Category: Keto

Wednesday, May 8th – I started the day with some shopping. I headed straight to HEB Plus after I’d dropped Aly off at school that day, with the pack of cookies each student needed to donate for Field Day. I needed to find more flowers for the centerpieces I was making by 4pm that day, and there was a shortage of everything due to Mother’s Day being around the corner.

I didn’t find what I was looking for, but spoke to a manager, who said she’d call and let me know if they had the flowers I needed as soon as they finished unloading the flower truck. I figured I’d get 3 bouquets of the ones they DID have, and I’d use them for the smaller centerpieces.

Got to work, started on the centerpieces, then helped my boss with a photo shoot. I ate breakfast super late ’cause I was super busy. I called the manager at 10ish and she said they didn’t have any of the flowers I needed. Ugh. But I did get her blessing to return the 3 bouquets I bought that morning, since they weren’t going to work out without the other flowers.

Michelle and I called all the HEBs nearby: none had them. We called a nearby flower shop and thank GOD, they had them. Gerry would pick them up. Never–in the time I’ve been doing the centerpieces–have I been THISSTRESSED about flowers LOL.

I met my love and Marco for lunch at The Hungry Mongol. Made my meal as low-carb as possible.

We ate, discussed Keto and other things, and then he said something that upset me. He didn’t mean to, and I laughed it off. Once I got back to work and went back to HEB to return the flowers and pick up beer and other supplies, however, the irrational part of my brain having so much free and alone time started picking at me. So needless to say, we spent much of the day in silence LOL.

I finally finished all the centerpieces when I got back to the office, then I took care of some stuff and covered the front desk for a bit.

I helped with some photographs again, then booked it because I needed to go back to HEB to get Sally a little gift because I was visiting her, Carlos and brand-new little Charlee Reyna Monae!! She’s finally here, and she’s so adorable and soft!! I’d forgotten what holding a tiny baby was like :*). Thankfully, Sally is recovering much better than she did with Quentin and she’s got all of Carlos’ support :). I’m so thrilled for them!

I rushed home, and bless her heart: mom had already bathed the girls for me and made them dinner. We chilled out together on the back porch. Jorge got home and we all sat there. And eventually we ended the silent treatment from earlier in the day and cuddled each other. I hate wasting any time arguing/being in bad moods. We spent some time with the girls, had them brush their teeth and go to bed. Then we watched one whole episode of The Voice. We’re super behind LOL.

Thursday, May 9th – I woke up early to make the family some deviled eggs for breakfast, per Alaethia’s request :). I was rushing, but I got everything done and got her to school on time. I decided to ask the registrar if all was well with Alaethia’s registration…and that took about 30 minutes, grr.

I had a lunch meeting that day, which ran a little late, but since I didn’t get a box lunch this time my love waited to meet me. We ate at Palenque Chicken, which has become one of my favorites. I thought being on the Keto Diet and eating at Mexican Food places was going to kill me since I couldn’t have rice, beans or *gasp* tortilla chips. But I’m perfectly fine with my avocado salsa, grilled chicken and steamed veggies :).

I rushed home after work to see my babygirls off since they were leaving with Mario for the weekend. We got their stuff together and had some snacks before they left. My love got home shortly after and we began to get ready. We had planned a date night, but didn’t even post it anywhere because it never fails: our dates are always ruined. Usually by the same person >_<. He was so excited about it he told all the guys at work he NEEDED to get out early so we could eat dinner and make the movie he'd been waiting 2 weeks to watch, "Oblivion". We're walking out the door and he gets a text. An important one from Jorgie. Needless to say, it became a huge drama show, 'caused non other than by the person who usually ruins our dates. Not only was our date ruined, but it was even more frustrating because poor Jorgie was miserable and we literally couldn't do anything about it :(. We tried to salvage our original plans, but the restaurant's kitchen was already closed, and we were going to miss the movie. Oh well. After driving around rather aimlessly for a while we headed to Red Lobster and had a quiet dinner. We had so much on our minds we couldn't even decide on what to eat, but eventually we had a pretty low-carb feast. We were still mopey until I saw the empty carcass of our lobster, with all its little wispy hair-like thingies and I said, "That looks like Ruffles". We both cracked a smile. Then Jorge reached over and pretended to tickle the lobster carcass and said, "Oh, Ruffles, Ruffles, Ruffles," the way he does when he's tickling Ruffles. It was just hilarious. We had a good laugh, and felt better the rest of the night. Well, as best as we could. Friday, May 10th – We had an early morning the next day. I was taking the morning off to go to Alaethia’s and Eenan’s Mother’s Day events. Jorge was going with me, since we had a meeting at the dealership. Unbeknownst to me, he’d been in talks with his friend about trading in the Routan. He’d brought it up, but I didn’t think it was something that was going to happen this soon!

