Tag: low carb

Gluten free & keto chocolate cupcakes

Gluten Free & Keto Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Think an intensely chocolatey and moist cupcake, topped off with a ridiculous chocolate buttercream frosting.


Ingredients

    For the chocolate cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal or psyllium husk, finely ground
  • 1 tablespoon coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/4 cup unsalted grass-fed butter
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup xylitol or erythritol
  • 2 eggs
    • For the chocolate buttercream frosting
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted grass-fed butter at room temperature
  • 5 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2-4 tablespoons powdered swerve
  • 1-3 tablespoons cocoa powder to taste (I used 1 tablespoon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
  • pinch of kosher salt as needed

Directions

    For the Chocolate cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan, set aside.
  2. Add almond flour. flaxseed meal, coconut flour, baking powder and xanthan gum to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, set aside.
  3. Add butter, heavy cream, cocoa powder and salt to a large heatproof bowl. Melt over a water bath whisking constantly (or use the microwave in small bursts.) Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
  4. Add in the sweetener and one egg at a time, whisking well after each one until completely incorporated. The texture should appear smooth and thick, with all the sweetener disolving into the mixture (if using erythritol, granules will remain). Add the flour mixture, whisking vigorously until fully blended (about a minute). Divide the batter into prepared muffin pan.
  5. Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Always keep in mind, however, that your cupcakes will continue to cook while cooling.
  6. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes in the muffin pan. They’ll be particularly fragile right out of the oven, so you need to let them set. Keep stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
    7. For the chocolate buttercream frosting.
  7. Add the butter, cream cheese and sweetener to a large bowl. Cream the mixture with your mixer using paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. You’ll want to scrape the bowl every so often to ensure an even mixture. Add cocoa powder to taste, espresso powder and salt and continue to beat until fully incorporated.
  8. Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a tip and decorate each cupcake.
    9. 3 The cupcakes keep well, stored in an airtight container in the fridge, for about 3 days. And they also freeze beautifully just thaw it out in the fridge overnight.
Recipe Courtesy of Gnom-gnom.com

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cream cheese chicken burrito

Cream Cheese Chicken Burrito

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Absolutely delicious and I will make again over and over again


Ingredients

  • 4 cups picked shredded chicken
  • 1/4 c medium picante sauce
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 4 oz grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 oz more cheddar cheese
  • 4 tablespoons more Medium picante sauce
  • shredded lettuce
  • 4 tablespoons sour cream

Directions

  1. Either pick a whole poached chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken and pick that.
  2. Beat cream cheese and add picante sauce and spices.
  3. Add grated cheese and cream cheese mixture to the shredded chicken and mix thoroughly.
  4. Divide into 4 portions (I made 6 portions out of mine).
  5. Shape them like a burrito and put on a cookie sheet. Top with remaining cheese and bake for about 10 minutes til cheese melts. (or you can just microwave).
  6. Top with another Tablespoon of picante , lettuce and a dollop of sour cream.
Recipe Courtesy of Low-Carb-Scams.com

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Gluten free, paleo and keto flourless chocolate cake

Gluten Free, Paleo and Keto Flourless Chocolate Cake

  • Servings: 10 slices
  • Difficulty: easy
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Just 5 ingredients, ridiculously easy, extra fudgy and intensely chocolatey!


Ingredients

  • 6 ounces sugar free chocolate chips or 70-90% dark chocolate
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted grass-fed butter
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs whites and yolks divided, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons water (add only if using sugar-free erythritol based chocolate)
  • 1/2 -2/3 cup swerve or coconut sugar if paleo

Directions

  1. Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 350F. Grease and line with parchment paper an 8″ cake pan. Set aside.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter over a water bath, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt. if you’re using sugar-free chocolate with erytritol (such as Lily’s) the mixture will turn very thick – worry not! Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and allow the mixture to cool slightly while you prepare the rest.
  3. Add egg whites to a medium bowl and whisk util soft peaks forms. Be sure not to over do it, as stiff whites will be tougher to fold in. Set aside.
  4. Add egg yolks and sweetener to a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add in the prepared chocolate mixture in thirds, mixing fully before incorporating the next part. If using sugar-free chocolate add in a couple tablespoons water to loosen up the batter.
  5. Fold the egg whites gently in four parts, be very gentle as the batter will loosen up as you go.
  6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 23-26 minutes for fudgiest results and 27-30 minutes for cakey edges. Or until the center is just set and a toothpick inserted in comes out moist (not drenched). This really does vary from oven to oven, so give it a check from minute 15 and remember that you’re cake will continue to cook as it cools.
  7. Allow to cool completely, and to get extra clean edges place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to cutting. Dust with cocoa powder right before serving and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.
Recipe Courtesy of Gnom-gnom.com

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practice mindful eating techniques

When was the last time that you ate dinner at your dinner table without distractions? One of the things we do today more than at any other time in history is to “eat on the go” and we always have the TV on in the background.

