Are You Staying Frugal?

Eats lately:
Coconut Curry Chicken over rice w/dark chocolate balsamic glazed veggies, Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Turkey Salad w/cheddar slices, "fathead" style crusted Margarita Pizza, grilled chicken with bacon/3 Alarm Cheese/fried onions/sriracha mayo, grilled chuck eye steak w/crockpot cooked Brussels Sprouts and salad, coffee beans won from a favorite author (yum, yum).

Frugal Doings Lately:
**After roasting a turkey for supper, I simmered the carcass and scraps in the crockpot overnight to make a broth that I then froze. I love to have a container of broth in the freezer now and then to make a quick soup when I don't feel like cooking or want to go anywhere.
**Picked up several hours of work at the coffee shop which should net us about $45 and I made $20 in tips that went into my crazy-cash-stash. It had gotten pretty low as I haven't worked there for months.
**Attended a 2hr long cooking class through work and earned $50 more on my paycheck for doing so.
**My name was drawn on a facebook contest of a favorite author! I won a signed book and a couple other items related to her book series. LOVE this!
**Cashed in points at a survey site for $12.
**Read two new books, by two of my favorite authors, from the library.
**Made a baked spaghetti with leftover meat sauce and noodles that I'd frozen from the last spaghetti supper we'd had. I just dropped the frozen ball of spaghetti into a casserole pan, dumped in the slightly frozen meat sauce and added some chopped salami and shredded mozzarella. I think everyone liked it better this go round that the first! So glad to free up that space in the freezer and not have to throw out so much wasted food.
**Bought a Sam's Club membership through Groupon again. For $45 we get a year's membership, $20gc for in store, free dinner rolls, free scalloped potatoes, $10 off a $13 cheesecake, $10 off a spiral ham costing up to $20.
**Made turkey and dumplings with a leftover turkey breast and a few peas that I'd socked away in the freezer and we always have the rest of the ingredients on hand.
**Picked up a free jar of salsa that a nearby grocery store had a coupon for.
**Stocked up on cheese at 99cents per 8oz package. Limit of 3 per customer so "J" and I each went through the line and bought a total of 6.
**While digging to the bottom of our chest freezer for chicken I discovered 6, yes, 6 big pork roasts! I see pork carnitas and pork with roasted veggies in our near future, ha ha! I love home freezer shopping!
**Brought more used coffee grounds home from the coffeehouse for the blueberry bushes.
**Picked up a 3pk of microwave popcorn for free from a grocery store coupon.
**Spoke with a friend who mentioned that she will be doing her third annual garage sale in June and she welcomed me to bring some stuff over to sell, too. I've had garage sales before but have gotten too lazy to set up and we aren't in an ideal location. So this will work out perfectly.
**Received a lovely long black and white striped skirt from same friend mentioned above.
**J's mother gave him a large bag of dried cranberries that she couldn't use. He will use these, mixed with some nuts and chocolate bits, as a trail mix for snacking on while on the road for work.
**Received a gallon of 2% milk from one of my bosses leftover from an event we'd hosted. Oh, and a lemon from that same event. I also brought home some roasted garlic cloves, maybe a head's worth, from another work event! Yay - I love garlic!

What I've Seen Lately:

 That is smoke from the fires in Canada that blew through May 6. Oh, and a neighbor's horse.

These crocus came up middle of April.

Frugal Doings & Eats

What I've Been Eating Lately:
Full fat Greek style yogurt w/stevia sweetened cherries and homemade granola, Caprese plate, chicken thighs w/roasted cabbage, roast beef w/carrots/potato and salad, birthday cake (didn't eat the WHOLE thing).

Frugal Doings Lately:
**Brought home a bunch of emptied dinner roll bags from work. They're a thicker plastic than the storage bags that I use for my freezer, so I've been double-bagging some items into them.
**Made a batch of (not low-carb) Cranberry & Orange Scones that I had all the ingredients already for. It was my contribution towards a coffee gathering on a Sunday afternoon. Did a second coffee gathering where I'd made brownies, offered crackers/cheese/salami/nuts using all items we already had.
**Downloaded a couple of free apps from the apps store pre-loaded on my tablet. One for tv programs and one for movies. They've allowed me to see several things that I'd have to wait quite some time to see either in Redbox or on the waiting list at the library. Sadly it is a bit buggy and doesn't always work.
**Ordered  from Amazon 3lbs of golden flax meal for roughly the same price as one pound at our local grocer. (Later found it not to be frugal as it is at Sam's Club for under half of the Amazon price!)
**Made lower carb peanut butter bars a couple of times now. These have taken care of my candy bar and sweets cravings and I've typically got all the ingredients in my pantry as I use them in other ways.
**"A" didn't want some coffee grounds that she'd bought over a month ago as they were already opened and she didn't feel it was fresh anymore. It makes a perfectly acceptable cup of joe for myself and "J".
**Spent a couple hours with friends making a Chocolate Ganache Tart. Teaching them this recipe helped build support as they are beginning a reduced sugar way of eating. Hanging out with friends = Free entertainment.
**Started adding in exercise time riding my stationary bike now and then and Leslie Sansone walking dvd's more often.
**While not really frugal, I signed up for a bellydancing class with a friend. For $46 we meet an hour each week for the next two and a half months for class. Affordable workout and socializing, though.
**Saved enough Jumbo egg cartons to start some seeds indoors. Also purchased a bag of potting soil.
**Bought some seeds from an Etsy seller that cost far less than ordering from any of the seed catalogs, especially the shipping. Additionally, they are organic seeds and a couple are for heirlooms.
**Used one packet of the seeds as a gift enclosed with a birthday card for my father.
**Used past Valentine and Anniversary cards from "J" to compile a birthday card for him. It was funny to see his face as he recognized the cards.
**I started using the library again and checked out a new book by a favorite author and am making a list of a few other new books coming out by favorites to request, too.
**Printed a day pass for Sam's Club and bought a few items that I use regularly from there. While I paid an extra 10% for not being a member, I still saved over our local grocer. I go there with a friend who has a membership, too, but she was unable to go at the time.
**Printed a coupon for a free sundae for "J" at Culver's for his birthday treat.
**Bought a new battery for our Escape in hopes that it would get it up and running (it died overnight during a cold snap). It didn't. Bought a fuel pump for our Escape. "J" and son, "D", will attempt to do this replacement under the supervision of a mechanic friend. We will likely still give some $$ to this friend, but it'll be less than at the garage. Vehicle maintenance has been killing our paychecks... grr. We will recoup some of the cost when "D" starts working again and sell him the Escape for dirt cheap.
**Made "A" and my dad's birthday cakes from scratch. "A" had a purple cake and Dad's was a pineapple cake with brown butter frosting. Neither of these were low-carb. But both were good.
**Accepted a pair of jeans that got too big for a friend who has cut way back on sugar and recently lost 16 pounds! Yay, for her... and me! She is now a size smaller than me so that will motivate me to try harder, too. Must. Not. Eat. Fries.

