It's a Whole New Week

Well another plan and another week of busting the plan. I seem to be very good at making a meal plan and then not following it. This week is no exception.  I have been a busy bee making flowers and bouquets for the upcoming wedding and am living in a house filled with paper snips and glue remnants.  And flowers, I did mention them didn't I? As of tonight I have made 27 boutonnieres, 15  bouquets, 1 mother of the bride arrangement, and need to make 7 more roses for the bride's bouquet.

I know this sound like a stupid big wedding party, but it is really not at all excessive. Both Son2 and DIL2 work at The Independence Place of Alabama. It is a facility providing social and recreational opportunities for differently abled adults. These two wonderful people not only wanted all of them to share in their wedding day but they wanted them to be and feel included. So I needed to make a slew of items for honorary groomsmen and bridal attendants. I am so privileged to be able to make help them with the grunt work and I am so proud to call  them my family. They both have hearts as big as the whole world.

Now I have to get my butt in gear and finish everything by tomorrow so I can get started getting the house ready. Wedding weekend through Thanksgiving we are having 6 houseguests, in addition to the rehearsal party (which we are calling a non-rehearsal party since they are not having one ), a wedding, a birthday party for Pip (the granddaughter) ,  some sort of wedding celebration for Son3 and DIL3, and Thanksgiving dinner. It is going to be a whirlwind of activities, but it will be a delightful whirlwind.

What I planned last week:

Spaghetti sauce with beef, zucchini noodles (me) regular spaghetti (TheHub), tossed salad

Bolivian chicken, green beans, cauli rice (me), brown rice (TheHub)

Frittata, asparagus, rolls (TheHub), fake bread (me)

TheHub has a business dinner so leftovers or a fast day for me

Cajun chicken pasta, zucchini noodles for me, pasta for TheHub 

Chicken veggie soup, cornbread (real for TheHub, keto for me)

Either we go out to eat or grill burgers. I don't care which!

What really happened:

Spaghetti, noodles, zoodles, tossed salad, french bread (them) fake roll (me)

Frittata, asparagus

Turkey veggie soup, fake cornbread (TheHub had the fake stuff too)

Out to eat (veggie plate)

Out to eat Philly cheese steak (minus the bread) coleslaw

Out to eat Grilled shrimp and scallops, green beans, coleslaw

Grabbed a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" tossed salad

The upcoming week:

Keto ground beef Philly cheese steak, tossed salad

Leftover Turkey soup, coleslaw

Ball game hot dog lunch, baked beans (them) veggies and dip

Keto chicken pot pie, coleslaw, broccoli

Something with chicken

Pork tenderloin, asparagus, rice (TheHub) cauli rice (me)

Sloppy Joe's in keto fake bun (me)  real bun (TheHub)

I am craving something sweet so I hope to make some keto chocolate chip cookies along with some keto oreos.  I also need to make more of the fake buns/rolls. I think I only have one left in the freezer. Keto diets work but they require a lot of cooking. Lots and lots of cooking!

This might or might now work depending on how much I get done in the house and how quickly I finish the flowers. Fingers crossed!

I am still reading your blogs even if I am not commenting. 

The week

Well, as I begin typing this I could tell you how we ate some things I planned and we had some unplanned changes as usual. My life just does not flow in a straight line, and most of the time I am not only in rough waters but I am swimming as fast and furiously as I can to avoid rapids and river rocks that appear out of no where. Then sometimes life throws you something unexpected, that is unexpectedly wonderful.

Son3 has been in a relationship with the lovely Helena for quite a while and yesterday afternoon, on a beautiful day in Central Park, they decided to get married. We could not be happier to have her in our family. And in 4 weeks we welcome wonderful Laura into our family. We have already been blessed with phenomenal Kyoko thanks to Son1, so all the "others" spots are filled now. We are thrilled our sons have chosen such wonderful women to walk through life with, and love each of them  so much.

What was planned;
1. Indian butter chicken, cauliflower rice, brown rice (TheHub)
2. Keto crack chicken, steamed spinach, baked potato (TheHub)

3. Grilled tuna steaks, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" cucumber slices, tomato slices (TheHub)

4. Grilled pork tenderloin, cooked cabbage, baked sweet potato (TheHub)

5. Spaghetti sauce with ground beef, zucchini noodles, real pasta (TheHub) chopped green salad

6. Grilled brats (ball game meal) corn on the cob (TheHub) coleslaw

7. Chili, mine plain, with beans (The Hub) coleslaw, cornbread (TheHub)

What happened:
Keto Crack chicken over cauliflower crumbles  This was really good!

