We had probably the best Halloween weather we’ve had in a long time. Trick or treating started at 4:00. I took my bowl outside and decided to sit on the top stairs of my deck.
the loot - baby ruth - best candy bar 
just hanging out on my deck - enjoying the nice weather
No one was coming by, so of course I had to take pictures of leaves and trees!
the tree in our side yard has only about 20% of its leaves left
and we have a HUGE pine tree in front of our house
After only two groups of kids came by within an hour, I just left the candy on the deck and came in to start dinner. All of a sudden I hear Tony yelling – a car full of 16 and 17′s year olds saw the unmanned candy bowl and took it all – Tony stopped them in time and they put it all back – they were driving a Mercedes too! I actually thought a parent was driving the car, but the last kid who put the candy back was the driver!
When Hannah woke up this morning I told her “I am making buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy.” She was like “you better not be joking with me!” They were the best biscuits I’ve ever made – thanks to Cook’s Illustrated. And really so simple – from beginning to the end of cooking time was only about 30 minutes!
make sure your butter is really cold
don't worry - the dough is really sticky - I put flour on my hands when I was making them - don't work the dough too much otherwise your biscuits will be really dense
hard to believe something so simple can be so fricken good!
they look perfect just by themselves. . . but I think they need some gravy!
Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits
courtesy of Cook’s Illustrated
Makes 10 Biscuits (173 calories, 7.5 fat, 22.8 carbs, .7 fiber, 3.9 protein)
Top of Form
Ingredients
| 2 | cups flour |
| 1 | tablespoon baking powder |
| 1 | tablespoon sugar |
| 1 | teaspoon salt |
| 1/2 | teaspoon baking soda |
| 6 | tablespoons butter, divided |
| 1 1/2 | cups buttermilk |
Directions
- Preheat oven to 500. Spray a 10 inch cake pan with Pam.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together. Add 4 tablespoons of butter to flour mixture, and using a pastry blender, blend the butter until its about the size of a small pea.
- Add buttermilk and mix together. Note the batter is going to be really sticky!
- Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop out batter into your floured hand and shape into a ball. Don’t work the dough too much otherwise they will be more dense.
- Put 8 balls around the cake pan, 2 in the middle. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 450 and cook another 15 minutes.
On my way home from running errands, I texted Tony “Taco Bell?” They have a new sauce that I really liked
my lunch pictures turned out like crap – somehow I was in between two settings, but I had a crunchy beef taco and a bean burrito. I asked the lady what comes on the burrito and she said “red sauce, cheese and beans.” Um, she forgot to mention ONIONS! I didn’t taste them until the very end, but that white onion taste lingered in my mouth a bit too long. 
I was bizzy in my kitchen – I made split pea soup with smoked ham, and a tofu/egg/green chile casserole for my breakfast – you’ll just have to come back tomorrow for those recipes!
For dinner I made Classic Roast Beef – this time from Cook’s Country. It’s probably the fifth or sixth time I’ve made it. This 3.5 pound roast cost $9.80 cents. I plan to use the leftovers to make roast beef horseradish wraps for my lunch, and possibly a South Beach version of a Yankee Pot roast soup.
After the roast had been cooking almost an hour and a half, I probed it with my meat thermometer and it said it was only 45 degrees – I was like WTF??!! A couple minutes later I realized the thermometer was on Celsius, not Fahrenheit! Luckily I did not over cook it though – perfect medium rare:
I am not much of an ice cream gal, but I had to rid the freezer of this one last thing before starting South Beach:
totally worth the 170 calories!
So the basic rules of Phase I of South Beach:
- no baked goods; cereal; full fat dairy; no flour; no fruit or fruit juices; no pasta; no rice; . . . no alcohol!
Tony will do just fine – he has a way of setting his mind to something and he’s all set. I have a feeling I’ll be missing my chili stuffed baked potatoes and jalapeno bagels, but I am just going to take it a day at a time. And thanks to Gina for giving me the green light on the South Beach diet – she’s a registered dietitian and she’s okay with it – however, since I will be consuming a lower amount of carbs, I just need to be mindful of low blood sugars.
Oh yeah, today is Weigh In Monday!