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Recipe & Re-done!

Has rhubarb sprung up where you are at? Not here. Unfortunately, as I look out the kitchen window, I see gray sky, cold wind and snowflakes falling... Again. But knowing that spring is here and the rhubarb will start to come up soon, I dug out from the freezer what's left of last year's that I'd harvested. I love this use for rhubarb! I have tried a couple low-carb recipes for bbq sauce in the past. They just didn't do it for me - yuck. But this? This is great! I imagine you could:
1.) add a little liquid smoke.
2.) use honey (or other natural sweetener, for that matter) for a sweet honey bbq sauce.
3.) add molasses for a darker and deeper flavor.
4.) add more chipotle for a spicier kick (though this already leaves a nice little "sting").
5.) omit the chipotle if you don't like heat at all.
6.) use as a salad dressing when chilled.
7.) add to mayo/sour cream for a veggie dip or onion ring dip.
8.) etc., you get the picture...

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce 
(adapted from Cooking Light magazine, April 2014) 
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb
1/2c water
1/3c sugar
1/4c ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender, about 5mns. Add rhubard, cook about 5mns more, stirring occasionally. Add water, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, chipotle and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5mns more, or until rhubarb is tender. Pour into either a blender or processor and run until smooth. Pour back into saucepan and let cook a minute. Turn off heat and stir in mustard and salt. Makes about a full pint.

Their notes say that this contains 5g carbs per 2T sized serving. No sugar count given. Just think how easy this would be to make into a low-carb sauce! Wait! Don't even give it a thought. I redid it for you!

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Re-done to Low-Carb
(adapted from adapted recipe above)
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb (or fresh if yours is up)
1/2c water
1/3c xylitol
1/4c sugar-free ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp pink salt 

Follow directions as posted in recipe above.

Now on to-
Frugal doings:
1.) Making our clothes last longer by fixing what we own, such as sewing up a split seam on my black yoga style pants and a tear in the underarm of A's thermal top. I've also been hanging up all of our clothes to dry inside on racks, though this began as a matter of necessity since our dryer conked out. I will continue to hang most things after the new dryer arrives in a week or so, except underwear, socks and washcloths. (As an aside, I have found that hanging my work scrubs to dry has resulted in infrequent shocks at work! I'm tellin' ya, it was a dozen times a day thing before - darn plastic wrap roll. Anyhow, no softener used and haven't had anywhere near the static problems.)
2.) I had set a limit of $1 for shampoo and hairspray a while back. This meant that I purchased those items only if I had a high-value coupon or a great sale at our grocery store, like 77cents for V-05 shampoo. I took a risk (for me, anyway) and while in the nearby city bought two different shampoos and a hairspray from the Dollar Tree store. My expectations were low. But I am happy to say that they work just as well as the higher priced items I'd been buying. While 77cents is better than $1, the dollar store bottle is substantially larger.
3.) Think twice before making a purchase. Then think again. Two examples: I nearly picked up two darling little journals that I'd come across on clearance at Target the other day. They'd been about $5-6 each originally, were marked down to $2 each. I had them in my basket with the idea of putting them away for stocking stuffers. I then recalled that I've seen many cute journals at the dollar store or Michael's for half of that clearanced price. So they went back on the shelf. As mentioned in number 1, we are expecting our new dryer soon. J and I shopped around, looked for scratch-n-dent deals, and finally decided on one at Home Depot. However, it was not in stock and they offered to order it for me. I turned them down since I could order it for myself online and have it delivered right to our doorstep as they had free shipping at time of purchase. On top of that, I get 5% back from our credit card company for going through their link.
4.) Know prices of things I buy regularly. The one thing that comes to mind right away is my favorite mozzarella cheese log. It sells for $5.99 per log at Walmart, $7.99 at our local grocery store. I have bought it from Sam's Club for $9 - as a 2 pack! But I do not have a membership, only had gone with someone else who did. I did a quick online search for a day-pass and was able to print one before heading to the city. Sure, I paid 10% on top of that $9. But $9.90 for two logs is equal to $4.95 each, still the best price.

