Hello everyone, I was getting a little tired of the look of my blog so I gave it a festive face lift. I really need to put some current pics on but I need hubby's help and he is busy with homework right now. Thank you for the great comments, I think I will just tell sis-in-law that I don't want to do holiday baking, but plan a some other holiday activity date together. And for the sugary goodies that I am given hubby and I can always take them to work. The food bullies may never understand that being low sugar is a priority to me and not just a diet, but this is my lifestyle now and I have to stick to my guns.

Another thing that I need to work on is the voice that tells me "I deserve to indulge, and I will be missing out if I pass up on the belly bad goodies." I listened to that voice on Monday as I tried some homemade candies at work, I need to purpose to not do that at work because those little bites and "you have to try this" really add up.

Tonight for dinner I made a variation of the zucchini lasagna and it was delish. I added a package of frozen spinach to the ricotta mixture, hubby loved it. He says using zucchini instead of pasta is really helping him to stick to the bfc. He has really been on board with the bfc lately after he lost between  10-15 lbs doing the ft in October.

As far as pintrest is concerned my user name is Katesmccoy, just type it in the search box and then click on people. That is the simplest way to find the right Katie McCoy, or I should say The Real Katie McCoy LOL.

It's a good thing hubby liked what we had for dinner tonight :)

Hello friends, sorry I was a little MIA the past few days I was in a little post-holiday slump. Friday we didn't go anywhere hubby did homework all day, Saturday we watched the Apple Cup at the in-laws (the Apple Cup is a football game between the University of Washington Huskies and The Washington State University Cougars) hubby's team the Huskies won...yeah Dawgs!!! We did some celebrating that night off the bfc, I had two beers and bloody mary's, hubby had beer and screw drivers.

This morning I made a bfc friendly peppermint mocha flavored coffee, thank you Dawn for the inspiration. In a large mug of coffee 16 oz I added 1 Tbs coco powder, two truvia, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract and topped it with whipped cream DELISH. It's not exactly the same as a Starbucks peppermint mocha or the coffee-mate flavored creamer but it satisfies my craving for this seasonal drink. I am also loving the celestial seasoning candy cane lane tea and sugar cookie sleigh ride.

I am now wondering what to do about all the holiday baking and treats my friends and family make. While at my in-laws on Sat I showed my MIL my blog and was trying to talk to her about the bfc. She didn't seem very interested in either. My sis-in-law wants to do holiday baking together, which I don't want to do because I don't find it relaxing and to bake with others and because of the bfc I don't want to bake tons of sugar filled goodies. I am not sure how to handle this without hurting their feelings, I don't want to bake and I don't want a ton of sugary crap around.

I am glad everyone is loving pintrest, it is now one of my favorite sites and I look at it daily. I just want share that you need to be aware that sometimes there are some inappropriate images on there, today on the home page was an artsy black and white of a couple having sex, and the other day there was a pic of a man biting another man's naked butt. I am simply sharing my observations so you can be aware.

I am thankful for the bfc and my bfc buddies



Happy Thanksgiving

Hello friends I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, we really enjoyed ours. Thank you for all the nice comments about my cold, I am feeling much better and thankfully I wasn't coughing up a lung or sneezing on Thanksgiving.

I felt good about what I ate: Breakfast pumpkin oatmeal. Chicken soup as a snack before going over the the in-laws. My favorite appetizer was picked asparagus wrapped in cream cheese and ham. I had two glasses of red wine and a  little bit of everything I wanted, but only a tiny amount of stuffing, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. I felt like the amount of food I ate was similar to a normal dinner I didn't overeat and I felt really good. I only had two bites of pumpkin pie. The only thing that I had a hard time with was these sweet and spicy almonds my Mom brought she covered the almonds in a mixture of butter, brown sugar and pepper.

I am grateful that we talked so much about holiday food and plans the past several weeks, I felt that I was able to enjoy the holiday without stressing about food. I felt good about myself and how my clothes fit. I am hoping to continue to be good about holiday eating so I can say the same thing about how I feel at Christmas.

I am really thankful for the bfc this year, I feel that this journey into low sugar and better carbs has introduced me to so many new things that I love. I am committed to a low sugar lifestyle and I am trying to get my family on board. I really appreciate all my blogging buddies I don't think I would still be doing the bfc without your support and help. You guys are awesome and I love and appreciate you :)

Short and Sweet (with a little complaining about my cold)

Hello friends, I'm still not feeling good I called in sick today because I was coughing up a lung this morning. Hubby got me some cough syrup before school, I googled it to make sure my other prescriptions didn't interfere and holy crap it had a ton of sugar, 13g :( wow I never knew. At least I have been able to exercise the past couple of days so hopefully that helps with the sugar in my cold/cough meds.

The past several days I have been making pumpkin oatmeal my adding some pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, two packets stevia and walnuts to my oatmeal delish. I have done this for the past several years except pre-bfc I used brown sugar.

I don't have much else to say my head is foggy from the cold meds, I mostly wanted to check in and complain a bit about sugar in cold meds. Have a wonderful day friends I hope everything you have to do pre-Thanksgiving is going smoothly.

