A Few Of My Favorite Things

singing in a quiet little chorus..."Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens.." I've been on a quest for the past 3 or so years to make our diets more healthy. To subract the things I know we shouldn't eat and replace them with things I know we should. When we eliminated soda we added sparkling water and grape juice or water and teas. Over the years I've changed alot, and much of what we eat now we never ate before! homemade yak jerky (in picture) As my husband and I are losing weight we've decided to do it by eliminating alot of the carbs we previously ate. I'm not following any specific plan-- mine is more of a Laura's version of Atkins. I've taken some of the things I liked about Atkins - full fat(good fats that is), high protein, low carb, and modified some of what I didn't like -extremely low carb induction, and artificial sweeteners and modified those things too. Sort of a real food, lower impact, version of Atkins. I must be doing something right cause I've lost two dress sizes and about 28 pounds since the end of January, and even more importantly I finally have energy and feel good, feel like going for daily walks - even if I don't most of the time, feel like getting up, feel like doing things!! I have more weight to lose of course, but like all things it is a proccess. And part of this proccess involves finding new foods to replace the ones we previously knew and loved. Breaded steaks, pasta, rice, fruit salads, potatoes, ww bread, tortillas, pb & J, biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pizza crust, well -- you get the idea. In order for this to be a lasting change we have to change the way we think about food, the recipes we use and we have to adapt. I thought I would share with you some of the things that help me, keep me sane and make me happy when I think a raised, glazed doughnut sounds good to me! Below I've listed some of my favorite snack ideas and recipes. I'll follow with more as I discover them but for now this is a peek into what I'm eating lately. *I'm using net carbs which are grams of carbs, then subract the fiber from the total (if using artificial sweeteners you also subtract the sugar alchohols cause they aren't digested.) For snacks: Nuts- They have crunch! and they are convienient- however because of the cost we are trying to limit them some. I have started soaking them to make crispy nuts ala sally fallon style, and found that if I put a spice mix on them before drying in the dehydrator they are fabo! And different -- which is good cause I am a girl who likes variety. Cashews have too many carbs for a regular snack but in a mixed nut variety they are ok.. here you have to watch out for the hydrogenated oils, dextrose, flavorings, etc.. but plain raw nuts that you soak and dehydrate ala sally fallon style are terrific for you!! Olives - Oh how I have fallen into deep love with good kalamata olives. 5 of them have 1 gram of net carbs! So I can eat 10, feel like a darn queen and not feel bad at all. Again, they have terrific fats, so they are more filling than you might think. MIM - Recipe is here: http://www.atkins.com/Recipes/ShowRecipe905/Muffin-in-a-Minute-(MIM).aspx What you say is a MIM? it's a muffin in a minute. Seriously it takes a minute in the microwave to make it. Very cool thing and extremely versatile. I adapt the recipe to fit my rules and put a tiny scoop of KAL Brand Stevia in it. I also will add pecans or walnuts on top before putting it in the microwave and I put half the cinnamon it calls for in it. I've also made a savory version by subbing out savory spices like garlic for the cinnamon and leaving out the stevia. They are incredibly filling. Celery or thick sliced cucumbers and this awesome tuna salad- http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/tuna_caper_spread.html I used to eat it with crackers, but I haven't perfected making my own low carb crackers, yet. Again-- good fats, when made with whole fat cream cheese and lower mercury tuna -- like chunk light, and best yet--inexpensive. Makes a good lunch too. String cheese- or really any harder cheese like cheddar etc. - convienient again -- which is a real lifesaver. 1 gram of net carbs - I try to find the higher fat variety whenever possible. Jerky - any kind without alot of sugar and MSG or crap added to it is good. I made a boatload of Yak Jerky and we've been working on that now for a while. Deer or Elk would be fine too. Making your own isn't too hard really. Yogurt- Full Fat or at least 2% Greek is my favorite- plain. I add 2-3 drops of liquid stevia to the yogurt stirred in, and then a topping of my choice. Things I like are my own super low sugar apricot homecanned syrup, homemade strawberry syrup- made out of frozen, thawed, strawberries and a bit of stevia in the blender, or a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries. Celery sticks and Peanut or Almond Butter- Unsweetened nut butter of course, the oil on the top kind, not the one with hydrogenated fats added in to make it stay together. Salted is my preference, chunky or smooth depending on my mood. Half an apple with or without nut butter - the apple alone is 8 grams of carbs so I don't have this very often. But it satisfies my crunchy and sweet cravings. Strawberries - 1/2 cup has about 4.1 net grams of carbs in it, meaning 1/4 cup will have about 2. Hard boiled eggs- mashed with butter and salt and pepper and microwaved for just a few seconds till warm. Quick, satisfying and good fats! Sometimes I make a batch of deviled eggs to snack on or even just peel and dip in salt and pepper to eat. Bacon- often I will simply fry up 2-3 peices of bacon - no carbs. I get the best kind our budget affords us- but I look for nitrate free, no MSG as a minimum standard when I can. 5 cherry tomatoes- 2.4 net grams of carbs nitrate free lunchmeat- with cream cheese spread on it and wrapped up - not entirely the best nutrition but, it has some fat and some protein to keep me till the next meal and it's quick and easy, and there is something to be said for that. 1/4 cup blueberries- 2 net grams of carbs Drinks - instead of eating something I will often times drink something. Here are just some of my favs:

• water with a squeeze or slice of fresh lemon.


• sparkling water (fav brand is la croix) with a squeeze of lime or lemon and some stevia. 1-2 drops of liquid.


• HonestT's stevia sweetened tea. -- a yummy treat.


• unsweetened almond milk- chocolate flavored with a tiny amount of stevia


• hot unsweetened chai tea - add 1 T whipping cream and a drop or two of stevia you'll have a drink that reminds of a coffee house drink.


• or for a measly 4g. net carbs this shake in the blender:

Blueberry Shake

1/4 cup blueberries 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut milk 2 T. whey protein powder or other low in carb protein powder stevia to taste. about 2-3 drops of liquid or 1 tiny scoop of powder And on a rare occaision I will eat a Atkins PB cup, Diet Dr. Pepper, or a Dreyer's low carb ice cream bar. -- No, they don't really meet my qualifications for nourishing food - but I'm a realist and I understand that while in a perfect world everything I eat will nourish my body - sometimes that just isn't the case. Since I have yet to find a suitable substitute for those things - these will do for a few months. Considering I"ve never in my life (other than a short stint in high school) consumed any kind of artificial sweeteners of any kind -- I'm figuring a few months of occaisional use until I figure out good substitutes is ok. *** I've mentioned here about good fats and how fat is part of my "diet". I'm a firm believer that eating fat doesn't make you fat or raise your cholesterol or harm you in any way. The folks at Weston A. Price, Cheeseslave, Nourishing traditions etc.. can explain it far better than I can, but there is a reason fats are referred to as essential fatty acids.. it's because they are essential to our good health. They help regulate blood sugar, nourish our skin, keep us satiated after eating, and are essential to many systems of the body--one of which is the endocrine system and without them we would be well in poor health. By good fats I am talking about minimally proccessed animal fats, as close to raw as possible if we are talking about dairy fats like butter and cream, good coconut oil, high quality nut oils like walnut oil, avacado oil, olive oil, and I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of right now. When "dieting" good fat is even more essential because it helps to regulate your blood sugars and also keeps you full. (When I say good fat I'm not talking about canola oil, corn oil, hydrogenated oils, others, those I don't feel are good for you at all.) Of course I'm not a professional and I"m not a doctor or anything like that-- but those are my beliefs and I would encourage you to research and look into what you are eating and how it affects your body.