How We Celebrate A Birthday!

Today is my son James birthday, Happy Birthday Son!

Since his birthday fell on a Wednesday we decided to celebrate a little early and he and I took a day trip to Santa Barbara, California on Saturday, to try to escape the heat of the valley. It was supposed to be over 100 degrees! Santa Barbara was around 83 but I still managed to get sunburned!

Santa Barbara is very close to us, only around 2 1/2 to 3 hours away. The drive is very pretty and traffic was minimal this time around but sometimes it does get a little bumper to bumper in spots. 

Our destination was Stearns Wharf. There's great parking there at $2 an hour and it's centrally located. The best part about walking around in a beach town like this is watching the people, that's always entertaining. I forgot to take pictures of this one man that has claimed his little spot on the beach and he does sand art for donations. 

We walked on the pier and I was able to talk him into taking a selfie with me. He is so much taller than I am! It's hard to believe that I made that human being! Last year I wrote about how he tried to come into the world butt first so I had to have a C-Section, you can read that post here. 

By the time we finished looking around the pier and people watching it was time to head to find someplace to eat. My favorite place in Santa Barbara is State Street. There are tons of shops and little bars and coffee houses and restaurants. I love to go to the Sandbar Restaurant and have a margarita and some chips and salsa, but since it was the birthday boys choice he wanted to go to Joe's!

Joe's Cafe is a very popular restaurant and bar in Santa Barbara since 1928. I had never been there but enjoyed my visit very much. It was very clean and the food and service was great!

I was also able to stick with my LCHF (low carb, high fat) WOE (way of eating). Instead of having a sugary margarita, I had a glass of Ruffino Prosecco which was only 3 carbs! Oh and not to take away from this being my son's day but I am now 10 pounds lighter!!

There were so many great choices. I decided to have the BLTA, which is a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado salad, with ranch dressing. It was delicious and plenty of bacon! I estimated my whole lunch with my drink was about 13 carbs. It was a bit of a splurge but it was a special day and a special meal.

James had their BBQ Pulled Pork topped with Cole Slaw on a fresh baked roll. I admit here and now that I took a bite of the BBQ pork, just the pork, not the bread! I couldn't resist, but I didn't touch the fries! It was so delicious. I'm sure the BBQ was carby because of the molasses or honey or sugar they use. It could have used more coleslaw but that would be my only suggestion.

After that great meal we walked around looking in the little shops along the way. We didn't buy much, to me Santa Barbara is a little pricey but it was fun to wander and watch the people.

We finally headed back to the car and I had promised my sister I would find the Ablitt House and take some pictures, so Lisa...this is for you, we will have to go on a day when they do the tours.

We had a very nice day and it had been a long time since my son and I had taken a car trip together. So Happy Birthday son and I love you to the Moon and back!

 

Kitchen Organization - Just Start Small

Last week Lynn of Traveling Low Carb invited us on Facebook to a kitchen organization party. I obligated myself to join in. Then life happened. I forgot it was my son's birthday weekend and I had promised him a day trip to Santa Barbara on Saturday. 

But it's never too late and I was feeling really guilty about letting Lynn down and even though today is going to be 106 degrees outside, I was feeling energetic and decided to clean and organize my little bakers rack that my son gave me for Mother's Day one year. It's sort of a catch-all.

As you can see the drawers are just stuffed with junk and bills and little bits of paper. I store all my bowls here and because they are so close to the floor they tend to get really dusty. We all know that when we use one of them we have to wash it before we use it, but if a visiting friend or family goes to get one they probably think I'm a slob! 

Close-up of the drawers. I found cookbooks, warranties for appliances I don't even have anymore, photos, garden gloves, picture hanging materials, screwdrivers...all kinds of random items. And see, someone thought this would be a perfect place to store hamburger buns! I tell you...a catchall!

Here's some of the stuff I pulled out. I used to be addicted to buying those little recipe books that are at the checkout area. My little impulse buys. But I don't think I've ever actually made anything from any of these books and now that I'm low carb I know I never will so it was time to clean house and I put about 50 of them in a bag to go to Goodwill.

Here's the bakers rack all cleaned out. I went after all that wrought iron with soapy water. It was super dusty. Sorry it's sort of leaning, I must have been tired already! Oh and FYI, while I was doing all of this I wore my iPhone because it tracks my steps. While doing this I logged in 1,027 steps!

And pictures during...

The kitchen table covered in bowls, books, mom's radio and little odds and ends...

The dish drainer with some of the bowls I've washed and set aside to dry...

And the other side of the sink with more bowls washed and ready to be dried and put away again...

Here's a picture of all the items that I'm taking to Goodwill tomorrow. I am so my mother's daughter. She just walked by and said "You're going to throw all this away!", and then she started going through everything!

Here are the finished drawers, quite a bit different right?

