Living lowcarb (days 14,15,16, & 17!)

Oh my! I have not blogged in a while. Oooops! It's so much harder to keep track of things when I am away from home. 

We got home last night around 2:30am. When I got up this morning I climbed on the ol' dreaded scales. I was so worried about the damage done while we were away. Thankfully I had only gained 2lbs. I hate that I gained any, but I'm thankful it was only 2, and not 5. 

Rather than posting about all the things I've eaten today, I'm going to post my new grilled salmon recipe. I hope y'all will try it. It's truly delicious! 

What you need:

Salmon filets 

Fresh spinach

Lemon (sliced)

Lemon pepper

Paprika

Basil flakes

Reynolds wrap

Thaw your selected amount of salmon fillets (if frozen.)

Heat your grill to high or medium high. 

Tear off one square foot of Reynolds wrap for each piece of fish. 

Add one handful of fresh spinach to the middle of your Reynolds wrap square.

 

Lay your thawed piece of salmon on top of the spinach mound. Sprinkle lemon pepper, paprika, and basil flakes on the fish to suit your own taste. 

Add two slices of lemon 

Bring the Reynolds wrap sides up to form a boat and roll together. 

Place foil packs on the grill. 

Grill for 15 min or until salmon flakes when touched with a fork. 

Pair with your choice of sides and enjoy! 

I think if you will try it, you will enjoy it as much as we did! 

I also have a fresh pitcher of cold brew seeping in the fridge tonight, and a fresh pitcher of orange infused water. I think tomorrow will be a great day!  :) 

Lacey

Living lowcarb (day 3!)

I got a wild idea last night to up my leg presses to 200lbs and now I am greatly regretting it! My back has ached all day. I felt the pressure in my back while I was performing the presses, but I brushed it off as nothing to cause me worry. I am now wishing I had listened to the pressure and worried. I have taken it easy all day today and didn't even work out this evening. Hopefully it will be back to normal tomorrow. :) 

To get started on my day I decided to try a new recipe for an egg frittata. Egg frittata sounds so fancy, but actually it's just oven scrambled eggs. Ha! That just reminded me that you can also hard boil eggs in an oven. Wait, **making mental note to try** ok, so I added pretty much the same ingredients that I use for cheesy egg scramble, whisked it up, and poured the egg mixture into my muffin pan. They turned out quiet cute. I was feeling very fancy eating my egg frittatas in bed. ;) Who says you can't fix yourself breakfast in bed sometimes? I'm a firm believer in spoiling myself. 

Throughout the day I snacked on some almonds and a few porkrinds. I don't love porkrinds, but they will do for a quick snack.  

I had fixed Miles, (a man we pick up for church,) a plate of food last night, but he wasn't home to receive it. For my lunch today I had Miles' supper. That sounds terrible, I know! Bless his heart. I did enjoy it immensely. 

Supper consisted of sautéed cheesy spinach, and beef tips and onions. Chris has proclaimed that since I stay home all the time I am becoming quiet the chef. I'm fairly certain it has more to do with me actually cooking than just being home all the time, but I'm just glad he thinks so. ;) Chris has really surprised me with how he has tried, liked, and even loved some of the concoctions I have created. Tonight's supper was no exception. It was very tasty and he cleaned up all the leftovers for me. 

The beef tips and onions were pan fried in coconut oil and hand squeezed orange juice. The meat was so tender and juicy. As every drop of that tropical flavored deliciousness landed on my tongue, I could easily imagine myself on a sunny beach with my feet in the sand. The wind lightly lifting my skirt with its breeze. An iced sweet tea in one hand and a mystery novel in the other. My eyes wandering from the words on the page to catch a glimpse of my hubby carrying our small toddler on his hip as they splashed through ankle deep water. Ahhhhhh yes...food can seriously take you anywhere! ;) 

I'm also currently dreaming of chocolate cupcake Oreos thanks to the picture the hubby just sent me. I MUST go eat a grapefruit. I MUST get back to my tropical paradise before the flesh weakens. Here I come warm sandy beach! Oh look! There's Mamaw! Wait for meeeeeeeeeeeee...

Hope y'all enjoyed! 

Till tomorrow,

Lacey

Living low carb (day 2!)

I woke up today feeling much better than I did previously. My headache is all but gone and I feel more energized! Even without my cold brew. Did I say cold brew? Yes I did. Cold brew! Oh my! That will have to be a whole post of its own. Coming soon, by the way. ;) 

When considering breakfast choices, one of the first thoughts that come to mind is eggs. Eggs are an all time breakfast staple. You can even ask my eight year old niece, Kari. She absolutely loves a good "eggie" before starting her adventurous day. :) Eggs are especially favorable when you are living a lowcarb lifestyle. They contain roughly about 6 grams of protein and > 1 carb gram. 

I paired this mornings cheesy egg scrabble with sautéed spinach. These ingredients pair so well together. They offer earthy flavors that satisfy long after the plate had been licked clean. 

For lunch I had a spinach salad with a leftover meat patty from last nights supper. I am including a picture of my full plate so that people (my mother) can see the potion ratio. Mom, if I do get high cholesterol and high BP it will not be because I am only eating meat. ;) I am loading my body up on good greens as well! 

