Tuesday, November 29, 2016

White Turkey Chili

As I was wadding through a healthy collection of emails today, I found one for a blog I subscribe to. After clicking on the link to the blog I began to read the current post. The blogger had received an email asking if she would be willing to provide a list of blogs she followed, so in turn there was a list provided of blogs that were important to her.
I allowed my mind to wander as I finished reading, thinking about how great it would be to not have to work, to be able to stay home, read blogs, test recipes and write here in my own blog. But that is not a possibility at this time, for now I continue to put in many hours at the restaurant, helping care for my mom and volunteering at the church. Recently we have even added the trial of having family members living with us temporarily while they get on their feet. Grandpa still babysits one day a week, as well as returned part time to the workforce for the time being, to help provide the means to continue on our house project.

It’s been a year of changes and challenges, but all in all, it has been a pretty good year. This last week we celebrated Thanksgiving, and I find it easy to be grateful for my sons and their wives, my wonderful three (soon to be four) grandchildren, still having my parents with me, and even with all its issues, we have a home that we can share with others. We have jobs to go to, food in our cupboards and frig, and gas in our cars. There is always something we can thank God for, and when we take the time to give credit to Him, our lives are better for it. When I focus on all the things I don’t have I loose perspective of the things that are truly important. I doubt I will ever have the money that I would need to do all the things I want to do, but I seem to always have enough love in my life to make it not matter. I pray that the same rings true for you.


This week we have eaten enough cold turkey sandwiches to satisfy us for a while, and yet there was still a leg, a thigh and a bit of white meat still Ziploc’d in the frig. A friend posted a video of turkey butternut squash chili on Facebook which got me to thinking, I also remembered another friend that used to make a white chili (but it used canned cream soup which is something that I can say I’m not a fan, as well as something outside my eating plan) but gave me the idea for that leftover turkey, and the result became a hardy rich stew that was enjoyed on a cold night. So if you are looking for something to use the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, give this a try. My family gobbled it up and went back for more.












White Turkey Chili
4-5 cups Turkey leftovers, diced

Small dice following vegetables
1 Onion
1 cup celery
1 cup carrot
1 cup cabbage

1/2 to whole jalapeno fine diced (veins and seeds removed) depending on your taste (we used 1/2)
2 Tblsp Cummin
2 cans Cannellini beans (15oz cans)
1 can Fire roasted green chilis (7 oz)
1 can Green chili enchilada sauce (large)
1 Qt Vegetable or Chicken stock (I had turkey drippings)
Salt & Pepper to taste
12 oz cream cheese
6-10 Quart heavy stock pot (my favorite is a cast iron roaster that holds even heat)
Saute the diced vegetables over medium heat in a little oil until onions and cabbage are translucent and carrots softened. Add turkey, spices, jalapeno, beans including liquid, chilis and sauce.  Add enough stock to ensure all the vegetables are covered. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes.  Add cream cheese and stir until it has completely melted into the chili  (while the chili simmers cube up the cream cheese to allow it to come to room temp faster as well as incorporated into the chili more easily). 
Serve with gratted cheese, sour cream, chips, or whatever your favorite chili toppings might be. 

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Remembering and Reinventing

Times of nostalgia are a funny thing. 

This spring and summer we have been in overdrive with remodeling our house, planting and managing our garden, installing a fire pit, caring for and enjoying our three grandchildren, and spending time with friends and family. I knew my time here would be limited until fall when our time outdoors would be restricted by the weather.  But today I felt the overwhelming desire to sit here and reminisce a little. 

It all started with a co-working bringing me a jar of jam that was made over a weekend of family time with his wife and parents. You could see the pride of his labors in that little jar he felt he wanted to share with me. Canning, something I used to share with my grandmother every years as the food came into season and as we prepared for the winter to come. We would look at the rows of jars at the end of the season with pride in our labors. Food we would enjoy months down the road. 

