Month: April 2018

Loving Lately

Well it’s that time- for another weekly addition of my favorite things… I don’t really think I can call it love this week. (I’ll let you know in a month). However, I have once again gone Keto; Ketogenic; placing myself in a state of Ketosis. “What is Keto?” you ask. Well according to dietdoctor.com, “A keto or ketogenic diet is a very low-carb diet, which turns the body into a fat-burning machine.” (Yeah baby!) Wikipedia tends to be a little wordier, “The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that… forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates…” If you haven’t heard of the trendy Ketogenic Diet, think of it like a variation of Atkins, that concentrates on more fats (healthy fats), than protein.

I do this to myself. Many of us do. It’s a let it go and reel it in. More poetically, it’s my ebb and flow. I stored up for winter, and now I need to burn some (stored) energy before summer gets here! Crunch time. So, for the next month or thereabouts (small attainable goals for a girl who loves her pastries), no carbs shall pass my lips. Ok, that’s an exaggeration. No net carbs exceeding 30g daily shall pass my lips. What are net carbs you ask? (I feel so academic!) Net carbs are basically the amount of carbohydrates in a specific food less the grams of fiber. Because fiber is our friend, we get to deduct those grams from our total! (I’m selling it to myself, not you.) So, for example, one avocado (according to verywellfit.com) has 17g of carbohydrates, but 13g of fiber so the net carbs are only 4g; and with a whopping total of 29g of fat… it is a perfect Keto food. Now that I am a fat burning machine I need no longer worry about grams of fat (as long as I don’t eat a piece of bread).

Enough diet talk. Let’s get to inspiring recipes! Pictured above is baked Halloumi (possibly my new favorite thing) with roasted garlic, zucchini, and summer squash. I also added a little crispy pancetta- because I could- but it really didn’t need it.

Generally speaking all vegetables that grow above ground (avoiding mostly tubers) are fair game on a low carb diet. They are the gravy boat, so to speak; the vessels on which to carry our delicious toppings (in lieu of mashed potatoes, rice or pasta). My cousin-in-law, Lisa, has had a lot of success with this lifestyle and has passed on a few of her favorite things to make. It’s actually a great plan for those of us who need to avoid sugar too. Diabetes runs in my family, thankfully most of my family members have been able to control it with their diet; which is awesome- and another reason this plan works for me.

These are Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats from Kim’s Healthy Eats.

Thankfully I like veggies, so I have no problem snacking on things like Brussels Sprout Chips from Delish.com. I’ve even seen recipes using them for nachos. Don’t be afraid to get crazy with your veg and dip.

To be honest, this Best Buffalo Chicken Casserole Recipe from Delish.com looks like something I’d eat when I’m not “dieting.” So that’s win-win. (And btw the picture does not do it justice… all that buffalo sauce-y, cheese-y chicken over roasted cauliflower.) I’m salivating.

For me the flavors have to be varied, otherwise I’d feel like I’m eating the same thing all of the time. And I need to incorporate the majority of my meals into whatever it is that I am feeding my family, or it gets too complicated. But something as simple as foregoing the taco shells on a “Taco Tuesday,” is an easy way for me to enjoy my salad.

Something I haven’t done in the past is venture into sweeteners. However there are “keto-approved” options like Swerve (erythritol and oligosaccharides), a unique blend of all natural (non-GMO) fruit and vegetable ingredients, that has 0 calories and very little carbohydrates. Mix that with a little almond flour and voilà! You can eat Donuts! (From wholesomeyum.com -which Lisa has made several times, so they are verified.)

Last, but not least, I have read a lot of positive things from my Low Carb forum peeps about “fat bombs,” which apparently are a nice treat or midday snack. So, I am actually excited about trying Cookie Dough Keto Fat Bombs from Delish.com, after my Swerve arrives.

Some people like to start on New Year’s Day… I usually wait until spring, and roll my eyes and drag my feet, and spit and kick (not really on the outside, just in my head)… But it’s nice when I don’t feel too deprived.

If you have had success with the Keto diet, and have any recipes or ideas to share, I’d love to hear about it!

Hope you’re having a great day and you are inspired to do something good for yourself!

