Monthly Archives: August 2017

Fast Food Carb Review – Domino’s Pizza

I was really going to miss my thin crust Domino’s pizzas!  However, I have enjoyed discovering ways to make pizzas at home!  More on that later.

I wasn’t sure there was going to be anything to eat off of Domino’s menu.  Pizzas.  Out.  One slice of an Ultimate Pepperoni medium pizza is 26 Net Carbs!  Pastas.  Out.  Desserts.  Definitely out!

Then I ran across their wings, which I’d never tried before because why get wings when you can have more pizza?

Any of their Plain, BBQ, Hot and Fire Wings are between 7 and 8 Net Carbs.  Any other wings and you are racking up the carbs!  It’s not the chicken that is high, but the sauces and seasonings that they have on them.

Their Garden Salad and Chicken Caesar Salad are a bit high in carbs at 13 Net Carbs each and so you will need to weigh that choice. However, they don’t give the contents of their salads on their nutritional guide and it could be that most of the carbs are croutons.  If that’s the case there are possibly up to 10 Net Carbs that can be subtracted. Their dressings, however, are ALL very low in net carbs in the 1 to 2 Net Carb range with the exception of their Balsamic dressing which has 5 Net Carbs.

So in short… if you, family or friends are going to order a pizza… don’t feel left out.  Just order some wings (and possibly a salad)!

Just remember the rule of thumb… basically, leave off the breads, breading, potatoes, onions, high carb fruits and veggies and desserts.  Get lettuce wrapped double meat proteins (if they aren’t on a bone) or  have proteins on top of the salads.  Beware of hidden salad carbs, especially in croutons and sugars in dressings or toppings!  If you follow this rule of thumb you can find quite a lot to eat.

LowCarb4Ever! 2017 Copyright

Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

One of my absolute favorite dishes is Shepherd’s Pie!  It is my go to comfort food along with Chicken and Dumplings.  It was also one of the first recipes I converted on paper to give my self a sense of not giving up everything I love with this new lifestyle of eating.

  • 1 pounds Beef, ground (or lamb)
  • 1 Tsp Onion Powder
  • 1/8 Tsp Garlic Powder
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • 1 package of green beans (cooked)
  • 8 ounces Cheddar Cheese, shredded
  • 2 cups Cauliflower, mashed (or riced, if you prefer)
  1. Brown beef, onion and garlic powders. Salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Put beef mixture in the bottom of four small pot pie or au gratin pans. Top beef with mashed  cauliflower.  Top cauliflower with shredded  cheese.
  3. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until cheese has melted.

4 Servings.  About 4.75 Net Carbs per serving.  If you don’t mind extra carbs, you can add in the onions instead of the onion powder, jut make sure to account for it.

Personal Notes: 

Just make mashed cauliflower like you would mashed potatoes with a little butter, heavy cream with salt and pepper to taste.  I’ll add a recipe for it and post it too.

I actually mix beef with lamb when I make it.

I used to put a package of mixed vegetables, cooked as directed, and added it to the meat mixture. Now I put a package of green beans in or mushrooms.  You can also add broccoli or spinach if you like.

This can also be made in one  casserole dishinstead of individual portions.

LowCarb4Ever! 2017 Copyright

Fast Food Carb Review – Bojangle’s

IMG_21571.jpgI mentioned before that I was a Bojangle’s Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits addict.

They have the BEST fast food biscuits in the world, and I happen to love their chicken even though I don’t like spicier things.  Their combination of seasonings just clicks for me!

However, I no longer can eat their biscuits.  Just one biscuit is 37 Net Carbs.  If you put that in perspective, that is 2 DAYS worth of food for someone like me or other low carb livers.  I was desperate to find options to keep patronizing Bo’s.

To my delight, there were options!  I can still eat their chicken.  Just differently.

You can certainly pull the breading off your Chicken if you love it like I do.  You still risk getting accidental carbs from eating breading you missed.  For me, it is too tempting to eat the whole thing… breading and all.  You can always add Green Beans as a side for an additional 5 Net Carbs.  Just stay away from the biscuits!  They will call to you!  They will smell amazing!  Don’t do it!

The Garden Salad has 6 Net Carbs.

The Grilled Chicken Salad has 6 Net Carbs.  This is an excellent choice! (Compare this to the Homestyle Tenders Salad, that has breading, at 34 Net Carbs!)

Also, a little higher in Carbs but still workable in the carb count for the day is the Roasted Chicken Bites Salad with 10 Net Carbs.

You can get just the Roasted Chicken Bites with Green Beans, but you are still looking at 13 Net Carbs.

Remember to add in the dressing.  The Ranch and Blue Cheese dressings only have 2 additional Net Carbs.  The Italian dressing has 5 Net Carbs.  Beware of the Honey Dijon dressing as it has 15 Net Carbs. Leave off the croutons!

