September 11th - September 17th Menu

Wow, last week just sped by! Between work and other stuff, it seems like I just got back from vacation yesterday. I'm stressing a bit over the move of my mother and stepfather and his increasing dementia. I'm afraid that soon, very soon, he's simply going to be too much for Mom to handle alone. I'm not sure just what we'll do when that happens. Our options are very limited.

And this coming week is going to be a busy one, also, so more light cooking and eating are in my future.

Last night I went to Carl's Jr. for a Portobello Mushroom burger in a lettuce wrap. No, it's not as tasty as the burger with the bun and fries but it's much lower in carbs and much easier on the blood sugar. It was good and really hit the spot.

Tonight I'll have Tilapia and vegetables steamed in paper and with it a salad and a bit of wild rice

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with marinara sauce and steamed spinach. Gnocchi is something I very recently learned to make along with some other pastas and I'll probably never buy pasta again!

Slow cooked vegetable soup with a homemade wheat roll

Chicken and vegetable stir fry

Beef fajitas with plenty of freshly made tomatillo salsa

Leftover night when I finish off whatever is in the fridge

I'm still working on reproducing dishes I've eaten in restaurants recently but other than the tomatilla salsa, I haven't gotten them right. I will at some point and when I do, I'll share them with y'all.

If you have the dinner doldrums, check out Menu Plan Monday. Seeing what others are planning for dinner might give you some fresh ideas.

September 4th - September 10th Menu

We've had a bit of a reprieve yesterday and today from the absolutely miserable heat. It's been so hot I haven't wanted to do anything at all, not even cook. I've cooked anyway, though, simply because eating out is so expensive and detrimental to my blood sugar. My efforts at diet improvement and exercise have been successful, though. My latest A1c of 6.5 is definitely an improvement. It still isn't where I want it to be but I'll take that progress, thank you! Rather than follow the dietitian's recommended 30 grams of carbs at meals I've been eating 20 grams and that seems to have stopped the weight gain and I have more energy. I've lost another two pounds of what I gained but I've been concentrating on blood sugar rather than weight loss so that's okay with me.

My mother and stepfather sold their home and are moving. The house had been on the market over a year and the closing is right around the corner so my sister and I took our vacation last week, went to Austin and had a fantastic time, then spent the last couple of days helping the folks try to get organized and packed. I say try because they have so much stuff crammed into that house there's simply no way for us to get it all done before the move. Not with work and lives, you know. In fact, the contents of the attic filled an entire bedroom and I kid you not! It's overwhelming that they have so much to move but it is what it is and we've done our best to get it in some kind of order. We'll help them all we can until the move and then help unpack in the new place as time allows.

So, while on vacation I had some new to me foods and now that it's cooled off a little I'm going to work on reproducing a couple of the dishes at home. One of them is the Migas breakfast taco with Tomatillo salsa from Torchy's Tacos. I have the ingredients to make the salsa and will do that today or tomorrow. It might take a couple of tries but I'm okay with that as long as the results are edible. Another thing I want to make is Hummus like that served at Sarah's Mediterranean Grill and Market. I enjoy hummus but theirs is particularly tasty. It isn't as garlic laden as some and is creamier than most I've had and I'd love to have some of that in my fridge to eat as a snack now and then. I might not eat it with pita but simply with a spoon.

Okay, on to this week's menu. I have a very busy week ahead so most of my meals will be simple and easy to prepare. Tonight I'm having leftover chicken, potato salad, boiled cabbage and cole slaw (yes, two kinds of cabbage in one meal! I love the stuff) from yesterday's cookout at Mom's house. If I get around to making the tomatillo salsa I'll have some of that on my chicken.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Homemade pimiento cheese (best recipe I've found to date) with wheat crackers and a large salad

Vegetable soup, leftover from Mom's house, with a small salad and a homemade whole wheat roll

Stir fry steak and vegetables with brown rice

Dinner with Mom one night. No doubt it will be higher in carbs than I prefer but I'll shoot insulin and eat just enough to not be hungry.

Homemade turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, and salad with a slice of whole wheat toast

Leftover night, when I eat whatever is languishing in the fridge.

Once it really cools off, I'll return to making roasts and experimenting with breads but for now light and easy eating is the way to go.

I have a very interesting cooking project coming up and when I have more time I'll post about that. Until then, play with your food! And don't forget to look at Laura's Menu Plan Monday today. Her citrus-chicken salad pita pockets sound delicious and I might have to try that dish soon.

July 3rd - July 9th Menu

I didn't make any of the recipes I'd planned last week. Instead, I ate leftovers and miscellaneous things from my freezer and fridge. My poor freezer was bulging with food so I made reducing it's contents and cleaning it a priority. It worked out well and I had plenty of time for more important things.

The next couple of weeks at work will be hectic. We had one person give notice last week then not return for her remaining shifts so there's been some scrambling to fill those. I love that we're down a person and it's Fourth of July weekend. And the boss is going on vacation next week so we'll be down two people that week. The good news is we're training a new person. I don't think she'll be ready to work alone for awhile so we'll just have to muddle through all this the best we can and try to maintain our sanity.

