If you are eating a low carb diet then you are probably consuming a lot more vegetables now then you have in the past. The problem I first encounter was, which ones are low carb, and how can I make them delicious? I decided to make a nice list of some low carb veggie options along with some quick suggestions on how to use them in a low carb way. With a little more research you can find a bunch of recipes out their and I will post some more in-depth ideas later on. But here's a great place to get started.

Celery - I love eating these with a buffalo chicken dip, but you can also just add jalapeno/chipotle cream cheese to them for a quick snack. 

Mushrooms - Blah! don't these grow on logs in musty swamps...I'll pass.

Cabbage (or sauerkraut) - I like to use sauerkraut with some hotdogs or sausages to help fill me up. if its too tart for you, try cooking it with bacon and apple bits.

Avocado - Guacamole is a great dip for other veggies or low carb tortillas. You can also just slice up an avocado, add a little salt and pepper and enjoy.

Asparagus - Wrap in bacon, or season with spices. Great on the grill.

Cucumbers (or pickles without added sugars) - make some pickles. good with hummas too. These are good in salads. My wife will even have cucumber sandwiches. I think that's weird though.

Green Beans and Wax Beans- Wrap bunches of them in bacon, and a pinch of Splenda brown sugar to impress your friends.

Cauliflower - I am not a huge fan, but this works great to stick in a food processor and use as a rice substitute. some people even use it as a fake pizza crust.

Broccoli - I love this with ranch or hummus as a snack, but for a side dish you can always add a little cheese on top. If you really want to get fancy broccoli goes well with curry dishes so make a curry side dish.

Green Bell Peppers - Stuff them with some beef and make stuffed peppers. great on low carb pizza.

Red Bell Peppers - Slice in half, add an egg and cook for a yummy breakfast. good with hummus for a snack.

Jalapeno Peppers - if they are fresh, put them on burgers, pizza, or even in a salad.

Summer Squash - Bake in the oven, add some butter and brown sugar. Die happy.

Zuchinni - We love to bake this with some garlic and cheese. its a fun dish that goes with any meal.

Brussels Sprouts - Add some EVO with some Salt and Pepper. Bake it up. Its the best way to go.

Tomatoes - BLT's Yo! Make some salsa too.

Eggplant - I love using this as a noodle substitute, Make a Egg plant lasagna and impress your pals. Great flavor and no guilt

Pumpkin - We make pumpkin soup and Pumpkin quesadilla. Crazy I know.

Spaghetti Squash - this is great when baked to use with a marinara sauce. great as a noodle replacement.

Carrots - Best to bake. great in a crock pot with chicken and onions for a quick meal.

Onions - Saute these and use on a burger. Good in salads. Best server with something to add flavor. I guess you could eat them by themselves, but aint nobody gonna want to kiss you.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but it appears that our summer is coming to an end. At least if you live where we do. The temperature is dropping and my wife is beginning to have high anxiety about a winter that is still weeks away. All that to say, our summer has been pretty good.

Of course a large part of our summer was simply just watching our daughter and learning how to not make her grow up to hate us. So far I would say we have been 50% effective in our efforts. Time will tell. It's a ton of fun being a dad, and I love the new adventure, but it has been hard for us too. Coming from a life that was fun and fancy free on a Broadway tour, to being stuck in our house every night after 8pm is kind of a rude awakening that we are grown ups now. It's also incredibly hard to have dates . Baby sitters are not as easy to find as you might think and our current jobs aren't quite as lavished as the ones we had before. Still, we try to remain feeling blessed and often remind each other that this is just the beginning of really awesome stuff.

One of the highlights of the summer for me was attending a wedding of a good friend of mine. So great to be near old friends and to be a part of such an awesome change in his life. Also, a weekend of not changing diapers does a lot for your self esteem.

We had a blast just hanging out, having a bonfire, and making jokes. Its so great to be surround by people that share in your interests and of course your sense of humor. Not to say that we don't have that here in Fargo, its just different from some of our old friends from before. Like getting to wear your favorite Tshirt on a Saturday. It just feels right.

We had plenty of adventure though. Here's a quick rundown of some of our summer Highlights.

1. Hitting the Lakes with my wife family. A great time to relax and enjoy some games.

2. Backyard bonfire. (not counting the one which may or may not have caused the fire department to arrive)

3. Downtown StreetFair with Out Of town visitor. Vendor food are always fun to try, We tried to keep it as low carb as possible, but that's impossible with fair food. Go Big or go home I guess.

4. Junk Week. Fargo people throw out awesome old stuff on their boulevards . We fix it up and we make money that in turn buys us a taco and mostly goes to diapers. Hooray for Junk!


5. Lots of outdoor walks.

6. Guardians od the Galaxy!!!

7. um...

I can't think of a #7. I am trying but I just can't. Geez that's a small list. crap. Ok, I got to go do something fun before its cold here or my wife is going to kill me.

There is a new Low Carb Protein Bar company in town, and its name is Level. A company that is designed to create bars and shakes to defeat hunger and promote healthy blood sugar and also helps to keep its carb count low for those on the low carb diet.

Recently discovering these I had the chance to try out a couple of their products. The first thing I got to try was their Caramel Chocolatey Peanut Protein Bar. Is Chocolatey a word? I don't think so as it is currently being underline by my autocorrect in a red squiggly line.

The Long review: I had high hopes for this particular bar. The name alone sounds sweet and something that might fill a void of a snickers bar or something similar. It conjures of ideas of salty and sweet which I like. But how was it actually? I was kind of disappointed with this bar. It's entirely possible that I got a box that was a little bit old, as it had a bit of a hard dry texture and taste to it, but I can't say for sure as all the bars in the box tasted that way and it's my first time having it. Even if that wasn't the case and it wasn't old, the bar itself didn't seem sweet enough. It was kind of bland in both the peanut taste and the caramel taste. And the chocolate coating on the outside was lacking in authentic chocolate flavor. It tasted waxy and artificial.

The Short Review: It tastes off. Fake and not too sweet.

Not really a bar I would come back to.

There are some other bars they offer that may be a better choice.

If Macho Man Randy Savage was here, I would bet he would high five us all for even taking the time to write/read a blog post about Slim Jims.

"Oh Yeaaah, way to use technology to better yourself...punk!"

It's worth mentioning that Slim Jims are mostly meat and spice. Therefore its a great little snack when you are one the road or have to get gas and are needing a quick bite. I like to get the small pack and will occasionally put on in a lunch I bring to work. Its a great litte filler, and also I don't like having pro wrestlers body check me in the middle of my work day, so its a win-win

 5 Carbs in 4 sticks.

We decided to give another go at one of the Campbell's Slow Cooker sauces since the last one we tried was such a hit.

We had a little get together for my moms birthday and it seemed like going the taco route was a great way to get everyone together. Plus using the slow cooker is a great way to make some food and guarantee it wont take much effort on our part, which is a win in my book.

Campbell's Slow Cooker Mexican Red Chili sauce is pretty simple to use. Just get a beef roast, pour the sauce over it, and let it sit for several hours on low in your crock pot.

The flavor was really tasty on this and had good spice to it. It was a good Mexican flavor but different from any other tacos you may usually have. This would make great nachos too or filling for enchiladas. The carb count is low, so if you use low carb tortillas you will probably keep the meal down on the carbs for yourself.

Currently Campbell seems to be hitting it out of the park with their sauce mixes. Good flavor and not too high in carbs. Great for people like us that don't have time always to make a fancy meal, but don't want to sacrifice flavor.