Happy Texans

Take a Hike!

2012-02-02T20:50:00.000-06:00

Thursday was pretty close to perfect. Not only did I get to go for a run but I got to visit one of my favorite places: Brazos Bend State Park.

I haven't been here in quite a while. No one wanted to go for a hike with me so I went by myself. And that was perfectly fine.

Around 4:30pm I reached the park. It was very overcast. It had been raining off and on all day.

I was hoping to get to see some friends and I did! I have a thing for alligators. I don't know why. I think they're cute. Weird, I know.

There were so many coots hanging around.

Coots can walk on water so some have called them the Jesus Christ bird.

I was able to get a video of the water walkers to share with you. You're welcome! LOL

Does my voice really sound like that?!

I got to see a great white egret fishing for his dinner. And he even caught something! Such beautiful birds.

This park always makes me feel so happy inside. The live oaks are beautiful. This is where I go to recharge and feel at peace. It just does it for me. No one cares about fashion or your IQ or your weight here. It's just your soul and the animals. And I couldn't love it more. It's where I am me.

I only saw 2 other people on the trails. I love the solitude. And of course there were a lot of birds everywhere.

The spillway trail was all mine. Even though I like the solitude I would love to share this place with you. If you're ever in Houston and would like some company on the trails just let me know. I'll show you the best places to see a gator or flowers or whatever it is you want to see. It's a great place even on an overcast afternoon.

I walked to Elm Lake and sat on a bench near the water. It's funny how one can be utterly alone yet not feel lonely.

It's hard to tell in the photo but this is a tiny little gator on a small log.

As it started to get later, birds were looking for roosting spots for the night. Some were loud and sounded like they were having a party!

I got to see these two tiny baby gators hanging out together. It's so hard to see how small they were.

It's getting darker and more overcast. I really need to get back to the car. Then I see a hawk on a branch right in front of me. The lighting was not good for a picture but that didn't stop me from trying.

I just stood there staring at this gorgeous bird. I took another step closer and whispered under my breath, "Please don't fly away." And he remained!

As soon as I snapped this last picture the camera battery went dead. I quietly tried to fish my phone from my pocket but the bird had had enough. I thought he was flying right at me but he flew to my right so close that I could see his beak and eyes and feathers. While flying past he was making light chirping sounds. It was so cool.

I wish I knew what type of hawk he was. It doesn't look like a red tailed to me.

Then the barred owls started calling to each other. It was time for me to leave.

Did I mention that I love this place?

After I got home I changed clothes (how did I get a rock inside my sock?!) and went to Freebirds which is like Chipotle. They sell burritos and salads. Yum!

Let's make it spicy!!

I needed that walk. I always feel renewed and happy after a hike. Plus I got to burn some extra calories! I was only able to get in two miles but it was a great two miles.

Tomorrow is the monthly weigh in. Hope it's a decent number!

Exercise!

2012-02-02T12:43:00.001-06:00

Exercise is so important. I know that. It just takes a while for information to travel from my brain to my legs and arms. But after a friend kept telling me about his workouts ("Just ran two miles!" "Time to do weights." "Ran again and time is improving.") the wheels started turning and I thought, "I should really start working out again." I needed to get back on schedule with my running and get to doing my strength training again. I just didn't want to!

Plus Shelley is back to running and I would really like to be able to run a race or two (or three or four...) with her. Maybe Armadillo Dash??

Wednesday was a rest day but that doesn't mean I can't exercise! Cross training is pretty important too. So I aired up the tires in my bike (after I figured out how to turn on the air compressor!) and I rode around the neighborhood. I didn't exactly ride it like it was stolen but I had a good time. I stopped at the gazebo at the front "lake" which is nothing more than a retention pond but it's called a lake to make it sound fancy shmancy.

Not much time to rest. Bad weather on the way!

4.5 miles in 23 minutes. Slow but fun. Hardly feels like exercise when you are having fun! I LOVE riding my bike! Maybe one day I can do the MS 150 ride.

How about some good eats?
Breakfast: two eggs fried in a bit of coconut oil and two slices of bacon. I know it looks like 4 slices but I cut them in half. And a cup of coffee in my beaker mug.

Lunch: tuna on salad greens with sweet mustard dressing and a little cheese.

All was going well until I somehow spilled it all on my lap. Ugh.

And the cherry on top was doing my taxes (four times but who's counting?) and finding out that I owe this year. Well, hell and gosh darn. But that's how it goes sometimes.

Snack: a couple of celery sticks with some jalapeno cheddar dip.

Then a quick trip to the grocery store because eating 6 cups of greens per day is a LOT. And I can't store that much lettuce in my fridge. So lots of trips.

Dinner: Faux Fried "Rice" I love it that Charlie gets excited when we have this. The kid actually like cauliflower like this but hates it mashed. Rachel went back for seconds.

And I had a glass of wine. A big glass of wine. So not induction friendly. Bad Kelly.

And the obligatory huge bowl of salad.

Thursday=more exercise! Two days in a row! Back on schedule.

Running is still tough for me. I envy those who can do it so easily. But I did it.
1.62 miles in 20 minutes. 12:24 pace. I ran 5 minutes then walked for 1 minute. Repeat.
Paces for just the running portions looked like this:
11:30, 11:58, 12:13, 11:42

It sucks during the run but I feel so good afterwards.
Nasty and sweaty from the run. Feeling good! And I think I'm getting used to using fat as fuel. God knows I have plenty of fuel around my middle.

I'm really going to try to stay on schedule. So if you see me slacking off feel free to give me a swift kick in the pants.

Now for some totally random stuff!

Had to show you the name of this little ranch near my house. I've posted it before but it's been a while.

Oh no! A song about a paranoid phone!

I got in some liquid sucralose. Granulated Splenda is packed in a "carrier" that contains carbs. But the liquid does not. And it's concentrated so 1 drop equals a packet. Unfortunately I can't find it in my area so I have to order it through Netrition.

The warnings on the box cracked me up. Do not use on eyes? LOL Why would I ever do that?! And use with adult supervision. Guess what. I used a couple of drops and didn't have an adult with me. Shhhh.

For our 21st anniversary Chuck and I stayed at a hotel that had the best coffee. I called the hotel last week and asked what brand it was. I'd never heard of it and the stores don't carry it. To the internet! I got two bags of the beans and this is the smoothest coffee I've had to date. Love it! If you are a coffee lover you can order the stuff HERE.

Tomorrow, Friday the 3rd, will mark one month since starting to seriously eat lower carb. I'll be weighing in and reporting back to ya. I'd be happy with 10 pounds. We'll see. :)

How Sweet It Isn't & A New Veggie

2012-02-01T09:11:00.001-06:00

Watching my sugars and starches means that ordinary table sugar and honey are out the door. But this girl has a sweet tooth. So I was pretty excited when I saw all of the sugar free candies, pancake syrups, etc. on the market. I thought, "This is going to be a snap!"

I was cruising along having a few of these and a nibble of those and enjoying my pancake syrup. Then my weight went up! Oh no! How can this be?! Nevermind the fact that the Atkins book only "allows" 3 packets of sweetener per day.

Mr. Altena gave me a quick heads up on sugar alcohols. I had no idea that so many of them had a rather high glycemic index and caused a rise in blood glucose. Darn it!

Here's the list, y'all:

Polyol	GI (glucose=100)	Calories/g
Maltitol syrup (intermediate)	53	3
Maltitol syrup (regular)	52	3
Maltitol syrup (high)	48	3
Polyglycitol (hydrogenated starch hydrolysate)	39	2.8
Maltitol syrup (high-polymer)	36	3
Maltitol	36	2.7
Xylitol	13	3
Isomalt	9	2.1
Sorbitol	9	2.5
Lactitol	6	2
Erythritol	0	0.2
Mannitol	0	1.5

Guess what's in most of these sugar free goodies. Maltitol. And not only does it cause a rise in blood sugar but it can cause stomach issues and discomfort.

These are just the sugar alcohols, not the sweeteners like sucralose or stevia.

Needless to say, I was sabotaging myself. On the way to Austin I had some sugar free goodies. On the way home we stopped at Bucees (a huge gas station/convenience store complex) and I got some sugar free goodies and sausage. By Monday my weight went up. I still didn't know about the sugar alcohols at that point.

In Austin I did have one meal that was definitely not low carb. And I expected that to show up on the scale slightly. But not to this extent!

So all that week I watched my weight fluctuate. I still didn't have any idea what was going on. Sure, I wasn't eating all of my veggies but why was the scale going up and down like a see-saw?! Right before the half marathon Sunday I had some hormonal fluctuations and the weight went up even more! *&*#$@(*

After I learned about the sugar alcohol mess and started reading labels more closely I cut those out. The weight started dropping consistently. Now I'm watching the scale go in the right direction daily.

I do still used erithritol (Truvia) and it seems fine. I've also upped my veggie and water intake. So we'll see how things go.
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Woke up Tuesday to a rainy day. I still planned on running as soon as it let up. But I really didn't want to get my new Asics dirty. They're so pretty! Excuses, excuses!

I tell you, every time I even mentioned running it would start pouring outside! Finally after I had finished up school with the kiddos and Chuck was on his way home from work I gave up the idea. Sad I know.

Breakfast: Mock Danish. Love these!

At lunchtime I knew I needed a big ass salad but really wanted some of my homemade sweet mustard dressing which calls for sugar free pancake syrup. And the pancake syrup I had been using uses maltitol as the main ingredient. Unacceptable. But I did find this in the sugar free/diet/diabeetus section of the grocery store:

Sweetened with sucralose.

It tastes very good but it's not very thick. It's ok by me though.

I made up the sweet mustard dressing and stored it in an empty olive oil bottle in the fridge.

I chopped up enough salad greens to last a couple of days then portioned out 3 cups for lunch. That's a lot of salad!

4 oz. leftover fried chicken (Yes, I did weight it. I was curious), steamed broccoli and mashed cauliflower. I got in my veggies!!

After lunch I was stuffed! I was also drinking water all day. Trying to be good. The one thing I didn't do was drink my broth for electrolytes. The problem was that all of the broth I had contained sugar! I had no idea they added that to broth. Guess I'll need to make my own.

Dinner time rolled around and I was going to get acquainted with a new-to-me veggie: the spaghetti squash. This one is Big Chuy brand. I'm not sure why that cracked me up but it did. Meet, Big Chuy.

Big Chuy is from Mexico. I'm sure he came over legally. Let's give him a big welcome and get to know his personality a little better by splitting him in half. That's the way to get to know the inside of someone.

As you can see, Big Chuy is filled with pumpkin-like seeds and a stringy mess of a heart. So I scraped out his guts and just left what was attached to the rind.

Big Chuy was then given a hot tub bath in boiling water for 20 minutes until he was relaxed and tender.

While Big Chuy rested in the jacuzzi, I sauteed some bacon and onion and red bell pepper.

I scraped out Chuy's stringy flesh into a colander and tossed his rind.

Melted some butter in a skillet and added Big Chuy. He cooked for about 5 minutes until he started to get a nice tan then I flipped him over. We can't have Chuy getting an uneven tan!

Mr. Chuy was then topped with the sauteed bacon and veggies and a couple of ounces of cheddar cheese. He was covered with a lid and cooked until his other side was nice and browned.

Big Chuy came out dressed up as smothered hashbrowns!

It tasted good! Kind of cheesy. I liked it! Rachel was not thrilled with it. Charlie ate it all. Chuck was impressed.

More veggies. 3 cups of salad. All of this salad is really filling.

Then it was time for Biggest Loser (meh, can't get into this season) and went to bed.

This morning (Wednesday) I took a peak at the scale. Down 1.5 pounds. Yay!! Going in the right direction again. :)

A Good Blog & My Reminder List

2012-01-31T11:08:00.001-06:00

We all have blogs we visit for inspiration and ideas. I've been visiting a few blogs regularly to help me with getting back into my low carb groove and improve my numbers on the scale and my health. Now I'd like to share these blogs with you. I'll share one at a time.

Today I want to introduce you to Kent Altena. He is an Atkins success story who lost over 200 pounds and has kept it off for several years.

You can read part of his success story on the Atkins web site HERE.

Kent has run several races including half marathons and marathons all while eating low carb. He has been very helpful to me and answered questions regarding fuel during racing and little questions in general.

But the reason I keep going back to his blog are for the recipes! Every single thing I have made of his has been excellent. My family is constantly asking for his Garlic Parmesan wings. It's my son's favorite thing now. And I love the mock danish. The cinnamon buns are downright dangerously good! There has not been one thing I've made that hasn't been great! Oh, and I'm making his Faux Fried Rice (just click on fried rice link in post) again this week because the kids have been asking for it. Weird! My kids are asking for vegetables.

I also visit his blog to watch his extensive library of videos he's made to answer all kinds of questions about eating this way (found at top of blog). They've been more than a little helpful to me.

He has a section in Low Carbing Among Friends cookbook devoted to his story and recipes. Great book and great recipes.

As a matter of fact, I made one of his recipes for dinner last night. I'll share that with you in a moment.

But do go check out Kent's web site. A nice guy and GREAT recipes and videos. Plus when the scale isn't budging it's nice to see such a success story to motivate me. ;)

So this is the first blog I wanted to share with you. There will be more. Try one of his recipes. You won't be disappointed. I'd suggest the chicken wings. They're pretty much legendary around here and will make you say, "I can eat this and lose weight? No way!"
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Monday was a busy day for the Happy Texan. I had some coupons to clip and head to the grocery store. My morning got away from me and I just had a small snack for breakfast.

One thing I've learned is never go to the grocery store hungry! So before I left for my errands I had a filling lunch: chicken fajitas, mashed cauliflower, and massaged kale salad. Look! I got in some veggies!

Off to the pet store for frozen rats and mice, bird food for the parrots and a nail trimmer for the dog. Pets are expensive! Yes, I did say frozen rats and mice. The snakes eat once a week. Yes, I said snakes. Aw, they're not so bad. And they're quiet!

At the grocery store I ended up saving a good chunk of change by shopping the sales and clipping a few coupons.

I get home and Chuck ~~demanded~~ ~~suggests~~ asks nicely that I have dinner ready by 4:30 so he can go shoot a match that night. It's a zombie match (still not sure what that means) at an indoor range called The Arms Room. I'm not anti-gun but they just don't hold the same appeal to me as they do to him but I'm ready to be a cheerleader when duty calls. I did get a gun for Valentine's Day once. Somehow I don't think that mistake will be repeated. Ever. Nothing says I love you like a bullet.

Anyway, it's after 3pm and I have to have dinner ready pronto. And I have fried chicken, steamed fresh broccoli and mashed cheddar "potatoes" planned. Not exactly a quick weeknight dinner.

I throw all of the ingredients together for the breading which is parmesan and a bunch of seasonings. Look how pretty! I love the colors. Hmmm....might have to use that scheme as paint colors in the house. (yes, I do get distracted easily)

Then, oh crap! I forgot to buy cream at the store! It was even on my list. I was told that it is common for women to make this mistake but I do not believe that and take great offense.

I'm back home in a jiffy but Chuck walks through the door at around 4pm. Dang! I haven't even started!

