quick meals, shrimp & no asparagus...

Good afternoon! I hope you’re having a great day! My day is going pretty well, except for the weather : ( Don’t get me wrong, it could be a lot worse and we probably do need the rain. I’m just tired of it being so cloudy & gloomy. But, like I said, we probably need rain because, although it’s been very cloudy & gloomy for the last 10 days or maybe even longer, we haven’t had much rain. In fact, we’ve had to water our newly planted bushes, lavender, tomato & green pepper plants every evening. So it will be nice not to have to water them this evening.
I’ve been on a roll trying to come up with new quick and easy recipes. Usually when it’s warmer outside I tend to spend less time in the kitchen – so I’ve been trying all kinds of new recipes. My latest recipe is for what I call skillet shrimp. It’s a really quick & easy recipe using precooked & cleaned frozen shrimp, butter, seafood seasoning & garlic powder. Just be sure to thaw your shrimp first, if using frozen shrimp.
I like to keep frozen, cleaned, precooked shrimp on hand. First of all, the shrimp has no net carbs – yeah! Second, it’s so versatile – sometimes I just get a serving out of the freezer, thaw it in cold water for a bit and eat it plain, with a tiny bit of lemon juice, with "special" seafood sauce, with horsey sauce, or with shrimp cocktail sauce. I also like to add shrimp to salads or mix up a recipe of dilled shrimp salad. Delicious!!
Oh, I almost forgot – I was going to post a recipe for steamed asparagus, assuming the recipe turned out well. By the time I fixed supper last night, I completely forgot about the asparagus! So I will shoot for making it tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks & have a great afternoon & evening. See you tomorrow! Take care!

rain, rain, go away & super easy pepper steak

Good afternoon! Another very cloudy, dreary day here… I am so ready for some sunshine! Even if it’s just a couple of hours in the evening. When I woke up this morning I actually thought I had overslept because my living room was so sunny. But, by the time I left for work – it was cloudy, dreary and looked like rain was in store for the day. I just need some sun!! The forecast calls for clouds today, rain this evening, rain tomorrow, thunderstorms Friday and SUN on Saturday. I can hardly wait! Of course it’s supposed to get really warm, too.
So what’s been cookin’ in my low carb kitchen? Well, Monday night I decided to try something a little different. I came up with this super easy pepper steak recipe. I purchased very thinly sliced round steak at my grocery store, so this cut down on some of my prep work for this recipe. I used a little onion, a medium green pepper & celery. It turned out really good. My husband was so excited he said this was the best thing he’s eaten for a long time! He ate 2 helpings and finished my serving, too. Last night he was hoping there were leftovers for supper. He looked so sad when I told him that he had eaten it all the night before. Too funny!
I think tonight I’m going to try steaming asparagus. I didn’t used to care for asparagus at all but recently tried some freshly steamed and it was really, really good. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Well, it’s time for me to go. I’ll catch back up with you tomorrow. Have a good afternoon & evening! Take care!

recycling, cheesy chicken cauliflower casserole & a walking advertisement

Good afternoon! Hope you had a nice weekend! We did, despite the rainy weather. I think it has rained for about 2 weeks although we did have a little bit of sunshine on Saturday afternoon. During the drizzly morning rain on Saturday, my husband, a friend and I made a nice bench for our deck using recycled materials from our old pergola – it turned out really well. It looks like a nice spa bench and the cost was $0. I was then inspired to recycle some other materials to make flower pots. After all of the work we did on Saturday, by the evening we were beat! We ended up watching movies with my daughter, Lori.
The weekend first started out with a new recipe on Friday night. When Lori came home from school she said she wanted some type of a casserole for supper and would I make it if she went to the store to get any necessary ingredients. We discussed what we thought would be good – she wanted a hash brown type of a casserole but made with cauliflower or turnips. She decided turnips would be good but they didn’t have any at the store. So she brought home cauliflower instead, along with chicken, cheese, bacon bits & a few other ingredients. The recipe for cheesy chicken cauliflower casserole turned out really well! My son, Bradley, had said he wasn’t going to eat but quickly changed his mind when he saw the casserole. His reaction to his first bite was “Holy crap! That’s good! I’m eating!” My husband and daughter really enjoyed it, too. I think it turned out a lot better than what Lori had expected. She ended up eating leftovers for breakfast on Saturday morning and I think she also had some for lunch on Saturday.
On Sunday, I talked my husband into going to the grocery store with me. The first person my husband ran into was someone that used to work for him, years ago. Long story short, he started talking about how he’s been trying to lose weight and nothing seems to work, that he’s healthier than a horse but he keeps gaining weight even though he is eating lots of fruit & veggies. So my husband told him about his blog and our website. He said he’d check it out. It’s like my husband is a walking advertisement, especially after losing 65 pounds! When people have sent him for a while their first reaction is “wow, you are so skinny!”
Next we ran into a man we go to church with. He couldn’t wait to share a recipe with my husband – ground beef mixed with dry ranch dressing seasoning to make ranch burgers. No additional seasoning or condiments are needy with these tasty burgers. I can’t wait to try them. Then my husband shared “his” spicy pork loin recipe – it’s his recipe now since he made it for Mother’s Day : )
Last but not least, we ran into our neighbor in the check out line. He started talking to my husband out low carb and how he has a coworker that needed to lose weight - so he suggested she try low carb like one of his neighbors had. He said 2 days later our newspaper article came out and he shared it with his coworker. Now he also tells other people about low carb and our website.
It’s just great being able to help other people! Well, it’s time for me to go. I’ll be back with you tomorrow to share a recipe for something my husband said was the best thing he’s eaten in months. Have a good day & take care!

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!