Fat Frog Diary

We just had this last night, and everyone raved!   Ladies and gents, this is much easier than it looks. The most difficult part is using the meat mallet to pound on it. It's noisy, but gets out your frustrations! I do recommend setting the spinach to drain first. Lay out all your ingredients and pre-measure to save time and trouble. I baked my bacon at 375F that morning and let them drain and cool all day. By the time I waltzed into the kitchen to cook dinner, most of the hard work was done. Assembly was nearly effortless.  However, my flank steak was a fairly large one. Using the broiler only meant it was still rare in the center, and my DH prefers well done. If your family doesn't like rare to very rare, I suggest a half an hour in the oven before popping your pinwheels under the broiler.  For a bandster, these things are two meals, so go ahead and cut yours in half before serving the family. If you're smart, you'll be wise to hide that half you're saving. My

Okay, I admit to being a slacker about lunches. Most of the time I rummage in the fridge for a leftover if I'm hungry enough to bother. However, recently I had to start thinking more about this since my DD3 got a job. DD3 has been low-carb dieting with me since she got here, even when her progress seemed small. Just lately, she got the encouragement of seeing a comparison between an earlier visit to my bariatric surgeon and a recent one. Wow, that was a lot of fat lost! That was the impetus she needed. However, now that she has to brown-bag it to work, we have new challenges. She has no access to refrigeration or a microwave, so we have to make do with an ice pack in her lunch box, and that's it. So, forget the soups and stuff you have to warm. Too bad, but the hamburgers with portobella "buns" will just have to wait for the weekends. Here's my list of what I can find for lunches that are low carb, portable, and don't require heat. Hard-boiled or stuffed eggs

Just last week I went to the doc and he gleefully reported I'd lost TEN pounds! Yes!!! With all three of my darlings DH, DD, and Dante all at work, I'm not tempted anymore. With an official 215 lbs logged, I felt I was well on my way. (My scale at home reads about 7 lbs lighter, so I just add 7 to what I see at home.) After two days of being ill, I stepped on the scale this morning. My heart stopped. Did my scale read 203?? Really? Okay, add the 7...210!! Another five pounds gone. Yes!! (Dancing in a weak, falling up against the wall sort of way) I can see One-der-land now. (For those that don't know, One-der-land is when you weigh under 200 lbs, as in one-hundred-and--anything) I haven't seen One-der-land in twenty years. Can I have an Un-birthday party when I make it there? I'll tell you what has worked--my food diary. Keeping it throughout the day makes sure I budget those precious carbs so I'm not chewing on bacon and cheese while everyone else enjoys

As anyone in our sisterhood of Scale Whores Anonymous (SWA) knows, I'm the nut case who keeps track of her weight by writing it down on the bathroom mirror with a wipe-off board pen. I have an antiquated bathroom scale that looks like it belongs in the Art Deco Revival era several decades ago, and I love it because of that beauty. I know it's not accurate, but I step on it anyway every day. (That's why there's an SWA-- we're compulsive about it.) Last month, just before Christmas, when I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office, I got a nasty shock. Despite repeated attempts to be very good, I'd *gained* a pound. EEEK! So, I was determined to get back on the wagon. I pulled out the old food journal and locked all the carb contraband out in the cabinet outside. My scale said I lost. At one point it dipped down to 205 lbs, and my shriek of joy should have shattered the bathroom window. (Thank you, tempered glass.) Still, I drove with butterflies i