Bread the chicken and let it set for a few minutes so it and the breading can become friends and bond. (recipe called for chicken parts but I have trouble eating chicken off the bone. I blame my years studying biology because I hate being able to name the tissues and bones. Will always remind me of the cat I dissected. ewwww and awesome at the same time! Darn it! Got distracted again.)

Guess what. Dinner completed and on the table at 4:40. 10 minutes later than the 4:30 deadline I was asked to meet but I heard no complaining.

Oh good golly Miss Molly! This is some good eats right here. (I will refrain from being distracted and going on a tangent about Alton Brown and Good Eats.) Every plate was cleaned. I might have seen someone licking his plate but I will not mention names. Charlie asked if we had more. Rachel asked if we could have it again and said it was one of her favorite fried chickens I had ever made.

I don't remember the last time I made fried chicken. Back in 2010 and it was from America's Test Kitchen. What do you know? I DO remember the last time I made it!

Low carb chickeny goodness coming in at 2 grams net carbs each. I have a ratings system for my recipes which runs from 0-5 stars. I ask the family to rate each recipe then I write the results in my cookbooks along with the date I made it and any comments. So when I asked for the rating for the chicken I was told 11 stars, an obvious reference to Spinal Tap the movie but my cap is five stars.

You want to make this recipe. And where did I get it? You know the answer to this. Low Carbing Among Friends. And whose recipe is it? Kent Altena's. You can find the recipe on his blog as well as the cookbook. Enjoy!!!

After dinner we went to the zombie shooting spree. I sat in the waiting area and ventured into the range area when it was Chuck's turn to shoot. Not a good night for him but I think he had fun. My view:

Had the munchies when I got home so had a few pork rinds with a little jalapeno cheddar dip which is way too good. Chuck hates pork rinds and he was noshing on them.

I spent the rest of the evening looking through my Atkins book. My weight has been all over the place lately. Some was hormonal but after Austin I had a gain and it just doesn't want to go back down. Well, I take that back, it has been steadily decreasing. So I decided enough was enough and I was going to get hard core about this.

The following are things that I highlighted in my book and is meant as a list for me to review. It may hold no interest for you whatsoever but I need it so I can glance back at it as a reminder.

Atkins Induction (and extended induction) Reminder List

can stay in induction up until I only have 15 pounds to lose then I really need to move to Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) so I can start adding more carbs and more foods back into diet. Can move sooner if I wish though. Up to me.
Cheese-only have up to 4 oz per day
cream- only have 1-1.5 oz per day
eat 3 meals a day or 4-5 smaller meals
if not hungry at mealtime, just have a small low carb snack but make sure it has fat and protein
sweeteners- only have up to 3 per day (oops)
drink two cups of broth per day until I add 50 grams of carbs back to my daily intake
drink 1 cup of broth an hour before strenuous exercise
always have veggies with a fat and a protein
don't go more than 6 hours without eating
lime/lemon juice- have up to 2-3 tablespoons per day
purchased salad dressings should have no more than 3 net grams carbs per serving
ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen can cause water retention and may block fat burning. Use Tylenol instead
drink at least 8 8-oz glasses of water per day

That's it for today. It's a rainy day here in Houston but even if I have to run in the rain I'm going to get in my training. Determination is the word for the day.

Plan B: The Race Report That Wasn't

2012-01-30T10:24:00.000-06:00

Before a mini weekend recap, let me tell you about my half marathon!

Saturday night I got every little thing together including electrolyte mixes, Spibelt with bib pinned on (I was #1968...Chuck's birth year), Bodyglide.....everything! My timing tag was attached to my shoes:

I read every single thing on the race web site about the course and looked up the route on Google maps. Then I showed the family the course and everybody shook their heads in disbelief. Thirteen point one miles is a respectable distance but I never realized how far it was until I saw it on the map!

I began to dread this race which is something I've never done. There's usually a feeling of nervous excitement but never dread. Surprisingly, I was able to go to sleep without any trouble. Maybe it was the melatonin I took. No clue.

Sunday morning comes and I have to get up at the ridiculous hour of 3:30 am. Insane! I'm thinking night races are the way to go in the future.

Having things put together the night before is always a good thing for me because I walk around in a semi-conscious state in the morning. I can't think at all. I just grab clothes and start putting them on.

I stumble to the kitchen and make a little breakfast that I have no desire to eat and wash it down with some caffeine. Sitting on the sofa, the dread of the upcoming race will not go away. Not only am I not ready for this but mother nature decided to visit that morning and I'm worried about logistics of the race. It's like I kept getting slapped in the face by the universe but I refuse to listen.

Finally Chuck sits beside me and starts to talk. He's already told me that he didn't think I should do this run but he would be there to support me if I want to do it. He even loaded his bike in the van so he could ride near me and keep me company. With a camera and a cowbell!

He tells me, "I have no doubt that you can finish this race but I also have no doubt that it will set you back again and you will have to pay for it. I'll be there to carry you to the car because I know that if you have to drag yourself across that finish line you will. You've already proven that you can run a half marathon because you've already done it! There's nothing to prove. It's ok not to go to this race. There are plenty of others. Don't hurt yourself because you think you have to run this race."

He was right and I knew it. I hate saying I'm going to do something and not follow through. I knew I was going to be disappointed in myself if I didn't go.

We talked for a while then I looked at the time. 5 am. I wanted to be there by then. The slower marathoners had just started their long journey. What should I do?

I decided to stay home. But I already had all my gear on! I was ready to go so I looked online to see if there were any 5K races that I could run instead. Just to be able to do something. There weren't any.

So back to bed we went and didn't get up until a little after 10. I was pretty disappointed with myself all day but I still think I did the right thing by sitting this one out. There will be other races.

As a matter of fact, I signed up for a half marathon yesterday because I have to have goals. Very goal oriented person. They keep me going. I must have something to look forward to!

So April 1st (coincidence that it's April Fool's Day? I think not!) I will be running Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon. The theme for the 2012 event is “Salute to Firefighters” which translates into big trucks, bright lights and lots of firefighters from different municipalities all cheering for us runners throughout every stage of the event. Should be fun!
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Now for a little weekend recap.

Friday night I had the opportunity to go to a bbq for the volunteers of the Houston Chevron Marathon/Half marathon. I didn't get to run or volunteer this year but I got to go as a guest of someone who did! It was packed!

I put sunglasses on some folks in case they didn't want their pictures on a blog.

That was a lot of fun and we all got great bbq and goodie bags.

Saturday Chuck had a shooting match where he placed fourth (Yay! Good job!). I was very sleepy all day Saturday.

Made up some Crab and Avocado Salad with Sesame Wasabi Vinaigrette. So good! Glad I'm not allergic to crab!

The recipe is in LCAF cookbook. Love the dressing. It's spicy and would be fantastic over cucumbers or over seared ahi tuna.

That evening after everybody was finally home (Chuck had been shooting, Rachel had been at the mall and Charlie playing with friends) Chuck cooked T-Bone steaks that were enormous and I made up some mashed "potatoes". Great dinner! This is my piece of steak. Charlie and I were able to split one.

For dessert I cooked up an "apple" crisp.

It's made with zucchini but you really couldn't tell. It even looked like apples. The kids were asking me if they were really apples. Nope. I'm getting some veggies in them! They eat apples too but I have trouble getting them to eat veggies like they should. Not this time! It was great and only 2.1 grams net carbs.

Sunday morning was the day of the race. When I finally got up I was a little restless with disappointment and wrestling with some feelings so I cleaned up the kitchen and tried a new recipe for a homemade version of Hot Pockets. For some reason my egg whites did not hold their shape after I beat them to stiff peaks. Instead of Hot Pockets I ended up with a hot mess. Some days it's best to just step away from everything because it's going to be one of those days. Know what I mean?

That would be egg, cheese and bacon in there. Still tasted pretty good but I think I'd add a few more seasonings to the batter. That's just my personal preference. Egg Pockets. Hmmm.....not quite. I'll try them again sometime. Darn eggs.

The day went by way too quickly. That happens when you decide to sleep away most of the morning. Went by in laws' house to see their new car and they gave us their old Mercury Grand Marquis! So sweet. Chuck is going to use it as his work car so he doesn't put more miles on the truck. I forgot to take a picture!

That evening I decided I should stay away from cooking so we went out to Joe's Crab Shack where I got a bucket of snow crabs and a Caesar salad. Yum yum yum!! I left the corn and potatoes though.

I started feeling better that evening so I made up a batch of No Bake Peanut Butter bars which are very similar to a pan of Reese's Cups! These are super rich and tasty. LOVE them. The recipe is in LCAF cookbook. 2 grams net carbs each.

I ran out of butter for the chocolate topping. Ugh. Another cooking disaster today? Nope! I made my own butter by whipping cream with a pinch of salt until the butter separated from the liquid, squeezed out some more liquid and voila! Butter!

So all's well that ends well. Sunday started out disappointing but ended on a good note with signing up for a new half marathon.

Guess it's time to start training!

Hot Diggidy Corn Dog

2012-01-27T10:19:00.000-06:00

Beautiful Thursday here in Houston, TX. I stretched and made myself a Muffin in a Minute. I added Truvia and made it a bit sweeter and also some pumpkin pie spice. With a little cream cheese these things aren't half bad. 3.5 grams net carbs each.

Sorry about the rotten photos. I'll start using a real camera to take pictures again.

Muffin in a Minute

Ingredients

1/4 Cup flaxseed meal
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 granular sugar substitute (sucralose)
1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten
1 Teaspoon butter (or canola oil)

Directions

Mix the flax meal, baking powder, sugar substitute and cinnamon in a coffee mug or single-serving soufflé dish.
Add the egg and butter (or oil). Mix with dry ingredients.
Microwave 1 minute or more, until firm
Turn out and serve with butter or cream cheese. Or toast before applying spread.

Net Carbs:3.5Fiber:9.5Protein:12Fat:17.5Calories:238

Lunch: Corndog! Yes, a corndog! It's in the LCAF cookbook and I just had to try it.

I used a Nathan's skinless hot dog which has 1g of carbs. I dried it off to help the batter stick. It's a very thick batter so it must be shaped with your hands. I added 1/2 tsp. of unflavored gelatin powder to also help it stick. Then fried it in a little coconut oil.

The taste was really good. It's not just like a real corndog but I liked it a lot. Next time I'll add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sweetener to try to give it a little more of that authentic corndog flavor. Definitely a keeper recipe. You can find it HERE.

Served it with an ample amount of mustard and a big spinach salad with Caesar dressing.

Then I was off to take Rachel to her Economics class. She enjoys it much more than I enjoyed my Free Enterprise class I had to take in high school.

After dropping her off I went to pick up my race packet. I still can't believe I'm doing this. Chuck has nicely and gently tried to talk me out of it. But seeing that I won't budge on the matter he said he'll be there to support me with a cowbell. Cowbell makes it all better. Never underestimate the power of the cowbell to revive a tired runner!

After getting back home I needed a little snack so I had a cheese stick. I love cheese. Favorite is my aged gouda. But this will do.

And I didn't have to cook last night! Chuck took me to Outback Steakhouse. I haven't been there in so long.

We got the small order of seared ahi tuna as an appetizer. It was good but it didn't taste like it was freshly seared. Still tasty though.

Chuck got a sirloin but when it came out it was so tough that he had to send it back. He never sends food back so it must have been pretty bad. So he decided to get what I ordered instead:
fillet with lobster tail, broccoli and grilled asparagus.

It was very good! And I learned that I have developed an allergy to lobster. That is so unfair! First shrimp and now lobster?! I refuse to believe it even though my throat started to swell and it became difficult to swallow. I gave the rest of the lobster to Chuck who enjoyed it immensely.

Small victory: instead of devouring the loaf of bread they set on the table I just looked at it. I'm sure it wasn't that good anyway, right? Right?!

Feeling full and relaxed we went to a Starbucks to hang out and have a cup of coffee with a shot of sugar free hazelnut. Ahhhh.

A very nice day it was.

Last post until the half marathon. The goal: take it one mile at a time until I cross the finish. This is not about a PR or speed but simply to stay one step ahead of the sag wagon. I'll meet you back here after the race to give a recap. Think about me while you're sipping your coffee Sunday morning. LOL

Any plans this weekend for you? Share! I love to hear what you're doing.

Peanut butter bars and Cinnamon Rolls. Oh my!

2012-01-25T10:13:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the comments about the gorilla run on the last post. It was so much fun!

Usually after a race my hips hurt a bit because I push myself. And did you know that Austin has hills? Why do I always forget that there are hills in other cities?!

My calves were sore the next morning which scared me a bit. I stretched like crazy and they got better quickly.

Let's talk races and bad decisions for a moment. Sunday I am signed up for a half marathon. The USAFit Half marathon in Sugar Land, Texas. I signed up long time ago when I joined the running club. All was going fine until I developed an overuse injury in both my calves.

After my first half marathon in December I had to take the rest of the month off because I could hardly walk. I was on steroids and had to do stretches at least 3 times a day. It took a long time to recover and during that time I did not run.

I've only recently been able to get back on the streets. The gorilla run was my first race since December.

I know I am not ready for this half on Sunday. I've debated back and forth whether I should do it or not. My head tells me that I should skip it. My stubborn self tells me I should do it.

So, I've decided to do it. I'm going to be super slow. I'm going to have to take many walk breaks. My only goal is to cross that finish line even if I'm the last person out there. I just want to finish. And if I get in and feel that I can't finish, at least I get a ride in a police car to the finish. But I have to try. No, this is not a wise decision. I don't need to be told how foolish it is. I know! Chuck has told me I should sit it out but since I've made up my mind to try this he says he'll be there to cheer me on and support my decision. That's all I need right now. A little support.
----------------------------------

Monday night I made a new recipe for Maple Nut Blondies from LCAF cookbook. I was surprised that with so few ingredients it developed a cakelike texture!

I did alter the recipe slightly. I added some sugar free chocolates to the top when it came out of the oven and let them melt slightly then spread them around. Chocolate and peanut butter just belong together!

Next time I'll add a little Truvia to the batter because I like things a little sweeter. Yes, I have a sweet tooth. :) The original recipe was posted HERE but it has been removed. You have to get the cookbook if you want to make them. (They're so good!) 5 grams carbs per serving.

Ugh. My weight went up some from my free-for-all lunch I had Saturday. It ticks me off too. And you know what's worse? It wasn't worth it. I mean, if I'm going to have a splurge for a celebration it should at least bring a sense of euphoria from its goodness. As Chuck said, "The food we've been eating at home is way better than this." So it wasn't a good splurge. It was a mistake. Oh well. Live and learn.

TUESDAY EATS

Breakfast was just a couple of scrambled yard eggs (my mom has given me 5 dozen eggs!!!) with some cheese, lots of hot sauce and a little bit of bacon. Tasty and filling.

Lunch was some pizza. The crust is a cauliflower cheese recipe that I can't get enough of. I love this pizza! It's not crispy crunchy. Think soft crust. But full of flavor. Try it! Recipe found HERE. It was even featured on the Dr. Oz show.

