Let's talk...Airbnb and 2017 Eclipse

This write up has been featured as a cross post by Kollided Travel Adventures.

We are planning a trip in October to Eugene, OR to take-in a Duck game, woot, woot!
While exciting, the dynamic of how we will travel this time changes a lot, as we will be traveling along side my dad; with five people, 3 being adults, we will need two rooms. My first thought was a two bedroom suite, but we aren’t finding anything to fit the bill.

When looking in Eugene there aren’t a lot of options hotel wise. I started searching Airbnb, hoping to get more bang for our buck, also digging the possible opportunity of having a new (to us) type travel experience. The problem here is in Eugene, much like the lack of hotel offerings, also doesn’t have a huge selection of homes to rent either. I also really didn’t come across anything in their inventory that got me any more excited than a traditional hotel stay.

Anyway, the other thing that did stick out to me was how much Airbnb is advertising pimping out your home during the eclipse. We’ve never done Airbnb before, but I have friends who have (and with tens of millions of others also traveling this way, you probably have one or two friends who are doing it too,) and have exceptional experiences. I'll admit hosting a room has even crossed my mind a time or two.

All of this very much reminded me of a podcast I listened to a couple months ago with Tony Robins. He actually interviewed co-owner Joe Gebbia, in an episode called, “Airbnb & The Art of Resilience.”
This was a really awesome and motivation podcast, certainly worth listening to, but the part that really stood out was how they got started.

Nowadays many people look to Airbnb to rent out entire houses, but it started from VERY humble beginnings, I don’t want to give it all away, but their problem and how they went about solving it is truly inspiring and Joe tells it so well in this podcast. The short version is they rented out their home by truly throwing down air mattresses for their guest to sleep on, (get it, Air B&B!?) provided pick up, bus passes, maps and breakfast, during a large convention.

Their next big moment was in 2008, during the Obama campaign. It was then that Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention, where the city ran into a unique problem. They needed to accommodate a pace to stay for 100,000 people. Denver only had 20,000 hotel rooms. Airbnb swooped in, going from zero to 800 homes in just 4 weeks!

Much like the DNC Convention, across the US we face a similar situation with the 2017 eclipse this month. The scale is even larger, as the eclipse will run through 14 US states and 100’s of cities.
And just like the city of Denver found themselves with more people than accommodations, we ar finding many small towns like Idaho Falls facing the same dilemma. This relatively small town is a perfect example of more people than places to put them and who is having to open up city parks for camping out.

Similar stories continue to be told. There is a real shortage. And it leaves me wondering how many thousands of people are probably on Airbnb right this very moment, looking for a place to crash, or even to just throw up a tent.

Would you rent your home out to a stranger to earn a few bucks? I also learned recently that Airbnb is looking for host, offering sign on bonuses as well as new giving $40 credit for your next trip just for following the link they gave me! Will you respond to their call? You can sign up here for your credit

Low Carb Egg Drop Soup

This is my new favorite quick lunch.

So easy!
All you need is...
4 Cups of water
Chicken bullion/Broth Base
3 eggs
Red Pepper Flakes
Egg Drop Soup
4 C of water
Chicken bullion/Broth Base.  (Pay attention to your bullion.  They are not all created equal.  Some have sugar additives and more carbs than others.)
I use Orrington Farms, which calls for 2 tsp per cup.  Follow the suggestion for the bullion you pick equal to the 4 cups of water.

Season to taste with red pepper flakes.

Bring water and bullion mixture to a boil.

While boiling beat 3 eggs.

Pour eggs into boiling broth, stir until soup returns to a boil.  Once it has it is ready to eat.

Also note, this makes more than enough for both the husband and myself, so if you want a single serving cut it in half. :)

Where to start

I have promised I would blog on where to start to a few people.

When you first make a real life style change it can be quite overwhelming.
I put my efforts 100% into changing how I eat for the first couple of months before adding in any exercise.

When it's LCHF, you are reading every label, and relearning everything you thought you knew about nutrition.

When my husband first said he wanted to watch his carbs, I really had no idea what that meant.
I thought it would just equal less pasta and bread.  So ya know, I made Chicken Parmesan to go with the spaghetti, and served brown rice with our Hawaiian Haystacks.   I was clueless!

