"makin groceries"

i did some grocery shopping sunday afternoon and wanted to share some of my finds. i would love to hear of the great grocery finds you guys are finding also and that have helped you stay on the program.

please comment!! i know you guys are reading! and if you're registered "follow" me.. i'd love to see who all is out there reading this and start a conversation going on here. thanks!

now to business:

grocery shopping at wal-mart i picked up these items.

breakdown:

digiorno crispy flatbread pizza with a fairly low S/C value compared to most pizzas

classico pasta sauce on sale with low S/C

pepperjack cheese sticks. great snack for 0/0

fast bacon i can stick in the microwave for 30 seconds 0/0

avocados 0/0 and on sale!

some new dark chocolate. tried the 90% and it's a little too dark for me, but i'm anxious to try the ghiradelli

bagel thins have a fairly low S/C value

mediterannean chip mix love this. i think it's a value of 3/1

gardetto's!! i love this and was afraid to look at the S/C value. i was pleasantly surprised to find it is an S/C value of 0/0

then there's some tea, cheeses, heavy cream and sour cream for recipes

and an S/C value of 0/0 for the beef/cheese stick for a snack

right away this is what i did with the gardetto's. they're ready to go!!

then i stopped at vitamin city in san dimas which is a small little health food store i love and they have good prices and then also stopped at trader joe's

i purchased a bag of xylitol which is an alternative sweetener supposedly without the harmful affects of equal, sweet and low and splenda. actually it has a really great taste. but i hear you have to be careful if you consume too much you can get stomach pains and diarrhea. i made a cheesecake yesterday and also some homemade lemonade using this and it's really delicious, but i'm going to be careful not to overdo it since i'd prefer not to have those side effects. these think thin bars/bites are pretty good. a little higher on the carb count, but no sugar and they are pretty good. i had read about some people using coconut milk as opposed to almond milk saying it tastes more like "real" milk. they lie!!!! it's awful!!! i wish i could get my money back. i think i'm going to experiment with it though because i think with the coconut flavor it may make cereal taste good or may be a nice base for ice cream. i'll see what i come up with, but i surely cannot drink this straight. if anyone has any ideas or suggestions i'd love to hear them! then of course a nice piece of parrano cheese. my favorite!!! i know i've mentioned it before, but really.. it is my favorite. and then nature's hollow sugar free ketchup and sugar free syrup. i don't use ketchup too often, but if i'm having a burger or some chicken i do use it. these are both sweetened with xylitol so it should taste really well, but i believe it does give it a carb count so i'll have to be sure to remember to take this into consideration

oh my delicious heart...

of palm and flank steak.

i haven't posted in a couple days and thought i would catch up this weekend with a few recipe posts of what i've been eating. and since today is my one day off i'll be taking off to a few stores and picking up some new food for the coming week and also hoping to test out some new recipes today and i'll be sure to share some of my favorite finds.

oh, and on a good note i have lost a few pounds over the past couple days. i'm finding it a bit easier to not go over my S/C value per day. i still did a little yesterday because i ate some fruit, but i'm starting to get a feel for this program a little better which keeps me within my daily limit most of the time. also, my aunt was interested and picked up a copy of jorge's book at costco and has been starting to follow the program. she has been low carb from the south beach diet for about a year and so this is a nice complement to her previous program. now i think she's paying a little more attention to her daily sugars since jorge talks so much about the 15 grams of sugars per day. and since she likes to cook as well it will definitely make our weekend meals a little easier and we'll have more S/C friendly foods around the house.

okay enough of that.. now to the FOOD!! friday night my aunt cooked some fish tacos from the recipe it jorge's book. it was altered slightly because we didn't have the same cheese and she also used a magic seasoning salt-free blend my mother sent us from new orleans to cook the fish. it was delicious!! i'm not a huge fan of fish tacos, but these were really good. i must apologize i was too hungry and ate the food before taking pictures. next time ;)

last night's dinner i did take photographs and will be happy to provide recipes :D


the menu: marinated flank steak, hearts of palm salad, acorn squash, asparagus 

my aunt found this recipe for marinated flank steak. it was de-lish!! lots of flavor and well, i love my meat still bleeding. i think i ate a little too much of this, but really did enjoy it.

with a happy little S/C value of 0/0

 next up.. hearts of palm salad and acorn squash. 

