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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Parmesan Keto Bread Sticks

Looking for a great keto bread recipe? With these Keto Parmesan Breadsticks, it’s no longer a problem. Give this bread recipe a try. They are truly customizable to whatever is for dinner this week. Because they take only 10 minutes to put together and 15 to bake they are easily done on a busy weeknight.

Added benefit. these are good made ahead and heated up as well. We normally batch on Sundays and enjoy all week.

How to Make Keto Bread Sticks w/Parmesan

Preheat your oven to 350F

Mix the flours, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Melt the butter and the cheese on the stove. Stir with a wooden spoon until blended and smooth. Add one egg and blend that in well.

Add the wet to the dry and stir until you get a firm ball

Assembly

Sandwich the dough ball between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out your dough into a rectangle with a rolling pin until about 1/2” thick.

Take the top parchment paper off and place on a flat baking pan.

Sprinkle your herbs on top of the dough.

Slice your dough into 5 one inch wide strips, longwise.

Slice your strips in half again so you have 10 total.

Twist each strip and place on your baking pan.

Scramble the 2nd egg you have set aside. Brush the top of the bread with the egg.

Sprinkle the tops with your parmesan cheese.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

These breadsticks are great paired with our Keto Chili recipe or any meal where you need some more fat. Feel free to experiment with flavors on this one. Change out the cheddar cheese for another kind. Change out the herbs. Lots of flexibility. These parmesan breadsticks can be the perfect keto side dish for multiple meals.

We’d love to know your favorite combination so others can try it as well. Do share!

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Easy Instant Pot Keto Chili

You NEED this keto chili recipe in your arsenal.

Who doesn’t love a warm, cozy bowl of chili? This recipe is great on its own, or as a topping for veggies or on top of an avocado. This recipe is loaded with flavor and ready in less than 30 minutes. Make a double batch and freeze it for another night when you are running late or need something to bring to a pot-luck. Pair it with our breadstick twists.

Feel free to adjust the spices to taste. If you need more flavor, aka fat; add cilantro, sour cream, cheese and avocado to the top. These toppings make any chili complete.

How to Make Instant Pot Keto Chili

While you can make this recipe on the stove or the slow cooker, the instant pot makes the beef even more tender and flavorful in less time. Win/Win in my book.

To save time while you are pulling out all your ingredients, also pull out your instant pot and hit the saute button. It takes 5 minutes or so to warm up, so you might as well get it started.

Once the instant pot says HOT, go ahead and add your ground beef to the pot. Cook it for 5 minutes in the olive oil. Drain off the fat into another bowl in reserve. You want this fat, but you don’t want to boil the beef, so get it outta there. Cook for another 5 minutes until all the pink is gone.

While the beef is cooking, cut up all your veggies and measure out your spices.

Drain the beef again after the 10 minutes is up.

Add the veggies and spices to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. This step is crucial to bringing out all the flavors of the spices.

Add the fat, broth and spaghetti sauce into the Instant Pot.

Turn the pressure on to high and cook the chili for 15 minutes.

After the timer dings you can either let it cool on its own or hit the quick release button, depends on how patient you are!

Add the yummy toppings of your choice to make this keto chili extra special. We love to add cheese, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, red onions, maybe even bacon bits if you have any left over from something else.

If you like your chili thicker then this is, feel free to add a bit of xanthum gum to thicken it up. Start with a small amount, like 1 tsp, you can always add more.

Freezes well

Make a double batch and freeze this recipe. It defrosts in a flash and you can heat it up on the stove or even in the microwave. Just remember to let it cool before you put it in ziplock or other freezer containers. Get all the air out of the bags if you are using those as it will cut down on freezer burn.

We love to make this with our keto breadstick recipe. Check them both out and let us know what you think.

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Chicken Curry Salad – Easy & Tasty!

Chicken curry salad is quick, healthy and delicious lunchtime meal or even a quick snack right out of the refrigerator. The best part is it can be made from left-over chicken from a previous meal.