Good evening everyone, it is a snowy Saturday up here and I am very thankful that hubby put my snow tires on my car. The snow makes everything look pretty and fresh and I love it's crisp smell. One nice thing about living in an apt is we don't have to shovel any of it. I am also thankful that it's not bitter cold we are fortunate that it doesn't get that bitter cold up here too often.

I knew the sugar free mousse wouldn't be something everyone would like because of the fake sugar in the pudding. I made three batches last week with butterscotch pudding, cheesecake and vanilla and they were good but they had the fake sugar taste. I don't plan on making any more, I wonder if they even make sugar free pudding with sugar alcohols or stevia. I think I need to make another batch of the pumpkin coconut muffins to get my pumpkin fix. I really love pumpkin I've been putting pumpkin pie spice in my coffee, and I put some in plain greek yogurt although the yogurt wasn't that good so I wouldn't recommend doing that. The next pumpkin recipe I want to try is healthy pumpkin gooey butter cake from Lauren's blog healthy indulgences, it looks delish and I have most of the ingredients on hand.

This week I tried the zucchini lasagna recipe from Amber's blog we loved it! It is a keeper recipe, the next time I will make a larger batch in a 9x13 so we can have more leftovers. Hubby and I are being bums today and it feels so good. I agree with Cat in that we need to take better care of ourselves so today I gave myself a facial, my skin feels so soft now. Hubby and I watched last week's episode of Dexter and we are getting ready to start the new season of Top Chef. I think Rosalie gave the bug she has, I've been blowing my nose all day :) LOL. I've been drinking lots of tea and taking airborne I am hoping that I will be able to nip this thing in the bud, no one wants a sickie at Thanksgiving.

Sugar Free Pumpkin Mousse

Hello friends, I like Sherri's plan not to make goodies that are tempting and have them around they really are like crack. I feel like I am going into this holiday season strong. I went to the Dr. Monday for my physical I had been putting off (don't you just HATE the cotton swab the size of Texas they have to use for a pap). The scale at the Dr.'s office said 138, which is a 4.2 difference from my folks but it doesn't bother me because each scale is different and my clothes account for some of that.

Yesterday at work we had a Thanksgiving spread for lunch. YUM. I took only a dab of stuffing, cranberry sauce, a sweet potato dish,  and cheesy mashed potatoes, I had lots of turkey. A tablespoon size of the high sugar and carb dishes was perfect. I had two perfect bites with turkey, stuffing and cranberry all together on the fork. I feel confident that I can be good on Thanksgiving now. I plan on having a delicious hearty breakfast Thanksgiving morning so I don't get crazy hungry and snack on a lot of belly bad food.

I got inspired to look for some pumpkin pie pudding recipes after a recipe I saw in the paper and didn't write down. I usually avoid the fake sugars such as suclarose and aspartame but having some in the form of sugar free pudding is not bothering me right now. Between this pudding and the pumpkin coconut muffins I feel I am getting my fill of pumkiny things this season.

Pumpkin Mousse from Taste of Home.

• 1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 package (1 ounce) sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding mix (cheesecake and vanilla are also good)
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup fat-free whipped topping, divided (I used Reddi whip)

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and allspice; fold into pudding. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped topping.

• Transfer to individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. Yield: 4 servings
  Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup mousse with 2 tablespoons whipped topping equals 96 calories, trace fat (trace saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat-free milk.gs
  .

Hello friends, we got our first snow yesterday BLAH!  The good news is that it is all melted off today and the sun is out. Yesterday my sis-in-law and I got together to have coffee and discuss Christmas. I have some good ideas and I want to start getting things together to avoid the stress of the time crunch. This year I don't want to go overboard on the Christmas baking and sweets. We came up with some good ideas we just need to narrow them down so we don't take on too much and then really accomplish nothing. Last year we made cookies, caramels, pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin seeds, and took holiday pics in front of the big Christmas tree at the mall to make a gift basket for my in-laws who lived in Philly at the time. It turned out great but it was time consuming and expensive to ship.

For Thanksgiving I am bringing a squash soup and the quinoa pie from Martha Stewart for sure, and I am thinking about bringing a bfc friendly dessert. I am feeling good about Thanksgiving I know there will be tempting food but I plan on eating a good breakfast and sticking to the belly good food. The only thing that I really LOVE that is not belly friendly is stuffing. Friends what are you planning to do with stuffing, will you eat a little or avoid it all together?

Yesterday was dinner at the folks, laundry and weigh in day. For dinner we had a tri-tip roast my my made and a recipe I saw on pintrest mushrooms and green beans roasted with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and an acorn squash soup I made. I am a badass soup maker. I roasted the acorn squash, sauteed 1/2 onion, 1/2 apple and 1 carrot, 6c veg stock, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice and sage, s&p to taste. It wasn't my favorite soup that I make but everyone else really enjoyed it and my Dad is a picky eater. I know some of you might be thinking the apple and carrot are too high in sugar but I only used 1 carrot and 1/2 apple and it served four with leftovers. Pre-bfc I would have used several carrots, the whole apple and onion now I use smaller amounts of the fruits and veggies that are higher in sugar. I make the bfc work for me by using less of the things I love instead of giving them up completely.

