How Far I Have Not Come

 Was reading a blog post by Oddball Observations during my lunch hour and the post today was called Way-Back Wednesday and in it he goes back on his blog and reviews what he was doing in January ten years from today. He was doing a lot, you can see the blog post HERE. 

He also shared a cute story about a daughter writing back home to her parents and brothers regarding life in the Marine Corp and how it was so much easier than living and working on a farm.

But the reason for this blog post and the title "How Far I Have Not Come" is that I went back to January 2014 on my blog and found that I am still doing the same thing in 2024 that I was doing way back then...struggling with my weight and trying to eat healthier. 

My first post on Jan 1st 2014 was about making Jalapeno Poppers and I've made them twice already this year only because they are a low-carb food that I can eat at any time and they satisfy my cravings. 

My second post on Jan 2nd 2014 was about being a carb addict and included a recipe for Cajun Chicken Drumsticks, another low-carb good that is spicy and filling and satisfies my cravings. 

My third post on Jan 3rd was about voices and my dad...so at least I managed to stay away from food for a day! God only knows what I ate that day, probably left over chicken drumsticks with jalapeno poppers! 

My fourth post on Jan 6th was about going back to work after the holiday and no change there as work is just as stressful as it was then, if not more. I'm happy to think that soon I will be retiring. This post also talked about food and I had low-carb lettuce wrapped tacos and a boneless cajun chicken strip...starting to see a pattern here on where my head is most of the time, focused on food!

My last post on Jan 13th was again about food, this time low-carb pancakes with sugar free strawberry jam! 

It's a little disappointing, sad, discouraging, demoralizing and depressing...why do so many words for dismay start with the letter D? I never realized that.

It's not that I'm horribly overweight, it's just that I've never been satisfied with my weight. Here's  a picture of me at the beach in November 2023. 

But knowing that I've struggled with my weight my whole life makes me feel all those D words. Ten years ago, I struggled with how I looked carrying those extra pounds. Ten years later I struggle with how it is affecting my health. It's sad to think that I have not gotten very far with learning how to eat and sticking to it.

Maybe 2024 will be different. Anyone else struggling with eating healthy? Have any tips of how to control your food cravings? 

If I'm still around in 2034, I'll let you know how the next ten years went, for now I'm going to go make myself a quick turkey taco salad for lunch and wash it down with water as I'm off diet soda completely.

Wish me luck!

Broccoli, Ham, Mozzarella Baked with Eggs

I like to share low-carb recipes on my blog so that I have them handy when I need to make them again.

I am lucky enough to work with a great co-worker that encourages me and helps me with eating low carb...and even better, she shares her food!

The other day she shared this delicious concoction of eggs, broccoli, ham and cheese. I had to ask her for the recipe and today I made it for my mom. She liked it, but thinks I was a little heavy handed with the broccoli, which I probably was, but broccoli is so good for you!

The recipe was developed by Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen and you can go HERE to see her original post of this recipe. 

Here's what my version looked like. I thought it was very pretty and hated to cut into it. I hurried to take the picture thinking it would deflate, but it actually stays nice and puffy like this.

But there was no way we could eat it without slicing into it, so I did and wow, wow, wow....just look at all this deliciousness!

So fluffy and cheesy and yummy and little bits of ham...mmmmm, perfect Sunday breakfast food! The great thing is it also keeps well covered in the fridge and re-heats up beautifully in the microwave so it's perfect for eating during that morning break at work.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 4 cups very small broccoli florets, blanched about 2 minutes, then drained well. (Next time I will probably cut this down to 2 cups and maybe dice it much more finely.)
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella
• 10 eggs well beaten (I added salt & pepper to the eggs to taste)

Preheated my oven to 375F, sprayed my 9 inch round pie pan with non-stick spray.

In a small pot I brought water to boil then I blanched the broccoli florets for 3 minutes and poured them into a colander and let them sit in the sink to drain well. 

While my broccoli was cooking I diced up a small ham steak and grated the mozzarella cheese. That was probably the most labor intensive part. 

You then layer the broccoli in the bottom of your dish then sprinkle around the ham and cheese add some salt and pepper if you haven't already added it to your eggs, then pour the beaten egg over and using a fork stir everything around gently just to make sure all the ingredients are coated with egg. 

I baked mine for 35 minutes and it was perfect, as you can tell from the picture. Kalyn serves hers with sour cream, I just added a side dish of a few slices of avocado.