Lemon-Mustard Chicken Recipe

I don't know how warm it is where you are. But today reached into the 80's and has been humid and hot hot hot. I've had a package of chicken out from the freezer for several days now and really didn't want to hold off using them for yet another day. So while the recipe is posted as written and the method was to use the broiler, we opted to do ours on the grill. This turned out very good and I would like to make it again. Next time I would like to either add some lemon zest or increase the lemon juice by a 1/2T as I would've liked just a titch more lemony goodness. I'm not sure the cayenne is necessary. I certainly couldn't tell that it was in there. I served a simple romaine lettuce/garden tomato/garden onion salad and some pickled beets with it, as well as the last of the garden green beans, which I sauteed in butter and added some garden chives to. Dad ate it without commenting about the missing starch that he's used to having at every meal! Yay!

Lemon-Mustard Chicken
(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens 15 Minutes or Less cookbook)
2-1/2 to 3lbs meaty chicken pieces
2T cooking oil
1T Dijon-style mustard
1T lemon juice
1-1/2t lemon-pepper seasoning
1t dried oregano or basil, crushed
1/8t cayenne pepper

Preheat broiler. Remove skin from chicken. Place chicken, bone sides up, on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 20 minutes, turning once. Meanwhile, for glaze, in a small bowl stir together remaining ingredients. Brush chicken with glaze. Turn chicken, brush with remaining glaze. Broil 5 to 15 minutes more or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. (170 for breasts, 180 for thighs and legs) Serves 6 / 1g carb per serving.

*Changes I made were:
I used 3lbs. boneless/skinless chicken thighs. We used the grill rather than turning on the oven since it's in the 80's currently. I used olive oil and dried oregano.

Couple of delicious eats!

This Cajun Jambalaya (to the left) is why I bought chicken thighs, shrimp and chorizo to begin with. Sub in cauli-rice if you like, though I limit my serving size instead. Since there was more of each of those meats than I needed, I cooked them on the grill anyway and figured that I'll decide what to make with them later. Fate had me paging through the most recent issue of Cooking Light the next day where I came across the recipe for Shrimp, Chorizo & Corn Salad, which left me with a couple of boneless/skinless grilled chicken thighs still. Coincidentally, I've been craving chicken salad and happened to have everything else on hand already, too! Yay!

You may notice my chicken salad's a little darker colored than typical. The spice used to season the chicken when I grilled it for the jambalaya blackened (No, not burnt!) and that's what affected the color. I did include some grapes... mostly because we had them in the fridge already, but also because I like a little sweet in my chicken salad - whether that be raisins, apple or pear bits. No recipe to link to, just tossed chicken, pecans, grapes, celery, green onion, mayo & sour cream together and plopped on top of chopped romaine. The grill seasoned chicken was enough seasoning.

This photo is not mine. (I scanned a part of the page in my magazine.) Though mine did look nearly the same. I did not have fresh basil or tiny tomatoes or lemon, and I only had one half-ear of corn on the cob leftover from Father's Day. Fortunately I was easily able to remedy this by using dried basil, a chopped whole tomato, a splash of lime juice and a little additional frozen corn. I'm not a big fan of shrimp so I had only two bites of this. It was good, but not good enough for me to justify eating more corn, which, of course, is a high sugar veggie. But the rest of my family thought it was fresh and good. "A" thought it probably would be extra good as a chilled salad, too.

If you set out to make one of these, the Cajun Jambalaya is awesome! (Also, it's easy to make desired substitutions, such as the sausage type/pepper variety/seasoning mix/rice...) I was thrilled to make a purchase for just the one meal I had in mind, only later to find that they easily slid into place for two more dishes. Does anyone actually set out to do this? What meals do you end up making this way?

Mushroom Rubbed Chicken & Veggies

Monday, 2/25/13
B> scrambled eggs w/spam, Tassimo Chai Latte
L> small bowl chicken wild rice soup, celery w/pb
S> baked salmon, 1/4-1/2c boiled red potatoes, salad, 1/2 clementine orange
Snacks> piece of brownie cheesecake, 1 mini corndog, cold chicken breast

Don't know why I ate that breast.  Suppose it was because I was around others who were getting into snacks that I couldn't have.  It's like some sort of subliminal "eat, eat, eat" message when I see others doing it.  Hmm.  Not so subliminal if I'm aware of it, I guess.

Tuesday, 2/26/13
B> scrambled eggs w/spam, sf homemade cappuccino
L> less than 1/4c leftover coconut jasmine rice w/few bites from kebobs, cottage cheese, celery w/pb
S> bunless burger, few onion rings, cottage cheese, 2 strawberries... and about 5-6grapes
Snacks> small slice brownie cheesecake, 1/2apple w/pb

Wed. 2/27/13
B> 2 fried eggs, 1 whole wheat toast w/butter & jam, coffee w/hwc & stevia
L> bunless burger w/mushrooms, 4 sweet potato fries, cottage cheese, 1 bite peach, celery w/pb
S> big pork chop, 1/2c rice w/gravy, salad, 1 can diet Dr.Pepper
Snacks> 3 strawberries, 1 sf fudge pop, 1 bite dark chocolate

I've had 2 lonely cans of Dr.Pepper sitting in the kitchen for a couple of months now.  Now there is only one.  It's pretty lonely, too...

Thurs. 2/28/13
B> scrambled eggs w/spam, 3strawberries, hot tea
L> bunless burger, celery w/pb
Cheat

It's A's (daughter's) 19th birthday today.  Her dad, J, went to have coffee with her this morning before she goes to class.  She has classes again tomorrow, so she won't be coming home tonight for birthday cake.  (Phew.  I didn't make one.)  I may drive to the nearby city where her school's at and take her to see a movie and possibly pick up an ice cream somewhere in lieu of birthday cake.