Yesterday I weight in at 133.8 that is .8 lbs less than last week, whoo hoo! And hubby was 189.2 this is his lowest weight in a long time. Doing the FT was the perfect thing for us, it gave us the kick we needed. For hubby it really motivated him to be better about his diet. I guess that is all for now I need to meal plan and make my grocery list. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday :)

Eleven, Eleven, Eleven :)

Hello friends, thanks for the nice comments I wish the pics of the frozen pumpkin yogurt and fudge were mine but they are the pics that came with the recipes. I have recovered from my meatloaf disappointment, Wednesday I made the pumpkin chilli from skinny taste and it was delish. Next time I might try adding a little jalapeno for some heat and flavor. I think this would be a good recipe to make and freeze. One of my coworkers has been telling me about chicken in the crock pot with salsa verde so I tried it yesterday I used four chicken breasts and a jar of salsa verde. The result was tender delicious chicken that we used for taco bowls. Taco bowls last night were the salsa verde chicken with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, napa cabbage, tomato and avocado...delish.

I feel really silly talking about pinterest like  I know what I am doing because it is still new to me and I'm not very good at some things yet. Such as being able find friends who aren't in my e-mail contacts or friends on facebook. What I do know about pinterest is that is super fun place to get inspiration for all sorts of projects and you don't have to set up an account to search for things.

I have fallen off the exercise wagon a bit and I need to get back on. I have a pilates chair, zumba and Tracy Anderson on my computer so I have no excuse. Exercise is important for physical and mental health. I have been having a bit of a hard time lately feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed. I think part of it is the change in weather and short days. The lack of sunlight in is hard and I need to start taking vitamin D supplements.

I hope everyone has a good Friday, funny that it's 11/11/11. In case you forgot today is Veteran's Day, if you know any give them a shout out today it makes them feel respected for their service and good about themselves. Have a wonderful day friends. TGIF :)

Frozen pumpkin yogurt & healty coconut butter fudge

Hello friends, thank you for your kind words I know things will work out, but it felt good to vent, and it's good to know that others have been in similar boats. I am sad to say my crock pot meatloaf did not turn out very well. I put it on the other night before bed so we could have it for lunch, in the morning the meat was still pink and there was a lot of grease from the ground beef :( so I drained the meat and baked it in the oven for a half an hour after work. It wasn't a disaster but not a recipe worth making again or sharing.
I made a dessert last night that I saw on pinterest: pumpkin frozen yogurt. I took a cup of plain greek yogurt ( the recipe called for vanilla yogurt but all I buy now is plain greek) 1 cup pumpkin, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, I added four stevia packets instead of one T sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla, and put all ingredients in the ice cream maker until cold. Hubby and I shared it and each serving had around 8g sugar. It was a tasty holiday themed treat but it could use some tweaking...maybe a pinch of xylitol as well, Lauren at Healthy Indulgences often uses sugar alcohols and stevia in her recipes.

I know that I have told you guys how much I LOVE LOVE Pinterest, it is such a great place to find pretty things, crafty things, recipes, ideas etc. Doing the bfc/ft has awakened a part of me that is interested in homemade healthy things. I am no longer content buying something that I thought was "healthy" but really full of sugar. One of my new finds is a site called http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/  (what a great name huh). What really drew me in was a picture of her sugar free fudge on pinterest. She calls it naughty girl vegan fudge. One of the main ingredients is  coconut butter. I had not hear of coconut butter before, it is the flesh of the coconut ground up to make a delicious butter richer than just the oil. 2 T has 1.9g sugar. I made the fudge which is a small banana, coconut butter, coconut powder, and a dash of salt (I added 4 packets stevia) blended together, it was delish. The texture was rich and creamy although it tasted very bananaee. A better name would be chocolate banana coconut yum yum, the name fudge sets one up for disappointment because it is not the usual rich sinful creation we are used to. My personal favorite belly bad fudge is the recipe off the marshmallow fluff jar yummm.


Naughty Girl Vegan Fudge

• 4 tablespoons Artisana coconut butter (or homemade)
• 1/2 a large, very-ripe banana (80g)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• scant 1/16th tsp salt
• You can add sweetener, if desired
• 2T (or more!) cocoa powder

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/01/31/sugar-free-chocolate-fudge/

Hello all my skinny peeps! I am having a nice relaxing Saturday, we took our usual walk with our coffee and enjoyed the fall day. It's getting chilly up here so we broke out our hats and gloves. I have been playing around on the internet looking for crock pot recipes, I plan on making the turkey pumpkin chilli everyone has been talking about from skinny taste and trying some new recipes: balsamic chicken, Italian low carb meatloaf and some pumpkin soup from the skinny crock pot. Don't worry I will keep you all posted and share if they are keeper recipes.