Drawer one. I only kept the cook books for low carb and that little broken key chain of my son sitting on Santa's lap years ago :)

Drawer two. I organized my mom's Cd's as she likes to listen to music while she putters around in the kitchen in the morning. 

And here is the completed bakers rack. Organized and dust free! I put the bowls my mom uses on the very top so she can reach them easier without bending down. I had to leave her radio there, that was non-negotiable! She also had a beautiful set of cornflower blue Corningware, so now I'm displaying it next to my pink KitchenAid mixer that my daughter bought me several years ago for being a Cancer Survivor!

Here are the before and after. Doesn't seem like much difference until you see it side by side. I even cleaned all that clutter that was next to the rack on the right side.

Mission accomplished! I'm going to go and post this on Lynn's Facebook page and now I think I've earned a nap!

Happy cleaning everyone!


 

Frazier Park Fiesta Days - Small town fun!

We decided this weekend to get out of the valley heat and head up to the mountains. Frazier Park was celebrating their 48th annual Fiesta Days and we thought we would head up the mountain and check it out. 

Picked up my sister and noticed how beautiful her Arizona Plant is this year. It's huge and just gorgeous and I am so jealous!

Her plant gets sun constantly and these types of plants love the sun. My plant is next to a huge tree and it doesn't get but a few hours sun a day so it's no where near as pretty as hers. I'm going to have to move it next year.

So we left Lisa's house and headed to pick up our friend Connie who went with us and headed towards Frazier Park which is about 45 minutes south of Bakersfield.

We found the park and we were surprised how nice an event it was. The weather was great, about 77 degrees with a nice breeze. It wasn't too crowded and they had lots of great vendors.

One vendor had what she called "hand made sandals" for $20 and we all bought a pair. I really don't think they were hand made but they were adorable! I bought a red pair even though they weren't practical and I can't wear them with everything, but I just loved the way they look and red is my mom's favorite color.

There were also lots of food vendors. I was a bit worried about going because I wasn't sure what I was going to eat. They had Kettle Korn which is something that I always buy, but I didn't. They had regular yellow corn on the cob with lots of different toppings, but it is filled with carbs and something that is not on my list of foods I can eat.

Finally I decided on a Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog. I requested it without the bun and they were nice enough to put it in a little cardboard tray and then they added onions and bell peppers. It was delicious and minimal on carbs. Where there's a will, there's a way!

We walked around the whole event twice to make sure we didn't miss anything. I also purchased some green olives stuffed with jalapenos and they are delicious. I'm sure I will be eating them often throughout the next few weeks when I am craving salty chips!

My gorgeous sister Lisa bought a flower garland. I should have taken a picture from the back as it had long curling ribbon trailing all the way down her back. She looked so cute!

She also took this great picture in a real race car. Those things are hard to get in and out of!

After a great time we decided to drive around the small town and see what it was like. Lisa made me pull over because she wanted to get a picture of a "tin man". It was kind of cute that most of the houses had home made decor like this. It was a very quaint little city.

So all in all we had a fun time, we all now have cute shoes and great memories and then today I got to see Baby J and I had bought her a Little Nemo Bubble Gun and she loved it and me for buying it for her :)

A Letter to Lynn at Traveling Low Carb

A Letter to Lynn at Traveling Low Carb

Hi Lynn,

I read your post today and I smiled, laughed and shouted (quietly in my head) “I get ya my low carb sista!” 

See today I feel “blah”. Everything is great in my life, eating well, exercising regularly, clothes fitting better and better each day! Yet I’m feeling “blah” and feeling heavy. The joints in my legs feel sore, my legs and arms feel like I’m wearing 10 pound weights on them. 

For the past 4 weeks, I’ve been getting to the office early each morning and doing a 1 mile walking video by Leslie Sansone. It’s getting easier and easier every day, but today I felt like I was back at square one! I felt clumsy and heavy and unorganized and finally gave up at only half a mile. Poor Leslie tried to motivate me but it just didn’t work! 

So I sat down at my desk to drink my coffee and get ready for my day and I started thinking about why I feel this way physically and mentally. I went over in my head wondering what I did differently yesterday that might have caused this and guess what I think it was? National Root Beer Float Day! Yep, National Root Beer Float Day was yesterday and I found this great little recipe on making a low carb root beer float using diet root beer and heavy whipping cream. 

It was a super easy recipe and I really enjoyed the float and did a blog post on it right away to make other low-carbers aware of how you can make simple adjustments in your life to still have some of the goodies regular folks enjoy. 

 I don’t know if it was the chemicals in the diet root beer, or the fat in the heavy whipping cream but it made me super sluggish today. Ha! Never thought about the word sluggish, but that’s exactly how I felt this morning, like a slow moving, heavy slug! 