But Grandma past away 16 years ago, I had given up on gardening, focused on finishing raising my children, deeper levels of volunteering at the church, and advancing my my career. I've been through an assortment of health issued, changed my eating habits, the types of food I eat and changed how I prepared my food. Canning was not something I thought about when I was planning meals.

After moving into our current home 11 years ago, I began to find time to rekindle my love for what I endearingly call my dirt therapy. It started with working over flower beds, moving plants around in the yard and beginning to find my style of landscaping, but the last few years I've really gotten back into having a vegetable garden. It was a small patch of ground initially, zucchini (you can hardly kill that stuff) and few tomatoes. I started putting in raised beds and messing round in square foot gardening which didn't seem to do the job for me. I tried raising asparagus (too much bother for the yield or I just didn't do that right) but found success with arden berries which are a seedless hybrid of blackberry and boysenberries, and we have figured out the best use for a tree full of figs (we have a granddaughter who can't get enough of them).

Two years ago we have the opportunity to buy an old John Deere tractor with a tiller attachment so last year I moved one of the raised beds and embarked on a patch 8 feet wide and 3o feet long. We grew very successful crops of zucchini, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, regular cucumber, green beans and sunflower plants. With our successful garden we had the privilege to share bags full of produce to our neighbors, friends and family. I prepared  a fare amount of grated zucchini and roasted tomatoes that have proven to be staple in my kitchen. (I shared the beginnings of my adventures in tomatoes a few years back, http://coralsgrocerybag.blogspot.com/2013/09/roasted-tomatoes.html for the freezer. Yet with all that produce, I didn't feel a need to pull out my equipment and begin the process of canning. With just my husband and I in the house, what was the point.

This last spring we enjoyed an early spring (I  shared with you previously getting my garden in early), adding new beds and more flowers for the humming birds which has proven to be a very successful choice. We have been enjoying corn, radishes, kale, green onions, lemon cucumbers, peppers, celery and of course berries and figs. I spent some time helping my son and daughter-in-law get their garden planted as well. 

Last week I had the opportunity to help my daughter-in-law can 30 pounds of peaches. Peaches, one of the many items canned by my grandmother and myself. Hours and hours spent at the sink and stove blanching, peeling, slicing and jarring the sweet juicy fruit. As I stood in my son's kitchen repeating those movements I was overwhelmed with memories  of  doing that same task with my grandmother, forcing back the desire to well up with tears at the realization of a time gone by and a woman I loved dearly and missed. 

As well as having that moment of nostalgia, I had the realization that now I am the mother/grandmother. I am the teacher instead of the one following instructions. In all those years standing in the kitchen with grandma, I never thought about the fact that one day, I would be asked to be the teacher, the one guiding the process of raising and preserving food for the coming winter. I am very thankful for all the loving care taken with me, that would prepare for this time in my life, to be able to instill traditions of being self-sufficient, traditions of coming together as family to share in the burden of the work load and caring for our families. 

I didn't spend time canning with my father's mother, but there was plenty of time in the garden with her and my grandfather, as well as eating food from the jars proudly displayed on shelves in their garage. I remember being sent to the garage to bring in jars of  green beans and other treasures that I would scan over when the opportunity arose.

I'm warmed by looking at my past, the rich knowledge shared with me by my grandparents, gardening with my dad. The importance of knowing how to grow my own food and preserve it for later and not always need to depend on food grown by others. Now my job is to share that part of me with my adult children and grand children.

Yesterday and today I canned 11 pints of stewed tomatoes with garlic that will be used in sauces and soups in the months to come. Just like spending time in my dirt therapy in the  garden, canning also is therapy to me, I find standing in my own kitchen, peeling, dicing and jarring a large batch of tomatoes from my garden, I felt that same peace as I moved though the steps. I sensed my grandmother there at my side, her reminding to get all the skins off, keeping the dice uniform so it will cook evenly, letting the jars cool before removing the rings to clean the jars. Returning to my roots, a place that is familiar can bring a joy that is worth hanging on to. That woman was such a blessing and encouragement to me. She always let me know I can be anything I wanted to be, she never put a cap on my enthusiasm to try new things, and she was alway willing to be by my side through it all. I pray that I can be that woman to my children and grandchildren.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Confessions

You hear that confession is good for the soul; well you know, sometimes confession is the fastest way to correction. 