Love, Sadie

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The Fabulous Life of a Mommy Blogger

It’s another lavishing day of the kids waking up to the waft of a fresh batch of scones, lemon curd and freshly squeezed orange juice while I relaxingly pick away on my laptop in my stylish home office, surrounded by mementos of my world travels and full of inspiration. I am halfway into my second cup of un-interrupted coffee poured from my press. I’ve got my French café music subtly drifting in the background, and my hair has once again has fallen perfectly into place. I’m pretty sure that in spite of my love of baking, the scale says I have dropped another 5 pounds. Bliss.

Errrr, no.

It’s the second morning in a row that my middle son has woken me up in the wee hours of the morning for various reasons… fever… bad dreams, etc. There is no room for him, since his baby brother is already in my bed, so to get him back in his bed I am demoted to the empty bunk. I’m exhausted. I am purposefully ignoring the alarm clock, because I don’t want to face the fact that in less than an hour I need to wake my oldest son and start the morning scramble to get everyone off to school on time. Everyone that is- except my daughter who has apparently caught the bug that her brother had just the night before. Note to self: make sure to call the school for an excused absence. Even with my best planning, it always seems like a lot of uninvited chaos in the morning. Did I mention it’s still snowing- in April? And so, I refuse to start the rat race until absolutely necessary.

I throw my hair up in my signature folded pony tail/half-bun thing. (Is that an appropriate hairstyle for someone in their 40’s?) I refuse to step on any scale- I know the truth. After the mad rush, which results in a meal of cereal and milk (nothing out of the oven), I grab a high protein granola bar for myself and take my first drink of coffee. I decide to put off the day’s round of dishes and laundry, and really attempt to jot a few things down for my blog at the highly kid-accessible kitchen table full of remnants of breakfast and action figures. It’s right about the time when I get cooking- figuratively, when the patient needs water… the potty trainer needs assistance in the bathroom… both kids need a snack… you know the drill.

And it is after all of this time, when I feel comfortable sitting at the computer again knowing that my daughter has had a bite to eat and medicine for her small grade fever; and that her baby brother should be both satisfied with his hunger and “emptied out” for the time being when he brings me a piece of poop that he has reserved for his big boy underpants after just going to the bathroom 10 minutes prior. Because I am who I am, I freak out holding his hand high into the air in my most sanitary march into the bathroom. The “piece” is disposed of and his hands scrubbed. His pants are placed in the dirty clothes basket and underwear thrown away. (I am not going to try and spot clean this.) We have the discussion about placing all the poo into the potty and I sit down thrice more. It takes only a few seconds this time for him to retrieve a second piece of poop to which now I realize was not from a butt scratching, but a separate pile that was actually mounded onto the floor. To make matters more complicated, it is also clear that he has stepped in the pile and traipsed it through… that’s a good question. This in turn results in another hand scrubbing, a foot scrubbing, a second lesson about not touching poop, and a new teaching on telling mommy where the poop is. I then mop the floor from the toy room, through the living room and all the way through the bathroom- including a little spot cleaning the living room rug. Did I get it all? I really don’t know. I’ll probably come unglued the next few times one of my kids tries to eat a fallen snack from off of the floor. (I’m a work in progress). However, I did gain writing material… Fabulous. I’ll take it.

Loving Lately

I apologize for the lapse in time. I realize that my “spring” break lasted a little longer than anticipated. (I’m sure you were all ridden with anticipation: When is Sadie going to publish another post?) Of course, now that I have identified myself as a writer, I can justify taking artistic license and melodramatic periods of unexplained absence; time to “smell the roses.” It’s all a part of the creative process. (Unless you want to syndicate me, then I assure you I work great under the pressure of a deadline.)

We are very fortunate that my in-laws are indeed snowbirds and are generous enough to offer their Floridian home to our family for our week of school vacation. We get to spend our time in the warm luxurious sunshine and in turn they get the opportunity to share in the experience of potty training our youngest son. I really don’t know what we were thinking. It worked so well for our oldest son, the incentive of getting to swim in the pool if he goes potty in the toilet. Since we were in a potty-using rut at home, we thought we’d try it out. It worked… but not without consequence. I’d like to publicly apologize for the rug incident. (And any other incidentals that I know of and possibly other events of which I am unaware. Ahem.) You both are so good to us!