Entertaining On A (carbohydrate) Budget

  We have been very busy the last few days entertaining guests while we try to get our walks in and track our progress. I was really nervous about having folks over and feeding people while we're still in low-carb mode. Food is love, and I want my friends and family to know how much I love them. Parties and get-togethers have always meant big starchy, sugary buffets of love. Feeding a group of kids meant ordering pizza (cheap, easy, no work for Mom, easy clean-up).

Easy, cheesy, pepperoni-pizz-y!

  I have had to re-think this whole thing. And it put me a little on-edge.
  I'm not a great cook. My talent lies more in baked goods-everybody's favorite! Who doesn't want to come into a party and smell cookies or pies fresh from the oven? It makes the house even more cozy and welcoming. Jeff bought us some almond flour and coconut flour and a cookbook of Atkins recipes. But I didn't want to test them out on company. What if they all suck? I've never worked with some of these ingredients before, so I don't know the tricks yet. 

Can low-carb versions be THIS tasty? God, I hope so!

  For Katie's friends, I bought meat, cheese and veggie trays. She ended up only having one guest, but the girls ate and seemed happy. I think they got into the low-carb ice cream bars, too. 
  Friday night, I had one of those home parties for a direct sales company called ItWorks. I have become a distributor and I'll tell you more about it in another post. I went with the meat, cheese, veggie trays again, with a fruit tray and some store-bought cookies and cupcakes. Much to my surprise, nobody touched the sweets. Well, of course they weren't home-baked gooey goodness. But the meats, cheeses and veggies disappeared! Go figure.

Me and the ItWorks girls. And I'm going to burn this shirt. Yikes!

And I did cheat, but not with the sweets. We had a little wine with our snacks. I love wine. I miss it. I'm not supposed to have alcohol in this phase of the diet. And when I do add it, I should stick with 0 carb stuff like whiskey (Blech!), gin, vodka and rum (not the yummy flavored ones though. Sad). So, I cheated and had some wine. It was sweet and delicious and I hope it doesn't cost me in pounds this week.

I am an equal-opportunity wine drinker. All are welcome!

  Saturday night we had friends over for a family game night. Oh, boy. Feeding kids, a teenager and a handful of adults can be a challenge if you're trying to please everyone. And I am definitely trying to please everyone! We had grilled steak with sauteed baby shrimp and fresh green beans, red bell pepper and mushrooms roasted in the oven. It was so good and it disappeared quick. Even the kids ate it! Yay! I still had leftover cupcakes, cookies and fruit from Friday night, so we sent it home with the kids' parents. Surprisingly, I wasn't even tempted with the sweets. They just didn't appeal to me. So weird!
  It's so good to know we can feed our guests a healthy, low-carb meal and have it be successful. At least, if they didn't like it, they were too polite to say so. I guess if they don't come back, I'll know. 

Remember this? Ok, switch the asparagus for green beans and Boom! Dinner!

  My next step is to get really brave and start experimenting with these oddball ingredients and goofy recipes and see if I can come up with some good alternatives for the fun stuff I love to bake. It will be like taking home-ec and science classes again. Knowledge is power! If I find some really good recipes, I'll share them. And I'll do a few "Pinterest Fail" pics of anything that turns out epically tragic. 
  Now to plan our next party. Maybe St. Patrick's Day. How to create a low-carb Shepherd's Pie??????????????????? Challenge ACCEPTED!