Lazy Ceviche

I was looking for something super easy to throw together without turning on the oven or stove on a hot summer night. This is my lazy version of ceviche, using store bought pico de gallo. Sometimes I just like to let the HyVee chefs do the chopping for me! I know that ceviche technically cooks the shrimp without heat anyway, due to the acid of the citrus juice, but I already had frozen cooked shrimp in the freezer, so I just used that.

 

 

Lazy Ceviche

 

1 pound bag of small cooked shrimp, thawed

1 pint of store bought Pico de Gallo

1 cup of chopped cilantro

3 small diced avocados

1 cup of tomato juice

1 tsp of salt

1 Tblsp of hot sauce

2 Tblsp lime juice

2 tsp of minced garlic

 

Thaw frozen shrimp and drain well. Put them in a large mixing bowl, add pico, cilantro,  and avocados. In a cup, stir together the tomato juice, salt, hot sauce, lime juice and garlic. Pour this mixture over everything else and mix well . Serve with Beanito chips or homemade low carb tortilla chips.

 

 



A macaroni and cheese miracle!

We are on a roll with the Miracle Noodles lately! I changed my auto ship order from Miracle rice to ziti shaped pasta, and these ziti make a perfect Mac and cheese!

 

Here's a link to the Miracle Noodle website. If you love their products, I highly recommend enrolling in the auto-ship program. I was getting ten bags of Miracle Rice delivered once a month, but I recently switched it to 20 bags of ziti delivered every two months. I appreciate the ease of switching your order up, or even putting it on hold if you don't want to get them for awhile. And they always have free shipping. That's lucky, since the box can be pretty heavy.

 

 

 

Miracle Mac

 

2 bags of Miracle Noodle ziti,

3/4 cup of shredded cheese

1/3 cup of heavy cream

3 1/3 inch pats of butter

 

Rinse the Miracle Noodles well and throw into a dry skillet over medium heat to evaporate the excess water off. They recommend that you boil them for two minutes, but I skipped that step and it was fine.

Combine the shredded cheese, heavy cream and butter in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high in 30 second increments over 3 minutes and whisk until smooth.

 

By the time the sauce is ready, the pasta should be dried. Pour the sauce over the pasta, add ground salt and pepper over it and toss to combine. Makes 2 servings.

 

This is so easy and faster than boxed mac and cheese, and with carb counts like this, it is the perfect keto food!

 

Nutritional information, per serving:

Calories: 271 (242 calories from fat)

Fat: 27g

Carbs: less than 1g

Keto pancakes!

I love breakfast foods, and the thing I missed most with keto was the breakfast carbs. A person can only eat so many eggs before they get bored with the options. A few more ingredients can turn those eggs into something magically cake-like! I went searching online for low carb options to make pancakes and/or waffles. I discovered this recipe from the Try Keto With Me blog, who I started following on Instagram. She's got some great looking recipes!

Low carb baking seems intimidating to me,  because it usually requires lots of expensive wheat flour alternatives. I like this recipe because the only out of the ordinary ingredient I had to buy was some coconut flour, and it uses so little that my $8 package will last me a while. I chose to pay for the $8 tub with a screw on lid to keep it fresh, rather than the $5 bag that I'd have to clip shut. Plus, since it's a pancake rather than a baked cake, it is quick and easy. I'm all about instant gratification.

Here is the link to the original recipe. I doubled that recipe and left out the optional ingredients, as well as the extra liquid, as I found that I didn't need it. I think it is only necessary if you allow the batter to sit for awhile before cooking it, as it will thicken. I was hungry for pancakes and wasted no time!

Keto Pancakes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

8 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons sugar free vanilla syrup

2 tablespoon sugar substitute, or more to taste

1/2 cup tablespoons coconut flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

 

Soften cream cheese in the microwave. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a heated non-stick skillet (I sprayed mine with butter flavored spray) and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and bottom side is golden. This batter is fairly thin and it will spread quickly when you pour it, so err on the side of smaller pancakes to make them easier to flip. (I learned this the hard way.) This recipe made 10 large 7 inch pancakes, or could make up to 20 smaller 4 inch pancakes, which equals 4 servings. Serve with butter and sugar free maple syrup of your choosing, I recommend Smuckers!

 

Nutritional info:

Serving size:  1/4th of total batch, however many pancakes that makes depending on size

Calories 407 (279 of those calories are from fat)

Fat 31g

Carbs 12.65g

Fiber 5g

Net carbs 7.65g

Protein 18.8g

 

Variations:

• add 1 tablespoon orange zest and 1 cup cranberries (+2.25g net carbs to each serving)
• add 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 cup blueberries (+4.5g net carbs to each serving)
• add 1 50g size chopped Chocoperfection bar and 1 cup raspberries (+2.25g net carbs to each serving)
• add 2 teaspoons almond extract and 1 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles for "birthday cake" flavor (+2.25g net carbs to each serving)
• add 1 tablespoon melted butter to use this batter for waffles

 

 

These pancakes turned out awesome, and I look forward to testing out different variations to this base recipe!