I often hear from our viewers that figuring out what to eat and then know a tasty way to prepare it are their biggest challenges on the keto diet. Well, I always prefer to cook once and eat multiple meals, and this recipe does that for us. I find much of the stress of preparing meals on keto goes away the more efficient we are in the kitchen.

How to Make Chicken Curry Salad

Rough chop 6 oz of cooked chicken. This is your chance to use up your leftovers, such as beer can chicken!

Mix your mayo and curry powder together well prior to adding to chicken.

Combine mayo/curry mixture with chicken. Ensure all meat is well covered.

Add your walnuts and celery. Mix.

Easy!

You can serve this with romaine as a lettuce wrap or on top of a salad. If you have prepared some keto bread all the better.

What are some other left-overs you use to make yummy meals?

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Chocolate Chip Cookie BHB Smoothie

Chocolate chip cookie BHB smoothie you say? Legal on a keto diet you ask? Absolutely I say! This BHB smoothie is a great way to start your morning or an afternoon energy pick me up. With fewer than half the calories it is also a great alternative to keto coffee.

BHB Smoothie

If you are using exogenous ketone supplements such as our Easy Day Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie BHB why not take it a step further and make something creative and yummy.

Debbie really loves her morning keto coffee, and I love to make it for her 😉 She rarely has a day where calories are too many, so the 400 or so calories in her keto coffee are fine. But you can cut that way back with this recipe that comes in at only 121 calories total.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

When we were developing flavors for our exogenous ketone supplement line we knew chocolate had to be a flavor. Yet we also didn’t want to do plain chocolate like so many other companies offer, so we put on our thinking caps. We quickly realized that some of our favorite family memories have been around a warm plate of chocolate chip cookies. Viola! Happiness and a great flavor.

We take that a step further now by adding a few ingredients together

1 scoop Easy Day Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie BHB

1 3/4 c Almond Milk, unsweetened vanilla

1 tsp Butter, grass-fed, melted

Spin them up in a blender or a blender cup and you’ve got a darn tasty smoothie!

This is a great energy boost with the almond milk, exogenous ketones, MCT powder, and a cup worth of all natural caffeine. (all already mixed in our supplement). Plus you get the fat kick from the butter. Feel free to adjust any of these amounts, except do not exceed a scoop of BHB at a time.

We’d love to hear your smoothie recipes.

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Keto Roasted Cauliflower – More Easy Sides

Keto roasted cauliflower is an easy go-to side when your oven is already heated up. Cauliflower is great for keto and when olive oil and parmesan cheese are involved it becomes a real treat! This side dish couldn’t be easier.

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Keto Roasted Cauliflower

Set your oven to 450 F

Cut 2 cups of cauliflower in medium size chunks. About half a head.

Mix your dry ingredients together and then rub all over the cauliflower.

Drizzle your olive oil over the top and gently work in so that all the pieces have some oil on them.

Place on a baking sheet with aluminum foil on top. (Makes for super easy cleanup!)

Into the oven when to temperature.

Once done remove, plate and sprinkle parmesan on top.

Great Side Dish

I don’t know about you, but I seem to get so focused on my primary item for my meal that I often am playing catch up for a good keto side dish. Furthermore, if my main dish doesn’t have enough fat, this roasted cauliflower dish helps. This recipe is great for many reasons. I like paring this side for meals like my Greek style lamb meatballs.

What are some other great mains dishes you serve this recipe with?

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Easy Bacon Bake – Two Ways and Easy Cleanup

Bacon on Keto, what’s not to love? Except the prep and cleanup. I prefer a bacon bake. I will show you two different ways to bake your bacon for the coming week. It makes keto so much easier, and the bacon comes out long and flat instead of all curled up!

The problem with cooking bacon is the cleanup. I like to keep a clean kitchen and I go crazy with bacon grease splatter. Solution: a bacon bake with a bunch of slices on cookie sheets in the oven. There are two approaches you can use depending on how crispy you like your bacon. You can line your cookie sheet with either aluminum foil or parchment paper. I’ll show you both ways and the results.

Twenty minutes later, and with super easy cleanup and we are set for the week!

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Bacon Bake

Set your oven to 400 F.

Working on a baking sheet. Choose either aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Fill the baking sheet with your chosen bacon.

