What’s for dinner? New York Steak casserole. 

When I was in my twenties, there weren’t very many restaurants in Loudon or the small towns around us but what we had were excellent. 

There was Den Wilson’s Cafe that had amazing chili and a creation caused a chili bun that we would buy by the bag full. Just thinking about those makes my mouth water. 

There was Bill Lowe’s Grill which was run by the nicest family, Bill, Nina and their five beautiful daughters. Bill’s was almost as famous for its always loaded juke box as it was for the juiciest, best tasting hamburger, I’d be happy to wager, was the best in the world and there was Carl’s Drive-in which still exists and still stays packed with loyal, local fans. In the eighties in nearby Sweetwater, there was a little sandwich shop that was owned and operated by a man who hailed from New York City and he made the most delicious New York Steak (also known as a cheese steak) sandwich you would ever acquaint your tastebuds with. Not long before he closed because of illness, I stopped in to pick up a couple of steak sandwiches. He was getting ready to close because his egg was very sick but he told me he would be happy to make my sandwiches and he invited me behind the counter to watch. That’s how I discovered his secret ingredient, Cavender’s Greek Seasoning and mozzarella cheese. He swore me to secrecy but since that was nearly forty years ago, I’d imagine the statute of limitations is up on that one. So here is my Keto friendly, New York Steak. 

Follow the photos and then bake in the oven at 375 degrees, stirring once when the cream cheese melts.

Cheese and Bacon Cloud Bread Buns

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I’ll blame it on the holidays. 

Today started well. I spent most of the morning with my horses attempting to finally conquer the cockle burrs in their manes and tails. Surprisingly, my “bad boy”, Danny was the best behaved. I was able to clear both his mane and tail of burrs and he received extra treats with his supper. 

Tonight for our dinner, I plan to make roast beef sandwiches. “What?” You day, “sandwich buns certainly aren’t Keto friendly!” That is true but I tried my hand at cloud bread for the first time. Those are photos of them going in the oven and coming out. The recipe was my own invention, a mishmash of others I’d seen, and I haven’t tasted them yet but look wise, they look good. 

Here’s my recipe:

Cheese and Bacon Cloud Bread Buns 

Parmesan (shredded) I only had half of a quarter cup so I mixed with almond flour to make 1/2 cup

1cup mozzarella shredded

Fried crumbled bacon (maybe 3 slices thin)

2 large eggs separated 

Pinch of baking powder

Froth egg whites then beat in yolks stir in parm/flour mixture with pinch of baking soda added. Fold in mozzarella and bacon quarter cup at a time. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 10-20 minutes until top begins to brown.  

Keto Friendly Christmas Eve

Stuffed chicken breasts for Christmas Eve dinner...and since it’s just the two of us, for several more meals. 

It’s a new recipe so I’ll have to let you know how good it is. 

Slowly but surely, getting organized....

Fiesta Eggs

Fiesta eggs and ham. Eggs scrambled with fresh salsa and cilantro.

New Life

Two months on the Keto diet and I’ve lost 22 pounds. I’ve felt as if my real body was buried underneath almost an armor of fat for a very long time. I was hiding away. I felt overwhelmed and at battle with myself, my own self discouraging mentality and life in general. Food offered me comfort and I accepted the weight gain as not only inevitable but as impossible to control. Now, as the weight comes off, I feel empowered.  I’m taking control again. I’m losing clutter in my home and in my mind. I feel enthusiasm and I feel energized by new or maybe better said, renewed possibilities. I’m more comfortable in my own skin and have bravely posted photos of my face bare of makeup, a state very few have seen since I was fourteen. Yes, it’s only twenty two pounds I’ve shed and I still have twice that amount left to lose but I feel as if I’ve let go of so much more. And as I freed my heart and mind of those often overwhelming burdens, I have embraced life again. 

All Hail the Land of Sande!

One day away from two months on the Keto diet and I’ve lost 21 pounds. Yay! It is already effecting my life, my confidence and my enthusiasm. That last is probably is the most significant because I’m finally making progress on the house and my life, in general, has improved. I’m starting to look forward to each day instead of dreading them. I use to wake thinking of all the things I needed to be working on and already being aware that I’d feel even more like an overwhelmed failure by the end of the day. Most days, I wouldn’t even try. Now, I wake thinking of what I will get done by the end of the day and how good that accomplishment will make me feel. So, it isn’t just about losing weight so my clothes will fit better. It’s losing weight so that I’m more comfortable in my own life. I feel like my life has been stolen from me over the last twenty years but now, I’m standing up and reclaiming it! 