Fri. 3/1/13
Cheat 

Really, I just don't recall what I had.  I only know that I got into the brownies that I'd made for Dad's birthday today and indulged in a fluffy baked potato at supper.  As for last night, after we went to see Life of Pi, we stopped for an ice cream and some fries... and a rootbeer.

Sat. 3/2/13
B> 1 slice whole wheat toast w/pb, coffee w/sweetener and h&h
L> bunless burger w/cheese, sf Irish cream latte, small slice brownie cheesecake
S> 2 bowls Zesty Zuppa 
Snacks> 3 strawberries & handful blueberries, 1/2 apple w/pb, leftover coffee w/sf ice cream blended

Took A to a nearby coffee shop as a treat.  I was mighty tempted to get some giant mocha of some sort.  Settled for a small sf Irish Cream Breve (latte made with h&h and Monin brand syrup).

Sun.3/3/13
B> eggs w/spam & cheese, 1 whole wheat toast w/butter, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> few blueberries w/whipped cream, bowl of Zuppa, coffee w/h&h and stevia
S> Mushroom Rubbed Chicken & Veggies, salad, cottage cheese, 1/4c-1/2c berries/kiwi
Snacks> couple bites brownie cheesecake leftover from yesterday, few salami slices w/1 slice cheese, 2 sf mini York patties

 


















Mushroom Rubbed Chicken & Veggies
(serves 4-6)
1-1oz pkg. dried mushrooms
1/2 tsp each s&p
1/4 tsp garlic salt
drizzle olive oil
1 fryer-sized chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 lb radishes
2 large carrots
1/2 large onion

Place dried mushrooms, s&p and garlic salt in food processor.  Pulse until powdered, or nearly so (the bits were nice in the end dish).  Drizzle olive oil over chicken pieces and rub all over, dump mushroom powder onto chicken and rub and pat on to coat.  Place chicken in Dutch oven, adding any remaining mushroom powder with it.  Clean and chop radishes in half, carrots into bite-sized chunks and onion into desired size pieces.  Dump into Dutch oven and cover with lid.  Place in 300-325F oven for about an hour and a half.  Remove lid, increase heat to 350F and cook an additional 30mns or until lightly browned.  

I used pink Himalayan salt and did not actually measure the salts and pepper, just eyeballed them in my palm.  I set my temp for between 300 and 325 as my oven leans to the hotter side.  After cooking time was done I replaced the Dutch oven lid and left the pot to sit unheated for about 15-20mns before eating.  I made a salad during that time and set the table.  This tasted pretty darned good for such a simple to make meal.  The radishes do not have that pepperiness that they do when raw.  As a matter of fact, without looking at them, you'd have a hard time knowing that they were even radishes.  They ended up being very much like a small red potato.  Will make again, though will add whole garlic cloves and may place chicken pieces down under broiler when done to crisp up the skin.  This was inspired by Nom Nom Paleo.  Here's the dried mushrooms I used:
 

I know, I know. Still too many treats going on around here.

Monday, 2/18/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam, salsa & cheese, 2 strawberries, 3 blackberries, hot tea
L> cheese, turkey deli meat, salami, 1/2 apple sliced, 1 strawberry, 1 sf vanilla cappuccino
S> serving Dreamfield's w/meat sauce, sf coleslaw, 1 clementine segment
Snacks> 1 sf Blackberry Cream Italian Soda, couple more slices mozzarella & salami, carrot stick w/pb

Tuesday, 2/19/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam, 2 strawberries, 1 sf homemade cappuccino
L> small bowl wild rice chicken soup, few celery sticks w/pb
S> 1/4c jasmine rice w/pork stir-fry, cottage cheese, 3 chunks pickled beets, Blackberry Italian Soda (no h&h)
Snacks> few peanuts, 1 Ezekiel toasted w/pb, 1 sf fudge pop

Yes, they were regular homemade pickled beets.  Yes, they were good.

Wednesday, 2/20/2013
B> egg w/bacon & cheese on multigrain english muffin, 2 strawberries, 1 sf homemade cappuccino
L> 1 Ezekiel bread w/turkey/roast beef/cheese/lettuce/mustard, couple celery sticks w/pb
S> sirloin steak, about 1/4-1/2c mix of boiled & fried potato/carrot/mushrooms, 2 slices roma tomato w/mozzarella & fresh basil drizzled with balsamic & olive oil, Blackberry Italian Soda
Snacks> handful homemade sf cocoa coated almonds, hot tea, 1 piece sf cinnamon cake w/whipped cream, 1sf fudge pop

I'm very sad.  I'm all out of club soda, though I still have lots of the blackberry simple syrup.  The last couple of times I skipped adding the h&h to the Italian Soda and it is just as wonderful.  I'm out of berries.  I'm sort of relieved because simply having the fruit hanging around is just too much temptation for me.

Thursday, 2/21/2013
B> scrambled eggs on 2 roma slices w/mozzarella leftover from last night, 1 sf homemade cappuccino
L> small chicken taco salad, couple celery sticks w/pb
S> about 1/4c baked beans w/3 meatballs, few bites salad, mozzarella/tomato, 5-6 mandarin orange segments
Snacks> handful peanuts,1 sf hot chocolate, salami/mozzarella/apple slices small plate

My family had a chocolate silk pie thawed for dessert.  I was only momentarily considering having a slice, thought if I really want it it will still be there in the fridge tomorrow.  Also made it through work without indulging in the moist chocolate cake with fudgy frosting that we served as part of lunch to students.  It was tough after traying all that cake and smelling that wonderful sweet cocoa goodness...

