Coffee? Yes please!

I know what the Doctor says, I'm not stupid, and yes I've read the book. Doctor Atkins say it's best to avoid coffee. Not just coffee, but caffeine in general. Caffeine can lead to all sorts of side effect on your diet that can mess your body up. We all know that too much caffeine can cause headaches and a rapid heart rate but caffeine can also cause a drop in your blood sugar levels and that means a craving for sweets and sugar. That can lead to bad news.

While I would agree that when you are doing the induction phase of Atkins it's a good idea to follow the rules stay off caffeine and just drink a lot of water; Caffeine, specifically coffee, has personally been a life saver for me. How so? Well, i'll give you two reasons... More after the jump.

    We love Splenda. It makes great things like Ice cream still possible for us low carbers. Even though there are lots of ice creams that are sugar free or low sugar, not all of them are as low in carb as the Breyers Carb Smart ice cream. Its a great dessert and perfect to top with fresh fruit, peanuts, or even a little cinnamon. Great to have around the holidays when people are busting out the pies and cakes. 

    For a real treat I sometimes will take a little butter and some Splenda brown sugar and heat them up to create a warm low carb caramel sauce to put on top. Its amazing and with some bananas(high in carb) its like a bananas foster. 

    Be careful, its easy to over scoop. Trust me, I know.

Carbs - 13
Dietary Fiber - 4
Net Carb - 4

    Look what I made! Low Carb Beef Nacho Soup! 

    Who doesn't like Nachos right? It's kind of a recipe that came to me in a vision. My friends and I used to eat a similar cheesy soup at the Super Bowl Parties we went to but it was fillled with beans and carbs galore. I wanted to try my own twist on it using ingrediants that might be a little better for the diet so I tried to pick ingredients that were low in carb.

Heres what you'll need.
1LB Beef
2 Medium Zucchinis
1 Mild Green chilies 4oz can
1 Can Dice tomatoes With Peppers 14.5oz
2 cans 10.75 Campbell's Zesty Nacho Cheese Soup
1/3 cup cooked Bacon
water 14.5 oz(I tomato can worth)

    I really didn't do anything fancy. I'll be honest, I just kind of threw things in a pot. Not sure how it worked out so well, but it did. I just tried to pick things I liked and that were lower in carbs and would compliment each other.

1. Brown your Beef. When its cooked drain off the excess fat.
2. Add 2 medium Zucchini chopped into slices.
3. Add 1 small can Green Chilies
4. Add 1 can 14.5 oz Diced Tomatoes with Peppers
5. Add 1/3 cup chopped cooked Bacon
6. Add one 14.5 oz water (I tomato can worth)
7. Add 2 cans Campbell's Zesty Nacho Cheese Soup 10.75oz
8. Stir and mix products.
9. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover allowing simmer for 15-20 minutes.
10. Eat it dummy

    My wife and I really enjoyed this. We agreed that it would be a great soup to eat while watching a the big game (Go LA Galaxy!), as its a pretty hearty soup and has a real nacho feel to it. My wife ate hers with tortilla chips and said it was great. It was so easy to make too. Probably took me 30 minutes total. I imagine you could brown you beef and even make up a bathc in your crock pot if you want to.





The following is a guess...

1 Bowl
Carbs - 16
Dietary Fiber - 2
Net Carbs - 14

    Panda Express was a favorite of mine in my chubby yesterday. My wife and I use to eat there often because it was quick, easy, and we are suckers for Chinese food. I am aware that their selections certainly aren't always fresh and the food probably isn't the healthiest., but some of it isn't that bad either. I mean they do give you the option of veggies over rice and noodles. If you do you research and stay away from the fried and sugary sauces you could come away with something that's not too bad for you.

So on my latest visit I went with the Kung Pao Chicken

Serving size 6.1oz
Carbs 13g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Net Carbs 11g

 Panda Express's website describes Kung Pao Chicken as...

    Kung Pao Chicken is a spicy stir-fry dish from the Sichuan Province in Central China. It is prepared with marinated diced chicken, crunchy peanuts, diced red bell peppers, and sliced zucchini, all tossed in the wok with fresh green onions.

    It's tasty and pretty spicy too. Be warned, you have to be careful cause they do put some hot peppers in there that if you aren't careful might take a bite into. One of those things and then the heat is really going to come. For me I love the crunch of the peanuts, its a different taste and nice variety in my day. The real issue I have here is that 6oz of this stuff probably won't fill you up. You're going to be hungry for more, trust me, I was. Add a small side of veggies with it to help fill the gap if you need to. Even so, I would probably say that is might be a choice to have on occasion, but not that frequent.cause with Asian food it's pretty easy to get your carb number to rise. Otherwise it's tasty and fill the craving for the Asian taste.

Panda Express Nutritional Info

    I Love Chicken Wings! Seriously. Something happened when I started Atkins and a flip was switched on. I always appreciated wings, they were a fun food around football games and a great appetizer on occasion but now I love them always. I don't know why? Its a love affair that I can't explain. My best guess: the sauces. I'm a sucker for trying new sauces and glazes. Sauces and cinnamon roll scented candles are the key to my heart. 

