sounds like you're off to a good start! that you're drinking water is great, too.

i'm a big water freak, but i still drink soda, too. i just don't let myself have a diet coke until i've had at least 50oz of water, first. haven't tried the c2 coke, but i'm not that into it anyway. too many calories. i like to use them on food instead of drinks

in terms of onions/veggies...i wouldn't kill yourself trying to eliminate all onions or each and every carb from your diet by skipping veggies (onions are high in carbs, but they're a veggie. i'm not down with the skimping on veggie idea--they're too healthy for you, especially now when we're growing). plus, you said you're just trying to cut back on carbs, not go full low carb, right?

the bad news is most the veggies it looks like you (and me ) like best, are higher than others in carbs. tomatoes, onions, spinach, corn, carrots, etc... these are all high/higher carb veggies.

try to catagorize your veggies into low/medium/high groups in terms of carbs. if you google.com "carbs veggies" or something like you can read up on the carb counts so you know what you're eating.

also...when your mom gets paid, you might bug her to get "santa fe tortilla company" tortillas the next time you're at sam's club. they actually taste good, aren't expensive (the bag's got a ton of them in it), and you can use them for wraps, pizzas, etc...while your mom uses them for burritos or other stuff.

one more thing... milk is high carb. switch to unsweetened soy milk (maybe not an option for you?), or try to talk your mom into buying "carb control" milk at sam's club. (it's not as cheap as real milk, but it sounds like she buys frozen/packaged meals and items that aren't that cheap either. so, maybe ask if you could swap one frozen meal/item for the milk?)

oh, and know there's a kind of bbq chicken wings that sam's club used to sell that's pretty low carb too. just check out all the bags in the frozen section. that'd be really cheap and something everybody in your house might eat, too.

later...