The Great Zero Carb Experiment Continues!!

ZC Madness

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My weekly blogs consist of me rambling about something, followed by 7 new recipes at the bottom! If you want to skip over my drivel, simply scroll down and enjoy the food!

For those that want a peek into my madness…

I’m firmly dedicated to losing another 30 lbs. At the moment, I weigh 215 lbs. This is down from 352 lbs, about 2 ½ years ago. The goal is 185 lbs. I’m trying to kick start a new phase of weight loss by eating a zero carb diet for 2 weeks. Zero carb is really a focused effort of staying beneath about 5 grams of “net” carbs, per day. The diet is more casually known as the “steak and eggs” diet.

When I mentioned this to friends, their eyes perked up and they gave me “that” look. You know the one… where you’re automatically crazy, no matter what you say next, even if it’s backed by logic and science. Today’s science can go against the general consensus or “common wisdom”. So… raised eyebrows, accusing glares implying lunacy, concern over my health and well being, etc. were all firmly directed at me, because I’m eating against the grain.

For me, it’s simple. I want to eat well, be happy and get as healthy as I can. Along the way, I plan to try a variety of eating methods. I plan to study and read and learn about nutrition more than I have. In the interim I reserve the right to be wrong and make mistakes. As long as the food is always delicious, I’m ok with it all. I also plan to share what I’ve learned, along the way!

Confession Time: I believe the best possible diet consists of mostly raw vegetation, with occasional bouts of animal protein, mostly fish and also mostly raw. I more-or-less-kinda-sorta firmly believe that this is the best way to eat in order to sustain a long healthy lifestyle. I probably believe grains are a bad idea, but… the jury is still out. More reading to do! This is not how I eat, however. It’s not what I was raised on, or taught in school or the kitchens I’ve worked in. This is a very foreign and hard to achieve way of eating for me, but… it is a goal. One I hope to educate myself into!

Over the course of the next year, I plan to try a variety of different diets and ways of eating. All of them will be lower-ish in carbs, and certainly without any refined simple carbs. Underneath that “Low Carb” umbrella are many ways to go. I’ll try them all, so that I can mix and match the best , most healthy and delicious diet for my future. It’ll also help me expand my horizons, learn more about myself and nutrition, and give me a wider range of recipes and topics for my blog!

I gotta have something to talk about!

Ultimately, I plan to eat a solid and studied “Paleo” diet, for a while. I’ll also try a raw diet for a while. I’ll try vegetarianism for a while, etc. However, first on my list of experiments and eating styles is… “zero carb”. I’d originally thought for 2 weeks, but after a week, I’m thinking I might zero carb for 30 days, to get the full effect.

Anywhoo… in order to feel more secure with the idea, I came up with a basic roadmap for the next 2 weeks (see below this week’s pictures … ). I reserve the right to deviate from this plan, but I DO have a plan. I needed something with a sense of variety. I wanted it to feel interesting and delicious, without me ever feeling like I’m missing something. Ultimately, I think this plan is overkill and I’ll probably only wind up making about half of these things, but… I needed to know I have a plan to follow. Here are a few photos of a few things I made this week (recipes to follow in a month or so…)

Fennel-Horseradish Pork Spare Ribs with White BBQ Sauce

Pesto Rubbed Roasted Chicken

Cocoa-Ancho Beef Ribs

To give a little framing to the notes that follow, I plan to make a mixture of flavored erythritol and coconut oil infused sweetened cream cheese refrigerator candies, for my little desserts at the end of each day. They’re kind of like “cheesecake in a cup”, but… not baked. I’m also planning to make a big batch of erythritol sweetened egg nog, in case I get hungry between meals. I’ll just gulp down a big cup of that! These are both very low in carbs, but sweet and tasty.

Ginger-Spice Refrigerator Candy

Egg Nog

Here’s the rough outline! It’s 28+ recipe ideas, for a total of 2 different taste sensations each day, with a few sweet little Scooby snacks, if I need them

• Poorly Cooked Eggs, Bacon-Cheddar Style
• Ham, Goats Cheese Egg Muffin Cups
• Cream Cheese Pancakes with Zero Carb Syrup
• Chicken Sausage, Parmesan Egg Muffins
• Meat Lovers Frittata
• Grilled Salmon with Citrus-Rosemary Compound Butter
• Steamed Shrimp Stuffed Sole with Bernaise Sauce
• Shrimp Scampi
• Pancetta-Sage Wrapped Scallops
• Pan Seared Red Snapper with Sage Brown Butter
• Orange Scented and Garlic Spiked Fresh Fish en Papillote
• Surf and Turf
• Jerk Pork Chops
• Homemade Chicken Italian Sausage Patties
• Cocoa-Ancho Beef Ribs
• Steak with Caper-Black Pepper Cream
• Pesto Rubbed Roasted Chicken
• Dry Rub Pulled Pork Shoulder with Cheddar
• Chicken Breasts with Mustard Cream
• Shredded Chicken in Ginger Broth
• Peking Style Dried Duck
• Blackened Chicken Breasts
• Horseradish-Fennel Spare Ribs with White BBQ Sauce
• Cinnamon Maple Brined Pork Chops
• Chicken Alfredo
• Pork Scaloppini with Caper Garlic Brown Butter
• Ham and Swiss Stuffed Chicken Breast
• Spatchcocked Tandoori Chicken
• Ginger-Spice Refrigerator Candy
• Mexican Vanilla Refrigerator Candy
• Brown Butter Refrigerator Candy
• Egg Nog

So far, eating this way has been pretty good! I like the food. It’s delicious! Between the egg nog and refrigerator candies, there’s something for snacks and sweet teeth. I’ve had no cravings at all and feel “satisfied” pretty much all the time. I eat because it’s “dinner time”, not because I’m raving like a loon for a plate of food. I have also lost 3 lbs. so far. Not bad for a week’s worth of tasty vittles!

