Wintzell's Oyster House - Shrimp and Mahi Cobb Salad

Last night I went to dinner with family to celebrate the birthday of Mrs. LCD. We ended up at Wintzell's Oyster House in Saraland, Alabama. 

Of course, this local seafood restaurant has so many yummy fried things that it's tempting to get a big basket of fried goodness (and don't get me started about that buttery bread!). Alas, I stuck to my guns and focused on the salad menu. 

From the Wintzell's menu (http://www.wintzellsoysterhouse.com/menu): 
"Bands of shrimp, mahi mahi, egg, bacon and cheddar cheese topped with grape tomatoes, purple onions and our homemade croutons".

This time I remembered to say "no croutons, please" and they happily obliged. What you see is what I got; loads of shrimp and fish and other fixings on a bed of lettuce. It's a great choice; look it up the next time you find yourself at Wintzell's. 

Rotolo's Pizzeria - Caesar Salad with Blackened Chicken

It can be tough for the low-carb diner to go out for pizza with friends, but as always there are options. Recently I ended up at the brand new Rotolo's Pizzeria in Saraland, Alabama with a group of friends, and I was pleased to see some nice salad choices on the menu. 

I chose the caesar salad and added blackened chicken. The chicken really made the salad great; I highly recommend it. 

Please ignore the croutons here; I forgot to ask them to omit them. I also didn't use much of the dressing because you never can be too sure about caesar dressing; their house Balsamic Vinaigrette would likely have been a safer choice.

Check out Rotolo's if you visit the ever-growing Saraland. 

Mugshots Grill & Bar

This week I had a nice lunch with Mrs. Low-Carb Alabama at Mugshots Grill & Bar.   This one is on Airport Blvd in Mobile; it's in the old Ruby Tuesday building. 

Mugshots has a variety of sandwiches and burgers on their menu. They also had salads (and even a few "low carb" selections such as  grilled chicken), but I had heard about their burgers and wanted to try one. 

So, I chose the "Steak Burger", described as: "Angus sirloin steak chopped and grilled with onions and peppers,smothered with melted pepper jack cheese,served on top of our signature beef patty, racked with mayo, fresh lettuce and tomato". I ordered it "no bun".

I paired that with a side caesar salad (pro tip: ask for no croutons -- this salad is half croutons) and a Coke Zero. 

What you see is what I got. It was really good and the portion was huge; I'll put this on the short list for a good burger in west Mobile. 

Here's a link to their menu:
http://mugshotsgrillandbar.com/menus/In-House_Menu_Universal_May_13.pdf

Low-Carb: the best New Year's Resolution?

Well it has been a while since my last update, but this has been a busy month. I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas holiday. 

It was a little easier than I expected to pass up on some of my "old" favorite foods like dressing, macaroni & cheese, and corn. I'm sure this was because I had some great alternatives (such as cauliflower & cheese casserole) and of course Mrs. LCD's famous low-carb lemon pie.  

December 31 is an important date to me personally; on 12/31/2012 I ended my "old" life and started the low-carb lifestyle on 1/1/2013. 

For the months preceding that date I had researched various diets and decided that "keto" (or low-carb) was the one for me. It offered the most flexibility and did not lock you into rigid portion control rules (which I knew would never work for me). 

So, on January 1st I flipped the switch and dove into a new way of thinking -- here I am 60 pounds lighter to prove that it works if you stick with it. 

As many make new year's resolutions around this time, I encourage you to share this website with your friends and family members -- perhaps there is someone in your life who needs to consider making a change. Perhaps that is you! 

If I can answer any questions, please feel free to ask.  Thanks for a great 2013!

Cracker Barrel - Country Chef Salad

Another day, another salad. You really should like salads if you embark on a low-carb journey. I eat salads only on days that end in "Y". It could be worse; I could be scraping the last crumbs out of my lean cuisine tray and/or wondering how many Weight Watchers points I'd burned. Whatever works for you. 

On this occasion I had the Country Chef Salad at Cracker Barrel. 

From their website: 

"Our Fresh salad greens are topped with hearty slices of oven-roasted turkey breast, sugar-cured ham, and hickory smoked bacon, along with slices of English cucumber, grape tomatoes, and a wedge of Colby cheese. Comes with two traditional deviled eggs, and our own sourdough croutons."

Look at all that bacon. No croutons, of course, and go easy on the tomatoes. The sugar amount in the "sugar-cured ham" is negligible. I enjoyed this salad with some vinaigrette dressing.

Total carbs: Probably not many

Firehouse Subs - Turkey Chef's Salad

If you've been to Firehouse Subs, you know that they do things right. Before I eliminated carbs from my diet, I would go here often for their delicious subs. The fact that kids eat free on Tuesdays is even better. 

Luckily, their salads are just as good and HUGE. Here is the turkey salad: 

You can see that there's plenty of turkey, bell peppers, cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and other goodies. Check their dressings carefully; the vinaigrette and ranch are the best choices. You can shave off a few carbs by leaving off the tomatoes. 

Firehouse also has one of the Coke Freestyle machines, which means that I get my cherry mello yello zero or diet cherry ginger ale. 

Dark Chocolate - Part II

So, Amazon.com had some great prices on dark chocolate and I stocked up. Make hay while the sun shines! One or two squares of this every day will satisfy your sweet tooth and won't break the carb bank. 

Those who saw my previous post about dark chocolate are already familiar with this.

Here are some links to get you started; this is what I got:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares
Ghirardelli Chocolate Bars

The sea salt bars are for Mrs. Low-Carb; it has quite a bit more carbs per serving.