Grocery shopping day. Not my favorite thing to do but I did score a mega spatula for half off! Now I can flip some big stuff!

Time to make the dinner. Meatloaf. I've never been a fan of the meatloaf (neither the singer nor the food). But I got ground meat on sale and I make my menus based on what's on sale.

This recipe is called Eggcellent Meatloaf and only has .9 grams net carbs per serving. After the loaf is formed the whole thing gets wrapped in bacon. Because a hug from bacon makes everything better!

After cooking in the oven for an hour and a brief pass under the broiler this is what I got.

And when you slice into it there's a surprise! A layer of boiled egg. The meat itself is flavored with finely chopped mushrooms, a few caramelized onions and Parmesan cheese.

Served with a side of mashed "potatoes" and massaged kale. (I use Truvia as the sweetener in the kale and don't add mango or nuts as original recipe lists)

Very good dinner. Filling too!

Dessert time! I tried yet another new recipe from LCAF (yes, I really do love this cookbook!). This time for Cinnamon Sweet Rolls.

Oh.my.goodness! These are so incredible. I'm without words to describe how tasty these are. Like biting into clouds of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. But the texture is much lighter but still full of flavor. Let me put it this way: I made 6 of them and they are all gone. The kids got into them. I had one. Chuck had....a few. Definitely did not taste like 1 gram net carb!

And with a very happy tummy I went to bed. :)

Some good news: after my "little" splurge Saturday the weight is finally going back down. Not doing that again for a long, long time. It's just not worth it. My body loooooves sugar and starches. It loves them so much that it likes to keep them. Around my belly. And rear. And thighs. Not pretty.

Happy Wednesday to you!

Austin Gorilla Run

2012-01-23T14:19:00.002-06:00

I've been a part of "serious" races where the goal is to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. I've also been a part of an obstacle course 5K, a night race, and now a race dressed as a gorilla. These "fun runs" have always been the most memorable and the ones I've enjoyed the most. People are out there enjoying life and laughing and having a great time. These are my favorite runs by far!

Saturday morning Chuck and I got up at 5:30am which is mighty early when you go to sleep at 12:30 or 1 am! We go down to the lobby and have some breakfast then back upstairs to drink back a sugar free Rock Star (for caffeine) and I get my gorilla gear on.

We find a parking garage at City Hall in Austin. The "Occupy" people were camped out on the steps and must have been using the garage as their bathroom because it stank! It was so gross. I wish those people would go home and occupy their own homes instead of living like homeless and making our cities look bad.

We walk to the start line which was right outside the Run Tex store. Since it was in the 40's outside a lot of us gorillas stayed inside the store and just waited around for the start.

Time to get the mask on and head to the holding area.

The Guinness Book of World Record people were there doing an official count. We didn't quite make it. We had 1,023 gorillas and needed 1200. Maybe next time.

The gorillas on wheels were allowed to start first.

Uncle Sam gorilla. People were dressed in all kinds of crazy outfits. It is HARD to run in those masks! I carried mine.

This gorilla got engaged right before the race started. I didn't get the gorilla-to-gorilla proposal picture. Congratulations, y'all!

People were having the best time. Running, dancing, jumping around, grunting like a gorilla. People just enjoying life.

Now this is talent! It's hard to ride a unicycle but with a costume and mask on? Bravo!

This unicycler looked a little freaky to me. The head looked to big for the body.

Super gorilla!!

Just keeping Austin weird.

Banana chefs! How clever!

Oh no! King Kong gorilla got Barbie.

Well, good for you, lady. Not sure I'd advertise it like that but do your thang.

Oh la la! Bridal lingerie gorilla. How sexy.

Tutus, roller blades, Planet of the Apes. All were represented.

I ran behind these guys most of the time. At one point we were running under a railroad track and a passenger train came by and we got to wave at the astonished passengers. They had no clue what was going on. All they saw were a thousand gorillas running around and acting crazy. It made me LOL.

This was my first race running on low carb. I felt so much better than the first run I tried last week. My legs felt good! By breathing, on the other hand, was not so great. I've lost a lot of aerobic fitness during my hiatus in December.

Somewhere along the course I lost my pink and black feathered boa and an earring. Wardrobe malfunction.

As I came around the corned to see the finish line I put on my gorilla mask but had to roll up the bottom so I could get some more air.

Chuck finally spotted me. He didn't recognize me without the feathers. That man had the nerve to say we all look alike. How racist!!

Ashley and her husband Rob were waiting at the finish line with an awesome sign. LOVED it! That was so sweet of her to drive to Austin and cheer. I appreciated it and it was so good to see her. Wish we could have hung out longer.

Yes, my face is very red. Even though it was cold outside it was very warm in that gorilla suit!

I'm not sure of my time because this was not a timed event and I didn't wear my Garmin. But Chuck did say I finished a lot sooner than he thought I would. And I was nowhere near the sag wagon so I think I did ok.

Then it was time for the post race street party at Fado Irish pub.

Ashley and Rob left us to go get some food. Chuck and I got some Silverback Pale Ale and toasted a great run. This beer was good!!! I hadn't had beer in a while and according to the Atkins book the effects of alcohol are more pronounced while eating low carb. No kidding!! Dang.

There were pink gorillas at the party too!

We took our beer and free breakfast tacos and took a seat to listen to the bands and watch ~~gorillas~~ people have a good time.

These guys were dancing in rhythm together.

A band with a cowbell=awesomeness!

The band tossed out sunglasses to the crowd and I got a pair!

A nice lady offered me a massage. Oh sure. Why not?! Ahhhh. It felt good! I almost went to sleep.

Made some furry friends.

Whoa! Isn't that the name of the medicine the dentist gives me before a root canal?! I took that stuff once and woke up on the sofa of The Room Store. Messes you up!

Time to make our way back to the parking garage. I'm hungry! I did not look out of place walking around. There were gorillas everywhere.

It has been tradition to go out for pizza and beer after races. But since I'm trying to watch the carbs and my insulin issues and weight issues, we headed to Mimi's Cafe. I had intended to get something acceptable but decided to have one splurge meal. I am on a mini-vacation after all!

I got a five-way grilled cheese with turkey on it and fries. Then we split some stuffed beignets. It tasted like ambrosia. But as soon as we were finished with lunch we both felt sluggish and tired.

Did I mention that I went to Mimi's in my gorilla costume? Yep. And a waitress gave me a hug. Several comments from patrons. Children stared. People were very supportive of my lifestyle choice of the day. This is Austin!

My favorite question was from the manager: "Is it your birthday?"
Ha! Because I guess if it were my birthday it would make sense to go out dressed as a gorilla with a tiara???

Back to the hotel where we took a nap for almost 2 hours. Then showered and back out. This time we met up with 11 people at a popular BBQ place called Salt Lick. There were buses in the parking lot. The parking lot is enormous! We had to get in a long line just to put our names on the list. We were told there was a two hour wait so it was time to get comfortable.

Under lit oak trees are long benches to sit. It's BYOB so people brought coolers of their favorite beverages.

They sell fresh squeezed lemonade (you get to watch them squeeze the lemons!) and popcorn for the starving people who are waiting forever for some BBQ.

It was maybe 15 minutes before they called us. Yay! It was packed.

I wore my gorilla race shirt and got a shout out from a few people who had also run the race that morning. I love the camaraderie of races like that.

Chuck and I enjoyed sausage, brisket and smoked turkey (no sauce) and good company. It was a GREAT day!!

The only thing I would have done different was that lunch. It really messed me up. Both Chuck and I had trouble sleeping and didn't feel well the next day. You'd think I would learn!

Sunday morning Chuck shot a carbine shooting match with his friend until a little after 1 pm and then we headed home arriving aroun 6:30pm. It's good to be home but this was one incredible weekend that I'll never forget. I can't wait to do it all over again next year!

Gorilla in Your Midst

2012-01-20T21:38:00.001-06:00

Friday and time to head to Austin!

I had my breakfast of a couple of slices of leftover low carb pizza, a piece of lemon bar, and a sugar free Rock Star. Breakfast of champions.

After running around and packing and picking up books at the library we were set to leave. But by this time it's 1:00 and time for lunch.

Lunch: a quick low carb bacon cheeseburger at Carl's Jr and a Diet Coke.

Oh, I LOVE road trips. We saw some of the damage from the wildfires we had in Texas a few months ago. So sad.

We got to Austin just in time for rush hour. But I made it to the running store to pick up my packet and gorilla suit.

Then we finally got checked in to the hotel. What a great room!

Ok, now I'm starving! Steak was on the menu so we headed into town and found a Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Chuck and I order our steaks, and veggies and Caesar salad. The waiter brings out the salad and said, "I put the croutons on the side. By the way you ordered I assumed you are eating low carb." Wow! Now that's observant!

He then stayed at the table and talked for around 15 minutes because he's low carb too and wanted to talk and talk and talk. But it was fine. We didn't mind. It's nice meeting new people.

I got a sirloin steak topped with blue cheese butter and broccoli. Soooooo good! Sorry about picture quality.

Then time to head back to hotel and try on the gorilla costume. Um, I got the wrong size. Apparently I did not, in fact, need a large. I'm a medium gorilla. Yeah. I present to you my gorilla photo shoot.

Hot, hot, hot.

Oh, you naughty gorilla!

Vogue, girl! Flaunt it if ya got it.

High class gorilla can wear a tiara, boa and pearls and make it work.

Oh dear! Bad gorilla! How did that picture get in there?!

Seriously, the costume is super itchy and hot. It's like being trapped in a bag with a bunch of steel wool sponges. But I still think this is going to be AWESOME!

Now it's time for me to relax. I'm not nervous at all. I brought my Garmin but, really, what's the point? Who do I think I'm kidding? I can't run very far in this costume. There are going to be 1200 gorillas running around downtown Austin and partying in the street at a pub afterwards. Yeah, this is going to be fun!!

Looking forward to sharing the day with you tomorrow! Wish me luck. I'm just hoping I don't trip and fall on my beautiful gorilla face. ;)

Thermapen Sale

2012-01-20T14:48:00.001-06:00

I'm on my way to Austin but I had to tell you that I just got an email that the instant read thermometer that I use (and so does Alton Brown) is on sale for $69! That's a great price.

http://www.thermoworks.com/emails/2012_01_01_thermapen_open_box_sale.html

That is all. :-)

New Vegetable on the Block

2012-01-19T20:40:00.002-06:00

My Thursday was spent prepping for my trip to Austin to run the Austin Gorilla Run this weekend. I'll be dressed as a gorilla with a tiara and a hot pink boa and earrings. A lady has to always look her best!

Weight: another 1.1 pounds down. I fully expect to have some up days and some days where there is no loss. Not worried. It'll come off.

Breakfast was a boiled egg and a cup of coffee.

Then I had the privilege of doing a few loads of laundry and folding them. Ah, the life of a fluffy trophy wife.

Lunch: I wanted some pizza but I was out of mozzarella. Hmmm....I wonder if cheddar would work as well. The crust needs some cheese and so does the topping. Well, let's give it a shot.

Um, cheddar cooks a little bit faster than mozzarella. I was not aware of this.

Fortunately Parmesan covers a multitude of sins and the flavor was still good.

Feeling happy and full I went back to my chores when what should arrive but a package! It's a product that I get to sample and review! YAY! So there will be a review on this as soon as I get to try it. Love the fancy packaging.

I'm not a big fan of vegetables. I'm only slightly more enthused with fruits. Meats (specifically bacon and anything fried) are up a rung on my scale of likes. And at the top are breads, pasta, cheese and sweets. And a margarita. Can you see why I got in this shape?!

But I'm trying to avoid crossing over from insulin resistant to diabeetus so I'm trying to embrace the vegetable and make friends with it.

Tonight I extended my hand to a new-to-me veggie: the chayote squash. Blogger friends, meet chayote. Chayote, meet blogger friends.

I had a recipe for these guys but I wasn't sure how to handle them. To peel or not to peel? Google was not much help in that area.

Hmm....the peel is where the vitamins are usually most concentrated, right? Well, we can't have that! If I want vitamins I'll take a pill like every other normal American. So the peel's gotta go!

Chayote was not happy with this. I guess I wouldn't be either. Chayote struck back and dried out my hands. They were drier than a popcorn fart. That chayote attacked me! I washed my hands and even used lotion but my hands still dried out.

What the hell kind of vegetable is this?!

I was a bit afraid but also angry at this point and decided that chayote and I were not friends and he must die so I cut him in half and exposed his heart which was hardened. He had no soul.

I cut out his heart (it may have been a seed) and threw it in the trash then diced up his flesh. I won this battle!

After several long minutes of sauteing in olive oil then adding some shallots to the party, chayote finally gave up and became the tender vegetable that I knew he could be. I had softened this vicious veggie. I added some lemon zest and salt and pepper to him then introduced him to the ultimate therapist that can make any veggie be happy and tasty: bacon!

Meanwhile, I had a massive rack of ribs (recipe for Char's Ribs by Jennifer Eloff and in LCAF cookbook) cooking in the oven with homemade bbq sauce and they were all like, "Miss Happy Texan, we give up. We'll be tender. No need to treat us like you did Chayote." We had an understanding, the ribs and I.

So with a plate of ribs and some chayote and some mashed cauliflower potatoes, dinner was served! Not sure why the picture turned out the way it did. I think chayote had something to do with it but I can't prove it.

Oh those ribs and "potatoes" were delicious! And ribs are really filling! Made my tastebuds do a happy dance. But there was that chayote. It was acting all tender but my hand was still dry. I didn't trust it one bit.

I finally took a bite and, I may have imagined this, but I think my tongue started to tingle a little. No one else complained. Maybe he had a little more bite left in him after all. Bit I was brave and consumed the renegade vegetable.

And that was my introduction to chayote. Noodles have never given me this kind of trouble (except internally in the form of insulin spikes and fat around my belly) but with vegetables you just never know.

Would I try it again? Heck yeah!! I'm not going to let a vegetable think it can take me on! Not only is chayote a little fiesty but he's pretty darn tasty. Cooked he's a little bit like the texture of a cooked apple from an apple pie. Chayote and I are not finished!

Low Carb Chocolate Twinkies!

2012-01-18T22:01:00.000-06:00

What a busy day! Before I get into the day, let me tell you about my night.

I was born with a "gift". I can predict a weather change. Not in a way that would actually save lives by giving an advanced warning of a hurricane or anything of that nature. No, my weather prediction comes on within a few hours of a change in the weather.

I can tell you if it's going to rain or if a front is coming through. How? My legs ache and feel like they need to be stretched and pulled. It's a maddening feeling and only happens when the weather changes. It keeps me up at night! I toss. I turn. And no amount of melatonin or Nyquil will quell the pain. I remember sitting in school and twisting and turning at my desk because of my legs.

It's an interesting ~~curse~~ gift but one I'd gladly give up. Last night we had a cold front blow through and my legs let me know it all night long.

After a nice pot of coffee this morning and a couple of pieces of leftover low carb pizza from yesterday, I was off to meet my mom to let her take Charlie for the weekend. I'm going out of town for the Gorilla Run in Austin!!