Roasted pork tenderloin  wilted spinach salad

Browned sausage Italian sausage, with peppers and onions, cooked cabbage on the side (Found 2 Italian sausages I had forgotten about. They had to be cooked

Indian butter chicken (delicious) with caul rice (me) brown rice (everyone else) broccoli, tossed green salad   Son2 and DIL2 ate with us and she was nuts for this dish.

Out to eat, Greek salad

BBQ Pork butt, sautéed cabbage, cucumber, tomato and onion salad. (Went to The Pig to purchase meats they had on deep discount and was lured by the scent of butts they were smoking under a tent in the parking lot. Yep, they cast the rod and I took the bait)

Chili and coleslaw (Drats found a recipe for Keto cornbread but forgot to make it

Planned  for this week?
Spaghetti sauce with beef, zucchini noodles (me) regular spaghetti (TheHub), tossed salad

Bolivian chicken, green beans, cauli rice (me), brown rice (TheHub)

Frittata, asparagus, rolls (TheHub), fake bread (me)

TheHub has a business dinner so leftovers or a fast day for me

Cajun chicken pasta, zucchini noodles for me, pasta for TheHub 

Chicken veggie soup, cornbread (real for TheHub, keto for me)

Either we go out to eat or grill burgers. I don't care which!

And the wedding dress update__It looks better but I am still not pleased with the fit. I am going to go ahead and order the other dress. I may keep it or might send it back but I think I want another option here just in case I need it.

Close, But No Cigar

This week was just another week in my life where some days go according to plan and other days find any plan I made falling like a wobbly house of cards. Life just gets complicated sometimes. I have the choice to either get crazy frustrated or punt and because my frustration harms me more than it does anyone around me, I will punt nearly every time.  I do have a question for those of you who have a crazy organized and regimented life.  How do you adapt on the fly to things not in your daily plan, because the day I have planned rarely coincides with my actual day.

The keto way of eating is continuing except for Friday night when I had planned to have whatever I wanted while we were out celebrating our combo birthdays/anniversary dinner. The wedding dress fits better this week, but it is still a tad snug.  Word to the wise. . . for an accurate critical view of what something looks like, do not hop out of bed with unbrushed hair, no makeup on, wearing a sports bra to try on a semi formal dress.  Yeah, don't ask me how I know what a horrifying picture it is.

Since the dress fit is still not exactly to my liking I am following an extreme keto regime this week. I had no idea it could be more extreme than what I was doing, but along came Dr. Berg's video of how to lose a size in one week just in time to prove me wrong.  This week I have no margin for chaos and need to follow it exactly, sea kelp and all.

This is what I planned last week Grilled tuna steaks, broccoli, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" (Big sale on tuna this week)

2, Mississippi pot roast (Cooked and frozen)  over cauliflower mashed potatoes with green beans and sliced tomatoes

3. Pork tenderloin, over spinach, radish "hash browns" (I know it sounds horrid but it is actually quite tasty) cucumber slices.

4. Sausage and kraut bake, tater tots (TheHub) steamed cauliflower (me)

5, "Fried" chicken,  corn on the cob (TheHub) green beans, sliced tomatoes, sliced cukes

6.  Out to eat. We both have birthdays as well as an anniversary in a 30 day stretch. Since I have been doing the keto thing we decided to combine them this year. Friday night I am going to have whatever suits my fancy, then most likely fast on Saturday  to get back into ketosis quickly.  (Unless I decide to stick with the keto way of eating while celebrating)

7. Depending on what happened Friday night I will either be fasting or eating a bowl of some keto broth based soup. TheHub and Son2 are going to a 6 pm football game and will not be here to eat anyway, so at best  I will throw some veggies and chicken bits in some chicken broth and call it a meal. 

And this is what happened instead

Sausage and Kraut, tomatoes, cucumbers

Mississippi pot roast, mashed cauliflower "potatoes"

Keto oven  "fried" chicken, broccoli, chopped salad

Laap with cauliflower rice (long day at Mom's made take out a necessity)

Birthday/Anniversary meal, lamb chops, bread (yes real bread), romaine, walnut and strawberry salad, asparagus, oh yeah and cookies

Leftover lamb (the salad was huge and I had 3 large pieces left over) shredded cabbage, cucumbers

TheHub's actual birthday and he wanted burgers. They had burgers, chips and baked beans, I had a hamburger patty, shredded cabbage, parmesean crisps.