I'm very nervous and a little excited about starting back to college. I haven't been in over 20 years so I'm not sure what to expect but people I know in similar situations have told me it's much better later in life. I hope that's true. To help with my lack of basic math skills, I've been working my way through a textbook and workbook and using the videos at Khan Academy. Sal has a way of presenting difficult concepts in such a way that they're a little less difficult and his vision of a quality education for all is pretty impressive!

Okay, so on to the menu for this week. I work tonight so I'm taking a simple meal of turkey, swiss cheese, avocado and tomato on half a whole grain ciabatta roll and a few bell pepper strips with jalapeno ranch dressing.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Grilled or broiled NY strip steak with steamed asparagus and buttered red potatoes

Rosemary chicken with zucchini and red potatoes served with a salad

Chunky vegetable hash (South Beach recipe) with a scrambled egg

Beef brisket with Vegetables Alfredo over a little Dreamfields pasta

Leftover night, when I eat whatever is lingering in the fridge

Dinner out one night

I've received a few emails lately with questions about how I keep track of my menu for the week. Well, since I cook for just myself more often than not, it's no big deal if I vary things and prepare a meal not on my menu. However, since the menus are thoughtfully prepared with my blood sugar goals in mind I try to stick with what's on the menu and to do that, I need the menu where I can easily find it. So, I looked at a lot of different forms and picked the second one from The Project Girl. I don't care if I eat steak on Monday or Thursday or chicken on Tuesday or Saturday as long as I have the menu easily accessible. And it is. It's posted on my fridge each Sunday and here's this week's.

Meals are listed on the left and a shopping list is on the right. When the new week's menu is ready I put the old one in a binder so I can refer to it later for meal ideas. I've used this system for several months and really like it.

Join Laura and the crew for Menu Plan Monday and share what's on your menu for the week.

And have a great Fourth of July!

June 26th - July 2nd Menu

The carb counting plan I've been on for almost a month is still working like a charm so I'm going to continue it. My blood sugar is rarely under 75 or over 110 and for me those are fantastic numbers. It's been weeks since I've had a middle of the night hypo and I've had only two day time episodes, both when I shot for 30 grams of carbs and ate only about 15. Ooops! Two hypos in a month is excellent, though, so I'm encouraged. I've gained back a little of the weight I'd lost but since increasing my exercise the weight is leaving again. It looks as though I'll just have to exercise regularly, like it or not. Go figure!

This week I have quite a bit of time off so trying new recipes is in the works. I've picked a few that sound delicious and fairly easy so the plan is to make those and post the recipes and pictures separately.

And on to this week's menu. Last night I didn't eat because I was very full and tired from the weekend. My sisters came in from Dallas and yesterday at Mom's we prepared a turkey roast with gravy, asparagus, pea salad, spicy pinto beans, and cherry cobbler and I had some of each. When I got home I couldn't even think of food and had to force myself to choke down a yogurt before bed.

Tonight's dinner will be chicken wings with caramelized onions and mushrooms, half an ear of corn, and a tossed salad. Connie prepared and brought 10 pounds of wings to Mom's house so I snagged enough for at least two meals this week. She made three kinds of wings - hot, barbecue, and cheese and all are delicious!

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Marinated and grilled rib eye steak, the remaining half ear of corn, and grilled vegetables

Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas with cold black bean salad

Chicken Alfredo with a bit of pasta, tossed salad, and steamed asparagus

A big salad with toasted tomato and cheese baguette

Dinner out one night

So that's it for this week's eats. Join Laura and the crew at Menu Plan Monday and share what's on your plate!

May 29th - June 4th Menu

I saw the Endocrinologist and Certified Diabetes Educator last week. I found the visit with the endo to again be a waste of time and money. As of today, he's done very little my GP hasn't, can't, or won't do except confirm that I have LADA (Type 1.5 Diabetes) so I don't think I need him, though the GP probably won't agree. He did tell me that the recent blood sugar readings my sons had were way out of line and suggested they each get a Fasting Blood Glucose test and an A1c. Because of their ages, normal weights, and lifestyles he feels that if they're diabetic, they have LADA and not Type 2. He also gave credence to my suggestion that perhaps my diabetic relatives also had LADA rather than Type 2 and it's a genetic issue in our family.

I expected the visit with the CDE to be as much a waste of time as the endo but was pleasantly surprised. I told her up front that I eat a low carb diet most of the time but listened to her spiel with an open mind. In return, she didn't gripe about my way of eating but thoughtfully explained, complete with a white board and some great diagrams, why and how she believes low carb eating has actually harmed me over the last 11 years. Once I understood her perspective and the science behind it,  I agreed to a two week trial with the understanding that if I didn't see substantial improvement in blood sugar readings without large weight gain I'd go back to my way. She told me that my blood sugar might seem a little unstable for a few days but not to panic if it did and I might gain a few pounds but those issues would resolve themselves quickly.

In a nutshell, I now carbohydrate count, but for comfort and weight loss purposes my plan is modified to contain fewer carbs. I eat three meals a day of 30 grams of carbs and three snacks of 15 grams of carbs with the third snack being eaten right before I go to bed, whether that's at 8 PM or 3 AM. That's 135 grams of carbs, still much less than most people eat but much higher than the 30 to 50 grams I'm used to. It's not easy for me to eat those carbs and some days I simply can't eat them all but I try and do well most of the time.