My mom lives on 10 acres and has all kinds of plants and some chickens and ducks. She gave me 3 dozen yard eggs and a couple of bags of Meyer lemons from her trees. I think it's so cool to get food from your yard. That just doesn't happen here in suburbia though I do have some mint, rosemary and chives growing in my "landscaping". Landscaping in quotes because it's mostly just a scattering of a few plants I haven't killed. Look at the goodies I got!

And what to do with that many eggs? Boil some! Look closely. One of these things is not like the other. Do you see it?

Yep. Mom snuck in a duck egg. There are more in the other cartons. I'm skeptical but I guess an egg is an egg is an egg.

Lunch: I made a version of massaged kale salad and topped it with some leftover chicken fajita. Very good! Now for the kale salad I didn't use the mango or pumpkin seeds called for in the recipe and I substituted some Truvia for the honey. A great way to get in some greens.

More driving around. Rachel had Debate class. After driving to and from the class at almost an hour drive each way, I was finally back home a little after 4:30.

A short rest then it was time to make dinner.

I tried a new recipe from LCAF called Coconut Apricot Chicken. Oh wow. Incredible! I served it over some of the massaged kale salad. Since it was massaged it was some very relaxed kale.

And after I cooked it I realized I wasn't supposed to add apricots into my diet just yet. Oops. Adding in foods is done incrementally so you can find out how your body reacts. First nuts and seeds are added and new food groups are added slowly. Oh well. It was just a little sugar free apricot jam.

I read a headline today that said that low carb was being blamed for the death of Twinkies. Did you know Hostess filed for bankruptcy? It's true!

So in honor of Twinkie biting the dust I made a low carb chocolate Twinkie tonight. The recipe is found in LCAF and here.

I baked them just a little too long so they were slightly dry but the flavor is there. Sooooo good! Filled with real whipped cream!

2.7 grams carbs each and 164 calories. Absolutely love them! Just so you know I have a Twinkie pan to make these in. ;) Gotta have my kitchen toys.

In weight loss news, I reported yesterday that I lost 1.4 pounds. This morning showed I lost 1.6 pounds since yesterday. I'm not complaining! It's just kind of weird. That puts my weight loss in the past two weeks a little over 10 pounds. Not bad!

When's the last time you had a Twinkie?!

The Weekly Weigh In

2012-01-17T21:01:00.000-06:00

It's that time again. I debated whether I wanted to weigh because my muscles and hips are sore from trying to jump back into running. Sore muscles=water retention=weight gain.

But I stepped on the dreaded scale anyway.

Down 1.4 pounds.
Weight loss has definitely slowed down compared to last week but still a great loss to be celebrated. That's 8.9 pounds down in two weeks. I'm pretty happy about that!

Eats:

Breakfast was two scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon pieces with a cup of coffee.

I also tried a new recipe from Low Carbing Among Friends (LCAF in the rest of the post) for Meyer Lemon Curd Bars. I had picked up some meyer lemons at the farmer's market so I just had to make these.

It called for zesting the lemons and I have to share one of my favorite kitchen tools for zesting. It's a microplane. It's absolutely perfect. Look how it holds the zest. I found my microplane at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

The recipe called for making a shortbread crust from almond flour. Pat it into a pan and bake it.

Meanwhile, I made a lemon curd with fresh lemon juice, zest and eggs. Place in a makeshift double boiler and heat to 170* stirring constantly.

After the mixture reaches 170* remove from heat and whisk in butter.

This brings me to my other favorite kitchen gadget. It's my thermapen instant read thermometer! I love my thermometer. I use it when I grill or make candies or this recipe! They are pricey but if you sign up for the newsletter from thermapen they'll let you know when they have a sale on them. It's usually around Christmas.

Pour the mixture over the crust and bake.

After it is cooled off, chill for a few hours. These are fantastic!!!! 16 servings and 2 grams carbs each.

For lunch I made some more pizza from that cauliflower/cheese crust that I made yesterday. This stuff is so darn good!! Lick your fingers good!

Dinner: Also a recipe from LCAF, Spinach and Red Pepper Lasagna. What a great way to get in some veggies. Full of flavor but no noodles. 7 gram carbs per large serving.

I would love to give you the recipes but the blogger who created them doesn't have them available but they are in the book that she contributed to. LCAF. Obviously, I'm having a good time cooking from it. :)

Things are going well around here. I'm a little bummed that my hips hurt from such a run yesterday. I didn't realize I'd lose my training so quickly. But I really didn't have a choice. When you have an injury you have to take time off.

I'm not having any trouble with the food. There's a lot of cooking involved but I'm sure as I get used to it I'll be able to simplify things a bit.

Tomorrow will be a running day for me. Wish me luck!

Running Version 2.0

2012-01-16T20:26:00.000-06:00

Yes, running. Let's try this one more time. I've only tried running once since my half marathon back on December 11th. And that little run that I tried was really just me limping in agony for a half mile. No running. Limping! I had injured my calf muscles and I had to wait for them to heal.

Rachel had a music history class this morning so I made a quick breakfast of Muffin in a Minute except I added some gingerbread seasonings.

I don't really like these. I don't know why I keep making them. I guess because it fills a void and they're quick and different. The texture is somewhat like a sponge. A tasty sponge but a sponge nonetheless.

If you still want to try them, they're 3.2 grams net carbs.
Here ya go. Muffin in a Minute:

Ingredients

1/4 Cup flaxseed meal
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 granular sugar substitute (sucralose)
1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten
1 Teaspoon butter (or canola oil)

Directions

Mix the flax meal, baking powder, sugar substitute and cinnamon in a coffee mug or single-serving soufflé dish.
Add the egg and butter (or oil). Mix with dry ingredients.
Microwave 1 minute or more, until firm
Turn out and serve with butter or cream cheese. Or toast before applying spread.

While Rachel was in music class I went for my first run in over a month. The temperature in Houston....in January....seventy-farging-five degrees! Not that I'm complaining. Maybe a little bit. It was warm but at least there was a strong 30 mph hour breeze to make the running a bit more interesting.

How did it go, you ask? Well, I can tell you that I noticed I have lost aerobic fitness. I was huffing and puffing where it used to be no problem. And there's a big difference between running on glycogen stores and running on my own fat. My legs were not too impressed. But that could also be because I haven't run in so long. I've been told by someone who runs marathons like they're no problem that I will get used to this.

In 24 minutes I covered the amazing distance of 1.72 miles. Yes, I know. I was slower than slow. Part of that was on purpose. I was conscious of every step just waiting for my calves to start hurting again. I was so afraid of doing something wrong.

I stretched thoroughly before and after the run. And no pains!! Yay!!

As soon as I got home I had a pepper jack cheese stick.

I felt great after the run but I wanted to get in a few more miles and get my body used to this whole fat burning thing. By now clouds were rolling in and the wind was really blowing. I put on some tunes.

It felt so good to be out moving again!! It took until mile 1.75 and my legs started to feel so much better.

Since this is version 2.0 of running for me, let's start with a new pic. Week 1. Sorry about the quality of the photo.

Time for lunch. Delicious leftover chicken fajitas, cheese, sour cream, onion and bell pepper, and jalapenos. I added an extra lettuce leaf after I took the photo. Needed more veggies in my day.

Got cleaned up. Check out my new sunglasses. Do I look like a bug? I've never had any this large!

And already it was time to make dinner! Where does the day go?!

I'm take you step by step through a recipe to make a cauliflower-cheese pizza crust.
Ingredients:

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 tsp garlic salt olive oil (optional)

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings

First, grate a cauliflower in a food processor (except for the stems).

Nuke the cauliflower for 8 minutes in the microwave. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450*.

Mix 1 cup of cauliflower with a cup of mozzarella and the rest of the ingredients except the pizza sauce and toppings. Save the rest of the cauliflower to make more pizza crusts. Or make some more now!

I doubled the crust recipe and made two crusts. Pat them out onto a greased cookie sheet and spread to about 9 inches. Spread a little olive oil on top if you want to help it brown a little.

Bake the crust for 15 minutes. I had some run off. Oops. Next time I'll squeeze the cauliflower dry.

Add pizza sauce and toppings. Broil until cheese melts, around 3-4 minutes. Darn run off messing up my pretty picture!

This.was.awesome!!! Holy guacamole! The crust was not crust. Think a soft crust. No, you can't taste any cauliflower. I was told that it's better than Domino's. That's a compliment.

Served with a big salad that had cucumbers.

How good was it? There was not one bit left. Charlie even loved it.

There is a very happy Kelly Belly tonight.

I'm returning to running and low carb eating. Is there anything that you're returning to this year?

Weekend Roundup and Cream Cheese Clouds

2012-01-15T21:36:00.000-06:00

The weekend draws to a close. It always goes by way too fast for my taste.

Saturday was a busy day. Breakfast then took Rachel to spend a gift card at a clothing store. While I was there I thought, "Oh what the heck? I may as well try on some things too."

There really is nothing like a dressing room to remind you that you indeed have quite a few pounds to lose. It wasn't a depressing experience but a reminder to keep working hard. I did find a dress I liked but I didn't get it.

Sunday we took Rachel to play paintball for the first time. We didn't stay because she was with a group of 20 teens. She had a blast! She has quite a few bumps and bruises but she wants to do it again. I guess it didn't hurt that she had an employee following her around and offering to help her and load her paint balls all the time. ;)

I'm still trying out The Grocery Game. This is my second time to use it and I saved $88 at the grocery store! Not bad. If you decide to check it out or sign up you can say I referred you. Email is das.schus@sbcglobal.net.

And I only have one more day on induction! I'm going to stay at it for another week and see if I want to move on or not. But at this point I get to add in nuts! Eventually I'll move on to adding in more dairy, fruits, more veggies, and grains. It's just one thing at a time until I find out how my body reacts to each. Every body is different.

New recipe! Oh my goodness, these cream cheese clouds are incredible!!! I used Truvia as the sweetener and added a little bit of DaVinci Sugar Free Black Cherry syrup. It gave them a nice pink tint.

The only bad thing? These things are straight up addictive. Chuck has been going through them the fastest. They really are that good.

You could try other flavors with chocolate, coconut flavoring, etc. I'll be keeping these in stock! If you want to make them (and trust me, you do!) you can find the recipe HERE.

Sunday was a busy day! With Rachel at paintball and me making grocery list and shopping, I didn't get to cooking dinner until around 7pm.

But that didn't stop me from making a feast. Well, I did have some help in the kitchen tonight. I made Garlic Parmesan wings (because this is an absolute favorite with everyone and it has been requested several times since I first made them) and Chuck cooked up chicken fajitas and sauteed bell peppers and onions. He may have had some supervision to make sure he was doing it right. ;)

These are the very best wings. I'm not just saying that. And no kitchen fire this time! You can find the recipe HERE (scroll down) or in Low Carbing Among Friends Cookbook. Love that book if you couldn't tell.

Marinated chicken fajitas were on sale for about $2 a pack recently so I got 4 of those babies! Tonight two of the packs were cooked along with some bell peppers and onions. I like to season the veggies with some butter and a little soy sauce.

No tortillas for me. But do you think I missed them? Not one little bitty bit. The lettuce leaves made a perfect guilt free wrapper. These are incredibly good. I had two of them and had a very happy Kelly Belly afterwards. Ahhhhh.

After tomorrow I can start trying a few dessert recipes that I've been dying to make! Can't wait to share those with you.

So, have these past two weeks been difficult? No. Not until Saturday evening when I got a craving for rum and Diet Coke. And french fries. And those devil pretzels with the cinnamon and sugar. That has been the only time it has been tough. But it was my own fault. I was on the road most the day and didn't get a proper lunch. I had to stop at a grocery store and get an Atkins shake (yuck!!!) for a quick lunch.

No, I still haven't learned to prepare for days on the road. Eventually this hard headed girl will learn.

Hope your weekend was great!

Crockpot Jambalaya

2012-01-13T22:59:00.000-06:00

Friday Friday! Happy Friday. Doing the happy dance. I love the weekends.

I realize not much exciting has been going on in the Happy Texan life lately. I need to change that. Time for adventure. Excitement! New things!

Well, next weekend I will be running a 5K in a gorilla suit through the streets of Austin. That's new!! I need to get a tiara. Must have a classy gorilla.

I'm feeling so much better. As a matter of fact, I'm bouncing off the walls! I actually thought about driving to Galveston tonight just for the heck of it. Just to see the ocean. Then drive home.

Maybe it's time to get out there and start exercising off some of that energy. Yeah, it's time.

So instead of giving you the daily ups and downs of the scale, I'm just going to give you the weekly weigh in. That ok? On Tuesday.

Let's get to the daily eats. I don't have anything else to share that was exciting. Well, there was this one time that the cat was staring intently at something and I touched her tail and she jumped about 4 feet in the air. It was hilarious but I guess it's one of those things you had to see to truly appreciate.

Today marks day something of induction. I've lost count. All I know is that this phase is over on Tuesday. I'm going to party down and have a walnut on that day because that's how I roll. I'm wild and crazy like that! I'm ready for some nuts! ha!

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with a little cream and topped with cheese and some bacon crumbles. Can I go a day without bacon? It doesn't seem like it. Oh, and a lot of hot sauce because I like it spicy!

Lunch: Chuck brought home the always healthy McDonald's. I got this lovely double cheeseburger without the bun or ketchup or.....ok it will be easier to tell you what was on it:only mustard and cheese. That's it. I'm a simple girl. I ate half of this. It's so filling and.....bland.

No fries. Side salad.

Snack: My lovely aged gouda with the little salt crystals that just burst in your mouth with flavor. I don't think I've ever eaten this without moaning and groaning. It's quite an experience. Have you tried aged gouda? If so, you know exactly what I'm talking about!

Dinner: wasn't very hungry but I'd had this Crock Pot Jambalaya cooking all day in the...well, the crockpot just like the name says.

Chicken, andouille sausage, cauliflower and the trinity (bell peppers, celery and onion). Dang this stuff is good!!!

The creator of the recipe no longer has it on her blog since it's published in a cookbook now. So I guess she doesn't want it out there in bloggerland. But you too can have the recipe if you get this book. ;)

Dessert: eventually I wanted a little sweet. I admit that I have a sweet tooth. Maybe that's why I'm having these stupid insulin issues. At least I'm not craving a brownie like a meth addict anymore.

Instead I made up a few of those pork skins with a little butter and sprinkled with cinnamon/sweetener. Don't judge me! It's not nasty. I only had 4 of these guys. I shared.

Ok, look. You won't have to see them for a while. I'll stop making them. I can see you cringe every time I post this. Yeah, I can see you through the internet.

I promise next week you'll see some better desserts. Not violated pork rinds.

That's the eats for Friday the 13th. The jambalaya was pretty spectacular. Loved it!!! And it makes a lot.

I really haven't been hungry the past few days. This happens from time to time. Didn't happen once in December though! I was so bad. I'm still trying to lose what I gained that month. Ugh. What was I thinking?! Oh yeah, I was thinking, "Damn this is fun!"

