Carrot Ginger Soup

Fall is the perfect time for soup.  Its also a Phase 4 suggested dinner.  Its warm and satisfying on a cold fall evening and many soups are jam packed with vegetables and low in fat and carbs.  One of my favorite soups is a Carrot Ginger soup I learned in the second week of my first cooking class ever.   Its amazing!

I served this with some toasted grain free bread from AgainstAllGrain.com.  I am really liking this site.  While not all gluten free recipes are low carb, I've been able to find several between the website and Danielle's cook books (which I purchased for my kindle) that are great tasting and fairly healthy (non-processed ingredients, healthy fats, etc). I am finding the gluten free sweet treats made with almond and coconut flour are just as satisfying to my sweet tooth and these are lower in carbs mainly due to the flour used.  I don't know if I can repost the recipes or if I will just provide links, but I will ask that question.  Either way, expect to see some banana bread and "granola" bar recipes in the near future. The granola is made from crushed nuts and is so satisfying I can barely finish one!  But that's a post for another day.  You came here today for a soup recipe and soup recipe you shall have

Here you go ...

Carrot Ginger Soup (From The Culinary Experience Class at Kirkwood)

Ingredients:

1 T butter (or ghee)

½ Onion, chopped

½ celery stalk, chopped

½ sweet potato, chopped

½ parsnip, chopped

3 c. carrots, chopped

1 ½ tsp minced fresh ginger root (equivalent to ½ tsp ground ginger)

3 c. chicken stock

¼ c. heavy cream (or coconut creamer or Greek yogurt)

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in large pot.  Add onion and celery and cook until soft

Stir in sweet potato, parsnip, carrots, ginger and stock.   Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer about 20 minutes.

Pour soup into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Return soup to pot.  Stir in cream and nutmeg.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reheat slowly to serve.

Enjoy!

Nutrition facts: Using ghee and coconut creamer (from MyFitnessPal.com)

Calories: 212

Fat: 4 g

Total Carbs:  37 g (Net Carbs: 31g)

Fiber: 6 g

Protein: 7 g

Hot Cereal for Breakfast

Its turned chilly in my neck of the woods.  Unseasonably chilly!  High in the 50s today and its still early September!  Luckily I have a great hot breakfast idea.  Its from many years ago and to be honest its the only way I can eat Grape-Nuts.

That's right you heard me ... Grape Nuts.  Those hard little nuggets that will break your teeth if you're not careful.  BUT .... add some milk, heat them in the microwave for a minute and a half and then add maple syrup and fruit (I had fresh blueberries this morning) and its turns into something warm and filling and really, really tasty.

Here's how I make it:

1/2 c Grape Nuts cereal
1/2 c skim milk
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Mix cereal and milk in a bowl large enough to allow the heating mixture to expand without overflowing. Heat on high for 1.5 minutes

Stir in the syrup.

You can add fruit if you like.  The nutrition facts are just for the cereal though

That's it!

Simple, Delicious.  Enjoy.

Nutrition Facts from MyFitnessPal.com
Calories: 295
Fat: 1 g
Total Carb: 67 (Net Carb: 60)
Fiber: 7 g
Protein: 10 g

Before and After

There it is ... me on my wedding day last October and me just last week - 65 pounds lighter and feeling fabulous

Phase 3 went really well.  I was preparing myself to gain weight because that's what is typical - just a few pounds but still.  Instead I lost.  Not sure how because I felt like I was eating so much, but it wasn't just like before.  It wasn't carb heavy - in fact I rarely hit my carb limit!

I'm using MyFitnessPal android app to track everything.  I'm really going to have to watch the fats and proteins but carbs don't seem to be a worry as of yet :)

I'm looking into paleo and grain free, gluten free cooking.  Some sweet treats that are grain free are also much lower in carb (due in large part to the type of flour used)  I like that I can have chocolate chip cookies or brownies every once in a awhile and not fear a weight gain.

The website I'm using most heavily is www.againstallgrain.com  I am fortunate in that I don't have food sensitivities or medical conditions that force a particular type of diet.  I also recognize that not all grain free/ gluten free is going to be "healthy" or low carb.  But these are more whole food type recipes and use little to no overly processed or refined products so that's healthier and a move in the right direction in my book.

