Recipes 7/8: easy, quick, delicious low carb meals

What to do with left over beef tenderloin? How about sauté some kale and onions, then chop up your super tender beef leftovers, add 1/2 of a small sweet potato with a teaspoon of sour cream, and bam, that's dinner in 10 minutes!

Have some uncooked chicken breast in the fridge? Here's a super easy recipe that will take about 10-15 minutes to prepare. You'll need 1/4 medium onion (I use yellow), greens of your choice (I used chinese brocolli - just visited a Chinese grocery for the first time, and wanted to try something new!) for your veggie sauté. For the chicken dish, you'll need some plain tomato sauce (low carb/sugar), Italian herbs (Italian blend or oragano, time, and basil), and parmesan.  

If watching fat intake, use cooking spray like Pam to sauté veggies. Spray pan and  add onions, then bring to medium heat. Once onions are soft, add your greens and cook to preferred tenderness. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Start a separate pan on medium high heat. Spray pan.  Once hot, add sliced raw chicken breast. Sear chicken for a minute or so on both sides. Turn heat down to medium and add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce. Add Italian herbs, salt, and pepper to taste and a clove of fresh garlic. Allow time for chicken to cook all the way through as tomato sauce heats up. 

After plating chicken and veggies sprinkle both dishes with parmesan. Enjoy :)

For personalized fitness and nutrition coaching with me follow the link below:  

www.kellydarbywellness.com

BREAKING NEWS: Low Carbers can have BREAD again!

I know, I know, I know....for most people who eat bread on a daily basis and think that going low carb (LC) is an unsustainable lifestyle this may not be breaking news. But for all of us who have salivated every time we walk/drive/smell a bakery/sandwich shop/Starbucks, etc. this is HUGE...I mean HUGE news! 

As most of you know, eating your favorite dishes on a LC diet takes A LOT of work.  There is a ton of prep time involved because, well, you never have exactly everything the particular recipe calls for...i.e. 5 different flours, 3 different sugar substitutes, and the litany of random ingredients like xanthan and guar gum.  And mind you each of these ingredients cost at least 15 dollars :) So, after spending hours finding the perfect recipe, there's a risk you will have wasted all your time and money because the thing that was supposed to be chocolate chip muffins tastes like a combo of black beans and styrofoam.  I think we've all been there with LC recipes...I mean did someone actually think this was good?  Who thought that garbanzo bean flour would be good in a cupcake recipe? Anyway, these recipes take time, money, and lots of patience. 

So, many of us turn to the internet for the convenience, and the taste is usually a step up. I've tried many different websites and have found some good items over the years, like LC crackers, chocolates, flours and baking mixes, jams, and sugar substitutes. However, for the most part, these items were either full of malitol and other chemically produced sugar substitutes or they were sugar free/wheat free but not LC. I could never really find what I was looking for  :(

After years of searching I found www.holdthecarbs.com aka LC Foods. 

This is truly a one stop shop and the only one of it's kind! Everything is LC and sugar free, and most of the products have a gluten free option too. There is no malitol, and only a few have sucralose, but they are adjusting recipes away from that as well. Not only are both the recipes and packaged products delicious, natural, and high quality, it is a family run business and you can really tell. They love interacting with their client base and really try to implement the feedback they get with a quick turn around! I absolutely love this company, and it is the only one I feel comfortable partnering with and promoting. I regularly order from their website, especially since they just launced their fresh baked white BREAD! So back to the reason for today's blog. I just received this bread in the mail two days ago, and I've already eaten foods I hadn't dreamed I'd be able to have again. Like what? PB&J...I know...so simple...but this has been one of my alltime favorite foods, and now I can enjoy it again. This morning I was able to have toast with my eggs! And I am still full! I can't wait to make grilled cheese, have any number of delicious deli sandwiches, or even bread crumbs...endless possibilities ;)

Here's the amazing news -- this bread has only 1G of net carbs, 12G of protein, and 8G of fiber per slice.

This is so incredible because it means that even those of us on ketogenic diets can eat bread...WOW!!! I am super excited can you tell?  

How does the bread feel/taste you may ask? I would describe it as dense (holds together well), but very soft and pliable. It has a slight sourdough taste, but most of all it tastes like bread...yes...bread. Not tapioca flour or almond meal or the all too common flavorless...it actually tastes like bread. More good news...the bread is shipped to you the same day it is baked! And, it's huge...I filled three large containers with slices (froze two of them).  

For those of you interested in trying it out, I've provided a few different links to the LC Foods website. There's a banner at the top you can click, and two different pictures of the new fresh bread on the right panel that will take you right to the bread.