 

Chorizo & Egg Breakfast burritos

A couple of months ago, I ordered a chorizo and egg burrito at the little Mexican place across the street from my house, and it was awesome. What really struck me what how the texture of the chorizo sausage changed when it was combined with the scrambled eggs. Normally, chorizo is finely ground, and pretty greasy with it's spicy red oil oozing out of it. When scrambled with the eggs, the eggs take on the excess oil and it makes them scramble so fine, that they actually look like ground meat. I wanted to test this out at home. Kent was dubious that it would turn out, but then he actually ended up making these, and was amazed at both how good they were and how well it worked. They were delicious breakfast burritos, and very economical! The chorizo was only a couple of dollars to begin with, but adding eggs really stretches out the amount of filling, and if you didn't know better, you'd just think it was a huge pan of ground pork or something. 

Exhibit A: This is the final texture of one link of chorizo combined with 7 eggs.

All the ingredients. These tortillas are incredibly soft and flexible! 

 Chorizo Scrambled Egg Burritos

1 link of chorizo sausage (we used mild)
7 eggs
shredded cheese
sour cream
salsa
low carb tortillas
optional: jalepenos

Split open casing of chorizo, and scrape filling into skillet on medium heat. Break up with spoon and cook for five minutes. Reduce heat to low. Whisk eggs together, pour over chorizo, and stir constantly until scrambled but still moist. Remove from heat, and eggs will finish cooking while you warm your tortillas in the microwave and get out the toppings. Assemble burritos to your taste.

Makes 8 servings.

Finished product- tasty breakfast burritos!

Seafood Chowder

This is not the most low carb recipe I've ever invented, but we are kind of poor after Christmas and tried to tailor our grocery list to work around what we have in the pantry and freezer. And what I had in the pantry was canned potatoes, canned corn, and a tin of smoked mussels, an onion, minced garlic as well as a small tub of leftover mashed potatoes in the freezer. It sounded like a good start to a seafood chowder to me. It has a pretty high fat content though, so it should balance out. I'm really proud of myself that we saved those mashed potatoes and then actually used them again a couple of months later, rather than the usual scenario- pushed to the back of the freezer, then finally thrown away two years later.

The ingredients, 9 out of 13 things that we already had on hand.

The seasonings, all of which we already had.

Creamy, seafood-y goodness.

Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 T minced garlic
6 T butter, divided
2 - 14.5 oz cans of diced potatoes
1 - 11 oz can of corn
1- 8 oz bottle of clam juice
4 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
1 lb of frozen peeled raw shrimp (small)
8 oz imitation lobster meat
small tin of smoked mussels
1/4 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 T konjac flour
Old Bay seasoning
Johnny's seasoning salt
cracked black pepper
salt

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Peel and finely chop entire onion,  add to butter. Sautee until softened and translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook one more minute. Add drained potatoes and corn. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.

In a stock pot, combine mashed potatoes, clam juice, milk, and 1 tablespoon of Johnny's seasoning salt. Bring to a simmer. Remove 1 cup of this mixture into a bowl, and quickly stir in 2 tablespoons of konjac flour. Stir rapidly to remove lumps. Add mixture back into stock pot. Add vegetable mixture from skillet to stock pot of liquids.

In the skillet, spray with oil, then add frozen shrimp. The shrimp will quickly release a lot of water and juice. Scoop that liquid off, and add to the stock pot. Sprinkle shrimp with 2 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning, and cook until pink. Add lobster meat and stir to combine. Add seafood mixture to stock pot, along with 1 teaspoon each of salt, Johnny's, and Old Bay. Stir in mussels, the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, and heavy cream.

Serve topped with freshly ground pepper. Makes 6 large portions that are very filling, thanks to the magic of konjac flour.

Chopped salads = easiest weeknight dinners!

My body has been craving salads, which is unusual for late December. I think that it is telling me to get some nutrients after my holiday indulgences, and I agree. I haven't been doing very well with the ketogenic lifestyle lately, and it is time to get back on track.

Whenever I crave salad, I want something interesting and somewhat gourmet, but I don't always have a lot of time to wash and prep my veggies. I am also somewhat picky about salad greens, because I can not tolerate the chunky white parts of lettuce, so I take a lot of time to go through and remove all of them whenever I make a salad. I discovered these new(ish) Dole chopped salad kits, and they are good! They are easy to eat, since everything is chopped into little pieces, and there isn't much of the chunky white parts to pick out.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work tonight, and I got a Sunflower Crunch chopped salad kit, which has cabbage, kale, carrots, sunflower seeds, bacon bits and a sweet onion citrus dressing. It was $3.49. I also got a rotisserie chicken for $6. Rotisserie chicken is the best thing ever for low carbers. I don't have time to roast chickens! Nor do I really care to touch raw chickens. $6 is such a low price to pay for the convenience of getting one ready to eat. And they are always so juicy and delicious. We took our ingredients home, chopped up the chicken, dumped the salad and chicken into a bowl, tossed with dressing, and devoured. You can't get much easier and healthier than that! And, compared to our usual habit of going out to eat all the time, it was very economical at just under $10 for two people. I've made it my New Year's resolution to eat way more of this meal in different variations- I am thinking around three times a week. Besides Sunflower Crunch, these chopped salads also come in the following flavors: Sesame Asian, Bacon & Bleu, BBQ Ranch, Chipotle Cheddar, and Summer Garden Blend. (Dole should be paying me for this free advertising, but they're not!) That will ensure I am getting all kinds of good vitamins and protein, and it will be so fast and easy. That is a resolution that I think I can stick to!

