phone now which will be soooo much easier! Have a beautiful happy day!

I am a loser

Yep, you read right, I joined the Biggest Loser Club. Before you take me out and hang me as a heretic, I want to explain!

I joined for a small monthly fee... I'd tried things like this before, and I never followed through. I figured if it wasn't free, I would have extra motivation for getting my butt in gear. Want to get our money's worth, don't we?! So I logged on and checked out the meal plans and laughed, as I knew I would... shredded wheat with skim milk and whaaaa?! Yeah, don't forget the carbs.. and the carbs for lunch and the carbs for dinner, too! But don't worry, the whole day's carbs added up to 160- I checked. So nooooo... I will not be following their meal plans.

But let me tell you why this is super awesome; I can see planned out in front of me what exercise I MUST get done that day. You can choose your specific exercises for that day, cardio every day (for me) and strength every other day. It's so awesome because no matter where I am, I can log on with my phone and check the list of exercises I need to that day. Why is that so cool, you ask? Why can't you just check on the computer? Because I am about to be on vacation for a week and (Lord willing) will for the first time in my life remain completely LOW carb the WHOLE week! So I will need to be checking my exercise plan since I AM going to continue while I'm gone as well. I will be checking in every day (via phone) with my menu for the day. *crosses fingers* Hey, if this unmotivated girl can run a mile every day and lift weights till it hurts, I can stick with my diet plan for a week away from home! I want to prove it CAN be done! Some of us just need it right there in front of us to make us do it.

I have had all my lazy excuses taken away!

So here it is.. my new best friend, the stair stepper! It might not be the most advanced thing, but it was free, so how can I complain? Also, when you get it really going, it sounds like a small hurricane.
But here's my plan: first thing in the morning I'm going to get on it... and work up to 30 minutes. I can't do 10 right now- isn't that pathetic! I will updating my progress and also adding more weights in the morning. (I'm lifting sort of half-heartedly at night right now) We'll see how it goes! Here's to a good week!

Fried "Potatoes"

So I've been neglecting my pet here, and I feel badly about it! But so many things have been taking priority lately. I am down one more pound and a half... for two weeks that's not so hot. It's been so cold out lately that I've talked myself out of exercise more times than I want to admit. But I'm still getting there.

This morning we tried a new breakfast (because we're all sick of eggs) I don't remember where I got this idea- it seems like I read it somewhere. But it was so delicious! I want to share how to make it.

Fried "Potatoes" with Bacon Breakfast

Ingredients:
1/2 head of fresh cauliflower (could use frozen, too, I suppose)
1 tbsp diced onion
1/2 pound bacon
2-3 oz cheddar cheese, chunked up into small peices
salt, pepper


First of all, cook your bacon until crispy, reserve the grease.


While the bacon is cooking, chop the cauliflower into 1/2 inch pieces


Toss in all the chopped cauli, add the bacon (chopped), and onion. Let cook for 5-6 minutes until the cauliflower is tender, then add the cheese. Stir until melted, pepper and salt to taste and serve. Serves 4 adults or 4 children and a hungry mum.

Enjoy!

Kid-approved Fakearoni and cheese

My daughter is mac-and-cheese addicted, and I have been looking for something similar that she would like without all the unhealthy carbohydrates from the macaroni. Here's a recipe that I found and adapted. It's good, the kids loved it. It has more of a homemade macaroni and cheese feel to it than the boxed kind, but it's still scrumptious, and super easy!

Fakearoni and Cheese

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used mozzerella and cheddar)
1/4 tsp. paprika (I forgot this and it still came out ok)
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1/4 lemon pepper
5 cups cooked cauliflower (I used a bag of frozen, slightly thawed and chopped the bigger pieces into 1 inch chunks)
3 hot dogs, chopped
Parsley to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix sour cream, eggs, cheese and all spices except parsley together in a bowl. Stir in hot dog pieces and cauliflower. Spray 9x13 pan, Spread the mixture in the pan and top with the parsley. Bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly and golden. Enjoy! Serves 6 at about 6 carbs per serving.

*Thanks to Extreme Low Carb Cuisine by Sharon Long!

Leave perfection alone!

This recipe I tried for me, not the kids....Cleochatra's breadsticks. She has THE best recipes I have found anywhere. Anytime I'm bored and feeling like eating something bad for me, I go to her page and find a new recipe to try. I purchased at the store what I thought was everything I needed- then I got home and realized that I only had parmesan cheese and not mozzarella like I thought. RATS! So I followed her recipe but used parmesan cheese in place of the mozz- not so good, really. It looked pretty, but just lacked that flavor and texture that you would normally find when making something with this particular recipe. But it wasn't horrible, either, and I still ate them with a tiny bit of marinara sauce for lunch.

More low carb experiments for the kids

Yuuuummmy.... be warned!


Snitching some pecans... how can I be mad at that face?

This weekend as usual we played in the kitchen coming up with new things to eat. Someone gave us four large bags of frozen pecans (yeah, I didn't know freezing nuts was possible, either) and I was trying to think of a good way to use some of them. I remembered that I used to love to make candied nuts and wondered if you can make them low-carbish. I know the kids would eat those! This is what we did, and it was so wonderful- I mean, like stay AWAY good if you're still following induction:

Candied Pecans

2 cups halved pecans
4 tbsp butter, cut up
1 1/2 to 2 cups of Splenda
a couple of pinches of cinnamon

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then toss the nuts to coat them. Then pour in Splenda and stir until blended. It will melt, then toss in the cinnamon. Remove to a plate to cool. Mine had a sorta caramel, gooey coating when it was cooled. YUM! My kids ate them and I have to admit that I tried a few, too.

On a weigh-in note... I am down 6 pounds today!!! Of course, that is the weight I gained while I wasn't vigilant over the holidays, but at least it's encouraging. It's the cutting out the soda, I'm telling you, the evil soda... even though it's diet. It has been the ball tied around my ankle for so long. My husband is giving it up, too.. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see him drinking water all day. Yes, life is good and God is awesome!! :-)