richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
I do a lot of cooking for the week on Sunday: roasting meats and vegetables, making breakfasts for the week and packaging them up. This helps me stay on the diet since I don't have to plan, cook, package, make lunches in the morning when I have no time. I just reach in the fridge, grab, and go.
I bought a jumbo set of sealed lid containers that are stackable (for easy storage) to use. I use a lot of containers on Sunday getting things ready and having a nice set of compatible containers is a god send.
For breakfasts: I make crustless quiches, let them cool, slice, and then package for the lunchbag. The quiches are different every week, I make Lorraine (bacon, onion, and swiss cheese), spinach and mushroom with Muenster (recipe posted above--use this base and add whatever you want to it), sausage, red bell pepper, and cheddar, the possibilities are endless and you keep variety .
Scrambling a large quantity of eggs with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese can be packaged with canadian bacon or a couple breakfast links. These heat beautifully in the microwave in the morning (caution: read the label on the sausage, the corporations love to sneak in added sugars so they taste better to their addicts).
Hint: Undercook the scrambled eggs, remove while still very runny and stir off heat, then place in container to get out of the skillet. You're going to nuke them to heat and there is a danger of overcooking them.
On Sunday, I'm also cubing cheese, preparing celery, zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. crudites that are packaged in small containers for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacking. I combine these with some of the cheese. Also, Trader Joe is selling little individual serving medallions of goat, blue, etc cheeses that are wonderful treats in the lunch box.
Dinners during the week are simple when I have roast chickens, potroast, and veggies in the fridge. They can be reheated as is, or they can be combined with some herbs or spices to give them a new identity, and then served as a stir-fry on a bed of finely shredded cabbage or spinach. If I get tired of them I can also dump everything into the pot with the juices, add some stock, and make a stew flavored anyway I want. Adding garlic, ginger, oriental spices, etc. make tired leftovers seem like a real treat.
I also make a large bowl of garden salad that will be used through the week. I really concentrate on making this wonderful and beautiful with a mixture of romaine, arugula, shredded red cabbage, red/yellow/green bell pepper, radishes, celery, small cauliflower and broccoli florets, cucumber, jicama, black olives, cherry tomatoes, sometimes some feta cheese and pepperoncini, and any other goodies I have on hand. I can package a small side salad to supplement lunch and also have a big grand salad made for dinner when I get home.
Being prepared, so that you're eating the 3 meals and 3 snacks/day are the key to staying on this and having success. If you eat the three meals interspersed with the snacks, you are never hungry and don't get the cravings. But if you skip the snacks because you didn't have time, then, you're setting yourself up for blood sugar spikes and failure.
This was a big commitment when I first started, but now I've been doing it for so many months, I go on autopilot.
I've lost 50 lbs. following a 20-25 carb/day diet. I feel great, I eat lots of wonderful vegetables, and it's not all about eating meat and eggs all the time.
Supplies: The supermarkets in my area have stopped stocking low-carb products since the "fad" had faded. There is a wonderful online source for hard to find supplies that make wonderful variety in your diet possible: Netrition.com
They sell products cheaper than I can find in grocery stores, plus, they have a flat $5/box shipping rate. You really can't beat the huge selection and prices and the convenience of having it dropped off on your doorstep. I buy 0 carb chocolate and fruit flavored syrups for drinks, erythritol no carb sweetner (can't find this in the grocery), and all kinds of great things. I don't use a lot of this type of stuff, but adding some, especially the syrups to make flavored drinks, keeps a nice variety going. The 0 carb/sugar Walden Farms chocolate syrup is amazing.
Any questions, let me know.
Some menu planning suggestions:
Basically for a dinner, you want 4-6 oz. of protein, 1/2-1 cup of a low carb veggie, and 1-1 1/2 cup of salad. Thase are the building blocks.
My typical day:
Breakfast: crustless quiche with meat, cheese and veggies
Mid Morning Snack: crudites with spinach dip
Lunch: 4 oz. cold cuts or left over sliced roast, baked chicken, etc. with side salad -or- a 5-6 carb serving of previous night's dinner.
mid-afternoon snack: flaxseed crackers with cheese (cubes or a spread)
Dinner: Stir fry using meats and veggies from Sunday baking and a side salad. Weekends I may do grilled steak with garlic butter or blue cheese and a big tossed salad, or broccoli with garlic and parmesan and olive oil and a side salad
Late night snack: this is when I have one of the treats: low carb chocolate milk shake, a low carb brownie with unsweetened almond milk, anything that gives me a sense of having something sweet and chocolately goes a long way to keeping from feeling deprived.