That's it! Easy Peasy!

My Inner Dominatrix is on Vacation

I’ve mentioned before in several posts that I have an inner dominatrix. NO! Not that kind of inner dominatrix, not even that kind of outer dominatrix! Get your mind out of the gutter!

I mean the kind of inner dominatrix that keeps me on the straight and narrow when I make up my mind to do something. 

Mostly I would have to say that she’s my Weight Control Dominatrix. When I make up my mind to stick to my low-carb diet, she’s the one that cracks the whip in my mind when I look at a bag of Cheetos. Trust me…nothing hurts more that having a whip cracking up against the side of your brain!

(This post is going to be image free because it wasn't a good idea to search dominatrix and whipping!)

Last year around April, my inner dominatrix, whom I’m going to call Trixie took an extended vacation and I’d get a mental postcard from her now and again but for the most part she was MIA, which made it so much easier for me to get my hands on Cheetos and MM’s and Chips and Salsa. So it’s Trixie’s fault that I have gained back quite a bit of the weight that I had taken off.

July 20th was my birthday and I celebrated in grand style and by that I mean with lots of food filled with lots of carbs. Egg McMuffins; Breve Latte’s from my co-workers. Lemon Meringue Pie again from my co-workers and lunch at Mexicali where I share Nachos with lots of sour cream, again with my co-workers…hmmm, maybe I don’t need Trixie, I just need different co-workers? (Just kidding Angelica and Edgar...you both are the best!)

Wait...I found an image I can share. Cheesy smile and all this is me at the office with the gifts from my co-workers/friends.

That wasn’t even the beginning of the end of it because I went out to dinner with my family and they took me to my favorite Mexican food place where I indulged in a delicious frosty Margarita and baskets of chips to dip into their fabulous bean dip and salsa! Then I ordered my traditional Chicken Taquitos served with rice, beans and guacamole alongside.

Once I had waddled myself on home, my son decided to buy toffee bars. But even without Trixie being there, I had the strength to limit myself to just one, but I know the box is in the freezer waiting for me...calling to me! Where is Trixie?

Well I'm putting the Kibosh on Trixie. Vacation over Trixie! I've decided that by my next birthday I'm going to lose 20 pounds. Shouldn't be too hard right? 20 pounds is not a lot. I'm hoping Trixie will jump on board and do her job and whip my brain into shape!

So here's to another year on this Earth and that I make it to next July 20th!

Onion, Ham, Jalapeno and Cheese Frittata

July 7th was exactly one year that I have been on my low carb, high fat lifestyle and I've lost and maintained a consistent weight loss of 23 pounds. I was aiming for 1 pound a week which would have been 52 pounds, but I have to be realistic and realize that sometimes life happens and for one reason or another you can't stick to the plan. Don't fret and beat yourself up, just get right back up on that horse and keep on trucking! I know that is mixing up a couple of different quotes, but you get what I mean, you're a smart bunch!

In the spirit of my one year anniversary on LC/HF, I decided to share a great Frittata recipe! Cause why wouldn't I? I mean just look at this deliciousness!

I also love sharing recipes on my blog because that way I can always find the instructions on how to make something because I'm pretty forgetful!

So you start by melting 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a non-stick, oven safe pan. I used my cast iron pan which I love, love, love, but next time I will make sure to use it on a lower heat level. Once the butter is melted I toss in my diced onion and about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cracked pepper to taste. I just love the smell of onion caramelizing in butter, it makes my heart happy!

I cooked the onions...oh about 4 minutes, then added my chopped ham and diced jalapenos. I would have preferred to use red bell peppers but I didn't have any so I improvised. It's all my training from watching episode upon episode of Chopped and Iron Chef! I stirred and cooked that for about 2 minutes. 

While that was going on, I cracked 8 eggs in a bowl, added a 1/4 cup of half & half, but you can use milk if you so desire. I added a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper and a dash of paprika and whisked the eggs. Then mixed in 1 cup of grated cheddar and I mixed in a bit of mozzarella as I didn't have enough cheddar to make up a cup. (Again, my Food Network Chef Training) See the little red flakes of Paprika in there? Yummmmm! Gives everything a great smokiness!

Now was the time to marry the ham, onion, jalapenos with the eggs and cheese and I said my blessings over them and they all became one with the world and it was beautiful!