As you can see over half of my plate is loaded with good fresh green spinach. I don't use dressing, but if you have to use dressing, please do so in moderation. Otherwise you are loading up on empty carbs and calories. 

If y'all are anything like me you're a snackster. I'm not a huge chip fan, but I do love a little salty snack sometimes. I found that lightly salted almonds are the perfect way to curb that salty craving. 

Just one small handful goes a long way in curing that potato chip desire. :) It's not just the Lays brand that can proclaim, "Bet you can't eat just one!" I easily find myself obtaining a second handful and have to put some back. 

Now we come to supper. Ohhhh supper. I had already picked out my recipe and was set to go. Then I remembered the dreaded oven. Ohhhh the oven. I haven't used my oven in awhile and forgot that my sweet darling husband used it last. To make a long story short, Chris transferred  burgers from the grill (ran out of gas) and placed them on a pizza pan and inserted said pan into the oven. When he pulled them out and I saw said pan I cringed. Majorly! It was a round pizza pan with holes all in it. Y'all know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about a oven bottom full of grease. I'm talking about oven racks with dried grease still in dripping form. Ohhhhhh that blasted oven! I had to decide really quick if I was going to clean that dreaded oven or change my recipe. I have y'all know I didn't just clean that oven. I shined that oven! I also lined the bottom of the oven with sheets of Reynolds wrap in case said pan gets used in a similar way again.

*Insert quick prayer:

Lord, I do pray you will not let him or I forget this said pan experience. Ever. Amen!

After my oven was sparkling, I was ready to go, but then I couldn't find my recipe. I was not about to let that hinder me! I went to work mixing "this" and "that" and little more "that" until I had what I hoped was a delicious porkrind oven fried chicken. It was indeed delicious! 

I also had some vegetables that needed to be used so I just threw a bunch of them in the double boiler and steamed them. Cabbage, mixed peppers, and little tomatoes perfectly soft yet crunchy. Yum!

When all was prepared I filled my plate to the brim. Oh, but wait, I couldn't leave spinach out tonight, could I? No way! So I laid my little chicken tenders to rest on a bed of fresh green linens. ;) 

There ya have it folks. Another low carb day complete. 

Hope y'all enjoyed the post. :)

Till tomorrow,

Lacey

Low-carb life.

So Chris and I started a 30 day healthy challenge. We each picked what we wanted to do (diet wise) and started our journeys. I chose to do my 30 day challenge lowcarb style. Chris chose to just eat healthier and watch his portions. My main goal with my 30 days is to see if I really loose belly fat (inches) like most people claim they do on a low carb diet. I have plenty to loose! Chris is just trying to beat me. ;) Whomever looses the most weight after the 30 days wins a whole day of doing/going/eating whatever and wherever they choose and gets a new pair of kicks! I can't wait to go outlet shopping! We are both going to the gym and working out. We are doing cardio and strength. I've heard that guys naturally loose faster than gals so I'm hoping that by cutting carbs I will give myself a boost to loose quickly. 

So far, I must admit, this day has been very headachy. Bllllllaaaahhhhh. I'm assuming this side effect is from cutting carbs and sweets off after a weekend of binging on all things carby. I knew better, but the hubs and I had a sweet little getaway to a cabin in TN. You can't go on a little getaway without munchies and lots of eating. I'm sure we all know that feeling of pure hunger after swimming in a pool? Well, that is kinda what happens with me and hot tubs. Or big bath tubs. Or shopping. Or playing mini golf. Haha! Who am I kidding? I just love to eat. I honestly enjoy food. I love to get in the kitchen to create new dishes and expand my hubby's taste buds. He's come to love many new things from my cooking experiments. 

So I said all that to say this. 

For the next 30 days I will try to post my foodie pics and ideas for low carb eats and maybe even treats. 

Today I tried cheesy egg scramble for breakfast. It was so delish! I absolutely hate raw onions. I mean hate! The smell. The taste. The texture. Blllecckk! My family can amen that for me. To my wonderful surprise I learnt that I LOVE chives. I am so glad I made myself try them. I actually can't believe I had never tried them. They gave my breakfast a delicious flavor. I can see chive smoothies in the future. ;) J/k. Or am I? 

For lunch I had about a pound of spinach. No. Seriously. I think I really did. I do love some good greens tho. Spinach is probably my favorite. I added feta cheese crumbles and pecans. Now I would rather of had those sweet toasted brown sugar kind that you get in restaurant salads, but alas I chose regular ones that are not too carby. If I have good cheese or add-ins in my salad I don't even need dressing. I just gobbled up this beatiful green bowl in no time and even felt full. 

For supper we had more spinach, but it got paired with a lovely cheesy tasty meat patty. I could have easily eaten one or two more, but I'm saying no to my usual gorging. :) 

So for day one I think it went well! Besides the headache that is. Hopefully that goes away soon. 

If I get hungry later I may have to have myself a grapefruit. Fruit is dessert around this lowcarb house. :) 

Hope y'all enjoyed the post! Hopefully I can post daily so y'all can see my delicious daily foods. Till then...

Lacey