And now on to this week with no/limited eating flexibility

1. Indian butter chicken, cauliflower rice, brown rice (TheHub)

2. Keto crack chicken, steamed spinach, baked potato (TheHub)

3. Grilled tuna steaks, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" cucumber slices, tomato slices (TheHub)

4. Grilled pork tenderloin, cooked cabbage, baked sweet potato (TheHub)

5. Spaghetti sauce with ground beef, zucchini noodles, real pasta (TheHub) chopped green salad

6. Grilled brats (ball game meal) corn on the cob (TheHub) coleslaw

7. Chili, mine plain, with beans (The Hub) coleslaw, cornbread (TheHub)

And I am sure after following this for a week I will be just like Cinderella and magically transformed, right? Anyone out there have a spare fairy godmother they would like to send to Alabama?

This Meal Works for Every Diet (Except Vegetarian)

There are a few things I keep on hand all the time for nights when I need something that I can throw together in about 10 minutes, let it cook a bit and voila, dinner is served.  I always have a pound of pre-cooked ground chuck  in the freezer (Truth be told I probably have 8-10 in the freezer right now. I also keep a bag of individually frozen hamburger patties. Each time ThePig has ground chuck on sale I replenish whatever has been used from my stash. I always have chopped cooked chicken frozen as well as a couple of chicken casseroles, a pork tenderloin, and a frozen pizza. Don't get me wrong, my freezer is at max capacity right now, the but above things are in there 100 percent of the time. Additionally I keep 3 pounds of smoked sausage in the freezer and one pound in the refrigerator all the time.  Maintaining a stock pile is very soothing to me, and I am a little anal compulsive about replenishing immediately or even preemptively.

The other night was one of those "I need a quick fix" meal nights.  Since I had the sausage in the fridge it was a no brainer.  My go to quick sausage meals tends to be sausage and kraut and we really do love it. What can be easier than browning the sausage and dumping a jar of kraut on top of it? But__I am trying to really add as many uber low carb veggies to every meal as I possibly can.  I had read a recipe for a sausage, kraut casserole and thought the concept sounded really good, unfortunately, it had a few too many ingredients to constitute quick, plus it had a lot of non keto things like potatoes and lots of onions and other delicious stuff, so I modified it a bit and this is what happened.

                                         Sausage, Kraut and Cabbage One Pot Dinner

1/2 small onion sliced thin (use more if you aren't counting carbs)
2 tablespoons ghee, oil, bacon fat (whatever floats your boat, really)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound smoked sausage cut into piece sizes of your choosing
1 large bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 cup chicken broth (can use any broth but I had chicken in the fridge)
1 small head cabbage, washed, cored and cut into slices (or grate or cut into fat strips, your choice)
1jar of kraut  (I buy a 16 ounce jar, most cans have 14 ounces and that would work fine too, or add as much as you want. It will taste good no matter what  you choose)
herbs  about 1 teaspoon each.  I was looking for savory and did not see any at first glance but thyme and marjoram were front and center on the lazy susan that holds all my seasonings, so that is what I used

Put the ghee or oil or fat or whatever in the bottom of a large heavy bottomed pot.  Heat on medium high. When hot add the onion, stirring constantly until it is pale and wilted.  Add the garlic and stir
for about a minute, then quickly add the peppers. Continue stirring until they are somewhat wilted, toss in the smoked sausage. When they are sizzling add the cabbage and the chicken broth.  Top with the kraut, add the herbs, give everything a good stir and slap the lid on the pot. Cook until the moisture is evaporated and the cabbage is moist. Serve and call it a day! We had some tomatoes and sliced cucumbers with ours. TheHub had some delicious smelling cornbread with his and I had a fake bread roll. It was more than enough for our dinner, with enough left over for several lunches.

This was a wonderful alternative to plain old kraut and sausage and is going to become my new normal sausage and kraut meal.  We both loved having the peppers, garlic and onion in it. The cabbage mellowed the kraut flavor and added a little textural change and the addition of the herbs really did send it over the top.  The best thing is it works for whole30, paleo, keto, regular everyday dining. If you are vegetarian some fake meat sausage and veggie broth are all you need to make it work for you too.