With all the activities that our children and grand children are in, we tend to Eat on the Go, and if we are at home to eat – we eat with the TV on.

Let’s start sitting at the table for 20-30 minutes, enjoy every bite of our meal, turn off our cell phones and our TVs and concentrate on the flavors and textures of our food, the smell of the dish, etc. When you concentrate on eating your food and enjoying it, you actually take in fewer calories and fill up faster.

The reason for this is because you are eating slower and it takes your brain 20 minutes to register that your stomach is full.

Learning mindfulness techniques, like mediation and cognitive therapy, had a 97 percent impact on the weight loss of obese individuals in one study.

One of the best examples I know of not being able to slow down is – my son’s dog. Abby doesn’t know how to slow down eating so it doesn’t matter how much food is in her bowl she scarfs it down in under a minute. She kept gaining weight and the vet suggested that she only have 1/2 cup of food in the morning and in the evening. Abby doesn’t know that she isn’t getting as much food (calories) as she was before because she still scarfs it down in under a minute. You can put food in her bowl and it is gone in the next 30 seconds. LOL.

We don’t want to eat like a dog and let someone else control how much we eat because we can’t slow down.

An old practice from years ago was to take a bite and set your fork down between bites to allow you to savor your food. I’m not sure you have to go to that length, but we do need to turn off our TV’s and phones and have no distractions while we are eating so we can enjoy our food.

I challenge you to take a week and turn off all electronics during your meal time. You may realize that food tastes totally different. I’d like to say that “eating on the go” has to go too, but I know that isn’t always possible with all the activities that we participate in. So at least when you can sit down at the dinner table – actually sit at the table and turn off the TV.

Have a great week and talk to you next week.

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keto pork fried cauliflower “rice”

Keto Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower “riced” in a food processor
  • 1 pork tenderloin chopped into small pieces (about 1/4″)
  • 1 large leek (finely diced)
  • 3 gloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 carrot (shredded)
  • 1 celery (diced)
  • 1 cup broccoli florets (chopped)
  • 3 scallions (chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
  • pink salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons low salt soy sauce
  • ground ginger to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 egg (beaten)

Directions

  1. Rice the cauliflower in a food processor, then steam it for a few minutes (you can use a rice steamer, but a pot works just as well.
  2. Saute the meat and veggies (minus the scallions) in tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil with pink salt and pepper in a large skillet until meat is browned and veggies are tender.
  3. Fold in the riced cauliflower and add the soy sauce, ginger and fish sauce.
  4. Add the beaten egg and stir fry until fully cooked.
  5. Season with additional pink salt and pepper to your taste.
  6. Sprinkle with chopped scallions.

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Will low carb or keto work for you?

Losing weight is all about coming up with a Lifestyle that will work for you. If you don’t like to cook or don’t have time to cook, then a lot of meal prep won’t work for you.

Thinking about what you can realistically do and live with long term is the lifestyle you should select. If you are a sweets person like myself then learning how to make fat bombs and keto style deserts has been a lifesaver for me.

Seeing what you want to look like in your head – or go find a picture of you at your best weight – before you even start is the first key to making this a lifestyle instead of a diet. Just having a number – whether it is a short term number or a long term number – allows you to visualize ahead. Diet as we have said before means temporary and only lasts for a short time. We want a lifestyle that will give us the direct results we are looking for without seeming impossible.

Maybe you eat ok and you just need to add some activity to your lifestyle. Maybe you eat too much and you are eating the right foods and you just need to cut out some food. Most of us need some structure though.

That is one reason why I chose a low carb and keto lifestyle. The food is good and healthy and it is very tasty and it is considered whole foods instead of processed foods. Eggs and bacon, meat and cheese and salads are the basics of my lifestyle. If I start to crave some fruit, then I eat a little bit of fruit. I just stay away from high carb foods.

And like I said above, I’m a sweets person so I am always experimenting with keto sweets – low carb and sugar free. They satisfy my need for desert and I can easily share and most people don’t know the difference.

If you’re not sure if low carb/keto is the way to go, get back in touch with us and I will send you a 5 day meal plan to start you on your way to pursuing this lifestyle.

Or if you want to just experiment with some of our recipes go to our main menu and search recipes. We have a ton of them posted and for the most part, I have made almost all of them.

Have an awesome week and see you next week.

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