Category Archives: keto

Keto Fast Foods From McDonald’s

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There are times when you just have no choice but to get fast food (although my teenagers would eat fast food for every meal if I let them).

Now that McDonald’s serves all day breakfast, it makes it so much easier to eat a Keto meal on the road. If I have to eat fast food, I will order a sausage egg cheese McMuffin without the muffin.  My husband also loves these. He eats beef so his options are vaster, but since I don’t these are perfect for me.

As long as you order things without the bun and sugary sauces, you can eat several things and stay Keto.  When eating fast food, stay away from anything breaded. Also, keep in mind that most sauces, other than mustard and mayo, are usually loaded with sugar.  Keto on a road trip or just on busy nights isn’t so hard after all.

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From McDonald’s.com

Keto Cheesy Biscuits {recipe}

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It seems like there are more and more Keto snacks out there now than ever before. The problem is that most are sweet, but sometimes I just want something savory. I was wanting to try out a new recipe that wasn’t a dessert, and this is what I created.

I love that this recipe is fast and easy to throw together. It also requires ingredients that I almost always have on hand.

Keto Cheesy Biscuits

2 cups of almond flour

2 cups of shredded cheese (I used spicy, but any kind should work)

2 eggs

1/3 cup melted ghee

2 tsp. Baking soda

1.5 tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until a stiff dough forms. Put tablespoon-size balls of biscuit dough on the cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy!!

These would probably be excellent Keto cheddar bay biscuit copycats if you added a butter garlic wash to the tops.

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Interested in Keto?

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As soon as it was evident that I’d lost weight, people began asking how I did it. Truthfully, my weight fluctuates as much to ten pounds up and down so it took a while for people to start questioning how I’d done it, but I was glad to tell them once they asked. Most people had heard of keto but didn’t know anything about it. Some people thought I was asking for a heart attack with all that fat. Some questioned how my cholesterol levels must look (assuming they must be awful). After a few weeks and months, more and more people started asking me more about the diet. They wanted to know what I ate in a day. Did I count calories, carbohydrates, fiber, etc? I was happy to tell them, but I also wanted to arm them with knowledge. I wanted them to decide for themselves based on research if this diet was one that they could believe in and actually stick to. I realize that on any particular subject there will be multiple sides with varying opinions, but I want to always make sure I don’t make decisions based on trends or fads.

I am going to link several studies. If you are interested in learning more about a ketogenic diet, these studies will help you learn more and see what research shows. I hope they will be helpful and that you will be inspired to do more research on your own. Also, Mark Sisson has a great website and podcast about primal eating and the ketogenic diet.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-keto-diet-gains-popularity-scientists.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/diagnosis-diet/201809/latest-low-carb-study-all-politics-no-science

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat

Whenever I read articles or “studies” which claim that the keto diet is all meat and no vegetables, I get irritated. Mostly, because I don’t know anyone who eats like that. I am extremely sensitive to protein so I eat meat (fish, chicken, turkey, or uncured pork) once or twice a week at most. Most days my diet mostly consists of several salads, cheese, eggs, and avocados. I also eat broccoli, green beans, and berries. If the fiber grams are subtracted from the total carbohydrate counts, my carb count still comes in below 50 grams daily.

I always recommend that if you are planning on starting a new diet or exercise program that you talk to your medical doctor first. I am closely followed by my own doctor. My bloodwork is also done every six months. I am very happy to report that my numbers are excellent.

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One last thing, I went off the diet for a week while in Disney World (we had the dining plan). I felt horrible! I went to bed with a massive stomachache for the first two nights. I could hardly wait to get back home and back on the diet. The experience solidified the fact that this diet is the one that works well for me and that leaves me feeling the best overall.

I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Sausage Cheese Rolls {Keto}

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I’m sure I’m not the only person who used to love sausage cheese balls. Those little balls made of Bisquik, cheese, and sausage were a favorite of mine for sure! I wanted to duplicate it as closely as possible while making it Keto friendly.

I’ve attempted this recipe many times. This was my first win at it.

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Here’s what I did:

Keto Sausage Cheese Rolls

Cook 2 packages of breakfast sausage. Put the cooked sausage, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and 2 1/2 to 3 cups of shredded cheese in a bowl and mix. When cooled a little, add 2 eggs and 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 cup almond flour. Mix well. Preheat an oven to 350. Roll them into balls and cook them until they brown. A warning: They will spread out so don’t put them too close to each other.

Enjoy!

Staying Keto on Vacation

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So many diets allow cheat days or cheat meals. The keto diet is not really one of those. You are either in ketosis and burning ketones or you are not. Coming out of ketosis and then trying to get back into ketosis can send a person right back to the days of the “keto flu” where they might experience headaches, nausea, extreme tiredness, and other unpleasant feelings. For me, each time I would take a vacation week off of keto, I would easily gain 8-10 pounds. I’ve been on three trips since starting back on 100% keto again. I easily stayed keto in Las Vegas. I ate wonderful meals consisting of things like cheese omelets with avocado, salmon, crab-stuffed trout, sautéed spinach, steamed broccoli, and Caesar salad. When I visited the beach I ate things like: grilled salmon and shrimp, buffalo burgers with cheese, avocado, and bacon, lovely gourmet cheeses, omelets, creamed spinach, crab, and a low carb peanut butter pie I made while I was there. On my trip to Disney World, I struggled the most to find Keto friendly foods. I did a lot of intermittent fasting through the day. We ate sausage without all the toppings in Animal Kingdom. We had the ribs twice in  Animal Kingdom. I would eat cheese back in the hotel. I also brought almonds and Keto bars as well. I had fish and steamed broccoli at the Skipper Canteen restaurant in Magic Kingdom. I bought Babybel cheese and boiled eggs at the Contemporary Hotel. We also had a lovely charcuterie tray at the airport.  I didn’t go off the diet even though it was pretty hard to find Keto friendly meals in Orlando.