Bake for 20 minutes for medium cuts. Thinner or thicker will take more or less time. To taste.

Save any bacon fat on the baking sheet to add good keto fat in other recipes.

The crispiest is on parchment paper. Surprised? I was too. You can choose your own best method.

Purse Bacon

Bacon keeps well without refrigeration. I like to wrap a few pieces in a bag to help for a quick fat bomb if I get hungry during the day. You will also find you will use more bacon during the week in recipes if the bacon is already waiting to be used. If you prefer it warm and quick flip in a hot pan will work just great. I use our prepared bacon on salads, pizzas, and much more.

How many of you do a weekly bacon bake?

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easydayketo-blog · 5 years

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Keto Spinach Frittata

This easy to make keto spinach frittata is the perfect solution to your morning routine. Ready for a break from eggs and bacon on keto?

Make it ahead, double it, and enjoy not having to cook in the mornings for an entire week. You won’t even miss the crust on this keto recipe. Consider topping this with hollandaise sauce for a special Sunday breakfast.

Spinach is one of those green leafy vegetables that has a huge nutritional punch. Popeye can’t be wrong.

How to Make a Keto Spinach Frittata

Preheat the oven to 400.

Dice your ham, onions, and mushrooms

Add the butter to a pan over medium-high heat. Saute your ham for 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and onion and cook 2-3 minutes

Add the Spinach to the pan. Cook until it wilts. Yes, Spinach is the incredible shrinking vegetable. Set aside.

Finish the batter

Break all 6 eggs into a large bowl. Whisk.

Add the cream and milk. Stir with a fork.

Dump all the cooked veggies into the bowl and combine with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble for the oven

Grab a small glass or pyrex baking pan.

Melt the bacon fat in it in the microwave. Spread the bacon fat all around until the bottom of the pan is covered.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan and sprinkle with the paprika.

Bake 15 minutes. Check to make sure done by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, you are done.

Set on the oven rack to cool. Cut into 6 squares.

Once cool you can store in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Feel free to adjust the vegetables based on what you need to use up in the refrigerator. Wasting food isn’t a good idea for the planet or your pocketbook. We love to make this on a Thursday night when we are cooking dinner and the oven is already heated up. It covers us all weekend long. This keto breakfast is even good cold. (Think camping, boat day, hiking trails)

Let us know your favorite way to eat this spinach frittata. We love hearing from you!

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Keto Kalua Pork in an Instant Pot

I love pulled pork. This keto kalua pork is yummy, easy to make, and great to freeze. If you have been fortunate enough to get to Hawai’i, you’ve probably already enjoyed this dish. This Hawai’ian pulled pork is all over the islands. Traditionally “Kalua” means to cook in the ground. A hardwood fire is built inside a pit large enough to accommodate the food you are cooking, stones to keep it warm and the vegetation (ti leaves) to keep it moist are used on top.

If you have all day and have a pit in your backyard you are all set. For the rest of us, we pull out the Instant Pot. Much faster and 95% as good. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to give up 5% for the time savings.

How to Make Keto Kalua Pork in Your Instant Pot

Prep

Put the bacon in the pressure cooker. Saute until half done, about 3 minutes.

Cut the pork shoulder into 4 equal sized pieces. You’ll have to work around the bone. Try to get all the pieces roughly the same size.

Mix the smoked paprika and salt. Rub the pork pieces well.

Place on top of the bacon.

Mix 1/2c water and 1 tbsp of liquid smoke. Pour the liquid over the meat. That’s it.

Cook the Pork

Cook on manual for 90 minutes. When the pot beeps, push the cancel/keep warm button and allow pressure to release (about 20 minutes).

Pull the pork out of the Instant Pot being careful to leave all the juices in. You may need a spoon as the meat is so soft it’ll literally fall apart on you. Put in a bowl to keep warm and cover with tin foil.

Cook the Cabbage

Cut the cabbage into pieces to fit into the pot. Normally 6-8 pieces.

Put the cabbage into the pot and wait 15 minutes or so for the pot to get back up to pressure. Cook the cabbage for 3-4 minutes.