Today was weigh in day 134.6 no change from last week, but I'm grateful I didn't gain after the bites of candy and frosted sugar cookie on Tuesday. I didn't exercise at all this week, bad Katie. I feel I am in a bit of a slump lately I think it's a combination of the change in weather, money stress and hormones. All reasons I need to be exercising. We are only getting half of hubby's tuition paid for by financial aide which is frustrating because that is based off of our income last year, I wasn't working and hubby made less money an hr than he does now. Anyway we keep plugging away looking for money from other sources for next quarter, it's just frustrating when we are trying to save. The good news is I am not turning to food and drink to deal with my stress.

This picture makes me laugh. Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Good evening everyone, the weekend was nice and I had Monday off work.  We went to my folks on Sunday and had a great time. My folks were excited to hear that we got pre-approved to buy a house. One of their neighbors is renting their house out because it wouldn't sell and they are moving south for warmer weather, they told us several times that they would sell it to us lol...no way would we ever move so close to the folks. We keep telling my folks that we are holding out for the house right next store to them. LOL.

The scale said my weight was up by.6 lb but my waist measurement is down by .5 inches and my weekly pic shows that I am losing weight. I would like the number on the scale to be lower but after reading the article Beth shared with us it doesn't really bother me. Plus my Mom said she can tell I've lost weight especially after she hugged me :)

Monday I went to our brand new Trader Joe's holy crap it was busy, so I wasn't really able look around and take inventory. I bought hubby some good looking bfc approved bread and some other items. I was also looking for some fall decorations. Pier 1 has a pumpkin serving bowl and pumpkin soup dishes I  want, but I didn't get them because I have spent extra money lately on specialty bfc products: natures hollow jam, ghiradelli coco powder, clemmy's ice cream & unsweetened coconut flakes. It would be nice if money really grew on trees.

I was a little bad today because I ate  left over Halloween goodies: frosted sugar cookie along with several milk duds and candy corn, and a bite of butterfinger they didn't taste very good and TMI, they gave me gas. Eating that junk really reminded me that I don't miss that kind of food and need to continue to stay away from it. Goal for tomorrow: no more leftover Halloween candy cheats!!! :)

Another fall Saturday

Hello friends, another Saturday whoo hoo!!!! Exciting things are happening hubby and I got pre-approved to buy a house. We are relieved hubby did a number on his credit in his early 20's and we have run into some problems with it. Thankfully he paid off the money he owed several years ago and now it's been long enough that his credit is good, hallelujah!!! We started looking at houses online, I love being able to take a virtual tour with the internet. I don't know exactly when we will get into a house hubby doesn't have a lot of time between work and school.

On the school front hubby is doing well but, dealing with financial aide can get a little frustrating. Hubby registered for financial aide late so we were told to pay for school out of our own pocket and we would get reimbursed in Sept or Oct, hubby recently found out that we will not get reimbursed until August 2012 :(  Same thing for the next quarter, so we are thinking we will get a student loan and when we get reimbursed from financial aide pay it off. So, we have hit some bumps in the road, once hubby's schooling is all said and done it we will appreciate it even more.

On the food front we have been plugging away. Last night for dinner we had tri tip roast I made in the crock pot, mashed cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli. All I really had to make last night was the cauli I had sauteed the veggies the night before. I need to do that more have things already made in the fridge for easy dinners and lunches. Sometimes I hate having to cook and clean every night because hubby is in school and too busy to help. I plan on looking into bfc friendly crock pot recipes and I will share any keepers I find.

Well, I guess that's all for now I just wanted to share what's happening over here. We plan on bundling up and getting another nice fall walk in this weekend the leaves are almost off the trees. A co-worker said we might get snow as early as Nov 10th BLAH :( I'm not ready for snow, I'm ready for a vacation someplace warm I don't think we are too young to be snow birds lol. I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday :)

Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash

Hello everyone and thank you for the nice comments. I glad to share that I am back on the exercise train, man it's hard to get back into it. I hope that eating good this week and exercise will help combat my cheats over the weekend....I guess weigh in, measure and pic day Sunday will let me know if it worked or not. Hubby is done with the fast track he told me on Sunday that he needed some real bread, I got a big laugh when Dawn said her hubby said the same thing. I will have to share pics of him with everyone if he doesn't mind he has lost around 10 lbs and three inches from his belly

 I made Martha Stewarts Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash the other day...yum. I think I am going to bring this to Thanksgiving as an alternative to all the carbs, I am also thinking about bringing mashed cauli as a substitute for mashed potatoes, and almond flour biscuits.

 Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash
 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, havled crosswise, and seeded
• 18 fresh sage leaves, plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
• 1/2 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 teaspoon oil. Cut five 1/4-inch-thick rings of squash; cut remainder into 1/4-inch dice. Place squash on sheets. Toss with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 12 sage leaves. Bake until tender and just golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Keep oven on.
2. Heat remaining teaspoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. quinoa and stock; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat. Simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes.
3. Stir together quinoa, diced squash, chopped sage, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Arrange 6 sage leaves face down in plate; top with squash rings. Press quinoa mixture on top.
5. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. Serve wedges warm or at room temperature.

http://www.marthastewart.com/313442/quinoa-pie-with-butternut-squash?czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/turkey-free-mains

Hello friends, I can hardly believe it's Wednesday already where did the weekend go? Hubby and I went on some beautiful fall walks, drank coffee and wine, slept in, went out to dinner, had dinner at the in-laws, watched college football (sadly our college team University of Washington lost to Stanford). Needless to say it was a full relaxing weekend. We didn't weigh ourselves this weekend because we didn't end up going to my folks, but I feel good and my MIL said she can tell I've lost weight since I saw her last two weeks ago.  :)

I cheated a little this weekend on the ft, I had a little mashed potatoes with last nights dinner, and half a wrap as a lunch/snack. Today hubby and I went out for Mexican and I had some chips and two small corn tortillas. I'm not really sure if that will put a hitch in the ft giddy up or not. I do plan on starting to exercise again tomorrow, I've been lazy and gotten out of the habit of doing it. I need to exercise I've been cranky, anxious and hormonal lately.

Hubby and I are starting to brainstorm for the holidays. My in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving and my folks are invited so it will be all four parents, sis-in-law and her boyfriend, hubby's grandma and us. I am glad that is the plan this is our first holiday with all the folks, hubby's folks moved to Philly for several years before we got engaged. I found a recipe on Martha Stewart's website for a quinoa butternut squash sage pie that I want to try out and if it works bring it to Thanksgiving. The more I think about how to have a low sugar better carb bfc and ft friendly holiday season the less stressed I feel. I am getting tons of ideas for the holidays from pintrest with hubby in school we want to have a nice holiday season and still be able to save money.

A relaxing Sunday in the park with our coffee :)

Coconut pumpkin muffins take 2

Hello friends and Happy Saturday! Yesterday was a great day at work I got off early and was home by 4:30 whoo hooo! I got busy in the kitchen because I really enjoy it. I made another batch of the pumpkin coconut muffins I added more stevia about 10 packets of truvia, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp allspice...delish. I think the allspice was what we were missing. I am so thrilled to have these muffins as replacements for pumpkin bread. Regular pumpkin bread is sooo high in sugar and white carbs, last year I made tons of it with pumpkins we grew. As a result hubby and I got chubby bellies.

I have been using coconut oil for the past several weeks in all my coconut breads/muffins. It's really amazing and cheaper than using butter since a loaf of coconut bread calls for one stick of butter. I heat it up in the microwave to measure it out. I have also been using less than the recipe calls for instead of 8 Tbs I have been using 6 and I can't tell a difference.

Hubby told me last night that all the coconut, almond and flax things I have been making have helped him to stay on the Ft. I am really enjoying all these different things and I don't feel deprived at all on the Ft.

Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

Hello friends dinner tonight was so good and easy because I made butternut squash soup last night. I have to share the recipe Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup from: Easy Soups. I modified it for the bfc and ft by taking out carrot, brown sugar and reducing a whole onion to a half.

Modified for Bfc & FT

Butter or olive oil
1/2 yellow onion                                        
2-3 garlic cloves
1 roased butternut squash
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
2-3c veg stock
juice of whole lime
1/2c coconut milk
green onion and sour cream garnish.
S&P

Sauteed the garlic and onion, and added the spices, veg stock & squash, simmer, puree in food processor. Pour soup back into the pot and add the coconut milk and lime, season to taste. Delish.

Just pluggin away on the FT

Hello friends, I love it when the work week flys by. I have been having lots of fun in the kitchen. Yesterday I made the coconut pumpkin muffins, which are very tasty but need to be tweeked for my taste because I want a stronger pumpkin taste. I made lemon coconut bread on Monday but instead of lemon extract I accidentally put in maple (it was early in the morning and the bottles are similar) surprisingly  they didn't taste too bad and we ate them. I made two soups this week. a modified la ribollita from my book Easy Soups. With napa cabbage, zucchini, celery, little carrot, veg stock, garlic, onion, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and tomato paste....delish. It was perfect to come home last night and make reheat some soup. For tonights dinner I made spiced butternut squash and  coconut soup with roasted butternut squash, onion, garlic, veg stock, cumin, curry, lime, cilantro & coconut milk. I had to check if butternut squash is ft friendly and thankfully it is on the super carb list on pg 160.

I really think the ft is working well for myself and hubby. I don't feel deprived not eating grain carbs since there are so many alternatives. This morning I am eating a flax muffin with almond butter for breakfast. 1/4c ground flax, oil or butter I used 1 tsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 egg microwave for 2 mins. I don't know the exact origins of this recipe but I saw it on minichicks blog several months ago.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, whatever you are doing keep plugging away and don't give up.

Weigh in day

Hello friends today is a beautiful Sunday here in my neck of the woods and very productive...church, grocery shopping, laundry & dinner with the folks. My weight is up a tiny bit 134 lbs today, last Sunday 133.4 lbs but I'm ok with that. Last night we took pictures and we compared our start pics and last weeks pics side by side and I am happy to share that my belly/love handles are smaller... which is helping me not to feel discouraged about the number on the scale today.

