For those of you that read this blog you have heard me mention Flatouts. It's important to know that not all Flatouts are low carb. The ones that are better in carbs are should be labeled "light". Always read the labels and make sure that they are right for your personal goals and carb counts.

I like te Italian ones. They have good flavor and work great for pizzas too. They really crisp up nice.

Anyone else use these? What do you guys think?

Not much to say here. Had some hot dogs the other night and I got inspired to have something a bit more. I used some Flat-outs in place of a buns and used some no bean chili. Add some cheese and onions and you got a yummy meal. No it's not the highest in nutrients, but it's low carb and will get you through a fast food craving.

There was a recipe in this months Food Network magazine that jumped out at me for being super easy and something that would probably be not to high on the carb rating. I love the fall and all the pumpkin flavors and it happened to be a pretty rainy day so it seemed like a great time to have some soup. 

Apple-Bacon Pumpkin Soup
Simmer one 8 Oz can of pumpkin with 2cups Chicken Broth
After it comes to a simmer add 1/4 cup cream and 2 Tbs Sugar Free Maple Syrup
Whisk soup together.
In a separate pan cook a 1 cubed apple with butter til it becomes soft. 
Dice some cooked bacon
Top soup with bacon bits and apple cubes. 

Note: If you are short on time you can skip the apple and the bacon. It's nice to add to it, but not required for it to be a yummy fall meal.

This Soup was a hit at our house. A perfect fit with a cold rain fall day. We made some low carb quesadillas to have with it at the cheese actually brought out the sweetness in the soup. It was a perfect pairing. This will definatly be a staple in our house. 

Unfortunately, I can't really say what the exact carb count in in a serving, but I am certain it is low. All the ingredients listed are pretty low carb so it's a safer choice than most soups. 

Try it out and tell me what you think.

Someone asked me recently about exercise and what I do for a routine. Eating low carb and living the atkins life is more than just what food you eat. You can eat bacon every day but without some exercise you aren't going to see near the results you want to.

So the big question is what to do? How much exercise can you do or should you do to get the results you want? Well that's really a question everyone should answer for themselves. I can tell you what I did in my lifestyle change.

Dr. Atkins says in his book that what's important is to rltry to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise/movement a day. If that seems like a lot and you have a lot to lose then try every other day to start. I decided when I started that I would be true to this and do about 45 minutes of fast paced walking every other day. Fast enough to build a sweat. It was tough when I first started but the more I did it the easier it was to push myself to go further and faster.

After a while I was doing several miles in my 45 minute period. Always walking and always sweating.

Maybe for you it's riding a bike. Or maybe it's jogging. Maybe you do a dance game on you gaming systemat home. What's important is to stick to a time limit and don't be afraid to push. Remember even walking is better than nothing.

If you have a sweet tooth like me then you are probably going to town on bowls of low carb ice cream all the time. I do. The Breyers low carb vanilla is pretty tasty and does a great job to help the cravings. But sometimes you may find yourself wanting something a little closer to real ice cream without sacrificing a lot of carbs. Well, Blue Bunny has a great new line of Ice Cream called Sweet Freedom which uses Splenda to help sweeten it. It does have more carbs then the low carb Breyers, but my wife and I both agree that it is much closer to real ice cream and yummier too. They have some fun flavors to chose from so you aren't stuck with vanilla ever day. Probably not an every day ice cream, but a nice treat to have on occasion when you need something more.

Here's another review of the Day Break line of breakfast meals. This one isn't that different from the other breakfast meal with Chorizo. Eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, and some sausage. 

They do a pretty good job with these. At least as good of a job as you can do when you are making a meal out of frozen eggs. They have pretty good taste. The texture of this bowl isn't quiet the same as fresh eggs, but they still have a general consistency that resembles what breakfast should be like. 

I like these breakfast bowls. They have a lot of meat in them and I kinda like the way they taste when the cheese gets a little over cooked around the edges. It resembles more of a egg bake to me at times. Not to bad. I would love to see them come out with some other versions for the daybreak line. It would be awesome if they came out with some toaster waffles for us low carbers. That probably wouldn't be to cheap to do though. 

Who else has tried this?

I pack my lunch when I go to work a lot. It's fast easy and saves me quite a bit of money than eating out. Along with this I don't have a very long lunch break so it seems to make sense that I should just bring something. So what does that look like? Well ...

Ham and cheese wrap on Flatout - 9g carbs

Low sugar Detour Bar - 3g carbs

String cheese - <1g carb

Usually a fancy water or a Coke Zero - 0g carbs

So it's nothing fancy, but it can be done. What do you guys like to do?

You're probably wondering why I haven't been posting to the blog as often lately. Well fact of the matter is I have been having some computer issues. Hope to get some new stuff up soon. Be patient.

Another sweet Costco deal. Its 5lb tub of peanuts for $6.99. These peanuts are super crunchy and are very large just like they say. They make a great snack and are becoming a staple in our house. I love the salt. Since my diet has changed I feel like I crave salt a lot more. Its a great price, and with a peanut shortage in this country, in never hurts to buy in bulk. You know, in case of that end of the world scenario hits. 

Good ole meatloaf. Nothing warms ones inside like meat that has been pressed together into the shape of a loaf. Yeesh, "Loaf", thats a word we can probably agree isn't the most appealing, right. Personally I love meatloaf but that word gives me the jitters. Still if you are able to look past the vocabulary here you might have a pretty good frozen dinner. 

The biggest thing that should be pointed out here is how ugly it is to look at. Nothing like the picture. very blah and ugly. The mushroom pieces were tiny on mine and nothing like what they lead you to expect. 

I will say, it's not too bad though. The meatloaf does a pretty good job of filling you up and the gravy has a nice flavor to it that works well with the veggies too. its one of the heartier meals in my opinion. It's not one of my favorite frozen dinners that Atkins has, but I have had it a couple times just to change things up.