I would say my awakening was when he was sitting at the desktop a couple weeks later watching the documentary Fat Head, on hulu. I stood over his shoulder and was amazed at what I was seeing/hearing.  I pulled up a chair and my mind was blown.
******


I started looking at carb counts after that, and realized that many of what I believed were good choices, were not going to fit into this life style.  A new diet then emerged.
I wasn't playing games.  I wasn't waiting to empty the pantry (into our guts) I was going to tackle this head on.
I made some mistakes in the beginning, just from a lack of knowledge. (Like my super yummy chicken teriyaki burger from Carl's Jr., of course I had the sense to ditch the bun and ask for it LC style. But, Hello sugary pineapple and sauce!)
But I was trying and mostly aware, and the on the scale it showed my body was paying attention.  In those first 2 weeks I lost 6 pounds.

But for me, the real magic happened when I read the book, Why WeGet Fat: And What to Do About It by, Gary Taubes, On our drive home from California over Thanksgiving.

I was learning the science and the myths, and it was making sense.  Suddenly I had a new reason to cut out the sugar and carbs, and for me it was even bigger than the promise of weight loss.  I was convinced that our American diseases were stemming from out American diet.  My family history has all sorts of fun disease, from heart disease and diabetes to what really scared me, dementia and Alzheimer. Even if I never lost a pound, if I could possibly prevent these diseases from my future, I was in.
Even the people who are thin, and eat as we all have been taught is healthy, they are sick, on blood pressure meds, or cholesterol meds, fighting heart disease and diabetes.

But as you can see.  I have lost weight.  FORTY pounds, as of yesterday, to be exact.  I feel confident that I am healthier too.  (And the evidence isn't just how I feel, but also in my most recent physical last month, and stellar blood work.) I know I am not hungry all the time and I know I feel pretty darn good.

I also love this youtube video, because I know what I am doing doesn't seem "normal." It makes me giggle every time.

Another book I read recently was, How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds..and How You Can Too: The Ultimate Guide to Low-Carbohydrate Dieting, by Dana Carpenter. 
This book is an easy read, very helpful, lots of information on how to get started and goes over different variations of different low carb diets.

Here are a couple of my favorite blogs and pages.

Against All Grain 
Danielle's facebook page for Against All Grain here
Danielle is the Author of the following books.
Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well & Feel Great 

Danielle Walker's Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes to Make Anytime


Jimmy Moore's Livin la viva Low Carb
Jimmy is the author of the following books.
Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet 

Cholesterol Clarity: What The HDL Is Wrong With My Numbers? 

The Ketogenic Cookbook: Nutritious Low-Carb, High-Fat Paleo Meals to Heal Your Body 

21 Life Lessons From Livin' La Vida Low-Carb: How The Healthy Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew 


His facebook page here

Fat Head blog

Meh...

I haven't been super excited to settle in and write up my experiences so far because they are all just fair or less on all the things from my Netrition order.

The exception being those sugar free chocolate chips.  They rocked!

First, We tried the Guy's Award Winning Sugar Free BBQ Sauce.  In the words of my husband.  "I wouldn't give it any rewards."
I like my BBQ sauce to have a little zip.  The original in this was much to sweet and just nothing special.  The spicy one is better, but not by a lot.  It's not bad, but it's just not anything like our very favorite sauce from a restaurant called Bar-B-Cutie, that we loved so much,  we used to order their nice, sugary, sauce once we moved far away from their Acworth, GA location.

Next, the Cabquick.

Meh.  I have only tried it for pancakes.  I added some chocolate chips to the boys, but kept mine plain.  They were very flat, the texture a bit off. (As it seems to go with grain free baked goods.)  My 7 year old said they were great with sugar free syrup, the 10 year old and I both felt they weren't really worth eating.  In the end Mr.10 threw his out and I covered what I ate of mine in peanut butter.
I will try some other things since I have the carbquick, but no more pancakes.

The Low Carb Bread Mix, by Bob's Red Mill was another fail.

The texture was spongy and there was no taste.  It was basically a boat for butter.  Maybe it would have been okay soaked in a soup, but I just threw it out after sampling it.
Mr. 7 tried it as cinnamon toast and made quite the scene about how yucky he thought it was.

Pizza crust by, Great Low Carb Company, the one I way over paid for.  Yeah, it was fair.  Not bad, but I would never intentionally pay $7.99 for one.  I might buy them again if I got 4 for that price.
It just didn't taste that great to me, and I threw half of it away.

The sugar free marshmallows are fantastic, the chocolate covered ones, so good!  I could eat a whole bag (which is only like 8 marshmallows.)  Problem is, they give me terrible gastric issues, even just one. So in the end they get an F too.