Today I showed my Mom my blog for the first time, she thought it was neat but didn't really say much else. I think I waited so long to tell her because I thought she would think it was stupid. Well I guess that is all for now, I am hoping to have a good cheat free week and hopefull see 133 lbs next Sunday. :)

Feelin hopeful for tomorrows weigh in

Hello friends and Happy Saturday!!! Thank you for the great comments concerning my dinner out. I don't know why I didn't think to ask for veggies instead of pasta, in the moment I felt like I would be missing out by not eating the pasta....I know that doesn't make sense and I need to purpose to not think that way. I put the leftovers in the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted to pick at them.

I just signed up for myfitness pal and I am excited to try it out. I am also very very excited to try the coconut pumpkin muffins Amber posted they look sooo yummy. Today hubby and I got hot americanos from our favorite coffee shop I wish I had made the pumpkin muffins before our walk so we could enjoy them with our coffee. A good cup of coffee is one of my favorite pleasures, hubby and I are BIG coffee drinkers.  We enjoyed our coffee during our walk to get out and enjoy the fall sun.

Tomorrow is hang out day with the folks/laundry & weigh in. I am hoping to see good numbers on the scale despite my Thursday cheat, I'm not really sure what to expect. I  hope everyone is having a nice weekend :) Big hugs to all my friends, I really appreciate all of you!!!!!

P.S. Last night I watched Bridesmaids and I was delighted to see these cherry canisters in Annie's kitchen. I love love love everything cherry, I just can't get enough. These are just so sweet I wanted to share them with my blogger buddies.

I cheated on the FT :(

Hello friends, I think I might need to get myfitness pal to help me calculate the s/c in recipes such as the pumpkin bread recipe I found yesterday. Sometimes I wonder what we did with ourselves before the internet. I love having this blog and meeting so many new friends I think this low-sugar lifestyle is one I will try to sustain for the long haul. I am enjoying having a little  more fruit on the FT, I have been putting around 1/4 pear or apple into my salads...delish! Hubby and I have been having stir frys for lunch the past several days, but I burnt us out on those lol....back to my old standby salads. Today I made a yummy one with tri tip steak, sunflower seeds, avo, blue cheese, kalamata olives, pear and pomegranate seeds...delish.

I am feeling pretty guilty right now because we went out to dinner for my MIL's bday and I was naughty. I had buttered garlic bread and some pasta with shrimp....FT bad. I brought home most of my pasta and I plan to freeze it for another day. I hope I didn't mess up any progress I have made too badly. The only things that were available without pasta were salads, and I don't usually get a salad at a restaurant because I can make my own bad ass salads at home. Tomorrow I am going to exercise before work even if I have to force myself to do it. I have been wearing the lazy pants on the exercise front and I need to stop it.

I am so thankful that tomorrow is Friday, I could use a nice weekend to re-group and plan. I heard the weather is supposed to be nice, I would love to drink some yummy coffee and take some nice walks to enjoy the beautiful fall trees. As for the no poo thing I did it on Sunday and my hair still smells like vinegar when it's wet, I'm not sure if I could get past that enough to do it some more. I guess that's all for now have a wonderful night friends :)

Hello peeps, thanks for the great comments I really appreciate all of you so much! Life is good, today my boss told me that my co-workers think I am doing a great job and they enjoy working with me :) :) :) Sunday I made the maple chocolate version of coconut bread...yummy although I baked it a little too long, next time I'll take it out sooner. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days while hubby is doing homework. The only downside is I have to clean up all my messes.

One of my co-workers turned me onto the site http://pinterest.com/, if you aren't familiar with it check it out it's filled with beautiful things. I searched low sugar pumpkin bread on pintrest and found a recipe from the comfy belly that looks promising using xyiltiol as the sweetener.

Pumpkin Bread: http://comfybelly.com/2011/10/pumpkin-bread/#more-6927

Ingredients

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree*
• 1 cup of honey (or other sweetener; I used maple syrup)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice (or cloves)
• 2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of walnuts (optional)

* Pumpkin Puree

1. Slice the pumpkin (or other squash) in half (from stem to bottom), take out the seeds (and make toasted seeds).
2. Roast the pumpkin for about 1 hour (at 350 degrees F), face down, in some water that covers the bottom of the dish. You can also steam the pumpkin. Alternatively, you can dry roast it by wrapping it in foil and placing it in the oven. That would also reduce the moisture in the puree.
3. Cool the pumpkin, peel the skin off, and puree it in a blender or food processor.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine all the ingredients (in the order listed) in a bowl and blend well.
3. Bake in a bread pan (I used a Pyrex glass dish, 5 inches x 9 inches) for 60 minutes or until the outside is very brown. The darker you go, the better it tastes (in my opinion). It might take a longer or a shorter amount of time depending on how moist your pumpkin puree is. When it’s done, a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Thank you Dawn for sharing your decision to go poo free and why peanuts are a no go on the FT. I guess when I read that part it just didn't sink in. I hope everyone is having a great week, whatever you are doing bfc, ft, ww keep it up, don't cheat and don't give up. If life is good and you are happy share it, if you are discouraged with your life/weight share it. The blog community is a wonderful place to seek support and encouragement. We only have one life and no one can live it for us, so we better make the best of it. :)