While the cabbage is cooking shred the pork. Kids love to help on this step.

Serve with cabbage on the side of the shredded pork.

This keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. The pork freezes really well. The cabbage, not so much.

What is Liquid Smoke?

As the name implies, liquid smoke is liquid that smells like smoke. It originated in the 19th century when people cured meat over an open flame to preserve it, rather than for the BBQ style flavor, we think of today. In an article published in 1923 in the Rotary Club’s official magazine The Rotarian, Mr. Earnest Wright described it as the “black liquid trickling down the side of a stove-pipe”. Wright, a chemist, came up with the idea of trying to replicate the taste.

Liquid smoke is really made from smoke. Hardwood or chips are burned at super high temperatures and the steam it produces is collected in condensers. This water results in a strong smoke flavor. There are a few brands out there. Look for ones that don’t have added coloring or molasses. Because this product is made from smoke, use it in moderation.

Let’s Eat!

This is one of my favorite recipes because it keeps well and I can pull it out of the fridge on the fly to make a great meal. I add it to omelets in the morning, warm it up for a quick lunch or make keto tacos with it at night.

How do you use keto kalua pork at our house?

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Greek Style Keto Lamb Meatballs

Why is food that you can eat with your fingers so much more fun? Kids, both young and old love this recipe. Because these keto meatballs only take 20 minutes, they are perfect for a weeknight, just walked in the door from soccer/football/ballet evening. We know, we’ve been there.

How to Make Keto Meatballs

Put your lamb in a giant bowl.

Measure out all the seasonings and put right into the same bowl. Oregano, basil, cumin, coriander, mint, crushed garlic, salt, and pepper.

Cut up the 1 tbsp of red onion super small. Add to the bowl.

Add the egg and the almond flour.

Mix all together.

Assemble the Meatballs

You can use a fork to be fancy or wash and use your hands to be quicker. Kids love to help cook and when they do, they’ll eat it. Let them help mix. They’ll have a ball and you can go do something else for a few minutes.

Roll into golf ball sized meatballs and put aside on a platter.

How to Cook the Meatballs

Fry the meatballs in a pan with olive oil or bacon fat, your choice. Add this to the macros above. More fat:)

Put the pan on medium heat and heat the oil or bacon fat until it spits when you drop water on it. This will put a nice sear on your meatballs.

Fry the meatballs until brown on all sides, about 7 minutes.

Turn the heat down and cover the pan for 2 minutes. This will steam and bake them the rest of the way, get them cooked on the inside without browning the outsides too much.

Serve.

We like to serve ours with yogurt sauce known as greek tzatziki as a dip. You can eat with a fork, or put on a wooden skewer. This recipe is fantastic doubled so you have more for an easy snack during the week. They also freeze well if you want to make a giant batch. These keto meatballs defrost quickly for those nights when you forgot to pull something out.

Pair this with a greek salad or your favorite vegetable.

Let us know how you like it.

#keto #ketosis #ketolife #ketofam #ketorecipes #ketoqueen #ketoeats #ketoyum #ketoish #ketoislife #ketoideas #ketojourney #ketohealth #ketogirl #ketogoals

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Keto Pizza Love

Keto has been great for me, but I do love pizza! How about some keto pizza love? Pizza is great keto food if you think about it; pepperoni, sausage, cheese and more. Well except for the bread crust! One of the biggest challenges with the keto diet is the lack of bread. I get it, I used to maintain my own wild yeast to make homemade bread before I found keto. (Maybe that’s why I’m now on keto). Personally, I can get by just fine without bread if that means I’m on the path to better health.

Keto Pizza Love

Quality pizza starts with a quality crust. But darn it, we have some limitations. When Debbie and I first started keto we knew we’d need to solve the pizza problem. As it turns out the crust part was already solved. Fathead pizza dough had already been invented and proven itself a worthy low carb solution. Why reinvent the wheel? All credit and respect go out to makers of this recipe. We’ll show you how to make it. Then you can add whichever keto friendly toppings you like.

Fathead Pizza Crust

Gather your ingredients and working in a large microwavable bowl combine the mozzarella cheese and almond flour.