I now eat breakfast within thirty minutes of waking in the morning. Sometimes breakfast is nothing more than 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dry cereal but it meets the 30 grams of carbs criteria. Breakfast is a major hurdle for me. I just don't want food most days before 11 AM so I made a rule for myself - no coffee before eating in the morning. Yeah, I basically bribe myself to eat that first meal but it works for me. In addition, it's enabled me to drink just two cups of coffee in the morning rather than the copious amounts of the past.

I started the new way of eating on Wednesday, May 25th and except for Saturday, when I over ate a little and ran around 150 all afternoon and evening, and a postprandial last night of 177 (see note below), I haven't seen readings under 75 or over 120. No panic stricken hypos in the middle of the night leading to werewolf eating binges, no rushing to bolus extra insulin because I've over eaten or under shot. It's been fairly steady between 85 and 100 for most of four days. In addition, I'm shooting substantially less insulin, sleeping better, feeling better in general, and have lost 2 more pounds. I'm puzzled by it all and four days aren't enough to convince me that this is the long term way for me but the results give me hope that I might be able to have a less restricted diet. Since the average American eats between 200 and 400 grams of carbohydrates a day, I'll never have the 'average' diet (and don't want it, thanks!) but something pseudo-average will wonderfully suffice!

With all that said, my menus now have meals that average 30 grams of carbs, sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more. Feel free to adjust them as needed for your own preferences and if you're diabetic, remember YMMV (Your Meter May Vary).

This week I'll have, in no particular order except for last night's dinner which is listed first:

Beef fajita salad with Ken's Lite Northern Italian Dressing and six Triscuit rosemary and olive oil crackers (My preprandial was 102 and postprandial was 177. Six Triscuits might be too many so I'll try four next time and if that doesn't work, they'll become a rare treat that requires a little more insulin)

Chicken breast seasoned with plenty of garlic and pepper, skillet cooked with olive oil, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and a side of wild rice with slivered nuts

Open faced roast beef sandwich with caramelized onions and a side of homemade vegetable soup

Cheese and skirt steak omelet, hash browns, and one slice of whole wheat toast with sugar free grape jelly

Baked cod with green beans, buttered beets, and half an ear of corn

Beef stroganoff, whole wheat noodles, green beans, and a large salad

Leftover night when I eat whatever is lingering in the fridge

And that's it for this week! By the way, my snacks are usually 1/2 a cup of fruit, yogurt, or four crackers with cheese. I'm going to have to get more creative with snacks and I'll update on those as I come up with good ones. If you have suggestions on snacks with 10 to 15 grams of carbs, please share them in a comment.

For more ideas on what to feed your family, check out Menu Plan Monday to see what others are coming up with.

May 16th - May 22nd Menu

My sons came to visit from Austin this weekend and we had a great time. I wish they'd stayed longer but the oldest one starts a new job today and they needed to get back home in time for him to prepare for the new job. We went to my mother's house Saturday and did some work around her place. She was so happy to have two of her grandsons there. She's been pretty depressed over things with my stepfather and the visit cheered her substantially.

Before they headed back to Austin yesterday the boys humored me by eating high carb meals. I checked their pre and post prandial blood sugar and both sons had substantially abnormal results. Damn diabetes! I've been seriously questioning the assumption that all my diabetic relatives were Type 2s and the numbers on my glucometer did nothing to calm my fears that they were more than likely adults with Type 1. My sons are 27 and 26, neither is overweight, and they have relatively healthy diets though the diets are probably a bit high in carbs but they both had high FBG and way too high results one and two hours after their lunch. I'm concerned that I'm seeing a genetic tendency to some variation of Type 1 (LADA?, MODY??, Alien ancestry???) in my family. I can't change that but knowing it might help future generations. I sent those young men packing with glucometers, test strips, directions for testing and lower carb eating, and encouragement to see a physician quickly. Sigh.

Anyway, on to my menu for this week!

Tonight I work so I'll probably have a nice salad for dinner or chicken salad I made this morning. The rest of the week I'll have:

Mexican red lentil stew

Mushroom, cheese, and cilantro omelet with a small salad

Garlic-Lime chicken with sauteed green beans and mushrooms

Turkey asparagus roll ups, steamed spinach, and salad

Beef stroganoff over faux rice, grilled asparagus and artichoke hearts, and steamed green beans

Make sure you look at Laura's Menu Plan Monday. You'll find some nice ideas for your menu!