Fast Track Weigh in Day :)

Hello friends, hubby and I have been on the FT since Monday Oct 3rd we weighed ourselves yesterday and big drum roll..... hubby lost 8 lbs & I lost 1.4 :) :) :) I think I am even more excited than hubby about his weight loss he just looks so good. Making food ahead of time has been the key to our success. Before starting FT I thought it would be strange and a big departure from what we usually eat, but it's really not. We have eaten salads, stir fry's, chicken soup, coconut bread, nuts & seeds, chicken, breakfast turkey sausage, eggs, baby bell cheese, and a little steak.

Yesterday I woke up feeling like I wanted to make a treat everything on Lauren's healthy indulgence's blog looks so amazing and I often have the ingredients on hand that she uses the most. I made grain free chocolate zucchini bread, and it was yummers. Instead of flour I made an nut meal by grinding up some almonds and pecans, a little almond flour, and a little flax meal. I also used coconut oil and zucchini from last years garden. It was so delicious and other than grinding up some nuts it wasn't any more work to prepare than a regular zucchini bread. I am wondering if pumpkin bread would work well with almond or coconut flour and xylitol. As the weather changes I am craving pumpkin bread!!!

Since doing the bfc/ft I have lost 3 inches from my waist and 2 from my hips and around 10-15 lbs. I feel good about myself I hope to continue to lose fat and tone up my poochie and hips. I also hope to not gain it all back during the Fall/Winter/Holiday Season, I'm sure everyone can relate to that. I want to be able to navigate all the sweets and breads that are full of sugar and white carbs, that make us feel like we need to eat them because they only come out at the holidays.

4th Day of FT

Hello friends in blogger land, boy howdy today was another busy busy day at work. I am not used to working 12hrs, but I'm a team player and sometimes things just work out like that. I am grateful to have a job, if I didn't we wouldn't be able to afford hubby going back to school. He is starting out really strong he has 103 % in his math class and he feels really good about himself. I am glad he agreed to do the FT with me I can tell in how his clothes fit his belly is getting smaller.

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 turkey breakfast sausage, black coffee
Snack: coconut bread
Lunch: stir fry with chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, celery, broccoli,  baby bok choy and cashews. 1 baby bell cheese
Snack: Greek yogurt with hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds
Dinner: chicken soup

3rd Day of FT

My Wednesday was also gray and gloomy and very busy. Work is busy my co-worker who had surgery did not come back this week as originally planned. Today was my Dad's bday we went out to breakfast just the two of us. I was mostly good I had an omelet with sausage, ham and bacon but I ate some hash browns...oops not FT friendly.

Last night hubby and I took pictures and measured ourselves. I hope the FT is just the little boost we need right now. I don't know if I feel any different doing the FT except I am craving mac'n cheese, nothing like being told you can't eat something to make you crave it lol.

Breakfast: 1/2 a big omelet with ham, sausage, and bacon, jack cheese, several bites hash browns, coffee
Lunch: big spinach salad with last night's leftovers, hamburger, broccoli, mushroom, moz cheese, cashews
Dinner: rest of omelet, coconut bread
After dinner red wine

2nd Day of FT

Hello peeps, first of all I want to reassure all of you that I did eat enough yesterday. I made a big hearty spinach salad with protein and fat from pork chop, cheese, nuts and seeds and a little fruit. My soup was hearty with roasted chicken, celery and green beans. I usually eat more in the morning but I worked early and I was in a hurry. If I had taken pictures you would have been able to see that it was plenty of food.

Today was a good 2nd day of FT for both of us. Hubby had hard boiled eggs, turkey breakfast sausage, coconut bread, Jay Robb chocolate protein shake with almond milk, baby bell cheese, almonds and a hamburger to eat from the time he left he house early in the morning until he came home from work.

What I ate today:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 turkey breakfast sausage links, roasted zucchini, broccoli and mushroom.
Snack: coconut bread
Lunch: hamburger patty, spinach salad with pear, fig, blue cheese, cashews, olives, pumpkin seeds
Snack: cheese stick with a little peanut butter
Dinner: sauteed broccoli, mushroom and ground hamburger, & a spinach salad.

Tomorrow is my Dad's bday and I am taking him out to breakfast. I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

1st Day of Fast Track

Hello peeps, thank you for  such nice comments yesterday. I am feeling so much better today whoo hoo!!! When I woke up on Wednesday with the yuckies I took some airborne and continued to take it several times a day I think that helped me to get better quickly. Yesterday I made my chicken soup, but I didn't get around to making almond flour biscuits because we went to costo and did our grocery shopping.

Hubby and I started the FT today, it feels a little weird because it is so new. I have a feeling that hubby will do really well because he eats a lot of the grain and starches that we have to give up. He is especially disappointed to give up potatoes for awhile lol. We are finding our groove in our new schedule. Hubby goes to the gym before class, after class he goes to work and the goal is for him to get off work around 6. He is doing really well in his classes and I am proud of  him.