    During a quick trip to Costco I was walking through the freezer section and spotted my weakness there waiting for me. Wings. Or to be specific, Foster Farms Tequila Lime Chicken Wings. I thought I would bring them home and give them a try. These were wonderful because they are super easy. Just pop them in the oven for 30 minutes and your good to go.

    Other than burning the roof of my mouth because I lack the ability to wait for my food to cool before enjoying it, my frozen wings were a success. These wings are obviously much milder than the usual buffalo wing in spice yet they still have a nice zesty taste to them. i was a little leery with tequila in the title that they might have some weird taste to them, but they were nice and full of flavor and almost have a Caribbean taste to them, What's great is how juicy and meaty they are too. Each wing is packed with a good amount of meat so you will get full fast. Plus, the carbs count is nice and low.

A side of celery and ranch is the perfect mix for this meal.

3 Wings = 1 Carb

If you have been following my blog at all you probably have realized that I am a huge fan of the low carb tortillas. They are just such an easy tool to use for someone who is in a hurry and needs something to hold a low carb meal together. And at four carbs a tortilla who can complain?

The other day we made Meatball pizza wraps using Turkey meatballs and the low carb wraps. Just heat up the following inside for a delicious quick treat:

Turkey Meatballs
Pepperoni
Pizza sauce
Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Atkins Chocolate Chip Granola Bar isn't really anything special, It's pretty much just what they say it is. A granola bar with chocolate chips. no fruit, no nuts, not much of anything else. And yet, perhaps its this granola bar's simplicity which allows me to feel less guilty eating this Atkins bar for breakfast compared to some of the others that are covered in chocolate. Now I'm not eating a candy bar for breakfast,

This is probably one of the more readily available Atkins bars on the market. You can find it at most grocery stores and I have even picked it up at gas stations that have energy bar sections.

So how does it taste? Well, good I guess. Its chewy, has a chocolate sweet taste, and tastes like a granola bar. i would say its a success in that aspect. Being as how there really aren't a lot of other low carb simple granola bars out there. This simple bar will work just fine in a quick fix.

Carbs - 18
Dietary Fiber - 6
Net Carbs - 3

    I work a lot of Saturdays and those days usually start pretty early for me, On occasion, on my drive to work, I like to stop and pick up a treat for myself. It just so happens that I pass by a McDonalds on my way to work everyday. Being that its right off my path and only a few blocks away its become a great place to stop with a nice option for me to eat at the breakfast hour. I go in and ask for the classic McMuffin and minus the muffin. They place them on a plate for me with a knife and fork and I have a tasty breakfast. At this point when its served on a plate it becomes something almost closer to an omlette and just as easy to eat. I suppose if I had a low carb tortilla along I could roll one up in it for a breakfast burrito, but I rarely go prepared for anything other then knife and forking it. Give them a try. They are a breakfast classic.


Carbs - 1
Dietary Fiber - 0
Net Carbs -1

    Have I mentioned how much I love barbacoa? Oh man I love it. In my Atkins weight loss journey I have eaten a lot of salads at Chipotle and many of them have been barbacoa. It's spicy and full of flavor and really gives a great kick to the meal and because its so juicy is doesn't really need any dressing. That's the juicy beauty of barbacoa. But then again how can I really say I like it so much. I mean I haven't really tried it anywhere else. I had to verify my beliefs.

    If Chipotle had a sweet innocent younger sister thy name would be Cafe Rio. I would romantically court this restaurant if I could, it's that awesome! It is basically an express Mexican restaurant in the vein of Chipotle that serves tacos, massive burritos, and salads made fresh to order. Like other similar chains, they allows you to custom pick what items you want for your meal. A friend of mine introduced them to me and I have been in love ever since. When you walk inside the menu on the wall is filled with different recommendation to go with, of course they all involve tortillas, so I am a bit limited as to what I can get. But there is one thing on the menu that is so perfect for me I had to give it a try. It is even an award winner. Its the Sweet Pork salad made with their slow marinated barbacoa. Did I mention I like barbacoa?

    Oh my gosh it it awesome. But totally different from what I was expecting. The barbacoa at Cafe Rio is not spicy at all. No it's sweet, almost closer to a bbq pulled pork. So juicy and so full of flavor the sweet pork salad is such an unexpected taste for me. It is made up several carb ingredients like rice, beans, and tortilla strips so becareful. Of course I chose to remove those carb elements from my salad.

MY sweet pork salad
Barbacoa
Lettuce
Cojita cheese
Pico de Gallo Salsa
Gaucamole
Fresh Cilantro
Creamy Tomatillo

Like I said before this is amazing but the pork is sweet so its gonna be a little higher on the carbs than a chicken will. Still a tasty salad with lots of flavor. Hey, stay away from those tortillas! I mean it!

Carbs 15
Dietray Fiber 3
Net Carbs 12

Cafe Rio Nutrional Facts

Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Sauteed Onions.

I actually put some lettuce on my plate fore a salad and mixed in the chicken and onions a little. It was like a southwest salad. Very tasty.