Crazy For Coconut!

I have to say the discovery of the humble coconut has made low carbing extremely easy this time around. First the discovery of the Red Velvet Cake, picture to the left (I stuck my camera in the freezer and took a pic, lol!). Then I made Egg McMuffins and last night I made Ice Cream. Oh help me, I'm in heaven!

I get organic coconut flour at Bulk Barn for $3.49/lbs. It sounds really pricey but you don't need a lot. I bought about a pound the first time and used it to make two red velvet cakes, a batch of the English Muffins and I have enough to make another recipe or two. I get my coconut milk at Superstore for 99 cents a can, full fat. I can get the lower fat one, and I do keep cans on hand, but full fat is better.

I wasn't as impressed with the english muffin for the McMuffin as I expected, but I think I added too many seasonings and I didn't make it in a ramekin; I just tried to form them into biscuits but they spread so they're thin (picture to the left). I am able to slice them and I even used one as a hamburger bun. They are very sturdy.

The ice cream, oh yum! They are included in the pic with the "english muffins". I made some modifications as I didn't want to crack open a second can of coconut milk for half a cup. I ended up using three unsweetened squares of bakers chocolate, one can coconut milk and about a cup of full fat yogurt. I don't keep alcohol on hand so I put lots of extra vanilla. I didn't make the chocolate chips because I couldn't find my coconut oil (I used butter in the ice cream). yes, my $10 jar of coconut oil must of grew legs and walked away as I tore the kitchen apart looking for it. I have some cheap stuff in the basement but the label is vague so I don't know if I can trust it as well as the good stuff (it was on super clearance for $1 at superstore). I made it last night and today it froze well, more solid around the outside of the dish, but still somewhat scoopable and so very yummy! I only needed a little to be satisfied and it made tons. I think it works out to be cheaper than regular ice cream, tons cheaper than the sugar-free kind. I may whirl it through the food processor to give it a more even texture but IMO, it is very, very good!

I am holding steady weighwise. I am still a pound away from losing 25lbs. I hate that I haven't really gone down in size but I'm noticing areas that are slimming. When I get closer to goal, I won't need to lose much to go down sizes. I'm more focused on health anyway; looking good is just a good side benefit :)

Not Much Going On

But I felt like writing anyway. Just a little. I need to keep my motivation up. I made a Red Velvet Cake again but baked it in a 9x13 pan. After I frost it I will cut, wrap and freeze most of it for snacks.

I didn't feel much like eating today. I had leftover cauliflower crust pizza for breakfast, some burgundy beef stew for lunch and we had bacon and eggs for supper. Tomorrow I'm planning on having eggs for breakfast, taco bake for lunch (if I remember to take it out) and a beef boiled supper sans potatoes. They had some good deals on cabbage and turnip (39 cents/lbs) so I'll also be making some coleslaw to pick at through the week.

I'm thinking one more week on the 1 mile WATP and I'll be able to move on to the two mile. I've thought of doing the 1 mile twice a day but after first thing in the morning, it just gets inconvenient to exercise so I have to do it right away. I'm getting used to waking up early again, which is good :). I used to get up at 5:30am to go to the gym. That was brutal, especially since I'm a night owl and rarely go to bed before midnight.

Speaking of which, I should get ready for bed. Sleep is essential to healthy living too :)

Down Again!

Wow, I can't believe that I am down another 2lbs today! Whoo hoo!! That brings me to 23lbs lost. I don't know what I'm doing right. I thought I would go up since I'm eating a piece of that red velvet cake daily (I cut the piece in half so I can enjoy it twice :D ). I'm eating lots of fat, protein and good veggies plus cheese (I love the live active probiotic cheese! Oh and I love the new PC cottage cheese with Howaru probiotics. I like it on my salad instead of dressing). I eat an onion a day as well as some garlic. I'm drinking lots of water and now exercising each day. I guess it's all the right stuff right now :D

I forgot to mention one of my other favorite desserts. I like to make sugar free jello and at the stage where you add hot water, I add in about 2 ounces of cream cheese and let it melt and stir it really well. It doesn't dissolve totally. Then I add in the cold water, stir really good again and let chill. It makes the jello so nice and creamy, almost like a cheesecake dessert with a layer on top. Very yummy.