I am in the 160′s! I lost another pound this week! This is the fourth of fifth week I’ve had a loss – hopefully I can keep it going!
So I forgot to update my Hot 100 Update last Friday – goals for this week is to stay on plan for the Phase I, no wine, and shake up my exercise this week.
Make it a great day!
That pot roast looks divine. And I am not a biscuit gal but Wallene sure is so she thanks you. lol – I don’t understand the whole south beach diet, but thanks for sharing the basics [no fruit or fruit juice? I would perish I tell you - perish!] I can’t wait to see what you are making.
Congrats on the loss again! AWESOME
Congrats on the loss Biz! Keep up the good work! Those muffins look yummy!!
I’m a Milky Way girl myself
When I first got cleared to try to lose some weight 18 months after my thyroid diagnosis, the doctor made me start with a two week program very similar to South Beach Phase I. When I got home and looked at it, I literally started crying, because not only do I love me some carbs, I love an occasional glass of wine. Bless Mr. Helen’s heart, he looked at me and said, “You are one of the strongest people I know. You have done things much, much harder than this so I know you can do it. You can do ANYTHING for only two weeks!” He was right.
Just think, you and Tony are doing this together! You can do it Biz. You can do anything for two weeks. I’m rooting for you!
That is my mindset too – I think I should be able to do this for the two weeks!
Thanks for always being my cheerleader Helen!
Congrats on the loss – what a great accomplishment!
I can’t believe kids do that these days. I’m glad they returned the candy!
Those biscuits look FABULOUS. I really want to try making them. Since moving down south, my appreciation for biscuits has grown. I can’t believe those kids tried to steal all your candy- that is ridiculous. Good luck on Phase 1. I’m not a big fan of saying no (insert food here)…especially fruit. But I will be eager to hear what you think!
I bet you’ll miss your egg sammies for breakfast!
Good luck with this Biz & Tony!! You can do it!
I am totally making those biscuits, but can I use milk instead of buttermilk??
Yep, you just won’t get the twang of the buttermilk
Congratulations! Losing weight is no easy task. We only had one kid last night. I had all sort of goodies other than candy like playdough for the little kids and glow necklaces for the girls. The Mr. is happy that he gets to keep all of the candy though. I don’t know if I could do the no pasta or baked goods.
Yay Tony for standing up to the candy hogs! I was dreading having teenagers show up at our apartment last night, but we ended up with just a bunch of little cuties and their moms, who we gladly let take some candy for themselves
Good luck with South Beach!!
Whoa – those biscuits and gravy look sinfully delicious!!!!
Yum, biscuits and gravy are the best, but my husband won’t eat them, so I haven’t had it in forever.
Great job on the loss this week, you are doing great!!! Also I don’t know that I have ever had a Baby Ruth….I’m a Kit Kat girl!
Wow, those are some pretty biscuits. Glad you got your candy back!!! Love the shot looking stright up the pine!
Biz!! YAAY! Your loss is picking up!
And I’ve been thinking abt making something totally southern someday…because I’ve never really had real southern food before! those biscuits are perfect.
oh my – those biscuits look fantastic!!!
cant wait to see what you are cooking for south beach phase one, my hubby and i both want to do south beach but have no idea what to do for meals on phase one….thanks for sharing, so was today day one, you only had roast, what did you eat for your other meals today….
thanks
connie
Actually our day 1 started today officially. Tomorrow I am going to start a South Beach Page for specifically South Beach Phase One.
Today for breakfast I had a tofu/egg/green chile breakfast casserole:
Lunch was split pea soup with ham and a garden salad
Dinner was a taco salad with a sour cream and taco sauce dressing
Believe me, I am going to get creative as possible – stick along for the ride!
I’m glad Tony caught the little buttheads! We had a group early in the day reach past me into our door and grab the candy – scream “Such my d**k!” at me and run off. Totally ruined the rest of the day for me, plus we barely got any trick-or-treaters anyways. Oh well.
The biscuits and gravy look divine!!
I can’t wait to see how you do on South Beach. I’ve never tried any “diet plans” or anything. I usually just cut back on calories and obviously fatty things + up the exercise. But right now I’m at my heaviest and it’s bumming me out. I’ll see how it goes for you and maybe I’ll be inspired to do it, too. I just need to lose like 10-15 pounds and then I’ll be fine maintaining it. It’s the LOSING that is so difficult.