So the only things I have left from my order are the Swerve, which I am sure will be fine, as it's just a sweetener, and the angel food puff , which I am not holding my breath on liking. (Update to come these puffs actually are amazing!)

I am calling these low carb items mostly a bust unfortunately.
(link to product links on My First Netrition Order post.)

Dinner Reheated: Low Carb Broccoli Cheese Soup

So, this is one of my favorite recipes.  I had been looking for a great broccoli cheese soup recipe before going low carb.  Finding the best one after, was complete luck.

This one comes from Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

It is super simple.  But before I share this recipe here are a few things.
1- Kelly is very pro not ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream.  She has links to her reasoning on he blog (linked above), however, in my home I use the Great Value brand from Walmart.  Maybe it would be better for me to spend more than a dollar for the Land-o-lakes, but we all have to choose our battles, and this one it not mine.
2- My husbands request was to make a soup with Velveeta.  While Original Velveeta does have some carbs, this is a place in our diet I decided to fudge.
This being said, both my sister and cousin have done it using real cheese, and been pleased with the results.

3- We like a thick and creamy soup.  For this reason I use no where near the amount of broth called for in the recipe.  I use about half a can.

4- Speaking of broccoli.  I usually use frozen in a steam bag because this cuts out on steps and dishes.  I just steam it and then add the broccoli very last.

5- If you want your life to be simpler get a submersion hand blender.  I love this baby.  I use it several times a week.  With it, I am able to add the broccoli last and just blend some of the larger chunks of broccoli, right in the pot.
So finally, here it is.  It also freezes up well.  My husband takes it to work for lunch about once a week.  :)

Low Carb Broccoli Cheese Soup:

• 2 T. butter
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 8oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or velveeta)
• 2 bunches of fresh broccoli, chopped

Heat broth and broccoli until broccoli is tender. Mix cream cheese, heavy cream, shredded cheese and butter in another pan and stir often. When broccoli is tender, put half in a blender and puree (this makes it a little thicker).  When the other pan is melted, add to broth and broccoli.  Garnish with cheese.

• Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

This is a 15-minute dinner!

Against All Grain's Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, when you go off the grains, there are some things you will just miss.  Like the the yummy, gooey, goodness of a chocolate chip cookie.

I tried a PB cookie that was mostly coconut flour and peanut butter early on.  It was inedible.
I have been a bit gun shy since on paleo/lowcarb/keto baked goods.  My cousin, who is also LC'ing, tried a chocolate chip cookie a week or so herself, and had the same result.

The only reason I gave this cookie a try was because on Against All Grain's facebook page everyone raved about them.  I didn't see any negative comments.

So D and I mixed up a batch for school.  (Lovely way to help teach capacity!)

He was a very proficient "smasher" so our cookies are quite flat.

However, the boys love them!  That is a huge win on it's own.

My thoughts.
One I will have to try again with less smashing.

Two, I am not sure why mine are so much darker and they are nutty, not a bad thing, they just look a lot more smooth and fluffy when you look at those on AAG.  They were not over cooked.  I used Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour.  It says in the description it is blanched, so I don't think its that?
Three, they were a bit salty for me.  I didn't use grass-fed butter and mine was salted.  Next time I will make sure to use unsalted butter, or use palm shorting or ghee. (Neither of which do I own, or have I ever used before.)
Four, I just used sugar free chocolate chips from my netrition order.  No dark chocolate pieces, this was so they would stay kid friendly.
Final number five, I have never been able to pull off a successful chocolate chip cookie even pre-LCHF, so the fact that mine look goofy now, well that really shouldn't be a surprise.

If you like this get more great recipes by Danielle by following these links to her books.

Danielle Walker's Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes to Make Anytime 

Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well & Feel Great



Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies

AUTHOR: Danielle Walker - AgainstAllGrain.com

SERVES: 1 dozen

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup palm shortening, ghee, or grass-fed butter
• ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1½ cups blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup dark chocolate pieces (just chop up a dark chocolate bar)
• ¼ cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, cream the palm shortening, coconut sugar, honey, egg, and vanilla for about 15 seconds until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt and mix again until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed in order to incorporate all of the flour. Pulse once or twice more.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
5. Place golf-ball sized balls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a SilPat. Using another sheet of parchment on top of the dough, flatten them slightly with the palm or your hand or a spatula. The cookies don’t spread much so create the size and thickness you want prior to baking them.
6. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges.
   