Add the cream cheese. Do not mix. Place bowl in the microwave on high for 1 minute.

Remove from microwave (hot!) now mixing the softened cream cheese in with mozzarella and almond flour. Just enough to incorporate into a loose dough ball.

Microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove from microwave and add a whole egg and you chosen flavors to taste. Incorporate without scrambling or cooking the egg.

Tear two large sheets of parchment paper. Place one down first, place dough ball and second parchment on top.

Initially form with your hands and then roll out as close to round as is important to you.

Remove the top parchment and place on pizza pan. Leave bottom in place.

Place into oven at 425 F for 12-14 minutes.

Pizza Prep and Cooking

Pizza is likely one of the most creative items that home cooks prepare. How awesome is it add toppings that you (and maybe only you) love! Debbie and I love banana bacon pizza that we first had in South Africa. Sounds funny but it works! No bananas for us while on keto, however 🙁

You can cook/bake a pizza on a grill or in an oven. We use a big green egg grill. Regardless of what you have available, I recommend a pizza stone.

Bring grill/oven up to 650 (or as high as you can to that).

Use corn meal on the stone to avoid sticking.

Because the fathead dough is already cooked, all we are trying to do is melt our cheese and heat our toppings.

Cook for 4 minutes at 650 or a few more minutes if you cannot get that high.

Please be careful with the high temperatures you are dealing with.

Remove when cooked to your standards

When you take the time to prepare yummy meals like this while you are on the keto journey it is easy to forget you have dietary limitations.

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the U.S. and around the world. Let’s show some keto pizza love by commenting and sharing with us your ideas and creative toppings. How about keto lamb meatballs? Send pictures!

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Keto Yogurt Sauce – Tzatziki

This keto yogurt sauce or tzatziki is best made with full-fat real Greek yogurt. It’s thicker than the American version. You want the creaminess. This classic has been on Mediterranean tables for centuries.

How to Make Keto Yogurt Sauce (Tzatziki)

Wash and cut your cucumber in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon to make a little boat. Chop into small pieces.

Stir the yogurt and vinegar together until fully blended and the vinegar totally incorporates.

Fold in the dill, chopped cucumber, garlic, and salt. Combine.

Transfer to a storage container.

This will keep for a week in the fridge.

If you use this as a dip, feel free to add as the Greeks do, a spoonful of olive oil to the top. This is a great way to get more fat if you need it today. Make a hole in the top like you would for gravy, and pour the olive oil on.

Serve with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint.

How to use your Yogurt Sauce (Tzatziki)

Great for fish, sandwiches, grilled meats, a dip for keto lamb meatballs or just plain with a couple pork rinds for dipping. Serve this at your next party. Everyone loves it.

How do you and your friends like this? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Grill-Roasted Keto Beer Can Chicken

The worst part of any diet is feeling left out when the best tasting food is served at a party. Not a problem here. This grill roasted keto beer can chicken is the star of the show and hits a bulls-eye with your ketosis macros. Just remember, the beer is for the chicken and not all that keto friendly as a refreshment for you!

How to Make Grill Roasted Keto Beer Can Chicken

Prep takes 20 minutes and cooking on the grill 1 hour and 15 minutes.

NOTE: It is very important to handle raw poultry correctly. Keep the bird refrigerated the entire time that you are not preparing it or actually placing on the grill. Wash your hands and work surfaces continuously.

Working with a clean grill prepare your fire. I prefer real charcoal vs. briquets, as the flavor imparted onto the meat is so much better.

Grab your beer can. No need for fancy holders for the chicken. Tallboy 16 oz cans make the process easier.

Empty 25% of the can. Down the drain or set aside for a friend, not on keto 🙂

Stuff the can with dried chili, lemon, and red onion. Be careful not to cut your fingers on the sharp can opening.

Once your grill is at 400 F, remove your chicken from the fridge and sprinkle to taste with kosher (coarse) salt and dry rub to taste.

Carefully set the chicken carcass opening over your tall beer can and move the entirety to the grill. Make sure it balances well.

Close the top and maintain 400-425 F.

