I’ve had a lot of chats around the web lately about “getting back on track” or “starting low carb” with friends who are ready for some serious positive change in their life & health.
It inspired me to start sharing my daily keto food diaries with you again, and reviving our low carb challenge group. I think that would be great for ME too, because I really miss the community and connection – and honestly: need to find my spark again!
My daughter is back home to stay with me for awhile and she made some GREAT quick & simple low carb dinners this week. We’re also trying out another keto meal delivery service and got low carb take-out over the weekend.
For exercise, I’m walking in the swim lanes and doing water resistance workouts (physical therapy). She’s hitting the gym again, and swimming on the days I go – until the pool closes for the season.
I still have my same morning routine as always: I start my day with a collagen coffee. I don’t have much appetite in the mornings but my daughter does, so she usually starts her day with sausage and eggs and a hot tea with cream. I have a protein bar around mid morning or lunch.
Low Carb Meals This Week
My daughter found this Keto Broccoli Casserole recipe online, and it turned out fabulous!
It was pretty easy too, and she just paired it with some pre-made low carb meatballs:
Here are the meatballs she used, she found these at Wal-Mart:
It made for a quick, easy and super-tasty dinner!
Plus there were leftovers, which is always a plus.
Last night we had fried pork tenderloin, breaded with egg & almond flour, more of the broccoli casserole, plus cabbage sauteed with onion & garlic.
The cabbage was GREAT. She chopped up about 1/3 of a large head of fresh cabbage, then I added onion & garlic and salt and just cooked it down and browned it in a little butter. It was perfectly tender & tasty!
My dinner tonight was leftover meatballs, broccoli casserole and cooked cabbage – all mixed up together. It’s so nice having my daughter home, and enjoying some home cooked meals and variety again!
The company has been nice too. We went to a show together last week and had a GREAT time. My children are adults now, but they’re still my favorite people to hang out with!
Also, my daughter is great about helping me to and through outings. I still can’t get out on my own.
I mentioned we’re testing a new keto meal delivery company. This time I’m trying Factor. So far the meals are SO GOOD, and they’re super easy to make (just heat & eat). That really helps on the nights she isn’t home, or has to work late.
Here are a couple of examples of meals I’ve had lately:
They have a refer-a friend program if you want to try them out. It gives you up to $150 off your Factor order when you get referred by another customer.
The first one ^ is their Pesto Salmon which is one of my favorites.
This one was pulled chicken with spinach & mushrooms and some kind of fancy (and really yummy) sauce:
The meals are really well done, and they’re very filling. My daughter tried a few and she loves them too. I’m torn on whether to keep getting them. I *love* the convenience and variety, but I’m not really sure about the cost…
With my daughter home and cooking more, that will help A LOT since I’m still not able to shop or cook, except maybe fry a few eggs on a good day. And she’s working a lot so she doesn’t always feel like cooking, and loves the convenience too.
We did get take-out from a favorite local restaurant this week as well. You probably remember seeing this one before: Philadelphia Chicken with roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
It’s two chicken breasts smothered in mozzarella, mushrooms & onions – like a Philly cheese steak, but with chicken.
It’s SO good, and something you can easily recreate at home if you love to cook!
Take-out isn’t cheap either. That meal makes two dinners for me, but I have less appetite than most people (right now). But it’s still over $30 for 2, and closer to $40 I think after tax & tip.
The quality of food with both the take-out and the Factor meals is GREAT, and of course there’s the convenience. Shopping, prepping, cooking and kitchen clean-up all takes a lot of extra time – so I’m still trying to weigh out if it’s worth it. Especially considering there’s often waste or leftovers with groceries and fresh produce…
For now we’re trying to shop smart, prep in batches, cook things that pair well together as leftovers, etc. And I did get another order from Factor this week with easy dinners for nights nobody feels like cooking. Nobody being her (lol) – she has a full work week, and we’re both sick right now.
I really liked the meatballs. Those were easy and convenient! But it’s not hard to make your own meatballs at home, with beef or with beef & sausage combined. See my Low Carb Spinach Parmesan Meatballs Recipe from a few years ago if you want to whip up your own.
I’d love to hear how you’re making it all work!
I found it so much easier to “cook on a budget” when I had a family at home. Cooking for one seems a lot more challenging for some reason unless you don’t mind doing A LOT of meal prep and/or eating a lot of the same things over and over…
This week I got some deli chicken slices and low carb wraps to make easy quick meals myself, and spring greens – because I love those on the side with ranch, or stuffed in my wrap. I have eggs of course, I’m happy to eat those pretty much any way and any time of day. Tuna salad and chicken salad are great options for a quick meal… just some ideas, while I’m adding to our next grocery list.
It’s really nice to have my daughter home for awhile again. She actually ENJOYS cooking, so I look forward to sharing more recipes she tries and more easy meals she throws together, and getting back to sharing my low carb food diaries with you!
I hope things are going good on your end…
I’d love to hear from you and catch up!
Are you still eating low carb, planning to start back, or what’s new in your life?
Best,
Lynn Terry
aka @LowCarbTraveler
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