If you need a quick meal, try it! If you just want a meal that tastes good, try it! It was really that good.

I Am So Bad at This

When I look at the week I wind up shaking my head and wondering what exactly I was thinking. I plan my meals with intention and actually think my week is going to coincide with my meal plans. I guess that is what I get for thinking, huh?

This is what I had intended to have for the week:

1. Buffalo chicken salad on greens with sliced tomatoes and  brussels sprouts

2. Goyza meatballs over cauli rice (me) and brown rice (TheHub), asparagus

3. Pork tenderloin, German "potato" (cauliflower) salad, green beans

4. White bbq chicken, broccoli, cucumber/tomato salad

5. Carnitas, coleslaw, tortillas for him and keto tortillas for me if I feel inspired enough to make them.

6. Sausage and kraut bake, tomatoes, potatoes for TheHub

7. Leftovers or out to eat

keto cookies, keto sausage balls (Saturday lake breakfast), keto cheesecake

I had my weekly weigh in last Monday  (Oct 1) and did not lose an ounce, even though I had strictly adhered to the keto way of eating.  I was bummed out all week but still stayed true to the eating plan. I decided I would not weigh again until October 31. I understand weight can fluctuate so I will have an entire month between weigh ins and should have a more accurate picture of how things are progressing. This way  I will not know if I should be depressed or not, which could eliminate the potential for any self sabotage. Yeah, right now I am into mind games.

I will continue to try on the wedding dress every Monday. This morning it did fit a little better than it did last week, but is still not exactly like I had hoped. If it is not substantially better by October 22 I will order the other dress I found and save this one for a formal event we have coming soon. The dress will not go unused either way. (Plus I bought it on clearance along with a 15 dollar first time customer discount so there was very little actual cost for the dress)

What actually happened:

1. Carnitas, salad, cucumber slices (Tortillas for TheHub)

2. White bbq chicken, brussels sprouts, sliced tomatoes

3. buffalo chicken salad on greens

4, Steak, tossed salad, baked potato (TheHub) rolls (TheHub) keto fake bread roll for me

5. I forgot the Greek Food Festival was this past week so we did our annual take out. I had lamb kabobs and tossed salad, The dog ate my rice and roll. (I really wanted that roll)

6. Spaghetti meat sauce over zucchini noodles (me) and spaghetti noodles (The Hub) with tossed salad.

7. Grilled hamburger patty, cukes and tomato slices, asparagus

I did not make the keto cookies or the cheesecake, but I did make a keto lemon cake. It was not the worst thing I have eaten and the cake part was actually pretty tasty. Next time is will just whip some  heavy cream instead of the keto frosting (which just tasted and felt like lightly sweetened whipped cream cheese)

And now this:

1. Grilled tuna steaks, broccoli, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" (Big sale on tuna this week)

2, Mississippi pot roast (Cooked and frozen)  over cauliflower mashed potatoes with green beans and sliced tomatoes

3. Pork tenderloin, over spinach, radish "hash browns" (I know it sounds horrid but it is actually quite tasty) cucumber slices.

4. Sausage and kraut bake, tater tots (TheHub) steamed cauliflower (me)

5, "Fried" chicken,  corn on the cob (TheHub) green beans, sliced tomatoes, sliced cukes

6.  Out to eat. We both have birthdays as well as an anniversary in a 30 day stretch. Since I have been doing the keto thing we decided to combine them this year. Friday night I am going to have whatever suits my fancy, then most likely fast on Saturday  to get back into ketosis quickly.  (Unless I decide to stick with the keto way of eating while celebrating)

7. Depending on what happened Friday night I will either be fasting or eating a bowl of some keto broth based soup. TheHub and Son2 are going to a 6 pm football game and will not be here to eat anyway, so at best  I will throw some veggies and chicken bits in some chicken broth and call it a meal. 

I want some cookies so I am definitely going to make those coconut chocolate chip keto cookies. I guess I need to make them today! Other than that I will be making a loaf of the eggy tasting "bread". It toasts pretty easily and will amp up a meal that is lacking.  I still have about 8 rolls in the freezer and even though they don't exactly taste like bread they do "feel" like it and are a decent vehicle for transporting sugar free jam to the mouth.

So now another keto week begins. Fingers crossed the dress fits even better next Monday.