The chicken will be done in just over an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. Government guidance sets 165 F internal temperature for poultry to be safely cooked. When you remove your chicken is up to you. I pull my chicken at 155 F knowing that it will continue to cook until served.

Regarding the dry rub, use whatever you like, I use Penzey’s, Northwoods. The caution is to make sure there is no sugar or carbs in your choice.

Remove & Serve

Taking the chicken off the grill is trickier than putting it on. My experience says to use oven mitts that can be easily cleaned. This way, like a caveman, you can grab the hot bird and pull it straight up and off the can. Remember that you not only have a hot chicken but you have a very hot liquid still in the can. Do this slowly and use a second person to spot for you. Have a platter nearby.

Poultry doesn’t need to sit like beef, but the chicken will be very hot. Let it sit for ten minutes before cutting. Poultry shears are the simplest method of cutting up the bird and making you look like a grilling god.

Boom! you have an amazing keto meal.

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Keto Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce

This super easy keto salmon dish is ready in 15 minutes. Salmon is not only great for you with all its healthy Omega-3 fats but is easy to make in the oven. We always have some stocked in the freezer, perfect for when we didn’t plan ahead and are starving after work. You can defrost your salmon in a bowl of warm water while the oven is heating up. By the time the oven is ready, so is your salmon.

How to Make Keto Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce

Prep only takes 5 minutes

Heat your oven up to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and set aside.

Take the salmon out of the package and place on the baking sheet, skin side down. Pat dry.

To make the sauce. In one small bowl add the mayo, mustard, and dill. Blend together with a spoon.

Smother the salmon in the sauce.

Small chop or just slice 2 tsp of red onion. Sprinkle on top of the salmon.

Put it in the oven for 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness.

Finally, to get rid of the skin when you serve, place the spatula underneath the fish, but above the skin. This is easy once it’s cooked, not so easy beforehand.

We prefer our keto salmon medium rare, a little bit more on the coral colored side, but some prefer it totally cooked through (pale pink). Do it as you like. If you want to use a thermometer, 120 F is medium rare and 130 F is medium. Just like steak, the fish will continue to cook a bit after you take it out of the oven.

Cleanup is the Best Part

The best part of this recipe is the cleanup. There is none. Toss the tin foil in the trash and you are done. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

We would love to hear your feedback and your favorite pairings.

#keto #ketosis #ketolife #ketofam #ketorecipes #ketoeats #ketoqueen #ketoenergy #ketotips #ketoish #ketoislife #ketoideas #ketooptions

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Easy Keto Guacamole Recipe

Avocado is an awesome keto food, but by itself it gets boring. That’s why we make our easy Keto Guacamole recipe once or twice a week. It only takes 10 minutes!

With avocados getting more and more popular these are always easy to find. Just make sure they are ripe. You know they are ripe when they are black or dark green on the outside and are slightly soft. If they are hard, they aren’t ready yet. You can ripen them on the counter. If they get too far, put them in the fridge and they’ll stop ripening. Many stores sell them green and it takes a day or two to be ready.

How to Make Keto Guacamole

This will only take 10 minutes.

First, get out your ingredients (listed on the left), a mixing bowl, a knife, and lime squeezer if you have one (no biggie if you don’t)

Cut up 1/4c of onions, small chop. You don’t want huge bites of raw onion. Dump in the bowl.

Wash the cilantro. Cut up 1/4c of it into small pieces. Dump in the bowl.

Wash and chop your jalapeño. Use seeds if you like it spicy. Add as much as you like. Dump again.

Cut your avocados and chop pretty small so you don’t have huge chunks to smash later (easier). Dump in the bowl. I do this last so they don’t get brown while I’m cutting the other stuff.

Add salt and juice the limes.

Mash with a fork. Get out any aggression you have from the day. If you like it chunky, leave it that way. If you like it smooth, keep mashing.

Scoop and eat.

This will refrigerate for a couple days. It may get a bit brown, but don’t worry, it’s still fine. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Ways to Use Keto Guacamole

This really is one of our staples. Anytime we can batch cook, it’s better. Life is busy and making something once and eating it often is super easy.

