good eats

I have been doing my low carb lifestyle now for about 4 1/2 months.  I have loved how it has changed my body, my energy, my overall feeling of health, and my confidence.

I don't completely cut out carbs, or any other food/nutrient group, but I just eat really low carb.
My body responds really well to it, and I can feel it.

The past few weeks though, I been getting crazy bored with the same ol' foods.

I eat loads and loads of

Every morning for breakfast, it is always 3 eggs, lots of cheese, and once a week I will add bacon or sausage.

Breakfast, I really don't mind. Pretty dang good, filling, lots of protein, and zero carbs.

Lunch is always chocolate Shakeology, with lots of Adams Natural Peanut Butter, one banana, and ice and water. This will never, ever get old.  I crave it every single day.

I don't usually need snacks anymore. If I go into ketosis, where I really restrict carbs, I feel full a lot of the time.

When I do snack though... it is peanut butter bites, string cheese, almonds, olives, cucumbers and ranch, or a pepperoni stick.  Nothing too snazzy, but it does the trick.

Dinner is where things are getting frustrating for me.  I am getting so sick of meat and cheese.  I don't crave breads or pastas anymore, but I am just bored.  I make my family the dinners I have always made, and I pick out what I can eat, but I am just so ready for a full meal that I can stuff in my face.

So....I ordered a few books, and BAM...the past few days for my taste buds have rocked!!!

yes, the one on the left is Atkins...no, I don't follow the Atkins diet...but I eat very similar foods to those who do.

First up was this..

I have seen a ton of recipes with zucchini noodles instead of regular pasta, but it sounds so disgusting to me.  I have never liked zuchinni plain, or squash.  Zuchinni bread on the other hand....
My boredom got the best of me, and I decided to try it.

Lucky for me, our local grocery store sells these.


LOVE the name!  Fresh cut squash and zucchini noodles.

I was all set to buy a vegetable noodle maker, but lo and behold, I walk in the store, and this greets me.  SCORE!  It was meant to be I guess. :)

I made it last night, took one bite, ( I admit, I grimaced) and literally just started beaming!  It was so flippin' good!  Seriously!  It tasted exactly like Fettuccini Alfredo.  I used these noodles, a little heavy cream (zero carbs), a tiny spoonful of cream cheese (no carbs), loads of garlic, and lots of other seasonings, and that was it.

It was insanely good!  And to test it to make sure it wasn't just good to me, and my palate that is not used to sweet things anymore and kind of weird now according to my family, I gave a bite to Molly.
Hey, she was asking.

It turned into a war over who could eat more.  She gobbled it up so fast! 
YES!!!!!

This recipe gave me so much excitement, that I spent the next day looking through the cookbooks whenever I got a chance.  I came home from the grocery store today with all sorts of stuff that I would never have dreamed would be in my pantry.

Over half of it, I didn't even know what it was, and had to google pictures of it just to find it in the store!

Almond flour meal...what the?

 OK, see that xanthan gum crap there to the left of the Almost Flour Meal.  Exactly...what the what is Zanthan gum.  I went to THREE stores looking for it, without knowing where to look or what to look for.  Seriously, this stuff was impossible to find.  And what the freak is it anyway.  The name sounds pretty freaky to me.  But hey, I am supposed to cook with it, and it is supposed to keep all this healthy stuff sticking together, so whatev.

milk that tastes like dirt... and my life saver,  Heavy Cream.

yes, I know what this is.  Just don't ever use it.  Looks like I will be now.



I know what this is too...and I use it in everything! It got it's picture here because I like it, a lot.

I cannot wait to mix all of these crazy random ingredients together, along with this stuff, and actually bring pancakes back into my life again....for only 3 carbs per pancake!!!
I am just praying it doesn't taste like cement and cardboard with sugar free jam on top.

lots of this will be happening, in the cooking, not on Mary's eczema she gets on her lips. Who would've thunk.

I also bought Vanilla Almond White Protein Whey powder.  ummm, yeah, the name probably doesn't go in that order, but it was another one that was so freaking hard to find! I had zero idea what it was or what it looked like.

When I did find it, I slammed my palm to my forehead in a "doh" moment.
It is a protein powder Becky, you know, by the protein powder.
Good one...Good one.

Aside from my cookbook, zoodle alfredo find...I had the BEST FIND EVER today.

Friday and Saturday are my caffeine days. The are my hardest workout days, and it is the weekend, where my to do list around the house is always longer than the hours in the day, and lets face it, all of the kids are home, and they have lots and lots of energy and needs.

I normally drink zipfizz, because it is extremely healthy, and the caffeine comes from natural sources, so I don't get headaches or crash from it.

On some Saturday's though, when zipfizz isn't quite getting me through, I will go to my favorite place ever.

BEST dirty soda's and cookies in the world...I swear.

I usually get a "Paradise"...Diet Coke with sugar free vanilla and sugar free coconut. (two pumps of each please)

Today though, I branched out and got a "Dr. Cream Berry."  A Dr. Pepper with Raspberry Syrup and Cream.

It sounded so stinking good to me I was salivating at the window...but it had too many carbs and sugar for me to be able to enjoy it after the hard workout I had just done...so I tweaked my order. Go me.  I thought out of the box.  Not my style unfortunately for me, but I did it. And it worked!

I got a Diet Dr. Pepper, and 2 pumps of sugar free raspberry syrup.

I brought it home, and added my own heavy cream to it (zero carbs and 1g. of sugar).

I took one sip, and it was so dang amazing, that I literally started laughing and cheering. Yup, right there in the middle of the kitchen.  Shoes still on, grocery bags hanging from my arms, sweaty gym clothes, and all.
Mary and Sam stared at me like I had gone completely mad. Even though it had caffeine, I made all of the kids try it. 

They hated it.

What the?!?!

Better for me..no one sneaking sips.  Mine..all mine.


It was sooooooooo good!  Holy Crap!  I actually grabbed my keys to get in the car and buy another one, but Molly pooped her pants right there in the middle of the kitchen (all of my excitement must have gotten the best of her), and diverted me. 

By FAR the best find I have found so far.  I absolutely cannot wait until next Saturday, just for this.  It feels like I am waiting for Christmas..for real.

Next up, the second best find of the day.

Yup, two great finds in one day.  Believe me...after the week it has been, this was a God send.

Again, it is Atkins.  Not because I follow their diet (I give myself cheat meals once in while, and my lunch has PLENTY of carbs to not work on this diet anyway), but holy crap, this little nugget of goodness blew my mind.

Some of the other Atkins treats I have found taste like chemicals and plastic to me.
This treat however....YUMMY!
I am a caramel lover..the good kind of caramel.  As in Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company Sea Salt Caramel Chocolates kind of caramel lover.

This sweet, blessed, heavenly little bar brought caramel back into my life!  (disclaimer:  it also brings a massive load of bloating and gas as well), but it is WELL worth it.  At least to me.  Ben and the kids would beg to differ.

Needless to say, it was a good low carb food week for me.  I found some new recipes and some awesome treasures!!

Oh, and this is also arriving in the mail in a few days.

Bring on the homemade salsa, shredded chicken taquitos where the chicken is actually ground up, pie crusts that I can finally eat (made out of nuts), and a whole new world of cooking bliss!

Oh, and as another side note.
I try to drink lots of water, I really do, but I just need flavor, ya know.
These do the trick every time!  I may or may not have a fridge full of these at all times.

And that's a wrap folks.

Hopefully I will be posting again in a few weeks with a bunch more new and yummy eats I have discovered in my fake sugar, weird ingredient, somewhat gassy, yet amazing low carb healthy Becky world!