Thanksgiving salad

organized for your viewing pleasure

A few weeks ago, Kent made a turkey because we not only wanted a traditional turkey dinner, we also wanted leftover turkey to make jambalaya and for this salad I dreamed up. This is like a Thanksgiving dinner in salad form, and it is delicious! I invented this salad around one of the balsamic vinegars I got from Allspice in Des Moines- a cinnamon pear flavored one.

Thanksgiving Salad

Salad:
1 bag pre-washed butter lettuce
2 cups leftover turkey meat
2 pears, thinly sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
4 oz apricot Stilton cheese
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz pecan halves

Dressing:
1 part cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar (or use Alessi pear infused white balsamic)
1 part Splenda
1 part olive oil
splash of water to thin

Toss salad, shake dressing, et voila! Makes 2 large meal sized servings.

nom nom nom

Emily's Cabbage & Kielbasa Soup

It's no secret that I love cooked cabbage. When Kent makes it for me, he first boils it, then transfers it to a roasting pan and drizzles it with garlic butter before crisping off the tops under the broiler. I wanted to make a soup that had a similar taste of garlicky buttery goodness, but with meat and potatoes to make it a complete meal. This is what I came up with, and it turned out amazing! So amazing, in fact, that I ate four bowls of it in a row. If you want to be extra low carb, omit the canned potatoes, but I figured it was okay fat ratio-wise, as long as I topped each bowl with a pat of butter and let it melt in. Heavenly. I wanted a giant pot of this soup, but this recipe can easily be halved. 

Emily's Cabbage & Kielbasa Soup

128 oz chicken broth

26 oz cream soup base (or 3 c half and half)

1 head of cabbage

1 onion

1 head (approx 8-9 cloves) or fresh garlic

4 kielbasa sausages (2-14 oz packages)

2- 14 oz cans of sliced or diced potatoes

2 T butter (more for garnish)

2 T olive oil

freshly cracked black pepper

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil and butter. Chop onion, add to pot. Sautee for 5 minutes. Peel and mince garlic, add to onion, continue to sautee for a minute, then add chicken broth and cream base.  Core cabbage and chop into one inch squares. Add to pot. Slice sausages in half, then into half rounds and add to pot. Rinse canned potatoes and if using sliced potatoes, cut each slice in half before adding to pot. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until thickest parts of cabbage pieces are tender. Serve with a pat of butter and cracked black pepper for garnish.  

Makes approximately 16 servings.

Cool as a cucumber

I love cucumbers! They are my favorite vegetable, besides cabbage or course. I REALLY love when coworkers with overflowing gardens bring in heaps of cucumbers to share! They are especially perfect for the height of summer when it is hot outside, you need to cool down and don't really feel like expending much energy on cooking. Because cucumbers are so full of water, they are very hydrating and good for your skin when you consume them. You can also just put slices on your eyes to reduce puffiness. I love when snacks double as beauty products! Here are two ultra lazy non recipes centering on cukes.

Refreshing!

Cucumber Mint "Spa" Water

Want to pretend you are relaxing at a fancy spa? Put those extra slices on your eyes and sip an icy glass of this! 

1 small cucumber
1 bunch fresh mint
1 1/2 liters of filtered water

Peel and slice cucumber into thin slices. Put in pitcher. Leave mint leaves attached to stems. Rinse off, then gently rub each leaf between your thumb and index finger to release their oils. Add to pitcher, fill with filtered water and refrigerate. I have found that you can get at least one refill pitcher' worth of water out of your original cucumbers and mint.

Cucumbers with Guacamole

1 cucumber (I like English seedless ones)
guacamole in a pouch
Johnny's seasoning salt

Slice cucumber. Lay slices on a plate and sprinkle with Johnny's. Squeeze a dollop of guacamole on each slice. Devour entire plate without guilt!

Two notes on ingredients: I have tried various brands of ready made guacamole, and the best one, both for flavor and price, is Aldi's Little Salad Bar brand. It comes in a two pack of pouches, which keeps it fresh longer, and is very convenient to squeeze out. I prefer the mild flavor, as the spicy is pretty hot. It is only $2.99. If you are not familiar with Johnny's, I highly recommend it! The original seasoning salt goes great on  everything, and they have lots of various blends for specific foods, like poultry or seafood. Kent is really into grilling and smoking meats, so we use a lot of this stuff! It is gluten free, and contains MSG, which in my opinion is what makes it so magical, but if you are sensitive to that, it is also available without MSG.

I hope you are enjoying a summer bounty of cucumbers like I am!

Out of town, out of ketosis, oh well.

