Hi Umpa!  

One of my all time favorite foods was Manicotti.
I stumbled upon the recipe while going through my deceased sister's things.
This recipe came from my Dad's cousin's husband who owned an Italian restaurant chain in Southern California.

I would no longer eat it due to the high carb content... But I sure do miss it!  
I'd be eternally grateful if you would convert it to an FTS-friendly recipe.

I think I just need to replace the flour and sugar to comply with FTS.
I'm just not sure which low carb "flour" and how much Xylitol to replace the sugar.

Thanks in advance,
Tony

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Pancakes (crepes):

3 egg yolks beaten well
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup water
4 TBSP cooking (or virgin olive) oil (approximate)

Slowly add water to flour while mixing until blended well.
Fold beaten egg yolks into the mixture.

Put some cooking oil in 5-7 inch skillet (enough to coat bottom) and preheat over medium high heat.
Pour batter into skillet (in small amounts) to make small pancakes (one at a time).
You will need to flip each one once before done.

Add more oil to skillet as needed between pancakes.
Set cooked pancakes on warm platter for later use.
Continue cooking pancakes until batter is gone.

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Stuffing:

1 1/2 lbs. Ricotta Cheese
1 small ball of Mozzarella Cheese (about 1/4 pound) cut into small pieces
2 TBSP. fine grated Parmesan Cheese
1 TBSP. Parsley Flakes
1 tsp. Sugar

Fold all these in large bowl until well blended.

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Making Manicotti Rolls:

2 cans Pizza Sauce mixed with 1 TBSP Italian Seasoning or Oregano

Spray large baking pan (@ 10" x 18") with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover bottom with a coating of Pizza Sauce.

Take each pancake and put several tablespoons of the cheese stuffing on each and roll it up.
Place each roll into the baking pan creating 2 rows across.

Repeat until you've covered the bottom of the pan.
Cover layer of stuffed pancakes with a coating of pizza sauce.

Make another layer of rolls covering it with remaining Pizza Sauce.

Preheat oven to 350.
Bake Manicotti for 45 minutes.

Pull from oven and let rest of 5 minutes.
Then... Serve and enjoy!

For those of us who obsess with what the scale tells us...

With the passing of my sister early this month, I've been reminded just how short this life is and to enjoy every moment of it to the fullest.

With that in mind, I decided from there on, not be too concerned if my weight stalled out at a certain point.
I would just stick to the FTS rules, and before long, the scale would start moving again... And it sooner or later, ALWAYS does!
In fact, I recently reported breaking the 50 pound loss mark this last week.

I realize that we all would love to wake up tomorrow morning and be at our goal weights.
That's just human nature... We want what we want. And we want it NOW!
We are sick and tired of being FAT and want to get rid of the FAT right away!
But the reality is, our bodies lose weight at their own rates.

Try to find the "rhythm" of your body on the FTS program.
I believe I have and am much happier and contented since I did!

Remember, we will be eating very much like this (while maintaining weight) for the rest of our lives.
So just enjoy the FTS lifestyle, and your body will lose that FAT naturally at it's own pace.

Cheddar (or almost any kind of) Cheese Sauce

This sauce is excellent wherever a 0 carb cheese sauce is desired.

It is fantastic on top of sauteed ground beef with broccoli, sliced mushrooms, and a little diced onion.
Also good over most veggies, chicken, pork, fish, etc.... Almost anything that would be good with cheese.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cream, Heavy, liquid
3/4 cup Medium Cheddar, grated
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
A splash Dry Cooking Sherry (optional)

Directions:

Put heavy cream, sherry, and mustard into a small pan and whisk together.

Warm slowly until it begins to show a little steam. Stirring occasionally.

Take 1 to 2 ounces of cheese at a time and whisk into cream mixture until melted.
Continue adding cheese until desired thickness is achieved (usually 6-10 oz.).

Substitutions:

Dry mustard for Dijon (will get a very slight loss of flavor).
Sharp cheddar for a sharper "cheesy" flavor (fabulous on cauliflower for mock macaroni).
Experiment with other cheeses and try mixing... You'll surprise yourself!... I did!!!


Make a double batch on keep on hand in the fridge.
Just scoop out some with a spoon, put on some leftovers, and nuke until melted.

Other than "sweets", this sauce is wonderful on almost everything!

Low Carb Bon Appetit!  

Hi Everyone! 

I found this link to an article about statins that I found very alarming! 

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/01/20/bad-news-for-statins-is-good-news/

So far, I haven't noticed any side effects.
But I don't want to wait until something really bad happens.

The next time I see my doc, I will be having a deeper discussion about the Crestor he has me taking.
Fortunately, it's a small dose (5 mg daily).

If you are also taking statins, you might want to have a talk with your doctor as well.

My prayer is to be free from ALL the meds I'm on due to health complications from my weight ASAP!!!