So you gently stir to try to get all the ingredients uniform so they aren't all just clumped together in one spot and then you kinda leave them alone, see how they get along, for about 5 minutes. During this time you heat up your over broiler and then you place the whole pan under the broiler and you add a little heat to this beautiful marriage and see if they still blend beautifully even when things get hot! And they do and they did and it was good!

Wanted to cut into this right away but I know that patience is a virtue and so I covered it with foil and let it sit for about 5 minutes then turned it over onto a plate and then turned it over again onto another plate cause I wanted the pretty top to be showing. Then I cut into it!

And it was good and my heart was happy, especially after I paired that slice with my favorite low carb beverage.

So I enter into another year of low carb/high fat and here's to hoping I can lose another 23 pounds in the coming year.

RECIPE:   4 to 6 servings

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced (about a cup)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of Paprika
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 cup Half & Half (you can use milk instead
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 or two jalapenos, seeds removed and diced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick, oven safe skillet. Add the onions and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cracked pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often for about 4 minutes until the onion gets soft, then add the diced jalapenos and ham stir and cook 2 or 3 more minutes.

Crack the 8 eggs in a bowl, add the half & half (milk) add 1/4 teaspoon salt, paprika and pepper again to taste and whisk and pour into the pan over the onions, ham and jalapenos. Stir to make sure the fillings are evenly distributed and cook, stirring gently a couple of times during the first minute of cooking, and then let the mixture cook undisturbed until the eggs are just beginning to set, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil 3 to 5 minutes until the eggs are just set. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let sit for another 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate, then invert again. Cut into wedges and serve warm. 

Chicken Fajitas - Englishman Style!

I don't know why, but lately I've been on a cooking kick. Not a good time for a cooking kick since today and yesterday were our first full days of over 100 degree weather!

It's 102 outside right now! And I'm in here slaving over a hot stove...with an ice cold bottle of Michelob Ultra of course,! Hey, I don't have to suffer that much!

Yesterday I made some chicken and had three big breasts left over! Mom had gone shopping and found bell peppers on sale so she bought me 6! 3 Red and 3 Yellow ones and they were ripe! What to do with them, what to do?

I decided that I would make some Chicken Fajitas. You would think being that I am Mexican that it would be no problem, but I had never made Chicken Fajitas...so I went to YouTube and found a video by an Englishman by the name of Warren Nash.

Seriously! An Englishman from Nottingham, England who posted a video on how to make Mexican Chicken Fajitas with Mexican Mariachi music playing in the background! I fell in love with this guys accent and the way he said Oregano! So I followed his recipe. An Englishman taught this Mexican to make Fajitas!

First I prepped all my food. Chicken breast cut into strips, hence the name fajitas as fajitas is Spanish for strips. Then cut up onion the way Warren did it, then bell pepper.

While I was cutting up my veggies I marinated the chicken in a bowl with some Olive Oil, the juice of one lemon (I had no lime, sorry Warren), Cumin, Oregano, Salt and Pepper. I changed 2 things from Warrens recipe, I added no sugar since that adds carbs and I added the diced garlic in so that it would marinate with the meat.

Then it was time to get cooking! First I added Olive Oil to my favorite pan and added the onions. I stirred these lovelies for about 10 minutes. Oh the aroma!!!!

My poor mom came by to look in the pan and I told her, wouldn't you love to just put a spoonful of these in a torilla and just eat it? She HATES, DETESTS, DESPISES Onion! She looked at me like I was nuts and said "I wouldn't touch those things even with that wooden spoon!" I guess I don't have to share with her then, do I?

While they were caramelizing I decided to do something different from Warren, just cause I was feeling the Mexican blood boiling in my veins from the scent of the onions and I tossed in some chopped Jalapeno. Next time I'm leaving the seeds in!

I will tell you that at this point Warren adds the chicken. But maybe his chickens are not as juicy in Nottingham, England because I know now that at this point I would take the onions and jalapenos out of the pan and just saute the chicken alone in the drippings as it let out quite a bit of juice so the onions got more boiled than caramelized!

You can see that the onions are almost translucent in the photo above, I wanted them caramelized. But live and learn right? So I added the peppers and stirred and stirred, doesn't take long, maybe 10 to fifteen minutes since the chicken is sliced thinly into "fajtas"!