I met Aly at her classroom and we chit-chatted with the other moms and kids while Aly ate muffins (I had a bite, so as not to be rude, heh).

She wrote a little summary about me, where she says I weigh 50 lbs. and I make boiled eggs for dinner. I love her, she’s too damn cute :).

Muffins for Mom was over at 8:15, so I woke a sleeping Jorge who was napping in the car and we drove to Eenan’s school. I got there early-ish, made a friend and we waited for our kids. When they’d gathered the moms in the cafeteria they told us our kids wouldn’t be joining us. I was in disbelief; how could they have a Mother’s Day without our kids?! They had us doing crafts (bracelets, etc.) and we listened to the choir and orchestra teacher sing us songs. I didn’t want to be rude, and it was a super nice gesture by the staff, but I wanted to see my boy since I wouldn’t see him till Sunday. So I dismissed myself politely, and asked the front desk to please call him. I’m glad they weren’t hard asses about it and let him see me :*).

We hadn’t had breakfast so we had some menudo at Taco Palenque and just talked. He said, “We aren’t taking that van back home today, I promise.” I have to admit, I felt a little lump of guilt in my chest. My poor little van!

The odds were in our favor; not only was one of Jorge’s friends helping us, another friend of his was the finance guy, woo! We already knew which SUV we wanted: the Chevy Traverse in Diamond, but the one Jorge had seen just the day before had been sold! So we test-drove one in dark red that was the exact same thing we wanted. It was beautiful! And the ride was so smooth!

They did all the initial paperwork and Jorge took me to work. My day went by super fast since I had a list of things to do and then the girls and I went to pick up our creations from Artsy Pots. They came out SO NICE!

Jorge texts and send me a pic while I’m at work, “Well aren’t we just receiving surprises today?!”

I’d bought these Popples off of someone on eBay who lives in France, where the little Indian Popple was made. This was my Mom’s Mother’s Day gift to me ^_^!

My love picked me up after work and we headed back to the dealership. He called to check if the boys were going over, since, telling by the previous night’s events, we figured they wouldn’t. But they were after all. We finished everything up, got in the red car they were lending us for the weekend till ours was shipped in from Kingsville and we went to have dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse since we were STARVING from not having lunch. Then Jorge realized he couldn’t find the key to the BMW!! So back to the dealership we go. He’d left it in the van, heh.

I snapped a photo of the Routan since it would be the last time we’d see it.

Even with all it’s stupid recalls and the rattling and the stupid sliding door that never quite worked right; I was still going to miss it. That van helped me move 3 times. It helped me look for a job when I had absolutely nothing. It helped Jorge and I go back and forth to work when he didn’t have a vehicle and my vehicle was all I had. We’ve come a long way, and that van was always a part of it so it makes me a little weepy and nostalgic thinking about it <3. We took a break from our diets and ordered drinks at Longhorn Steakhouse.

My taste buds were in heaven! I went outside for a bit to talk with my kiddos and then I joined my love at the bar again. We had some stuffed mushrooms, I had a steak (I know, I hardly ever eat steak) and my love had stuffed tilapia I believe. We shared. I much preferred his meal, which usually happens LOL.