Happy Friday the 13th. Have yourself a great weekend!! I plan to work off some of this energy! Wish you were here and could join me. A hike, a jog, a bike ride...whatever.

OK. I'm rambling. Signing off. Bye until next time. :)

What Not to Do

2012-01-12T22:10:00.000-06:00

Good news is that I'm feeling much better. So glad. I hate being sick and I'm ready to get out and do some exercising. Hiking, running, biking....can't wait!

Let's get right to the eats.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with Chappell Hill jalapeno sausage topped with a dollop of sugar free salsa (yes some salsas add sugar. I'm looking at you, Pace!)

Here's the thing about a filling breakfast: they fill you up. I know, I know. Call me Captain Obvious.

I had to drive Rachel to a class which required me to leave the house around noon. Lunch time. But I wasn't hungry.

And that brings us to What Not to Do part of this post. Don't leave the house without a firm lunch plan. Don't go to Wal Mart to pick up eggs, bacon and greens while you're hungry. You'll end up spending $60 and forget the eggs.

What happens when ~~you~~ I don't plan?
Lunch: a Diet Mountain Dew, couple of pork rinds, an Atkins bar and a cheese stick

This lunch was all kinds of wrong. Why didn't I just go to a drive-thru to get a salad? I have no idea. Maybe because I got snack happy in Wal Mart and thought I should eat the goods I bought. No clue. Just don't do what I do.

Oh, and Diet Mountain Dew has orange juice. Not allowed on induction. Another thing wrong. Lesson learned. Ugh.

Dinner: I had the goods to make Faux Fried "Rice" again so that's what we had. It's easy to make and the family loves it so why now have it twice in one week?! (the rice is shredded cauliflower)

Added a big salad with a bit of Parmesan. Nice and filling. Hey, at least I got some greens!

Snack/Dessert: I'm going to catch a lot of flack over this one. Go ahead. Let me have it. I can hear you saying ewwwww right now.

Before you get too grossed out. This tastes like cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Or very similar. Similar enough that the kids were munching on them and they hate........pork rinds. Cinnamon-sugar pork rinds.

Did you say ewwww?

Just in case you ever feel adventurous, here's how to make these tasty sweet, crunchy and a little salty treat.

Spread a dinner plate with flat, fluffy regular pork rinds. Melt 2 Tbs butter and drizzle over the top. Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon/sweetener over the top. I used 1-2 tsp Truvia (could use Splenda but count your carbs) and about 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Nuke in the microwave for about 25 seconds and nosh.
Carbs? None. Taste? Lots.

No, it is not gross! Stop it! I can read your mind. ;) I felt the same way until I tasted it. OK ok. It's a bit weird. I'll give you that.

Oh, and before I found out that Diet Mountain Dew was the devil on induction phase, I had another. Oops! Hey, this is the What NOT to Do edition!

As you can see, today was a mishmash of mistakes and weird foods. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. I learned a few new things and life goes on.

Happy Thursday, my friends. :)

Just a Day

2012-01-11T21:53:00.000-06:00

Not much going on here. I'm still not feeling great. And for someone who just rested most of the day, it was still a long day. That's just the way it goes.

I did a lot of thinking, as I often do when it's a long day. Who do I want to be? What do I want to accomplish? What makes me happy? What makes me sad? That sort of thing. It helps me set goals and gives me direction.

I know the top of my goal list is getting this Kelly Belly in shape. I think I have the food part going in the right direction. I mean, the weight is going down and I'll get blood work done in the next month or two to make sure that all is well. I've read the research but I want to see it for myself. Always a skeptic.

Secondary on my list of self improvement is to continue to challenge myself. Half marathon was the biggie in 2011. What does 2012 hold? We've already done half marathon. I read "if your goals don't scare you then they aren't big enough." I like that. So maybe this is the year of the triathlon? Something new; something challenging.

Third, I want to do something extraordinary and memorable each month. As I was compiling my "Year in Review" posts I noticed that every month we did something great. I really enjoyed that. I may not always have the money to do something extravagant but I can always find a way to make a memorable moment.

Fourth, I had such a good time meeting people and making friends and reconnecting with old friends in 2011 that I want to keep that momentum going. It was a very good year. I still have a little trouble letting my guard down around people. I guess that happens when you've had people in the past rip your heart out and step on it. Haha! But I'd say I'm getting better.

Still no running or exercise. I would like to get to feeling better before I start pushing my body to do even more. Patience. The time is coming.

Wednesday weigh in: down .9 pounds 8.4 pounds lost since last Tuesday.

Eats:
Breakfast: Gingerbread Muffin in a Minute. I topped it with a little cream cheese. It was good but a little dry. I think a minute in the microwave is too long. Maybe mine will be muffin in a 45 seconds.

Lunch: I just wasn't too hungry today. Maybe because I wasn't feeling 100%. Nothing sounded good for lunch until I remembered I had some Chappell Hill Jalapeno sausage in the fridge. So after cooking in a little butter I served up a piece with cucumber, celery and a little ranch. Fantastic. Love this stuff and I'm not a huge fan of sausage.

Dinner: I have to cook? How about bacon cheeseburger wraps?! Oh these hit the spot. So good.

Not a lot of veggies and not a lot of carbs. I just wasn't in the mood to focus on food. It's hard to think about these things when you're under the weather.

Excuse me, my friends. I have a date with Mr. Nyquil tonight so I'm going to bed early. Goodnight. Sweet dreams. I'll talk with ya tomorrow. Hope you had a fantastically happy day!!

Week One Induction Weigh In

2012-01-10T21:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official. I'm not well. (no wise cracks) My throat is sore and my joints are aching. So Tuesday I rested.

It's been one week on Induction. How have I felt? The first couple of days were rough. Headaches on days two and three. But now I feel fantastic. Well, except for having a cold or whatever I have.

Cravings? When I was watching a football game I really wanted a beer. It wasn't what I'd call a craving though. I haven't craved anything since the first couple of days. I do still have a bit of a sweet tooth.

Energy? At first energy levels were way down then it went through the roof! But now that this sore throat has come around the energy level is low.

Sleep? I've been sleeping like a rock! No anxiety issues. My mood has been so good! I mean, I really feel GOOD!

Exercise? Absolutely nothing. Soon.

Hunger? Good grief. NO! None. I don't want to eat sometimes. Of course, that may be due to not feeling great. But the food has been great. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. (but I haven't been faces with a soft pretzel yet) There are so many good recipes out there. I plan to put up some links to some web sites I found recently that have some great recipes to try.

I'm glad to be back on track. Induction has not been as difficult as I thought it would be. But I am definitely ready to add nuts to my diet. I'm ready to try some recipes that call for almond and coconut flour.

Tuesday marks the beginning of my second week of being back to eating low carb. So it's time to weigh in.

Weigh In: down 7.5 pounds I was hoping for 30 pounds. *snicker*

Eats:

Breakfast: I didn't want eggs. Actually I didn't want anything! But I finally decided I should have something. How about a Mock Danish?! Yum. I really like these. And they're filling!

Snack: a little piece of my aged Gouda. Oh it's so good you just have to savor it. My favorite. There are little crystals full of flavor. They're probably something gross like little bacteria cities. I destroy them.

Lunch: Knowing that I needed some veggies but not wanting to cook anything, I took a leaf of Romaine lettuce and topped it with deli meat, cheese, mayo, celery and cucumber.

Wrapped it up and served it with some Hot n Spicy pork rinds. I know pork rinds sound gross but I've always like them. Even as a kid. So eating lower carb has nothing to do with eating pork rinds for me. I just like them! crunch crunch crunch

Snack: no snack except a little nibble of this cheese that I was cutting up for my "potatoes" for dinner. I really like this stuff. But I'm a cheese lover. ;)

So I made this recipe for mashed cauliflower that was supposed to taste like potatoes. I've tried mashed cauliflower a few times. It's decent but there's always a little bit of a skunky undertone to it. I really didn't expect anything different from this new recipe but I was truly surprised. It did taste like potatoes.

Even though it was delicious, I thought I could tweak it a little and make it over the top. Bacon and cheddar did the trick. Holy guacamole! Like eating a twice baked potato. It must have been good because there was none left after dinner and Rachel asked if she could "clean" the bowl. Yeah, it was that good. I'll be making it often. You can find the recipe HERE.

The meal was grilled T-bone steak (grilled to a perfect 135* for medium) and those perfect mashed "potatoes" and green beans. I have a very happy tummy.

I was pretty low on carbs today but I ate until I was satisfied and enjoyed a variety of veggies so I'm not going to sweat it. I think I calculated I was at around 13 grams of net carbs.

Not a lot going on in the Happy Texan house today. Just the usual cooking and the unusual ~~being a lazy lady~~ resting all day.

Fried Rice Low Carb Style

2012-01-09T21:55:00.002-06:00

Monday hit Houston with a vengeance. We had tornadoes and some heavy rains. By we I mean Houston area. I didn't personally experience the wrath of Mother Nature. The wind was howling though. Oooo....eery.

Honestly, we need the rain. Just not all at once, thank you.

Still woke up with a sore throat and I'm still in denial. I'm gargling with Listerine and taking my vitamins. I refuse to get sick and I'm pretty stubborn. Just ask the people who know me. ;)

Not much going on. Year of no excuses but I somehow have found an excuse not to go running for about two weeks now. Today it was the torrential rain. I'm hoping tomorrow to get out there for an easy 20 minute run. I really don't know why I'm putting this off. I guess I'm worried about my calf injury making itself known again.
"Fiddle dee dee. I'll worry about that tomorrow." ~Miss Scarlet from Gone with the Wind.

EATS

Breakfast: couldn't decide what I wanted but when I saw I had two slices of cooked bacon in the fridge I knew just what they needed. Two fried eggs with a generous dose of hot sauce. And a sugar free Rock Star who didn't want to pose for a picture.

Snack: there was no snack. Breakfast kept me going all morning long.

Lunch: I'm still struggling with eating all of the veggies that are recommended. 6 cups of greens AND up to 2 cups of veggies (depending on carb count). That's a lot!

I had 3 cups of greens and topped it with tuna salad that included some celery. Topped that with cheese, some bacon pieces, and sweet mustard dressing. So good. I had trouble eating it all. That was a big salad!

Snack: no snack! That salad was huge!

Dinner: Faux fried rice. I didn't expect much from this recipe. (no offense, Mr. Altena) Shredding cauliflower and expecting it to taste like rice? No way. But I tried it anyway.

I admit that when I first dumped that shredded cauliflower (easy to do with the food processor) into the skillet it smelled like a giant fart. Ewww! But as it cooked and everything mingled the smell changed from ewwww to mmmmm. Shocked, I was.

After all was said and done I had a bowl of this beauty. What did it taste like??

Best fried rice I've ever had. It had so much flavor! I still didn't expect the kids to eat it. But Rachel asked if I would make it again soon. Charlie didn't know it wasn't rice and cleaned his bowl. Chuck was impressed as well. This tasted just like fried rice.

I really can't recommend this recipe highly enough. You just have to try it to believe it. I did make one change: instead of ham I used leftover Italian pork roast. 6.3 grams net carbs (that means fiber is subtracted from carb count)
You can find the recipe HERE and in this cookbook.

Dessert: leftover "bread" pudding with whipped cream. Yum!!!

So a very tasty day. :)
Total carbs for the day was only 17.2 grams of carbs. I still needed more veggies.

Tuesday marks a full week on induction. I'll be reporting on the weight loss total then. Hope it's a good one!

Burning Down the House (when chicken wings attack!)

2012-01-08T21:25:00.000-06:00

Woke up Sunday with a sore throat and some aching joints. I will not get sick. I refuse.

Started the day by returning a bad eggplant to the farmer's market. Then went to Target so Charlie could spend some Christmas money. That kid must hate money because he tries to get rid of it as quickly as possible! Anyway, while there I saw sparkly shoes!!

So I uploaded the picture to Facebook and asked my buddies if it was a yes or no. Some people (you know who you are) didn't like them but the overall consensus was that it was a yes. Now I'm trying to decide if I really need them. But they have sparkles!!

I got a 6 week free trial for the Grocery Game. I used to do it all the time and save a lot of money. So armed with sale information I went to the grocery store and ended up saving $78! About 40% of my grocery bill. I was pretty excited.

Weight: down for a total of 7.9 (I'm claiming 8) pounds so far this week. That's just since Tuesday. I'll take it!

The Eats: I noticed that I've been doing a few things wrong with this induction thing. Plus I haven't been eating near enough vegetables. So I've been trying to add in a few more.

Breakfast: two fried eggs and 3 slices of bacon. 1.2 grams carbs

Lunch: 3 cups of greens, 1/4 cup cucumber, boiled egg, some deli ham, 1 slice crumbled bacon, sweet mustard dressing. Delicious! 6.1 grams carbs

Snack for the big game: Here's where things got interesting. I've never made wings before but I wanted to try a new recipe from Low Carbing Among Friends (an awesome cookbook, btw!).

I got the oil heated in a big pot. Added my chicken wings. The oil started to foam. It foamed fast and then all of a sudden it was overflowing! Do you know what happens when oil overflows?

My stove was clean I promise! The overflow was messy.

First thing I did was remove the pot. Then I just stared at the fire. Oh yeah! I should turn off the gas! With that done I didn't know what to do. What's a blogger to do but grab the camera and take a picture of the fire for the blog?! It's an illness, I tell you. Finally the fire just went out. Next time I was told to either use a fire extinguisher (which I guess I need to buy) or cover it with something. Lesson learned.

I transferred the oil to a larger pot, reheated and added chicken. Finally got the wings fried up and tossed with a garlic parmesan sauce.

OK, guys. These are the best wings I've ever had. The kids were eating them too! Charlie doesn't even like wings. Chuck just kept saying, "Oh my god! These are low carb? They're so good!!! Incredible!" They really are good. I think next time I might try to bake them. My first grease fire ever!

And I was NOT aware that raw chicken wings had little bitty bits of feathers. I squealed a little and dropped it back in the bag. I had 3 pounds of these things. My meat comes packaged at the grocery store. I rarely get reminders that these things once had a mom. Seeing feathers freaked me out a bit. Fortunately they cooked off. Ick!! *shudder*

The results: absolutely fantastic! 5 star recipe for sure. I don't care if you eat low carb or not...this is something you just have to try.

Sorry for the crappy phone picture.

I only had 1 but 6 of them are only 1 gram of carbs.
Trust me, you want to make these! You can find the recipe HERE. (scroll down for the wings video or buy Low Carbing Among Friends. You'd think I get a commission or something but I just really like the book.)

Dinner: after the scary fire incident I didn't really feel like cooking. So lettuce wrapped bacon cheeseburger from Carl's Jr (the pickles tasted sweet so I removed them) and 1/2 cup cucumbers and some ranch dressing. Nice and filling for 5 grams carbs.

Dessert: "bread" pudding with homemade whipped cream. 2.6 grams of carbs. I ate a serving and went back for seconds. :)

The "bread" is actually cubed eggplant! I was surprised how good it was! The color of the pudding is kind of gray and a little watery but the flavor is there. I really liked it and you can't tell there's eggplant in it at all!
This is also from the cookbook but you can find the recipe HERE.