May 8th - May 14th Menu

And it's time for another menu to be shared! I've had a hectic week and another one is upon me and menu planning isn't really what I want to do in my small amount of spare time so I've put it off. But I finally worked on this week's menu last night after I got home from work. I was bone tired but if I don't plan for the week it becomes a haphazard grab what I can sort of thing (read that as trips to Long John Silver's, Carl's Jr., etc) so I dug through the freezer and fridge and here's what I came up with:

Sunday - I ate 6 small fish sticks and a salad. Not the most nutritious but it was all I could muster and  was actually good. I must have been very hungry, indeed! I took caution not to overeat and my blood sugar responded to that - 94 before eating, 85 two hours after.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order, except for the first meal which is Monday's:

Broiled chicken with a delicious homemade mayo, garlic, and black pepper dipping sauce, my special green beans, and a salad

Chicken fajitas made with leftover chicken and an egg wrap, served with cucumber/tomato/avocado salad and fresh pico de gallo

Ribeye steak with a small baked red potato, broccoli, and salad

Very large salad with just about every vegetable I can find in it

Dinner out one night, probably Italian food

Beef and vegetable stir fry with a tiny amount of wild rice and a salad

By the way, I've been experimenting with grazing the last few days. No, I didn't buy a cow! Instead, I've been eating small amounts of food throughout the day. It's doing wonders for my blood sugar and my weight. Two more pounds gone and I haven't had a blood sugar result over 110 though I did get a 54 at work yesterday. Ooops!

I'm accustomed to eating two, sometimes three large meals a day with snacks that aren't always the best choices but after doing a lot of research I thought I'd give grazing a good try. So far it's doing what I'd hoped. It might not always work this way but it's definitely worth the effort to try it for awhile!

I carry a small amount of almonds, cashews, walnuts, and cheese in my apron pocket and when I feel the need for something but no break is on the horizon, I munch on those. When I take my meal at work, I eat 1/3 to 1/2 of it (thanks to the grazing I'm not very hungry) and bring the rest home for later. I rarely feel hunger and my blood sugar seems happy at the moment so we'll see what happens.

Here's what I took to work yesterday: stuffed mushrooms, steamed cauliflower, carrot, bell pepper, and tomatoes with homemade dip, sliced strawberries, and hamburger steak cut into bite sized pieces. Oh, and a cheese stick for my apron pocket. :)

About 2/3 of it came home with me!

If you're bored with your menus and would like to try something new, head on over to Laura's Menu Plan Monday and see what others are cooking up this week.

May 1st - May 6th Menu

This week's menu is a good one! I got some great deals at the grocery store and spent my weekend off resting and preparing dinners and lunches for this week. Other than the California Grilled Chicken Salad, there isn't much I can eat where I work so I do try to take lunches. However, sometimes I'm lazy about it or just forget to grab my lunch and if the salad isn't available or I'm not in the mood for it I end up eating chicken nuggets or chicken strips, both things I really don't need. I'm really trying to be more careful about what I eat and taking meals to work is a big part of that.

Last night I had oven baked beef ribs and salad for dinner. The ribs were incredibly delicious and much more tender than I expected. I'd found a large rack of beef ribs for a great price so I divided the rack into two sections. The first I seasoned with pepper, garlic powder, and a little celery salt, wrapped tightly in foil, and baked at 250 for about four hours. The second I pan cooked on very low heat for about three hours with plenty (15) of fresh whole garlic cloves. Both cooking methods produced meat that fell off the bones and there's enough for at least two more meals. 

The rest of the week isn't nearly as exciting but is still good and healthy. Here's my menu, in no particular order:

Vegetable and chicken soup with salad and green beans

Chicken Parmesan with sauteed parmesan spinach 

Salad with several kinds of greens, tomato, baby carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, and cheese

Chicken and vegetable stir fry with a bit of wild rice and mushrooms

Beef ribs with salad and 1/2 a small baked sweet potato 

Vegetable fajitas made with a slew of fresh veggies and low carb tortillas

And that's it for this week! It's all made at home, thrifty, and good for me.

What's on the menu at your house this week? If you're stumped for ideas, join Laura and her followers at Menu Plan Monday. I'm sure you'll get some nice ideas.

April 24th - 30th Menu

Last week was another very busy one and between the job and the life I didn't have much relaxation time. I thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday, though. I spent the morning and early part of the afternoon doing very little then went to a friend's house for dinner. We had a simple yet delicious meal of roasted chicken with plenty of sides, most of which were too high in carbs for me but I did eat a bit of this and a smidge of that and brought some of the leftovers home to eat later this week.

I noticed this morning that my zucchini plants have flowers! I need to move one of the plants to another container but I'm thrilled to see they're flowering. The tomato and pepper plants have no flowers yet and seem to be growing too slowly but I haven't given up on them. We might get some good storms over the next three days and I sure hope we do as my plants need it.

I'd planned to prepare a beef roast this week using Ray's 3 Envelope Roast recipe but when I took the roast from the freezer this morning, it had bad freezer burn. I dug a little more and found four additional packages of beef with the burn. Argh, how maddening! I've used my sister's sealer a few times in the last four months and those items are fine so I'm buying one this week and will try to use it faithfully! She has a method that works for her and I'll do it her way to see if it works as well for me.

As for the bad meat, I was going to trash it but remembered a Freecycle member who used to ask for freezer burned meat for her dogs so I listed it on Freecycle and someone is getting it tomorrow for her dogs. I hate wasting food but at least it isn't going into the trash.

Thanks to the freezer burned beef, my menu for this week changed and here it is, in no particular order except for tonight's dinner which is listed first:

Chipotle fish with vegetables from Sunday's dinner

Chicken and vegetables, more than likely made using Ray's recipe above. I haven't tried it with chicken yet but I'm sure it will be delicious.

