Thursday

We had a very good dinner last night - either Salisbury Steak or pan-seared mini meatloaves with a mushroom cream gravy, and sliced tomatoes.  Consumed a full pound of ground beef (grassfed from Sun Prairie Beef) between us.  The recipe went something like this (not all steps are in strict order):

• Slice up 5-6 white button mushrooms (cremini would probably be better, but that's what I had)
• Mix about 2 tsp potato starch with a beaten egg in a large bowl
• Add parsley, dehydrated onion, garlic, salt and pepper to taste to the egg mixture
• Add 1 lb ground beef and mix thoroughly
• Form into 2 oval patties about 3/4" thick
• Heat 2 Tbsp ghee in a nonstick pan over medium heat
• Cook the patties in the ghee for about 5-7 minutes total, flipping them and removing when they hit rare (140 degrees per the instant read thermometer)
• Remove the patties to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm
• Saute the mushrooms in the ghee/drippings in the pan from the meat until browned
• Deglaze the pan with beef stock (probably 1/2-3/4 cup) and reduce to about 1/2 original volume
• Add around 1/2 cup of half-and-half and reduce again until sauce thickens
• Pour sauce over beef patties, distributing mushrooms evenly

I know I ate both chips and trail mix yesterday - the latter even after reading Gary Taubes' new article about sugar - as well as a chocolate mint thingie and a lot of walnuts after dinner, so I should have had a fair carb load going to sleep last night.  But, wonder of wonders, I had leg cramps - the first in quite some time.  I did not want them, and they did not signal new frontiers in weight: I was at 142.2 this morning.  Not sure what that was about, but I skipped my magnesium (oxide) at breakfast and will take another mag citrate at bedtime tonight to see if that settles their hash.

Had cottage cheese and turkey bacon for breakfast this morning; I mean to make some of the Primal Quick/Easy cookbook beef/bison sausage patties this weekend for heating up next week, just for variety, and to make cooking less of a pain in the morning (Lee ends up doing all of it, bless him).