I hope that this post gives those on a Keto diet encouragement that even on vacation, you can still stick to the plan. I guarantee that you’ll be glad you did!

Road Trip Snacks {keto/low carb}

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17C4D61A-6C9A-46E9-956F-F9D2EC7E1313On our drive to Hilton Head, I pack snacks for every person. The kids get things like Chex Mix, Fruit by the Foot, chips, Zone bars, peanut butter or cheese crackers, and basically things that are full of carbs. I don’t eat any of those things so I need to figure out what I might want to munch on for the trip. This time around, I packed jars of sugar free pickles, Keto Bars, almonds, and cheese bars. Keto and low carb snacks are much easier to find now, but consideration for how they travel and how your body responds to them must be given. If you’re on a low carb or Keto diet it is still possible to stay in ketosis while on vacation, but it does take a little more planning.1A7AFCE9-E60F-49E4-A949-CFEB3F8324BF.jpeg

Kitchen Essential {Air Fryer}

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Many kitchen appliances are a waste of money. An air fryer is not. We bought one for Christmas, and I use it every day! I use it to “fry” French fries or heat up leftovers. I make avocado fries with it at least three times a week. I have made the best keto fried chicken of my life! Almost daily, I take a low carb tortilla and spray it with olive oil, sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top and put it in the air fryer for about 3 minutes. It makes a beautiful tortilla bowl. I break it apart and use it as chips to eat my guacamole or cheese.

The air fryer is easy to clean too. All that it takes is letting it cool, using hot water and Dawn, wipe out, rinse, and you are done. We have the Phillips XL. I can’t imagine that anything smaller would be good enough for a family. It’s not huge, but it does take up about as much space as a Kitchen Aid mixer.

 

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Photo Credit: Phillips

 

 

I hope to share a few recipes soon! If this is a purchase you’ve been considering I say go for it!

Breadstick Recipe {Keto}

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The other day, I was recollecting my diet in college. I can’t believe I survived eating the way I did. I was a vegetarian and most certainly the unhealthiest vegetarian ever. I would go to Burger King and order a Whopper with no meat. I ate monster size fat free muffins from the coffee shop on campus. Looking back, my diet was  full of empty calories, huge amounts of carbohydrates, and completely lacking nutrients. Even with all the negative aspects of that college diet there were foods I thoroughly enjoyed and still look back at fondly. One of those was the breadsticks from Pizza Hut. I decided that I would like to re-create something that was similar and keto. I’ve made these twice and tweaked the recipe to make them better. Here’s how I did it.

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This is a picture of my first attempt. My camera is not currently working for me to take a picture of the new recipe.

Loved In The South’s Keto Spicy Breadsticks

Recipe:

2 T. Melted butter
4 cups of melted cheese
1 1/2 cup mayo
2 beaten eggs
2 T. Jalapeños
2 T. Hot seasoning
2 to 3 cups of almond flour ( slowly add until it’s like a dough and not a batter)
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Melt the butter in a bowl. Add mayo, beaten egg, almond flour, baking powder, salt, and seasoning. Stir. Add melted cheese.  Incorporate with a bread hook in a mixing bowl or knead on an almond floured surface until well incorporated. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Press out until long and flat. Bake until lightly brown. Cut with a pizza cutter. Enjoy as breadsticks or a base for a pizza. The possibilities are endless.

 

 

{Low Carb} Cupcake Recipe

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9F47D194-BA90-42EB-AD21-D17F14C6A8ED25AFD926-2D26-4845-880B-4E092F03ECDBThese little treats were pretty easy to throw together. It took me as long to make the batter as it took my oven to preheat.  I put some jam the middle of a couple of them just to make them more appealing to the children. One of the girls made herself a strawberry shortcake as a snack with the cupcake/muffin.  These are very versatile. They could be frosted, filled with a variety of things, used as any kind of shortcake, or the base of almost any kind of muffin you might want.

Low Carb Cupcake/ Muffin Recipe

2 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil (melted)

2 1/2 cup  blanched almond flour

3/4 cup Torani sugar-free brown sugar cinnamon syrup

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tablespoon cake batter extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add melted oil and syrup. Stir. Add dry ingredients. Finally, add the extract. Put into lined muffin tin. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and baked through.

 

Double Chocolate Cake {Keto}

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I’m trying to experiment with new recipes at least a few days a week.  I also have a new obsession with avocados. I used to think they were so gross, but now they are among my favorite foods. Now I eat one almost every day.   Avocados are super nutritious and are one of the approved fruits for the keto diet.

 

Anyway, I was trying to make an avocado chocolate pudding the other day. After letting it refrigerate for a couple of hours I tasted it. It was not flavorful. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I decided that I didn’t want to waste it, and would see if I could make a cake with it as part of the batter to add moistness. The cake I made turned out to be delicious, and I am so glad that I didn’t waste that avocado.

Keto Double Chocolate Cake

1 avocado (mashed)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup Stevia (or sweetener of your choice)

1 egg

1 cup of Torani Sugar-free syrup (I used Belgian Cookie)

1/4 cup of softened butter

2 cups of almond flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. meringue powder

1/2 cup of Lilly’s sugar-free chocolate chips

Directions:

Mash the avocado. Add wet ingredients together. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients a little bit at a time.  Lastly, gently add the chocolate chips in and stir until combined.

Pour into a greased baking dish or cake pan. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick put in the middle comes out clean.

Let completely cool before trying to cut it.

This would be a lovely cake for a special occasion like VALENTINE’S DAY!

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