Voila! Chicken Fajitas as taught to me by Warren Nash, a Nottingham Englishman! Not bad for an Englishman and a Mexican right?

But no one had to teach me how to eat these babies! Just heated myself up a low-carb tortillas, added fajitas and guacamole...oh yeah, wait! I made guacamole. Just a simple one. Normally I add Jalapeno and Diced tomato but I wanted the Fajitas to be front and center.

Voila! Let's try this again, the finished product. Muy delicioso, Old Chap!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps - Low Carb never tasted so good!

Been a while since I posted anything about my low carb/high fat way of eating. Don't worry...I've still been faithful to it and stuck to the plan.

With that being said today I finally had a chance to cook. It's been a busy few weeks since my last LC/HF post on Super Bowl Sunday. Work has been super busy, we've been preparing for a wedding in the family and I've had lots of chores with yard work since we got quite a bit of rain and the weeds have been growing like...well like weeds!

Started out this morning by making low carb coconut pancakes that I posted about HERE. The recipe is from a wonderful blog called Low Carb Yum...tons of awesome recipes, tips and ideas! What I love about making these is that one batch provides me with enough pancakes to have four each morning at work with my morning bullet proof coffee. Sometimes I top them with fresh strawberries, sometimes some sugar free strawberry jam and sometimes with some sugar free maple syrup. They hit the spot in the morning and I don't feel deprived.

Low Carb Coconut Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries

Then because I knew I was going to be home all day and didn't want to be tempted to eat something I shouldn't (yes...I still get tempted, I live in a home surrounded by carb-o-holics!) I made some deviled eggs.

And my big plan for the day was to try a recipe from All Recipes.com. I get their recipe ideas in my email and I set up an account with them where I can save the ones I tried or want to try. Todays inspiration was Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Wraps.

The great thing about wraps is that you don't have to mess with eating carby bread or buns or tortillas, just wrap up all that deliciousness in a lettuce leaf!

You would not believe how easy this recipe is. I bought one 12 ounce bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce and 1 - 1/2 ounce package of ranch dressing mix and 1 1/2 ounce of Green Onion Dip, mixed that all together in a bowl.

Put 2 lbs (I used four) boneless chicken breast in the bottom of your slow cooker, pour the sauce on top, set the temperature to medium, a set the timer for 6 hours and go on about your life.

I did some yard work, washed my bedding and dusted, played with the dogs outside, checked in with friends on Facebook, read a bit of my book and took a nap all while dinner was cooking!

When the timer went off I took the chicken out of the slow cooker and put it in a big bowl and with two forks I just shredded my little pea-picking heart out! I gotta admit I ate as I went, this was soooo good! Spicy and salty and moist and tender!

I strained the sauce that remained in the slow cooker into a bowl to use as a dipping sauce or a topping sauce, depending on which way you roll sauce-wise! Here's my assembly line all ready to go, chicken, sauce and lettuce! Not pictured cause she was shy was my container of Daisy Sour Cream (actually I forgot to include it in the picture). Do a Dollop of Daisy!

Then sat down to this with my beverage of choice, an ice-cold Michelob Ultra, only 2.6 carbs, the lowest carb count of any beer. It went perfect with this meal! If you don't like salty or you watch your sodium intake religiously, then you might not want to spoon the sauce over it. Maybe just eat it with the little bit of sauce as it came out of the pot because it is very salty. But I love Salty, crave Salty, would kill for Salty!!! Ok, drama queen, maybe kill is a bit strong, but I do love Salty and I loved this. I had two and am contemplating another one.

But then again, being an over achiever...I also baked a low carb pumpkin pie! So I might just have a slice of pie!

Oh yeah! Great way to end a great Sunday and begin a new week with Daylight Savings Time change! Which means tomorrow when I wake up at 5am to get ready for work it will actually be 4am! I'm not a happy camper about this!

But then again...there's always pie. Have a good week everyone!

Super Bowl 50!

Super Bowl Sunday! I love Super Bowl Sundays! And even though I don't have a dog in this race I can still be excited about it because of the commercials and the food! But don't get me wrong, even though I am a Dallas Cowboy fan I do have a puppy in this race...Peyton Manning! I think he's pretty great and I hope that he has a great game today and most importantly I hope he wins!

So the commercials? Those are always fun. I remember many, many years ago when the movie The Exorcist came out. The hype for that movie was just crazy! It was supposed to be the scariest movie ever! So I went into the theater with expectations beyond what any movie could deliver and I was disappointed. I kept waiting for my heart to stop with fear and it just didn't happen.

