What I Am Eating

I realized today that I haven't posted a "What I Am Eating" since starting the transition to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  Not much has changed, except I have added homemade yogurt, eggs and almond flour.  And I am starting to try tiny amounts of raw vegetables...not going to push that very much though.

BREAKFAST:
 1 cup warm water with Cinnamon and Lemon when I first wake up
 1 cup homemade chicken broth I drink this in the morning before eating

  3 slices bacon, Maverick uncured no sugar
  1 cup Organic Girl Baby Spinach chopped very tiny sautéed with
  1 Vidalia onion in 1 TSP olive oil

SNACK:
 Homemade Yogurt
 Almond Flour Muffin (recipe to come)
  
LUNCH:
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing
Lemon Chicken Soup with Carrots and Spinach

DINNER:
Chicken Salad with a few tiny pieces of raw broccoli added
Baked Carrot Fries

SNACK:
  10 Gummy Gelatin Bites
  1 cup warm water with Cinnamon and Lemon
  Boiled Egg

Weekly Menu # 1 Using Frozen Meat Meal Starters

• Shredded Chicken Salad - seedless grapes, celery, Granny Smith Green Apple, dripped yogurt cream cheese, lettuce, spinach
• Browned Ground Beef - Baked zucchini stuffed with beef, sauteed onions and spinach, black olives and No Tomato Sauce over it
• Chicken Meatballs - Butternut Squash Medallions, Green Beans
• Hamburger Patties - Zucchini Fritters, leftover Butternut Squash Medallions 
• Browned Ground Chicken -  in salad of lettuce, spinach, black olives with dripped yogurt cream cheese and cucumber dressing and baked carrot fries, Green Beans
• Beef Meatballs - Roasted or stir fried yellow squash, carrots, onions, spinach and No Tomato Sauce for top of meatballs
• Chicken Soup - carrots, onions, spinach, celery

Shredded Chicken Salad Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Having chicken in the freezer that is already cooked and shredded is such a time and money saver.  I love freezer meat meal starters.  The hardest part is remembering to put them in the refrigerator the night before to thaw. Tonight's chicken salad dinner was done in 30 minutes. All I had to do was wash the apples, celery, grapes and lettuce, do a little chopping,  mix in some dripped yogurt cream cheese and it was ready to eat!

FREEZER MEAT MEAL STARTER CHICKEN SALAD SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET
makes 2 servings

6-8 ounces cooked, shredded chicken, or use one container shredded chicken meat meal starter, thawed in refrigerator
1 organic Granny Smith Apple, washed, peeled and chopped
1 cup organic seedless grapes, washed, cut in half
1 large organic celery rib (piece), washed, chopped very tiny
4 ounces dripped yogurt cream cheese
4 organic Romaine leaves
sea salt to taste
(optional) 1 cup organic spinach, chop very fine like one would chop herbs for a recipe

Wash, peel and chop Apple.  Wash grapes, cut in half.  Wash celery, chop tiny. Wash lettuce. Add container of shredded chicken meat meal starter.  Mix in cream cheese.  Add salt to taste.  Chill for 30 minutes before serving. Serve on lettuce.

Recipe for Shredded Chicken Meat Starter Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Frozen meat starters...I like this idea and think it will work well for following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  Actually, this could work well for any diet where chicken is eaten!  This is a huge time saver and money saver! My version of non processed, clean eating freezer meals.

SHREDDED CHICKEN MEAT STARTER RECIPE FOR FREEZER MEAL COOKING

8 Chicken Breast, about 4-5 pounds, pastured antibiotic free
2 organic carrots cut into 2 inch long pieces
2 organic celery ribs (pieces) cut into 2 inch long pieces
1 large onion chopped into chunks
2 TSP Himalayan Pink Salt
enough water to cover all of the ingredients

I used a 6 quart crockpot.  Place ingredients in crockpot or slow cooker.  Cook on HIGH 4-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.  Let cool.

Remove chicken from crock pot and place in a large bowl to shred, or use KitchenAid mixer with the paddle blade to shred.  Place in labeled *freezer safe Mason jars in amounts that are suitable for your family and place in the freezer.

I weighed the cooked chicken and estimated 3 ounces per person. Since it is just me and the hubs we only need 6 ounces per meal.  That fit in the one cup freezer safe Mason jars by packing it really tight.  I cooked 4 pounds of chicken breasts (8 breasts). By dividing the cooked chicken into equal 6 ounce amounts, I was able to get 6 meal starters.  Generally, I cook 2 breasts per meal for me and the hubs.  This gave me 2 additional meals from 8 breasts and the hubs and I didn't overeat!!

Plus you have a bonus!!  The broth left in the crock pot can be frozen for use later on.  Remove the vegetables and strain the broth.  Place in *freezer safe Mason jars and label.  Use this broth for recipes that call for chicken or vegetable broth.  I don't know about you but I think boxed vegetable broth is very expensive and the ingredient list is a little bit scary.

*NOTE:  Use whatever freezing method you like. I prefer freezer safe Mason jars but I do use BPA free Ziploc freezer bags sometimes for items that won't fit in jars such as ground beef patties.

Freezer Meat Meal Starters Clean Eating Specific Carbohydrate Diet

I love the idea of freezer meals.  Do all the prep work one day and have delicious meals for a month that you pull out of the freezer and put in the crockpot.  Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful finding recipes that are Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) legal with food options we will/can eat.

Most freezer meal or batch cooking, contains canned tomatoes/vegetables, cream soup, soy and teriyaki sauce, pasta, potatoes or rice and lots of processed ingredients that I can't/won't eat.  There are foods that are SCD legal but I still can't eat them, such as tomatoes and all peppers and spices derived from peppers, also known as nightshades.  I think the best I can do right now, is make some meat entrees that can be thawed in the refrigerator the night before, then added to some simple dishes.  Our side dishes are frozen or fresh vegetables and salads - no pasta, rice or potatoes.  Just keep it simple and healthy and generally on the low carb side.

Specific Carbohydrate Diet Freezer Meat Meal Starters.  These are so easy it is probably silly for me to post but I hope to help others who were as overwhelmed as I was starting out eating clean and following the SCD.  From each of these basic meat/meal starters, I will add recipes for meals as I come up with them.  Click on the links below to be taken to the recipes. 

Freeze in portions that are the best size for you and your family.  I have a digital kitchen scale so I can weigh cooked portions before freezing.  It is really a big help with portion control for weight loss and in the long run save money by not overcooking or wasting leftovers.  When I was on a weight loss program years ago, I was told to eat 3 ounces of cooked meat so I generally freeze 6-8 ounce portions of cooked meat for the hubs and I. 

So far, I have decided on these 7 choices, one for each day of the week.  Make enough of each Freezer Meat Starter to feed your family once a week for a month or more, freezing in individual containers for one meal. 

1.  Shredded Chicken (cook chicken breasts in crockpot, shred, freeze)
2.  Beef Meatballs no eggs, no flour but full of vegetables
3.  Chicken Meatballs no eggs, no flour but full of vegetables
4.  Hamburger Patties  (press out a couple of pounds of ground beef, put parchment paper between the burgers so they come apart easily and freeze)
5.  Scrambled Ground Beef ( brown 4-? pounds of ground beef, divide into the amount you need for a meal according to your family size, freeze)
6.  Scrambled Ground Chicken Breasts ( brown 4-? pounds ground chicken breasts, divide into the amount you need for a meal according to your family size, freeze)