I have some projects that I'm going to be working on in my free time for a bit, and I'm just not sure I'll have much time to devote here.  I will continue to try to post any good low carb recipes I come up with, but I probably will not be posting too often. 

When I feel like I can speak about what I'm working on, I will (though it's not low-carb related).

If you've read my profile, you know that it states I'm an avid computer gamer.  Well, that's what's been keeping me occupied the last week or so.  The new Star Trek Online game just launched, and I've been extremely busy with that.  My better half and I run a gaming guild, so we've kept busy recruiting new members and starting the game.  I expect to be done with the launch madness this weekend where I can resume a more leisurely pace and have more time to devote here.

To brace for long hours of gaming, I prepared deviled eggs and copious amounts of tuna salad.  My tuna salad is nothing special because I like it mostly plain--just adding mayo, a little bit of lemon and salt and pepper.  I also prepared a cheese ball I found on another site (a combo of blue, cheddar and cream cheeses with a few spices, rolled in pecans, which I loved but Better Half didn't care for).  Meat and cheese plates, veggies and ranch dip rounded out the rest of the weekly menu.

I am going to start actually cooking things again this next week and will officially reboot my diet.  I am going to go back to a very strict regime, avoiding most of the low-carb fare (tortillas, chocolate, splenda, etc) and eating the basics the way nature intended. 

As usual, I will try to post any recipes I deem worthy of sharing and keep everyone apprised of my weight loss/blood sugar results.  Hopefully, I can get out of this 2 month stall.  Yuck.

This is a variation on the quiche I made last week  It's a little bit heartier and more of a lunch quiche than breakfast quiche.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche

4 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb hamburger
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
salt & pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 425.  Spray down a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with non-stick spray and place on a cookie sheet.
2) Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in a pan until crispy.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3) Fry the onions and hamburger in the bacon grease until the burger is brown.  Use any seasonings you desire to season the meat as it's cooking.  I just used basic salt & pepper.
4) Add bacon bits back to the hamburger mixture then layer on the bottom of the pie pan.
5) Beat eggs, cream, and salt & pepper (just a pinch of each) together in a bowl.
7) Stir cheese into the egg mixture.
8) Pour egg mixture over the hamburger mixture in the pie pan.
9) Transfer cookie sheet with the pie pan onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes.  You want the middle of the quiche to be just firm, so that it still jiggles slightly.
10) Cut into 8 wedges and enjoy.

I haven't calculated the nutrition counts yet, but it's definitely low enough in carbs to be safe for induction.  I ate mine with a little bit of reduced sugar catsup.

This was a fairly simple quiche that I put together for breakfast.  Most quiches are easy enough to convert to low-carb--just make it without the crust.  You can adapt this recipe fairly easily, swapping out different meat, veggies and cheeses, as long as you keep the egg/cream/cheese proportions the same.  This allows the quiche to remain somewhat moist and still bind nicely.

Low Carb Ham & Swiss Quiche

2 tbs butter
1 medium onion, chopped
8 or so button mushrooms, chopped
8 oz cooked ham, diced
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of thyme
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

1) Preheat oven to 425.  Spray down a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with non-stick spray and place on a cookie sheet.
2) Saute onions and mushrooms in the butter, until soft and done to your liking, then layer on the bottom of the pie pan.
3) In the same pan, briefly fry the ham if you desire (I like it to get a touch brown), then layer on top of the mushrooms and onions in the pie pan.
4) Beat eggs, cream, and spices together in a bowl.
5) Stir cheese into the egg mixture.
6) Pour egg mixture over the other ingredients in the pie pan.
7) Transfer cookie sheet with the pie pan onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes.  You want the middle of the quiche to be just firm, so that it still jiggles slightly.
8) Cut into 8 wedges and enjoy.

When you first look at the wedge, you might think that it is not enough.  However, we both found one wedge to be very filling.

Approximate Nutrition Information Per Serving (as calculated by DietPower):
Calories: 346, Fat 29.6 g, Cholesterol 306 mg, Sodium 569 mg, Potassium 283 mg, Carbohydrate 4.35 g, Dietary Fiber .451 g, Sugars 1.53 g, Protein 17.3 g

Well, I finally got off my lazy holiday butt and hopped back on my Wii today.  The frisky little balance board told me it'd been 38 days since he'd last seen me--ouch!  It's amazing how quickly you can break a good habit.  In my defense, I have played some other Wii games since, such as tennis, which gives you a decent workout.  I wasn't completely sedentary...just mostly.

