Life is a beach!

Hello dear friends! Back at the beach this week with my mom and niece and nephew. Very relaxing down here, and although there still are chores, laundry, and that sort of thing, life has a slower, easier pace. I hope you are all doing well and thanks for the comments. I see some new names ( Francie, Dot, ) and of course my old cyber friends ( Dana, Rosalie, Carey, Kay and Dawn).

I have gone four weeks now without wheat. It's not so much that I want to omit a food group, but it's a way to get a little control of the carb intake. I just wanted to see how far I can take it, and it's not so bad. With some foods it's an all or nothing sort of thing for me. Going wheat free has cut out all the things that I probably was overdoing with all the BLT's  ( bites, licks tastes!!) I'm still having corn and oats, so not grain free, but baby steps for now! I lost 4 pounds in the 4 weeks. Not a world record by any means, but I confess I wasn't tracking carbs during that time and like I said I did have corn and corn products. Going forward I'm going to tighten up on that and get back to counting the carbs and sugars.

So here is a great recipe that have helped me with breakfast. This is a recipe that my DIL ( daughter-in-law) shared with me from the Dukan diet. It's basically a pancake and there are similar recipes out there, but this one is easy and because it's French it's called a Galette!! Oui Oui!! So fancy!!

You can make it sweet or savory. I chopped some fresh chives and basil and made a savory Galette. You could add vanilla, stevia, cinnamon and make a sweet galette. Your choice. I topped with two poached eggs and a little "cheese cracker," ( just melt some shredded parmesan cheese on the griddle until crispy) and it was a very delightful breakfast sans wheat!! I grow my herbs in pots and the the chives, thyme, rosemary come back each year because they are perennials.  I plant the basil each year.

Dukan Oat Bran Galette

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons of Oat Bran
1 1/2 tablespoons of non-fat greek yogurt
1 egg or one egg white ( I used egg white)

Directions

Put oat bran in a bowl, add non-fat yogurt and one egg.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and pour on to a non stick pan that has been greased beforehand
Cook for 2-3 minutes each side.

Makes one serving/pancake

Number of Servings: 1

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 1
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 129.7

• Total Fat: 6.3 g
• Cholesterol: 212.5 mg
• Sodium: 76.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 7.8 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
• Protein: 9.8 g

  

  Oat Bran Galette topped with two poached eggs and parmesan crisp and sprinkled with fresh chives.

  
  

  

  I used this oat bran which I found at the supermarket

  
  
   
  

  

  Then I enjoyed a lovely breakfast on my deck!

  
  Next post I will share some great shore snaps and another recipe that I am loving for breakfast! Until then, sending love and hugs!
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• Thought for the day:  
  

Happy June!

Knockout roses are a favorite. They bloom all summer and require no care.

Good morning lovely people! Sorry I have been AWOL. I didn't realize how much time had gone by. Now that we are back to weekends at the shore, this supposedly relaxing time of the year does get more hectic for me. I must make it a priority to keep in touch.

We had a lovely Memorial Day with the family and although the weather was cool and rainy some of the days, it was great to all be together under one roof. We played some games, watched some movies, watched home videos of our trip to Italy and some of other trips through the years, rode bikes and just enjoyed being together.

After everyone left early Tuesday morning, I decided to stay the rest of the week and get a few things done, grocery shop for the coming week, catch up on the laundry and get ready for the weekend to come. I like being by myself although I had the two dogs to keep me company. I ate simply, watched the TV shows I wanted to catch up on, organized some closets, caught up on reading and slept as much as I wanted. Very relaxing and refreshing.

I decided after reading a post by Gourmet Girl, that I really needed to do something to jump start my focus and weight loss. I have been very good about watching my sugar counts, but since the Belly Fat Cure does allow whole grain carbohydrates, I find that I really eat too many of them, all the while staying within my 6 carb servings  for the day.

 If you are new to following the Belly Fat Cure, any item with a carb count of 0-20 gms counts as 1 carb serving. If you eat something with a carb count of 30 gms for example, that is two carb servings. I love carbs and that is the biggest problem for me. I like my two slices of flax seed toast for breakfast, two slices with my sandwich at lunch and then some carbs with dinner. The Alvarado Street flax seed bread that I use only has 18 gms of carbs in 2 slices. You can see how I can have four slices and easily stay within my carb limits for the day.

Gourmet Girl who has a great recipe blog, mentioned that she has been grain and wheat free since last July and has lost over 60 lbs. It just sparked an interest in me and I decided as my personal experiment to see how long I could go wheat free. Not grain free, as I need to do things in baby steps, but just wheat free.

 I found that after doing this for over 2 weeks, it is very hard to avoid wheat. But if you do, you will substantially cut out a lot of calories. Wheat is in everything and is a part of so many meals.  So I have been trying this as my own personal experiment. it's  to help me rein in the carb train that I have been riding on. I have trouble with moderation. It's easier for me to say ' I just can't have that', then to try and have just a little. I want to see if this helps make a difference and jump starts me again back into a losing pattern.

The Chives at the end of their bloom.

The basil is growing strong as is the cilantro!

 I'll tell you more in the next post I write and share a great recipe that is helping me make my breakfasts almost as exciting as my flax seed toast!

Sending hugs and love to all of you!

Thought for the day:  If you keep doing what you always did, you'll keep getting what you always got!