I spent last week in Chicago for a convention, and took the opportunity to diverge from my ketogenic ways for a little while. I was focused on eating cheaply, and getting things that I would not be able to find at home. I was a little worried that I would reverse some of my weight loss, since I would be away from Kent's good influence, our magic exercise machine, the Noblerex K1 vibration plate unit, aka "The Jiggler," and my usual routine. I am pleased to say that despite having some blatant keto-cheato moments (cough, Magnolia Bakery, ahem), I actually lost three pounds upon my return home. I chalk that up to the sheer quantity of steps I took- I was walking miles all over the giant convention center and the streets of downtown Chicago exploring. For the most part, besides the bakery sweets and the burger and fries, I ate pretty well, even when consuming carbs. I made an effort to always have a salad for lunch, and incorporated vegetables into as much as I could. Sometimes, you have to think of what nutrients you want to give to your body, rather than what you want to avoid. Here are some of the highlights from my week in Chicago!

Naughty: There was an amazing buffet at the kickoff party for the convention. I did eat carbs, but a lot of the things pictured, I only had a bite or two of. 

Post party hotel bathroom selfie! We stayed at the Palmer House Hilton, downtown Chicago. 

Neutral: My new favorite restaurant- Roti Mediterranean Grill. It was amazing! It's like the Chipotle of Greek food. I still felt virtuous, despite the carbs. 

Nice: A couple of my salads for lunch- Southwest Chicken and Asian Chicken. These were both from a cafe inside the convention center, and I was impressed with how good they were. 

Naughty: A double cheeseburger with sauteed onions, mushrooms and mayo, plus cajun seasoned fries. I had heard great things about Five Guys, and they didn't let me down!

Naughty: Magnolia's famous vanilla cupcake, as seen on Sex and the City. I couldn't help but wonder, "Was it the best cupcake I've ever had?" The answer is yes. 

Naughty: personal sized pistachio cheesecake. Swoon.

Nice: Bacon and Blue cheese steak salad

Naughty, yet again: I had to return to Magnolia one more time for a slice of birthday cake. If it makes it any better, it WAS my dinner. 

A fruity spinach salad with pomegranate vinaigrette from the Corner Bakery Cafe next to the Palmer House. Eaten outside on the sidewalk while waiting for the chartered bus! 

It was a great week of adventure out of town, and I made some awesome memories. But I am very glad to be home and back into the routine! 

Cooking with dog!

Arrroooo! (That's a dog howl...) I don't mean cooking dog meat! I am talking about this fun Japanese cooking show that Kent showed me the other night. The narrator/host of the show is a French poodle, who is voiced by a Japanese guy attempting a French accent. It's ridiculous, but entertaining. This is the episode that we watched, and decided to try to make these ourselves. I'm not going to post the recipe, since it is all clearly spelled out in the video.

We were already familiar with shirataki noodles- pasta made from konjac, a high fiber root, that have zero calories and zero net carbs. We hadn't yet tried to use them for an Asian noodle bowl, but our favorite Vietnamese restaurant recently closed, so we have to do it ourselves now. We had a few differences between our version and the video recipe. We used ribeye instead of sirloin steak. We used splenda + stevia instead of sugar in the sauce. We left out the bean sprouts. Kent added both fresh ginger and jarred garlic to the sauce. It didn't make sense to us to not include garlic! We garnished ours with fresh mint and Thai basil, as well as some fresh jalepeno slices that we let soak in the sauce while the noodles chilled.

Here are our results!

Tasteful noods.

Shirataki Noodle Bowls

2 pouches Miracle Noodle shirataki noodles, drained and rinsed well
2 ribeye steaks (charcoal grilled)
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 tomato, diced
2 eggs, scrambled into a thin omelette and sliced into strips

Sauce:
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon Splenda
1 Tablespoon granulated stevia
2.4 oz water (we used a 1 oz shot glass to measure this out)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
3/4 Tablespoon minced garlic

Garnish:
1 fresh jalepeno, sliced
fresh basil leaves
fresh mint leaves

Drain and rinse noodles after removing them from their bags. Boil in water for a minute. Drain and pat dry. In a dry skillet, cook noodles briefly to remove any excess water. Set noodles aside. Mix sauce, and spoon half of it over noodles. Set remaining sauce aside for finishing bowls. Slice the jalepeno and put the slices in the bowl of sauce. Grill steaks and make omelette. Let omelette cool and cut into thin strips. Also slice steak into strips. Set eggs and steak aside. Cut up vegetables. In two bowls, place half of the noodles in each. Top with steak and egg strips, cucumber and tomato. Garnish with basil, mint, and jalepeno slices to taste. Top with half of remaining sauce in each bowl.

The next day, I used the leftover ingredients as part of a delicious Asian salad. Kent turned the leftover sauce into a salad dressing, by adding some vegetable oil and a little more sesame oil to it, then shaking to combine in a jar.

Yum! 

Asian Steak Salad

Grilled sirloin steak, sliced into strips

butter lettuce

sliced cucumbers

sliced radishes

shredded carrots

shelled edamame

peanuts

Asian vinagrette dressing- soy sauce, rice vinegar, minded garlic and ginger, sesame oil, stevia/splenda, and vegetable oil

Shake up dressing, adjust ingredients to taste. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and toss. Easy!

No compromise cheesecake!

