nice weather & fast food

Good afternoon! What a beautiful spring day! It’s so nice – warm & sunny – and no rain forcasted for a good while. I can’t wait to spend some time this evening sitting outside! Hope you had a great weekend and a good Monday, too!
Since the weather is getting warmer and most of us tend to be pretty busy as the weather warms, I wanted to share with you some things I do for a quick meal. Like yesterday… as I was leaving church, my husband asked me to stop & pick up bacon & eggs for lunch. (We drive separately because he plays music for most of our services & by the time he comes home from the third service, I have normally lunch ready.) We planned on working in the yard all afternoon so I decided it would be nice just to stop on my way home and pick up a quick lunch. Normally when I do this on Sunday, I stop at a restaurant that mainly serves a buffet. I normally fill 3 to-go containers with a variety of low carb items like eggs, bacon, sausage links, sausage patties, cheese and omelets. I usually throw in a few strawberries and some melon, too.
I guess everyone had the same idea yesterday because they didn’t have much of a selection left of breakfast type items. Maybe it’s because they’re running a special – if you bring in your Sunday church bulletin, they’ll give you 10% off of your meal plus they keep a count of all of the church bulletins. Whichever church has the most bulletins at the end of the month – they’ll send the pastor/minister/priest 2 free meal tickets. Anyway, due to the limited selection, I ended up with chopped steak patties, steak, fish on a bed of spinach, smoked sausage, Mongolian beef & broccoli, baked chicken & a few other items including strawberries.
The nice thing I have found about doing this is that we have enough food for 2 meals for the 4 of us in our family. In fact, I don’t think all of the food was eaten yesterday. Another nice thing about getting food to-go from a buffet is that I think it is easier to make sure you stick to your low carb items. Yes, you may choose a few items that might have a few more carbs than usual, like the Mongolian beef & broccoli that I picked up yesterday, but you are not tempted by rolls brought to your table or by dessert, when you’re watching other people pile desserts on a plate. We also tend to eat a whole lot less if we simply bring the food home.
Here are a couple of additional ideas for food to-go – our local Cracker Barrel has a lot of different low carb meals, including at least 4 different low carb breakfast meals. You can check out their menu on-line, call & place your order and it will be ready when you get there. We also have a nice little diner that makes a great western style omelet – loaded with several meats, a little bit of onion & green pepper and stuffed with cheese. Another idea – most places that serve chicken have a roasted or baked chicken. They usually have a chicken meal with 2 sides & a roll. We ask for a double serving of green beans and hold the rolls. Last but not least – have a favorite fast food burger restaurant? How about ordering a couple of breakfast sandwiches and removing the biscuit? Or ordering your favorite burger and removing the bun or replacing the bun with low carb bread?
There are so many low carb items available - you just have to think about your options. After awhile this all becomes a habit. Sometimes people will tell me it is so hard to eat low carb but I totally disagree with that. It just requires a little thought. And I can eat at most restaurants and be able to easily find something low carb to eat on their menu.
I hope I’ve given you some “food for thought”. Have a good afternoon & evening! Take care!

yard work & quick recipes using leftovers

Good Sunday morning! What a beautiful day - sunny with a high of 76 degrees. We did a lot of yard work in our front yard yesterday & today we'll be working in our back yard - it's great to be outside when the weather is so nice. Although I worked so hard yesterday that I can hardly move today, but that's okay too. It feels good to have a nice workout.
Yesterday, I whipped up something really good for my husband for lunch, in my low carb kitchen. As I have said before, I like cooking a little extra so that there are leftovers to use later in the week. Using my leftovers from the very tender steaks recipe that I made earlier in the week, I made bleu cheese steak wraps. The wraps are assembled quickly using all premade ingredients. I'll soon be adding a category on the web page for wraps, since I have so many recipes to share.
And for supper, we had leftovers again. We had baked country style boneless [pork] ribs - I sliced the ribs into thin pieces and served them cold with Chinese hot chili sauce. This sauce contains only 1 net carb per teaspoon. I can't imagine that you would want to use more than 1 teaspoon per serving because this stuff is really hot. But the flavor is delicious. Be sure to serve the sauce on the side, if you try it! We also had freshly shredded cabbage topped with sweet mayo dressing. This was the perfect easy supper to enjoy after working so hard in the yard all day.
Well it's time for me to get busy ~ laundry, church, lunch & then yard work. I hope you have a great day!! I'll see you tomorrow. Take care!