After the brunch I prepared last weekend, I came home with a collection of leftovers, a quart of honey yogurt, a quart of sliced strawberries, a quart of diced pineapple and blue berries, a jar of homemade granola, a loaf of banana bread (a gift mind you) and 9 or 10 mini zucchini chocolate chip muffins. 

Well this collection of goodies is almost gone and it was not solely by my husband. I did my fair share of diving into the throws of full on carb binging.  The weird part was looking at this list of things you would think, what's wrong with a bowl of honey yogurt with fruit and granola (every evening...=sigh=) going to do to me or a muffin as I drive to the train station. 

Well, what it did to me was cause a six pound gain and left me craving sweet like there is no tomorrow. My blood sugars have spiked, forcing me to take more diabetic meds and I've had crazy wierd dreams at night, in turn I'm tired from poor sleep, so hey, lets have another cup of coffee to perk me back up. I'm bloated, puffy and overall uncomfortable. So there you go, you wonder what happens when to take a leave from eating Keto and dive back into the carb pool, your body goes wacko from the dousing of sugar each day. There's my confession, I did it, it's over and now to start feeling better again.

I'm sure this is not that last time I will ever go on a carb binge; and I'm sure I will have to pick myself up and dust off the bad behavior. But I can't dwell on that, I have to focus on doing my best and keep moving forward.

My plan to get back on the wagon:

Today - Take the candy bag (random left over Easter candy I found on a shelf) to the office for others to eat, start the day with a bacon, cauliflower and butter scramble., yumm.


Saturday - toss any remnants of this past week (my hubby may grumble), a trip to the farmers' market & butcher shop, food prep, and good night's sleep
Sunday - Meal plans based on what was available, shop for any remaining needed ingredients

Monday - Execute

For now, I will eat as Keto based as I can the next couple of days, based on what is still in the house and until I can get my shopping done and have my frig stocked for sucess. I know I've preached it myself; failing to plan is planning to fail. This week failing is not an option, time to follow my own advice and do what I know is the right thing.



Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Three Cheese Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes: Prep Nights part 2

After taking a few weeks off from blogging to put on a Easter egg hunt for 60 kids, I was ready to get back to some normalcy. Well so much for that

As I've pushed through the past few weeks, having my vegetables prepped has been a total lifesaver. I've been able to pull meals together in 30 minutes and be able to run back out the door just as fast I ran in. 

One thing I learned in the process is that preparing food in this manner really does show you what you use allot of and what may go to waste. I've also realized what a loss I'm at when I don't take that time to slice, dice and chop a healthy batch of vegetable and pull a couple of cuts of meat from the freezer for the week. 

The weather has been exceptionally nice this spring and I've really tried to make the best of it, we've installed a fire pit, worked over the fence around the garden and installed a new gate. Planted the garden, set up one more raised bed for vegetables and had fun adding trellises and climbing flowers to help attract birds and bees to the garden. We've spread cardboard between the raised beds and down the walkways and covered them with straw for weed control and started a new compost pile. We are still working on spreading enough gravel around the fire pit and between the work sheds and the garden so we have clean walk ways and work spaces, but its beginning to really take shape. 

I must say, just typing that all up makes me tired, and in between all the projects we watch our grandkids and last Saturday I cooked a brunch for 25 ladies for Mothers Day. Sadly enough I'm ready for a couple of weeks of rain that force me to stay inside and work on some projects in the house, including catching up here with you. I've cooked some wonderful dishes, taken pictures and then ran back out to work on another project. So needless to say I have lots of photos of food I forgot what I put in it and plenty more ideas I need to sort out.

