Air Fryer
My husband and I are on a new diet that is really working for both of us. So far, after 11 weeks, we are down a total of 68 lbs. I’m down 26 and he’s down 42! We are hoping that the weight loss will lead to less medications. We’ll find out about that on Thursday. One of the things that we are doing is using an air fryer to cook our lean and green meals. I love this air fryer because it’s SOOOO easy to cook great food with it. I cooked this salmon in 10 minutes. All I did was get Salmon, sprinkle some Ms. Dash on it, and turn it on for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Bam! The Lean part of my meal is complete!! I highly recommend this air fryer. It’s really easy to use and cleans up easily too!
**Average weight loss for Clients on the Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan with support is 20 pounds. Clients are in weight loss, on average, for 12 weeks.**
Cajun Chicken and Sausage
I’m doing the Transformation Challenge at Orange Theory, so currently really pushing myself to eat healthy. I’m tracking what I eat and trying to make good choices. First week down and I did pretty good. The key is all about being prepared. This week, I was prepared for lunch with this delicious meal!
Ingredients:
- 1 container (28 spears ea.), Asparagus Spears
- 1 container (16 oz ea.), Smoked Sausage
- 1 tablespoon, Oil – Olive
- 24 oz, Chicken
- 2 squash, Cooked
- 2 tsp, Cajun Seasoning
I used a wok, since it holds the most food of all my pans. I put a little olive oil, then threw in the squash and zucchini.
Then I threw in the asparagus and sprinkled the cajun seasoning all over it.
Then I added the (precooked frozen) chicken and Ekrich Sausage. 
This is SOOO delicious!!! Definitely going to be a staple for my meal prep.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken
Yes, I’ve jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon! I’ve been searching for easy recipes that scream, “Cook ME!” The one I kept seeing was “Crack Chicken”. Well, with a name like that, you have to expect the results to be phenomenal!! Guess what!? It is!! Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 packet of ranch seasoning
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup water
8 – 10 slices cooked bacon
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Directions: Throw the chicken, water, ranch seasoning and cream cheese into the Instant Pot (IP). Set the timer on manual high for 25 minutes.
Remove the Chicken and shred it.
Pour out a little of the juice left by the chicken. Add cheese and bacon, then stir. Then add the shredded chicken back into the juice and let it cook for a little longer to get it all mixed up good.
Serve on bread, tortillas, etc. I used a low carb pita one time, but ate it with no bread too. This is a really easy good go-to recipe when you’re in a hurry to come up with something everyone will enjoy!
Low Carb Taco Bake
CRUST
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1⁄3 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 teaspoon taco seasoning
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
TOPPING
1 lb ground beef
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
1⁄4 cup low carb tomato sauce
4 ounces chopped green chilies
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Crust: beat the cream cheese and eggs until smooth, then add in cream and seasoning.
Spread cheese over a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper on it, then pour in the egg mixture as evenly as possible. Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes or more. Let stand 5 minutes before adding the topping.
Topping: brown the hamburger; drain fat. Stir in the seasoning, tomato sauce and chiles. Spread over the crust. Top with cheese. Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly. Serve with the toppings of your choice. I used guacamole. I think sour cream would be good too!
Click link to see original recipe!
Low carb steak fried “rice”
As always, I’m trying to figure out what the best diet is for me to help me lose weight. I’ve always had a pretty good work out ethic, until recent years, so my new obsession with Orange Theory Fitness is really going well. I have gone 3 – 6 times a week since I started in late October. I have to do better with food though!! I think a low carb diet is probably going to work the best for me. I’ve been interested in the Keto diet, but I haven’t been able to get low enough in carbs each day. I’ve kind of decided that my diet will be lower in carbs with the majority of the carbs happening with my breakfast shake, (which has a banana in it).
One of my go-to staples in this diet is the cauliflower fried “rice” plate. It’s super easy to make, especially if you buy the cauliflower fried rice package in the vegetable section. Here is my recipe:
2 bags of cauliflower fried rice packages
5 scrambled eggs
1 carton of sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 pound of stew meat or cubed steak (or chicken)
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
soy sauce to taste
1st step: Scramble an egg then put it to the side.
Step 2: In another pan or wok, put sesame oil then add two packages of Cauliflower Crumbles “Fried Rice” Blend. (If you want to add mushrooms, I’d put the mushrooms in before you put the cauliflower crumbles.)
3rd step: Stir in soy sauce to taste and cook until semi-translucent. 
4th step: Stir in the scrambled eggs and the stew or steak meat. Add more soy sauce if you like it. 
This is seriously the best low carb meal I make. I highly recommend it to everyone doing any kind of diet. You can substitute chicken instead of meat if you like. Or you can add no meat at all and use as a side dish. There are a lot of options with this deliciousness!! This makes anywhere from 6 – 8 servings.
