dieting – Page 3 – Mom of 2 and Foodaholic

Low Carb Lemon Cheesecake Bars – 1 net carb each!

When you’re a girl who likes to eat, but you’re trying to eat healthy, it can be hard to give up sweets. But wait — who said you have to??? Did you know you can diet AND still eat delicious food? Well I’m here to tell you that you can!

These sweet treats are only 1 net carb each, so no need to feel guilty for indulging in one. To make these, get the following ingredients.

1 package sugar free lemon jello mix
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 – 8 oz packages full fat cream cheese
1 cup boiling water

Mix the jello mix into the boiling water until dissolved.

Then add in lemon juice and cream cheese, mixing well until no lumps remain and mixture is smooth.

Pour mixture into 8 x 8 dish.

Put pan into fridge to chill for at least 4 hours. I cut this into 16 squares.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Low Carb Lemon Cheesecake Bars

1 package sugar free lemon jello mix

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 – 8 oz packages full fat cream cheese

1 cup boiling water

Mix the jello mix into the boiling water until dissolved.

Then add in lemon juice and cream cheese, mixing well until no lumps remain and mixture is smooth.

Pour mixture into 8 x 8 dish.

Put pan into fridge to chill for at least 4 hours. I cut this into 16 squares.

When you eat it, it’s almost mousse-like. It’s very light and fluffy and perfect for those times when you want something sweet. This is a very versatile recipe too, you can change the flavor jello, add in a little whipping cream, etc. Comment below if you make it and what you think!

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

KETO Low Carb Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks

Mozzarella sticks have always been my husbands favorite appetizer and I’m game for anything where the primary ingredient is cheesy goodness, but traditional cheese sticks have a carb loaded breading or batter on them. I’ve tried different coatings with almond or coconut flour, but it just wasn’t hitting the spot for me. So when all else fails, add bacon!

I love simple recipes and ones that don’t require 5,000 different ingredients. This only requires TWO ingredients. Cheese and bacon. That’s it. These are two keto staples I’ve always got in my house, so why not put them together?

First thing, throw the cheese in the freezer for a good hour. I left them in the freezer overnight. Once you’re ready to make them, get some oil heated up in a pan on the stove or turn on the deep fryer. You’ll need two slices of bacon per cheese stick. One thing I would recommend after making these is to NOT use the thick sliced bacon like I did. With it being so thick, it made it hard for the ‘inner bacon’ to get cooked completely without burning the outside. Of course thick cut bacon is my favorite and so that’s what I usually have on hand.

While you are waiting for the oil to heat up, wrap the cheese. You’ll place the cheese in the middle of one slice (lengthwise) folding the ends over the cheese. Then take a second piece of bacon and wrap, starting at the top and wrapping til you cover the bottom. Use tooth picks to secure the bacon.

Once your oil is nice and hot, cook the bacon wrapped cheese sticks until they are nice and brown and bacon is cooked.

When they’re done, remove from oil and drain on paper towel.

Let cool and enjoy the salty goodness!!

These are so filling, I couldn’t even eat two of them for a meal. I input my ingredients into the Keto Diet app and this one registers at 1 net carb per cheese stick. As always, I recommend you check the labels on your food since different brands can run differently.

Have you tried these? Let me know what you think!

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Week 2 Check In

I’m now checking in at the end of week 2. This week was little tougher as it was my nieces first birthday party and parties usually mean non-healthy food and sweet treats choc full of sugar and carbs. I also had a vendor event I participated in with no carry in food allowed, so I couldn’t make something and take it, I had to get something there.

Both of these are not every day occurrences, but they do happen frequently. Times like this can make it easy to fall off the ‘diet’ and it takes a a good amount of self control to steer clear of all the temptations.

I, for one, am not always able to resist. My sister in law is a darn good baker and she made some homemade butterscotch (my fav!) bars, brownies, and chocolate muffins for my sweet nieces 1 year birthday party.

Thankfully, we got to the party late so most of the stuff was picked over, but she had loads of dessert left. She cut the butterscotch bars pretty small, so I did treat myself to one and it was a perfect mix of sweet and salty.

butterscotch bars

I did feel a little guilt for eating it, but it was SO good. And I haven’t had any cheats since I started. I was worried how it was going to impact my check in today though. When I stepped on the scale, I hadn’t lost as much as I was hoping, but it was still down, so that’s a win!

Starting Weight: 308.8 lbs
Current Weight: 297.2 lbs
Total lost: 11.6 lbs

Starting Total Inches: 489.7
Current Inches: 481
Total Inches Lost: 8.7

I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m headed in the right direction. And I know the TruVision I take is helping me. I do not have the cravings I used to, I don’t snack like I used it, and I certainly don’t eat the portions I used to. You can feel free to give it a try by going here: http://yabboutique.truvisionhealth.com/trynow

I have tried so many diet/weight loss/health products over the years, but this combined with a healthier diet is definitely helping. This is also WITHOUT doing any exercise. I’m currently laid up from foot surgery, so I can’t be as active as I would like to be right now. I’m proof that just because you can’t be physically active, doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight. Your diet is a big part of the battle.