Creamy Chicken and Cheese enchiladas made with egg wraps and served with faux spanish rice and a salad

Steak wrap made with Joseph's Lavash bread, thinly sliced ribeye steak, bell pepper, purple onion, and Alton Brown's Tzatziki sauce and served with spicy cucumber tomato salad

Archer Farms California grilled chicken salad

Dinner out one night, probably Italian or Chinese

As a side note, I've managed to gain 4 lbs in the last two weeks! Knowing that my weight fluctuates either way up to 5 lbs and I'm prone to water retention I'm not too worried about it. I still need to lose about 20 lbs but I think it's going to take a major increase in exercise to get there and right now I simply don't have the time so I'll continue to eat low carb, work out when I can, try to get an extra walk in here and there, and watch those 4 extra pounds like a hawk! I've gotten rid of any clothes above a size 12 so I really need to get and keep a handle on this. ;)

And that's it for this week. Join Laura and her many fans at Menu Plan Monday to find out what others are planning to nosh!

April 10th - April 16th Menu

Whew, what an interesting time the last week or so has been! Work has been particularly stressful and I've been struggling with some negative things going on but I think I finally have a handle on them. I hope so, anyway.

I've had a lot of 'thinking time' the last few months and after much consideration and research and quite a bit of discussion with people who've done it and survived, I've decided to go back to school. Retail can be difficult for the young but for us oldsters it can be downright brutal. Standing for umpteen hours a day has lost it's luster, if it ever had any, and the pay sucks and my patience with customers too often wears thin so back to college I go! I don't know yet just what classes I'll take and I need to get my transcripts from many years ago (you know, back when transcripts were put on clay tablets!) but I'm going to do this. Finally. As they say, there's no time like the present.

I've gotten back into gardening and genealogy this Spring and both are great hobbies, especially the gardening. I hope to have some lovely home grown tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and who knows what else on my menus a bit later this year! I'll try to put pictures up now and then.

In the meantime, here's my menu for the week, starting with Sunday's dinner then listed in no particular order:

California grilled chicken salad complete with feta cheese, walnuts, a few dried cranberries, and a bit of poppyseed dressing

Beef tips in low carb gravy served over roasted, mashed turnips with a hearty side salad

Vegetable beef soup, made with plannedover beef tips, gravy and turnips, and half a deli flat

Dinner out one night

Black Bean and Pepperoni Soup with a salad

Turkey bacon and a bowl of cottage cheese mixed with homemade pico de gallo and plenty of garlic

Leftovers, when whatever is in the fridge gets eaten

And that's it for this week! I have a few new recipes I've been playing with and hopefully will have at least one ready to share next week. Until then, don't forget to play with your food and join Laura and Friends at Menu Plan Monday to see what others are serving.

March 6th - March 12th Menu

I'm back on track with my diet, blood sugar, and exercise and it's paying off!

I've lost about 20 lbs in the last few weeks and my blood sugar is much better. I need to lose another 20 lbs and my A1c still has room for improvement but progress is motivating me to do what I know I should.

To get these results I started walking at least 30 minutes three times a week, do the occasional Walk Away The Pounds session, stopped going by fast food joints for a quick meal, and simply followed my lower carb sense. Yeah, I cook more but I like cooking so it works out well. I don't like exercise but it really does make a difference in weight loss and blood sugar so I do it, even when I don't want to.

I'm human, though, and I love my chinese and mexican food so I enjoy one of those once every couple of weeks but I shoot enough insulin for the carbs and I go for a long, brisk walk after the meal.

I recently saw an endocrinologist, the first time since my diagnosis almost 11 years ago. It was a very disappointing visit since he told me nothing I didn't already know and offered no practical advice but I went because my primary felt strongly about it. The only thing of interest I got from the $285 visit was that he thinks I'm an adult onset Type 1 or even a Type 1.5 rather than a Type 2. I've wondered about that myself for awhile and if he's right it would explain a few things that have been going on with my body for awhile. However, he didn't do blood work to confirm that suspicion. He simply told me to return in 3 months. Yeah, okay....

Anyway, I'm happy with the weight loss I've experienced but know I can't let up yet. I still have a ways to go! I did, however, treat myself last week - I had a stylist color and cut my hair. That was the first time I've had a professional color my hair and although it was expensive it was worth it. The color is lovely, dark brown with red woven in, and the cut isn't a lot different than what I've had for years but there's just enough of a subtle change to make it...well, different. ;) I don't know that I can afford to do it often but as a treat for weight loss and improved A1c, it's a nice treat.

So, on to this week's menu. Last night I had PF Chang's Orange Chicken, the frozen kind. The package lists it as having two servings with 61 grams of carbs each but I ate only a third of it. I'll have another third for dinner tonight and the remainder is in the freezer for future use.

Here's the rest of this week's menu:

Beef and vegetable soup, made with beef smoked sausage, leftover vegetables, and a small amount of whole grain rotini

Lemon butter fish with a salad and steamed spinach

Stir fried chicken and vegetables with a tiny amount of wild rice

Low carb chicken pot pie with salad, spinach, and fresh green beans

Leftovers, when I eat whatever is languishing in the fridge

And that's it. Simple but good and good for me. Have a great week and if you haven't checked out Menu Plan Monday yet, do so and join in the fun.