I started making my own cheese and yogurt - that way I know just whats in it  I make my own granola bars and they are protein packed and delicious.  As soon as I get the ingredients I am going to try a go at bread low carb and grain free.  Higher in good fat but its worth a try for something different.

And now I start the trek over the other side of the weight loss hill in the fields of maintenance.  Here's hoping for a long and joyous stay there :)

Catch you later, I think I see some daisies to skip through.

Whole Grain Pancakes

I've been waiting for this post for a while ... Phase 3/4 breakfast!!!!

I made pancakes for the first time in a long time where I could eat them too :)

I got this recipe a few years ago from a good friend who is also a nutritionist/dietitian.  They are packed with whole grain.  I used applesauce to minimize the fat and it was homemade applesauce to boot !  - no I didnt make it but someone I know did :))

Whole Grain Pancakes

1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup regular rolled oats

¼ cup yellow cornmeal

¼ cup toasted wheat germ

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk or sour milk*

1/4 cup applesauce

2 tablespoon honey

* To sour milk put 2 Tbsp lemon juice in a measuring cup and add enough milk to make 2 c.  Let it sit, stir and use in the recipe.  I have done this with skim milk to reduce the fat and it works pretty well.

Stir first 7 ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Mix the next 4 ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir just until moistened.  Pour ¼ cup batter onto heated, lightly greased griddle.  Cook  about 2 minutes on each side.  Makes approximately 14 pancakes. 

I made the serving size 3 pancakes (and the dog got the odd 2 out)  so this recipe will make 4 servings.  After they cool off they freeze really well.  Just thaw on the counter overnight and then pop in the toaster for fresh made taste!

I mashed up some cherries and mixed that with WF syrup the first time I had these and it was absolutely divine!  The second time I just had maple syrup.  Even better!!!

Here is the nutrition facts as calculated by MyFitnessPal.com.  This is for using skim milk for the sour milk:

Per serving:

Calories: 356

Fat: 7g

Total Carbs: 60 g (Net Carbs: 53 g )

Fiber: 7 g

Protein: 16 g

Weekly Weigh In: Phase 3 into Phase 4

Had my first weekly Phase 3 weigh in.  I was expecting an increase.  My scale at home showed one.  When I got to the office my weight was actually down 0.2 pounds ... wth?!?!  I've been priming myself all week with the knowledge that I will probably gain this week since I'm eating more and more regular food again.

That was a pleasant surprise.

So far Phase 3 has been great.  A little overwhelming at times, but the MyFitnessPal app has been amazing - tracks and computes target goals for fat/carb/protein etc.  Tells you when you've had enough too :)

There are hundreds and hundreds of food already in the database including IP foods so when I have my brownie I can find it right there and and add it to the log.  It also allows you to import recipes and use those recipes in tracking your food intake.  So easy !   I've been using the recipe nutrition calculator for a while now just to see what some recipes looked like carb-wise.  Its even better now that I'm eating some of the recipes. and the Absolute best is that you can have it import from a blog/website and then just confirm the ingredients.  The tool tries to line them up but its not 100 %.  A quick run through the list and I make any adjustments needed.  Then save and its ready to log when I make it.

I'll have a few new recipes to post (homemade yogurt - OK so its a yogurt maker but you still have to preheat the milk and it was to die for good!!) and whole grain pancakes that I got from a friend of mine who is a dietitian.  They were the bomb!

The only issue so far has been getting meal sizes right.  I feel like I'm eating so much but eating the right things lets you get the volume you need.  I never would have thought 1 slice of toast (whole /multi-grain) a half cup Greek yogurt and a 1/4 cup blueberries would be SO filling!  But it is ... for realz!

Phase 4 we get snacks too - morning and afternoon and bedtime - :D  the meals get a little smaller but that/s OK cuz there are snacks!!

I also started walking more regularly and use the EndoMondoSports free app to track.  It will link to the MyFitnessPal and supposed to link to Facebook but I think the free one doesn't do that.  It does add my workout to MyFitnessPal daily diary and then MyFitnessPal adjusts my calorie intake to include those burned off during exercise.  Like I said - SO easy!

This is my last week on Phase 3 then its full on Phase 4 ... can't wait!