country style ribs, barbeque sauce & hot dogs

Good afternoon! If you live in my area - hasn't today been a gorgeous spring day? If you don't live in my area - I hope you've had nice weather, too! Isn't it strange - during the fall & winter it seems we tend to anticipate and look forward to cooler weather & sometimes even snow. But as soon as spring turns the corner, we tend to get so excited about sunny, warmer days... well at least that's how I am.
Speaking of warmer days, I'm going to have to get a new grill & I'm really looking forward to it! But you don't have to have a grill to cook up something that you might traditionally grill. Last night I made baked country style boneless [pork] ribs. These ribs are cooked in the oven and although I cooked them for almost 2 hours, it only took about 10 minutes to prep, preheat the oven and begin cooking. You could also grill the ribs.
I've been doing some research on making a low carb barbeque sauce and after reading so many different types of recipes and suggestions - I decided to try a sauce based on what my mother used to make. She used ketchup, mustard & worchestershire sauce. I decided to use liquid smoke in place of the worchestershire sauce because it has, in my opinion, too many carbs - 1 per teaspoon. Whereas liquid smoke has 0 per teaspoon. I also added some additional spices - here's the link to the mild barbeque sauce, if you'd like to give it a try.
Speaking of grilling, I think for supper this evening were gonna have something else you might like to grill but you can also cook them quickly on the stove. Cheese hot dogs, need I say more? The brand I buy contains less than 1 net carb per dog - not too bad. You can also fry them in a skillet with a bit of olive oil or butter - slice them first, straight down the middle - then fry on the cut side first. We like to put our hot dogs on a plate and top with lots of low carb toppings, including reduced sugar ketchup, mustard, mayonaisse, onion, cheese and whatever else you might be in the mood for.
Last but not least - if you're having a late night craving for something crunchy and salty - how about trying one of my son, Bradley's, favorite low carb snacks? Pork rinds dipped in low carb peanut butter. I've been buying natural peanut butter that contains only 4 net carbs per tablespoon. Usually the natural peanut butter is a little runny - so it's perfect for dipping. Here's a couple of the brands I purchase.

It's funny, when Bradley has friends over he'll get some out to snack on. Then he'll ask if they want some & "make" them try it. So far, they've all really liked his snack.
Well I hope you have a wonderful evening. It's time for me to head to my low carb kitchen & then have a little family time. See you tomorrow. Take care!!

fried pickles, shrimp salad & wraps

Good afternoon! How are you doing today? I hope well! I’m ready for some more warm spring weather. We had storms last night and today it’s been pretty cloudy this morning. The sun has been peaking out a bit this afternoon but the wind is pretty brisk – it’s much cooler. Tomorrow we’re in for a very sunny, much warmer day. Yeah! And our weekend forecast is even better – it looks like we’ll be working in the yard!
I can’t wait to tell you about what I whipped up in my low carb kitchen last night. My first recipe is fried dill pickles. Many of our local restaurants serve this yummy appetizer. Anytime we have any kind of outdoor activities with food booths, at least a couple of booths feature fried dill pickles. I decided a few weeks ago to come up with my own low carb version. I frequently use grated parmesan cheese in place of breading for frying fish & chicken. So, I decided I should be able to use parmesan cheese as a breading. It worked out just great! I’m going to start trying it with other fried appetizers and vegetables, too. I’ll add the recipes as soon as I try them out. One tip – be sure to use the kind of grated parmesan that comes in a jar – I don’t think freshly grated parmesan would work or would work as well.
My next recipe is dilled shrimp salad. I love seafood salad but most of the time, imitation crab meat is used and most of it, that I have seen, is fairly high in net carbs. So I decided to substitute the imitation crab meat with shrimp. For an extra fresh kick of flavor – I added dried dill weed. I think the result is better than regular seafood salad.
You can serve this salad by itself, on a bed of lettuce, or on a low carb sandwich. How did I serve it? I made dilled shrimp salad wraps. I highly recommend giving them a try. I frequently use low carb tortillas for wraps – I like them a lot better than some of the low carb wrap products that are in our local grocery store. Some of the wraps tend to be pretty grainy or have a slightly weird taste. So I buy low carb tortillas that have almost the exact same texture as flour tortillas.
What will I whip up next? Who knows? Not even me! It depends on what we’re in the mood for tonight but I guarantee it will be something delicious! I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen tonight! I hope you have a good evening! Take care!

