Low Carb Spinach-Sausage Stuffing

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I know this can be a tough time of year, especially for low carbers.  Every holiday we go through this conversation in our head.  "We are going to stick to our plan, we are feeling great and it is working.  Maybe just this one meal I will eat whatever I want then go back to low carbing."  I have done it, it is not so easy. 

The first year I was low carbing, I had a party.  My friend, Denise, and I planned to have low carb foods available to stay on track. We thought stuffed mushrooms would be great and decided to stuff them with all our favorite stuffings.  Lucky us we had lots of leftover stuffing so we put in in a pan and baked it.  I have been eating it ever since for holidays.  This is my first attempt at a recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Low Carb Spinach Sausage Stuffing

1 pound breakfast sausage (I use hot)
10 oz package of fresh spinach, chopped
3 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3 TBS minced garlic
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown sausage and drain well.  Mix chopped spinach, 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, garlic and cream cheese together in large bowl.  Mix well until combined.  Add sausage and mushrooms then mix well.  Pour in 9 x 13 pan, sprinkle remaining cheese and bake for 50 minutes. 

Makes 9 servings

330 calories, Fat 27, Protein 19, Carbs 5, Fiber 1...4 net carbs per serving

This reheats great in the microwave. 

Winter?

Happy Sunday!

It is very windy today in NTX, but warmer.   One day we are in the 30's and the next almost 80!  This is a weird winter, but I will take it...no snow!

Woke up today & put some country ribs in the crock pot.  I got the recipe from my new cookbook, Low Carbing Among Friends.  My house has smelled incredible and my husband is going crazy!  We are going to eat with salad.  I have been looking into other recipes to try this week and found Primal Scotch Eggs which will be a change from my usual hard boiled eggs.

Well my weight today is up, I knew it would be.  Not because I was off plan, just montly hormonal changes.  I woke up puffy.  Oh well, I will keep on trucking and hope the whoosh fairy will visit next week!

Exercise this week has been good, four Zumba sessions and some Kettle Bell action.  I hope the Kettle Bell workouts are building muscle.  I really would like to get a Kettle Worx or Skoggs system.  Any input would be appreciated.  Also, one of my co-worker/Zumba friends asked me to do Couch to 5k with her so we can run together.  Has she seem my chubby no-runner legs!?  Well there is an app for that & I have a treadmill that is getting dusty.  I will see what I can do!

So I did a little research into Grass Fed meat this week.  Looks like the local health food store carries some in the freezer section.  I really don't love frozen meat so I am going to do a little more research.  I though of contacting the local Crossfit and see if they have some sources.  I am sure Dallas or Ft. Worth has to have something!

Podcasting this week has been alright, my favorite is a new one Primal Low Carb Podcast.  I enjoyed hearing snipets of different podcasts that I have heard and looking up a new one.  He only has one episode so I hope he does nore.  Also, I have yet to find a website with show notes or more info.  Oh well. 

Have a wonderful week!

Just Eat Real Food

It is the beginning of the year and there are so many advertisements on TV on weight loss plans. Nutri System, Weight Watchers, South Beach are ones I saw just today while watching Hocus Pocus (sorry, but it cracks me up!)today. What most of these have in common is their products, heck even Atkins has their own products. Health has taken the back seat to convenience and these plans to make us slim and healthy are setting us up for failure or to be faithful consumers of the products they sell.

When I began Low Carbing almost 5 years ago, most of what I cut out was the processed foods and fast foods that I was consuming. I have to admit, I am lazy in the kitchen and eat out quite a bit, but just make different selections. Over time I have continued to remove things from my diet, most recently wheat. I am reading "Wheat Belly". So what is next, what will help me continue to lose weight and remain healthy?

The Paleo/Primal ideals have been in the forefront over the past year and although I have not read any of the books, I do listen to podcast to learn more & I am intrigued. It makes total sense to me that if I am eating animal products that are fed the crap I wouldn't eat, why would I eat them. Why should I eat genitically modified plants/vegetables that my body was not created to tolerate. So then I get scared & think this is an all or nothing deal! What if I can't do it, am I setting myself up for failure. Do I have to eat a potato! LOL

So then I am listening to my friend, Jimmy Moore's podcast with Sean Croxton. http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/the-llvlc-show-episode-531-sean-croxton-takes-us-over-to-the-dark-side-of-fat-loss/12796 . He says, it's not that hard just eat real food, make the best choices you can. I can do that! So then I listen the Sean's Underground Wellness podcast with Mark Sisson and he says the same thing! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness/2011/10/25/ask-mark-sisson

So what does that mean for me? I think that making small changes each week will be the easiest for me. What have I don't so far this year? Diet Soda is outta here. My daily Sonic Rt44 Diet Dr. Pepper has been replaced with Iced Tea. I am still craving it, but I haven't caved it. Another thing I have done is adding some strenth resitance training with Kettlebells. The next thing is to cook something and eat out less. Today I cooked a Roasted Pork Loin Florentine from my George Stella cookbook with steamed fresh green beans tossed with Kerry Gold Butter. It was yummy & lots of left overs for the next few days.

Sunday is my weigh in day & I was down .90 pounds from last week. Last week I lost 7.4 of the 9 I gained while on prednisone for a sinus & upper respiratory infection. I do not want to go on that again. I puffed up overnight and it is so discouraging. Finally over that mess and I am hoping the scale will continue to go down.

Have a great week!

Happy New Year!

So last year was a bust on the blogging, but I really want & need to do better this year!

I am currently at my lowest weight since high school which is truly amazing to me. Last year I did a couple HCG round which helped to get back on track after gaining back 40+ pounds. I began doing Zumba at the end of the summer and have been having a blast...it is such a stress relief. I have been tracking my food with My Fitness Pal and keeping my Fat around 60%, Protein 30% and Carbs 10%. I also know I need to begin strength training...I got kettlebells for Christmas and am starting a workout regimen.

I have a lot to look forward to this year, but I am most excited about attending the Low Carb Cruise this May with my husband. Here is the link to the cruise information http://www.lowcarbcruiseinfo.com. I am excited to meet so many people who have helped my in my journey and to learning more about the LCHF, Paleo diet and Diabetes management.