I've gotten used to adjusting my expectations when it comes to diet desserts. I love the keto fat bombs that we've been making, but as delicious as they are, they are not the same as good old sugary candy. It's not a flavor issue, it's more of a texture thing. I wasn't sure what to expect when Kent told me about this cheesecake recipe. I was worried that it would seem fluffy and fake. I am very pleased to say that it seems like normal New York cheesecake- nice and dense and decadent! Not only is this cheesecake sugar free and low carb, it also happens to be gluten free! I have a feeling this will be a holiday standby for here on out.

Right on the money!

Individual Keto Cheesecakes

1/2 stick of unsalted butter (410 cals, 0 carbs)
1 cup almond meal (720 cals, 8 net carbs)
2- 8 oz packages of softened cream cheese (1600 cals, 16 carbs)
1/2 cup of Splenda, plus 1 Tablespoon (0 cals, 0 carbs)
1/4 cup of granulated stevia (0 cals, 0 carbs)
2 tsp vanilla (0 cals, 0 carbs)
2 eggs (148 cals, 1 carb)

(239 calories, 2.08 carbs per cheesecake)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper muffin liners in a 12 cup muffin tin. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the almond meal and the tablespoon of Splenda, and stir to combine. Divide this mixture into 12 spoonfuls and place one spoonful in each muffin cup. Using an oiled shot glass, press it down to cover the bottom of each liner. In a stand or hand mixer, combine eggs, Splenda and stevia, vanilla, and cream cheese. Mix on low to combine, then increase speed to remove lumps and make smooth. Spoon filling into each muffin cup, and smooth tops with a spoon. Bake for 17 minutes. The tops will not brown, but they will slightly puff up and crack. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before eating.

We topped ours with diced strawberries and whipped cream, which will add a couple more carbs. Other stir in ideas or toppings could be blueberries, raspberries, shaved Choco Perfection chocolate bars, or citrus zest. I saw on Pinterest that someone suggested making your own almond meal using almonds dusted with cocoa powder. You could also just add cocoa powder to the regular almond meal mixture. This is a great base recipe that will work with a lot of variations. Now, the hardest part will be controling ourselves, so that we can each eat one of these every night for the rest of the week!

Recipe: Blueberry Cheesecake Fat Bombs

Continuing with National Blueberry Month, I used our remaining blueberries from last week's salad on a variation of the fat bomb candy I talked about last week. Kent is a chocolate fan, but given the choice, I lean more toward fruity options. I wanted to figure out how to make something similar in texture, but flavored with something other than cocoa powder. This one was a winner! It would also be great with the addition of diced strawberries for a very 4th of July theme!

Bluebs.

Blueberry Cheesecake Fat Bombs

7 oz coconut oil, melted
1 package of sugar free cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix
1/4 cup heavy cream
half a pint of blueberries

Lightly spray candy mold with non stick spray, and place it on a cookie sheet for stability. Place 4-5 blueberries in each mold. In a microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil. Add remaining ingredients, except for blueberries. Use a blender to quickly combine. (If you delay, the gelatin in the pudding will get clumpy.) Once mixture is thoroughly combined, pour over blueberries into molds. Place in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Pop each candy out of the mold, and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Blueberry Lemon Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette

I was already planning on writing about this salad we invented last week, when I learned that July is National Blueberry Month! It was meant to be! This week, I'll share two blueberry recipes that we've made recently. For the first, let's go the savory direction. I needed to come up with a side salad to take to an informal dinner party. The main course was grilled steak, and I wanted to make some sort of summery green salad that had fruit in it too. It doubled as dessert!

I was recently in Des Moines with my best friend Shannon, and we visited an amazing store there called Allspice. Besides having an awesome selection of dried herbs and spices, they have an area in the back with dispensers of various flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegars. With tiny cups for tasting! It was incredible! It warrants many exclamation points!!! Kent is a master vinaigrette maker, so I had to get some choice balsamics for him as an early birthday gift. (It's no coincidence that I benefit from this gift, too!) After tasting almost all of the vinegars, I decided on a sampler pack of my choice of flavors- four smaller bottles for $36, which appears to be available in the store, but not online. I went with Peach, Cinnamon Pear, Dark Chocolate and Blueberry. We happened to have some blueberries in the fridge already, so a salad inspiration was born! I'd already had the idea to pair lemon zest with blueberries, but then Kent found this amazing Stilton cheese at the gourmet cheese island at Hy-Vee, and it really took it to the next level. If you can't find it, a mild blue cheese or goat cheese would work as well.

Blueberry Lemon Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette

2 bags of prewashed salad greens, we prefer Butter lettuce
   (or a combination of butter lettuce with another salad green, like Frisee)
1 pint blueberries
1 cup pecan halves
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 large lemon, zested
1/2 cup lemon infused Stilton cheese, crumbled

Dressing:
1 part blueberry vinegar
1 part white balsamic vinegar
1 part powdered stevia
1 part granulated Splenda
1 part canola oil
1 part olive oil

Use equal parts of each ingredient. (1/4 cup of each will make a generous batch of dressing to be used for multiple salads.) Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine. We used half and half with the vinegars to conserve our fancy ingredient, and I'm glad we did, because it is plenty flavorful, even tempered by half cheaper white balsamic. We also prefer the flavor of half and half  ratios with the sweeteners and the oils. It's kind of hard to explain why, but they just seem more balanced and full when combined, rather just relying on one kind.