Oh yeah, I am getting 25lbs of local free range ground beef. We got it before and it is the best hamburger I have ever eaten! All the store stuff now tastes like garbage to me in comparison. I wish I could get more but there is a lot of demand. I still have some left from fall when I got it because I have been careful with it. I'd like to get a side or a quarter beef this fall, but Mark is hesitant to lay out the $$. I think it would be worth it.

Another noteworthy thing is Ethan ate.....

Salad! He is the pickiest kid I've ever known so that is a big step. Shaylee has wanted hamburger helper for a couple of weeks but no one else did so finally I made some (I just had a big salad with chicken). Ethan moaned and groaned about it and I told him he could have Hamburger Helper or salad. He chose the salad...and liked it! Now it was just iceburg but now Shaylee will eat just about any greens. I get the organic PC mixed greens all the time and she loves them as long as I pick out the red leaves. Last night she had arugula and tonight it was baby spinach. I let her choose and sometimes she will only eat the salad. Of course she has always been a better eater in general. Tonight her supper was all low carb. Ethan's would of been if he didn't have his hambuger on bread instead of bare like the rest of us ;)

So I have been thinking more about making this the way I eat always and working through the carb ladder better. I'm not doing atkins, but I can use that as a base of where I should be and what to add and cut out.

When I started, I was eating tons of chocolate (85% dark). I now don't crave it like I used to and a little will satisfy me. I imagine that will change when AF comes visiting.

Well, that's it for now. I hope I can continue losing and I'm sure I'll be back soon since I like talking about this and I don't really have anyone to share it with :-/

Red Velvet Cake

I am going to post it how it was written and add my comments and changes in brackets. This picture is not mine, it is from Lauren's blog but doesn't it look good? It is gluten free and sugar free and oh so good! The best low carb cake I have ever, ever tasted!!

Healthy Red Velvet Cake
Adapted from a recipe by Bruce Fife

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted organic butter, softened (regular butter, accidentally melted)
1/2 cup yogurt (or you can use sour cream, I used Mayo, 3/4 cup)
9 large eggs (I used 8)
1 cup erythritol (I used 3/4 cup of xylitol)
1/4 teaspoon good-tasting pure stevia extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used more because I love chocolate but it took away the red color of the cake)
1 tablespoon red food coloring
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set out butter and eggs to bring to room temperature. Alternatively, microwave butter for 8-10 seconds and dunk eggs in warm tap water for 15 minutes. Prep 9 inch cake pan by greasing with non-hydrogenated shortening and dusting with extra cocoa powder. Tap pan on all sides to distribute cocoa powder in an even layer. Whisk together eggs in a bowl until a bit foamy, and add vanilla extract to eggs. In another bowl, sift coconut flour and stir in sea salt and cocoa powder. Mix together yogurt and red food coloring in a third bowl. In the largest bowl, cream butter for about 30 seconds to make it fluffy. Add erythritol in a steady stream and cream together for 2-3 minutes, or until light, fluffy, and close to the color of cream cheese. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Slowly stream in beaten eggs, beating continuously. Don't worry if the batter curdles. Once eggs are added, add dry and wet ingredients alternately until everything has been added but the baking soda. Mix in baking soda and scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes in the center of the middle oven rack, or until batter is completely set and springs back. Cover top with foil and bake for longer if center is not set. Remove cake from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Invert pan onto a cookie sheet and let cake cool completely. Slice into two layers with a serrated knife, if desired. Transfer bottom cake layer to a serving dish lined with strips of wax paper hanging off the edges. Frost cake, laying over a thin crumb coat first. Then pile on the frosting spread outward from the center of the layer. Add top layer to cake and cover completely with frosting. Store and serve at room temperature. Refrigerate after 24 hours. Cake is best testing after warming up if it has been kept in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2-8 oz packages cream cheese or Neufchatel 1/3 less fat cheese
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup erythritol, powdered (again, xylitol and I used less)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract
1 stick organic unsalted butter (I used about a quarter cup, it was melted)

Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Beat until smooth and creamy, then add powdered erythritol and beat for about 2 minutes, or until erythritol is dissolved and the mixture does not feel gritty to the touch. Beat in butter just until smooth and incorporated.

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I didn't cut this in half for a layer cake but I may next time. This would be great baked in muffin cups and would go a long way as it is very satisfying and you don't need a lot to enjoy it (actually, this is how I plan on making it next for portion control). After enjoying it for a day, I cut it up and froze it. The cake is delicious right out of the freezer, easy to cut even frozen and it would a great way to keep the cup cakes for portion control. Although it is a little pricey to make, it is definately going to be something I can see making many times with little variations. It is soo yummy!!

