Atkins Induction Dinner Day 8 - Pan Roasted Lemon and Thyme Scented Brussels Sprouts Rock the Casbah!

Lemon and Thyme Scented Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Who says simple equates to boring? Sometimes I’m the most grateful for the simple, quick meals we throw together and enjoy in all their glory! This entire meal came together in less than 20 minutes from icebox (that’s Texan for refrigerator) to table. Of course I did have quite a bit of help from the grill-meister, Denny Crane who made FANTASTIC Moroccan Pan Seared Chicken Fingers while I made the Lemon and Thyme Scented Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts!

Atkins Induction Day 7 - Lucky Leftovers Rule!

Lucky Leftovers = BBQ Pulled Chicken and Cheese
Open Face Sandwiches with tomato and red onion
and Turnips Greens with Ham in Potlicker

Leftover Jalapeno Cheese "Corn" Muffins can be
make Induction-friendly and are winners!

Remember the Jalapeno Cheese "Corn" Muffins from
Day 1 of Atkins Induction?

I hear a lot of people grousing about “having to eat leftovers.” A friend’s hubby is very vocal about eating leftovers (or rather, NOT eating leftovers.) But learning to love leftovers is in your best interest. It’s convenient, saves food loss, saves electricity and labor time cuz you can cook once and eat many times, and it helps you adhere to your eating plan. In short, leftovers are “no brainers.” In fact, we love and depend on them so much, I call them “lucky leftovers.”

Rotisserie Chicken Makes a Great Dinner With Leftovers

Atkins Induction dinner - Rotisserie Chicken

I’m not above eating prepared rotisserie chicken. The HEB rotisserie chicken is really delicious, moist, convenient, and isn’t too jam-packed with questionable ingredients. And I will confess—when I’m swamped, or pooped, I buy it. And lick my fingers after every bite!

Put Induction Friendly Tortillas Back On The Menu - Atkins Induction Day 5

Coconut Pumpkin Tortillas are Induction-friendly

Sundays in our house always come with a big breakfast or brunch and endless hot cups of coffee. It’s our time to leisurely decompress and enjoy visiting with each other, having amazing coffee and delicious food. There is no diet mentality, not even when we’re doing Atkins Induction. Not at brunch nor any meal. Deprivation optional is our philosophy.

Fajitas Make An Easy Atkins Induction-Friendly Meal

Chicken Fajitas make great Induction-friendly meals.

We had dinner at my sissy's house. Most people just beginning Atkins Induction would look at going to dinner at someone's house with more than a bit of trepidation and fear. Oh my gosh, what if the hostess serves a meal filled with carbs? How do I tell my hostess that I'm dieting? Or worse, I don't want to let anyone know I'm on a special diet or that "whacky, fad diet, Atkins." How do you handle eating out--at a restaurant or someone's house without a lot of fretting?

Atkins Induction Day 3 - Chicken Piperade, A Quick Weeknight Dinner

Chicken Piperade- a fancy name for Pepper Chicken

Chicken Piperade is a fancy pants name for chicken and peppers. It’s quick, easy to make, makes terrific leftovers (freezes and reheats well), cheap, and tastes like you cooked for hours instead of 30 minutes.

Chicken Piperade is also flexible. You control the carb count of the dish by deciding how many portions of the veggies to serve along with the chicken—so for those of you afraid of consuming 9-12g of net veggie carbs in a meal, it’s easy to just cut back on your veggie serving size.

Egg Skillets - BRINNER Is An Atkins-neer's Best Friend

Here is a recipe (a non-recipe, really) near and dear to my heart. On days when I just don't feel like cooking or have a lot going on, simplicity is the name of the game and getting food on the table in the quickest amount of time is the object. Those are the days I adore BRINNER (Breakfast as Dinner).

2014 Atkins Induction - Day 1

Start the New Year right! Low carbohydrate nutrition tastes great!

Slow cooker "barbecue" pulled pork is easy and
makes great leftovers.

Many of you know I follow a low carb, alternate day fasting diet where I eat a calorie restricted level every other day and eat an Atkins-style OWL diet the rest of the time. It's worked very well for me because of a few health issues: recovering from late stage hormone positive breast cancer, PCOS (pre-surgical menopause)-which is now considered Syndrome X, asthma, diabetes type 2, and familial Parkinsonian tremor, among other fine diseases of metabolism. I have familial hypertension and am on inhaled asthma drugs and also take a hormone inhibitor for cancer therapy which is called an aromatase inhibitor. Any one of these diseases has weight gain listed as a side effect of the disease and the medicine that controls it.

The New Atkins Made Easy by Colette Heimowitz, MS

I promised two books for your last minute Christmas wish list or shopping list. Here is the second book! And what a book it is.

When Kim at MWW.com (the guys who do PR for Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.) sent me an advance copy of Colette Heimowitz’s latest book, THE NEW ATKINS MADE EASY, and asked for a review—I jumped at the opportunity for a couple of reasons:

NOURISHED, Truly Nourished!

I'm going to spend the next couple of posts bringing you two very important books that in my opinion, make great Christmas presents--for someone else, or just as importantly, for your personal Christmas wish list!

The first book, NOURISHED, A Cookbook for Health, Weight Loss and Metabolic Balance by Judy Barnes Baker has been an eye-opener. Many of you know I've been low carb for most of 14 years now (more on than off). I love this lifestyle and feel better when I faithfully follow my personalized plan than when I'm eating a SAD (Standard American Diet). I honestly thought I knew all there was to know about low carb. I thought I knew what each macronutrient brought to the table, the good fats, bad fats, the science behind low carb. I thought I could whip out a recipe for whatever we craved, whenever we wanted. I thought I didn't need to know anything else. But boy was I wrong!