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.
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!!
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.
Broccoli Chicken Casserole
Last weekend I ran in the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I guess “ran” may be a bit of an exaggeration. I ran part of it. I ran for the first 2 miles and then I hit a real steep hill and had to walk to the top of it. I ran for another 2 miles and then had to take a bathroom break, (which is kind of gross when all you have is a port-o-let). After that I had to alternate walking and running in much shorter increments for the remaining 9 miles. I got a little added motivation to keep going at miles 5, 9, and 13 when I saw a very good friend cheering me on with a poster made especially for me with my favorite colors on it. Every time I thought I couldn’t go another step, I thought about how I would be seeing her standing there in just a little bit. I appreciated her being there more than she will ever know!! I kept all my miles, (except the bathroom break mile), at under 13 minute miles. I finished at 2:43:02. The last time I attempted a half marathon, I finished in 3:07, so I was pretty proud of myself. I love my medal. I want to start doing more races that give medals so I can start a medal collection. I’ve found lots of cool display frames for them, but it would look pretty silly with just one medal hanging there. This weekend I will be riding in the Tour Dallas, but no medals for that!! 
This week’s recipe turned out really good. It is low carb, so I’m hoping by eating it for dinner this week, I will start to lose some weight. I’ve put on a few pounds and I don’t want to let my weight get out of control!! I’m getting back on track with my food and my exercise!
Ingredients:
Rotisserie chicken (I guess you could cook you’re own chicken, but why?)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
8 oz of cheddar cheese
1 bag of frozen broccoli
Sliced mushrooms (I bought them pre-sliced)
2 tsp of lemon pepper
Get a Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store.
Put Pam in a 9 X 9 casserole dish and tear up the chicken for the bottom layer.
Put broccoli over the chicken.
Put mushrooms on top of the broccoli and sprinkle lemon pepper over the mixture.
In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup, half a can of water and about 6 ounces of cheese.
Layer the cheese/soup mixture over the chicken, broccoli and mushrooms. Put in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.
Pull out of the oven and cover the casserole with more cheese and put back in the oven for another 10 – 15 minutes.
Pull out of the oven and eat. This casserole was even better the next day!!
Fabulous after FIFTY 