This week I've been faced with no time to get to the grocery store, event leftovers and bring work home from the office. It's one of those weeks I'm ill prepared, but I had a creative moment when it came to dinner tonight and I just  had to take the time to share.



Three Cheese Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes
3 servings (unless you are really hungry)
1lb chicken tenders, cubed (boneless/skinless thighs would work great too)
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. minced red onion
8 oz roasted (or sundried) tomatoes in oil
4 oz cream cheese
1 c. heavy whipping cream (or more to reach desired thickness)
1/2 c. grated  parmesan cheese (I by it by the tub full, but the stuff in the green shaker works too)
White cheddar, colby, or mozzarella - Grated for garnish

 

 


Preheat a large heavy skillet on the stovetop, reduce to med heat, oil pan and add chopped chicken. Salt and pepper the meat and allow to cook, stirring until cooked on all sides, add chopped onion and garlic and continue to cook for a minute or two, adding tomatoes to warm. Drop in cream cheese and allow it to start to melt, adding cream to loosen up the mix, more as needed. Give it a taste for seasoning, adjust the salt and pepper to your taste and dish it up. 

This sauce would be great paired with cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, pasta or even with steamed vegetables. Tonight I made it with cauliflower rice and the only downside was I should have made more rice!

That's it, it came together super fast and we were eating in no time. 

Well, now its time for me to tackle the pile of paperwork from the office that is waiting here beside me.
But before I go, here's a peek at my other projects and my helpers


 




 



 











Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Keto Korean Beef

Once again the weeks have screamed passed and I've neglected to slow down long enough to even post a few lines here. Work has been excessive, forcing late hours working at home and that followed by a busy weekend executing an Easter egg hunt for 60 kids and then a pancake breakfast. We've been trying to decide how to deal with remodeling our house to accommodate moving my mom in with us. 

So needless to say, I've been a bit checked out. I don't what the coming weeks will entail,but I will be here as time allows. 

The one thing I have managed to stick with during all this activity has been keeping up with food prep night and cooking. I've found that taking that time to prep has actually saved me, when it came to  making meals on the fly or when I've been dead on my feet was easy and kept me from straying too far from my eating plan. That doesn't mean I never caved and ate things I shouldn't have, but all in all, I did pretty well. 

One night we had ground elk, ground beef and cauliflower rice with a few assorted vegetables to  play with. We had my son, daughter in law and our sweet granddaughter at the house and we decided on tweaking our favorite Korean Beef recipe and found that with just a bit of adjustments.



So without further ado, here's what we came up with.

Korean Beef
 1 lb ground beef (or elk)
1 c. diced bell peppers (I used red & yellow for color)
1/2 c. green onions, thin sliced on the diagonal
1/2 c. celery, thin sliced on the diagonal
1/4 c. Tamari
sugar replacement, use equivalent to 1/3 cup sugar (adjust to taste)
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
3 Lg cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp. Crushed red pepper (adjust to desired taste)

Mix together tamari, sweetener, sesame oil, minced garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes together and set aside

In large skillet or dutch oven, brown and crumble meat. Once meat is no longer pink, add in remaining vegetables and cook until vegetables are softened. Add tamari mixture and simmer until liquid has reduced, stirring regularly.




Serve with cauliflower rice. http://cookeatpaleo.com/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/

If you have your cauliflower riced and ready to cook, it only take minutes to cook off a batch  of rice while your Korean beef is cooking.

At this point all you need to do is grab your favorite bowl and enjoy!

Monday, March 14, 2016

Prep Night



Hello from the office....my work office that is. I'm sitting at my desk finishing off a plate of corned beef, topped with melted white cheddar cheese and grilled sauerkraut and a caesar salad on the side. The guys in the kitchen must think I'm pretty crazy, but the actual set for the dish is a corned beef sandwich (bread of course) and fries, which goes against my eating plan. So thankfully they are a pretty good group of guys all in all and they are willing to put up with my weird modifications to the menu items (especially since I produce their paychecks).

