lunch boxes, very low carb [vlc] & pork patties

Good Friday afternoon! I am so glad it’s Friday & I’m really looking forward to having a weekend to get lots of yard work done. The forecast for this week has predicted rain & storms each day but so far I think we have only had a few sprinkles. I’m really hoping the rain stays away for the weekend!
I’m trying to go very low carb for a while - especially to make up for my weekend of splurges last week. During my work week, I bring my breakfast, lunch & a snack to work with me. I’m fortunate in that I have a kitchenette in my office, with a full size refrigerator. I carry a nice little lunch “box” that is big enough to hold about a 6 pack of canned drinks. It has several zippered pouches & the top even has a way to convert to a larger lunch box if needed. If I am going to be out of the office, I have freezer packs that I can throw in to keep my food cold. If you are low carbing, I suggest trying to take your lunch and investing in a decent lunch box.
So what’s in my lunch box? This week, since I have gone back to very low carb or VLC, I’ve had scrambled eggs cooked with sharp white Vermont cheddar cheese or boiled eggs, slices of cheese and shrimp. I buy a $5 package of cooked shrimp with the tails on, that is frozen. I usually have 2 servings per bag – which turns out to be a pretty good size serving. I simply thaw the shrimp in a bowl of water while I make my morning coffee. When it’s partially thawed, I put it in a plastic bag. The shrimp makes a nice, easy 0 net carb lunch. You can add homemade shrimp cocktail sauce – it has a few carbs but a lot less than the prepackaged stuff. For a snack, I’ve been having pork rinds or pork rinds with melted cheese on top. What’s not in my lunch box – peanut butter. I’ve been eating a LOT of low carb peanut butter and when I started adding up the carbs, I decided to eliminate it from my daily routine for a while. If you’re packing your lunch to work with you, what’s in your lunch box?
Last night for supper, my husband took a turn cooking in our low carb kitchen. He cooked pork patties – another great buy from our local supper store. A box of 8 patties for less than $6 – you can beat that. As a side, my husband had turnip greens – definitely not my favorite or anyone else in our house for that matter! Just ask my son Bradley – he definitely does not like turnip greens but he did give them a try. My daughter had her pork patties in a low carb tortilla and she had a side salad. I just stuck with cheese & pork patties, with a little mayo. A very nice meal indeed…
So what’s cooking my kitchen this weekend – I’m not too sure. Although I know that we have enough leftovers for tonite, so we’ll have a quick and easy meal. Well, it’s time for me to go. I hope you have a great weekend! Take care!

my low carb coworkers & fried chicken strip salads

Good afternoon! Hope you’re having a great day so far. I’m glad it’s Thursday because I’m really looking forward to this weekend. We’ve had so much going on lately that I plan on getting lots of stuff done in yard. Hopefully the rain will hold off… the weatherman has been calling for rain with a possibility of very strong storms but so far I think we have only had a few sprinkles, lots of wind and way too much humidity!
So things are getting interesting at work with so many folks starting a low carb eating plan. One of the girls I work with has lost over 15 lbs. Another said she has lost over 2 inches on her waist and that her weight is just falling off & her 16 year old is dropping the weight off too, along with watching her carbs very closely. We discussed recipes, where to find low carb products, etc. I love being able to share info with them! After our discussion, I had a great low carb lunch – shrimp with shrimp cocktail sauce. Yummy!
And speaking of yummy, we had a great supper last night – not much cooking was going on in my low carb kitchen, thanks to my leftovers from the night before : ) We had salads made with prepackaged lettuce mix, cheese and leftover fried chicken strips, cut into bite size pieces and served cold. Of course we all like our salads a little different – I had Caesar dressing, my daughter had a combination of Caesar & Ranch dressing & my husband topped his salad with olive slices and bleu cheese dressing. Supper was ready within 10 minutes, thanks to my leftovers!
So what’s cooking in my kitchen tonight – I’m not quite sure. Maybe breakfast, maybe burgers… we’ll see. Time for me to go, have a great afternoon & evening. See you tomorrow! Take care!