We got home and the boys had arrived. We ordered dinner for them and Jorge went outside to tidy up the porch since Junior and Juan were visiting. I sat on the couch to watch some TV (at 9:30pm)…and passed out till 9:15 the next morning!!

Saturday, May 11th – After tossing and turning a while and feeling as though I’d get a “Sleep Hangover” I decided to get up and make my Keto Pancakes/Crepes:

…and some normal pancakes for Jorgie and Justin.

I went out to check the mail and was thrilled to find the little pants I ordered on eBay for my Indigo doll from Rainbow Brite. After almost 8 or so years of owning her, she finally has pants! Now I just need her IQ mini sprite :).

The boys woke up around 10am. Their mother was supposed to pick them up in the morning, but I had a feeling we had different ideas of what “morning” is, so I cleaned up and around noon we got ready to drop Mom off at Gramma’s, do some grocery shopping, and drop flowers off and visit with Gramma (it’s the first time the boys have met Gramma :)). We got home and the boys ate the sushi they picked at HEB. As I organized cabinets I told them they could call their mom after they ate, but they stayed an additional 2 hours, watching TV and eating their snacks :).

It was 5:30pm when the boys left. I tidied up a bit and then Jorge got home. We decided to have another go at Date Night, but not before we made a pit stop at the new Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. The owner is a friend of my love’s and he needed some help. I chit-chatted with a few of the family members and they gave us these:

That is too cool! I could not WAIT for it to open. Monday was the soft opening and Friday was the Grand Opening. This is going to be the place EVERYONE wants to hang out at. So proud of my babe for all his hard work!!

We made our way to Kumori for dinner. No rice in our sushi would be a challenge, but it was fun going over the menu and trying a few new things.

Next time I’ll ask them to hold the lime juice on the roll, though. It was too tangy, but otherwise, good.

Jorge was tired and was already yawning and getting sleepy (which is funny ’cause that’s usually me, heh), so we made our way to Starbucks and ordered some Keto-friendly iced coffees. We’re learning as we go, but si far I really like a tall iced coffee with sugar free caramel syrup, 1 Splenda, and heavy cream.

We made it to the movie just in time. “Oblivion” was so good!! So glad my love finally got to watch it :).

Sunday, May 12th – We woke up early on Mother’s Day and piled in the red “loaner” Traverse to pick up my kiddos. It was drizzly and overcast outside and most places were packed but we didn’t have to wait long at Denny’s :).

The loves of my life!!!

My love and Mother:

I decided to diverge from my diet and indulged in some AMAZING French Toast!! It was heavenly!!

Mario and his mother were taking the 3 younger kids to Disney on Ice at noon, so we headed home to wait for them. Eenan didn’t want to go so he was staying with us :).

We all watched TV and snuggled till they picked them up. It was the perfect weather for it :).

Pay no attention to the mess of pillows and blankets. It was Mother’s Day after all LOL.

We chilled out with Eenan and ran some errands at Home Depot. Jorge decided today would be the day he’d remove the old glass/gold/wooden light fixtures and replace them with some from this century!

Everything looked great and it made the rooms look so much better. We joked with Eenan until they picked him up. It sucks that I only got to see them for a while but I’m glad I got to spend the time that I did with them since it was Mario’s weekend after all.

It was still soggy outside, but Jorge and I went to HEB to get a few groceries and things we needed. We picked up some wings and dip and ate back at home with Mom in the kitchen nook watching American Dad. Perfect way to end a perfect Mother’s Day :).

Monday, May 13th – The next day, as I drove home from work Jorge called me to go pick up my new Traverse!!

It’s gorgeous!! It’s still pending the step bars and the touch screen/MyLink system isn’t the same as the one in the loaner, but the guys are great and my love is awesome and goes to great lengths to make everything absolutely perfect :). I can truly say I was a spoiled mama this Mother’s Day :*). I feel so overwhelmingly blessed. I find myself thinking about all we’ve been blessed with at random times of the day and as corny as it sounds I feel like I should pinch myself sometimes!