But getting down to what I wanted to share with you, I've started taking some tips from this great group of people in our kitchen. 

Have you ever wondered how a restaurant kitchen manages to prepare six different entrees for a table of guests in a reasonable amount of time? Well it all comes down to preparation. They have ingredient list for each entree that is on the menu, each menu item is assigned to be prepared at a specific station on the line depending on if it is a cold dish, or if the main ingredients need to be grilled, broiled, or cooked in a pan on the stove. For our lunch service alone, we have three different stations performing these tasks and dinner it is even more. 

At each station, you will find containers of prepared ingredients that all go into each dish. Just the "sandwich" I had today, the cook has a bin of meat that has been cooked off and thinly slices, a bin with sliced cheese and a tub of sauerkraut, a squeeze bottle of 1000 Island dressing and on the shelf above his station is a loaf of marbled rye bread. When a ticket is printed for a table wanting this sandwich the cook take a portion of sliced meat and places it in a container of hot broth he keeps on the stove to heat the meat, at the same time a portion of kraut is placed on the flat top to grill, he will pull two slices of bread and applies the appropriate amount of sauce to bread, return to his flat top, place the hot meat on the flat top to brown,  and turn the browning kraut. He will collect the sliced cheese needed, turn the meat, place the cheese on top to melt, add the kraut to the top of the stack and then artfully scoop the yummy pile up and place it on the prepared bread. Add the remaining additions to the plate and it is ready to serve. Some where in the dance, he drops a basket of fries into the fryer and at the perfect moment removes them from their oil bath, places them in a bowl to be tossed with salt and herbs before delivering them to the side of the sandwich and out the a table of expectant guests. 

Well all of this work does not happen without the skillful hands of another group of people working in the back of the kitchen, preparing all those bins and containers of food that the cook will rely on to prepare your food. People who are doing things as simple as boiling large batches of boiled eggs for the salad station and deviled eggs for the happy hour. They prepare the many layers of potatoes that make up the gratin that is served with the steaks each night, or preparing the twice baked potatoes. There are people who's main job is to create the individual portions of fish and steaks, so when the menu says a 6 or 10 ounce filet, you get a 6 or 10 oz steak. There are many moving parts in the back of the kitchen that are vital to the operations in the kitchen.

So how can you learn from the dance of a professional kitchen? What I'm going to share with you may not have you turning out multi course meals in record time to your eager family, but it may lead you to a less hectic process when you have 30 minutes to put dinner on the table before you have jump in the car with the kids to run off to dance class or swim lessons.

The key to this time saving tip, is in that group of people in the back of the kitchen, putting in the time to prep vegetables and meat so you have everything you need when you are ready to prepare you meal. 

I established a habit weeks ago that each week when I head for the grocery store, I always buy some staple items that allow me to build my meals from. Before I began eating a Keto based diet, meals were built around the starches I used to stretch meals for a large family which raged from potatoes to pastas and rice. Now my staple items include a weekly head of cauliflower, a head of cabbage and bag of zucchini. Mixed with an assortment of other vegetables that are in lots of my dishes, things like yellow onions green onions and bell peppers. But all these foods take a fair amount of time to cut and prepare before I can start cooking a meal. 

This is where we take our cues from the restaurant kitchen, from the people working in the back of the kitchen. Preparation is the key to speed when we prepare our meals, that is why when you watch the celebrity chef's on TV,  all of their ingredients are pre-cut, pre-measured and placed in little bowls awaiting their use. 

How do we do this you ask? Starting with a cheap purchase at the restaurant supply store of quart containers and lids, I had a portion control to work with, but you could use any containers that you have on hand, for me, these nesting  container the restaurant supply provided made sense to me after seeing them in use everyday at work. After returning home with my bags full of staples and other ingredients I thought about the meals I might be preparing for the week, a batch of cauliflower hash, spaghetti with shredded cabbage, cauliflower rice with something, I didn't have a set menu, but like my past of meal stretching, I knew I would need those basics to build from. 