I bought a jumbo set of sealed lid containers that are stackable (for easy storage) to use. I use a lot of containers on Sunday getting things ready and having a nice set of compatible containers is a god send.
For breakfasts: I make crustless quiches, let them cool, slice, and then package for the lunchbag. The quiches are different every week, I make Lorraine (bacon, onion, and swiss cheese), spinach and mushroom with Muenster (recipe posted above--use this base and add whatever you want to it), sausage, red bell pepper, and cheddar, the possibilities are endless and you keep variety .
Scrambling a large quantity of eggs with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese can be packaged with canadian bacon or a couple breakfast links. These heat beautifully in the microwave in the morning (caution: read the label on the sausage, the corporations love to sneak in added sugars so they taste better to their addicts).
Hint: Undercook the scrambled eggs, remove while still very runny and stir off heat, then place in container to get out of the skillet. You're going to nuke them to heat and there is a danger of overcooking them.
On Sunday, I'm also cubing cheese, preparing celery, zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. crudites that are packaged in small containers for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacking. I combine these with some of the cheese. Also, Trader Joe is selling little individual serving medallions of goat, blue, etc cheeses that are wonderful treats in the lunch box.
Dinners during the week are simple when I have roast chickens, potroast, and veggies in the fridge. They can be reheated as is, or they can be combined with some herbs or spices to give them a new identity, and then served as a stir-fry on a bed of finely shredded cabbage or spinach. If I get tired of them I can also dump everything into the pot with the juices, add some stock, and make a stew flavored anyway I want. Adding garlic, ginger, oriental spices, etc. make tired leftovers seem like a real treat.
I also make a large bowl of garden salad that will be used through the week. I really concentrate on making this wonderful and beautiful with a mixture of romaine, arugula, shredded red cabbage, red/yellow/green bell pepper, radishes, celery, small cauliflower and broccoli florets, cucumber, jicama, black olives, cherry tomatoes, sometimes some feta cheese and pepperoncini, and any other goodies I have on hand. I can package a small side salad to supplement lunch and also have a big grand salad made for dinner when I get home.
Being prepared, so that you're eating the 3 meals and 3 snacks/day are the key to staying on this and having success. If you eat the three meals interspersed with the snacks, you are never hungry and don't get the cravings. But if you skip the snacks because you didn't have time, then, you're setting yourself up for blood sugar spikes and failure.
This was a big commitment when I first started, but now I've been doing it for so many months, I go on autopilot.
I've lost 50 lbs. following a 20-25 carb/day diet. I feel great, I eat lots of wonderful vegetables, and it's not all about eating meat and eggs all the time.
Supplies: The supermarkets in my area have stopped stocking low-carb products since the "fad" had faded. There is a wonderful online source for hard to find supplies that make wonderful variety in your diet possible: Netrition.com
They sell products cheaper than I can find in grocery stores, plus, they have a flat $5/box shipping rate. You really can't beat the huge selection and prices and the convenience of having it dropped off on your doorstep. I buy 0 carb chocolate and fruit flavored syrups for drinks, erythritol no carb sweetner (can't find this in the grocery), and all kinds of great things. I don't use a lot of this type of stuff, but adding some, especially the syrups to make flavored drinks, keeps a nice variety going. The 0 carb/sugar Walden Farms chocolate syrup is amazing.
Any questions, let me know.
Some menu planning suggestions:
Basically for a dinner, you want 4-6 oz. of protein, 1/2-1 cup of a low carb veggie, and 1-1 1/2 cup of salad. Thase are the building blocks.
My typical day:
Breakfast: crustless quiche with meat, cheese and veggies
Mid Morning Snack: crudites with spinach dip
Lunch: 4 oz. cold cuts or left over sliced roast, baked chicken, etc. with side salad -or- a 5-6 carb serving of previous night's dinner.
mid-afternoon snack: flaxseed crackers with cheese (cubes or a spread)
Dinner: Stir fry using meats and veggies from Sunday baking and a side salad. Weekends I may do grilled steak with garlic butter or blue cheese and a big tossed salad, or broccoli with garlic and parmesan and olive oil and a side salad
Late night snack: this is when I have one of the treats: low carb chocolate milk shake, a low carb brownie with unsweetened almond milk, anything that gives me a sense of having something sweet and chocolately goes a long way to keeping from feeling deprived.