Friday, 2/22/2013
B> 2fried eggs, half slice ham, 1whole wheat toast w/butter & jam, Tassimo Chai Latte
L> 2 chicken thighs, cottage cheese w/few segments mandarin orange, celery sticks w/pb
S> serving Dreamfield's pasta w/hamburger/Tbsp corn/broccoli, cottage cheese, SoBe (watered down)
Snacks> several small handfulls peanuts, small slice cheesecake brownie, coffee w/h&h and stevia & xylitol

Oh my.  You must make this brownie cheesecake recipe.  Here's the link to All Day I Dream About Food, Carolyn's, recipe:  Brownie Cheesecake.  The only changes I made were to use xylitol and Stevia In The Raw for sweeteners and I omitted the salt.

I made bone broth last night.  Smelled so very good.  I dumped some pork rib bones, leftover steak chunks & trimmings, tons of chicken wings (That were free to me - YAY!) and trimmings from mushrooms/tomatoes/onion that we used this week, as well as some sorry looking fresh basil and a couple of bay leaves.  Then I splashed a bunch of water over it and a Tbsp or two of cider vinegar and set the crockpot on low overnight.  This morning it was a beautiful caramel-y golden color.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it, aside from using it as a soup broth base, as I've never been one for drinking plain broth.

Saturday, 2/23/2013
B> piece of Brownie Cheesecake, 2 coffee w/h&h/xylitol/stevia
L> 1 slice whole wheat bread w/turkey/cheese/mustard and 3 tortilla chips
S> Subway 6"flatbread tuna w/cheddar/greens/little onion & tomato&oregano, 3 thin slices of salami
Snacks> 1/2apple w/pb, watered down SoBe

Sunday, 2/24/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam
L> piece of Brownie Cheesecake, 1 sf vanilla latte (with added coffee at home to warm it up), salami/cheese/few slices apple
S> Jorge's chicken skewers, 1/4c (x2=1/2c, actually) coconut jasmine rice, cottage cheese w/few bites pear
Snacks> sf fudge pop, few peanuts, 1 mini sf york patty

This was another of the things that Jorge was shown making in that emailed video glimpse into some recipes from his newest book.  It was good.  Except for the eggplant.  Nobody in my family really liked that part of it and there was a mountain of skewers and eggplant chunks sitting on top in the garbage can after supper.  While Jorge didn't include mushrooms in his I had a handful to use up and included them.  I believe he served it with plain rice or brown rice.  I had a hankering for coconut rice.  More so as coconut jasmine rice.  I should've known better... I went back for nearly a second serving.  Love, love, love jasmine rice.  It was out of this world (at least to me it was) made with 1c jasmine rice, 1 can coconut milk and about a half can of water brought to a boil, shut off and left to finish cooking by steaming with the lid left on.

So what is on the skewers?  Chicken, eggplant, red bell pepper, green onions (a.k.a. scallions, if you prefer) and a brushed on marinade of dijon mustard that was mixed with a bit of lemon juice (though I had a fresh lime that needed to be used instead).  Would I make it again?  Probably.  Definitely not with the eggplant, though.  The eggplant didn't taste horrible, think it was a texture thing for us.

Crockpot Chicken & Hominy Chili Recipe

Monday, 2/11/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/about 1-2Tbsp chopped leftover sweet potato & spam, 2 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> pepperoni pizza (1 lc pita for crust)
S> parmesan chicken, salad, berries, 1clementine segment
Snacks> coffee w/h&h and stevia, 4 almonds, 1/2 green apple w/pb

Tried out Jorge's Crispy Parmesan Chicken recipe that he'd included in the email promoting The Aging Cure book.  Will make again!  Of course both stores that I shopped were out of roma tomatoes, which are my favorite, and the grape tomatoes cost more than I wanted to pay.  So I ended up with a big greenhouse grown tomato.  I then forgot to buy shallots, so I subbed in some red onion.  I also have some Panko left which I used instead of whole wheat bread crumbs-figure the amount's fairly small so it shouldn't make a whole lot of difference.  Besides, my salad didn't contain croutons like Jorge suggested in the video.  So there.

Tuesday, 2/12/2013
B> 2 fried eggs, 1/2c mixed berries, 1 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> small chicken taco salad, 2 celery sticks w/pb
S> big pork chop, brocco-salad, 3 asparagus spears w/butter
Snacks> 1sf mini york patty, 1/2 apple w/pb, 1/2 lg sf caramel latte

Brocco-salad was only reduced sugar.  I used about half the amount called for and then added a touch of erythritol.  While I haven't kicked my fruit cravings, I've cut back to half sizes of smaller pieces of fruit. 

Wednesday, 2/13/2013
B> sf cinnamon coffee cake, 3 full strips bacon, 1/3 small pear, 1/2 sf caramel latte 
L> pepperoni pizza (1 lc pita for crust), 2celery sticks w/pb
S> Chicken & Hominy Chili
Snacks> 1sf hot chocolate w/scoop of sf vanilla ice cream, 1/2apple w/pb

 
Crockpot Chicken & Hominy Chili
(adapted from Family Circle magazine)
(made as directed=6servings=18g carbs each)
6 large bone-in, skinless chicken thighs*
1 tsp salt**
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 onion, chopped***
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 c reduced-sodium chicken broth****
1 - 15oz can hominy, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp cornmeal*****
1/2c cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish******

Spray slow-cooker with non-stick spray.  Place chicken in bottom and season with 1/2 of the salt, cumin, black pepper and oregano (reserve the other 1/2 of each).  Scatter onion, garlic, jalapeno and green pepper over chicken.  Pour broth over top.  Cover and cook on low for 10hrs. Stir in hominy, cornmeal and remaining seasonings and cook on high for an additional 15mns.  To serve, stir in cilantro.  It's suggested to serve with tortilla chips, sour cream and additional cilantro.

