Work is looming around my corner. With that, lists start
popping up in my notepads that I haven’t written in a while. What am I going to
eat for snacks at work? What meals am I cooking after work? Thus, my own
personal list of low-carb, sugar-free, wheat-free, soy-free dinners become a post.
While I’m personally closing in on 40 pound weight loss, I’ve
noticed my husband’s pants are looser. He won’t admit it’s a byproduct of how I
cook these days (he says he can’t complain about how I cook because he doesn’t
want to cook, he wants me to cook!) but it doesn’t matter who’s right because
all that matters is our health. (I’m still right, though, just saying). I find
random sugary treat wrappers and empty Big Red bottles in our vehicles from his
work commute, so I know he’s not a diet Nazi like me. I teased him recently and
he said, “When you buy ice cream sandwiches, I never get any. Our children eat
them all before I ever get a chance. So, yeah, I buy sweets cause then I know I
actually get to eat them.”
Who am I to chastise him about that? I hide my flourless,
sugar-free muffins so I can actually have one or two. Here’s the rub: if he
eats my healthy way 40 or 50% of his time (he’ll take leftovers to work, right)
and that’s a very loose estimate, and we’re both noticing his clothing hangs
differently…I’m going to hazard a guess and say even part-time healthy eating
will see results. It won’t be as fast, course not, but it still happens. I’ll
add he’s only a happy participant in eating this way because he’d rather me
cook and if you’re not cooking, you can’t complain.
Over the last few years, my husband has seen a manifestation
of pre-diabetic symptoms. His mother is full-blown diabetic, and those things
often run in families. I have two diabetic siblings myself, so I know the
symptoms. He gets the shakes and whatnot, but being stubborn, he hasn’t gone to
the doctor’s yet. I hear George Lopez in my head, “Don’t go, they’ll find
something wrong.”
However, he’s started reading up on it (that impresses me).
He read that tuna helps turn diabetes around. I’m not certain where he read it,
but it doesn’t matter to me. He’s eating tuna in a tortilla with mayo for his
work meal. Tuna is a high-protein, filing meal. He’s probably eating less and
staying full longer. He doesn’t argue when I hand him a banana or a bag of
cherry tomatoes for work, either, but that’s not often. He is a big boy and I
know nagging someone to be healthier isn’t encouraging. It’s annoying. I’ve
found ways to infiltrate his lifestyle. The can of vegetable baby food in the
spaghetti isn’t just for the non-veggie eating daughter. The other choices he
makes when I’m not around are his responsibility…but I won’t lie and say I’m
not happy when he tells me some choices he’s been making. I kind of want him
around a long while.
With that, I want to give you a list of 20 to 30 minute
meals that fit a healthy lifestyle and a busy workday. I am leaving off spices
for some of these dishes because these are just basic dinner ideas that you
probably have preferred spices for. Take your favorite rubs or spice mixes and
go to town. Just make sure your choices are low-sugar and wheatless and nothing
that takes too much time to prep. Remember, you just worked all day!
1.
Tacos
Let’s begin with the fact that McCormick
has a gluten-free taco mix. My tacos include 2% Tex Mex Cheese, 1 lb of turkey
and 1 lb of ground meat, diced tomatoes, avocado slices, and sour cream…it
might take 15 minutes to do all that. I usually have 2 white corn tortillas (21g)
which is less than flour tortillas (34g). Since I often eat low-carb for
breakfast and lunch, this sits well below my carb allotment for the day (which
is 60g).
2.
Taco Salad/Frito Pie
Ingredients are very similar to
Tacos except the carbs are from Chili Cheese flavored Frito corn chips and not
tortillas. I limit my portion of chips to ½ cup. 32 chips equal 16g of carbs.
Thing is once you’ve piled on the long list of ingredients, your salad is almost
too big to eat, but it’s oh-so-delicious! This is a definite family favorite.
See my post on Spaghetti with Spaghetti
Squash and if you haven’t gotten a chance to try out CarbQuick Biscuits, I
suggest them! My Mom found a great deal on Amazon for CarbQuick (recipe on the box, the pancakes are awesome, too).
Any Hamburger patty with your
favorite toppings (without bun) plus an HEB steamable bag of veggies is the
Fastest Meal in the West.
I recently discovered Lighthouse dressing at HEB in the produce section. I have located only two brands of dressing so far that include zero soy. That causes me to rejoice since 99% of salad
dressings use soybean oil and I am too lazy to prepare my own salad dressing all the time. I’m digging that Jalapeno Ranch at the moment, lemme tell ya. I
combined ½ cup with an entire bag of a Broccoli Slaw mix. I greedily
dipped my hamburger patty in it, too. I’m the first person to get tired of
salads, so this one impressed me.
5.
Fajitas
HEB has a bag of precooked
Fajitas found in the frozen section – either beef or chicken. They cook up real
fast in the skillet with a little bit of water (for steam), bell pepper, and
onion. HEB also offers precut fajita veggie mixes. You can eat them with La Tortilla Low-Carb Tortillas (if wheat does not
bother your gullet) or corn tortillas (my favorite). I add tomatoes, avocado
slices, sour cream, and cheese because those are my favorites, but I do get in
the mood for pico de gallo and guacamole. The family has flour tortillas and
everyone is happy. I’m happy because it doesn’t take that long on the stove
top.