Some “big kids” stole my candy from me one year – took the bag right out of my hands when I was in the middle of trick-or-treating! So I chased him down the street until he dropped the bag and ran off in fear.
Seriously.
If you can drive a car, you shouldn’t be taking candy on Halloween
Your biscuits sound and look DIVINE.
Congrats on the weight loss – those biscuits look insane by the way! And i’m still not believing that you didn’t have more trick-or-treaters- sad!
Congrats on the nice loss!
Of course, you know I am a big proponent of this way of eating. I also don’t think of it as low carb, as I eat a ton of carbs, they are just all in veggies and fruits (yes, I know there are no fruits on Phase I
). When others ask what I eat, I tell them I eat all the veggies I want other than the real starchy ones, fruit 1-3 times a day (usually 1), very limited grains (always whole grains), and no processed sugars). I am not afraid to eat meat, although I try to do this in moderation. I almost always get a comment like, “That sounds like a great plan!” If I tell them I follow the South Beach Diet, I get funny looks. Isn’t perception a funny thing? 
I saw your request for recipes – I wish I had something to offer. I was very boring for the first two weeks. I am anxious to see what you come up with.
Also, while I didn’t drink during the first two weeks, a friend of mine says “Go Bacardi!”, which has very low carb counts.
I knew you would be on board Steve!
Thanks for the tips – I think you’ll be surprised at some of the recipes I come up with! 
Well, you know my opinion of diets, but hope will always spring eternal.
Hope you find the one that works well for you (and walk a little too)… All my best wishes
Thanks Dave!
Those biscuits w/gravy just about caused me to fall off of my chair. OH DEAR GOD! I love love love food like that…however my tummy dislikes it so we stay away.
Boo
I did South Beach years ago- hated all of the restrictions. No fruit to me is the hardest. Good luck!!
We had some teenagers yesterday and they were lacking manners. I took it as a cue to yell “Your welcome”, at them as they were leaving. I think I embarassed them. Assholes.
Congrats on the weight loss! Good luck on SB. I have ZERO willpower so when I’m told “No”, I want it more.
Trick or treating starts so early out there! We start around 7-7:30pm. The kids were so tired in class today.
Kids are jerks! Stealing candy? How rude. I’m glad Tony caught them. Ugh I warned my middle schoolers against that kind of behavior.
I love those Skinny Cow ice creams. Caramel cone is my favorite flavor.
I’m going to e-mail you about South Beach tomorrow. I’m curious!
There’s nothing better than homemade biscuits – yum!! And congrats on your contest win – Paula Deen is a great idea!
Good luck Biz!!! Feel free to e-mail me with questions if you have them.
The no alcohol thing was actually difficult for me on the elimination diet (even for just one week). I really love having just half a beer (split with Nick) with dinner or while watching football! But, you’ll do great. Just focus on all of the wonderful foods you CAN eat, and how great you will feel (eventually…. after a few days!).
Congrats on the 160s! I can’t wait to get there. The first few days of South Beach are the hardest but after that it gets easier and easier. I wasn’t very strict about the no fruit rule. I regularly had my fruit in the morning so I would burn it off early in the day and still lost a substantial amount of weight (without exercising). Good luck!
Good luck with South Beach! I think you’ll do great, you love your lean meat, eggs, veggies, etc.
The alcohol would be the hardest part for me, I love my wine and beer a few nights a week. I’m glad Tony caught those teens in the MERCEDES STEALING CANDY. Halloween annoys me for reasons just as that!
why oh why didn’t i buy baby ruth?! i am seriously craving one now!
I wish you well doing the south beach. i’ve never actually done that. I have been trying to cut WAY back on carbs. God knows I need to get focused on SOMETHING! It’s like I’m stale mate and not doing anything, very annoying! I look forward to some awesome phase 1 recipes from you!
I’m making your buffalo chili tomorrow night! (with onions) Can’t wait!
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I make those biscuits all the time, they’re amazing.
[...] and gravy for breakfast and her eyes lit up and said “yes please!” I have made these mile high biscuits before – they are from Cook’s Illustrated and they are super tall, moist – simply [...]