I don't think we are going to stick strictly to the 14 day menu that Jorge has provided, trying to get in halibut, salmon and steak would be a little expensive for us especially now that hubby is working less while he is in school. Yesterday at costco we bought a bag of chicken tenders, and some tri tip steak (we will portion the steak out, foodsaver and freeze it to make it last).

Today I ate:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs
Snack: almond milk
Lunch: homemade chicken soup (no noodles) 1/2 spinach salad with pork chop, blue cheese, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, figs, newmans dressing
Snack: the rest of my lunch salad and a square of dk chocolate
Dinner: chicken soup and coffee.

I think tomorrow will be a good day, I made lemon coconut bread, hard boiled eggs, cooked some turkey breakfast sausage links, and made hamburgers. I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

I've got a case of the sniffles

Hello friends, I'm still feeling a little under the weather I have a case of the sniffles. There is nothing like being a little sick to make me appreciate feeling good. The work week was long and we were short staffed because a co-worker had gallbladder surgery and was out for about a week and a half. Hopefully she comes back to work on Tuesday as planned because another co-worker has surgery on Friday.

I am thinking of making chicken soup today, I've had several cans of progresso but at $2.49 a can I know I can make a better soup myself. I didn't feel up to it the other days but I think today would be a good day for that. I've been drinking lots of tea, hot water with lemon and taking airborne. I really like a lot of the traditional medicinals teas, and I especially love the cold care tea right now.

Wednesday is my Dad's bday and the following Wed is my MIL's bday. I really don't know what to get my Dad, I asked him what he wanted and he said we could bring over a bushel of money LOL. My MIL will be easy probably a gift certificate for a pedi/mani, even though she said no presents. Getting your feet and nails done is so relaxing and enjoyable I know she would love it, and she doesn't do stuff like that often because she doesn't work.

Thank you Beth for putting the almond biscuits in your food tracker. I plan on making some more to go with my chicken soup at 6g carb, 1g sugar and 3g fiber I think it would be totally worth it.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Cheers to a new month, may we have lots of success despite all the candy temptations that October has to offer.

Almond flour biscuits

Hello bfc peeps, I am a little under the weather so I plan on keeping this short and sweet. Yesterday I made some delicious almond flour biscuits from Lauren's blog healthy indulgences http://www.healthyindulgences.net/2008/08/low-carb-gluten-free-biscuits.html . They were so easy and delicious, and they went perfect with a roasted veggie soup I picked up for dinner. Hubby was very impressed and appreciative. Yesterday I also made coconut bread with coconut oil instead of butter very yummy. Last week I made Dawn's peanut butter cookies and I put a touch of sea salt on top of each cookie...delicious salty and sweet. The change in weather makes me want to bake more and make yummy soups. I guess that's all for now :)



                                                           

Almond flour biscuits

Made out like a bandit shopping

Hello friends, Saturday here is hot and amazing I absolutely love the early part of fall. Hubby and I went shopping and we made out like bandits. We both got new clothes and I got Fast Track at Costco for $11.59. American Eagle was the place to be today I got a sweater, a hoodie and sweatpants, undershirts and a top. Hubby got a pair of jeans, two button up shirts and a long sleeve t-shirt. Kay I thought of Kaycee when I learned that American Eagle now offers a 10% discount with military I.D. :) It felt strange to spend so much money on ourselves, but we both needed some new things for fall/winter.

I am enjoying my new Fast Track book, I really like that Jorge takes more time to explain things in this book. One of the features I like is the highlighted boxes where he gives the definition of key words, very similar to vocab words in school (very helpful). In my opinion Chapter 3 Ensuring your success: is the best chapter in the book. In this chapter Jorge discusses fiber and probiotics. His description of dysbacteriosis, a condition in which our bowels lose our healthy bacteria was something that I had not heard before. Even if you don't chose to do FT I recommend reading this chapter what he has to say about fiber, gut flora and probiotics is amazing and life changing. I truly mean life changing, I come from a family of GI issues my Dad's Mom had colon cancer and my Dad has his own GI issues and my Mom has diverticulitis. I am hoping that my folks will find this chapter informative and helpful, I love my parents and I want them to live long healthy lives.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend...whatever you do make good choices :)

Just wanted to touch base

Hello friends, what a week TGIF. Hubby and I are adjusting to his new school schedule. We don't watch tv in the evenings anymore on school nights so hubby can study, I am amazed at how much free time I have with out it. I need to find something productive to do with myself. :)

The more I read the Fast Track the more I like it. I plan on doing the two week challenge and I hope hubby will join me. It's kinda strange to think about changing things up I really like what we are doing now, but I have a feeling that my system could use a shake up.

Well, I guess that's all for now I just wanted to touch base with y'all. Hubby and I are having a nice Friday, after work we drank some wine and watched the sunset, for dinner we had wraps and nuts and now we are catching up on a little Rescue Me.