Vanilla Coffee Breakfast Shake

Breakfast can be boring on a keto diet, and sometimes you just need something easy to make up and have on the go.  This breakfast shake isn't super filling, but it is easy and tasty.  You can even make it up the night before and store it in a mason jar for breakfast the next day.  I have it along with a couple of Morningstar Farms soysage patties and that usually gets me through until lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 cup Cabot plain Greek yogurt (the full fat stuff)
• 1 tbsp Splenda
• 1-2 tbsp cold brewed coffee concentrate (I like Larry's Beans, it's local)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract without corn syrup

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into a blender.
2. Blend on high.
3. Pour and drink immediately or save in a Mason jar for the next day.

Macros:

(Amount are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Makes one serving

Carbs:    7 g

Fat:        13 g

Protein:  8 g

Grilled portobello mushroom caps with balsamic vinaigrette

Last weekend my amazing coworkers got me a grill for a housewarming gift.  So, this weekend I decided to use it for some low carb goodness!  The grill I used is a gas grill, which made the whole process super fast and easy.  I've always used charcoal, but usually with someone else in charge of the grill and the scary fire and the messy clean up.  This time it was all me and it went really well!  

Ingredients:

• 5 portobello mushroom caps, brushed clean
• Balsamic vinaigrette:
• 9 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Mix up marinade with a fork or a whisk until well-combined.
2. Pour marinade over mushroom caps in a pan or bowl, gill side up.  Use a silicone brush if necessary to spread evenly over mushroom caps.  Let soak for 30 minutes or so.
3. Pre-heat grill to medium-high.
4. Place mushrooms on grill, gill side up, for 5-6 minutes, then flip.  Cook on the other side until mushrooms are soft in the middle.

For the last couple of minutes I put a piece of swiss cheese on top of each mushroom cap to allow it to melt.  

Serve with a salad of lettuce, veggies, and bleu cheese dressing.  The salad pictured is romaine, cucumbers, green bell peppers, bleu cheese crumbles, and Ken's bleu cheese dressing.  The drink is a rum and Coke zero :)

Macros:

(Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Makes 5 servings, one serving per mushroom cap

Total carbs: 15g Carbs per serving: 3g

Total fat: 125g Fat per serving: 25g

Total protein: 5g Protein per serving: 1g

Pimento Cheese

I haven't posted on here in forever because I've been finding and buying a house!  So now I've got it, and last weekend I had my housewarming party.  I made pimento cheese for the first time and it turned out amazing.  I made a whole bunch of it, so this recipe might be more than you need if you're only having a small dinner party or picnic or something (I was feeding 15 or so people).  Feel free to split it in half, or make the whole thing and just eat it for a while.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds sharp cheddar cheese, grated 
• The amount of cheese you use depends on how you want the consistency.  More cheese for thicker/chunkier pimento cheese, less if you want it to be more spreadable.
• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 8 oz diced pimentos, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

This recipe went really easily using my food processor.  It can be done by hand without too much trouble, it just takes a little longer.

1. Grate your cheddar cheese, set aside.
2. Mix together softened cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper.  Blend well.  (I mixed these in my food processor using the paddle instead of the blade.)
3. Mix in pimentos.
4. Mix in cheese, adding it and tasting it until it is the flavor and consistency that you want.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving, overnight is best.  Serve with raw veggies like carrots, celery, cucumber, bell peppers, etc.

Macros:

Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients
(Amounts vary depending on the amount of cheese, I put in an average)
Makes approximately 20 servings

Total carbs: 41g Carbs per serving: 2g

Total fat: 535g Fat per serving: 27g
Total protein: 170g Protein per serving: 8.5g

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

This is an easy veggie side dish to throw together with minimal prep work required.  Of course, fresh Brussels sprouts are the best, but honestly this recipe works really well with frozen sprouts, too.  You can also throw in whatever root vegetables you have on hand: turnips, sweet potatoes, beets, even radishes or kohlrabi.  Add in whatever seasonings you like.  I usually use crushed red pepper, sometimes curry powder if I'm feeling adventurous.

This is my latest version: Brussels sprouts with sweet potatoes, baby turnips, baby beets, and radishes.

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb of Brussels sprouts (if frozen use the whole sprouts as they tend to be smaller, if fresh cut them in half)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put olive oil and garlic in an uncovered baking dish.  Put the dish in a cold oven, then preheat oven to 400 degrees.  This infuses the olive oil with the garlic and gets the garlic nice and browned.
2. When oven is preheated, toss Brussels sprouts into the dish.  Stir to cover in olive oil.  Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and add in the balsamic.  Stir to cover sprouts and bake for another 20 minutes.
4. Optional step: in the last 5 minutes of cooking time, cover with shredded parmesan and cook until melted.  This will add fat and, let's be honest, everything is better covered in cheese!
5. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Macros for Brussels sprouts only, will be different if you add the other veggies:

(Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Makes 6 servings

Total carbs: 32g Carbs per serving: 5.5g

Total fat: 30g Fat per serving: 5g

Total protein: 16g Protein per serving: 3g

Garlicky Cauliflower Steaks

Cauliflower, it turns out, is a low-carb dieter's dream!  It's not only low in carbohydrates but super high in vitamin C, and due to it's mild taste there are a million things you can do with it.  If you have a head of cauliflower and you aren't sure what to do with it, this is a quick and tasty recipe.  I like to use this as my main course, paired with a salad or a side veggie.