Lots of Recipes!!

Well I know I haven't posted much but I have been busy. After a couple of weeks of yo-yo'ing, a few buffets and going off plan too much, I am finding my groove again. I am now down 21lbs total as of this morning, whoo hoo!

I am also exercising again. I'm doing Walk Away The Pounds. I am doing the one mile. I couldn't get through it the first day but now I am actually starting to increase the intensity and may move on to the two mile in the next month. The hardest thing about exercising is actually starting.

I have also tried a ton of recipes. I spent a day making many of these for the freezer for quick meals. Some are in the fridge to pick at :o. I debated about a post for each or just putting everything here. I will put my meal recipes here and a separate post for the ultimate yummy that I made :)

Coconut Curry Chicken. It was a spice packet I got at Superstore "Memories of Goa" (I think it's discontinued as it was only 50 cents and there were none left last time I went shopping). I made the chicken in the crockpot. The recipe on the card called for 2lbs of chicken thighs, 1 sliced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 cups drained tomatoes, 1 cup chicken broth, 1tsp. grated ginger root and 1 can coconut milk. I cooked the chicken for about 4 hours then added the spices, a couple of chopped tomatoes and a can of coconut milk. It was very thin so I would add more chicken the next time I made it. I tasted it and it was good but the rest of it went into the freezer.

For the Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup, I used another of the same curry spice packet. I scramble fred loose sausage then added the seasoning, two cans of broth, a big can of pumpkin, two big cans of water and simmered for about 20 minutes. I added the coconut milk (the high fat kind) and simmered a little longer. Then I blended it in small batches until smooth. So good! This is my current absolutely most favorite soup! I brought it to a Relief Society luncheon and many enjoyed it (but some thought it was too spicy and it would be for some).

The LC burgundy beef stew was another spice kit "Memories of Burgundy". I browned the meat in a dutch oven in some bacon grease then added the spice packet, covered and simmered until cooked through. I added a cubed turnip and enough water to cover. When those were cooked through, I added a can of mushrooms, green beans and a couple handfuls of chopped celery. I simmered on low for about an hour and it smells so good. It has a very interesting flavor to it and is very good.

The rest I will just link to because they are from another recipe site.

Linda Sue's White Castle Hamburger Pie

Linda Sue's Taco Bake

I posted the cauliflower crust pizza but I haven't actually made it yet. I cooked the cauliflower and grated cheese but was getting burned out on cooking and not feeling well so I set it aside.

Another little gem I have discovered is garlic cheese sticks. Basically you just take a cheese string and put it on a hot frying pan. Sprinkle liberally with garlic. Allow to cook until the cheese is all melted and crispy through. So yummy! I bought a ton of reduced to clear mozza cheese strings to keep in the freezer for these :)

It is important to me to have lots of easy to get ready food on hand. A few hours in the kitchen can mean less stress on a crazy day or on a day I don't feel like cooking. Everything goes well with salad (which I have in abundance) or with any low carb veggie.

I am really recommiting to this. I need to. Lately I have been really scared I am going to die soon. Every little flutter or twinge sets me in a panic that I'm having a heart attack. I'm tired of looking like this and want to know what the real me looks like. I want to run and play with the kids. I want to swim in public again. I don't want to look and feel like this any more.

In church we were talking about truly repenting and not being able to move on unless we have totally repented. I can liken losing weight to this. I haven't yet truly committed myself so I keep failing. I need to commit and make it the way that I live. I worry about what people think if I don't eat their treats or carby food. Unfortunately what they don't realize that sometimes it just takes one bite of something that I shouldn't have to set me off in a whirlwind of cheating and pounds gained and years taken off my life. If I haven't fully realized, how can I expect the ones I love to know that. It is life and death for me.

I also read something about offending people by refusing their food. I worry about offending people or hurting their feelings so often I will eat things I shouldn't. This is really bad with my dad. In the last month he has treated us to pizza, a chinese buffet and a huge KFC spread. I know he is lonely and one of the ways he shows love is through food. I think that the next time I see him I should talk about it to him. Maybe instead I should invite him for supper and make things we can all enjoy. I worry about him as he is looking pretty bad lately and he is nearing 60. He just doesn't take very good care of himself it seems. I would love to see him low carb and think he would enjoy it. He'd find it hard to give up his bread and potatoes but many who low carb do. I know that it is a sacrifice I am willing to make :)