 Once I realized that, I told myself “Self, no more low carb root beer floats!” And then I figured the best way to start feeling better was to start drinking water like crazy to flush all the toxins out of my body, so that’s what I did and by 10am this morning, after about 44 ounces of water, I was able to do my 5 minute walking video by Leslie Sansone without quitting early and I actually felt better, lighter, more energetic. Is it all in my mind? Maybe, but sometimes the mind has to be mightier than the body! 

Then reading your post I realized that you might be feeling the way you mention you are feeling because of the “crutch foods”. You’ve been doing this such a long time that you realize that it is the “crutch food”, but a lot of people that are newbie’s to this way of eating use those “crutch foods” and they never learn to lose the cravings for sweets or carbs and therefore give up. 

Will I never have another low-carb root beer float? Of course I will, but they will be a special treat, once in a blue moon. I won’t train my body to start craving sweets again! 

So Lynn, in closing I just want to say that you have made a big difference in the way I do low carb. You make it so much easier by posting your food because I see ideas that I never would have thought of before. I’ve done low carb on and off for the past 10 years, but this time I feel so much more motivated and I understand that this is not a diet, it’s not a short term thing, this is the way I want and need to eat for the rest of my life. So thank you for making it easier, for motivating me, for sharing not only your high points, but also the low points…like you did today! 


 

National Root Beer Float Day - Low Carb Root Beer Float

I love Root Beer Floats! Who doesn't right? 

But the ice cream, the root beer...those carbs add up! Here's the nutrition info on a real root beer float made with vanilla ice cream and regular A & W Root Beer.

See the carbs? 77.6!! You then subtract the fiber to end up with net carbs of 76.6! Yikes...that is almost 4 days worth of carbs when you are trying to limit yourself to only 20.

But I have to celebrate National Root Beer Day, after all I celebrated National Tequila Day and National Margarita Day! I can't discriminate! We live in the age of political correctness.

I remembered seeing a recipe for a low carb Root Beer so I googled and I found it on Low Carb Slow Carbs website. And I had all the ingredients so I was good to go!

First I whipped up 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream using my electric hand mixer. After about 30 seconds I added 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract and 1 tablespoon of granulated Splenda. Then I continued whipping/beating until it was set.

See how thick and creamy it is? All ready for some ice cold A & W Diet Root Beer!

I don't really have any clear see-thru glass glasses. My mom is on blood thinners so rather than have her cut her hand on broken glasses we only have plastic glasses, but my friend Lupe gave me this beautiful glass mug on a girls camping trip a few months ago, and it was perfect for a root beer float.

I added about a cup of the heavy whipped cream which you can see in the cup.

Then I slowly added the diet root beer. Check that out! Doesn't it look exactly like a root beer float? It actually tasted delicious too!

When I make this again I will add crushed ice!

And here is the carb count for my low carb root beer float. 4 Carbs....FOUR! What a difference right?

So I'm going to go and enjoy my float and read my book. Happy National Root Beer Float Day!


 

Foods I Eat on Low Carb Way of Eating - No Starvation Diet Here!

Been doing the LCHF diet for almost a month now and I'm doing great. I haven't lost as much weight as I would like but I can definitely feel it in the way my body feels and in the way my clothes fit.

The great thing is that I haven't had cravings for Cheetos or chips and salsa. You do lose the cravings to carbs eventually. 

I know when I explain this way of eating (WOE) to people the first thing they say is "Oh no, I could never give up pasta/tortillas/pie/ice cream, etc (insert carb of choice)". We all feel that way in the beginning, but it is worth it, and you can...if you really want to.

Eating this way and exercising in 5 minute increments throughout the day makes me feel awesome. Those normal aches and pains that I had in my knees and shoulders are gone. I can get up out of a chair or my car after a long drive without limping. I sleep great and I feel like even my disposition is better. I'm more focused at work and life just seems a little brighter each day.

And look at the great foods I get to eat. Ground turkey cheeseburger without the bun. Flax seed muffin in a mug with butter and sugar free strawberry preserves, Taco Salad, Pork Carnitas with Scrambled Egg, Strawberry and Pecans as a  snack.

I like to take random pictures of my food. Some of the LCHF foods I've eaten I didn't get a chance to photograph and the pictures aren't Foodie Blog worthy because they're just iPhone shots, but gives you an idea of the variety of foods you can eat.

Chicken with broccoli slaw, Chile macho and sliced avocado; chicken drenched in vegetarian Chile Verde with queso fresco, Cucumber-Tomato and Bacon Salad with Mayo, Blackberry Yogurt Popsicle (home-made) and Chicken with the same cucumber-tomato and bacon salad.