There are a few ways we’ll often use this keto guacamole:

On the side of a salad for lunch

For a snack plain when we don’t have time to cook. Use pork rinds to dip it, or celery.

On an omelet in the morning

On the side for dinner with a steak and some vegetables

Feedback

If you make this recipe, leave a review below and let us know your favorite way to use keto guacamole. We at Easy Day Keto love to hear your feedback.

#keto #ketolife #ketorecipes #ketofam #ketoqueen #ketoeats #ketot #ketoislife #ketoideas #ketoliving #ketolunch #ketosis #ketojourney #ketogirl #ketofood #ketofriendly #ketoforlife

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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Mouth Watering Keto Meatloaf Recipe

Meatloaf is one of those comfort foods from childhood that you either loved or hated. Personally, I loved it. Normally mom served it with a giant baked potato and green beans. Well, the baked potato days are gone, but the green beans are still perfect. Now, with keto, I get to add a side of cheese as well. Enjoy this fabulous keto meatloaf recipe with your family.

What Do You Adjust to Make it Keto?

To adjust a traditional meatloaf recipe to a keto meatloaf recipe, there are a couple of ingredients that have to go. Breadcrumbs for starters. We use pork rinds instead. They have the same consistency once you bang them down and they work wonders. Plus, the banging them down part is pretty darn fun. If you have kids, they’d love to help you do this.

Ketchup has to go as well. It has way too much sugar. I turn to Sambal Oelek which is found at any Asian store or if you have a good grocery store, they’ll carry it too. It’s super spicy so go easy to start. Since it’s zero carbs it’s like a free pass with lots of flavor.

Okay, I admit it. I love anything that comes out of a muffin pan. It’s the perfect portion size. Fits in your hand, easy to dump into a Tupperware® container for the road, and easy to freeze and defrost. Plus, it cooks quicker. Win-win all around.

So let’s get to the good stuff.

How to Make Keto Meatloaf

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Put the ground beef and ground pork into a big bowl

Heat up a skillet

Cut up 3 strips of bacon into small bite-sized pieces and fry until halfway done. Add to the meat in the bowl.

While the bacon is cooking, dice your onion, and cut up your pork rinds. Put both in the bowl with the meat.

Add the parmesan cheese, the egg, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to the bowl.

Mix up the meat mixture with a fork or by hand.

Assemble the Meatloaf

You have a couple options here. You can make it in a traditional loaf pan, which will take 70 minutes to cook, or you can use a muffin pan to make individual portions which will cook for 23 minutes. We’ll go with the muffins below.

Roll tennis ball sized portions of the meat mixture and drop into a muffin pan. They should fill the opening but don’t go much bigger then that or the fat will become a problem as it cooks. Unless you feel like cleaning fat off the bottom of your oven, don’t overfill.

Top each meatloaf muffin with Sambal Oelek sauce. If you like it spicy, 1 tsp each. Not so spicy, add less.

Bake for 23 minutes

Let rest for 5 minutes when they are done so they hold together and don’t break apart and your Keto Meatloaf is ready.

If you are lucky enough to have any leftovers, use for lunch or snacks for the rest of the week. Perfect portion for one.

What is Sambal Oelek?

Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian chili paste. It’s essentially a raw ground chili paste. It’s made of a variety of chili peppers, salt, and vinegar. It can be used as a base or more as a condiment like ketchup. Some like to add lime or stevia to it to make it tangy or sweet. You can find this at your local Asian store. It keeps in the fridge for a long time.

Because the ingredients of Keto Meatloaf are all no carb, they are a perfect keto condiment replacement for any recipe that normally calls for ketchup. Just be careful of the heat if you don’t like spice. A little goes a long way.

Serve this recipe with green beans, broccoli or your favorite salad.

Feedback

Try this recipe of Keto Meatloaf and let us know how you like it. We at Easy Day Keto love to hear your suggestions and thoughts.

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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How to Get Into Ketosis

How to get into ketosis starts with limiting your carbohydrates to around 20-30 grams, at least through the initial period. This is the first step to switch your energy source from carbs to fat.

