Tag: ketogenic

keto twix bars

Keto Twix Bars

  • Servings: 16 servings
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Tender shortbread crust topped with sugar free caramel and milk chocolate.


Ingredients

    Crust
  • 1-1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4-1/2 tablespoons butter melted
    • Caramel Filing
  • 1/2 cup Swerve Brown sugar
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup xylitol
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • Topping
  • 4 ounce sugar free milk chocolate chopped

Directions

    Crust
  1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a 9×9″ pan with parchment paper, allowing some overhand for easy removal.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the dough begins to clump together.
  3. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
    4. Caramel Filling
  4. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the Swerve, butter, and xylitol. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until bubbling and the sweeteners have dissolved.
  5. Remove from heat and add the cream and vanilla. The mixture will bubble vigorously. Sprinkle the surface with the xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine. Whisk in the salt.
  6. Bring the mixture back to a boil, and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbling thickly.
  7. Remove from heat and let caramel cool about 10 minutes, until thickened but still pourable. Pour over the cooled crust, making sure to spread to the edges.
  8. Place the pan in the freezer 1 to 2 hours to set the caramel.
    9. Topping
  9. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Add the milk chocolate and stir until melted.
  10. Pour the chocolate over the caramel and spread to edges with a knife or offset spatula.
  11. Refrigerate 30 minutes to set the chocolate before cutting into bars. You can cut long thin “Twix” bars or squares, your choice!

Recipe Courtesy of AlldayIdreamaboutfood.com

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Low Carb Keto Lifestyle Success

On Saturday, we had our Low Carb Keto Lifestyle event in Pooler, GA. It was awesome. We had some fantastic speakers. Peter Brodhead from Brighter Day Health Foods, Dr Tassie Hargrove, Naturopathic Doctor from Savannah, Nicholas Couch who is an Independent Pruver with the company Pruvit and Kerri Dodson who is a Holistic Health Coach.

We also had discussions on whole foods, microbiome, healthy living, exogenous ketones and incorporating exercise into a healthy lifestyle. Lunch was enjoyed by all. Raffle prizes were given out and everyone had a great time.

Our speakers enjoyed themselves as well. Maybe next time they can come and stay the whole time to hear each other’s talks. We will be doing this again in the future. I had a blast organizing it and getting things lined up.

As we move forward over the next couple of weeks we will be highlighting some of the things that our guest speakers talked about. So stay tuned to next week and hear some of the things that Peter had to say.

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Traveling???? And Eating KETO?

For the last week and a half I’ve been in PA for a family medical issue.  My dad was taken to the hospital and had to have surgery.  I am actually very excited he will be home this week and I’m excited because I was pretty good with my healthy Keto Lifestyle.  I must admit I did cheat a couple of times, but for the most part I ate pretty good.  Normally I am a stress eater and nothing more stressful than having one of your parents in the hospital.

Kudos to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA though for taking all sugar and most salt out of the options for their food choices in the cafeteria.  The food was amazingly good for hospital food and their salad bar was great.  I did a lot of salads.  I also had come prepared with some keto snacks – like nuts and jerky and  Zen Evo Pretzel and Sea Salt Protein Cups.  These are awesome. 

I just wanted to give you 4 tips to eating out and while traveling.

One.  Don’t count calories.  If you are traveling and it is a stressful situation, stop worrying about calories and macronutrients.  If you are just going out to dinner locally and no stress is involved, then just have an idea of what you are going to eat before you go.  Check out the restaurants menu online and decide what you want before you go.

Two.  Get rid of the grains, starches and fruits.  So you really don’t need all of those items with all that natural sugar.  A few berries once in a while won’t hurt, but most of the fruits you get in a restaurant have extra sugar added to them.  Grains and starches aren’t necessary either.  I had a burger while I was gone and just asked for it without the bread.  I had bacon and cheese added to it and they even offered to put it between two lettuce leaves for me.  Starchy veggies really aren’t good either especially potatoes and corn.

Three.  Fats, Protein and Fiber.  Healthy fats is what makes a Keto Lifestyle – Super food of Avocado is number one on the menu.  Have 4-6 oz of protein and find some healthy veggies full of extra fiber to fill you up.  Collard greens, kale, spinach, artichoke just to name a few.  If you remember Ketogenic is 70% fat, 25% protein and 5% carbs.

Four.  Be creative.  Ask for no bread to be brought to the table.  Ask for your sandwich without the bun.  Ask for extra butter on top of your steak.  Ask them to add a slice or two of avocado to your plate.  There are all kinds of ways to eat Keto at a restaurant. 

So all in all, a Keto lifestyle can even be kept while dealing with stressful family situations.  I do know that it isn’t easy to eat right all the time.  And don’t punish yourself if you aren’t as strict as you normally are.  I can say that when I go off meal plan though, my body definitely tells me that I ate wrong. 

Have a fabulous day and I hope you got a lot out of this.  Please share with your friends and family.  And we’d love to have your comments on what you do when you travel under stress.

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Do you have Celiac Disease?

I have found that a Low Carb or Ketogenic Lifestyle will help with the battle against Celiac disease.  Celiac is a sensitivity to Gluten. Gluten is found in many foods otherwise considered wholesome.

Eliminating foods that contain gluten – wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut and triticale aren’t always enough. Just because something says that it is wheat-free doesn’t mean that it is gluten free.  Best thing to do is read labels.  Know what a label means – For Example: Hydrolyzed vegetable protein on an ingredient list may be made from wheat, soy, corn or a mix of grains.

Here is a list of Gluten Free Foods:

Beans, legumes, Buckwheat and kasha (check labels), Carob, Cheese – plain (check label if shredded), Coffee and tea (check label if flavored), Corn products including cornstarch, corn flour, cornmeal, corn grits, Cream Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Eggs, Fresh and frozen vegetables and vegetable juices, Fresh fruit and fruit juices, Fresh meats and poultry – plain (check ingredients to make sure not basted or injected with a wheat-containing product), Milk, buttermilk, cream, Millet, quinoa, flax, sorghum and flours derived from them, Nuts and seeds and flours made from them, Rice, including brown rice, basmati, jasmine and Arborio, and rice flour (check labels), Tapioca, Tofu (read label)

All items above that are in bold letters also qualify for a low carb or ketogenic lifestyle.  So in my humble opinion, the best diet for someone with Celiac disease is a ketogenic or low carb diet.   Give it a shot – If you want to know other ideas of foods let us know.  We will be adding recipes to this site as well. 

Have a wonderful and fabulous day and we look forward to brining you many more ideas to help combat health issues that you may have in your life.

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