Original Blog Post from May 7, 2013.

I was on a roll since last night; first I made my love some steak and veggies for dinner (I only had a bit; not a huge fan of red meat), and then I searched Pinterest until I found a Keto-friendly pancake recipe because I was really craving some =\. I followed one that I’d but changed a few things around. I’m still trying to perfect the recipe, but the batch I made was as follows:
 
2 oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon (this is optional; cinnamon adds about 5g of carbs)
1/2 tsp. of Swerve (or your favorite sweetener. You may want to add more if you like sweet pancakes)
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond flour (this is also optional; it adds about 1 carb, but it makes the pancakes easier to flip!)

Warm the cream cheese up about 10 seconds so it’s mixable, then combine all ingredients together in a blender (it’s super fast in my Magic Bullet!) and puree. Careful not to over-beat. Heat your pan up (medium-high worked for me) and cook each side of the pancake till it’s bubbly and brown. Careful when you’re flipping them; they’re much thinner than regular pancakes. The texture is more like a crepe, but they’re so satisfying! This recipe makes about 4 small crepes. Top with blackberries (pretty low-carb) and sugar free syrup (I like Walden Farms) if you’re trying to keep these low-cal, low-carb, no-sugar ;).

I woke up early, got ready for work, got Alaethia’s things ready, made some eggs to go along with Jorge’s leftover steak from last night, packed my lunch (salad!) and dropped Aly off at school. While I was there, I signed up to volunteer my help at her Field Day on the 17th. I hope I get to see her participating though =\.

I couldn’t wait to get to work and devour my crepes :). They were SO. DAMN. GOOD!!

I did some research because I get these bouts of fatigue, but it’s probably due to my electrolytes being low so I need to take care of that. My stomach was feeling weird after lunch, and that was probably due to my eating too much protein and not enough “fat”. I’m learning as I go.

The day went by quickly what with helping my boss with a photo shoot, talking with Jessica through lunch and going to HEB with Michelle to buy flowers (I’m doing some centerpieces for a reception tomorrow) and beverages for work. Followed by a meeting which ran 45 minutes after 5, followed by picking up Mom’s prescriptions and doing a bit of grocery shopping (again!). Got home, made dinner (a low-carb broccoli & cauliflower cheese gumbo! Recipe soon! It contains both the fat and sodium I need for the symptoms I’m having.), ate while I tested Aly on her spelling words, bathed the girls, brushed their tangled hair, supervised while Aly read her book, put them to bed, swept and mopped while I chatted with my boys and I’m finally sitting!! My love already passed out; he had a long day. I should really pack my soup, iron my dress and get in the shower, but bed sounds so much more appealing!!

So I survived my first full week of the Keto Diet and I must say, it isn’t so bad!!

It’s been slow at work, and usually that freed up a lot of time for mindless snacking, but I’ve been quietly snacking on my low-carb stuff and being good :).

I weighed in on Tuesday, which marked 1 week, and I’d lost 3 pounds. I’d started at 123 and was down to 120. I had told Jorge that if I lost 3-5 pounds the first week, I’d call it a success and continue with it. So now I had to hold myself accountable LOL.

The girls made their own pizzas for dinner on Tuesday night and I made myself and my love our carb-free dinner, which I can’t remember what I made at the moment, heh.

Wednesday was the day Gerry had set up for our Administrative Assistants night out at Artsy Pots, thanks to our boss. Everyone was taking their own wine and there’d be snacks, so I was nervous about it. I didn’t know if I’d be able to control myself. When Michelle and I went to Feldman’s and I found a Skinny Girl Peach Margarita, I was giddy, and bought it.

It was awful. Never buy that crappola!

This was the spread:

Missing was the Subway sandwiches. I got some cream cheese, a teaspoon of hummus, 2 crackers, a slice of apple and the insides of a sandwich. I concentrated more on painting my muffin mug :).

I LOVED that place! I’d like to set something up like that with the kids during summer. They had so much stuff to choose from! I can’t wait to get them back, all shiny and bright :).

