Yesterday a friend called me and had some questions about the Keto Diet. When I started this blog my intent was to share my own personal experience this past year. I didn't go into detail about what Keto was but instead just recommended that you look it up on the internet. My friend wanted to know if I bought a book to get me started or was there a website I could suggest.
I may have already mentioned that I first heard about Keto from my daughter Tracy and her husband Denis. They had great success on the diet and shared a little bit of their knowledge with me. It was actually my youngest son, Don that said to me he wanted to try it. Because we live together it was just easier for us both to go Keto. 😦 Misery loves company 😦 I did find a great website that supplied me with all the information I was looking for. You can do the same but be aware it's a lot of information and will require a block of time to read it all.
Here's a link to it: https://www.dietdoctor.com/
Another great source of information is on Facebook, there are any number of groups there for beginners. The one I joined is: Keto Recipes for Beginners. You can ask questions there and the members are very good about helping new people. It's also a great source of recipes and sharing products others have tried. Just be forewarned, there are going to be people trying to sell you supplements and trying to get you to join another group that "you must join to be in Ketosis". They sell all sorts of shakes and powders and oils that they claim you need. NOT TRUE!! So don't fall for it. I have not taken any supplements or drinks or shakes and have been very successful staying in Ketosis.
What is extremely necessary is reducing your carb intake as well as your calories. When I started I learned that tracking these numbers is crucial to your success. You'll hear it called tracking your Macros. There are any number of ways to do this but the one I use is called Carbmanager. It's an app I downloaded to my smart phone. It's easy to use and when you first set it up, it will ask you a few questions. Then it will tell you exactly what your Macros should be each day. Next, you'll enter the foods you eat at each meal plus snacks. You will always know how many carbs you are eating and how many you have left for the day.
When I started, my daily allowance was 20 Carbs. What I like about Carbmanager is, I can plan my whole day so I know if I have to adjust anything to keep my Macros on track. As an example, today I know I'm making chicken soup for dinner. It's homemade, so I can enter all the ingredients into my app under the recipe section. Since it's dinner, I'm sure I will eat 2 servings (nice size bowl). The carbs will be 11. That means I have 9 left for the rest of the day. I've already had two cups of coffee with cream, so that's 2 more carbs leaving only 7 for lunch. A nice salad made with lettuce, tomato, cukes, onion, carrot, cheese, ham and blue cheese dressing comes to 5 carbs. I have 2 carbs left for snacks. No one is going to beat you up if you go over your Macros but at least you know where you should be. It's really an eye opener when you start tracking daily and you think about what you used to eat. I love girl scout cookies and my favorite is Samoas, just 2 cookies has 17 carbs and 142 calories. I never ate just 2 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪. As I said, "It's a real eye opener". Sorry Girl Scouts of America, I can't buy your cookies anymore 😢😢 I will, however make a Keto version of cookies that I can still enjoy. Nothing tastes better then being thin. Think about that!
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Saturday, February 15, 2020
I don't eat breakfast, well almost never
This morning is really cold here in New Jersey. At 7:00 AM it was 10º. But the sun is shining so it's not all bad. As usual I was sitting at my computer reading emails and then catching up on Face Book. Twice, while scrolling, up pops these mouth watering pictures of pancakes. That's all my brain needed to start a craving for something besides a cup of coffee. I thought about cheating and running out to the kitchen to whip up a batch of pancakes. I'm not talking about those Keto wannabes, I'm talking real made from scratch wheat flour pancakes. The little Devil on my left shoulder was saying "Do it", while the little Angel on my right shoulder was saying "don't blow it"! I stood up and started heading for the kitchen when I saw the 3 ring binder with all my Keto recipes. I remembered that I had printed a recipe for "Chaffles" that I hadn't tried yet. I quickly pulled out my waffle maker from the cabinet and plugged it in. Then I assembled all the ingredients I needed. I'm happy to say the end result was very satisfying and surprisingly delicious. I don't have a picture to show you because I ate the whole thing. But, here's a link to the Pinterest post where you can get the recipe. https://www.buttertogetherkitchen.com/white-bread-keto-chaffle/
I entered the recipe in my carb manager app and with the added butter and SF Syrup I added, the carb count was only 5 for the entire recipe.