January 9th - January 15th Menu

We had snow yesterday! It was very pretty but I don't like going out in it so I stayed home where I knew I'd be comfortable and warm. I did some cleaning and reading, watched a couple of Netflix movies I had lying around and even took a nap, though it was a very short one.

Speaking of short, this will be a short work and cooking week for me as I'm taking a few days to do nothing but rest and relax. I'll probably end up cooking something and if any of it's good I'll share it here.

Saturday evening I made some delicious creamy chicken enchiladas and had one of those with salad and faux rice Sunday night. Tonight I went out to eat with a friend and the rest of the week I'll have:

Grilled steak with half a baked sweet potato and brussels sprouts

Herb and lemon white fish with creamed spinach and salad

Low carb tortilla with scrambled eggs, turkey ham and plenty of cilantro salsa
half and a salad

And that's it for this the next few days. Nothing really exciting but it's all healthy and thrifty. I shouldn't have any leftovers by the time Sunday night rolls around and I can start a new cooking week.

Have a great week and make sure to check out Menu Plan Monday and let us know what's on your plate!

January 2 - January 8 Menu

I'm starting the new year off right by spending a lot of time in my kitchen. I woke up at 2 AM yesterday and couldn't get back to sleep so by 3 AM I was making a low(er) carb chicken pot pie.

It's delicious, by the way! By 4 AM I had an unnamed chicken and onion dish (which I now call Savory Chicken and Onions) baking in the oven and the scent of it cooking was incredibly enticing.

By 10 AM I was napping. Oh well, naps are good for us now and then, especially when we wake up long before the roosters. I worked in the evening so the sleep was most appreciated.

I haven't done any grocery shopping for awhile because I have plenty of food. So here's this week's menu, in no particular order except for last night's and tonight's fare which are listed first and second, respectively:

Homemade chicken pot pie with tossed salad and steamed spinach

Savory Chicken and Onions with green beans and steamed mukimame

Vegetable stir fry made with zucchini and yellow squash, broccoli, green beans, leeks, red onion, shallots, and any other vegetables that strike me as sounding good at the time

Braised beef tips with spinach salad and faux mashed potatoes

Low Carb Enchilada Chicken Paillard with mexican faux rice and garlic black beans (Note that I'm not following the HCG diet but I find low carb recipes in all sorts of places!)

Grilled chicken breast with cheese soup and a tossed salad

Beef and broccoli with a tossed salad and sesame seed faux rice

Several of the dishes I'll make this week are from recipes that are new to me and the Chicken Paillard is one I'm really excited about trying.

For more menu ideas make sure to look at Menu Plan Monday and join us so we can see what's on your plate for the coming week!

December 26th - January 2 Menu & new recipes tried

Shame on me, I haven't posted an entry in two months! But life got hectic and even a little scary for awhile and now that it shows signs of calming down I hope to get back to my regularly scheduled programming, including blogging. Thank you for the prayers, comments, and emails for my mother and stepfather. They're doing better and although I'm not under any delusion that all is well with them, they're managing for now. And finally, the holiday rush at work is almost over and I see a little more free time in my future.

The last few weeks I've been trying to:

scale down my cooking so I don't have a fridge full of leftovers I plan to use and end up trashing
vary my diet a little more
and cross a few things off my ever-growing "try this soon" list

So last week I made two new recipes that helped with those goals, Cornish Hens with Stuffing and Shortbread Squares. Both recipes turned out much better than I expected.

Here's a shot of one of the cornish hens. I prefer the taste and texture over the typical whole chicken and the amount left over was very manageable so it's now my whole bird of choice.

And here's the shortbread squares. They were delicious! I can't eat them often but they were a nice treat. Most of these gems were shared with my co-workers and I took a second batch to my family's get together over the weekend. I've been mulling over ideas for a lower carb version of these and hope to get busy on that soon.

By the way, I bought a dream KitchenAid mixer on Black Friday. And I didn't have to wait in line or brave stampeding crowds for it, either. I simply went to the store at about 7 PM that evening and there it was, just waiting to jump into my cart. Oh my, it's everything I dreamed it would be and more!

Now, on to this week's menu:

Yesterday I had soup made from the remains of the cornish hens. I just added a little more than a cup of vegetable broth and a hand full of whole grain noodles to the leftover meat and onion stuffing, let it simmer until the noodles were done, and the resulting soup was very good.

I also prepared chili con carne yesterday and will have that and a salad for dinner tonight.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Leftover chili with a spinach salad

Grilled kabobs made with beef and a lot of vegetables

Lemon butter fish with leftover grilled vegetables, faux rice, and salad

Two egg omelet with Italian turkey sausage and hash brown wannabes

Whatever leftovers are in the fridge and need to be eaten

And that's it for this week's menu. If you're bored with your food lately or want to learn more about menu planning, spend some time perusing Menu Plan Monday, hosted by the lovely and very organized Laura!

October 17th - 23rd Menu

Thanks to those of you who emailed me to make sure I was following last week's menu. I did really well with it until I got started feeling sick on Friday and from then it was downhill! It was nice to hear from y'all though.

I'm still sick with strep throat, bronchitis, and a sinus infection so I haven't eaten much the last three days. I'm improving and assuming that trend continues I plan to have a pretty good food week. If it doesn't continue, I'll just roll all or most of this menu over to next week.

