Meatloaf and Blueberry Pancakes!

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Let the weekend commence!

I hadn’t jumped on the scale in about a week and a half until this morning–and I am happy to report I am now 17 lbs down total since New Year!  I can almost “taste” my goal!  And, I can start including some wine in my diet again next weekend.  Hooray!

I haven’t changed much with my diet.  I have been eating fruit sparingly (only one serving per day) and been sticking close to the salads and proteins. Today, I decided that I am going to start including some whole grains every few days to feed those brain cells a bit. Not eating carbs at all is not something you can or should keep up for a long time, and two months is about my threshold.  So, this morning, I ate a whole grain toaster waffle (you have to make sure that NO white flour is included in any of your whole grain items) with Smart Balance butter and sugar-free jam.  It was a nice change from hard boiled eggs.

This week I made a great turkey meatloaf, which also includes a small amount of whole grain oats.  This is a great recipe if you want to try it!

Nosh Maven Meatloaf

• 1 can 6 oz tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry red wine, or cooking wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs dried basil leaves
• 1 tbs oregano
• dash of sea salt
• 1 pound ground turkey (or chicken)
• 1/2 cup whole grain oats
• 1 egg
• 1 small/med zucchini, shredded or finely chopped

You should set your oven to 350 and preheat while mixing ingredients.  First, you start with your sauce (this is WAY better than using ketchup or marinara sauce).  Combine all the ingredients listed before “turkey” into a small sauce pan and let simmer while you combine the rest of the ingredients for your meatloaf. After the turkey, zucchini, egg, and oats are mixed together, add in half of the tomato sauce mixture.  Shape the loaf and cook for about 40 – 45 minutes.  Then, remove the meatloaf and add the rest of the tomato sauce to the top of the meatloaf and cook for another 10 – 15 minutes.  You can also add some Parmesan cheese at this time, which is a nice addition.

For a side dish, I made an arugula salad with tomatoes, avocado, and parmesan.  I also made the dressing homemade (you avoid a lot of sugar by doing this) with equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar with garlic salt and sea salt.  It was a great pop of flavor to the side of the meatloaf.

The other food item that is SAVING MY LIFE right now is that coconut flour I made the peanut butter cookies with in the last post.  This week, I had a mad crazy craving for pancakes.  I don’t even normally make or order pancakes, but I wanted some.  So, we found this great recipe for coconut flour pancakes, where each pancake had about 3 total carbs.  We also added some blueberries.  They were AWESOME.

Here are a few other things from the past few days that have been getting me by.

Almond Milk, much fewer carbs than regular milk!

Salads with pepperoncinis, olives, and cheddar cheese

Deviled Eggs with Dill instead of Paprika

I am hoping that once I start adding some carbohydrates back into my diet, I can kick up the pace with working out.  Everyone who knows me know that I LOATHE working out–well, until I am finished and feel good about it.   However, it is really hard to do intense work outs when your body doesn’t have the extra energy from carbs.  So, we shall see how that progresses…ha!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and that noshing on delicious things is a highlight.  I hope you are all ready for a wine post–because I am!! 8 more days until this little Nosh Maven is THIRTY TWO and toasting with a glass of vino!

 

 

 

Is it too Early to Plateau?

I haven’t lost any more weight this week, despite keeping up with the diet.  And for all of you who love TMI, it was that time of the month, so I am blaming it on the terrible-ness of shark week. 

I didn’t cheat this week–so getting on the scale with no reward was lame.  However, all I can do is plug along and remember all my clothes fit better and that I am back to waring clothes from a few years ago–which was sort of the goal.  I am going to try to not let the scale depress me too much.  5 weeks in and 3 to go, I should be very happy with 15 lbs.  Hopefully, by summer, it will be twice that…it is just slow going now.  And let me reiterate–this is not just a 5 week diet that will end with me going back to eating pizza every weekend.  This is a life change, that just gets a little less strict over time.

So, here is some food from the recent past.  Highlight:  I made cookies!  Peanut butter cookies!  Thank the food gods for coconut flour–which has about 9 carbs for a whole cup!  Meaning, these beautiful babies have about 2 carbs per cookie (or less!!).  You can find the recipe here, along with some other great ones with coconut flour, almond flour, and peanut flour!

This was also another recipe that was sort of to die for.  Grilled Chicken Brushetta.  Super easy and very fresh and full of flavor.  It was even good the second day for lunch.  A must try!

I have still been on the sparkling water and berry kick.  That hasn’t gone anywhere.  The blueberries right now are soooo amazing.  I have no idea why, in the middle of February, the blueberries are so plump and flavorful.  Makes me wonder about my carbon footprint…but not enough to stop buying them.

Zucchini has still been my best friend.  This is some delicious zucchini noodles with marinara and ricotta cheese.

The best few meals I had out and about where brunch at the wonderful Finn’s Cafe and actually, if you can believe it, the Chicken Caesar Salad (minus the croutons) at Noodles and Company.  It is true.

So, here is to hoping that this week the scale is nice to me!  In the meantime, I am going to make more cookies.

-Nosh

What I Have Been Eating Lately….

Tomorrow is the one month mark!  Hurray!  Things are still going pretty well.  The weight loss has slowed down, but I have met the 15 lb mark–which is awesome. I figure if I can knock out another 10 in the next two months, I will feel super happy.  I am really looking forward to incorporating some vino back into my diet.  Really.

BUT–I thought I would share some of the things I have been eating the past few days.  Please note:  my camera phone is NOT a professional device.   Most of these were taken with my HTC and not intended for super great results.  At this point, I am not doing reviews, per sae’, but just documenting for those who want to see some low-carb, low-sugar eating happening.

Blueberries. LOTS of them. They are really delicious right now for some reason. Very plump and juicy!

Eggs and cottage cheese. I am addicted lately. Add some lime Cholula and you are set!

Taco Salad: ground turkey with taco seasoning, lettuce, sour cream, and some homemade guac. YUM!

Steak marinated in olive oil, red wine vinegar, and red onion with zucchini noodles, artichoke marinara, and ricotta cheese

New favorite dessert: 1 large container of plain greek yogurt with one packet of sugar-free jello (this was cherry). Mix together, heat in the micro for about 2 minutes, stir WELL, and then let sit for an hour. Add berries or fat-free whipped cream!

Eggplant with parmesan, mozzarella, and marinara. Cook on 350 for about 20 minutes.

Also, we went to dinner at the lovely Silver Fork Lodge in Brighton, Utah this weekend.  I had THE BEST golden beet salad.  It was probably one of the most amazing, flavorful, wonderful salads I have had in a long time–if not ever.  It is on special right now and I highly suggest going to try it out. We also had their amazing tomatoes and warm mozzarella–the roasted garlic was delish!  I was getting sort of tired of the same old cold tomato, cold mozzarella, olive oil, basil dish.  This was nice, hot, and so flavorful.  The pesto was such a good substitution for simple basil.  A very well thought out dish, certainly.

Also, I have been drinking too much coffee and a lot of sparkling water (still).  I will be honest, this week was kind of rough.  It is easy to get bored with the food you can eat and staying home because you don’t want to ruin your diet or go somewhere where people are drinking and you aren’t. I feel great, but haven’t quite felt like…myself.  Which is an odd feeling.  I am keeping up with it though.  But yes, quite looking forward to adding some “normal” things back into the routine.  Blueberries are giving me way too much happiness at this point.

-Nosh