Garlicky Cauliflower Steaks

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 - 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• juice from 1/2 large lemon
• fresh or dried parsley
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. Remove the base of the stem and any leaves from a head of cauliflower.  Slice the head down the middle into 1/2 inch "steaks".  The middle pieces will stay together nicely, but the edges will start to break into florets.  The larger florets you can slice the same way.  The smaller pieces you can throw on the pan with the others, or save them for salads or something else.
3. In a bowl combine garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, and salt.
4. Brush the olive oil mixture over both sides of the cauliflower steaks and pieces.
5. Bake at 475 for about 10 minutes or until the edges just start to brown.
6. Flip the steaks and pieces over, sprinkle with Parmesan, and bake for 5 more minutes.
7. Remove from oven, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over the finished steaks.  Enjoy!

Macros:

(Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Makes 4 servings

Total carbs: 24g Carbs per serving: 6g

Total fat: 65g Fat per serving: 16g

Total protein: 21.5g Protein per serving: 5g

Daikon Radish "Latkes"

I share a produce box from Coon Rock Farm (http://coonrockfarm.com/) with a friend of mine.  This week I got a giant daikon radish.  I thought, "What in the world will I do with this thing?!"  So I got online, found some good ideas, and adapted them for my purposes.  That's my favorite way to cook!


I used flax meal in place of bread crumbs to hold the cakes together.  It turns out that flax meal is high in fat and has zero net carbs.  I'm planning on using it to bread and fry all kinds of things!

I also used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.  I like the taste of coconut oil better, for one thing, but there are also a ton of health benefits.  Coconut oil is chock full of medium chain triglycerides which are used quickly for energy by people in ketosis and can help your body burn more fat.  Check out this site for more info: http://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/.

Daikon "Latkes"

Ingredients:

• 1 big-ass daikon radish (or 2 or 3 smaller ones)
• 1/2 vidalia onion, diced
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups flax meal
• salt, pepper, whatever spices you like
• Sriracha chili sauce
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Peel and grate the radish with a box grater.  Sprinkle with salt and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to draw some of the water out of it.
2. Put the radish gratings into a colander, press with a towel to get as much water out as you can.
3. In a bowl stir together the radish, onion, garlic, egg, flax meal, spices, and a generous squirt of Sriracha.
4. Form mixture into patties with your hand, no more than 1/4 inch thick.
5. In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat your coconut oil.  Add the radish patties and cook until browned, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side.
6. Drain on a paper towel, and eat while hot.
   

I mixed up some Sriracha mayo to accompany these "latkes", but I think blue cheese would also taste good.

Macros:

(Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Recipe makes 8 cakes

Total carbs: 25g Carbs per cake: 3g

Total fat: 82.5g Fat per cake: 10g

Total protein: 40.5g Protein per cake: 5g

Lettuce Leaf Tacos

I have become a connoisseur of fake meats while on this diet, and let me tell you that this is one of my favorites:

It’s your basic tofu crumbles with Mexican spices already added in, and they taste fantastic.  So if you’re feeling like a little Mexican for dinner, give this a try as filling for tacos.  Add some coconut oil to the pan to increase the fat content even though the package instructions don’t say to.  Avoid the carbs of corn tortillas by using lettuce leaves for the taco shells.  I like romaine for the crunch but you could use green leaf or bibb lettuce.  Accessorize with your choice of cheese and veggies, sour cream, guacamole, really whatever you want!  This is a fast, healthy, and super tasty dinner and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ingredients:

• Tofurky Chorizo style tofu crumbles
• 1 - 2 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil, or vegetable oil, whatever oil you like)
• 6 large lettuce leaves.  
• Shredded cheese, as much as you like.  I used cheddar.
• Your choice of veggies.  I used heirloom cherry tomatoes and avocado.  Olives and peppers would be yummy too.  

Directions:

1. In a skillet over medium high heat, melt your coconut oil (or heat your olive oil).
2. Add the Tofurky crumbles and stir while cooking for around 5 minutes.  
3. Rinse 6 lettuce leaves and dry with a paper towel.
4. Grate cheese and chop veggies.
5. When the crumbles are done cooking, spread them into the lettuce taco shells.  Then add the shredded cheese over the hot crumbles to get it a little melty.  Then top with your veggies and you’re ready to go!

Macros: 
This is the info for the tofurky, coconut oil, cheese, and lettuce. Add in your own info for whatever veggies you put in your tacos

(Amounts are approximate and may vary with ingredients)

Servings: 6

Total carbs: 10.5g Carbs per serving: 1.75g

Total fat: 99.5g Fat per serving: 16.5g

Total protein: 77.5g Protein per serving: 13g