Low Carb Weight Loss Journey - My Story

Hello Everyone....

First, I want to start by saying that this blog was created a few years ago but I had only posted a couple times.  Any of the recipes posted before today are NOT low carb.  I just started on a low carb journey a week and a half ago.... July 14, 2017.  Oh,  this will be a long post.

For much of my adult life, I have struggled with my weight.  I had the yo-yo effect.  I went through a period of about 2 years where I weighed in under 200 lbs.  But now, my weight is out of control.  I gave up my nicotine addiction and replaced it with a food addiction.

I know I have to make a change.  I created this blog with the intent of blogging my progress and sharing tips, tricks and yes recipes.  I feel that by blogging, I and my viewers are holding me accountable for what I eat and my activity.  Those who do vlogs and blogs about their weight loss seem to have a higher success rate.  I have a new YouTube channel as well where I will post Vlog and cooking videos.

I am on my weight loss journey with out gastric surgery.  My insurance does not cover it.  My boyfriend found the diet for bariatric surgery patients.  I followed the pre-op diet for a few days to jump start my weight loss.  I count both calories and carbs and have lost 12 pounds since July 14th...  that is less than 2 weeks.  Below are my pictures taken on day 1 of my new life.

I weighed in at 233​ lbs and I am 5' 2"

Current weight as of July 25, 2017 is 221 lbs.

Some of my clothes are a little looser.  I wore a pair of jeans yesterday that I had not been able to wear in like..... forever.

I will upload a new photo after I hit my one month mark.

I use an app called My Fitness Pal for iphone.  I do believe they have a version for the android system as well. I love this app and after trying a few others, this is my app of choice.  I will give a detailed review in another post.
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That is where I am right now....  stayed tuned for more.

Hugs!!!  And, lets get healthy together!!!!!!

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops

Good evening.  I am loving Pinterest.  I am finding so many good eats there.  Tonight, I made these Parmesan Baked Pork Chops and they turned out pretty well.  The only thing is that mine didn't get as browned as the ones pictured in the original recipe from justapinch.com .  I think that next time I will put them under the broiler for a few minutes.  But they were still yummy.

Chops Ready for the Oven

Ingredients

4

boneless pork chops, 1/2" thick (my chops were thinner so I baked them for 30 minutes)

1 Tbsp

olive oil

1 c

parmesan cheese

1 c

italian bread crumbs

1 tsp

black pepper

1 tsp

garlic powder

Directions 

On a plate combine the last 4 ingredients. Rub the pork chops with olive oil and then dip (coat) each one in the cheese mixture. Press the mixture over the pork chops to make sure they are well covered in it. Line a pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Place the pork chops on the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Served with fried rice (I cheated and used Knorr's Rice Side Dish Package) and Green Beans

Salmon Burgers Recipe

I made these burgers over the weekend.  The kids loved them.  The recipe calls for a 5oz package of chicken of the sea salmon.  I used a large can and doubled the recipe.  I had enough left that I gave a couple patties to my parents and they both thought they were very good.

My youngest step son actually requested I make these.  I had no idea he even liked them, even though he does eat Salmon fillets.

Ingredients

• 1 (5 oz) pouch Chicken of the Sea® Premium Skinless & Boneless Pink Salmon
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise OR salad dressing
• 4 hamburger buns
• Vegetable oil
• Favorite hamburger toppings: lettuce, tomato, pickles, etc.

Directions

1. In medium bowl, combine salmon, breadcrumbs, onion, mayonnaise, egg, lemon juice, parsley and garlic salt; blend well.
2. Shape into 4 burgers (salmon mixture will be moist).
3. In large skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons oil and cook burgers over medium heat until both sides are brown.
4. Serve on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings.

Turkey Salad

Good morning.

A little background behind this sandwich.  Last weekend, I was digging in my freezer for something and I pulled out this big turkey and set it on the basement floor, next to the freezer.  Needless to say, I forgot to put it back in the freezer.  Brian found it 2 days later, partially thawed.  He stuck in in the fridge to let it finish thawing.  A couple days ago, he came home on his lunch hour and made homemade stuffing and stuffed the bird, stuck it in the oven and cut up potatoes and let them soak in water until he got home.  We had a Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of March.  And just like the real turkey day, we had plenty of turkey left over. 

I decided late last night to make turkey salad.  I tossed turkey into my food processor to get it chopped up really good.  Oh my goodness, I pulled it out of the fridge this morning to make sandwiches for lunch for us to take to work....  it smelled sooooooooo good!!!  However, I did make a bit too much.

 

• 2 cups cooked turkey (white and dark mixed)
• 2 tablespoons finely minced celery
• 2 tablespoons finely minced onions
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• a dash of garlic powder
• a dash of onion powder
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• Lettuce
• Tomato  ( I didn't have any tomatoes, just lettuce)

Instructions

1. In the food processor, added my turkey and got it chopped fine. 
2. In a small bowl, mix celery, onion, brown sugar, seasonings and mayonnaise. Mix and taste for seasoning. Adjust seasoning and add to turkey. Turn on mixer just enough to incorporate or do as I did and hand mix it up with a large spoon. 
3. Serve on a bed of lettuce and tomato or put on a sandwich

 

I need to learn how to photograph food.  These pictures were taken on my cell phone because of the convenience factor.

Fantastic Steak Marinade and Oven Baked Potato Wedges

Back again.  This is my first recipes.  I found this great steak marinade on joyfulmommaskitchen.com and had to try it.  It turned out fantastic.  Then, on allrecipes.com I got the recipe for the potatoes.

My other half has a membership card  to Restaurant Depot in Pittsburgh.  He gets these nice strip loins and then we cut them down into strip steaks.  It probably costs us $4 per one inch thick steak.  As you can see, they are big.

 

 



Here is the recipe for the marinade

 

Best Steak Marinade
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp dried basil
1 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp fresh minced garlic (2 cloves)
1. Marinate steaks 4-12 hours.  Grill.

I put all the ingredients in a plastic ziplock bag and marinated it all day while I was at work.  I made a mistake with the potatoes.  The original recipe that I found on allrecipes.com did not say anything about greasing the baking sheet.  Well, my taters wanted to stick.  I should have went with my gut feeling and greased the pan.  I added this step in the recipe below.

The potatoes
3 large russet potatoes cut into 8ths (wedges)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese grated
1/4 tsp of black pepper
1 T of onion powder and garlic powder
1/4 tsp of salt

Mixed all the ingredients up in a bowl and spread them out on a greased baking sheet.  Baked in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until tender.

I served this dinner with a side of corn.  Ignore the Christmas plates.  I need a new set of dinner plates and right now, I am using my Christmas plates in March.

My New Blog

Hello....

Welcome to my newest blog.  I should be called the blog queen because I start so many but only keep up with my paper crafting blog ( http://paperthisandthat.blogspot.com ).  I hope to change that. 

I have been having tons of fun browsing the web looking at all the good recipes out there.  I want to share my findings here.  That is the reason I started this blog.  But, if you are like me, you are tired of cooking the same 'ole same 'ole stuff.  I look for different recipes all the time.  Some are excellent and some are, well, flops.  I have a HUGE collection of cook books and magazines as well.  I cut out and save recipes from my newspaper too.

Stay tuned.  I am cooking up a couple new ones I found in the past couple days for dinner tonight.