celebrating our anniversary with family & the letter S

Good afternoon, hope you’re doing well & having a great day. If you read my blog yesterday, you might remember that my husband and I were celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary. He had asked if I wanted to go out for dinner. After thinking about it, I decided I really just wanted to cook and celebrate at home with my husband and kids. After being gone for spring break & not seeing my son, Bradley, for over 2 weeks, I just couldn’t wait to get back in the kitchen! I have all kinds of new recipes that I can’t wait to try!
So, since we were eating at home, I wanted to make sure I came up with a very nice, restaurant quality meal. Here’s what I decided on whipping up in my low carb kitchen - a simple fresh spinach salad, shrimp with cocktail sauce, tender broiled steak and, for dessert – fresh strawberries with a whipped cream sauce. The meal was delicious !
One of my husband’s favorite things to eat is steak, so that’s why I decided on as a main course. Although, I must admit I didn’t think I had ever made a very tender steak – so I did a little research on how to cook a tender steak. I found the funniest web site that had an acticle called something like “cooking a hunk-of-cheap meat into a great steak” or something similar! It even had pictures. I won’t go into all of the details, but the idea was to completely cover the steak with salt and let it sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour prior to cooking. You then wash the steak well & pat dry before cooking. I had my doubts, but I gave it a try…
While the steak was ‘marinating in salt’, I prepared our salad ingredients, shrimp & strawberry dessert. I wanted to make a large salad but since my family is little picky in regards to toppings & dressings – we just each made our own salad. Ingredients included fresh spinach leaves, olives, feta cheese, montery jack cheese, mushrooms and ranch or chunky bleu cheese dressing. I bought one of those nifty little frozen shrimp ring packages from the grocery store – so all I had to do was slightly thaw the shrimp, throw away the cocktail sauce and make my shrimp cocktail sauce recipe since the packaged stuff is loaded with carbs!
While the shrimp thawed, I worked on my dessert – first I placed a cup of heavy whipping cream in the freezer to get it really cold. Next, I washed and sliced my strawberries into halves. After cleaning the strawberries, I prepared my whipping cream sauce in a small mixing bowl . My whipping cream didn’t develop “heavy peaks” but that was okay with me, I just wanted a cream sauce. If you want to try the recipe and you’d like the “heavy peak” consistency, I would suggest trying to add a little cream of tartar. That should help somewhat.
Our meal turned out really nice. The steaks were absolutely the best I have ever made and they were very, very tender. Since the salads were made to our individual preferences – they were great, too. The cocktail sauce was just right – my daughter even liked it! And the strawberry dessert was very good – although we were so full from our meal we waited until later in the evening to enjoy it. Best of all, it was great just being able to spend some time together with our family!
Speaking of spending time with family – I was just about heart broken last night when I signed my daughter’s housing application for college, next year. I admit I shed a few tears and my daughter asked why I was upset – I told her it was because I was signing papers for her to live somewhere other than with me and that really made me sad! Well, I can’t wait to spend another evening with my family tonight! I have a couple of new recipes to try out on them. I hope you have a great evening, too! See you tomorrow!
PS - funny thing, after typing my blog, I realized all of our meal last evening consisted of foods that started with the letter S!