This salad was so good, we made it again a few days later, but this time, we used a blueberry Stilton cheese, pictured above, which is also found at Hy-Vee. It was really good, but I liked the lemon cheese just a little more. The lemon seemed a little more subtle and ethereal. Two of my favorite qualities in an ingredient.

On Thursday, we will continue with our blueberry celebration, and I'll share my recipe for blueberry cheesecake fat bombs!

Keto Sweets: Fat Bombs, aka "candy"

I have a chef for a best friend, and a very creative kitchen ninja for a husband, which makes me one lucky lady. I love that both of them are so supportive and excited about experimenting with ketogenic recipes with me. When I was researching ketogenic recipes, I stumbled upon something called a "fat bomb." That didn't sound very appetizing to me, but I'm glad that I looked into it further, because what it really means is keto candy! Fat bombs are an easy way to add fat to your diet, to get that ratio of calories from fat up. I have found that if I'm worried about eating a few carbs (for example, a little watermelon in a salad the other day), eating a fat bomb or two seems to counteract the little bit of sugar and keeps my fat ratio high enough that I remain in ketosis. Kent told me that he used to just eat a spoonful of olive oil once in a while, to get the same effect, but that sounds a little too intense for me. Fat bomb candy goes down a lot easier in my opinion! It seems counterintuitive to say that if you eat a few too many carbs, you atone for your sins by eating candy! But it is true, and like many things about this diet, it goes against what we've learned about nutrition in the past. But, the ketostix don't lie. Since I have begun adding fat bombs to my diet, my ketosis has been kicked into overdrive! I had the darkest test strip ever this morning (the deepest possible purple!), after having a decadent, absolutely not deprived day of delicious meals yesterday. There is no motivation like that to stick to this plan! I am really looking forward to getting a new scale this weekend. The one we have now is so frustrating, because you can weigh yourself 10 times in a row and never get the same result twice. I look forward to an accurate scale so I can really see some results. So far though, my clothes fitting looser is pretty good proof in my book.

There are tons of fat bomb recipes available online- especially on Pinterest. They have the potential to have endless flavor combos- especially with out large collection of sugar free Torani syrups. They don't require a bunch of fancy equipment, you could just pour the mixture onto a tray and break it up like bark, but I really like using silicon molds, so that's what we used to make them cute. Here are two recipes that Kent came up with, after he tried some that my best friend Shannon made for us. Hers were dark chocolate on the outside, peanut butter in the middle. He didn't want to mess with layers, so he came up with an all in one mixture.

Heaven IS for real. 

Chocolate Caramel Peanut Fat Bombs

7 oz coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated stevia
1/8 cup granulated splenda
1/8 cup PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
2 Tblsp. heavy cream
2 Tblsp. Sugar Free Caramel Torani syrup
1/2 cup salted, roasted peanuts

Lightly spray candy mold with non stick spray, and place it on a cookie sheet for stability. In a microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil. Add remaining ingredients, except for peanuts. Stir to combine. You will see that the stevia will not dissolve until the cream and Torani syrup are added. Once mixture is thoroughly combined, pour into molds. Top each candy with a few peanuts. Place in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Pop each candy out of the mold, and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Every time I get one from the freezer, I sing La Bamba! 

Coconut Macadamia Nut Chocolate Fat Bombs

7 oz coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated stevia
1/8 cup granulated splenda
2 Tblsp. heavy cream
2 Tblsp. Sugar Free Coconut Torani syrup
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Lightly spray candy mold with non stick spray, and place it on a cookie sheet for stability. In a microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil. Add remaining ingredients, except for macadamia nuts. Stir to combine. You will see that the stevia will not dissolve until the cream and Torani syrup are added. Sprinkle a spoonful of macadamia nuts into each candy mold. Top with chocolate mixture. Place in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Pop each candy out of the mold, and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

There are so many possibilites with these things. I would like to make one that is a dark chocolate shell filled with unsweetened coconut mixed with caramel Torani and chopped almonds for a German chocolate vibe. Or a lemon cookie flavored one using our zero carb protein shake mix (which tastes like vanilla wafers) and lemon essential oil. I will keep scheming and post more recipes as they develop!

Keto Sweets: Drink Your Fat

When Kent did the Keto diet years ago, he had one thing different than this time around- not much of a sweet tooth. That made things easier for him to resist, but it also didn't make him invent keto desserts. This time, with me on board, necessity is the mother of invention, because I do have a sweet tooth, and need to find a fix! It has paid off for him, because although he doesn't crave sweets like I do, he is benefiting from the delicious things I'm coming up with. This week I'd like to focus on a couple of ways we are satisfying the dessert cravings, while staying in ketosis. Today's method is through dessert-like beverages.

The first idea I had was to make a root beer "float" using diet root beer and a little heavy cream. This quickly became Kent's go to breakfast, because it is quick, easy and portable. I decided to branch out and try some different flavor profiles, and wanted to use some of the many types of sugar free Torani syrup that we have on hand. Cream soda, as a vanilla base, is very versatile with lots of other flavors. Here's a list of the winning combinations I've come up with so far:

This stuff is awesome! 