the salad was another recipe my aunt found on her south beach diet website. i enjoyed it, but it is an aquired taste. hearts of palm i find to have a slight artichoke flavor, but with a crunch. the dressing tossed with the palms gave it a strong citrusy punch due to the lemon juice and the bit of dijon mustard. i really liked it and thought it was a beautiful dish to serve. very light and perfect for spring/summer, but i still think it could use a little something extra special, but i'm not quite sure what. if you try this recipe and experiment let me know what you put in it? i'd like to try it again with a different type of dressing to toss it in. the S/C value = 0/1

the acorn squash was the first time i had ever cooked it. i had it at my best friend's house during the christmas holidays. her dad threw it in a roasting pan with lots of other things and it was so delicious i've been anxious to try it. i think i'm out of season, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. i was thinking to roast it in the oven along with the asparagus and realized how long it took so.. my way... SUPER fast and easy. i cut it in half and put it cut side down in a microwavable dish filled with some water and zapped it for about 8 minutes. it was perfect. i then cut it up in smaller pieces and dumped it in the bowl. drizzled some olive oil and gave it a little bit of salt. i tasted and it was good, but realized what would make it amazing would be a little bit of brown sugar. so, i did a bad thing on the bfc diet, but it's not something i'll do always. so i took a little bit of a splenda brown sugar blend and sprinkled some on top and put it in the microwave for another 30 seconds or so. it was really really warm, sweet, tasty side dish, but i won't be making it a regular vegetable. for 2/3 of a cup of cubed acorn squash it has an S/C value of 2/1. then there was the sprinkle of brown sugar. not bad, but lets not talk about this. if you'd like to forgo the brown sugar it was still good before i made it a "belly bad" food.

 

 final dinner had some roasted asparagas on the side. 4 has an S/C value of 1/0, but since these were so skinny to begin with i think more than four would count as that, but that's just my opinion. we typically drizzle them with a little olive oil and then salt and pepper and roast in the oven.

 

and then there was dessert... so yummy :) i'll save that one for a little later. i'm ready for my sunday breakfast and to get some grocery shopping done before the day passes me by!

for my mother...

i've been saying i am going to post this because i've been telling my mother about it and promising i'd post.

this is actually in jorge's book and is becoming one of my favorites.

fage (greek yogurt) with a strawberry banana swirl. what i have done is put 1/2 cup portions in these little plastic containers so that when i'm running out of the house in the morning or need a quick snack to grab they are already measured out and ready to take. they do sell them in single serving sizes, but it is a little cheaper in the larger container and i like the additional room in my own containers to add things to mine.

i start out with the yogurt and since it is a bit flavorless i tried adding a packet of truvia. i think i'll do this next time as well.

 

then i measure them out into these nifty little cups. and this is the magic ingredient!!

Barlean's Organic Oils Omega Swirl Flax Oil in strawberry banana.

i wait until I'm ready to eat it and then i get to the center of the yogurt with my spoon and squirt about a tablespoon in the center and then push the top layer of yogurt back and then squirt about another tablespoon on top. i noticed that if i squirt it all on top and then mix it all up the great flavor of this gets lost in the yogurt.

so, don't swirl!!

i stopped at the vitamin shoppe last week looking for some protein powder and found they had these. i had previously purchased mine at vitamin world which is a tiny natural food store in san dimas. they are a little pricy, but i believe worth the price. you're getting two tablespoons of flax oil and you don't have to take it in a capsule or down a disgusting spoonful of it. i was nervous to spend so much on this because i thought it would be disgusting and have a strange flavor, but it's actually really delicious and doesn't have any funky aftertaste at all. this is definitely one of my favorites and i can't wait to try the other flavors as well.

if you're looking for other ways to make your plain yogurt yummy you can also get some almond ezekeiel cereal and sprinkle a little on top for a little added crunch. i have uncle sam so i may try that the next time also since i really need the added fiber. i have also heard you can sprinkle a little truvia and cinnamon and i'm thinking maybe even a little vanilla or almond extract may be nice although i'm not sure if there's sugar in that or not. anyone?? i'll have to look into it because there's no nutritional information on mine. also, from time to time these little tidbits are yummy as well though they do have quite a bit of sugar so be careful!! i love these gogi berries and cacao nibs. they are a bit expensive, but they last a long time. sometimes i even mix them in with a tiny baggy of pecans or almonds as a snack.

and for a really tasty treat. if you have an ice cream maker!! this is the one i have... and LOOOOVE

Cuisinart ICE-20 Automatic 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker, White

you can mix up your sweener of choice with the yogurt and then throw it in here. the reason i LOVE this one so much is that you don't need ice or special salts. you freeze the inner portion in the freezer and then when you're ready to use it you just turn it on and pour your mixture in. that's it! in about 20 minutes you have delicious homemade ice cream. one mistake i made once though is i used an ice cream mixture that needed to be heated over the stove. i didn't take into consideration that i should have made sure to get the mixture cool before i put it in the machine. so the heated mixture heated up the machine too much and i had soupy ice cream. so, make sure whatever you are putting in is cool or cold first. other than that it is pretty quick and simple and foolproof and you can get as creative as you want with it.