With my food processor out and mandolin on hand I started prepping for the week. I regularly like to toss together a hash with whatever leftover meat I have in the frig, so having chunked up cauliflower ready to go is a big time saver, so two quarts cut and up in the frig. Well I like peppers and onions in there too, so I have a quart of sliced onions and one of mixed colored bell peppers chunked up, off to frig they go. If I want to have rice during the week, two quarts of riced cauliflower chopped up in the food processor, and we like that with green onion, so I also sliced up a couple of bunches of green onion into a pint container. and we can use part of the peppers already in the frig go with that.  Next step is 3 quarts of shredded cabbage, sliced on the mandolin and I'm ready for a batch of cabbage and onions (yes I sliced up a quart of those too and yes, I cried). I didn't try making my zucchini noodle, I'm afraid they may spoil a little to quickly, but I may give it a try soon too.


  

Now, regardless of what I decide on for my meals this week, I have my basics covered. I've spent a little over an hour chopping and slicing a mixture of vegetable that I can now utilize in many combinations to pull together a meal. I've spent part of one evening, I've dirtied my kitchen appliances, cutting boards and knives once and then cleaned it all up when I was done. Now when I'm ready to cook, I only have to measure out what I need and I don't trash the kitchen chopping and prepping with each meal. Dirty it all once, clean it all up once and look at the time savings.


 

When you walk into the big refrigerators at the restaurant you see rows of these containers with all sorts of prepared food, ready to go out on the cook line and be prepared for the guests. Its very important to avoid waste, so dating the container is part of the process and as crazy as it seems a roll of blue painters tape and a sharpie does the trick. You can date it, list what it is, and even how much is in the container, then it peels right off without leaving a sticky mess behind, and you just do it  all over again with your next batch. This way, just like the restaurant, you can see easily what you need to use first, and what needs restocking. It also makes it really easy to know what you have.

This process can be used with virtually everything, you can portion out meat portions (but never mix raw meats with vegetables unless you are interested in some very unpleasant trips to the bathroom or much worse), pre make sauces or dressing, anything you might need for you week. I'm going to try my hand at making mayonnaise and its time to stock up on fresh salad dressings.  

One of the containers I prepped was breakfast all in one. I had precooked sausage in the bottom, chunked cauliflower, peppers and green onions at the top. This was a container I took to work with me, all I needed was a fry pan, a little butter and a couple of eggs to scramble with the contents of the container once it was cooked through. So these can even become a meal to go.

I know this was a long one, (no I didn't this all done at lunch, I've finished it up at after dinner tonight) but I hope this has been useful for you. I feel like this will be a practice I will keep up for a long time. Give it a try and let me how it's working for you!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Snack Time - Cauliflower Tots



Sometimes it amazes how fast the days can slip past me when I realize I haven't been here with you for a while. I've been putting in some long hours at the office, doing prep work for a community egg hunt later this month and trying to get in my steps and flights of stairs as well as few visits to the gym. 

I can get so busy at times like these; which I have to be even more diligent about eating things that don't send me into rampage of poor eating. So when I'm itching for something that looks like snack food this recipe will fits the bill.

Before I get into the recipe I want to give you this little tip first. I've shared several recipes that used riced cauliflower, which this is another one. As I've been digging I came across this solution to needing to prep the cauliflower every time you want a riced cauliflower based dish. The trick to this is ricing in larger batches and then storing it in the frig for the week. For me, I run it through my food processor which works fine, but if you don't have one available to you, but you have a blender on hand, this video is an alternative way to prepare your cauliflower for the week.


So with your cauliflower riced and stored in the frig, you are ready to whip up a batch of fried rice, cheesy bread sticks or this fun recipe of Cauliflower Tots. 