There are many other things I’d like to talk about, but don’t want to bore y’all with ALL of my thoughts. This post feels long enough! However, upcoming… more discussion around zero carb. Such as… what happens to a diet without fiber in it? How does that all work out… “in the end”? How does it affect cholesterol? What would happen if everyone ate this way? Who is “Owsley Stanley”? Also, emotional eating, xylitol and how to (or NOT to) explain this way of eating to people…

Email me, if there’s something you’d like me to discuss. Ultimately I consider this “your” blog, just as much as it’s mine!

This week’s recipes are the last run of the recipes already on my site. Next week, they will truly be new new new, and every week thereafter!

This Week’s Recipes

This week, I have a Thai Chicken Soup recipe that is awesome! There’s also an Insalata Caprese that may change your life. It’s certainly changed mine! There’s also a crepe recipe that extremely versatile. It’s great for a dessert, a wrap, as a tortilla, etc! Check that out. It’s induction friendly, too! Finally, there’s a recipe I lovingly call “Poorly Cooked Eggs”. It’s little more than overcooked scrambled eggs with “stuff” in it, but… I eat it often and it’s got a few little ideas embedded within its story. Check these out and more!

Socially Challenged

Don’t forget! I’m social inept, within the networking world. Google+ is kicking me out, because they don’t believe my name is DJ Foodie (it isn’t). I need to figure out what to do, there. Facebook continues to baffle me, but slowly people seem to be liking my page! Twitter also confuses me. I don’t know how to be interesting, consistently, within 140 characters (that said, this post could be proof that I don’t know how to be interesting in 1500 words, either!). The one that I’m most connecting with and playing with is Pinterest. You can check out my boards. I’m trying to assemble good ideas for people to learn from and improve their diets. I’m FAR from the only game in town and I’m driven more by people eating well and enjoying their food that I am by the desire to have it be MY food. I want to share all the other great things out there and Pinterest seems like a really simple and fun way to do just that! Keep watching my boards as they grow. Slow to start, but… I suspect I’ll organize some really great things in time!

Be my friend, like me, follow me, blah blah blah.

Tell a friend!

DJ

ALL NEW Weekly Recipes!

	Sesame Crusted Salmon with Soy-Lime Salad This delightful recipe is quick, easy and sure to taste good! A nice warm salad, topped with a beautiful and fresh piece of fish. I love a good warm salad, and this one is no different. You can use a nice variety of greens. Arugula is nice and peppery, baby greens are beautiful and healthy, while warm baby spinich is full of nutrients! I used Romaine, because … it’s what was in my fridge, that night!
	Tom Kha Gai: Thai Coconut Chicken Soup I remember being introduced to Thai food at a very young age, in Fresno, CA. I was about 10 years old and my uncle suggested this radical new taste sensation to my parents. It’s like Chinese, but… different! We ventured into this small plain restaurant called “The Thai House”. I just remember the simple wood paneling and tourism posters for “Thailand!” We ordered a nice variety of dishes and were BLOWN AWAY!
	Insalata Caprese: Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella Eat this. Eat it. It’s literally one of the greatest, yet, most simplistic and basic flavor combinations there are. It’s perfect. They say good food starts with good ingredients. No dish exemplifies this statement more than Insalata Caprese, a dish born in Southern Italy. Use peak-of-season, fresh local tomatoes, with fresh buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, salt and pepper. That’s it!
	Basic All-Purpose Ricotta Crepes These crepes are extremely versatile. They’re “tougher” than your standard soft and svelte French crepe. They can handle a little more thrown at them. They’re also very neutral, from a taste perspective. They’re more a “purpose” than they are a “flavor”. I use them for all kind of things! Either, as a crepe, filled with sugar free jams, shmears and berries, but also as a “wrap”.
	Sweet Fruity Schmear When I was younger, I briefly worked at a bagel shop, in Vail, CO. I’d never really thought much about bagels. If I wanted bread with a hole in it, donuts always seemed like better choice. However, when I started working at this bagel shop, the whole concept for the bagel really started to sink in!
	Whipped Cream Who doesn’t love whipped cream?! I feel slightly silly including it in my list of recipes, but because it’s so delicious and so acceptable within this way of eating, I started to feel slightly silly NOT including it. Whipped cream is soft, light, sweet, great on almost anything and is completely welcome to this way of eating, even at the induction level!
	Poorly Cooked Eggs Poorly Cooked Eggs are a little more than a blend of cream, eggs, salt and pepper. Cut some cheese into little cubes. Set all of this aside. Then in a non-stick pan, sauté some stuff. I usually do some kind of meat and veggie combination. Asparagus, Ham and Cheddar is what’s seen in the photos, but bacon, chicken, ham and sausage are all commonly used.

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