Monday, April 1, 2013

April's A to Z Challenge is Here!



I'm one of those who didn't have a theme for this most wonderful challenge started by a great list of hosts. Check them out by clicking here. I have to give thanks to all of the minions as well! You can check out who the minions are by clicking here. I've had some ideas of what I could talk about for one month, but my focus changes so often, it's hard for me to commit to one or two ideas for a theme.

One of my ideas was recipes for people on the Atkins, or low-carb, diet. Thus, for A in this A-Z challenge, Atkins it is. In a nutshell, the Atkins diet is eating foods low in carbohydrates in order that your metabolism changes from burning glucose, or sugars, to burning stored fat. This process is called ketosis. Instead of counting calories, you count carbs. The benefits of this is losing weight, reducing or ending many medical issues caused by high carb diets, and it's a diet in which you don't go hungry. Anything with sugars, natural or otherwise, and starch, which converts into sugar in the body, are drastically reduced. Fortunately, there are options which help to put a curb to a lingering sweet tooth. So maybe I'll stick with the Atkins diet for a while in this challenge.

I learned to do this diet from reading the Atkins Diet book, which worked well when I did it for more than four months over 12 years ago. Here's how it works: In the first two weeks, you want to eat around 10 carbs a day or less to get the ketosis kicking in. Then you can up it to about 25 carbs. People adjust the levels depending on what they were taught.

Here's a recipe that I like to use even if I'm not doing the Atkins diet, because it seems better than using white flour and oil.

Non-fried, Crispy Pork Rind Chicken:


This is a simple recipe that requires chicken parts, chopped pork rinds and spices. You can use flavored or plain pork rinds.

1. Chop pork rinds using some form of chopper. I have a Ninja chopper that works great and quickly. You can add spices such as salt (not too much because pork rinds are already somewhat salty), parsley, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic, and whatever else you'd like before or after chopping.

2. Put the chopped and spiced pork rinds in a plate or shallow bowl.

3. Wet your chicken parts, and coat them with the pork rinds.

4. Bake them on an oven sheet at 325F for approximately 40 minutes. The skin will be crispy and delicious.

# of carbs: 0



One great benefit is that it satisfies your craving for fried food. This recipe could even be used to cook fish. But since fish cooks so much quicker than chicken, the pork rinds didn't have enough time to crisp in the oven and I had to pan fry the fish to get the crispiness. I used Maki loins, and I tell you, it tasted just like the best fish sticks.


31 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh those look so flippin' good! It's only breakfast time and want these now!

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    1. hehehe... did you make it through the morning without non-fried chicken?

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  2. Sounds like an awesome recipe. The skin of a chicken is one of favourite parts. Has to be great.

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    1. Yes, it is. I had added parmesan cheese to the spices and that added that extra edge to it.

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  3. I have not eaten chicken in years but that pic definitively makes my stomach grumble already. How are you feeling so far?

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    1. A vegetarian dragon?

      How am I feeling? Today I couldn't wake up and have been sleep working all day. Is that what you mean? :)

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  4. Hi Nancy - just read about your book over at Michael Di Gesu's blog. Sounds like my kind of read! Happy Day 1 of A to Z!

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    1. Thanks Julia. Feel free to enter my giveaway that's still open. Click the picture at the top. :)

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  5. Wow, I've never heard of using pork rinds but it sounds and looks awesome. I think I'm going to try it. Thanks for the idea.

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  6. Looks great and, I'm sure, tastes even better! :)

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    Replies
    1. It's making me hungry thinking about it and responding to these comments. :(

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  7. Oh looks yummy and I'm looking forward to your posts. I love healthy recipes! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Oh wow, that picture alone has made me hungry for chicken. I'm looking forward to the rest of your posts. :)

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    1. :) Some are true treats. Though I'm not sure how long I'll be posting on this.

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  9. Man, I just can't get on board with the low-carb thing... I think my problem is with the 'can't'... or maybe it's that my real training--it was in Weight Watchers, so I have a much easier time converting to points compared to thinking about carbs... Especially NO carbs... I would just obsess about carbs all the time...

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    1. Most of the can'ts have alternatives. Getting used to not eating bread and popcorn was the hardest though. But all diets have some form of can't. We can eat carbs, just a limited amount.

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  10. I've heard about the Atkins diet, but didn't know any details of how it works...
    Your book is showcased as the A-post over at Michael's blog! He did such a fantastic job!

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  11. My mouth watered just looking at that photo, lol! I'm falso on a diet and though it's not Adkins, I do have had to lower my carbs considerably. Thanks for sharing the recipe

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    1. Low carb diets are good for you. Some people think, however, that that means you can eat as much fat as you want. Sensible eating never dies down no matter how you're eating.

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  12. I popped over via the Blogging From A to Z Challenge participant list :) I'm trying the challenge without a theme this year too, so you're not alone. I don't eat meat so I can't try your recipe, but it sure does look yummy :-)

    ~ Erotica by Cori Vidae ~

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  13. Stopping by for the A to Z. This post made me hungry. :)

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  14. Oh wow that looks good! Only 10 calories?! I feel like I would blow it all on breakfast :P

    I keep a food journal and it's helped me quite a bit. Down 15 pounds since December :)

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    1. Not 10 calories, 10 carbs a day for the first 2 weeks. Congrats on keeping it going!

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  15. I lost a significant amount of weight on the Atkins diet about a decade ago. It was surprising how quickly I was able to adjust my eating habits on it.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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    1. Me too. I lost a lot then too, but was younger with a better metabolism. Now it's slower going, and you've got to have time to be creative.

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  16. Now I'm really hungry! And 0 carbs is awesome. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Barbara
    A to Z at my website/blog

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Your comments add wonderful flavors. Thank you!

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