My All-Time Favorite - Budweiser Frogs!

I think the same thing has happened to the Super Bowl commercials. When they first started doing outrageous commercials it was AMAZING! Something to talk about with friends and family for days! "Did you see when..." or "My favorite one was..."! But it's hard to keep the momentum going year after year and to keep topping the previous year.

But I still always enjoy them and look forward to them and give props to the marketing and promotion people that have to keep coming up with them!

I hear tell that Lady Gaga will be singing the National Anthem. Good, I know she will do a good job but I'm glad she's not the half time show, I am not a fan of Lady Gaga!

But the food...the food is probably my favorite part of the Super Bowl! We did our shopping for snacks and yummies yesterday. I myself will stick to my low carb/high fat (WOE) Way of Eating.

My son requested Dorito Chicken Casserole from The Blog Chef. I don't make this often because I'm sure the sodium level is sky high, but it is a special day and a special request, so getting ready to make this in a few minutes. (It is super delicous!)

Photo Credit - The Blog Chef

Luckily my daughter requested something that is actually low carb/high fat which I can eat. She wanted Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs. She will eat hers with a hot dog bun, but of course I will just omit the bun and it will be perfect for my WOE. Not the prettiest picture I've ever taken though!

I'm also planning some Jalapeno Poppers.

Some Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.

And something new that has been popping up on all the boards of the low carb groups I follow on Facebook....sugar free, zero carb gummies! I love gummy bears, worms, sweet gummies, sour gummies, all matter of gummies! I'm so happy to have found a recipe that works so I can have these little bits of deliciousness again!

I made these yesterday. The first batch I made I used an icecube tray that makes those mini little round cubes. They turned out great! And they taste so yummy! They are made with sugar-free Jell-o so they taste just like Jello!

After making these I decided I wanted to make some pretty ones in special molds for Super Bowl. I couldn't find any football molds at Michaels but I did find some seashell, flower and star molds.

Aren't they lovely? I can't wait to buy other flavors/colors of Sugar-Free Jell-o! They are so easy too!

1 - 3 ounce box of Sugar-Free Jell-0
1 Box Knox Gelatin - 4 pack
1/2 cup of cold water

Mix and mix and mix that all together, then I microwaved it for about 20 seconds and mixed and mixed some more then poured into molds and put in the fridge for about 20 minutes and they popped right out (after a little urging) of the molds!

Everyone in my low carb group on Facebook has been buying this Gummy Candy Maker, which is pretty cool and you can buy it on Amazon, but it is $28.66 plus shipping and just another gadget I have to find a place to store in my kitchen. So I think I will just continue making them the way I did it.

Amazon.com - Gummy Candy Maker

So that's it. I'm off to finish getting snacks and food ready and watch pre-game stuff with the talking heads. Happy Super Bowl and here's to Peyton Manning winning Super Bowl 50!


 

George Stella's 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

This George Stella recipe has been floating around Facebook for months now. My co-worker made them but I had never tried baking them myself, but today I was feeling motivated and really craving something sweet, which is weird for me because I'm not a big sweets person.

But these peanut buttery, crispy cookies hit the spot. They are so rich tasting that just one did the trick and they are only 2 carbs per cookie!

I'll definitely be making these often, so easy and so delicious!

The Recipe:

OLD-FASHIONED PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES 
Flourless, Gluten Free, and Guilt Free 

Recipe from “The Complete Low-Carb Cookbook” 2014
By George Stella

Prep Time 10 min / Cook Time 12 min / Serves 8; 2 cookies each

SHOPPING LIST 
1 cup all-natural smooth peanut butter 
1 cup sugar substitute 
1 large egg, slightly beaten 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 

2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mixing well to create the cookie dough. 

3. Use a tablespoon to drop the spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the lined pan. Then use a fork to press the dough down, creating a criss-cross pattern on each cookie. 

4. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

HELPFUL TIPS 
It is important to let cool completely before removing from the pan and also be careful not to overcook as these cookies are inherently "crumbly".

These are almost 100% peanut butter, and that’s a very good thing!

The recipe above says you can make 16 but I actually got 17 cookies out of the recipe and they are good size cookies with a nice thickness as you can see above. Loving the Low Carb/High Fat lifestyle!