I will definitely make this again and might even try using the "Chaffles" as sandwich bread or a hamburger bun. The Devil is in the corner sulking and the Angel is smiling sweetly. I'm happy and that's all that counts. Have a great day and if your little Devil tries to lead you astray give him a swift kick in the pants. 👼
Friday, February 14, 2020
Being single on Valentines Day
I don't really think about being single. I saw a coffee mug once that said "I'm a wife whose husband is in heaven". At this stage of my life dating is not on my bucket list. Oh, I did try it for a short time but it didn't float my boat. In my circle of close friends the Widows out number the married ones. It's just a fact of life the older you get, women seem to last longer. I am so grateful that I have so many wonderful women in my life. I'm also very fortunate to have my son sharing my home with me. Tonight I'll make a nice dinner for us and as a treat for Valentine's Day we'll have dessert. Nothing very fancy, just some chocolate mousse with raspberries on top.
It's a very simple recipe that doesn't have a lot of carbs. I bought a package of Sugar Free Instant chocolate pudding mix. I replace the chilled milk with half Almond Milk and half heavy cream. Spoon into some dessert dishes and top with a few fresh raspberries dusted with powdered swerve sweetener. Chill for a few hours to set and enjoy.
Dinner will be one of our favorite go to's. I buy a product called Old Neighborhood Shaved steak. It's available at Stop n Shop and Shop Rite for about $5.00 per package. It makes enough steak for 4 cheese steak "sandwiches". The first thing I do is saute a yellow onion in a little olive oil until caramelized. Then I push the fried onion aside and fry the steak breaking it up as it browns. Then I add a few slices of American Cheese on top until it melts. It gets served on Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas that I warm. Sometimes I add saute'd mushrooms as well.
What ever you are doing on Valentine's Day, add a little extra love for the people that are close to your heart.....life is too short for anything less. 💕💏💋😘
It's a very simple recipe that doesn't have a lot of carbs. I bought a package of Sugar Free Instant chocolate pudding mix. I replace the chilled milk with half Almond Milk and half heavy cream. Spoon into some dessert dishes and top with a few fresh raspberries dusted with powdered swerve sweetener. Chill for a few hours to set and enjoy.
Dinner will be one of our favorite go to's. I buy a product called Old Neighborhood Shaved steak. It's available at Stop n Shop and Shop Rite for about $5.00 per package. It makes enough steak for 4 cheese steak "sandwiches". The first thing I do is saute a yellow onion in a little olive oil until caramelized. Then I push the fried onion aside and fry the steak breaking it up as it browns. Then I add a few slices of American Cheese on top until it melts. It gets served on Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas that I warm. Sometimes I add saute'd mushrooms as well.
What ever you are doing on Valentine's Day, add a little extra love for the people that are close to your heart.....life is too short for anything less. 💕💏💋😘
Monday, February 10, 2020
Sharing another recipe I loved
Good morning. It's another dreary day with lots of clouds. Wouldn't it be nice to take a trip to Italy, Tuscany to be exact? I love to look at pictures like this one and dream of being there:
Table for two please!
Keep dreaming, I'm never going to Italy. But, I can share with you a great recipe called Tuscan Butter Mushrooms. It makes a fantastic side dish with a good steak or some fresh seafood. I hope you try it, we loved it.
I would love to hear some comments, do you like my blog? Do you have some questions about Keto or the recipes I post? Is there something I can talk about that you want to know, just ask. I would love to share with you my experience with Keto/low carb.💖
Keep dreaming, I'm never going to Italy. But, I can share with you a great recipe called Tuscan Butter Mushrooms. It makes a fantastic side dish with a good steak or some fresh seafood. I hope you try it, we loved it.
I would love to hear some comments, do you like my blog? Do you have some questions about Keto or the recipes I post? Is there something I can talk about that you want to know, just ask. I would love to share with you my experience with Keto/low carb.💖
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Would you like a few of my favorite dessert recipes?