*We eat a lot.  I used 11 thighs.
**I omit salt.  Yuck.  What's the point if you are using reduced-sodium broth, anyway?!?
***I only had about 1/2 of a small red onion.
****We buy bouillion cubes and make broth that way.  Much cheaper.  They're not low-sodium either.  Plus I ended up using 3cups worth because I lost a lot of liquid to steaming.
*****Wanted to cut back on the carbs a tiny bit more so used 1Tbsp cornmeal.
******Cilantro... yuck.  I omitted, I'm not a fan.

My method was also different.  I fried my thighs in an electric skillet, as I'd forgotten to prep everything last night.  Added the seasonings, then the broth.  About a half hour or so before supper I added the hominy and a few bits of leftover raw green cabbage.  Very savory and just plain yummy.  Using the fryer rather than the crock also made for a drier result.  So you may decide to add extra broth.

Thursday, 2/14/2013
Cheat
Made brownies for co-workers, which, of course, I had to taste-test.  We then took family out to eat for supper at our favorite pizza/sandwich shop.

Friday, 2/15/2013
B> 2 fried eggs w/cheese & salsa, 4 strawberries, 1 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> handful of peanuts, sliced salami, cheese curds, 1 sf homemade cappuccino
S> Chicken & Hominy Chili, roast beef, brocco-salad
Snacks> blackberries & strawberries, sf coconut chocolate bar

It was clean-the-fridge-out tonight for supper.  So if it sounds a little weird... it sort of was.  I'm pretty sure I exceeded a decent amount of berries between supper and bedtime.  It had to have been at least a cup's worth and then some.  Dang it.

Saturday, 2/16/2013
B> 1 egg/ham/cheese whole grain English muffin, 2 strawberries, 4 blackberries, 2 coffee w/h&h/stevia
L> 1/2 apple sliced, several slices salami, several slices mozzarella, small handful peanuts
S> oven fried swai, lettuce salad w/3croutons, several berries, 1/4c roasted stir-fry veggies
Snacks> few bites dark chocolate, 1 sf jolly rancher

Again, I somewhat followed one of Jorge's recipes from the before mentioned email.  He used tilapia.  I had swai.  Jorge served a risotto with it.  I had a partial bag of stir-fry vegetables and a couple baby red potatoes with eyes and sprouts to use up.  So I popped them in the oven to have alongside.  The salad was only chopped romaine and a few croutons topped with some Newman's Own dressing.  Overall, it was pretty good.  Not sure if I'd make it again.  I suspect the fact that our fish fillets were full sized has something to do with that as it looked like a lot on our plates.  Actually, it felt like a lot in our bellies, too.  Should have cut those fillets in half.  The dark chocolate is from Christmas, a bar my sister put in my stocking.  I had to have a couple of bites for research.  Yeah, that's right... research.  I won't say what kind of chocolate bar because I hope to recreate it into a lower-carb version. 

Sunday, 2/17/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam & cheese, 1 strawberry, 4 blackberries, couple sips coffee
L> chicken fillet on romaine w/tomato, cheese, bacon, small bunch of fries
S> chicken breast, few bits coleslaw, small serving mashed potatoes w/gravy, small bunch of fries... again
Snacks> small sf vanilla latte, few peanuts

Went shopping with family two times today.  Each time we ended up eating out and I ended up eating crap I shouldn't have.  On the bright side?  At least I didn't eat too much fruit today.  Ha ha.

Better get back to posting what I eat...

My scale's barely budged for weeks now.  I'm certain it's due to several things: weekly cheat day, artificial sweeteners, not exercising much, not drinking enough water, not keeping a visual record of sugar/carb counts, etc.  Okay, so more than several things.  On a positive note, I did try on a pair of jeans that had about a 3-5" space that it couldn't bridge across my belly to button a couple of days ago.  Guess what?  They buttoned and I didn't feel like I was ready to pass out from the waistband cutting off circulation!  My size 18's are uncomfortably baggy, 16's also need to be hiked up all the time.  The jeans I tried on again are a size 14.  While not quite where I am aiming to be (10/12 would be nice), I'll take it!

Breakfast> 2 fried eggs w/mozzarella & hot sauce, 1 Ezekial toasted w/butter & jam, coffee (s/c=0/1)
Lunch> Flatout! pizza, water (s/c=4/2)
Snacks> low-carb brownie, coffee (?5/1)
Supper> Coq au Vin, 1/4c rice, 1/4c xylitol sweetened coleslaw, 1 cucumber slice, 1 green pepper slice, water (s/c=5/2)
Total s/c for today - 14/6

Truthfully, I don't know what the count is for the Coq au Vin, but given what's in it and what I ate of it, it doesn't amount to much.  (There were 8 pieces of chicken that served 6 of us, with plenty of leftovers for another meal.)  Before counting that my meal was at about a 2/1, so I just decided to round it up to be on the safe side.  Not sure on the brownies what the sugar count would be either, just guessed approximately.

