I switched bags that I travel to and from work because the zipper on my back pack keeps coming undone without me knowing.  On more than one occasion, my backpack has been wide open while I am walking through the train station with my laptop, wallet, etc. just hanging out in the wind.  So what I failed to do was put my gloves in my temporary new bag and when I got to the train station, realized my mistake.  It was 11 degrees out.

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This is what it looked like at 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning – overcast, cold, gross.   We haven’t really had a bad winter, and I can’t complain with all the snow my friends in the Northeast have gotten this winter, but I want to see spring flowers and green grass.  Okay, enough whining about the weather!

It was a low carb eating day for me yesterday, except for breakfast.  And while I love, love my breakfast parfaits, they are high on the carb count because of all the fruit, which is totally insulin worthy if you ask me.  However, after I took this picture, a co-worker stopped to talk about a project, and after we talked, I sat down and started eating my breakfast.  Until about 90 minutes later I thought, did I take my insulin?  Well, the answer to that was a big fat no – and a quick blood sugar check and it was up to 422! Gah.  It’s not the end of the world, I just gave myself fast acting insulin as if I were eating food, and 45 minutes later it was back to normal.  Um, adding chocolate Cheerios was a delicious idea.

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My day flew by.  Seriously I think I could work at my desk 24 hours a day and still have plenty of work to do.  I had a couple rushes, and the typical time I take lunch just came and went, so I ate lunch at my desk.  I took a video and put it on Instagram (can’t figure out how to put it here) but it doesn’t matter – I made a Thai noodle soup, but it needs tweaking, so back to the drawing board on that one.  I made turkey meatballs to go in the soup, and while they tasted delicious straight out of my cast iron skillet when they had a nice crispy texture, once reheated in the soup they became mushy.  And ladies, am I right that mushy balls in your mouth isn’t all that appealing?!  (#sorrymom!).

Luckily I had my fruit as a snack on my train ride home – loving that it’s light outside by the time I get home.

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Since it was a low carb day I knew I had steak on the menu with green beans and mushrooms, but thought it needed something to tie it all together.  Duh – a pan sauce!  A pan sauce is nothing more than using all the goodness your steak leaves behind in your cast iron skillet to make a tasty sauce.  This dinner literally cold not have been easier – it was ready in about 15 minutes.

  • 5 ounces sirloin steak
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup fresh green beans
  • 1 teaspoon garlic
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon fat free half and half

Trim the green beans and put in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 1 1/2 minutes.  Set aside.  In a cast iron skillet, or non-stick pan, spray coconut oil spray (or use grapeseed or coconut oil – something that can handle the high heat).  I used Hardcore Carnivore rub on my steak, but feel free to stick with salt and pepper, or your favorite BBQ seasoning.  I like my beef on the rare side, so over high heat, I cooked my beef for 2 minutes per side, then set that aside.  Return the heat to low, add the grapeseed oil and cook the mushrooms for about 2-3 minutes.  Add in the green beans and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Mix in the corn starch and lemon pepper seasoning with the chicken broth and add that to the pan.  Cook for a minute or so until the sauce starts to thicken, then stir in the half and half.

I put the green beans and mushrooms in the bottom of the pan, sliced the steak and placed that on top, then drizzled the lemon pepper pan sauce over the top.  You probably won’t use all this pan sauce, but if you had a baked potato, it would be delicious over the top of that.

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This picture really doesn’t do it justice, but this was so flavorful and delicious.  Can’t wait to do this again with grilled steak.   I just barely made my points today – after dinner I had only eaten 21 points.  If it had been a high carb day that would have been easy to get the points in, so I had 1/3 cup of almonds and a piece of cheese for 7 points to bring me to 28 points for the day.  I always forget how much fuller I feel with so much protein, but, turns out I love carbs, so I like the carb cycling.  We’ll see how it plays out on the scale this week. 

Here is more motivation for you – love this one!

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So keep moving forward my friends!  #keepswimming 

Make it a great day!