If I can do it, so can you!

Here is me and the sweet birthday girl (daddy was trying to bribe her with pizza to smile at the camera) and my brothers, my sister in law, niece, and me. As you can see, I come from a family that tends to be overweight, we have all struggled with it our entire lives. Hopefully if they see my success with this product, I can help them be healthier as well!

Feel free to share your thoughts below! I love to hear from you 😉

Philly Stuffed Mushrooms

When you’re a self proclaimed carboholic like me, it can be hard to find recipes that filling the missing carb void, and philly steak sandwiches are one of my favorite foods – and how do you have a sandwich without bread? Well – let me tell you – I don’t miss the bread even a teensy bit with this recipe. The mushrooms are so big and meaty and filling is delicious, this recipe really doesn’t disappoint. It’s such a filling recipe too, you can fill up on half of one of these mushrooms! Since starting Keto/Low Carb, this has been my go-to dinner and it’s favorite of mine.

For this super simple recipe, you’ll need:

12-16 oz sirloin steak cut into bite size pieces (feel free to use less or more depending how much you like – or if you are vegetarian, skip the meat and add more veggies)
3/4 c diced onion
3/4 c diced green pepper
1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c mayo
1/4 c cream cheese, softened
3 oz provolone cheese
4 portobello mushrooms

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, then get the mushrooms ready. These are the ones I usually use. Sometimes there are 3 in a package if they are smaller, but these ones are just huge.

Clean the mushrooms, I usually just take a wet paper towel and wipe them off. Remove the stems and scrape out the gills. I cut the stems out with a small paring knife and gently scrap the gills with a spoon. Be careful not to break the mushroom and this is going to be your bowl for the filling. Lay them on an 11 x 15 baking sheet – I used a jelly roll pan.

Now to get to work on the filling. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a little bit of oil (I use olive oil). Season steak with salt and pepper to taste. Add steak to pan and cook about 1 1/2 -2 minutes, remove from heat and place on plate with paper towel to absorb any excess liquid. You’ll want a good size pan for this – Cuisinart 14-Inch Skillet

Once steak is done, reduce heat to medium, add in onion and peppers and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, mix the sour cream, cream cheese, and mayo in a bowl until well mixed. Throw cheese in as well, then mix. You can use shredded cheese, but I just by sliced provolone and tear it up for the cheese to mix in.

Once veggies are done, throw steak back in to warm.

Once that is done, put in the bowl with the rest of the filling.

Mix until it is all incorporated.

Now it’s time to fill your mushrooms. And I gotta tell you, the kitchen smells absolutely heavenly at this point – it’s hard not to just eat it right from the bowl with a spoon. But alas, I showed restraint and filled the mushrooms and they were just about overflowing.

Then top with a piece of provolone cheese. This will melt and get nice and browned.

Pop in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until mushrooms are cooked and cheese is melted. It’ll look similar to this. One of my mushrooms didn’t hold up as well, the sides got weak when it cooked, so a little of the filling came out, but trust me – it doesn’t affect the flavor! These are so yummy.

You can see the mushrooms do give off some water, so there will be some in the bottom of the pan when you take the mushrooms out. Don’t worry, that’s totally normal.

And that’s it! Now you can enjoy a delicious philly cheesesteak without all the carbs! Comment below with your thoughts or variations on this recipe!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Philly Stuffed Mushrooms

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, then get the mushrooms ready. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Scrape out the gills. This will leave you with a ‘bowl’ for your filling. Lay mushrooms on an 11 x 15 in baking pan.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a little oil.

Season steak with salt and pepper and cook about 1 ½ – 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place on paper towel to absorb and excess liquid.

Reduce heat to medium. Add in onion and pepper and cook about 5-6 minutes or until soft.

Mix sour cream, cream cheese, mayo, and provolone cheese while veggies are cooking.

When veggies are done, throw steak back in to warm. Then remove from heat and add meat and beggies to filling mixture.

Fill mushrooms with mixture and top with more provolone cheese if desired.

Bake for approx. 20 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Peanut Butter Pecan Bars

There are lots of foods you can eat on a low carb diet, especially if you’re a big meat eater like me. Despite all the wonderful beef, chicken, pork, etc etc, sometimes it’s just nice to have a little something sweet. So like my usual, I searched Pinterest to see what was quick and simple, and something I had all the ingredients for. I didn’t want something I had to bake, and a lot of the sweet fat bombs I’m not a fan of.

Then I came across a recipe for Peanut Butter Pecan Bars. It’s only 5 ingredients and I had everything on hand. I figured, let’s do it!

So here’s what you need:
2 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (or any other brand – I have Da Vinci so that’s what I used)
8 oz Pecan halves or pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c Coconut Oil

That’s it! For most people on a Keto/Low Carb diet, these items are basic staples. (Maybe not the syrup if you aren’t a coffee drinker like me).