For personalized fitness and nutrition coaching with me follow the link below: 

www.kellydarbywellness.com

Recipe 6: easy, quick, delicious low carb meals

In recipe 4 we talked about what to do with your leftover pot roast, but what about your leftover crock pot chicken? This is the perfect salad for your cold shredded chicken.  

What you'll need:

1. raw kale

2. shredded crock pot chicken breast

3. sautéed onions

4. parmesan

5. sea salt

6. lemon zest

7. squeeze of lemon

8. 2Tb buttermilk ranch dressing/your favorite creamy dressing

Use can use as much or as little of the lemon zest/juice as you would like.  If you ever need a little more dressing, add a little olive oil or sour cream (if you want to keep it creamy) to keep the carb count low :)

I'd love hear your thoughts on the recipes so far, love em, hate em, have a way to improve them?  Let me know!

For personalized fitness and nutrition coaching with me follow the link below: 

www.kellydarbywellness.com

Why Fat Doesn't Make You Fat!

Why Fat Doesn't Make You Fat! by Margaret Floyd, NTP HHC CHFS is a must read on the true effects of fat vs sugar on the body. FAT is NOT EVIL!


Do you agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.  Please take the time to understand the science before jumping to conclusions based on cultural biases against fat.

Recipe 5: easy, quick, delicious low carb meals

My mouth is watering just thinking about this dish. Oh my goodness.  This is a must try for all my meat and cheese lovers out there! 4 ingredients:

1. Chicken Sausage (cooked and cut in small pieces)

2. Sautéed Onions Chopped

3. 2-3 Eggs

4. 1oz Sharp White Cheddar 

-Sauté chopped onions in olive oil/pam until translucent

-Add cooked chicken sausage in skillet to heat

- Beat eggs and add to skillet

-When eggs are still a little gooey, add chunks of cheese and turn off heat

-Cover and let cheese melt

-Season to taste and DEVOUR :)


For personalized fitness and nutrition coaching with me follow the link below: 

www.kellydarbywellness.com

Are you tired all the time?

After a good night's sleep are you still tired in the morning? Can you not make it through the day without coffee or an energy drink? Do you feel somewhat tired throughout the entire day? Do you crave and eat primarily sugars, breads, and starches?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you probably have some level of adrenal fatigue. There is a wide spectrum of symptoms that correspond to the various stages of adrenal fatigue with adrenal burnout at the far end of the spectrum. Just to clarify, I am talking about a chronic condition that is primarily the result of various environmental and genetic predispositions as opposed to a congenital medical condition (Addison's disease). 

www.tvernonlac.com
If you are interested in learning more, I began my journey to healing from adrenal fatigue after stumbling upon this website. A "stumble" I truly believe was God's intervention. I had gone to the best doctors in the world only to be told they didn't know why I was so tired, and their only solution was to give me a pill.  This pill was basically a stimulant, which not only stopped working after about a week, but actually made the problem worse! 

I can't describe the feeling after my first conversation with Theresa Vernon (practitioner from above website). In less than a minute she diagnosed my condition, which was ultimately confirmed by hair mineral analysis. I finally had a name to my condition, which not only opened doors to limitless information, but for the first time in years I felt like I just might get better.  It seemed too good to be true...but...it's a few years later and I'm convinced if I keep on the track I'm on (with her help), I will be healed this year and full of more energy than I've ever had in my life! 

I've completely overhauled what I eat..to a low carb diet, specifically tailored for adrenal burnout.  It's taken years to cut out the sugar, bread, beans, fruit, potatoes, etc. (the primary food group of my diet), but i tell everyone, if I can do it, anyone can do it.  I went from studying for exams with a bag of M&Ms and Twizzlers regularly to now eating no added simple sugar, protein at every meal, and tons of vegetables.  Next blog I'll talk about what I'm doing to be healthy and truly heal from adrenal burnout. 

For personalized fitness and nutrition coaching with me follow the link below: 

www.kellydarbywellness.com

Recipe 4: easy, quick, delicious low carb meals

This is probably my most favorite low carb salad :)  In my last post I discussed crock-potting a large portion of meat like a pot roast.  What do you do with all that meat?  Here is the perfect easy, quick,and delicious meal to make with that leftover pot roast.

Seriously, this blog will not be like every other blog...going on and on and on...all eloquent and wordy.  If that's what you are looking for, you can move on now, this blog is not for you.  But if you want to learn some amazing mouthwatering low carb recipes that can be made in less in 10 minutes, and you want to learn some practical habits for losing weight and living healthy, then please stayed tuned and leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

The Salad:

1. Chopped Raw Kale

2. Shredded Chuck Roast

3. Sauteed Yellow Onions

4. Shredded Parmesan

5. Au Jus (your dressing)

6. Freshly Grated Sea Salt and Pepper

For individual fitness and nutrition coaching follow the link below: 

www.kellydarbywellness.com