Coq au Vin 

(adapted from Simply Recipes)

12 oz salt pork, cut into bite size bits

20 pearl onions, or 1 large yellow onion, sliced

3 lbs cut up fryer chicken, with bone & skin on

10 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4tsp ground black pepper

2 c chicken stock

2 c red cooking wine

2 bay leaves

1tsp dried thyme

1tsp dried parsley

2Tbsp butter

8 oz baby bella mushrooms, trimmed & quartered

In Dutch oven fry salt pork until crispy.  Remove and drain on paper towel lined plate.  Fry chicken pieces in the remaining grease until browned, doing in a couple of batches as room allows.  Remove chicken to plate.  Add onions and garlic to remaining grease and lightly brown.  Remove onions & garlic, drain grease from pan, return to medium heat and add stock, wine, pepper, bay, thyme and parsley.  Bring to simmer, add onions & garlic and chicken pieces back in and cover.  Let simmer about 20mns, or until chicken is cooked through.  Turn on broiler in oven. When chicken is done remove from Dutch oven and place on broiler pan.  Increase heat to high under Dutch oven, add butter & mushrooms, and boil down the wine/broth mixture to about half.  Meanwhile put chicken pieces under broiler and just crisp up the skin on both sides, this takes only a few minutes on each side.  When done place on serving platter.  Remove bay leaves from wine & mushroom sauce and serve with the chicken.

Easy Chicken Adobo

This was very, very tasty.  Though, I must confess, a touch more salty than what I am used to as I don't add salt to most recipes.  Even though I used a reduced sodium soy sauce, it still was a little saltier than I am accustomed to.  The original recipe that I adapted from used less garlic and appeared to have cut it more finely - I love garlic and loved the big chunks that remained in the sauce.  I also like plenty of black pepper, so that had to be increased, too.  No soggy, rubbery chicken skin with this recipe.  The broiler crisped it up to perfection.

Easy Chicken Adobo
( adapted from All Day I Dream About Food )
1/2c reduced/low-sodium soy sauce
1/2c apple cider vinegar
1c water
4 cloves chunky chopped garlic
1tsp heaping ground black pepper
3 lbs chicken thighs and legs

Combine all but the chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven and heat to a boil.  Add chicken pieces, cover and let cook 20mns over medium to low heat.  Turn pieces and cover again and let simmer another 10-15mns.  Meanwhile heat your broiler.  Remove chicken and place on a lightly oil sprayed broiler pan.  Return pan to oven and cook chicken 5mns, flip, cook another 5mns.  While the chicken's in the broiler, boil the remaining sauce in the pan until it is reduced to about 1c.  Serve with chicken.

Artichoke Chicken Recipe

Artichoke Chicken
(adapted from a recipe adapted from another... on LowCarbFriends)
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
ground pepper
1/4c mayo
1/4c sour cream
1 Tbsp minced garlic 
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4c shredded parmesan cheese
1-14oz can artichoke hearts in water
extra parmesan to sprinkle on top

Heat oven to 350.  Open artichokes and place in colander to drain out excess water.  Spray baking dish.  Place thighs evenly spaced in dish, shake on desired amount of pepper.  Mix mayo, sour cream, garlic, parsley and 1/4c parmesan in a bowl.  Spread drained artichokes over chicken thighs, then spoon on mayo mixture, placing a gob on each piece of chicken.  Sprinkle additional parmesan if wanted.  Cover with foil and place in oven.  Bake for about 40mns, or until meat thermometer says 165 when stuck into thickest piece of meat.  Remove foil and bake for about 10 more minutes to lightly brown some of the cheese.

I served with a salad made like Olive Garden's, and it was fantastic!
Please keep in mind that I am not exact in my sugar and carb counts.  I take info from a couple of books, other peoples' counts for similar recipes, internet, etc.  For instance, I made a somewhat educated guess with the s/c for supper, as I ate a small amount of pulled bbq pork but not the tomatoes, pepperoncini or olives in the salad.

Day 74 & 75

Saturday, Oct. 19
Breakfast> scrambler pockets, 1/4c blackberries, coffee (s/c=4/2)
Lunch> 1 Ezekial toast w/peanut butter (s/c=3/2)
Supper> salad, Artichoke Chicken, bbq pork (s/c=5/2)
Total s/c for today - 12/6

 Last night I came across these Joseph's brand of pita pockets.  They're a bit expensive, but I've gotten bored with Ezekial bread all the time, which also is expensive.  As it turns out, they are very soft and light.  There's 6 whole pitas in a package, 0g sugar and 8g carbohydrates each, 4g if you use net carbs (I don't).

Friday, Oct. 18
Breakfast> leftover chopped steak w/onions, mushrooms & jack cheese (s/c=2/1)
Lunch> 2 chicken strips, few raspberries (s/c=4/2)
Snacks> lemonade, few almonds, peppermint tea (s/c=1/1)
Supper> beef stir-fry on 1/4c jasmine rice, diet rootbeer (s/c=5/2)
Total s/c for today - 12/6

Day 68 & 69 Belly Fat Cure

Sunday, Nov.13
Breakfast> coffee
Lunch> chicken salad on Ezekial toast, few Pirate's Booty (s/c=6/2)
Snacks> rest of yesterday's diet orange soda, raspberry jello dessert (s/c=3/1)
Supper> 2 Simple Shrimp Tacos, few Mission tortilla triangles (s/c=5/2)

Total s/c for today - 14/5

Simple Shrimp Tacos are on page 197 of The Belly Fat Cure book.  They were okay.  Not bad, but not fantastic either.  I was going to post a photo.  But they just didn't look as good in real life as they do in Jorge's book.

I made my chicken salad with four grapes sliced into it, so the sugar's a little high.  All that's in it was canned chicken, mayo, smidge of pickle relish, sprinkle of pecans, grapes and a few dashes of black pepper.  It was so de-lish!

Saturday, Nov.12
Breakfast> whole wheat toast w/pb (s/c=6/2)
Lunch> leftover rice w/shred.pork (s/c=6/2)
Snacks> diet orange soda, hot chocolate (s/c=2/0)
Supper>couple beef franks, fried eggs
Total s/c for today - 14/4

Just like learning that what you drink in your typical diet can contribute a lot of calories to your daily load, I am learning that the same is true of sugar-free/zero-calorie drinks when it comes to total sugar or carb counts.  So, so long hot chocolate.  It was fun while it lasted.  But I think we need to slow down and see each other a little less often...  The bbq sauce in the shredded pork is too high in sugar, too.  If I actually want to taste it and have a more generous amount, I'm going to need to find an affordable alternative.

