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!

Recipe: Boursin Mushrooms

Boursin mushrooms are so easy and so delicious. If you have never heard of Boursin cheese, it is a soft, spreadable cheese that is flavored with garlic and herbs. Kent first had these at Trostel's Dish, a small plate tapas restaurant in Des Moines. They were very easy to recreate, considering they only have two ingredients.

It's like a cupcake of cheese.

Boursin Mushrooms

1 package of button mushrooms or Baby Bellas
1 package of Boursin cheese

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms. Use a fork to poke a couple of sets of holes in each mushroom, so any juices can drain out while cooking. Use a spoon to scoop some Boursin cheese into the inside of the mushroom cap. We like to use the spoon to smooth and shape the cheese down into it so it is flush with the mushroom, but feel free to be more rustic about it. Fill each mushroom, place on a baking sheet with a rack to let the juices drain and prevent sogginess. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden.

These are awesome with scrambled eggs for breakfast! I think they would also go very nicely with a steak for a dinner side.

The finished product.

With scrambled eggs and bacon for brunch. Money saving tip: Did you know that bacon "ends and pieces" are way less expensive than normal bacon? Just because they are shorter and get kind of curly when cooked. Just as tasty, though! Normal bacon is $6-$7 a pound, and we got 3 pounds of ends and pieces for $8 at Walmart.

Quick meal ideas for breakfast or snacks

Here are some really fast ideas for grazing breakfast foods or snacks that are ready made or super fast to prepare. I think that one of the challenges to this low carb way of eating is to be prepared at all times to avoid succumbing to carb temptation. If you are ready with things that are delicious alternatives to the stuff you're trying to avoid, you won't feel deprived, and your will power doesn't even feel tested!

I am very happy to report that I only had two temptations this week, on the same day. Girl Scout cookies and the offer of free donuts. I managed to resist them both. Probably because my own snacks were awesome too! I've also lost five pounds in my first week. This is very encouraging. As Kent told me, the addiction to seeing results will be much more fun than the addiction to eating the carbs. I can't wait to see more of it! Here's what helped me this week:

English cucumber sticks with Hummus Quartet (original, roasted garlic, rosted red pepper, and jalepeno cilantro flavors) from Aldi.

I have been eating a one ounce cup of mixed nuts every morning with my cup of iced coffee. It is interesting that since I haven't been eating sugar, I can detect the natural sweetness in foods more easily. I could really tell how sweet a pecan is compared to a cashew.

Dill pickle, turkey meat stick, and string cheese. Grazing breakfast of champions! I've been putting a week's worth of these in a bag that I keep in the fridge at work, so I don't have to think about taking something with me every day. I'm notorious for running late in the morning. I also bought a huge pack of string cheese and separated them all before putting the fridge. Now we have a string cheese and jello cup drawer. How luxurious!

Sugar free gelatin cups are awesome! Before we started this diet, we were addicted to Cozy Shack tapioca pudding cups topped with spray whipped cream. Turns out, the whipped cream is perfect for low carbers. Only one carb for 2 tablespoons. Pictured is orange gelatin with vanilla whipped cream. I also REALLY like chocolate flavored whipped cream on a black cherry gelatin.

In an effort to add fat to our diet, and replace desserts, I put heavy whipping cream into a glass of diet root beer. It is just like my favorite part of a root beer float- when the ice cream melts into the soda. So good! Also delicious in orange soda for a creamsicle experience.

That's it for now, but I will post more ideas as inspiration strikes!