Right now the refrigerator has leftover sticky chicken that needs to be eaten so a couple of dinners will use that. I also have some leftover vegetable soup that I'll probably eat for lunch at work one day.

Tonight I'll have a fajita using a homemade egg wrap rather than a tortilla but will have all the trimmings with it - bell pepper, onion, guacamole and homemade pico de gallo.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Homemade chunky chicken vegetable soup with a flax muffin

Stir fried steak and vegetables with a little wild rice

Breakfast meatballs with scrambled eggs and spinach

Vodka sauce chicken & vegetables with a salad

Leftover night when I finish off whatever's haunting the refrigerator.

If you like to plan your menu or if you want to plan but aren't sure where to start, come on over to Menu Plan Monday and see what Laura and the others have cooking. There are some great recipes to be found there and the folks are happy to answer menu planning questions.

October 10th - 16th Menu

I'm back to planning my meals at least a week at a time, but haven't been posting the menus here. And of course, not keeping to the plan for the most part! I'm not sure just why but putting a weekly menu up here for the whole world (potentially, anyway) to see keeps me on the straight and narrow. I thought I'd be fine not planning meals but what happened is I ate a lot of turkey bacon and egg suppers and too many take away meals from Long John Silver. The former isn't good for variety and the latter isn't good for my blood sugar. And though I tried to incorporate some variety into my diet, that isn't easy with turkey bacon and eggs and grease soaked frish (fried fish) so readily available. So, I'm asking y'all to please hold me accountable. How? Well, if you read this entry, please come back in a day or two and ask if I've actually prepared/eaten the stuff listed here or if I've been a slug and eaten breakfast food or junk food. I won't lie about it and if I don't eat what I have listed here, or a fairly healthy alternative, please berate and belittle me. Or something similar.

So, this week's menu contains the wonderful Caramelized Onions. I have a craving for those so when I'm off tomorrow those will be going in the slow cooker, simmering at a leisurely pace, smelling the kitchen up so wonderfully! I don't know if I can find Vidalias right now but other onions will work if I can't. If you like cooked onions and haven't tried that recipe yet, I highly recommend it to you.

Now, on to this week's menu!

Tonight I'll have leftover Swiss Steak. I made it on Friday and need to finish it off so I'll have that with a bit of wild rice and a small salad.

The rest of the week I'll have:

Mimi's Sticky Chicken with faux mashed potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts

Ribeye steak with caramelized onions, a very small baked red potato, and a bit of sour cream and butter 

Chicken Fajita bundle (meaning I omit the tortilla and just pile the ingredients on a plate and eat with a fork), made with leftover sticky chicken, caramelized onions, plenty of shredded sharp cheddar and pepper jack, and homemade pico de gallo.

Fire Roasted Tomato Chicken soup, my own creation that rocks the socks, folks! When I make that, I'll share the recipe in a separate entry. It's loosely based on my Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with a few changes and with cooler evenings upon us, it will be a welcome dish one night this week.

And last but not least, Saturday night I'll have whatever's languishing in the fridge and needs to be eaten. I really detest throwing food out so I try to eat up those leftovers, whatever they are, on Saturdays. It's a good plan and works well most of the time.

So that's it for this week. Hopefully I'll stick to my plan, folks. If I don't, call me on it. Please!

To find out what others are having this week join us over at Laura's Menu Plan Monday. There seem to be some seriously good cooks into menu planning and I get wonderful ideas reading their menus.

September 5th - 11th Menu

Now that it's just me I'm cooking for, I struggle a little with whether I need or want to plan my weekly menus. However, without proper planning the temptation to pick up some kind of fast food is occasionally just overwhelming. I usually don't give in to that temptation but each time I do is one time too many so back to menu planning for me.

You know, it doesn't seem that cooking for one person would be much different than cooking for two people but it is, at least for me. I don't mind eating leftovers but I prefer to either plan for them ahead of time or revamp them so that I don't feel like I'm eating the same thing over and over and over. But sometimes my kitchen creativity gene is dormant so unless the main dish is something basic like broiled steak, fajita meat, or roasted chicken I try to cook just enough for one meal.  And that's when the trouble starts. I think I'll eat all that lovely homemade meat crust pizza but I actually eat only a little bit and I really don't like it warmed up for a later meal. So this cooking for one without having many leftovers trips me up now and then!

Anyway, a friend and I are going out for dinner one night this week, her treat, but we haven't yet decided where. We'll probably go for Chinese or Tex Mex but who knows, we might get wild and crazy and have barbecue!

Last night's dinner was a very nice crustless quiche that used the last of a fantastic cheese sauce I made a couple of days ago. The sauce was the same recipe as I use for Alfredo but I used Mozzarella cheese rather than Parmesan and half and half and water rather than milk. To make last night's fare I just dumped the sauce in a bowl and added three eggs, about 1/8 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, a bit of chopped red bell pepper, about 3 Tablespoons of leftover green beans and some spices, mixed it, poured it into a baking pan and baked it at 325 for about 20 minutes. The resulting quiche was excellent with roasted brussels sprouts and a tossed salad and there's enough for at least two meals, both of which will probably be lunch at work.

