Simple & Delicious Brown Gravy

 I recently did some modifications to my brown gravy recipe and it was a hit! 

Classic Brown Gravy Recipe

Ingredients ~ 

1 1/3 Cup Beef Broth

2/3 Cup Chicken Broth

2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tsp Onion Powder

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

4 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Flour

Instructions ~ 

Add butter and flour to a skillet and stir together using a whisk to
make a rough. Once the flour and butter is combined slowly add the beef broth and mix constantly with a whisk. Next mix in the chicken broth the same way. Once thickened add your seasonings and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well. The gravy should be nice and thick. Enjoy! 

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

 I never really tried Caesar Salad before, believe it or not! I went to Cheesecake Factory the other day and instead of the house salad they served me a Caesar Salad by mistake! Well it was a delicious mistake. Their Caesar Dressing was amazing!! I ended up loving it! So I was determined to find a similar recipe because the one thing I do know, bottled dressing in the grocery store really doesn't cut it most of the time. We make most of our dressings and sauces at home now and I find we enjoy them a whole lot more. 

This jar is so empty because I didn't get a chance to post this recipe right away and my kids have been gobbling up this dressing. LOL

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients ~ 

1 Cup Mayonnaise

3 Garlic Cloves Chopped Or Pressed

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Grated

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

Instructions ~ 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, parmesan cheese and black pepper until blended. 

Add the mayonnaise and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Most common Caesar Salads Dressing is served on romaine lettuce but this dressing would be good on any greens! 

Egg Salad Perfect For The Keto Diet!

 This is a quick and simple egg salad recipe that is perfect for Keto! No carbs, which is always a good thing! 

Ingredients ~ 

12 Jumbo Eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise 

4 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Paprika, Salt & Pepper

Instructions ~ 

Boil 12 eggs. When done, cool, peel and chop. Place chopped eggs in a large bowl. Add yellow mustard, mayonnaise & vinegar. You can use less vinegar, I just like my egg salad to have a nice tangy flavor. Mix well. Sprinkle the salad with paprika, salt & pepper to taste. Mix well again. You're done! Enjoy! 

Nutrition Information For 1/2 Cup Serving. Makes 8 Servings. 

Working Hard & Finally Headed In The Right Direction

 These past couple of weeks have been a bit frustrating for me. My weight has been going up and down since I dropped down to 187.6 on March 10th. I'm trying to figure out the formula to getting past this plateau and it has been challenging to say the least! 

Finally this morning I was at 187.8! That is the first time I have been 187 for about 12 days or so. Mind you when I dropped to 187 the first time, it was the week I had Covid. So I knew I would probably pop up a bit but wasn't expecting me to take 2 weeks to get back to 187! But it was a welcome site on the scale this morning and I am just glad to be back there! I have yet to fall below 187.6 but I am hopeful I will get there this week! 

I have really been diligent the past 9 days to not eat more then my recommended calories by Fitbit. I've also stayed on track with my carbs and most days I have been well under 20. I have been back in high ketosis for several days now and plan to stay moderate to high until I meet my next goal of 182.2. I am monitoring my ketones closely. 

Hopefully this plan will work and I will start seeing the scale continue to go down instead of acting like a yo yo! 

My Favorite Keto Friendly Yogurt!

 So I really wanted to be able to eat yogurt regularly but many yogurts on the supermarket shelves are loaded with carbs! But after having some stomach issues last month I really needed the yogurt for the natural live bacteria that yogurt has in it. 

After reading LOTS of nutrition labels I decided to try Fage Plain Greek Yogurt. It only has 5 grams of carbs in a 3/4 cup serving! I have really grown to love this yogurt! I started out enjoying it with one Splenda packet and a little vanilla. But I have also discovered it makes a really great dessert if you mix some Sugar Free Jello in with it! 

It's definitely an item I keep stocked in my fridge. My kids love putting it in their smoothies! So if you are looking for a great tasting yogurt that is Keto friendly, be sure to try Fage 5% Milk Fat Plain Greek Yogurt!

Feelin' Fabulous Today!

 I'm feeling good this morning! I feel like I am back on track and headed back in the right direction. Most of my challenges are behind me now, so I am focused on getting down to my next goal of 182.2! I weighed my self real quick this morning and I am now back in the 180's again. I wasn't back in the 190's for long so I feel good about that. I think I was at 189.6 this morning! First and foremost, I want to get back to 187.6 then make my way down to 182.2! 

I made some deviled eggs last night and enjoyed those for my breakfast this morning. I also made some Sugar Free Jello last night to have as a low calorie sweet treat. I actually enjoy it mixed in with some of my Fage Greek Plain yogurt. That just makes a sweet dessert! 

The weather was in the 60's yesterday! I enjoyed a nice walk with the family last night and hope to do that again tonight. I also had my physical yesterday. Although I ended up talking to my doctor last week when I had Covid we still went over a few more things yesterday. 

Good news is, she was totally OK with my diet choice and was very pleased with all my weight loss. She didn't seem too concerned with my cholesterol and was glad I was being proactive and trying to get in more exercise to help raise my HDL. So fingers crossed my HDL goes up in a few months!

Things are looking up and I am looking forward to what the next few months will bring!

