Faux Noodles and Rice

Sometimes low-carbing is hard. When I was working in an office it was much easier to organize myself - make lunch the night before, have dinner thought out in advance and make a nice quick fried egg for breakfast.

Now that I'm back working in a restaurant, it's hard to keep myself on track. I still have to remember to eat healthy and have at least 3 meals a day. My biggest issue is that I forget to eat breakfast and then don't eat anything until about 2:30, and have dinner at 5:30. Which makes my body starve all day and then in 3 hour span get all the nutrients for the whole day.

So for breakfast I bought some sugar-free yogurt, and make sure to keep eggs stocked up.

As for dinner, we all miss rice and pasta sometimes so here are two super easy recipes that help take the cravings away:

Faux Rice

1/2 head cauliflower
Soy sauce

You can use a food processor if you'd like, but I normally just use a cheese grater

-Grate (or process) the cauliflower so that it is very small - the size of rice
-Microwave it in a covered dish with NO water (cauliflower retains enough water that it will steam itself) for 3-5 minutes or until it's fluffy and tender.

You can use it at this point as a substitute for rice (it's great with butter chicken or any rich sauce)

I like to fry it up with a bit of soy sauce to add flavor and eat it with steamed green beans and Korean beef (I'll post that recipe one day too)

Zucchini Noodles

2-3 medium zucchinis
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

1. Cut off the two ends
2. Using a sharp vegetable peeler (or if you have it, a mandolin) peel the zucchini lengthwise to form long ribbons, continue turning and peeling until you get to the seedy inside. I normally chop up this part and use it in the sauce
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic. Saute until fragrant (2 minutes)
4. Add the zucchini noodles and gently toss with salt and pepper. Heat for about 3-5 minutes, until the noodles are tender.
5. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce! I love Alfredo with chicken, red onion and mushrooms or a nice red sauce with meatballs.

These two items have become low-carb staples for me!

Vegetarian Somersizing

Anyone who does the same plan I'm doing (Suzanne Somers) and is a vegetarian will have a few more things to think about. You would have to eat a lot of veggies (obviously) maybe with some tofu or whole grain pasta. Vegetarians need to have more carb meals then non-vegetarians because they still need to get lots of protein and of course, fiber.

You can also cook with rice and beans - good protein sources. Use textured vegetable protein to make burgers; add it to chilis, soys and sauces. Vegans can have rice milk (not soy milk) on their carb breakfast meal.

Because I had someone ask about Vegetarian Somersizing, these recipes are for you Soni!

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

12 whole medium mushrooms, stems removed
1/4 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 tsp seasoning salt

1. In a skillet melt margarine. Saute chopped mushroom stems and other veggies
2. Season with salt
3. Stuff mushroom caps with filling on baking sheet
   
4. Broil until bubbly

Easy Mexican Rice

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
3 cups water
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 can black (or kidney) beans, drained
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded lettuce

1. In a saucepan bring 3 cups water to a boil
   
2. Add Taco seasoning and rice and stir
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 15 minutes
5. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and lettuce

Hope this helps answer some questions?!

Thanks very much to Megan, I borrowed these two recipes from her site Somersize Recipes and Gluten Free - she has SO many great recipes and ideas!