What did 38 days off do to me?  Not much actually.  I was surprised that I beat most of my old scores on the exercises and games.  I even tried some practice swings in golf, but those I truly stunk at.  Of course, I've never done any golfing in my life except mini golf, which hardly counts.  Better Half wants to get the Tiger Woods golf game (can we get a discount now that he's tarnished his good name I wonder?), so I thought I'd try to learn how to swing adequately enough to play with him.  I think it'll be a while.

I hope everyone else is getting back into the swing of things (har har).  I learned that most people break their New Year's resolutions within 3 weeks!  I'm really working to not be one of them.

Better Half was craving shepherd's pie last weekend, so I decided to make two versions: his normal high-carb version and a low-carb version for myself.  The obvious answer to transforming this into low-carb fare is to use fauxtatoes in place of the mashed potatoes and substitute some green veggies for the corn/peas/carrots combo seen in traditional shepherd's pies.  Many probably use green beans, but I am not a huge fan.  While I don't despise them, I would not shed a tear if I never ate another green bean in my life.  I decided to try something different and used mushrooms, onions and brussel sprouts.  I was quite pleased with how this turned out!

Low Carb Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2-4 tbs bacon grease, butter or oil of choice
4 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
10 or so brussel sprouts, roughly chopped into quarters
Double batch prepared fauxtatoes (this is Dana Carpender's recipe, which is what I basically follow)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Brown the ground beef in a skillet, and season with the garlic powder, salt and pepper (add more or less to taste).
3) Drain the beef (not because the fat is evil but because you don't want the pie to be greasy) and place in a layer on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.
4) In the same skillet, melt 1/2 the the bacon grease and saute the mushrooms and onions until soft.
5) Layer the mushrooms and onions on top of the beef in the casserole dish.
6) In the same skillet, melt the remaining bacon grease.
7) Saute the brussel sprouts, stirring frequently, until they begin to turn dark brown. Don't worry that they are falling apart.
8) Layer the sprouts on top of of the mushroom/onion mixture.
9) Layer the fauxtatoes on top of the sprouts.
10) Top with the cheddar cheese
11) Bake in oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the cheese just starts to brown.

Makes about 6 servings.

Carb counts coming as soon as I get my lazy butt in gear and input everything into my software.

It's that time of year.  People are full of regrets and vow to restart their diets and stick with them this time!  I expect many people are relaunching their low-carb diet plans, going back to induction.  I'm no exception.  While I didn't completely lose it over the holidays, I definitely indulged a bit too often and completely stalled my weight loss. 

I'm not necessarily 'restarting Atkin's induction' because I've been following Bernstein's diet plan more so than Atkins.  For anyone that has diabetes and hasn't read it yet, I highly recommend Bernstein's book.  He teaches you how to tailor your carb intake to your particular needs, but generally prescribes very low carb consumption for the rest of your life  His philosophy is that you can't make huge mistakes with your blood sugar/insulin control if you are only eating small amounts of carbohydrates.  The general rule for his plan is 6/12/12, which is 6 grams of carbs for breakfast, 12 for lunch, and 12 for dinner, without snacking in between (he subtracts 1/2 the fiber carbs from the count vs all of them in Atkins).  Many people would run scared from this formula, because diets like Atkins allow you to start adding carbs back into your diet, but this means you must severely limit yourself for the rest of your life.  Diabetics must come to terms with the fact that we will never be able to eat many carbohydrates.  We must readjust our mind to come to terms with it.  When the trade-off to eating carbs is losing a limb or going blind, it seems like it SHOULD be a much easier thing to do than it actually is!

However, it truly amazes me how much of a psychological impact carb cravings have.  Even though I feel 1000% better when I'm not devouring carbs, and I can generally make pretty decent tasting low-carb food, I still constantly want the m&ms, fries and potato chips.  Part of it for me is sheer convenience.  Fast food is so much faster and easier than cooking, and after working a full day, I absolutely hate cooking.  My better half doesn't understand why I hate cooking so much when he says that I do it so well (I think he's just brown-nosing to get me to make some more deviled eggs soon). 

I don't know what the solution is except to just grit my teeth and push forward with sheer willpower.  Maybe eventually it won't seem like such a chore, but I know that it's something that I absolutely must do.  Living a long life with all of my limbs and sight intact is much more important than my hatred of meal prep.  In the meantime, I will continue posting any recipes that I come up with that I believe are worthy to be shared.

I hope everyone is having an easier time with their New Year's resolutions!