only have a little bit of time...

but it's lunchtime!! and i am HUNGRY!

i ran home for lunch and was looking forward to my tuna sandwich. i had already prepared some tuna yesterday (sunday) so that i would have enough to make a few sandwiches during the week when i need to fix lunch quickly.

and it was delicious.. so yummy... (p.s. - those are my aunt's new flowers on the table. lots more in the backyard i'll have to showcase later)

i use the sara lee 45 calorie whole wheat bread which is an S/C value of 2/1. and of course there's the glass of refreshing sportea i love. we haven't gotten the shipment of more tea yet. this was the last pitcher i brewed yesterday. :( sure hoping it comes quickly.

how i made the tuna:

i drained two cans of tuna and dumped it in a bowl with two or three spoons of the olive oil mayo (figure if i'm gonna have fats i should have the good ones, right?) chopped up one celery stalk finely, some chopped fresh green onion just green parts (the bottoms have added sugar) couple squirts of dijon mustard, a spoonful or so of relish, one packet of truvia, little grind of pepper and pink himalayan salt and i think that may be about it.

next time i won't use the relish, it adds a tiny bit of sugar and i didn't like the relish in it so much. i don't think i'll add the dijon mustard next time either, if so just a tiny squirt not as much. however, i will be sure to slice up a boiled egg. i do like that in my tuna.

but i came home and toasted the bread put a little mayo on and then the tunafish and sliced up a fresh tomato and used some shredded lettuce we had in the fridge. it was so good i'm wishin i had another right now.

now, in jorge's book his tuna sandwich do-over has egg slices rather than the tomato. i believe this is because it saves you on the sugar count. however, i believe i needed a little boost of sugar 'cause yesterday i was feelin a little hypoglycemic. besides, i'm hoping to get as much of my sugars from natural fruits and veggies rather than junk foods and chocolate. tomatoes are so good for you and it was so fresh and delicious. i can't wait for my tomatoes to grow so i can pick my own.

then, another favorite find i have from trader joe's are these little crispy rounds of yummy

these little pita crackers are 0 grams of sugar and it is 1 serving of carb for 9 crackers which is plenty enough actually. so i had these crackers with some leftover spinach and artichoke dip my aunt made for her dinner party on friday evening. i counted the dip as a 1/0 S/C value. i'll post the recipe when i have time later because it has been a favorite at all our dinner parties and with this low of a count it'll be a great treat to whip up a bowl and keep in the fridge for the week.

the spinach artichoke dip with pita crackers is a quick, easy and delicious S/C value of 1/1

i found these little...

morsels of yumminess.

these are from trader joe's which is another reason i LOVE california. we don't have trader joe's in louisiana. 

these little lovelies are an S/C value of 1/1 for a little over 2 cups.

so... this is what i have done to help me prepare for my busy life starting tomorrow.

this is our snack counter in the laundry room as we head out to the garage. so, i have measured them out and labled them with the S/C value. i've also measured out some nuts as quick grab snack bags also.

i'm hoping this helps to keep me on track when i'm hungry and need things fast and don't have time to count.

now, if you don't have a trader joe's nearby there are often corn puff type snacks like this you can find in the chip section at just about any grocery store. i also had picked up some cheddar ones for $2 at albertsons. and for an even healthier option there's pirates booty snacks. i didn't get the pirate's booty ones because i found them at an expensive little health store and they were very pricey for just a little bit. i'm going to wait and see if i find any better deals next time i go to the store.

what to eat?

i was at albertson's yesterday and picking up some things and stopped at the frozen meal section. usually i get the pricier smart one's or lean cuisine's and starting looking at the different options.

first of all, one of my main priorities is i need to have foods ready that are going to be quick and easy and readily available and that will fill me up. come monday morning my schedule gets crazy again and if i have to think too hard about food i'm likely to get frustrated and just swing by a mcdonald's on the way home.

however, i discovered these little gems:

now, i'm definitely not advocating this as "healthy" food. however, considering the alternatives which for me would be my mcdonald's addiction i'd say this is a really great option for several reasons.

1. they were on sale for 79 cents a piece. can you argue with that?

2. they are quick, easy and convenient when i'm running home and need a quick lunch

or need to grab something quickly to bring with me for dinner while i'm at school

3. most of the S/C values of these are 2/2 or 3/2 a couple maybe 4/2. 

i can't remember specifics for each one. however, all the ones i purchased

were well within a really good S/C range.