Plateau

I haven’t lost any weight in the past week. I also haven’t been exercising and the worst thing, I’ve not been keeping a food diary. Why is that last thing the worst and also the probable culprit to my weight loss plateau? It’s because I’ve been eating and drinking some things I thought were low carb and they are not! Trying to get back on the straight and narrow because I recently read that increasing your fat intake on the Keto diet isn’t nearly as important as closely monitoring those carbs. I plan to be far more diligent with my diet diary and far more restrictive with the carbs. I’ll check back in in another week and see if I’ve made progress. 

Otherwise in my life, I’m accomplishing far more with my house. It’s still a slow process but the hubs is now helping when he can and I’m beginning to see the chance of some major changes soon. Happy dance!

I need to add up the days again to see just where I’m at but I’ve officially lost 20 pounds! 

I still need to get back on track with both exercise and my food diary but I am getting more done and still losing weight. 

At the moment, I’m dovetailing tasks, eating lunch and hauling water to the horses. I’m writing this post in between bites and 30 gallon loads of water. I should have hauled the water this morning but everything was frozen. 

My curious boys have stopped by for a drink and because they are curious about what I’m doing. Excuse the burrs in Django’s (named after Django Reinhardt, jazz guitarist from 1940’s) mane. I pull them out and they somehow find them again. 

Melting Away

Day 184 and Day 44 on the Keto diet

I don’t know what the deal is but since I started monitoring my diet again, the weight has been falling off. I was down another pound when I weighed this morning. That makes 19 total since starting the diet. Now, if I can get back on track with the exercise, things might really start to change. I’m thinking that, once I reach my goal weight, I will cut back on my fat intake but still avoid starches and sugars. The only exception I desire to make is adding fruit to my diet. I still probably can’t go overboard but I do miss citrus, bananas, apples and grapes. We have discovered we can have one grapefruit a day. Those will be added to our next grocery list. 

Holiday Temptations

Day 183 and Day 43 on the Keto diet:

And I’m down 18 lbs. since October 22!! Yay!

I’m just beginning to get back to a normal schedule after my sweet Bubs cat’s lengthy illness. I still have some anxiety over the transition from head cone and restricted movement to total freedom for him. He hid most of yesterday in the basement but I checked on him as soon as I returned home yesterday and his food was mostly eaten. He turned his nose up at breakfast but I think his life was so regimented for the last three weeks that he’s having trouble adjusting to a new normal also. 

I haven’t exercised today and don’t know if I will fit that in but I do plan on keeping track of my diet again with the Keto app. Since we eat breakfast very early, I’m ready for a snack around the time most people are eating their first meal. Yesterday, I picked up some spicy pimento cheese and I’m eating it atop fresh sweet peppers. It was time to change up the diet a bit. I was beginning to get bored with the same old same old. Last night, I made cheese smothered garlic chicken breasts and pesto spaghetti squash for dinner. This morning, I added sautéed garlic spinach to our eggs and bacon. I have to admit, although I never seem to get cravings at home and often have to remind myself to eat, going to the grocery store and smelling all of the delectable holiday goodies is so tempting. But I’ve avoided any indulgences so far. Still, I think any edible gifts I’ve purchased need to be wrapped right away! Lol

Enduring Stress

Day 181 and Day 40 on Keto

It’s been three weeks since I officially checked in. I’ve told the reasons for that in previous posts. I’ve had a lot of changes and adjustments. I’ve altered my schedule and not exercised, not kept track of my diet (although I have tried to maintain the dietary restrictions on carbs) and I’ve spent a large amount of time sitting and cuddling a cat recovering from surgery. There have been stressors that led to diet temptations but I was strong and resisted. Still the lack of of exercise and dietary discipline left me with only a 4.5 loss in the last three weeks but I am happy with those lost pounds. My life will soon return to a normal routine and exercise will be added again along with the diet diary monitoring my food intake. But this very out of the ordinary three weeks has shown me that I can stick to the diet and continue to lose weight even if my life is turned upside down. So, I’m giving myself two enthusiastic thumbs up for keeping on keeping on when the going got tough.