Just Bought Some Size 12 Pants Yesterday!!

 I was so excited to go shopping yesterday but even more so once I tried some pants on. I was in need of more new pants as most of my jeans I have are just getting way too big. I had bought 4 pairs of size 14 pants a couple of months ago but needed to get more. 

So I stopped at Kohls yesterday and to my surprise, I am now in a size 12! Woohoo! Major milestone for me. It felt so good to fit into those jeans. It kind of put a flame under my butt to get back on track and start dropping weight again! 

It's been a challenging couple of months. My period finally showed up today after 2 months. With this delay in my period I do feel my hormones have been all out of wack. Now that I've started hopefully the hormones will start behaving themselves again. LOL Then on top of it I end up with Covid. I am better but my stomach has been a bit wonky over the last week which has been making it hard because the feeling makes me feel like I need to eat all the time to make my stomach feel better. I haven't gone crazy, but the snacking has definitely increased. 

I weighed in this morning just over 190 pounds. With my period finally starting and my stomach feeling a bit better today, I am really going to work hard on focusing so I can get my weight down to 182.2, which will be my 90 pound milestone! 

Stuck Home Last Week With Covid

What a week! Started feeling not so great on Monday. Ended up at the ER Tuesday late afternoon thinking I might have appendicitis and didn't want to ignore my symptoms. Of course, had to have a Covid test done when I got to the ER. I had the really nasty one that they go all the way up your nose. That was the most unpleasant thing I've experienced in a long time! Good news is no appendicitis, but a I just have a "bad virus" as they put it. So I go home and have to quarantine until my test results come back. Well my Covid test came back Wednesday positive! Ugh! My employee also wasn't feeling well on Monday and she also tested positive on Wednesday.

I had to quarantine through Friday. My kids started not feeling well so I kept them home on Wednesday and they both tested positive by Thursday. They go back to school on Wednesday.

Good news is, we are all feeling better. Even more good news is my weight has dropped a few pounds. On March 10th I was down to 187.6! My weight has fluctuated up and down since but has stayed in the 180's. Now, I just need to stay focused so I can continue to drop.

I do think I have been eating too many snacks that are encouraging more nibbling then usual. More nuts, popcorn now and then and also yogurt which has more carbs in it. The yogurt has been important though with some stomach issues that came with having Covid. So that one I don't plan to change. I think for me I want to try to watch the nibbling in between meals. I seem to be doing a lot more of that lately and want to break that habit. My stomach has been feeling wonky since Covid and I don't think that is helping. I think the key is to stay focused and not forget how I got here and make sure I'm staying on track and doing what I need to to keep those carbs under 20 per day!

I've allowed myself to go over a lot more often lately. Yesterday I was having a nibbling fest and ended up having chocolate and popcorn. I did manage to have 50 carbs and no more. But I don't like the fact I am going over the 20 carbs a day a lot more often lately. So today, it's time to refocus!!

I am about 5 pounds away from hitting the 90 pound mark! Such a big milestone, so I certainly don't want to screw things up now! Onward!

Weight Fluctuations & Vacation, Oh My!

Long time, no post! The week after my last post my weight was all over the place and was pretty much up to 194 before I left on vacation. I feel like I was dealing with another plateau like I dealt with in early December. It seems to be hormone related as far as I can tell.

But I kept my chin up and figured I would go on vacation, enjoy myself and then be less obsessed about the scale! LOL!

I did well on vacation. I allowed myself more carbs. The goal was to stay under 50 per day. I only had one day I went over. I am sure there were hidden carbs when eating out so I made an effort to keep my carbs at a minimum to avoid issues with that. I checked my blood levels most days and as far as I know, I was only out of ketosis one day toward the end of my vacation. Not too shabby!

Considering I discovered I can enjoy popcorn at the movies in moderation and I enjoyed some chocolate Jordon Almonds all week, I don't think I did too bad. 

We came home last Friday night and I weighed in at 199.6 pounds. This was a lot higher then I expected it to be. I always gain weight on vacation and that seems to have not changed. The only difference from my shorter vacations on Keto is we walked...A LOT! 

Here are my steps for the week of vacation:

Saturday 10,282

Sunday 10,000 + (I left my watch at the hotel that day so this is just an estimate based on my husband's steps. I walked more then he did so it was probably higher)

Monday 13,246

Tuesday 13,099

Wednesday 17,856

Thursday 9,563

Friday 9,266

I have not exercised that much in at least 3 months so I am wondering if some of that gain was due to inflammation. In either case, I have dropped a few pounds since Saturday morning. I am now at 195.6 pounds. 

Although I was disappointed by the weight gain I am trying to not let it get to me. I really do think that I will get back to my lowest weight and be in the 180's soon!! I just have to not get discouraged and soldier on! Our bodies can be such a mystery sometimes. I don't want these little hiccups to screw my hard work up by overthinking what is going on! I know what works, I just need to keep doing it!  If anything, I have to remember that I am over joyed to be as small as I am. I knew that my weight loss would probably slow down, so I just have to give my body some time to adjust and not worry when the scale doesn't go down as quickly as it had before. 

Ok, that was a good pep talk to myself. LOL! Onward!