Cauliflower Tots
4 c. Cauliflower - riced, 1/2 of a apx 2lb head
1/3 c. Parmesan Cheese (the stuff in the green container works fine)
1/3 c. Sharp Cheddar Cheese - grated
3 Tbsp. Almond meal
1/2 tsp. No salt seasoning (I use Costco's house blend)
1 Egg
Salt & Pepper to taste (remember that the cheese is salty)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Grease 24 count mini muffin cups (I use silicone so no greasing is required)
Steam the cauliflower, I use a large saute pan with a lid on low heat, but you can microwave in a covered dish as well until lightly softened. Drain off any excess water that sweats out of the cauliflower.
Toss cauliflower with remain ingredients until well blended. Using a teaspoon (a cookie scoop works great) dividing the mix among the muffin cups. 
Bake for 15 minutes, pull out and carefully turn each tot and return them to the oven for an additional 15 minutes. 

Serve up your tots with your favorite dipping sauce, marinara, ranch or just pop them in your mouth plain. I guarantee you will be addicted to them in no time and you won't want to share. 





Thursday, February 25, 2016

Flourless Tortillas - with an unlikely ingredient

As I'm pushing along through the low carb, weight loss, lifestyle change process, I continually look for positive food choices that will fit into my busy schedule, and will taste good enough to be served to my husband and family and not have them digging in the frig 20 minutes after the meal. This process requires extensive amounts of time scanning of numerous websites for alternative options to what we have coined "The American Diet". 

I grew up with and continued into my adult life, eating cereal and toast or waffles and syrup for breakfast,  a sandwich with bread and tuna or a burger on a bun with chips on the side for lunch. Then for dinner we would top the day off with a large chunk of meat with a side of potatoes, rice or pasta, a slice of bread or a roll and if you are lucky we might throw in a salad or steamed vegetable to round out the meal. Mixed in there will be cans of soda and cookies from the office vending machine and a dish of ice cream before we crawl our carb bloated body off to bed.

On top of the American fare that we lived on, we've always enjoyed a mix of ethnic foods, Indian, Greek, Chinese, Thai and Mexican, which I'm sure are called the American versions of these food too, but we enjoyed them just the same.

The challenge of making the switch to a low carb diet has not come easily. I find myself wanting to revert back to the old familiar, so finding alternatives that make eating feel more normal helps me stay on track. Doing little things like making zucchini noodles and serving them up with a good marinara sauce and ground beef feels like family meals growing up. Food items like these have proven to be a nice additions to the changes I have already made for my family; and the flourless tortilla fit right in. 

My oldest son had mentioned that he and his wife had made these tortillas, but when I heard about what was in them, I was reluctant to try them. After coming across them again on a website I decided it was worth giving them a chance. To my surprise, that turned out to be better than some of the other tortillas I've tried and they were also allot sturdier for stuffing with things.

Almost Zero Carb Wraps Tortillas (use this link to get the the recipe) have an unusual ingredient, which is pork rinds.  I've never cared for pork rinds on their own, but in this application, they add a smoky flavor to the tortillas and it's worth getting past the weirdness of the pork rinds, and they were super easy to make.

I shared the tortillas with my group and they thought they were good and could see them used as pancakes with cinnamon and sugar free syrup. I took the balance of the batch and tossed them in a ziplock and put them in the frig. The next morning I took them with me to work and stuffed in full of scrambled eggs, sausage, pico, cheese and sour cream and they were wonderful.


My breakfast tacos

So this unlikely ingredient works in this recipe and I will be making this a regular. They make a fare sandwich in place of bread, they are a perfect soft taco shell and I will be working to find other uses for the this new addition to my recipe list.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Making Tiny Habits

This week in class, we reviewed how things were going with everyone, which is still a mixed bag and healing and recovery. It had been several weeks since we had all been together and there was much to share about what we had been doing to stay on plan as well as what we were doing to get over our ills.

