Low Carb Meal Plan

We started a low carb diet again yesterday.  We're headed to Cancun next month for my brother's wedding and using it as motivation to try and lose some weight before we go.  I've spent a lot of time the last couple of days developing a meal plan to make the next 4 weeks go by easier.  I know the basics for a low carb diet, but realize some of my choices may not fully comply.  I just remind myself that weight loss is the ultimate goal and low carb eating is the way to get there.  I got most of these recipes from the same low carb blog and also plan to include others from our last round.

Broccoli Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Southwestern Egg Casserole
Egg Muffins
Southwest Chicken Salad
Asian Salmon Patties with Sesame Lime Mayo
Shrimp with Mustard Horseradish Sauce
Horseradish Meatloaf
Tomato, Fennel, and Flax Meatloaf
Asian Lettuce Wraps
Turkey and Gaucamole Quesadilla
Garlicky Green Beans
Grilled Zucchini Pizza
Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash

We had White Chicken Chili for dinner last night.  I substituted one can of rotel for the two cans of green chilies.  It was spicy but not unbearable.  This afternoon I made some fantastic French Onion Dip.  I found that all the premade ones from the store had MSG in them among other ingredients that are unfamiliar.  I found this recipe and since I had all of the ingredients I made it.  It's a keeper!

Since we're going to be eating a lot of vegetables in the coming weeks, I'd love to know your favorites so we can add some variety!

Honey Mustard Dressing

My one and only home grown salad

Since we eat so many salads around here, I've become very picky with the dressings we eat. I make most of our dressings because I think my recipes taste better plus I'd imagine they are a bit healthier too! This week I thought I would share the recipes some of our favorites. The recipe we like for Honey Mustard Dressing is not original to me, so click the link for it. Come back everyday this week for a new recipe.

Nov Freezer Cooking

I'm doing a super simple couple of hours of freezer cooking today. We'll be out of town for Thanksgiving and since we're almost a week into the month, I don't need as many meals. Here's what I'm working on right now:

*cooked chicken- I put split breasts in the crockpot with some chicken broth, season salt, pepper, and garlic powder and set it to cook for 6 hours on medium. This chicken will be used in salads mostly.

*lime tacos- since the crockpot was in use and I am working with split breasts rather than boneless, I decided to try boiling it in water that has some chicken base added along with the chili powder and lime juice. I will see how it tastes when it comes out and possibly add more if it needs it. I will probably leave the corn out since I don't have any and use it as a quesadilla filling instead of as tacos.

*sweet potatoes- several are baking in the oven for Sweet Potato Streusel muffins. I'm not sure when I'll make them but thought they sounded good. Since the boys are still reluctant to eat veggies, I will just hide them.

*Italian Sausage Sauce- I usually buy Italian turkey sausage but neither Food Lion or Walmart had any, so I bought two pounds of ground turkey and used this recipe. It didn't have quite as much flavor as I hoped so I might use this one next time. After cooking it I added a little more Italian seasoning, pepper, garlic powder, and salt. I added three cans of stewed Italian tomatoes that I pureed and a couple pinches of sugar and simmered. I had enough for three meals. Tonight and another night this month we'll have zucchini crust pizza. I'll top it with the sausage sauce and cheese. Later this month I'm going to add some peppers and onions to it and serve it over spaghetti squash.

*I have two whole chickens. I'll freeze one and put the other in the crockpot before church in the morning. I'll cook it on high and we'll have roasted chicken and salad for lunch (as long as the power doesn't go out which happened last time I did this)! I'll make loaded chicken salad (chicken, mayo, celery, apples, raisins, pepper, lemon juice) for dinner and then freeze any chicken that is leftover. Later this week I hope to make sausage patties and brown bag burrito filling.

On a random note, I thought I'd share some of the recipes I found earlier this week. They were all a result of my desire to not go grocery shopping. While we ate well, I realized I should have just gone shopping because I wasted so much time searching for things to make.

*Thai Honey Peanut Chicken. Along with that I sauteed some squash, zucchini, onion, and cooked brown rice in sesame oil and added some fresh ginger. Anthony and I both really liked it and Graham even at the chicken by the handful (still working on using a fork with him).

*Reed couldn't have the above dish because of the peanut butter in it. I found a recipe for zucchini bread that didn't have eggs or milk since we were out of both. I cut this recipe in half and made mini muffins with it. They were too sweet but a huge hit nonetheless.

*For breakfast I made three servings of oatmeal according to the containers directions and added a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar, peanut butter, coconut oil, and coconut flakes. Super tasty!

*Thanks to my mom's suggestion I used some ground beef to make Swedish meatballs that I baked in the oven. I mixed a can of cream of mushroom soup, milk, white cooking wine, garlic powder, and nutmeg to make a sauce for them. I served it over spaghetti and we liked this as well (except Reed who refuses to try spaghetti). We have half of it in the freezer to enjoy again soon!

Salads Galore

Since we've been eating so many salads lately, I thought I'd share some of our favorites with you.

Apple Harvest

Buffalo Chicken
chicken pan fried/grilled in wing sauce, celery, lettuce, blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese or ranch dressing

Spinach Mushroom
spinach, hard boiled egg, mushrooms, bacon, ranch or honey mustard dressing

Spinach Feta
spinach, feta cheese, cucumber, green pepper, balsamic vinaigrette

BLT
bacon, lettuce, tomato, sometimes chicken, ranch dressing

Chicken Caesar
chicken, lettuce, croutons, Caesar dressing

Lime Chicken
lime chicken (minus corn), salad, salsa, ranch dressing

Kitchen Sink
whatever is on hand

Other toppings we like

pepperoni
green olives
apples
raisins
sunflower seeds
black beans
croutons
toasted whole wheat bread cut into cubes

Other salads we like but haven't eaten in a while

Taco

Oriental Chicken

I've become a dressing snob and really started to dislike store bought dressing. I've played around with some recipes and think I've come up with a ranch and blue cheese that we like. I've been making Caesar, honey mustard, and balsamic vinaigrette for a while so I'm excited to add these two to the mix! I'll post those recipes sometime soon.

Freezer Cooking- South Beach Style

Since we started dieting in June, I have not been able to take advantage of freezer cooking. Oh how I've missed it! Since I've figured out what works for us and fits into the diet's parameters, I'm going to take a stab at freezer cooking- South Beach style. I've had lots of ideas running through my head on what I wanted to cook so in an effort to get them all together here's my list:

Basics
brown rice for Spinach Rice Casserole and South of the Border Pie (will post recipe since my mom wanted it)
black beans (need to soak first)
bacon (for salads)
cooked chicken for salads and mustard chicken

Meals
chili (will post recipe)
tomato soup
minestone soup
lime chicken taco (cooked last night so they just need salsa and freeze)
crockpot fajitas
turkey sausage

Marinades (mix marinades, dump in bag with meet and freeze)
Italian grilled chicken (will grill when we eat)
beef kabobs (just the meat, will add mushroom when we eat them)
buffalo chicken (for salad- pour wing sauce on chicken and freeze)

I better stop blogging and get started! If I accomplish half of what's on the list I'll be happy:)