You would think that celebrating a special occasion would be a good reason to go off this WOE, but actually no. See that yummy strawberry topped cheesecake? That's low carb. See the slice with the chocolate crust? Also low carb. And it's so much fun trying to make new varieties of salads. Salads are my go-to food, I love them and I find eating a huge salad fills me up and satisfies me. Chicken and Bacon on Romaine, Chicken Salad on Romaine and I even went to a favorite Mexican restaurant and had the Chicken Avocado Salad which was delicious! Sure...I had to bypass the Chips and Salsa, but looking good in my clothes sure makes it worth while!

No time to make big elaborate meals or plan and organize menus for the week? No problem, most restaurants will lettuce wrap a burger for you. Or you can just buy a regular burger, like the Quarter Pounder with Cheese pictured below, and throw away the bread. The funny thing is I don't even miss the bread and in fact I can taste the meat and fixings much better without the bread over powering everything and filling me up. Couple of snacks are pictured, crushed fresh strawberries with cottage cheese, slices of avocado wrapped in oven roasted deli turkey slices (this was yummy by the way) and more cottage cheese made like a parfait with crushed berries and a few cashews for crunch. Plus my old stand by- chicken on romaine lettuce with ranch dressing!

I even took a trip to the coast and kept it low carb by ordering bacon wrapped shrimp, they were fabulous. I dipped a fork in that sauce but you could tell right away that it was packed with sugar so I didn't touch it. Shrimp didn't even need it! On National Tequila Day I made myself a low carb margarita using a sparkling lemonade water and tequila, zero carbs! I also bought a little kitchen gadget that makes zucchini noodles. I made some and microwaved them and tossed them with some cooked ground turkey and added 2 tablespoons of cream cheese and they were creamy and delicious and felt like comfort food. Some days you want something warm and not just a salad.

I've also been enjoying a new brand of deli meats called Healthy Ones. the Oven Roasted Turkey Breast is lower in carbs and sodium that the regular brand I used to buy.

One day I was really wanting a scrambled egg sandwich with mayonnaise, cheese and lettuce, so I just made one without the bread. It was super good. You can LC most foods and I'm learning new ways to do so all the time.

So that's a quick wrap up of what I've been eating. As you can see I definitely have not been starving myself. I'm feeling really good about this new WOE. I'm not worried about what the scale says as long as I feel good and my body feels good.


 

July was a Great Month!

July is my birthday month and this year it was an especially fun month, even though it has been dreadfully hot and humid!

For my birthday, my sister and our friend Lupe planned a day trip to Monterrey, California. We left home early, around 7 am and arrived right around noon. First thing we did was something that has almost become a tradition for the three of us. We hit Ross Dress for Less. We love to shop at Ross!

After that we headed for Fisherman's Wharf where we took a ride on a glass bottom boat. Unfortunately due to the algae in the ocean we couldn't see anything but green and every once in a while some seaweed. 

But we were able to see some pretty cool harbor seals just lounging around sunning themselves on rocks.

We had a great dinner at El Torito Restaurant. I had bacon wrapped shrimp and Lisa and Lupe both had Vegetarian Fajitas.

Then the highlight of the trip for me, the 17 mile drive.

17-Mile Drive is widely recognized as one of the most scenic drives in the world. The famous coastal landmark runs through Pacific Grove to Pebble Beach, from the dramatic Pacific coastline to the majestic Del Monte Forest. The awe-inspiring vistas and legendary sites can easily fill an entire day with exploration and discovery, although visitors with less time should not miss the opportunity to experience this wondrous journey as well.

This whole drive is so beautiful. Unfortunately we got there pretty late and it was almost sunset so we couldn't lolly-gaggle as much as I would have like too, but we still enjoyed it.

One of many stops along the way - 17 mile drive

Another stop - 17 mile drive, my sister Lisa and I

Me on the Beach - 17 mile drive

Magical Sunset - 17 mile drive

It was a great day and a long drive home but well worth it. Next time we go though we will definitely make it an over night trip and take our time on the 17 mile drive.

Then my dear friend and co-worker Angie provided a special treat she made just for me. Low Carb even!

She gave me a beautiful silver ring with a purple stone, she bought me Starbucks and she made a low -carb cheese cake with a beautiful strawberry design on top. This cheesecake even had a chocolate crust!. She also invited a lady that works next door that has become a good friend, Maria. It was a very special way to start my birthday, even though I chose to work that day (our employer give us our birthday off, I'm save it for something else).

Then last night we went to a surprise birthday party for my niece Sarena. She is my baby brothers oldest child and she turned 25. We got to dress in costume and had a lot of fun with family and we danced til we dropped!

Lisa and I with our niece Sarena

My sister Lisa, me and our brother Jaime with our mother

The today was a Baby J Sunday! Yay! Love this precious little girl and the older she gets the more fun and funny she is!

So July was a very good month for me! A very busy month. Not sure what August has in store as I don't have any plans but time will tell.