I love dessert. If I had a choice between dessert and a meal it would be hands down, dessert. I have had success making some Keto dessert recipes and I've had some epic failures too. I've very often been led astray by someones Pinterest post claiming "the best" brownies, cakes, cookies etc. Don't fall for those false claims. There are no substitutes for the real thing when it comes to certain desserts. Not all is lost, as I said I've had some really good desserts. Here are a few I make a lot:
Strawberry Cheesecake in a jar
6 half pint canning jars
12 oz. fresh strawberries sliced
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Swerve granular (or sweetener of your choice)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (Whipped)
Set aside 6 strawberry halves for garnish. Chop remaining strawberries. Beat together cream cheese, lemon juice and sugar substitute in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Fold in whipped cream and chopped strawberries. Divide evenly between jars (about 1/2 cup each). Top with strawberry halves. If you don't have canning jars you can use any dessert dish. I use ramekins that work great. Cover each dish and chill for 2 hours.
My Carb Manager app calculates the carbs at 6 grams net per serving, Fat is 20 grams, and calories 222.
Impossible Coconut Custard Pie
4 large eggs
4 Tbsp. Melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 Tbsp. coconut flour
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup water
1/8 cup Jordan's Skinny Syrup (any flavor)
2 Tbsp. either Monk fruit or Swerve granular
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
To sprinkle on top - 1/4 cup coconut flakes and ground cinnamon (just a little for color)
Preheat oven to 325º. Spray a 9 or 10 inch pie pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Start with melted butter and eggs by adding to your blender and mix a little. Don't make the butter too hot or you'll end up with scrambled eggs. Now just add all the other ingredients and blend again until smooth. Pour into prepared pie pan. Sprinkle with remaining coconut and cinnamon. Place pie pan in a larger baking dish and add hot water until about half way up the sides of the pie pan. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. The center should jiggle just slightly but a knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Do not over bake, the top should be light golden brown. Cool completely on a rack then cover and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or over night.
Carb manager says 8 servings 1 serving has 3 net carbs.
Strawberry Cheesecake in a jar
6 half pint canning jars
12 oz. fresh strawberries sliced
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Swerve granular (or sweetener of your choice)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (Whipped)
Set aside 6 strawberry halves for garnish. Chop remaining strawberries. Beat together cream cheese, lemon juice and sugar substitute in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Fold in whipped cream and chopped strawberries. Divide evenly between jars (about 1/2 cup each). Top with strawberry halves. If you don't have canning jars you can use any dessert dish. I use ramekins that work great. Cover each dish and chill for 2 hours.
My Carb Manager app calculates the carbs at 6 grams net per serving, Fat is 20 grams, and calories 222.
Impossible Coconut Custard Pie
4 large eggs
4 Tbsp. Melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 Tbsp. coconut flour
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup water
1/8 cup Jordan's Skinny Syrup (any flavor)
2 Tbsp. either Monk fruit or Swerve granular
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
To sprinkle on top - 1/4 cup coconut flakes and ground cinnamon (just a little for color)
Preheat oven to 325º. Spray a 9 or 10 inch pie pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Start with melted butter and eggs by adding to your blender and mix a little. Don't make the butter too hot or you'll end up with scrambled eggs. Now just add all the other ingredients and blend again until smooth. Pour into prepared pie pan. Sprinkle with remaining coconut and cinnamon. Place pie pan in a larger baking dish and add hot water until about half way up the sides of the pie pan. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. The center should jiggle just slightly but a knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Do not over bake, the top should be light golden brown. Cool completely on a rack then cover and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or over night.
Carb manager says 8 servings 1 serving has 3 net carbs.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
It's a Chicken Soup day
It's a rainy dismal day here in the Pine lands of New Jersey. I have what's left of a roasted chicken in my instant pot. Later when I come home from my ladies club meeting, I will add to the broth some vegetables. I don't add pasta or rice to my soups like I used to. Now I usually add riced cauliflower instead. Tonight dinner will be a nice hardy bowl of soup. Sunday I attended a Super Bowl party and indulged in some carb overload, I'm trying to get back on track.