Day 44, 45 & 46 Belly Fat Cure & Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe!

Breakfast>1 Ezekial toast w/liversausage & cheese, 1/2c strawberries, coffee (s/c=4/2)
Lunch> bunless Wendy's deluxe burger (s/c=1/0)
Snacks> cold chicken fillet, coffee, pumpkin cake w/topping (s/c=1/1)
Supper> Pork & Sauerkraut Hotdish, pickle, cottage cheese with chia seeds (s/c=2/2)
Total s/c for today - 8/5

I skipped having a cheat day so far this week.  I'm hoping to see the numbers on the scale start moving again.  I also plan to have a great cheat day next week on Wednesday as husband, J, and I will be going out to eat after a dentist appointment.  So felt the need to cut back a little this week.

I've noticed an increase in anxiety feelings, which I'm certain has to do with an increase in coffee consumption.  So tomorrow I intend to steep myself a cup of spearmint tea instead.  I've read a couple of times now that this may decrease facial hair growth... I tried it once before, but wasn't consistent with it at all. Time to give it another go.  Oh, I also bought chia seeds today, which I've read is encouraged with the Belly Fat Cure plan.  It just so happened that they were even on sale at just a little over $5/lb.  I only bought a little over a half pound for now.  Not real sure what I want to do with them, though I've read lots of ideas. You can learn more about them by doing a simple search on Google or Yahoo.  I do know that they are a good source of fiber and that an increase in fiber just may get things moving better for me... no pun there.  I meant "moving" as in the needle on the scale, sillies!

Thursday, Oct.20

Breakfast> 1 Ezekial toast w/pb & jam, coffee (s/c=3/2)
Lunch> Culver's Bacon Deluxe w/no bun, 6-8 fries (s/c=2/1)
Snacks> 3 strips of leftover steak, 1 sugarfree mini York pattie, 1/2c strawberries (s/c= 4/1)
Supper> Buffalo Chicken Chili, 6 Mission Triangle Tortilla chips, SoBe (s/c=4/2)
Total s/c for today - 13/6


I totaled the carbs and sugars of my ingredients and then divided the total by how many servings we got out of it when calculating the s/c count for the Buffalo Chicken Chili.  Per serving, I got roughly 4g sugar and 29g carbs.  Again, this is a rough estimate.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

(adapted from an emailed recipe from ?)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, diced

2 Tbsp diced onion 

1 heaping Tbsp minced garlic

1.25 lbs chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 of a 15oz can black beans

1-15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1-8oz can tomato sauce

2 & 1/2 Tbsp. hot sauce 

Blue cheese crumbles

Heat olive oil in pot (I used a Dutch oven).  Add celery & onion.  When the onion begins to look translucent, add garlic and chicken.  Fry until chicken's done, add remaining ingredients, except blue cheese crumbles.  Let simmer until heated all the way through.  Ladle into bowl and top with blue cheese crumbles. (Which I did not use, the smell just turns me off.  Others say that the blue cheese is what makes the dish though.)  Tasted quite good for a little something different.


Wednesday, Oct. 19
Breakfast> fried eggs w/ham & salsa, 1 Ezekial toast w/butter & jam, coffee (s/c=1/0)
Snacks> almonds, coffee, pumpkin snack cake (s/c=3/2)
Lunch> 1/2 serv. leftover low-carb pasta w/Bolognese Sauce, cottage cheese, 1/5 of an orange (s/c=5/2)

Supper> 1 & 1/2 pork chops, 1/8c mashed potatoes, 1/8c dressing, mushroom gravy (s/c=3/2)

Total s/c for today - 12/6

Day 32 BFC

Breakfast> 1/2 serving of Fage yogurt w/jam, 1/4c raspberries, coffee (s/c=6/1)
Lunch> Culvers double deluxe burger w/no bun, SoBe Lifewater (s/c=2/1)
Supper> Low-carb chicken caprese (s/c=4/2)
Total s/c for today - 12/4

For the chicken caprese I roughly followed this recipe: Low-Carb Chicken Caprese
I used panko crumbs in place of her baking mix and altered a few other things.  But it was fairly close.  It was pretty good and I will likely make it again some time.

Day 27 BFC and An Excellent Video

First, I want to post a link to a YouTube video that was posted on the Sugarproject's facebook wall.  This video showed clearly the correlation between our oversized bodies and sugar consumption.  Loved it!  It is a little long, but not dull at all.  Great presentation.
Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Breakfast> scrambled eggs w/cheese, Ezekial toast with butter & jam, mint mocha coffee (s/c=0/2)
Snacks> few almonds, few Pirates Booty white cheddar puffs, Cheez-Its (s/c=1/2)
Lunch> missed, had late breakfast
Supper> Chipotle Chicken Tacos (s/c=4/2)
Total s/c for today - 5/6

The Chipotle Chicken Tacos, featured on page189 in The Belly Fat Cure book, are awesome!  Jorge, if you ever happen by here, kudos, man!  They are fantastic!  Huge on flavor, too!  Gush, gush, gush!

                                                    

Mint Mocha

1 mini sugar-free York peppermint pattie
1/8c whipping cream (or more, if desired)
coffee

Mix all until pattie melts.  You may want to add the coffee first in order to melt the pattie better.  I had a few bits that didn't dissolve because I hadn't thought to do that.