Diet root beer with 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
Diet cream soda and 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
     +2 Tablespoons SF Chocolate Torani syrup
     +2 Tablespoons SF Raspberry Torani syrup
     +2 Tablespoons SF Chai Tea Torani syrup
     +2 Tablespoons SF Butterscotch Torani syrup
     +2 Tablespoons SF Peach Torani syrup, + 1 Tablespoon SF Brown Sugar Cinnamon Torani syrup
Diet orange soda with 2 Tablespoons SF French Vanilla Torani syrup and 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

I also like to use our Keurig coffee maker to make iced coffee in the summer. We currently have two flavors of K-cups, a chocolate donut flavor, and a vanilla biscotti, which are both sugar free. I really like to brew my coffee into a mug, using the 8 oz strength, when I first wake up in the morning. I put the mug into the freezer to cool off the coffee. Right before I leave the house, I fill a large insulated cup with ice, and pour in my cooled coffee. I add sugar free Torani flavored syrup (usually French Vanilla, Caramel, or White Chocolate), a packet of stevia, and some heavy cream. Stir it up, and I'm out the door. I get my sweet fix, and the heavy cream keeps me fueled all morning.

It works best to try to adapt things that are already creamy.

I also use the Keurig to just make hot water to brew tea. You can actually put a tea bag inside of one of those reusable k-cups to pressure brew it, or just run the hot water and steep the teabag in your cup. I am not normally a person who likes dairy in tea, but I do love Thai iced tea, which is a bright orange colored black tea that is flavored with vanilla and is traditionally served over ice with sweetened condensed milk. I did the same, but replaced the condensed milk with two stevia packets and some heavy cream. It is just as tasty! I love coming up with alternatives to things I used to love, and I don't feel deprived at all. Sometimes the low carb version is better than the original in flavor, not just in health benefits!

Be prepared!

With any low carb diet, it is crucial that you be prepared with food on hand, or at least a list of appropriate restaurant options. I know that when I get hungry, I get cranky, and the most common argument (discussion, really) Kent and I have is when we are trying to figure out what to do for dinner, and the more indecisive we are, the hungrier and crankier we get! It's a frustrating spiral.

For foods to keep on hand at home, I have created a standard keto grocery list ready to go in a spreadsheet, so my shopping is easy every time. Here it is, for your reference. If you'd like, you can modify the spreadsheet in Excel to add columns for each of the grocery stores in your area, and keep track of the prices on items to see which store has the best deals. This is called a price book. Keep in mind that sometimes places like gas stations and drugstores actually have better prices on certain items than grocery stores do, so keep your eye out! I have not yet made a price book, but it seems like a good idea. A little extra work seems to be worth it in the long run, because eating low carb isn't cheap, and any way to save helps. My grocery shopping is typically split between Hy-Vee, Walmart and Aldi. I like to stock up on certain things when I can make it to a Trader Joe's, but the closest one is two hours away.

Sometimes though, we get busy and realize that we really need to go grocery shopping, but we are hungry right now, and need to go out to eat. I made a list of restaurants in our area that we already like, and the best low carb options at each place. I encourage you to do the same, since every town has different options. I folded this list up and put it in my wallet. Next time I am ravenous, I won't have to rely on my starving brain to come up with ideas when I'm desperate. Here is my list- maybe some of the options will work for you too.

Baked fish with butter sauce and slivered almonds, steamed veggies from Highway 63 Diner.

House salad with creamy garlic dressing, cheese curds from Highway 63 Diner.

I only have the carb counts listed for a few of the items on the list below. Feel free to do the research- I was just going with the basic criteria for us- mostly gluten free with a high calories from fat ratio.

All-American

Highway 63 Diner: baked fish in butter sauce, steamed veggies, cheese curds, double bacon cheeseburger without a bun, house shredded salad

Pepperjax: Double steak rice bowl, minus the rice, with mushrooms, onions, and cheese. Add mushroom sauce and au jus.

Village Inn/Perkins: Steak or pork chop and eggs, with cottage cheese, omelettes

Famous Dave’s: naked ribs, brisket, or any meat with tiny bit of sauce, salad or veggie sides

Texas Roadhouse: chopped steak with salad, veggies/salads

Buffalo Wild Wings: wings without sweet sauce

Lonestar Steakhouse: garlic steak medallions, creamed spinach

Domino’s: wings without sweet sauce

Asian

Chinese buffet: any meat without breading, veggies like cabbage, green beans, cooked to order hibachi, mayo baked mussels

Hu Hot: any combination of stir fry without noodles (use cabbage)

Sauces, per ladle:

0 carbs- ginger/garlic broth, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce

1 carb- soy sauce, lemon/lime juice, hot chili oil/garlic oil

3 carbs- Five Village Fire Schezwan, Khan’s Favorite, Mean Bean Garlic, Yellow Belly Curry