Once we exhausted our catching up, we settled in for a video I had come across that proved to very inspiring of all of us and I felt I wanted to share it with you. Sometimes we look at making lifestyle changes as overwhelming tasks to be faced. How to make all the food changes, how to avoid the wrong foods, to get in enough exercise, and the list goes on and on. Leaving us abandoning our good intentions under the weight of it all.

But this video gave us an insight that was much easier to stomach, it breaks down our big picture into small manageable steps and links them to things we already do. A way to add new behaviors into our lives in tiny steps that slip into our everyday activities and not turning our schedules upside down.  The video is 17 minute, not so much that you can't steal away the time, and hopefully you will be encouraged by it the way we were.




After chatting with a couple of ladies at church this morning we have been taking the video to heart. After arriving home that first night, I packed my gym bag, and one of the ladies is walking to the farthest bathroom every time she needs to use a facility. So we have already put this theory into practice. So watch the video and think about mini habits you can put in place in your own life. 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Time Out

When I think about "time out", I see a child that needs a few minutes to reflect on a undesirable behavior.

Well sometimes we are the ones in need of a time out. Every so often we need to just regroup when we are overwhelmed with work, home and side commitments. If we have allowed our good eating habits to head off on a tangent of poor food choices, we need to step back and take a time out. To have a chance to clear our heads and  be able to start fresh.

For the past year I've had this little slip of paper hanging on the bulletin board at work. It's been a source of encouragement for many things, and many people who come to spend time with me in a small space I occupy during my work week. It's only been recently that it has become more relevant in the day to day challenges of managing a new lifestyle.






When you have that moment, when you realized you have fallen, or at lease started down the wrong path, take that time out and make the most of it. Focus on where things began to go wrong and think about the changes you need to get back on track. 

Do you need to go back and clean out trigger foods that have crept back into your cupboards, or do you need to focus on planned shopping trips to stock up on good food choices? Are you struggling with a stressful situation that has you running back to your comfort foods? How can you face those difficult times and not loose control? 

Taking a time out can also be a reward for hanging in there through the struggles, or an opportunity to just enjoy some peace. With our little accountability group I sometimes struggle with what to share, who will come, am I doing the right thing, am I setting the example for other members of our group? The fact that I took on this challenge is daunting enough, let alone making a lifestyle change in the process myself. But I am determined to do this.

Monthly I visit the chiropractor and then get a 30 min massage to deal with tension in my neck and shoulders from the many hours I spend sitting in front of a computer. Well yesterday was one of those appointments. Normally during the massage, the therapist and I chat about all sorts of stuff going on in our lives (I've been seeing the same guy for some time now). But yesterday was different, I was allowed an extra 15 minutes massage time and I found as I lay face down on the table, I was silent. I was just in the moment while he worked the muscles on my back, shoulders and arms. I was fully aware of each pinch and knot he worked on. The soothing release as he made long pressured strokes down my back. 

Yesterday going into my appointment, I didn't realize I needed a time out, but once it started I realized I needed every minute of it, and was more than grateful for the extended time. I haven't really fallen, but I'm still struggling when the choices in front of me force me to choose between what is good for me and what looks yummy to eat. I'm still running full speed with a full plate, I'm fine, but I needed that time out. To take deep breaths, the think clearly, to revive my spirit and rest.

So don't allow yourself to spiral out of control, take a timeout, it doesn't have to be anything extreme, but step away from all the crazy, breath, allow your head to clear and rest. Do it with a trusted friend or do it alone, it makes not difference, but do it. Take a walk without your phone, lay quietly on your bed for 20 minutes, spend time with your thoughts, read words of encouragement, find just a little time when you can hear your own thoughts. Evaluate the self talk you are having when you face food or stresses, are you talking yourself out of it a bad situation, or into it. You have to be you own advocate not your own destructor.

Take your time out, then Rise.