employee appreciation, freebies & chicken strips

Good afternoon! Hope you’re having a good day! We had a free lunch at work today – yeah! This week is “Employee Appreciation Week” and our hospital has something special planned for each day this week. Monday was free pancake day – yuck! Tuesday was free chips & soda day - so I had a free diet soda. Today we hit the jackpot – free outdoor grill. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, baked beans, sodas and lots of condiments. Several of my coworkers have recently started following a low carb plan. As I was standing in line they came by with their plates – filled with hamburgers, cheese & pickles – I cheered them on for their great low carb choices & no buns or bread or carbs! I’ve also been pleasantly surprised this week as several of my coworkers have asked for our website address. I wish them all the best of luck!
I spent about an hour in my low carb kitchen cooking last night. I made fried chicken strips. I started with frozen chicken strips, which I thawed about ½ way in a bowl of water, changing the water twice. Because the chicken was already cut into strips, this saved a lot of prep work & it didn’t take too long for the strips to thaw. I used 2 skillets for frying – this helped reduce my cooking time too – I cooked twice as many strips at one time. I think I cooked 3 to 4 pounds of chicken. Each of us had 3 to 4 strips, along with ranch dressing for dipping. Yummy!
After checking this morning to make sure I still had leftovers, I placed on note on the kitchen table asking my family to stay out of the chicken because we are having the leftovers for supper tonight. I purposefully, cooked twice as many as we could eat so that I would have leftovers for tonight. I am really hoping they stay out of them today. We’ll see!
By the way, I’ve shared this chicken recipe with many of my friends and coworkers & they all love the recipe. I hope you give it a try!
Well, I’ve gotta go now. Hope you have a great afternoon & evening! See you tomorrow. Take care!

graduations, Mother's Day & the guys take a turn cooking...

Good afternoon!! Sorry I’ve haven’t blogged since last week… But, I’m back! We had a really busy week last week – working on our deck and in our yard. My daughter is graduating from high school in a few weeks, so we’ve been busy with prom, college stuff and graduation stuff. Not to mention the other graduations in our family & get togethers to celebrate graduations, Mother’s Day & birthdays.
So what’s been happening in my low carb kitchen lately? Well, this year for Mother’s Day, my sister-in-law, Missy, decided it would be nice for the guys to take control of the menu planning. Thank you, Missy!! My husband put 2 hot & spicy pork loins in the slow cooker on Saturday evening so that they would be ready for early Sunday afternoon. My brother-in-law, Craig, grilled burgers & hot dogs. My brother-in-law, Brad, made a pasta salad with just a little pasta & lots of veggies & olives. And my brother-in-law, Mark, made a broccoli cauliflower salad & he also made a green bean casserole, that he forgot to cook! I was surprised when he sent me a text message asking for the salad dressing recipe! The meal turned out really good. In fact, it was so good that we told the guys they could cook again for Father’s Day. The only thing is, we don’t get together with this side of the family for Father’s Day. Too bad!!
Yesterday, things were finally getting back to normal and I was glad to be back in my low carb kitchen. For dinner, I fixed sweet Italian turkey sausages – although these sausages (similar to brats) are labeled “sweet”, they only have 1 net carb per sausage. I sauted a few onions, some green pepper & mushrooms to use as a topping for the sausages. We also used horsey sauce, mustard and grated cheese for toppings. As a side I fixed green beans. The kids & my husband couldn’t wait to eat! Seriously, I had to tell them that we were waiting to eat until everyone was ready. Don’t you just love it when you cook a meal and everyone gets really excited about eating? I know I sure do!!
Well, it’s time for me to go. I’ll catch back up with you tomorrow. Have a great afternoon & evening! Take care!