It was an interesting day. Kitchen fires. Grocery savings. Feathers. Eggplant as bread.

I love the adventure that is life. What's next?!

Low Carb Deep Dish Pizza!!!

2012-01-07T21:22:00.001-06:00

First, for something important. The Texans won!!! Very excited about that. I never thought I'd watch football but it's pretty exciting.

Weight loss: not this time. It went up a little bit. No worries. Weight fluctuates. It went up .4 of a pound. Still down over 5 pounds overall so far.

Today was errand day. Had to get groceries, pet food, Red Bull mix for the Soda Stream (and I just had to have some Yankee candles that were half off!), etc.

First I went to a local farmer's market called Froberg's. Their produce is so much cheaper and better than what I find at the grocery store. Any lettuce is .99 cents!

The loot! The nuts are for my parrots. Love going to that place.

Chuck is feeling much better. Guess the shot helped out! He even went to the range to try out some new bullets.

Breakfast: OK, last night I made some eggnog bread to make french toast. This morning I cut it into slices but it smelled so nasty that I tossed it in the trash. Ick!

Instead I made the low carb pancakes. These are really good! Rachel and Chuck enjoyed them as well. Charlie opted out. He doesn't know what he's missing. approx 4.5 grams carbs

Lunch: After the visit to the farmer's market, I needed lunch. Heading to the grocery store while hungry is just asking for a disaster to happen. Ice cream and cookies tend to jump into the cart on their own. I swear I never touch them.

So I had some leftover Taco Bake covered in a bunch of lettuce, some salsa and sour cream. Tasty! approx. 7.3 grams carbs?

Dinner: a friend had mentioned having pizza for dinner and suddenly I knew I had to have some. Fortunately for me I just happened to have a recipe for low carb gluten-free deep dish pizza!! Look how pretty!

Mine was topped with wild boar Italian sausage, pepperoni and a few bell peppers.

Charlie said that this was one of the top 3 favorite things of his now of all the things I've made. Yeah, it was good. The crust was even crisp. I was surprised how good it turned out.

The crust recipe is HERE.
The pizza sauce recipe is HERE.
Both are found in Low Carbing Among Friends cookbook.

I will definitely be making this again. I still can't quite get over that I had low carb pizza that tasted fantastic. :-D Carbs in crust 1.3 grams carbs. Pizza sauce and toppings approx. 4.5 grams carbs

Dessert: eventually I craved a little something sweet. So I nibbled on an Atkins bar here and there for a few hours. 2 grams carbs

So for the day I had approx. 19.6 grams carbs. I didn't have as many veggies as I was supposed to even though I loaded up my taco bake with greens. Tomorrow I'll make an effort to get in more.

It was such a great day! I didn't spend too much on groceries, got some new candles, gorgeous weather, and a great meal.

Hope your Saturday was great too!

Feeling Groovy

2012-01-06T22:48:00.000-06:00

Day 4 of Induction and I am feeling so much better! Very slight headache but I'm energetic and happy. Just feeling good.

Chuck, on the other hand, is still under the weather. It's been over a week. He went back to the doctor today. Doc said he's getting better but gave him a steroid shot to help out. (He doesn't know I took this picture. Sneaky I am.)

By the evening he was feeling a bit better. The nurse said he would feel better by the morning. We'll see. ;)

Friday was also park day for the kids. I noticed that fall has finally come to Texas!

I also got in my knife sharpener!! Chef's Choice M130. I admit it: I hate reading instructions. I forced myself to read them then had fun sharpening the knives. Watch out! I'm dangerous now.

Weight loss? Lost .9 pounds bringing the total to 5.5 pounds since Tuesday. Chuck, the show off, lost 7 pounds since Tuesday. It's not fair. But good for you, Chuck.

The eats for Friday had a total carb count of 17.6 grams.

Breakfast: a HUGE protein shake! It was only 1 scoop of protein powder and a little sugar free chocolate syrup by DaVinci, some almond milk and a bit of ice. Ok, I added too much ice and it became this enormous shake. Oh, and I added a little bit of coconut oil for a nice feel and the fat keeps me full longer. Anyway, it was big.

Lunch: low carb burger from Carl's Jr with bacon. No tomatoes, onions or ketchup.

Snack: boiled egg with salt (why yes, this is the same picture as yesterday. lol)

Dinner: I tried a new recipe for eggplant Parmesan. The meat sauce called for a pound of ground beef and half a pound of sausage. I chose to use some wild boar Italian sausage.

First, you fry some eggplant that's been coated with egg then dipped in parmesan.

Line a 9x13 pan with the eggplant.

Make a meat sauce with the ground beef, sausage, 1 1/2 cup sugar free spaghetti sauce and 2 garlic cloves. Pour on top of the eggplant.

Top with a cup of mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Done! 6 servings.

A pretty big portion for 4 grams of carbs! It was really tasty. Rachel is not a fan of eggplant so she wasn't too thrilled. Every one else liked it.

Also had a ginormous salad topped with cucumbers and homemade sweet mustard dressing. Oh so good. I think this was my favorite part of the meal. That dressing is quickly becoming my favorite.

Dessert was a couple of sugar free toffee squares. Yum!

I have a recipe for eggnog french toast that I want to try. I made the eggnog bread Friday night so Saturday morning breakfast would be a snap.

I cut a very small piece off. Ewww! This is nasty! I'm hoping that something magical will happen when I turn it into french toast but somehow I have a feeling I'll be cooking bacon and eggs for the family. I'll let you know the outcome.

Friday was a good day. Day 4 of induction done! Only 10 more days to go before I start adding some goodies back to the diet like almonds (hello, almond meal! Let's make a memory or at least some brownies).

Hope you're Friday was happy and tasty and healthy.
Any plans for the weekend?

Why I'm Doing This

2012-01-06T08:01:00.000-06:00

Headaches. Deprivation? Cotton mouth. Fuzzy thinking. Why would I do such a thing to my body? Isn't this a quick fix that won't last? Isn't this just another fad diet? Am I crazy for doing this?

Maybe you've wondered why I'm doing this whole low carb thing. Or even thought, "She'll be off of it by the end of the month."

So I wanted to take just a little time to explain my reasons. Why I do what I do.

First, let me just say up front that if I could live off pizza, soft pretzels, homemade bread, beer, pasta, brownies, cake (maybe I should stop because my mouth is starting to water) I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't. I was diagnosed with a nasty case of insulin resistance, PCOS, low thyroid, low vitamin D, elevated testosterone and high blood pressure. I took some nasty tests then took more tests 6 months later. It was all confirmed.

Insulin resistance means when I eat a piece of delicious cinnamon sugar pretzel, my pancreas releases insulin to signal to my cells to get it (the glucose that it has become) out of my blood stream. But my cells don't listen! So I send out more insulin. Finally they listen and I have a LOT of insulin in my bloodstream. Most of my carbs are stored as fat around my belly. And this whole thing causes so many other problems. It's all linked. Eventually my pancreas will become exhausted and it'll stop producing the insulin which means I'll have type 2 diabetes. I don't want that.

My doctor told me to start eating low carb or suffer the consequences. I hate being told what to do. I hate being "different." I want to eat pasta and pizza with all the cool kids! But nooooooo. I'm the nerdy kid who has to eat steak and bacon. So I resisted off and on all year. When I ate like I was supposed to the weight came off effortlessly. Then I'd want to play with the cool kids again and decided those crazy doctors don't know what they are talking about. And I suffered the consequences each time. Lethargy, anxiety, depression, elevated blood pressure, and elevated weight!

This is not a fad diet for me. It's my way of life. I have to accept it and stop fighting it. Oh sure, I'll still have a splurge meal. Maybe once a week? I don't know. But I have to be careful.

I'm going to be totally honest with you. During December I gained about 16 pounds. Can you believe it?! I ate what I wanted and drank what I wanted. And by the end of it I felt tired and big and just generally lethargic. I knew I had to change.

Getting back on the low carb wagon hasn't been a picnic. I'm following the Induction Phase of Atkins to give myself a boost in the right direction. A quick boost. I'll do this for two weeks. Not everyone does this. It's what I chose to do and it's temporary.

Yes, I have had some side effects from doing it. They're not pleasant but I know it will go away. I have had some dramatic weight loss in the past couple of days but that will slow down as I start to add more carbs to my diet.

My body reacts pretty dramatically to carbs. My doctor said it's one of the worst cases he had seen and he believed the only thing that had saved me from diabetes so far was my exercise. He also said given the numbers from my test he would have expected me to be huge! It's been a struggle, let me tell you! But at least I now know why.

I have the tools to do what I need to do to be healthy. I realize that a high fat diet causes concerns about cholesterol. I had a check up last year and my blood results improved when I ate low carb. My blood pressure improved. Everything improved! Fat has gotten a bad rap. There are plenty of articles out there to prove it. My own blood tests prove it to me. Same with Chuck because what momma cooks the family eats! ;) And his blood tests improved as well. He's always had a problem with triglycerides and they improved as well.

My weight loss for the past two days has been 4.6 pounds. Most of that is water weight. I admit it. But it sure is nice to see that number drop. I fully expect the weight loss to slow down after the first week. We'll see.

As you can see, I don't really have an option here. It's what I have to do. And you know what? The food is good!!! The kids have no idea that we're eating lower carb. They're just enjoying their food. Rachel did make a comment tonight that she feels good after she eats. She said she had been feeling very sluggish after dinners but hasn't lately.

So I'm not crazy. This isn't a fad diet or lose-weight-quick scheme. It has to be my life. I have to stop fighting it and just embrace it.

Thursday my headache was much better. Oh, it still hurt somewhat but it was nothing like Wednesday. Things are getting better. I even had a little more energy!

Breakfast: two fried eggs and two slices of bacon (I know it looks like 4 slice but I halved the slices)

Snack: a cheese stick

Lunch: leftover Italian pork roast and a large portion of creamed spinach

Snack: boiled egg

Dinner: I made a new recipe called Taco Bake. First I had to make up a batch of taco seasoning.

This is what the taco bake looks like when it comes out of the oven. It makes six large servings. Each with only 4 grams of carbs each.

I topped mine with salsa, a bunch of lettuce and sour cream. It was incredibly good. I was surprised! And even the kids liked it. Definitely something to make again in the future. Tasty.

I got the recipe from Low Carbing Among Friends but you can also find it HERE.

Dessert: low carb ice cream bar 5 grams net carbs. This probably isn't Induction friendly but I don't care. I want my freakin' ice cream bar.

Total carbs today was 20.1 grams. Approximately. I'm happy with that.

It's a great day. I'm feeling more like myself and more energetic and maybe a bit feisty. ready to tackle some stuff. As soon as this headache is completely gone I'm going for a run!

Life is good. :)

Italian Pork Roast

2012-01-05T06:00:00.001-06:00

Wednesday. Day 2 of Induction phase. Trouble thinking straight. Cotton mouth. Bad headache. Saw a man on tv with a soft pretzel. I would have straight up murdered him for that pretzel. It's best that I did not leave the house. Things are intense. I'm irritable. Stomach is upset.

I had planned to go running. Then I thought to myself, "Why the *$&@ do people run when we have perfectly good cars these days!?!" Even a bike would be better. So I did not run. I think I will change my mind as soon as the splitting headache goes away. But for Wednesday, I am irritable. It won't take much to set me off. God help the person who brings a french fry near my face.

Better days are ahead. I know it. I believe it. I've been through this before. The first few days I'm a bit like the chick from The Exorcist. Instead of holy water being splashed on me, I have protein shakes. After a few days, it will get better. I have faith.

All kidding aside, Wednesday was tough. I wasn't very hungry but the headache was pretty intense. This happened last time and it does get better. It just sucks the first few days. Then I feel friggin fantastic as soon as this passes. So please forgive me if I don't make sense for a few days. If you hear of a pretzel shop being robbed and all the robber took was pretzels (specifically cinnamon sugar pretzels), that's me!

Good news: I dropped two pounds already. Could it be because of the 5 times I had to get up to pee through the night? Nah! Too much information?

Breakfast: a pancake. I should have made it into pancakes instead of one big one because it fell apart. What was I thinking? Oh, I wasn't! It still tasted great topped with some sugar free syrup.

Low carb pancakes: blend 3 oz softened cream cheese, 2 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbs sugar-free syrup (I used hazelnut) until combined. Cook in a skillet sprayed with oil. Flip when bubbles appear and top is set. about 4.5 carbs for whole thing

Lunch: I made wraps with lettuce, turkey, mayo and cheddar stick.

Wrapped it up and served with a couple of hot n spicy pork rinds. What? I needed something crunchy. About 2.2 carbs total

Snack: Atkins bar. They were on sale. 2g carbs

Dinner was exceptional! Italian pork roast, spinach with cream cheese, and broccoli with italian seasoning and lemon. approx. 5.9 grams carbs

Low carb or not, the pork roast was one of the best I've had. I highly recommend you try this easy recipe! Recipe HERE. I found it in the cookbook Low-Carbing Among Friends.

Dessert: a low carb ice cream bar. Not exactly on the induction list of approved eats but I wanted one. 5 grams carbs.

Total today was approx. 19.8 grams carbs. Not bad.

Just an fyi for anyone who may be interested (and after my description of day 2, why wouldn't you be?! LOL) Atkins.com is giving away a free starter kit here.

In other news, Charlie had his first piano lesson today. He loved it! We tried this a while back and I guess he just wasn't ready. Thanks to the grandparents for paying for it and for transporting him to and fro.

I raise my glass of water to day 2 of induction. It's over. Cheers! May day 3 be easier. Two days down, 12 more to go. Bring it.

Induction Day 1

2012-01-04T09:10:00.000-06:00

I had such a great December and it shows on my hips, belly and the scale. I pretty much tossed all caution to the wind and ate/drank whatever I wanted. Yesterday was time to face the music. I stepped on the scale and it said ugly things to me.

I noticed in my 2011 recap pictures that my face looked slimmer when I was really sticking to my low carb eating. So I'm back at it. This isn't just for weight loss but for my health. A girl with a wicked case of insulin resistance, PCOS and thyroid issues needs to watch those carbs even though I'm a pasta and bread lover.

Tuesday I started Induction phase of Atkins again. No nuts, fruit/fruit juices, starchy veggies, alcohol, grains, yogurt, milk, ricotta, sugar. I will be eating meats, eggs, veggies, cream, butter, cheeses and drinking lots of water. I will do this for two weeks before moving to the next stage and adding a few more goodies back.

In an effort to keep myself accountable I will be documenting my eats. Some of the carb counts I may have rounded up a little just to be on the safe side. I'm allowed 20g of carbs per day. That's not a lot!

Here are the eats for Tuesday.

Mock Danish approx. 2.7 carbs
Coffee with half and half 1 carb

A cheese stick for a snack 1 g. carb

Lunch was a tasty tuna salad with boiled egg on greens topped with cheese and Italian dressing. About 3.7g carbs

5 ibuprofen for sugar withdrawal headaches

A small Atkins bar 2g carbs. No picture.