spring days, fresh spinach & spicy deviled eggs

Good day! I hope you’ve had a great day so far! I think we have had the most perfect spring weather today – it’s very sunny, fairly warm for this time of year and the wind is pretty strong. Actually, our area is under a high wind advisory and a fire advisory for the day. Even with the advisories, it is absolutely wonderful outside today. Just don’t try to burn anything outdoors, if you are in our area! And you should be prepared for strong spring storms tomorrow. I hope it’s nice in your area today, too!
In my low carb kitchen, we’ve been whipping up a few new recipes. One of my new favorites is a recipe my husband developed cooked fresh spinach. It’s made with spinach, bacon, onion & garlic. I really think my husband could live on bacon alone. He also loves to cook with it, too. We’ve been using fresh spinach for most of our salads lately. One of the reasons I’ve been using it so much is because a 9 oz bag contains only 4 net carbs. Another reason – spinach is really, really good for you. And fresh spinach really doesn’t taste anything like the canned spinach my mother used to make – yuck! Sorry, Mom!! Spinach is also very versatile – in addition to salads, you can use it on a low carb sandwich, in low carb wraps or you could try this delectable recipe for creamed spinach, which I had previously blogged about. Still, it deserves mentioning again because it is absolutely wonderful!
So, do you still have leftover boiled eggs from Easter? Or are you looking for a spicy recipe for deviled eggs? Either way, I hope you’ll give this recipe for spicy deviled eggs a try – it’s made with my new horsey sauce recipe. You can make this recipe ahead of time for your spring & summer get togethers – barbecues, picnics, etc. As I said yesterday, I just love horseradish, although I used to not be a big fan of it. Isn’t it funny how your taste buds change? Anyway, I’ve been thinking of all kinds of different ways to spice things up! Stay tuned for some more spicy recipes to be posted later!
I hope you have a nice evening. I’m posting a little earlier than usual today because tonight I will be celebrating my 31st wedding anniversary with my husband. Happy anniversary, honey!

starfish, sand dollars & spring break

Good afternoon! Sorry for the long break from blogging. We just returned from our little spring break vacation on Saturday. Although I had the best intentions of blogging and adding recipes while on vacation, I just couldn’t tear myself away from all the pool time and beach time! Speaking of beach time, I was so excited to find a starfish & an almost-whole sand dollar. We had absolutely beautiful weather, although the ocean temperature was only estimated at about 69 degrees. But we braved the chilly water the last day we were there – we lasted for about 2 minutes!
Last night, our sons’ band returned from their tour and we were so glad to have everyone back at home again. I’m so proud of them. This was what they are considering to be their first successful tour – they were able to eat well, enjoy themselves and return with money in their pockets. Yeah!!
Well, on my little break from my low carb kitchen, I must admit I didn’t do any cooking all the while I was gone! Not cooking was pretty strange, considering how much I tend to cook now days. My breakfast consisted of a protein shake every morning because I had to get down to the pool quickly in order to reserve our poolside table & chairs. If you are ever in a hurry and need a quick breakfast or snack, I highly recommend protein shakes. You can find protein shake mixes or protein shakes at many grocery stores, including your local Walmart. Also, just a reminder, don’t forget to check the net carb count – some may be loaded with lots of carbs. I have a shaker type of container that I use in order to mix a shake thoroughly. I like to use a vanilla shake mix with coffee and ice – then shake (or stir well). You can also whip up all kinds of different varieties like chocolate cream shake, orange dream shake, & root beer shake.
While we were on vacation, our lunch usually consisted of a couple of slices of deli meat, some cheese, and sometimes a small piece of fruit. I like to roll slices of deli meat by themselves or roll a slice of deli meat around a slice of cheese. If you like horseradish, you might want to try serving slices of deli meat & cheese with my new horsey sauce recipe. You can also serve the horsey sauce on burgers, with steak, pork loin or anything else you’d like to add a little kick to. How about a spicey egg salad made with the horsey sauce? Actually, I could eat this sauce on just about anything!
Well, I hope you’ve had a good day and continue to have a good evening. I’m glad to be back sharing my recipes and little stories with you! See you tomorrow! Take care!