Well after a stalled weight loss from overindulgence around Christmas,
today I FINALY reached the 40 pound lost milestone!!! 

Being stalled out for so long was starting to try my patience.
But I knew that if I stuck with it, my weight would begin to fall off again!

I'm looking forward to the 50 pounds milestone!!! 

Hi Everyone! 

After an involuntary "vacation" away from my PC (and this forum), it's nice to be back!

On Thanksgiving, I was a "good boy" about staying low-carb and did not gain any weight.
However, I did eat more than usual which I believe has stalled my weight loss.
I'm confident it will get going again soon!
Staying low-carb and reducing my food consumption will force weight loss to restart.

So on to the "why" of my "vacation"...

Weird things started happening on my PC around the middle of this month.
The desktop screen would sometimes partially blur.
The machine would just lock up and require power down and up to run.
The PS/2 keyboard would not work. Had to plug it into USB.
Files on my local hard drives would start disappearing. This was VERY scary! I take backups so nothing important got lost (whew!).
Plus a bunch of other strange things were also starting to occur.

At first, I thought it was a virus.
So I scanned the machine using several different anti-virus/malware products, but found nothing.
At that point, I was convinced that my 6 1/2 year old PC's main board was dying.

On November 18th, I took my PC to the shop for repairs. The repair guy verified that the main board was going out.
He replaced the main board, CPU, memory, and power supply (to be safe).
He also re-partitioned my hard drives and reloaded Windows.

The holidays is NOT a good time of year to get an unexpected bill for about $600.00!
But my PC now runs MUCH faster than it ever did. And the PC upgrade was about 1 1/2 years (and 8 PC generations) overdue!
This will be my Christmas gift this year.

To add insult to injury, after I got my PC home on November 26th, someone hijacked my e-mail account!!!
E-mails with links to weird sites (like Viagra) were being sent to everybody on my e-mail contact list.
How embarrassing!!!... One of them was even sent to Doug who contacted me about it!
I had to change my e-mail password to stop the e-mails.

So now, I'm reconfiguring my PC to be the way I want (e.g. screen wallpaper). This will take some time to do.
But at least now, I can again stay in touch with all you great folks!

Tony (mouseissue)

My experience with the FAT To Skinny lifestyle has been a matter of slow progress toward my weight goal.

My doctor has told me that he much rather I lose weight slowly.
The slowness at times feels a bit discouraging. Maybe I'm a bit impatient.
But I do not allow myself to become disheartened or think about quitting.

The following analogy has helped me maintain perspective and helps me keep my eye on the "prize" (my goal weight).

If anyone else has been experiencing slow and/or up and down weight loss and has felt a little discouraged, I hope this helps you too.

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Imagine a man standing on top of a flight of stairs on the second floor of a building gazing down at the ground floor landing at the bottom of the stairs... His destination... His goal.

He thinks, "I need to get to the ground floor (goal weight) to vastly improve my life and health".
But in order to get there, he must dribble (bounce) a basketball on each step as he descends down the stairs.

His weight on any given day is like the relative height of the basketball to the ground floor goal below him.
On some days, it's a bit up. And at others, it's a bit down.
But the overall trend over time is down toward the goal!

The moral...

The man must keep moving and dribbling the ball down the stairs (sticking with it).
As long as that is true, and he does not quit, his goal WILL be reached!
No other conclusion is possible!

I realized today that I did not post this recipe after mentioning it yesterday.

I have enjoyed it for many years but used regular bread crumbs instead of crushed pork rinds.
 
Using Alaskan Halibut makes the best dish by a long shot.
But since it's pricey, any halibut or other white fish (like cod, tilapia, tuna, etc.) will still be good.

If you make it, please let me know what you think!  
 
INGREDIENTS
 
1 1/2 lbs Halibut Fillets (0 carb)
1 cup dry White Wine (4 carbs if you drink the marinade afterwards... ugh! )
2 tsp Salt (Sea Salt is preferred) (0 carb)
1/4 cup crushed Pork Rinds (without added seasonings) (0 carb)
1/2 cup Sour Cream (3.3 carbs)
1/2 cup Mayonnaise (0 carb)  
1/4 cup minced Green Onions (1 carb)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (or to taste) (1 carb)
Paprika to taste (0 carb)
 
Combine wine and salt; pour over halibut. Marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour turning it over every 30 minutes.
Crush 1/4 cup worth of pork rinds.
Drain halibut on paper towels; cover both sides in pork rind crumbs. Hand press with wax paper so they stay on.
Place halibut in shallow baking dish sprayed with Pam cooking spray or use butter.
Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, green onions, and lemon juice in a bowl; spread over halibut.
Sprinkle covered halibut with paprika.
Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes per inch of thickness (measured at the thickest part) or until halibut flakes when tested with a fork.
 
Makes 4 servings (less than 1.5 net carb each).