I made up some armadillo eggs for Chuck's breakfasts. It's a piece of jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese/cheddar mixture then wrapped in sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Hot) then rolled in parmesan and baked. Next time I'll use parchment paper because these stuck to the foil.

I had to try one! Chuck ate the other.
Armadillo Egg .7g carbs. These are really good!!

For dinner I tossed some chicken breasts into the crockpot, seasoned them and turned it on low to cook most the day. The result was chicken so tender it could be cut with a spoon! Shredding it took no effort at all and it was delicious!

I shredded the chicken and put it on top of a huge amount of greens with cucumber, boiled egg, cheddar and Parmesan and topped it off with a homemade sweet mustard dressing that was incredible. Yum! Totally hit the spot. Approx 5.6 grams carbs

Sweet Mustard Dressing
1/3 cup coarse-grain mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar free pancake syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2/3 cup canola oil (I used olive oil)

Combine mustard, vinegar, syrup, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until dressing thickens. Use right away or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Per 2-tablespoon serving: net carbs: 1 gram; total carbs: 1 gram; Fiber 0 grams; Protein 1 gram; fat 15 grams; calories 140

For dessert I had a low carb ice cream bar. 3 grams carbs. This is probably not induction friendly but oh well. This was followed by a glass of hot green tea.

My total for the day was 19.7 grams of carbs.

How did I feel? I did develop a splitting headache but I expected that. It'll go away. I was also a little hungry but not bad.

No exercise for Tuesday. I need to get back out there and try running again. I'm a little worried about how my calves will react but I just need to do it!

Chuck stayed home from work. He has a bad sinus infection. Poor guy.

And that's about all that's going on in this Happy Texan's life. :) I'll be back tomorrow and let you know how things are going. I hope to get caught up with blogs soon. I'm behind on my reading!

Hope 2012 is treating you right so far!

2011: A Year in Review Part 2

2012-01-02T12:22:00.001-06:00

Warning: long post ahead. Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable.

In the last post we took a trip down memory lane from January all the way through May. This is just some of the highlights of the year for the Happy Texans.

JUNE
My baby girl turned 16! How did that happen? She had a birthday party with a few friends at Splashtown water park.

Chuck and I went for a weekend trip to San Antonio for his birthday and stayed at the most beautiful inn we've ever been to called Noble Inn.

Part of our weekend package included a ride in a Rolls Royce to our downtown destination. Sweet ride!

For dinner we went to Texas de Brazil where they keep bringing all kinds of meats to the table. There was also an acrobat on a wire who would do spins and fly through the air by the wines. Great experience!

After dinner we walked the streets of San Antonio and ended up at Mi Tierra. It was a great night.

The weekend did end on a rather sad note as my parents' horse had to be put to sleep. The kids were there so we left San Antonio and drove to Beaumont to pick them up.

We attended an 80s sing-a-long with friends at Alamo Drafthouse. That was a lot of fun!

JULY

As a family we completed the Houston region of the Texas Geocache Challenge hosted by the state park system. We visited several parks and had a great time searching for the caches.

I worked on conquering my fear of heights.

I started testing recipes for America's Test Kitchen. Tasty and fun!

Rachel got her first car!! A Sebring convertible.

Poor Libby got declawed and "fixed". She's been a much better kitteh since the operation. I felt bad at first but no more!

I totally geeked out with new hiking gear.

There was a lot of hiking this month. I loved seeing the wildlife and visiting different places even though the temperatures had three digits. It was the driest summer on record for Texas.

I also discovered the Stewart Mansion in Galveston. I fell in love with this place. It's in ruins but it still has a charm about it.

Paintings of pirates on the walls adorn the front gallery. It's a shame that it just sits there falling apart.

Chuck and I went on a night paddle where we accidentally ran into an alligator. I screamed then we laughed. It was a great evening paddling under the full moon with a bunch of other crazy people.

Spent a family night at the museum and met Dr Richard Bakker.

We went hiking with a group and discovered that we do not enjoy speed hiking.

There was a lot of hiking in July and I made sure to drag my family along as much as I could. And it was hot!

July ended with a great date night for Chuck and I at Julia's Bistro then a trip to Royal Oak Bar. It was a great evening.

AUGUST

We celebrated Charlie's 11th birthday at the lake with family.

I was reunited with my BFF from high school Wendy.

Took Charlie and his friends to Rainforest Cafe to celebrate.

I joined the USAFit running club in Pearland and started training for a half marathon. It was one of those things where I did not think about it but just did it and freaked out about it later. I was terrified but soon learned that I could keep up with the group.

We took a mini vacation to Castroville, TX near San Antonio. I even kept up my running even though there was a smelly goat farm and Chuck threw up because of the smell. The hotel was very nice though and not near the smell.

SEPTEMBER

Another beer dinner at BJS Brewhouse.

Hanging out Labor Day weekend with friends and acting goofy.

Ran the Purple Monkey 5K with Chuck and my running club buddy Renee.

We went camping at Brazos Bend State Park.

We stayed active biking (some of us went running) and hiking and meeting the locals.

Got to meet the band Tomfooligans and hang out with friends.

Shelley, Jeff, Chuck and I completed the Beachpalooza obstacle course in Galveston. It was the most fun I've had at a race! What a great weekend that was.

Climbing over that tall cargo net was a big mental victory for me. Heights and I do not get along. You can see the relief on my face.

I can't even describe how much fun we had! Totally doing this in 2012!

OCTOBER

Went to help Shelley when she had her ankle surgery. Of course it included a shopping trip!

Ran the relay of the Space City 10 Miler.

In the rain!

Aeros hockey game with the family!

Ran the Harvest Moon & Margarita 5K which included a run down the Seawall in Galveston, howling at the moon and a free margarita and Mexican food buffet. Lots of fun!

Got t meet fellow blogger Jinny!

Went to Beaumont for a girls' night out on the town.

Completed the Houston Half Marathon Relay.

Celebrated my 21st wedding anniversary by surprising Chuck with a scavenger hunt type overnight stay. I left cards that sent him to different places until we finally met up at the hotel bar. It was fun to plan all of it and we had a great time.

Ran with a friend in the Great Pumpkin Fun Run. It was pretty big for a 5k.

Halloween parties!

NOVEMBER

Ran the Hope for Health 5K with Chuck and Wendy.

Helen from Biggest Loser was there too!

Chuck won his shooting match in November. He beat everyone out there. Of course, I was very proud.

On Veteran's Day, I ran two races.

The Veteran's Day 11K which turned out to be more like a 10K. It was a tough run for me. And it was 34* outside when we started!

Then that evening we did the Energizer Night Race 1mile family walk/run together as a family. It was so much fun! After the race we were given barbecue plates and had a picnic under the moon. What a wonderful day.

Chuck and I went on a group paddle with the Houston Sierra Club.

Had Thanksgiving with family I hadn't seen in years.

Chuck had knee surgery. Success!

DECEMBER

Ran my first half marathon!!!! The Run Girl 13.1! I finally earned my 13.1 bumper sticker.

I had my crew there cheering me on along the way.

This moment had to be one of the highlights of my year. I can't believe I actually did it!

It was a good year of running. I got a lot of pretty medals.

After the race my calves were injured and I was not able to run again for the rest of the year. I had to take Prednisone and do stretches.

We spent a week at Lake Conroe after the race where I got to recover by swimming, being lazy and sitting in the hot tub.

We spent Christmas Eve Eve with my parents and brother and had a feast fit for a king!

I spent about a week making tons of sweets.

Christmas morning the kids opened gifts....

Then opened gifts at the in-laws' house.

We had our annual trip to Moody Gardens to walk through the Festival of Lights.

Chuck and I had one more date night.....

The last day of the year was spent in Beaumont with my friend Wendy and her family. The kids wanted to play with their cousins at my parents' house.

We sat around a fire, laughed and watched fireworks all night long. Great way to end a great year.

I know this was a long post. If you made it this far, thank you! It was fun going through the year and remembering all of the good times. Many of the little adventures I had forgotten.

I'm looking forward to 2012. I hope to meet some more of my blogger friends, experience more adventures and continue to push myself outside of my comfort zone.

In 2012 may your wallet grow fat and your waist grow thin!!

Lights and Laughs

2011-12-31T10:54:00.000-06:00

Part 2 of my 2011 year in review will be coming soon but since the year isn't over I thought I'd wait. You never know what the last day of the year will bring!

Thursday night we finally took our annual trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston to see the Festival of Lights. First, we have our traditional trip to the seafood restaurant where we always seem to get the same thing: chicken strips for Charlie, fish and chips for Rachel, and crab cake burgers for Chuck and I. Excuse me, my mouth is watering just a little thinking about it.

Then off to walk through the lights. It was a perfect evening. Not too warm and not too cold.

All of the butterflies were flapping their bright lit wings which created a psychedelic effect. We dubbed it Acid Trip Mountain.

Ooooo. Ahhhhh. Pretty.

This was my favorite. I loved the lights hanging down. It was like an enchanted forest. Then Rachel ruined the moment by comparing it to some worms that live in a cave somewhere else in the world and their poop hangs down like that and glows in the dark. Seriously?! What does a worm eat to make its poop glow?! Thanks, Rachel. Those lights will never be the same for me. Sometimes it's ok not to make comparisons. I like my unicorn infested enchanted forest vision better, thank you very much.

I don't know why we always feel the need to take pictures in cheesy cutouts.

It was surprisingly crowded for a Thursday night. Loved the castle. It was huge! Outside there was even a fire going where you could buy supplies to make a s'more. We didn't because I'm cheap. But we did get some spiced nuts! I'm not that cheap. ;)

I have a thing for lights and all things that sparkle. I just walked around with my mouth hanging open gawking at the prettiness of it all.

There's a yellow rose in Texas.......

We had a great time like we always do. Last year I was walking/running a 5K every day and we had to walk around a lot more so that we all got in our 3.1 miles. Ah, memories.
------------------------------------
Friday Chuck and I had a date night. I had a couple of Groupons that needed to be used ASAP.

The night started with a trip to Shogun Japanese Grill and Sushi. I haven't been to an hibachi grill in years! I forgot how much fun they are. I started the evening off with a Mai Tai. Yum! By the way, there are no "diets" on date night. I think it's a law or something.

The chef put on a great show for us. It's hard to see but he's tossing an egg in the air.

Not only did we get a show but the food was very good too! Here he's cooking our vegetables and the eggs for the fried rice and our shrimp appetizer. I've developed an allergy to shrimp but my throat didn't itch too bad with these.

Part of the show was the chef making an onion volcano. It was the coolest!! I have to bring the kids back to see this. He threw some pepper on the fire and it went up in sparkles. Sparkles!!

After dinner we headed to The Comedy Showcase for the show. They had several comedians that evening and they were all funny. They introduced one comedian and it turned out to be our neighbor! How cool is that?! Small world.

While we were gone, Rachel was busy at home making gingerdead cookies. Clever girl!

As you can see, the past couple of days have been a lot of fun. I've had a blast. What a great way to end the year!

Tonight we're headed to Beaumont to spend New Year's Eve with my buddy Wendy and her family around a bonfire. I can't wait!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve. Be careful out there!

Do you have any plans for New Year's Eve?

2011: A Year in Review PART 1

2011-12-29T13:59:00.000-06:00

Travel back in time with me through the months of 2011 as I relive some of the highlights of the year.

JANUARY

This month I was an active girl doing strength training, Zumba, running 1:1 intervals, bike riding and anything else I could find to do. Confidence was soaring! I even got into size 14s! It was quite a big deal.

I remembered how to be a kid again and rode through the mud on my bike with the kids. We were filthy and had a blast!

Even though it was cold and windy on one January day, we couldn't help but take the boats out on the water. It was a tough paddle with the wind blowing but we all had a great time anyway.

FEBRUARY

Still staying active. On Valentine's Day Chuck and I completed an "at home" duathlon as part of Lori's Heart Healthy weekend challenge. We ran 2 miles, rode a bike for 8 miles then ran another 2 miles. It was tough but we were proud of ourselves.

I tired some interesting spa treatments for the first time. Even got a spray tan. Strange experience.

Went to San Antonio and met Anne (Carb Tripper) and had a blast! I also ate low carb on that trip and actually lost weight! That's when I started looking more into the low carb lifestyle.

We even got to see Wicked! It was amazing.

Then a trip to Austin where we had a big Round Rock donut as seen on Man vs Food.

We toured the Texas cemetery.

And got to see the Blue Man group! That was the coolest concert I've even been to. Ever!

MARCH
Still exercising. Trying to adjust to metformin but it's not going too great.

My mom has gall bladder surgery.

Chuck and I volunteered for 3 relays of the Texas Independence Relay. We were Motley Schu. I've never been so tired in my life. It's a 2 day race and we were up all night. But it was also a lot of fun.

We saw the Blue Man group in Houston.

We went to hockey games and a nice hike.

I was in a fender bender that hurt my neck but I'm fine now. The other party dodge insurance so I had to pay for all repairs. What is wrong with people?!

I also got into the 170s!

APRIL

Ran the Blue Bell Fun Run 10K Relay with Chuck, Shelley and her hubby Jeff. So much fun! All you can eat ice cream afterwards. Gotta love the outfits.

Date night at Tango and Malbec. Great food and tango dancers!

More hiking.

Weight is coming off pretty easy. As long as I actually stick to it! Funny how that works.

Found a worm in my cod! Oh my cod!

For Easter we got the kids custom chocolate eggs that were incredible!

MAY

Went on a trip to Canyon Lake where we swam and visited Gruene (a small town with shops and restaurants).

We tubed the Comal River and had so much fun laughing and swimming.

We decided to try zip lines for the first time. Everyone did great except me. I almost wet myself in terror. But I'd do it again. ;)

For Mother's Day we went up in a WWII era C47. It was incredible!!!

Rachel went to her first prom.

We went tent camping at Huntsville State Park. Usually we "camp" in the travel trailer. It got kind of chilly at night!

Chuck and I went to a Don Julio Tequila dinner. Now that was a lot of fun!

Later that month Chuck and I went away for a weekend at Canyon Lake and stayed at Canyon Lakeview Resort.

The deer were everywhere and not afraid to get up close and personal.

We enjoyed beautiful sunsets over the lake from the back porch. That evening a storm came and we sat outside listening to music, talking, and listening to the rain on the tin roof. It was the most relaxed I'd been in a long time.

We went to a wine tasting at Dry Comal Creek the headed to Gruene for some good eatin.

I had been saving this bottle of wine for a special occasion. This seemed like a perfect time. LIFE is a special occasion!

Before heading home we took a helicopter ride over New Braunfels.

Loved it. But the wind was blowing pretty hard which pushed that little helicopter around. Chuck and I both got a touch of motion sickness.

The Texas Hill Country holds a special place in my heart. You can see the Guadalupe River flowing.

A relaxing weekend away. We had such a great time.

Two days after getting back we had a Samuel Adams Beer dinner at BJs Brewhouse. Good food and great beer.

This is where I was introduced to my favorite beer: Imperial White!

Feeling no pain!

And there was a certain frog who was always waiting for us at home. We named him Michigan J Frog.