Jorge and Freddy were outside talking and Mom had already made dinner for the girls when I got home. I love these people :). I read with the girls, we watched some TV, I bathed them and put them in bed. I sat with the guys outside and headed to bed myself. I didn’t stuff my face when I got home, nor did I feel the need to! That’s progress!

I woke up on Thursday and weighed myself, just for the heck of it. I was delighted when I saw this:

6 pounds down from when I started just a little over a week before. WITHOUT EXERCISE!! I can imagine how much better I’d be doing if we WERE still jogging =\.

That evening was the ribbon cutting for Artsy Pots. Oh no, more food!!

But I kept seeing that 117 in my head and didn’t want to screw it up. I almost had a Margarita, but I had water instead. I had a few bites of cheese (I am THRILLED that I can have cheese with this diet, heh), 2 chunks of pineapple (I later Googled it and found out they have tons of sugar =\) and a few other non-carb things I can’t remember. The owner asked us to all take a cupcake, so I did, but gave it to the kiddos :).

I picked up the boys that evening. Mario had bagged up all my 80’s cups I’d left at the house, woo! The boys and I laughed about random stuff like we usually do on the way home :).

The next morning we got ready, I dropped the boys off, and when I came home I found Ruffles in the garage, perched on top of the freezer near the door. -_- He’s always trying to get out and when he does, he wants to get back inside LOL.

I took my Aly to school and we bought her a spirit shirt and I went to work. It was a busy morning, which made it go fast, thank goodness. I met my love and Marco for lunch and we went to the mall. I was worried about what we’d eat, but we found an alternative:

Bourbon chicken and veggies. Oh yes!!

I picked up the boys after work, stopped at Game Stop, and my love ordered pizza for the kids. I can’t even remember what I ate now, but I stayed away from the pizza, which that in itself is a victory!!

The next day I woke up to the smell of pancakes. It was torture. But I made myself some deviled eggs and had a chunk of brie cheese and my coffee (with sugar free hazelnut). It was satisfying.

I made lunch for the kiddos then Emily and I did some grocery shopping for the week and we got some snacks for the drive-in. It was a challenge finding stuff for Jorge and myself, but I found a few things.

It had been years since I’d gone (15 years or more) and had never been to this location. It would be interesting with all 7 kiddos for sure!

We got home, I gathered lawn chairs, blankets and the snacks. I made dinner for the kids, my love got home and we loaded the car and the kids, and we were off!

We ran into Norma and we caught up as much as we could in 10 minutes LOL.

We watched Olympus Has Fallen which was AWESOME. The little ones fell asleep even before Iron Man 3 began.

I spent the first 30 minutes of Iron Man 3 in line for the bathroom. It was ridiculous. But I still watched from the line, heh.

We had fun, the kids had fun, thank goodness. Emily said she wanted to go back tonight as I was tucking her into bed :).

We got home, tucked the kids into bed and crashed out ourselves.

In the morning we got up and I made breakfast.

One of my favorite breakfasts by far!

I was feeling weird, so I thought it may be my diet, but I checked myself on a Ketostick and I’m still doing pretty darn good. Jorge is impressed :).

We finished cleaning, got lunch for the kiddos and just chilled out, as much as we could with the little ones, heh. We tried going to the Indoor Market today but we got there late; which sucks ’cause the next one isn’t till August :(.

Emily went with a goal. As she clutched her dollar she said, “I’m gonna find a poodle.” Jorge and I looked at each other and smiled. “Ok, Baby,” I said.

Lo and behold, as we scanned over the last table selling toys, she proudly brings over a Share Bear poseable…and a purple poodle lol.

I didn’t find much. But I did find this:

And I’ve saved my spending money the past couple of weeks and have added these to my collection:

And I also got a mini OJ Sprite from Rainbow Brite, which was FREE!

I am expecting 2 other things, which Mom and Jorge got me for Mother’s Day, heh :). I can’t WAIT to receive them!!

Time for bed and time to get ready for another crazy Monday morning!