Tonight I'll have grilled ribeye steak with sauteed mushrooms and green and red bell pepper. If there's any left, I'll have it for lunch at work the next day.

The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:

Beef and chicken fajitas with a little wild rice and guacamole

Homemade chunky vegetable soup

Jambalaya made with riced cauliflower instead of rice

Leftover fajita meat with steamed fresh vegetables, homemade queso blanco, and avocado slices

And that sums it up for this coming week. I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow and get some basics but I don't plan to buy a lot. Of course, if there are any great deals on meat or vegetables I'll take advantage of those but otherwise, I only need a few things.

Here's to this week being a good one! Mosey on over to Menu Plan Monday, hosted by the lovely Laura, and see what others are planning to eat.

March 21st - 27th Menu

I haven't blogged much lately because between work, the dietary restrictions, and life in general the menu has been pretty dull. But I really need the accountability of posting entries here (and judging by the emails sent to me some of you really miss me! lol) so I've planned a menu of meals that require a little more work on my part but should help alleviate some of the boredom in our diets.

Last night I worked until after 8 and when I got home I was famished so I whipped up a quickie chili with Laura's Lean Beef, some no salt added canned diced tomatoes,  dark red kidney beans, a little green onion, and some spices. It was very good topped with a little shredded cheddar and there's enough for our lunch today. It isn't as low in carbs as I wish, thanks to the kidney beans, but all in all it's a healthy dish.

Tonight we're having Mexican Chicken from The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook made with Sanderson Farms chicken breasts. I don't know if that brand is available where you are but if it is, you really should try it. The chicken is always juicy, meaty, and tasty without having added hormones, additives, and other garbage. And the breasts are huge! One is usually enough to feed the two of us and trust me, we can put away some chicken! We'll have this savory-sounding dish with some leftover Chipotle Cauliflower and low carb tortillas.

The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Vegetable stir fry with riced cauliflower

Triple decker vegetable omelets (from The Low-Carb Bible but also found online) served with zucchini fries

Salt-Baked Rosemary Chicken (modified from the original recipe to use less salt), steamed green beans, and tossed salad

Breakfast burritos made with low carb tortillas

You're On Your Own (YOYO) night when we clean out the fridge, eat leftovers, or go out for dinner.

And that's it for this week's upcoming evening meals. Some of them are a little more interesting than our usual fare and that's a good thing. I hope your culinary week is a great one and join us over at Menu Plan Monday for more great recipes and menu plans!

March 7th - 13th menu

This week promises to be a busy one for me so most of our dinners will be easy to prepare. Because it simply needed to be done and to make things easier on myself, today I took some time and reorganized the pantry shelves. They were a mess and it was hard to tell what we had and what we need so now not only does it all look better but I should have an easier time making my shopping list and keeping up with what's in inventory.

I was determined to thoroughly clean the refrigerator, too, but didn't succeed in that although I did eliminate almost all the leftovers in it. Tonight's dinner was soup made from some of the leftovers. In the fridge I found about a cup and a half of leftover homemade vegetable beef soup, part of a can of diced tomatoes and most of a can of Rotel tomatoes. I dumped all of that in the wok, added a handful of Dreamfields elbow macaroni, a smidge of garlic salt, and some freshly ground black pepper and set it on low and a few minutes later our revamped soup was ready. It was excellent and there was just enough to feed us both so we're starting the week with very few leftovers.

If you'd like to learn more about meal planning please take a look at Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura and visited by hundreds!

So, on to this week's menu!

Monday night's dinner is seasoned turkey tenderloin with steamed spinach, edamame, and tossed salad.

The rest of the week we'll have:

Leftover turkey tenderloin with low carb gravy, with wild rice and steamed green beans

Chipotle chicken with tossed salad and buttered carrots

Cauliflower Leek Soup with Carbquick bread sticks

Stir fried vegetables with beef

YOYO (You're On Your Own) night when we eat leftovers, sandwiches, etc.

And that's it! Short, sweet, and not a lot of intense cooking going on this week. But it's all healthy, low in carbs, and thrifty. It works for us!

February 21st - 27th Menu

This week's menu isn't particularly exciting (is mine ever??) but it's thrifty and low in carbs. For the most part. Last night, Sunday, we went to Wingstop and I indulged in garlic parmesan wings and a few of their addictive fries. My insulin dose must have been right on, though, because two hours after eating, my blood sugar was 84. And this morning my FBG was 95. Woot! The addition of Lantus to my insulin regimen helps a lot, too. It's been five days since I've been back on Lantus and my blood sugar is so much better it's amazing.

On to this week's eats!

So, tonight for dinner we're having roasted chicken, a nice salad, and steamed spinach. I don't get off until 6 PM so it will be a late-for-us dinner but a good one.

The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Chicken salad sandwiches/lettuce leaf wraps made with leftover roasted chicken

Zucchini lasagna with salad, Carbquick bread sticks, and steamed green beans

Hearty vegetable soup with the remaining bread sticks

Meat loaf, salad, and zucchini and red pepper "fries"

YOYO (You're On Your Own) night when we dig through the fridge eating leftovers

And that's it for this coming week's dinners. For more great menu ideas, visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday and jump right in.

Have a great week and enjoy your food!