Easy banana pudding
This year we volunteered to bring banana pudding to the family Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not sure what made my husband volunteer for this since neither of us has ever made banana pudding, but he did. So here it is. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I’m sure that grandmothers everywhere are shaking their head at us since we went the easy route, but I’m not ready to attempt any of those hard recipes; especially, when this easy recipe is so good.
Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese (softened)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (Fat Free)
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 sliced bananas
12 ounce package vanilla wafers
In a large bowl, beat the cheese until fluffy. Add in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping.
Line the bowl with vanilla wafers, layer banana slices on top of that. Put a layer of the 1/2 pudding mix. Layer wafers, bananas, then pudding. On top of that cover with vanilla wafers, bananas and top with leftover whipped topping.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
YUM!!
Meal Prep
The key to the 21 Day Fix is meal preparations. I decided I’m only willing to eat food that have been in containers for three days at a time, so here is what my three days looks like!
Breakfast:
Shakeology: Shakeology, 1/2 banana, flax seeds, coffee
Mid-morning snack: 1 egg cup with tortilla
Lunch: Chicken, Veggie Mix
Mid-Afternoon snack: 2nd Egg cup/whole wheat tortilla, Fruit
Dinner: Pork tenderloin, Lettuce w/ Balsamic Vinegar, Veggie Mix
Interested in joining me on this journey, get your 21 Day Fix HERE!!!
Mock Dreamland Chicken
Going out to eat can be a little difficult when you are doing low carb! Luckily, I’ve found a restaurant that seems to “get” that!! We stumbled upon Becks as a low carb option when my dad wanted to go there for his birthday. When we went, we all got burgers, but we noticed someone eating chicken and vegetables. At the time, we weren’t doing low carb, but it stuck in the back of our minds. Fast forward a couple of months and we remembered Becks for a low carb meal. I got the Dreamland, which turned out to be delicious. I thought I would attempt to create the recipe at home:
Ingredients:
1 Sliced onion
Sliced mushrooms (I bought them pre-cut)
Olive Oil
Butter
Chicken
Worcestershire sauce
Lemon Pepper
Swiss Cheese
Hickory BBQ sauce
Directions:
Caramelize the onions and mushrooms in a pan. I put a teaspoon of olive oil and a tiny pat of butter in the pan to help caramelize it.
Cook the chicken any way you want, but I baked mine. I marinated mine with a little bit of lemon pepper and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. Once the chicken is cooked through, put some swiss cheese on top of it and put it back in the oven for a minute or two or until the cheese starts to melt. 
Put the chicken on a plate and add the mushrooms/onion mix.
Cover the chicken, mushrooms, and onions with hickory BBQ sauce.
I thought my rendition of the Dreamland was just as good, if not better! Yea me!!
Eggs on the Go!
I’m constantly looking for recipes for my low carb diet. I was really excited when I found this idea that is easy to make AND a great time-saver!!
You can make about a week’s worth of eggs at one time using this recipe. I’m eating these for my mid-morning snack, but you can also eat it for breakfast or at some other time.
I worry about leftovers going bad, so I didn’t make all twelve eggs, but I think these should last about a week. Although, if it smells bad, don’t eat it!! I figure it will be about three days before they’re all eaten.
Ingredients:
Eggs
Pre-cooked sausage
Cheese
Jalapenos
**You can add other ingredients that you like, such as spinach, mushrooms, onions, etc. These are the things I like!
Directions:
Spray pam on a muffin pan. Add egg, sausage, cheese and jalapeños. Put in oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. Pull out of the oven and put them in your belly or in a tupperware for future meals on the go!
Loaded Cauliflower
Now that I’ve booked my cruise, it’s time to start eating more healthy. I’ve tried low carb before and it really seems to work, so I’ll try it again. I found this recipe on Facebook, and it kind of reminded me of loaded cheese fries, but with cauliflower instead of fries. I can’t find the website where I found this recipe. When I find it again, I’ll add the originator’s website. This was SOO good. I WILL be making this again!!
Ingredients:
1 large head of Cauliflower cut into bite size pieces (approx 6 cups)
6-8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (Cooked in oven at 400° for 20 mins)
6 Tbs chopped Chives
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 oz container sliced mushrooms
Jalapeños to taste (optional) (I only put it on half)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°
In a large pot steam the cauliflower for about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayo, 1/2 of crumbled bacon, 3 tbs chives, 1 cups of cheese,mushrooms, and cauliflower. Place the mix in a baking dish and cover with remaining 1 cup of cheese, chives, and rest of bacon crumbles. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted.
Fabulous after FIFTY 