First thing you need to do is divide the pecans into 4 individual containers (2 oz – about 1/2 c – each). These containers work perfectly – NutriBox [20 value pack] single one compartment 12oz mini Meal Prep Food Storage Containers – BPA Free Reusable Lunch bento Box with Lids – Spill proof Proof, Microwave, Dishwasher and Freezer Safe

Once you do that, measure out the peanut butter and coconut oil and put into a microwave dish. I used a big glass measuring cup for easier pouring when it was done.

Microwave for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir until well mixed, adding in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour 1/4 of the mixture over each container. Once done, stir nuts in slightly to make sure they are all incorporated.

Cover and set in refrigerator until set up. That’s all that’s to it! See, told you it was simple!

These are so good, I could just keep eating them! It’s almost fudge-like. The pecans go perfectly with the peanut butter and it filled my sweet tooth. This is a recipe that you could easily modify. Swap nuts out, maybe add in some cocoa powder for a little chocolately goodness – you name it! Let me now what you think and if you make any changes to the recipe 🙂

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Peanut Butter Pecan Bars

2 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (or any other brand – I have Da Vinci so that’s what I used)
8 oz Pecan halves or pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c Coconut Oil

First thing you need to do is divide the pecans into 4 individual containers (2 oz – about 1/2 c – each).

Once you do that, measure out the peanut butter and coconut oil and put into a microwave dish.

Microwave for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir until well mixed, adding in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour 1/4 of the mixture over each container. Once done, stir nuts in slightly to make sure they are all incorporated.

Cover and set in refrigerator until set up.

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Chicken Salad

I’m always looking for things that are quick and easy for lunches, especially since I’m usually on the go or wanting something different to take for lunch at work. I came across this recipe and gave it a shot. It’s not too bad, but maybe a little too much onion flavor for me and feels like it’s missing something, maybe something sweet.

This recipe is super simple and you can easily make a bigger batch if you want it for more lunches/dinners.

All you need for this is:

1 1/4 lbs chicken (anywhere from 2-4 chicken breasts depending on size) 6-7 tbsp of mayo 2-3 celery stalks 2-3 tbsp red onion salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste For starters, bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes until it’s cooked and no longer pink. Depending on size, your chicken may take more or less time.

These chicken breasts were pretty big, but still cooked in 25 minutes

While you are waiting for the chicken to cook/cool, dice up the celery and onion.

I didn’t have red onion on hand, so just used what I had. I used 2 stalks of celery.

Once the chicken has cooled, cut into small pieces.

Add the celery, onion, mayo, and spices to taste and mix all til well combined. That’s it!

PRINTABLE RECIPE KETO Chicken Salad 1 1/4 lbs chicken (anywhere from 2-4 chicken breasts depending on size) 6-7 tbsp of mayo 2-3 celery stalks 2-3 tbsp red onion salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake chicken for 25-30 minutes, until check in cooked and no longer pink. Depending on size of chicken breasts, it may take more or less time. While chicken is cooking, dice onion and celery. Once chicken is cooled, cut into small pieces. Mix all ingredients and store in fridge up to 1 week. If you’re doing low carb/Keto, you can eat this plain, on peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, however you’d like! There are also several recipes for low carb crackers and bread if you prefer that. All in all, I liked the recipe, but I would probably change things. I’m not a huge fan of raw onion, so I may omit that and use onion powder instead for a little flavor and maybe cut up a couple grapes for the sweetness I was missing. There would be a few carbs added with the grapes, but also reduced with removing the onions.

Let me know what you think if you make it and how you might modify the recipe! Enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Battle of the Diets

Like most people in this world, I am constantly battling one diet or another. Or should I say ‘lifestyle change’. Whatever you want to call it, I’m just going to say it, it sucks. Not being able to eat what you want and when you want – whether you are counting carbs, calories, points, or whatever method of dieting you choose, it just plain sucks. I’ve been dieting on and off for the last 20 years and have tried most of them out there. Since I’m still overweight, it’s clearly not worked out well for me. I’m a yo-yo’er. I’ve never lost more than 50lbs, but every time I lose, I seem to gain it back plus more.

This constant battle seems to dictate a lot of things in my life. I’ve been overweight since I was a child, but of course I wasn’t as heavy as I thought I was back then. Every time I gain weight, I keep thinking why I was complaining so much when I weighed less and I would be so much happier if my weight would just go back down to what it was. But is that number on the scale what is really going to decide my happiness? No, probably not, but it would be less stress on my body.

So in an attempt to lose weight right now, I’ve started taking TruVision. I’ve seen lots of success stories and decided to give it a go. Is it going to work? I don’t know, but I’m hopeful. If you look hard enough, you can find successes and failures with any diet or supplement. I’ve tried and failed at most of them. I’m trying to do my research with this one and watch what I eat while also trying to be more active. I created a spreadsheet to monitor my measurements and my weight to see how and so far I’ve lost almost 10 lbs. Hopefully it will continue, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. If you want to check out TruVision, you can do so by going here: http://yabboutique.truvisionhealth.com and if you want to just try a sample, let me know and we can make that happen. Fingers crossed it keeps working and I’ll post updates here periodically.

Tag: dieting

Low Carb Lemon Cheesecake Bars – 1 net carb each!

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