another beautiful day, bike rider & a quick meal made with leftovers

Good afternoon & what a lovely afternoon it is here in the Ohio River Valley!! The sun is shining, there’s a nice breeze and the humidity has dropped a bit. A perfect day to spend some time outdoors, go for a walk, or a bike ride. For the last couple of evenings, we’ve been enjoying the nice weather in the evening while sitting on the front porch. We’ve also been watching the cutest little boy – he’s probably 4 or 5 – as he rides his bike up and down the sidewalk across the street for hours at a time. He’s always by himself, but that doesn’t seem to bother him. He rides fast, jumps off his bike, does little tricks, makes motor noises with his mouth, etc. Two evenings ago, our neighbor gave him a handful of candy. So he’d ride, then stop for candy, then ride, then stop candy… He reminds me of my oldest son, Matt. He was just like that!
On to my low carb kitchen. Last night, using my leftover tangy slow cooker pork roast, I made 2 different meals for me, my husband & my daughter. First of all, my daughter wanted her pork roast in a wrap. I topped a low carb tortilla with shredded pork roast, shredded cheese & ranch dressing. She also had ½ of an apple, cut into slices, with the seeds removed. My husband and I had shredded pork roast topped with pickled banana peppers & salad dressing – he had bleu cheese, I had ranch. We also had creamy coleslaw and slices of cheddar cheese. A nice cool supper, with no cooking & everyone really enjoyed their meal. I also had a little snack of pork rinds with peanut butter – this may not sound very appetizing but it is a really good snack.
I’m not sure what I’m fixing tonight, but I’m sure I’ll be fixing enough food for 2 meals so that I will be able to fix a meal really quickly tomorrow night. Have a good afternoon & evening. See you tomorrow. Take care!!

sunny skies, beautiful weather & slow cookers

Good afternoon! It’s a beautiful day here – sunny and pretty warm, too. Hopefully it will be sunny this weekend. We’re hoping to go watch a friend’s band play at a local barbecue festival on Saturday & I’m pretty sure they’re playing outside. It’s going to be another busy weekend – my niece is graduating from nursing school on Friday – I’m so proud of her! And Sunday is Mother’s Day [don’t forget!] – we normally have a family get together, which usually includes a cookout. But no one has made any plans, yet.
Speaking of plans, I planned ahead this week – my plan is to cook enough on 1 night for 2 meals. That way I will be cooking every other night – we’ll see how that goes:) Yesterday I made a tangy slow cooker pork roast. I love using my slow cooker! Since I was planning on putting the roast on prior to leaving for work and since I’m usually in a hurry in the morning, I decided to do my prep work the night before. I sliced my onion & put it in a plastic bag. Then I made the sauce & put both the sauce & the onions in the refrigerator. I also got my slow cooker out of the pantry and put it on the kitchen counter. Combining the ingredients into the slow cooker took me just a few minutes.
When we were just about ready to eat, I cooked some green beans – I like to drain the water from canned green beans, rinse them well, then cook with real butter and pepper. Yummy and very low carb. My husband added additional hot sauce to his pork roast. I added a mixture of sour cream & guacamole – 1 tablespoon of each – to my pork roast. My daughter fixed a low carb tortilla stuffed with pork roast & cheddar cheese.
Tonight we will be having something made with the leftover pork roast, but I’m not sure what. I’ll let you know tomorrow! In the meantime, have a good day & a good evening. Take care!

prom, pork chops & a quick meal idea

Good afternoon! What a beautiful afternoon it is! We had rain all weekend, including Friday. I think we had about 4 inches, but we are lucky compared to our neighbors in Tennessee – some areas had 12 inches of rain. Wow! That’s a lot of rain. I’m just glad to see the sun shining again and things drying up a bit. In spite of the rain, my daughter, Lori was able to have a great time at her senior prom on Saturday. I haven’t blogged in the last couple of days because I’ve been so busy trying to help her get ready. We spent several hours at the beauty salon on Saturday morning. Then had to find a nail salon that could airbrush her nail tips because she said they looked dirty. And speaking of nails – she said she took all of them off this morning because they were bugging her. But that’s okay – she had a great time before, during and after prom – so that’s what counts! After what we went through for prom, I can only imagine what it will be like when she gets married…
I have been doing some cooking in my low carb kitchen, so I do have a couple of recipes to share. The first recipe is for pork & chicken soy & Dale's seasoning marinade. The second recipe is for marinated baked pork chops, which uses the marinade/sauce recipe listed above. My husband said that these were the best pork chops he ever put in his mouth! The marinade includes only 4 ingredients – it’s really more of a sauce because you can just use it prior to baking – no need to marinade ahead of time. Anyway, I suggest giving it a try – its really good!
Need a quick low carb meal in a hurry? Yesterday instead of having a big breakfast at lunchtime, my husband and I opted for a quick low carb meal. We split an apple (about 5 net carbs per 1/2) and had assorted cheeses & lunch meat. Just be sure to check the net carbs on the lunch meat. For supper last night we had breakfast – thick sliced peppered bacon & eggs. Delicious.
Well, it’s time for me to go. Hope you have a great day and a great evening. See you tomorrow! Take care!