   *editing to add*
   Right after I made these cookies I got the following in my inbox from Danielle at Against All Grain.
   Maybe my almond flour played into my texture some as well.
   
   
   Q. What type of almond flour do you use? Is it the same as almond meal?
   A. I always use a blanched, finely ground almond flour. My favorites are Honeyville Farms and Digestive Wellness. Bob’s Redmill is too coarse and will cause soggy baked goods. Almond meal is different from almond flour as it contains skins and in typically more coarsly ground. I find that almond meal is good for breading things but not good for baked goods. For more information on Almond Flour, Click Here.
   Q. Can I substitute coconut flour for the almond flour in recipes?
   A. No, coconut flour is much more absorbent and will call for a different ratio than the almond flour. I suggest you stick to recipes that are developed specially for only using coconut flour.
   Q. Can I substitute other nut or seed flours for the almond flour?
   A. Yes, as long as they are blanched and very finely ground. I suggest macadamia or cashew flour for the most similar results if you can tolerate nuts. For nut free, I suggest grinding raw sunflower seeds to a fine powder then sifting it for best results. 

My first Netrition order

If you haven't heard of netrition.com yet, you aren't alone.
When I first declared I was going low carb, my mom's friend called me up, super excited to share her tips and tricks.
One of the things she told me about was netrition.com.  She told me about all the wonderful low carb items I could find.
Really, go check it out, who knew there were so many low carb foods out there?  Ccertainly not my local grocery store!

So, I tucked the info away, but it's taken roughly 5 months for me to finally place an order.

Today that first order arrived, and I am super excited to try this stuff, and share what I think.

Here is a run down of what my order contained.

Carbquick is one of the things Sheila told me about. Carbquick is supposed to be similar to Bisquick.

Swerve- If you have been looking for treats on the net, you have likely come across swerve as a common ingredient.  The grocery stores in my area do not carry it, but it seems quite popular.  However, I picked this particular one because it is of the confectioners sugar variety.  If Splenda does that, I've never seen it.  I am really tempted to try it in my very favorite cream cheese frosting recipe first though.  :)
Today at least, Swerve also appears to be $2 off the price I paid, go figure.

Pizza Crust by Great Low Carb Company- This is the one I am most disappointed with right off the bat.  No ones fault but my own.  I misread the description and didn't realize it only came with ONE crust.  At $7.99 each this better be damn good.
The good news is each 9" crust only has 2 net carbs.

Low Carb Bread Mix- Okay, this is brought to you by Bob's Red Mill.  Apparently, I can toss it into my bread maker.  Which means that super fancy bread maker I talked my husband into getting me, no longer has to stay hidden in the pantry.
I myself have moved beyond bread, amazingly.  It and popcorn have been the two things I've missed most since going LC. (I do totally steal popcorn from my kids at the movies still.)
My kids however would go through a loaf a day.  They are kids, and I want them to be kids, but I also feel strongly that they are better off with out a high carb diet as well.  Sugar kills, there is no age limit.
So, I really hope they dig this for their cinnamon toast and PB&J.

Carb Counters Angel Food Puffs- I picked these on a whim, they had great reviews, and I love angel food cake, they were a price that wouldn't break the bank. (*ahem* Unlike some pizza crust mentioned above.)  I think I might whip them up for Mother's Day.  My kids typically are the berry eaters, but every once in a while I have a few too.  These will be perfect, I do believe!

Guy's Award Winning Sugar Free BBQ Sauce- Highly probable bbq chicken is on the menu tomorrow! Hopefully their will also be leftovers to go atop that single pizza crust.  :)  I got both hot and original.  I am really looking forward to trying these.  One of our favorite splurges on a weekend is to order just pulled pork from Good Wood BBQ, now we have a better option than the sugary BBQ sauce they offer.

Low Carb Marshmallows- That's right MARSHMALLOWS!  My kids think marshmallows are a must in their Diet Swiss Miss.  Now we can skip the sugar there too!  Don't tell them, but I also got the Belgium Chocolate ones for me.  Mama needs a treat too!

And last, but not least, Sugar-Free Chocolate chips- I have been dying to try Against All Grain's Paleo Chocolate chip cookies, I have gathered all the indigence except that I wanted these for them.  Now that they are here, I plan to try them out tomorrow.  D can help, he is working on measurements for math tomorrow anyway, so expect a report back on that very soon!