I was relieved that there were so many options.  Ones I hadn’t really tried before… and they are all delicious!

Just remember the rule of thumb… basically, leave off the breads, breading, potatoes, onions, high carb fruits and veggies and desserts.  Get lettuce wrapped double meat proteins (if they aren’t on a bone) or  have proteins on top of the salads.  Beware of hidden salad carbs, especially in croutons and sugars in dressings or toppings!  If you follow this rule of thumb you can find quite a lot to eat.

LowCarb4Ever! 2017 Copyright

Fast Food Carb Review – Kentucky Fried Chicken

IMG_21961-987413609-1511891023577.jpgOne of the most amazing discoveries in fast food finds has been at Kentucky Fried Chicken.  I hadn’t really been to one since I was a long time Bojangle’s Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits addict.

The find?  Their Grilled Chicken is Uh-Maze-ing!  Best of all… it has 0 Net Carbs!  As in ZERO.  Nada.  Big Goose Egg!  The seasonings on it are perfect!  Super tasty!

Get a three piece box with a breast/leg/thigh with Green Beans (which are also delicious… and I’m picky about my green beans!) and you are only looking at 4 Net Carbs.  All from the green beans!

Or for the budget conscious… get their $5 meal deal with a leg/thigh, side, drink, biscuit and cookie.  Get greenbeans for the side.  Give your biscuit and cookie to a friend or family member.  I often tell them to keep it if I am by myself. It is such a cheap option.  They also have zero calorie Sobe water along with diet drinks and unsweet tea to drink. Water is always the better option, but if you have paid for it why not get something flavored.

Their house Side Salad only has 3 Net Carbs and their Ceasar Salad only has 2 Net Carbs!  What’s not to love?  Their Buttermilk dressing has 1 Net Carbs.  Their Fat Free Ranch dressing has a whopping 8 Net Carbs so be careful of that one.  Not all dressings are created equal… no matter if the name is the same! Their Creamy Parmesan dressing has 4 Net Carbs.  Light Italian dressing has 2 Net Carbs.  Remember NO CROUTONS!  Those are about 10 Net Carbs you don’t need!

I could pretty much eat there (or take it home) every week, and very nearly have!

Tip: Make sure to call ahead if you or your party need a lot of grilled chicken.  They don’t always have grilled chicken ready like their breaded chicken. So you might have to wait in line and then wait on the chicken to cook.  I’ve called ahead in several different states and they are always very nice and throw a batch of  the Grilled Chicken in for my “pre-order”.  It’s always nice, hot and ready when I get there for pick up.

Just remember the rule of thumb… basically, leave off the breads, breading, potatoes, onions, high carb fruits and veggies and desserts.  Get lettuce wrapped double meat proteins (if they aren’t on a bone) or  have proteins on top of the salads.  Beware of hidden salad carbs, especially in croutons and sugars in dressings or toppings!  If you follow this rule of thumb you can find quite a lot to eat.

Update
I just came back from being on the road.  EVERY KFC I went to did NOT have grilled chicken.  One went so far as to tell me that they didn’t carry it any more!  I drove out of 3 KFCs on my trip and finally ended up at Zaxby’s!  (More on that shortly!)  So I hope more stores get it.  It was not marketed overly well, in my opinion.  And I will be sad indeed if my local store stops making it.

Update
It seems that more small towns have the grilled chicken rather than the larger towns.  Kinda strange.  I ended up at a KFC out in the middle of nowhere yesterday and they had it!!!

LowCarb4Ever! 2017 Copyright

Cookbooks – 150 Best Spiralizer Recipes

Okay, there have been many dozens of cookbooks on the subject of spiralizing since this book was published:

150 Best Spiralizer Recipes 
by Marilyn Haugen  (Author), Jennifer Williams  (Author)
July 30, 2015

This was my first book on the subject (and only one I saw in the store I was in at the time) and I have to say that it was pretty good at getting me indoctrinated into the world of spiralizing after my life altering diagnoses a few months ago.

So if you run across this book, it is not a bad choice.

It will walk you through the different fruits and vegetables for spiralizing.  Before the book, all I knew I could spiralize was zucchini.  I didn’t shop in places where riced and spiralized vegetables were bagged or boxed in the fresh produce section.

It showed me what to do to the produce to ready for spiralizing, what to do with the spiralized produce and what cut was best for the produce (i.e. ribbon cut, medium strands, etc.)  It then has some pretty tasty sounding recipes to utilize your spiralized produce.

The recipes are simple to follow with tips.  I enjoyed zucchini noodles with tomatoes and pesto, and zucchini noodles with grilled shrimp and lemon basil dressing.  Yummy!

Not all of these are suited for low carb weight loss or long term diabetic maintenance where even sweet potatoes are off the list, but it gave me enough of a foundation to venture further into the world of spiralizing!

LowCarb4Ever! 2017 Copyright
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