Rachel's cake skills continued to improve throughout the year and was even receiving a few orders! Very proud of her.

And I turned the big 4-0!

To celebrate Chuck surprised me with a Nook color (which I love!) and took us all to San Antonio and spoiled me rotten. Just how I like to be spoiled. Rotten!

We toured the Riverwalk and hung out at the rooftop pool of the Crowne Plaza. That night we went to the top of the Tower of the Americas and laughed our butts off as the wind whipped our hair and tried to tug at our shirts.

And I got to meet fellow blogger Ashley at Mi Tierra!

As you can see, it was a very fun year. I'll continue with June in another post. Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me.

Today I was a little bummed because of very expensive car repairs and it seems like money is needed for so many different things. But as I go back through the year I can't help but smile as I relive all of the good times.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T10:34:00.000-06:00

Christmas morning 2011. I got out of bed around 8am and stumbled to the kitchen to put on some coffee and start breakfast. Every year I make Chuck something called Christmas morning quiche that has hot sausage, eggs, sour cream and a lot of cheese. It fills two pie shells and it all belongs to him. Mostly because the kids don't care for it.

After the quiche is in the oven we wake the kids up to start the mayhem that is unwrapping gifts.

Rachel with her new car floor mats. She loves Nightmare Before Christmas.

Charlie wondering what he got. He gets so excited.

Laser tag by Nerf! He has had so much fun with this toy.

Charlie passes out hugs after opening each gift. So cute to see the kids hugging.

A waterproof camera for Charlie!

Bake us some cakes from your new book, Rachel!

After breakfast and playing with toys, we went to the in laws' house for gifts and to hang out with them for a while.

The kids got pajamas and new laptops! OK, this is not a laptop. Charlie is still pretty excited about his new Nerf guns. He and Chuck ran around the house shooting each other. It was cute.

Rachel is so excited to have a new computer. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that moment when she opened it.

Then it was time to go home, start a fire and pu on dinner. I made an oven smoked brisket, bbq green beans, baked mac n cheese, and biscuits. OK, not the healthiest of dinners but it sure was good!

That night we played board games near the fireplace and laughed and had a great time. I'd say it was a very good Christmas. :)

Hope yours was filled with happiness and peace. Merry Christmas!!!

A Sweet Christmas

2011-12-27T09:37:00.000-06:00

What a great Christmas! Did you have a good holiday?

I spent last week making goodies to share with friends and family. These were not health conscious munchies but all out sugar and butter and carb bombs.

The first thing I made was a big batch of Texas Trash. It's kind of like Chex mix but with more spice and has Fritos and pecans. Yum! I love this stuff. Glad it's not in the house any more because I just can't resist.

Then peanut patties!! I don't know if these are sold everywhere but I know they're common in Texas convenience stores. They're red colored and have the consistency of a praline and have a bit of a vanilla flavor. Melt in your mouth goodness. I sent some to work with Chuck to share so I got to make two batches. Don't tell but I have the ingredients to make one more batch still. May have to do that. ;)

Oreo Balls!! These are rich and sinful. Start with a bag of oreos and 8 oz. cream cheese. Blend in food processor until smooth.

Make into balls and let chill for about an hour.

Melt white candy coating and dip the truffles. Then drizzle with melted chocolate.

Sit back and enjoy. I store these in the fridge because of the cream cheese. But they won't need to be stored long because they don't stay around!

Time for a BIG batch of Martha Washington candies. I've seen them called Christmas candy too. Growing up there was always a batch made by someone at my grandmother's Christmas table. We'd look forward to getting one of those candies all year.

It was such big batch that my big boy of a kitchen mixer even had trouble mixing it up!

Some of the candies after they've been dipped in melted chocolate chips with a little paraffin.

A very sweet coconut and pecan candy.

I had quite a few leftover nuts so I made up a batch of cinnamon sugar almonds and pecans. Made the house smell sooooo good.

Rachel and I had to share the kitchen as she made this adorable penguin cake!! Tasty as it is cute. Love my girl's cakes.

Friday we made the drive to my parents' house to have an early Christmas dinner with them and my brother and his fiance. My mom goes all out with these feasts. There was so much food! Shrimp cocktail, enchiladas, two hams, a turkey and lots of sides. THIS is just SOME of what was leftover after everyone had gorged.

We had a very nice time hanging out with the family. Mom and dad loved their goodie basket. I may have sampled it a little too.

The kids wore themselves out and slept on the way home. So cute when they sleep.

Saturday was rainy and cold so we canceled our plans to drive around looking at Christmas lights. Instead we stayed in and drank hot chocolate around the fireplace and watched Christmas movies. It's not Christmas until you watch It's a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story!!

The kids opened a couple of gifts and then it was off to bed for us.

Tomorrow I'll post some pics of the kids opening their gifts on Christmas morning.

I love this time of year! Watching the kids open their gifts is the highlight for me.
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How are my legs doing? I'm so glad you asked! I've been taking my prednisone and stretching and I think it's finally helping. I haven't exercised at all!! I feel a little guilty about that but I really don't want to stress my calves out any more. I need them to get better so I can get back to running. I have a 5K and a half marathon next month!!

To be totally honest, the injury has shaken my confidence at little. A lot. I'm worried that the legs will start hurting again just as soon as I start running. I'm gong to take it slow once I start back. Maybe just run a couple of miles 3 times and see how it feels that week. Then I'll reevaluate.

But as of today, I can walk without the constant pain. That's a good thing and a step in the right direction!
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How's my weight? Not so glad you asked!
I haven't stepped on the scale but let's just say I've had a very good time over the past couple (or 3 or 4) weeks. Time to drop some pounds.
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Hope you've enjoyed the holidays.

New Year's Day is coming very soon! Do you make resolutions?

Catching Up

2011-12-20T09:57:00.000-06:00

Ah, it's that time of year when life gets so busy that I neglect my little blog. Sorry.

We're back from the lake. It was a nice little trip but it's always good to sleep in your own bed. We took walks, went swimming, and just relaxed. We didn't do as much as we usually do like tennis and mini golf and archery. It was mostly just hanging out and doing nothing and sometimes that's the best kind of vacation.

Saturday morning Chuck had a shooting match. Here's a little video of one of the stages:

We had planned to grab some quick breakfast on the way. Pulled in to Jack in the Box and waited in line. The guy tells us to hold just a minute. Then comes back to tell us the grill is broken. Ugh! Spent all that time waiting so we didn't have time to go anywhere else. No breakfast!

By the time the match was over at 1pm we were both starving!

Chuck placed fourth in his division. He wasn't too happy about that but I thought he did good.

After taking a nap we headed out to meet friend's at a Mediterranean restaurant called Fadi's. It was pretty good but I'm not sure I'd be going back a lot.

Then it was off to Molly's Pub with Kyle and Valerie to see the Celctic rock band Tomfooligans. Love this band. We always have such a good time when we go see them. Wish they would come more often!

We had the best time! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Not that the band was so funny but Kyle is practically a comedian and kept us in stitches. My throat was sore from laughing so hard. Tears rolling down our cheeks. It was great. And before we left the band gave us each some stickers and guitar picks.

Here's a clip of the band in action:

Sunday was a nice lazy day at home with the family.

Monday I went out for my first run since the half marathon. Guess what. Couldn't run but for half a mile! It wasn't actually running. It was more like fast limping. It looked something like this:

My calves hurt so bad. They're still not better. To be honest with you, it scares me quite a bit.
I started taking my steroids yesterday (Prednisone) and doing my stretches that the doctor prescribed. I'm hoping it will help. In the meantime, I guess I'll just walk instead of risking doing some lasting damage. It's so frustrating!

I feel like I'm letting myself down. I have all of these goals. But I also know that this is temporary. So I just have to listen to my body and take it easy.

Last night Chuck rubbed my legs for an hour then wrapped them in an ice wrap. I did my stretches and took my other Prednisone.

That is some nasty stuff! It makes me feel so weird. Upset stomach, overall weird feeling and sweats. It's not pleasant but I'll do it if it will help!

So that's all that's been happening around here. Getting ready for Christmas. It really snuck up on me this year so I'm running a little behind.

Are there any goodies that you make every year as tradition?
Mine are Martha Washington candies and Oreo Balls. And every Christmas morning I make something for Chuck called Christmas morning quiche with sausage, eggs, sour cream and a lot of swiss cheese. He gets the whole thing.

Gone Fishing

2011-12-15T08:36:00.000-06:00

Ok. I haven't really gone fishing but I am spending a relaxing week at the lake....or what's left of Lake Conroe.
I'm chilling in the hot tub, swimming in the indoor pool and taking time to recharge.
So I'll catch up with you when I get back home. In the meantime, have yourself a great week. I have some visitors here to entertain. ;)

RunGirl 13.1 Recap (My First Half Marathon)

2011-12-12T12:15:00.001-06:00

I did it!!!! I ran my first half marathon! I can't believe it.

I got up around 5:20am and had a piece of toast with almond butter and drank a Rock Star. The kids stumbled downstairs ready to support their mom. I wasn't very nervous at this point. There is something to be said for being tired. You forget to be nervous.

I get all of my running gear on and apply two temporary tattoos to get in the spirit. And just to add a little class to the day I wear diamond earrings.

We arrive at the park around 7:10 and there is a line of cars waiting to park. I'm feeling a few jitters at this point. Is this really happening?!

This is one of the parking lots! It's filling up fast but we managed to find a parking place.

The park had port-o-potties and real bathrooms. I waited in line and froze! The temperature was 40* at that time and there was a fierce wind blowing off Lake Houston. Brrrr!!!

We all hustle back to the car to sit in the warmth of the heater while we wait for the race to begin. Then we hear an announcement over the speakers that it's time to line up. And it is crowded!

I wait in the back of the crowd shivering. Chuck sees how cold I am and comes to block the wind for me while I wait. It's nice to bring your own windbreaker to these events whether is be human or clothing.

And the race begins!! It takes a few minutes for me to make it to the start line and then I get to start running. I took it slower than usual (which is already pretty slow!) because this is my first endurance event and I wasn't sure what to expect by the very end.

Meanwhile, the kids are wrapped up in sleeping bags and waiting to cheer for me with a cowbell. The race course is a double loop so I'll get to see them at least twice.

It takes me a while to run my first loop. Fortunately there was a nearby playground where the kids could play.

Or flying off stumps is fun too.

While the kids are freezing and playing, I'm running down a wooded road at the park. It was so pretty! And it didn't take me long to shed that jacket and tie it around my waist. So many people were tossing their jackets and gloves and hats to the side of the road.

The views were very pretty and there were even a couple of downhill sections that were nice. It's like getting a free ride when running downhill for short distances. But then there's a nasty uphill for every downhill!

Water stations with water, gatorade and gels were positioned every 1.5-2 miles. Port-o-potties were scattered throughout the course as well. It was one of the best organized events I've been to so far. Of course, the volunteers were wonderful. They are so important and appreciated. They would call my name and cheer for me as I ran by and it really was a boost.

Pretty soon I am finished with my first loop. Chuck sees me before I see him and the kids.

And then I see them!! So happy to see them and hear that cowbell. I'm doing this!! It hits me that I am really running this thing!

I am happy to see my kids cheering for me. What a great feeling.

I stop to give them a big hug. I'm feeling GREAT at this point. It's just a little after mile 6.5 I think.

And then I'm off and at mile 7 heading towards the start line. I can't believe it. I feel good and I'm actually enjoying this! I'm really thinking I can finish this.

A picture of the parking lot where we parked and Lake Houston in the background.

As the runners head back out for their final loop, we run past inspirational signs. They were great. Another boost.

I pass Chuck and the kids again as I head back out for the final loop. I'm feeling good! My right foot is giving me a little trouble and my calves are tight but I can do this!

Still wearing a smile so that's a good sign.

Things get a little more difficult at mile 9. But there's no turning back. I just have to take it one step at a time, enjoy the scenery and have a good time.

I passed a mobile home park on one part of the course and a lady had come outside wrapped in a blanket carrying her coffee in her gloved hands. She just wanted to cheer for us runners! She gave me a high five and some encouraging words which was very sweet of her.

I also met a lady who kind of took me under her wing and gave me tips along the way. I stopped to have some gel at mile 9 and she told me to keep moving. No stopping or my muscles will seize up.

Then she asked me how I felt. I told her my feet hurt and she told me to put Desitin powder on them next time. She was so sweet. She kept telling me that I was going to complete this.

I then found out that this was her 13th half marathon. She runs one per month! Wow.

I finally arrive at mile marker 10. Double digit miles! This has been the furthest I've run to date.

The miles are passing much more slowly at this point. This is where it gets tough!! The legs are sore. My feet are hurting. I get a shoulder cramp. And my butt is hurting!

Then mile 11 shows up. Finally! This is what I was supposed to run according to my training schedule. Mile 11. Only two more miles left! This is when it hits me that I've almost completed this thing. And it hasn't killed me. I'm doing it! A feeling of pride and accomplishment rushes over me. I'm pretty sure I was wearing a huge grin and Whitney Houston was singing One Moment in Time.

I know it was a long wait for my family. While I'm out doing my thing they just have to sit and wait for me in the cold. But it was appreciated to have that support.

While I'm coming up to mile 13, the kids are waiting for me patiently near the finish line.

Rachel and Charlie see me and run up to me to give me hugs and high fives. Rachel says, "Mom! You're about to finish a half marathon!!" Such a great moment that it's hard to describe. It gave me just the boost I needed to dig deep for a last push for a strong finish. You can see Charlie running behind me and Rachel is at far left cheering for me and running. Loved this moment.

This is it!! This is what I've trained for. This is where I never thought I'd be. My first 5K I could only run 12 seconds at a time and thought I was going to die. I've come so far! A great feeling as I finish and hear my name called over the speakers.

YES!! And I didn't even cry. ;)

My legs are so shaky that I can barely walk a straight line. It took me 3 hours to finish this race. Yeah, I could have shaved some time off had I not stopped to take pictures or hug my kids but what fun is that?! I'm doing it for the experience, the medal and sense of accomplishment. Keeping those goals in mind made it an enjoyable experience.

A very happy (and tired) Texan.

I literally stumbled to the building where the post race party was happening. I pushed through the crowds and got my breakfast burrito, two mini bundt cakes, Muscle Milk and Diet Coke.

There I ran into the lady who had taken me under her wing (though I think I was older than her!) and she told me she was so happy for me then told me to go get in line for a massage. LOL She was sweet. I did not get a massage though. I was ready for my post race treats at BJs Brewhouse!

Just look at that gorgeous medal. I love it!! Yes, I did wear it into the restaurant. And my 13.1 tattoos. And a lot of salt on my face from the dried sweat.

Chuck drops me off at the door of the restaurant. It's a good thing because I could hardly walk! I had to grasp the railing of the stairs and take it slowly one step at a time. The legs just weren't working.

Ah!!! A pitcher of Jeremiah Red. Cheers!

And a deep dish bacon cheeseburger pizza. My post race guilty indulgences. :)

It was a very good day.

And this race completes my race year! It's been a very good year with some great races with friends new and old and family. Looking forward to 2012.