4 carbs- Black Thai Peanut, Sweet Chili Sauce

5 carbs- Beckster’s Ginger, Kung Pao Yow, Samurai Teriyaki

Deli

Jimmy John’s: Italian Nighclub Unwich

Sub City: Sub in a tub

Fast Food Burgers

Hardees: Low carb thickburger

McDonalds: double cheeseburger without ketchup, mustard, or bun, add extra onions, shred lettuce and big mac sauce

Italian

Marco's Pizza: meatball bake- add extra cheese

Olive Garden: garden salad without croutons (6c), Antipasti meats and cheese salad topper (1c) Roasted parmesan asparagus (7c), Grilled Chicken Spiedini with creamy alfredo (4c), Steak Toscano (11 c), Herb Grilled Salmon (9c), Steamed broccoil (2c)

Mexican

Las Margaritas: ribeye y mas with chile relleno, guacamole

Fiesta Jalisco: Shrimp in lemon juice, carne asada

Ribeye y mas with chile relleno at Las Margaritas. We skip the rice and beans, and add guacamole to our steaks. 

The best way to avoid succumbing to desperate carb cravings is to be prepared. That means either with food on hand at home, with a ready-made grocery list to stay focused and avoid impulse buys, or with a list of keto friendly dining options. It takes a little bit of effort up front, but you will be rewarded again and again for planning ahead! 

Making the Most of It When Your Meals Are Out of Your Control

I spent last week in Indianapolis as one of the lucky few who were chosen to participate in this year's AFSCME Women's Leadership Academy. It was actually the reason that I started this low carb diet when I did, because I knew it was coming up, and really needed to feel good and have energy for this adventure. The experience was great, but it can be hard to adjust to living in a hotel for a week. The biggest challenge was the fact that I had little control over what I was served for meals, so I had to work with what I had in front of me and make the best decisions I could, given the limited options. Luckily, the most important meal of the day, breakfast, always had easy low carb options. The hotel I was at, Embassy Suites downtown Indianapolis, had a great hot breakfast buffet, and even had staff on hand for customized omelettes. My typical breakfast each morning was scrambled eggs, sausage, and a little bit of fruit, with an iced coffee. It was so tasty, it was actually easy to bypass all the pancakes, french toast and danishes!

Breakfast of champions!

I managed to stay in ketosis for the first two days, but quickly realized that reaching keto levels of low carb was going to be hard, and I just needed to do the best I could, and not beat myself up over a few carbs. With limited options and not enough time to leave the building to find other choices, I had to make the best of my situation. (Plus the meals provided were free.) Luckily, all of our meals had more than one main dish, and most of them had something that would work for me. There were a couple that were tough though, like the baked potato bar, and the pasta bar days. Every meal did have a large iceberg, cucumber and tomato salad, and a huge bowl of mixed fruit salad, so I tried to eat some that with every meal. I didn't feel bad about consuming the sugar found naturally in fruit, because come on. That's a pretty virtuous splurge in the grand scheme of things. Here are some highlights of my meal choices last week:

Iceberg salad with ranch, green beans with pepperoni, sliced pork, piece of chicken

I was so excited to see a spinach salad with strawberries and feta- that was the first thing that reminded me of home! I made it a meal by adding chicken.

Steamed broccoli and beef in gravy.

On deli wrap day, I tried to avoid eating most of my tortilla, but filled up on salad.

On build your own sandwich day, I cut up deli meats and cheese to turn my side salad into a main dish chef's salad.

We did have a little time to ourselves, and I was able to eat some great salads out at restaurants then. Again, probably not as keto as when I can make them myself and control the salad dressing ingredients, but still pretty darn good carb wise, and definitely delicious! 

I had the Farmer's Market Steak Salad at the Colts Grille next to the hotel for lunch as soon as I arrived. 

I was really looking forward to going to California Pizza Kitchen on my free night. I always long for their salads, and I wasn't disappointed. I ordered two half size salads, because I couldn't decide on one. This is the caramelized peach salad with craisins, goat cheese, and red onion. I added grilled shrimp to mine. 

My other CPK half salad was a California Fields salad, which had strawberries, watermelon, basil, feta cheese and pistachios. I added grilled chicken too. It was AMAZING. (This was the culinary highlight of my week!) I can't wait to recreate this one at home!

One lesson I learned the hard way, unfortunately, is that I am sensitive to a preservative commonly used on hotel salads. I got sick on the last day of my trip, and luckily was able to made it through the day and get home, but I still felt bad all weekend. I did some research on my unique symptoms (I will spare you the details) and learned about the hotel salad thing. Great! I was trying my best to be healthy and avoid carbs, and it kind of backfired on me. So, my advice to you is that, given the limited options, try your best to choose low carb foods that are cooked, and don't rely on salad as the main part of every meal. In the worst case scenario, just do what you can to minimize your carb intake, like peeling the breading off of your chicken, or eating the contents of a sandwich without the bread. Because you can always go right back to eating how you prefer when it is on your own terms again. I was worried that slipping up on a few carbs was going to bring my sugar cravings back with a vengeance, but I actually found myself craving my keto foods that I had grown accustomed to, not only because they taste great, but also because they make me feel so good! I am so glad to be home, and enjoying being back in the swing of things. I have another week long trip coming up next month, and now I will be better prepared to eat well without getting sick!