Post your daily menus here! Stay honest! Help a NEWBIE! Contribute to the cause as we resist temptation in this holiday season!!!! Even if you think your menu ideas are boring, you might remind someone else of a simple idea when they're bored and/or frantic for something different.

Don't keep great ideas to yourself!

Me:

Plan: Atkins
Phase: Post Induction
Variation: 5-6 small meals a day to keep metabolism high and insulin steady

Yesterday was a weird day and I didn't get all my meals in. I feel it today too (headachy)

Meal One: Low Carb pancake made with 1/2 scoop Atkins bake mix and half a scoop Carbolite zero bake mix, butter, Carbolite zero carb syrup

Meal Two: Soft boiled egg and 1 sausage link

Meal Three: chicken ceasar

I'm worried that so few of us are eating

Plan: Protein Power

Today's plan:

Meal 1: 2 hard boiled eggs, 4 slices bacon, butter

Meal 2: hamburger patty

Meal 3: chocolate mock Danish (just found Beth's oven version last night and I want to try this today)

Meal 4: beef stew (in the crockpot as I type)

grabby snacks on hand: salami and cheese

*LOL* I'm eating like a horse, but it's the same old stuff. Eggs, bacon, salads, beef, chicken, pork chops and tons of fresh veggies, moderate amounts of cheese. Been too busy this week studying up on supplements to post menu plans.

Also revelling in a headache free streak, which hopefully is from a proper dose of potassium.

HOW Do you make Beef Stew????

well, stew is a euphemism -- and no one should ever turn to me for cooking advice

I just browned the beef in bacon grease (same pan as the breakfast bacon). I put salt, pepper and garlic powder on it first. I put it in a crock pot for 8 hours. During the last two, I added sliced mushrooms and (frozen) green beans.

It was watery before I put the vegetables in, and afterwards, it was like chunks of beef with vegetables and juice.

I'm sure there's a way to thicken -- arrowroot? -- but I didn't try. It's not one of my successes (I post the planned menu in the morning, not the actualization.)

This sounds yummy. I might try that tomorrow. (no time to cook anything for 8 hrs today). How much beef do you use ?

Hi Alto,

I have learned not to be too afraid of flour - or gravox. When I make a stew or casserole I use about two tablespoons of flour, shake the meat in that and brown it in the crockpot before later adding my beef (or chicken, depending) stock, seasonings and veggies. The two tbsps spead out between two main meals and some leftovers really doesn't add up to much. And it gives you the thickening that you need.

Glad you mentioned that. I've been leaning toward it after several disasters trying to thicken things with soy flour. 2 tablespoons of flour, spread out over a big pan full of beef gravy, and gravy consumed in moderation will add carbs, but not near enough to bring you way out of line. Yeah, I know it's not purist.

I make my gravy from scratch, but these counts on commercially available gravies seemed to frame things : Franco American beef gravies, 1/4 cup run about 4-5 carbs. 1/4 cup is 4 tablespoons, plenty enough drizzled over meat and veggies. If there is something seriously wrong with this line of thought, then someone PLEASE correct me.

madpiano (I LOVE your name ) I blush to admit that I have absolutely no idea how much beef I used. I picked up a package at the store. It was probably a pound or a little more. My theory is to just cook the stuff and figure out how many meals it will make later I only have to cook for myself, so it works.

Babs, thank you for your advice on the flour. That makes sense. I used to use that very thin flour that comes in a shake-it can, which went further. I'll try that next time. (The beef was pretty tough, though.)

Once, long ago, I made beef bourgignon for a party. I was working then and had little time, and it was a slow-cooking recipe (before crockpots). I made it in three stages. The first night I browned the beef; then poured the wine over it and stuck it in the fridge. The next night, I did the vegetables; same thing. The third night I finished it and it was one of the most succulent, flavorful, juicy things I've ever eaten.

AngelaR, your gravy reasoning looks good to me, but I'm not one of the friendly Carb Police who are much wiser in the ways of carbo-formulas and hidden carb math than I.

The one good thing about this is the vegetables. (I put butter on them.) I haven't worked vegetables into the meal plan yet, shall we say, and am looking for one pot dishes that have lots of vegetables in them.

You could also add some zucchini and onions to that stew for flavoring.

Tuesday's menu conisted of:

Breakfast: Sausage and cheese slices

Lunch: Salad greens with olives, celery, mushrooms, cubed ham, cheese, topped with garlic italian dressing

Dinner: Steak with steamed brocolli, cauliflower, yellow squash flavored with butter, garlic and basil

Yesterday's menu consisted of:

Breakfast: Smoked sausage sliced up and cooked in a 3 egg omelette with cheddar cheese and sour cream/salsa on top.

Lunch: Salad greens with curried turkey salad. (chopped turkey, celery, mushrooms, almond slivers, mayo, curry powder, salt, pepper)

Mid afternoon snack: cream cheese stuffed celery sticks

Dinner: Hamburger patties with swiss cheese and mushrooms. (didn't feel like cooking last night )

Thanks, agonycat. I thought of the onions, but too late -- the zuccini is a good idea too.

And thank you so much for posting your menus. I really need to see what other people are eating to get ideas -- yours are great!! You've got adding in vegetables down pat. PLEASE keep posting so I can steal from you

Not a problem.

I know it's hard for new people on this diet to judge what they can and can not have and limit themselves to death. They forget about spices and herbs and pretty soon their daily diet is a drudgery to get through.

By adding fresh veggies, herbs and spices (I NEVER use canned and very rarely use frozen) you can add so much more flavor to your menu that you tend to forget you are on a diet to begin with. People tend to get stuck on the meat part of the diet.

Varying the ways in which you season your food will keep you honest and away from the bad foods I have yet to miss pasta, bread or rice dishes and I was a rice and pasta freak before starting this way of life.

Agony cat, I think you're absolutely right -- we newbies limit and try so hard to get it right that we end up missing the point. I actually did not have a single spice in the house (except salt and pepper) and have been buying a few per recipe.

I had really hoped when essjay started this thread that more people like you -- really experienced with this WOE, and with imagination -- would post menus to give the rest of us ideas, and I hope that, by your posting, you'll inspire others to post.

Reading over your post made me think about something I did on Thanksgiving.


Well, I cooked regular carby food for the family and Turkey and broccoli casserole for me. When it was time to make the gravy there was a lot of seasoned juice from the turkey. I always make a killer gravy. Well....... This yr. I wanted to have some gravy with my turkey too so......... I decided that I would thicken it with wheat gluten. Yes, I said wheat gluten (which I had in the cabinet, but never used). Ohhhhh it was awful and it didn't really thicken it just made it taste bad. So I tried to doctor it up with a lot of garlic. In the end I added some corn starch, but it was too late. Needless to say no one touched the stuff. Yuk.

Okay here we go:

There are 95 carbs in a cup of white unbleached enriched flour.

16 tablespoons in a cup.......

equals 6 carbs for a tablespoon.
cornstarch is a bit more pricey in carbs = 7 carbs a tablespoon

So lets say you use 2 tablespoons of flour for 2 cups of gravy.....let's see that is 12 carbs for 2 cups of gravy? Not including of course whatever it is you are making the gravy from.

How many servings do you normally get from 2 cups of gravy? Divide servings into those 12 carbs and ummmm I don't think I am going to worry about a couple of tablespoons of gravy on my turkey next year.



*hides her geek outfit*