Cod is a protein-dense fish. A
5oz piece yields 30g of protein and very little fat. This is an easy go-to meal
for lunch or dinner. Bake the cod with your preferred seasons or marinades (I
love lemon pepper). My Lemon-Zesty Salad is easy to prep. You need a zester, a miniature
version of the cheese grater. You cut up the greens you prefer (l use romaine)
and add the salad fixings you like (cucumber, tomato, chives, red onion, beets,
etc.). You zest the lemon over the salad, then juice the salad. I end up using
2 lemons for a two-person salad. Drizzle olive oil in the salad, add salt and
pepper and mix it all up. It’s quite delicious!
7.
Chicken Wings and Bacon-wrapped Asparagus (enough said).
Chicken Wings can be done many ways, but here's one option. Asparagus is always improved with bacon (what isn't?). Just wrap 3-5 fresh asparagus stalks (ends trimmed) with bacon and bake!
8.
Baked Chicken and Lemon-Zesty Roasted Broccoli.
It’s up to you what cut of
chicken, but I prefer dark meat. Mainly I prefer dark meat because it is juicier
and I just can’t stomach white (I don’t care if it’s less fat, I just can’t and
you can’t make me; I won’t force you to eat anything you can’t stand). Lemon-Zesty
Roasted Broccoli is quite simple. You zest and juice one or two lemons over raw
broccoli florets. Add salt and pepper (and maybe grated Parmesan if you have
some) and roast for 10 minutes. That’s it. The chicken will take the longest
because you’ll spice it and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.
9.
Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with Shrimp.
In a previous post, I gave
directions on preparing spaghetti squash. Prepare the squash and cook noodles
for your family (if that’s the case). For shrimp, I may try different
seasonings, but I love lemon-zest, lemon, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. I have
tried other spice combinations, but I always double-up the portions of shrimp.
I buy two bag of frozen shrimp because it’s popular with all family members
(and shrimp is lean protein). When all is said and done, I add a jar of Alfredo
sauce (a typically low-carb sauce). Sometimes, I add sautéed mushrooms, a can
of drained diced tomatoes, or cooked broccoli florets to the pasta mix. Those
items just combine so well with Alfredo.
10.
Hot Dog Bowl
Hot Dogs combinations are an astronomical math equation. It’s easy to take all the
ingredients of your favorite hot dog and leave the bun out. Use a bowl to keep
your ingredients together and eat with a fork. A family favorite is
chili-cheese hot dogs (and so simple). I pick up nitrate-free hot dogs (and my girls’ doctor
was impressed I could find any and asked me where). There are many other hot
dog combos that include sauerkraut, mustards of many varieties, pickle slices, jalapenos,
you name it. You know your favorite: just put all those ingredients in a bowl
and get a fork out.
11.
Low-Carb Stroganoff
My family’s Stroganoff recipe includes four basic
ingredients: 1 to 2 pounds of ground meat, sour cream, Cream of Mushroom Soup,
and noodles (there may be some spices like salt and pepper). My new adaptation
of Stroganoff includes a few different twists. I use Cumin and Garlic as major
spices. I sauté Portobello mushrooms to throw in the mix. With the carb, I totally
change it up. Though there have been times where I’ve made white rice and ate ½
cup myself, I also want to talk to you about Miracle Noodles. They are
zero-everything. Zero sugars. Zero calories. Zero Fat. Zero anything you are
not supposed to have. They cook quickly –
in one minute in boiling water!! Again, this is one of my mom’s finds. One bag
feeds me for two meals and Miracle Noodles can certainly be used as a noodle
alternative in other pasta dishes.
12.
Shish-Ka-Bobs
I am always ga-ga for Shish-Ka-Bobs. Shrimp, Beef, Pork,
Chicken, it doesn’t matter. It can go on my plate. My husband will groan about
applying the meet and veggies to the skewers and I readily volunteers. I put
mushrooms (Portobellos!), cherry tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, yellow squash, and
zucchini. I may sprinkle them with olive oil and whatever spice mix I’m presently
in love with (it changes) and make sure the meat is properly spiced up (chili
powder and lime is awesome, too). If there’s time, I’ll make rice for the
others, but often there isn’t enough time after work. So, that makes it
low-carb by laziness (love that!).
13.
Roasted Pork Chop and Veggies
This is a variation of Shish-Ka-Bobs because it includes a
lot of the same vegetables and spices. We make enough that our meals require
two cooking sheets. Pork chops are spiced and placed in the oven on one rack
and spiced up and olive-oiled veggies on the other rack. The most work is in
chopping the veggies (and a lot of those come pre-cut if you know where to
look, and cherry tomatoes and button mushrooms are already bite-size).
15.
Tomato-Basil Soup and CarbQuick Biscuits
Years ago, I learned how to make a Tomato-Basil Soup. I still love it and my girls like it when I
make it. I know for my girls, it is best if I puree all the items I put in
there, but I don’t always have time (an electronic puree should fix that, if I
could find it in my cupboards…). The basic ingredients are a can of diced
tomatoes, chicken broth, a can of tomato sauce, fresh basil leaves (though my sister found
frozen mini ice-trays of basil and garlic), fresh crushed garlic, shredded
carrots, chopped celery, chopped onion, heavy cream, and salt and pepper. I
think the original recipe was a Rachel Ray recipe, but it really does take less
than 30 minutes. My sister prefers diced tomatoes with the spices already added. I
prefer the original flavorings, but the point is that you should always make
something you’ll like eating. Bake up some CarbQuick Biscuits (recipe on the
box) and it’s an easy, satisfying meal, especially when the weather turns
colder.
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