I don't deprive myself of foods that I love occasionally. Back when I first started Keto, I was much stricter and I was constantly saying "I can't eat that". I soon realized that a few slip ups here and there wasn't sabotaging me that much. As long as it's only rarely and you get back on Keto the next day. It may have slowed me down but I was happier having that piece of cake instead of sugar free gelatin. My problem is, I like to cook and I like to eat.
I think success on any diet is knowing how to balance what works for you. I try to find alternative ways of cooking things I love that are lower in carbs then the original recipe. One of the things I make is my spaghetti sauce. Instead of pasta we like spaghetti squash with a meat sauce. It satisfies my craving for spaghetti and is delicious.
I have to cut this short today or I'll be late for my meeting. Take care and stay dry and I'll see you next time. 🥰
I don't deprive myself of foods that I love occasionally. Back when I first started Keto, I was much stricter and I was constantly saying "I can't eat that". I soon realized that a few slip ups here and there wasn't sabotaging me that much. As long as it's only rarely and you get back on Keto the next day. It may have slowed me down but I was happier having that piece of cake instead of sugar free gelatin. My problem is, I like to cook and I like to eat.
I think success on any diet is knowing how to balance what works for you. I try to find alternative ways of cooking things I love that are lower in carbs then the original recipe. One of the things I make is my spaghetti sauce. Instead of pasta we like spaghetti squash with a meat sauce. It satisfies my craving for spaghetti and is delicious.
I have to cut this short today or I'll be late for my meeting. Take care and stay dry and I'll see you next time. 🥰
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Tomorrow is ground Hog Day
I'm really hoping for an early spring. I'm a summer person, a beach person and a pool person. It's that time of year when people like me start thinking about getting into our bathing suits again, Ugh! Memorial Day is four months away, if you start Keto now you could be happy in that swim suit. 🩱
In my last blog, I said I would talk about some of the products my son and I like to use. As I said before, we are not strict Keto. We do eat some carbs but try to find products that are not so bad. I think one of the hardest things about giving up carbs is not having bread to make sandwiches. Don and I like to use a low carb bread named Schmidt Old Tyme 647. It's available in White, Wheat or Italian. One slice has 6 net carbs. I often have one slice to eat as an open faced sandwich. I have also used it to make bread crumbs for stuffing at Thanksgiving. We also use another product called Mission Carb Balance flour tortillas. One has 4 Net Carbs. We use these for wraps, burritos and I cut one in half and roll a hot dog in it. We also like to use one for a steak sandwich with fried onions and cheese. I've also cut one into triangles and air fried them to use as chips for dipping. Another use is for a personnel pizza, just bake it before adding your toppings so it's crispy. Both of these products are available at Walmart, Stop n Shop and Shop Rite. The other picture is the Jordan's Skinny Syrup that I use in my coffee. The other day I was in a store called Tuesday Morning and they had several bottles of assorted flavors for about half the price on Amazon. I paid $3.99 each. Amazon's price is $19.99 for 3. That's all for today, I hope I've given you some useful information. Look for the ground Hog tomorrow and think Spring!
In my last blog, I said I would talk about some of the products my son and I like to use. As I said before, we are not strict Keto. We do eat some carbs but try to find products that are not so bad. I think one of the hardest things about giving up carbs is not having bread to make sandwiches. Don and I like to use a low carb bread named Schmidt Old Tyme 647. It's available in White, Wheat or Italian. One slice has 6 net carbs. I often have one slice to eat as an open faced sandwich. I have also used it to make bread crumbs for stuffing at Thanksgiving. We also use another product called Mission Carb Balance flour tortillas. One has 4 Net Carbs. We use these for wraps, burritos and I cut one in half and roll a hot dog in it. We also like to use one for a steak sandwich with fried onions and cheese. I've also cut one into triangles and air fried them to use as chips for dipping. Another use is for a personnel pizza, just bake it before adding your toppings so it's crispy. Both of these products are available at Walmart, Stop n Shop and Shop Rite. The other picture is the Jordan's Skinny Syrup that I use in my coffee. The other day I was in a store called Tuesday Morning and they had several bottles of assorted flavors for about half the price on Amazon. I paid $3.99 each. Amazon's price is $19.99 for 3. That's all for today, I hope I've given you some useful information. Look for the ground Hog tomorrow and think Spring!
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