Second, you have to get all of your available glucose and glucose stores (in the form of glycogen) out of your system. You have 1,500-2,000 calories or 350-500 grams of glycogen in your muscles available for energy.

Additionally, you have 400 calories or 100 grams in your liver. In total, you have up to 2,500 calories that you need to consume. Only when the body’s preferred energy source is missing will it switch itself to keto. Everyone is unique, but on average this takes between 2 to 7 days.

The most aggressive technique is to fast with nothing but water for 2-3 days and take long walks. Do not over exert yourself beyond walking. In this case, you are consuming those stored glycogen calories very quickly. Be forewarned that this approach is not for everyone nor is it required, it will be a tough few days.

The easier approach is to limit carbs and eat your keto pre-scheduled meals. A great aid, if you can, is to go on long walks to help burn more of your stored glycogen switching you over a bit faster. Within 3-7 days you will easily be in keto.

Be aware that you may feel lethargic and a bit ill over the days your body is making the transition. This is normal. Stay well hydrated and keep you eye on the goal.

How To Get Into Ketosis – The Two Main Ways

There are two ways to do this – the aggressive way, which is faster, and the easy way, which is slower.

The Aggressive Way

The most aggressive way to get into keto very quickly is to fast (consume nothing but water) for 2-3 days, and take a long walk the first day. The long walk will help drain your glycogen stores.

For science I won’t get into, as I don’t even fully understand it, running or other exercise will not help here – just long walks. So don’t over exert yourself beyond walking.

This will get you into keto the fastest (you’ll be in keto in around 3-5 days, depending how many carbs you usually eat), but will be tougher.

The Easy Way

The easier way is to just start eating keto, with no fasting involved. It’s important to keep carbs as low as possible the first week or so if you go this route.

The long walks will still help drain your glycogen stores.

This way will take longer – usually about 5-10 days. Again, this depends on how many carbs you usually eat and your body.

Be aware that you may feel lethargic and a bit ill over the days your body is making the transition. This is normal, and called the “keto flu”. Stay well hydrated and keep your eye on the goal. In a few days, you’ll be in, and feeling great.

BHB

While you still need to eat keto and stick to your macros, there’s a supplement you can take called BHB (beta hydroxybutyrate), which is basically a powdered form of the ketones your body makes.

Especially when combined with MCT oil (medium-chain triglycerides, an easily used form of fat), this can make getting into ketosis faster and easier.

It’s not necessary, per say, but we’d recommend it.

Keto Flu

While the ketosis diet overall is quite easy to follow, the transition of switching from carbohydrates for energy to fat for energy can cause some people to feel a bit under the weather. This is referred to as the keto flu.

There is a gray zone when the body wants to still be energized by carbs, called glycolysis but but has effectively bottomed out glycogen stores, or carb based energy. During this transition the body still thinks that it will be feed carbs soon, because it always has been.

The keto flu can feel just like the onset of a bad cold or flu; achy, tired, irritable. Headaches are not uncommon but water and aspirin can help. Some people can get the shakes and even nausea as their bodies are craving for carbohydrates.

The transition from glycolysis to ketosis takes a few days. For a lucky few they never get the keto flu. The easiest way through any feeling of malaise is to stay true to the diet plan, drink plenty of water and do not carb cheat. Exercise or long walks are great ways to burn off remaining glycogen stores.

Once glycogen, or carb stores are empty and the body is in the middle or gray zone it can be given help by consuming exogenous ketones in the form of BHB powder as a dietary supplement.

Optimal Ketone Levels

Measuring your ketone level is best done with the blood ketone meter we recommended in the last email. When we test we get millimolar per Liter (mmol/L).

Your optimal ketone level will be different from your family and friends who are doing keto with you. You are unique. Once you get into ketosis, strive to focus on the diet and macro plan more than being overly concerned with your ketone level.

Most science points to the following scale:

Caution: higher ketone levels do not necessarily mean that you are losing fat faster or that you somehow are healthier or more mentally acute. Just stay in the optimal zone. Many biological and physiological factors are in play and differ between individuals.

Problems and mistakes do arise, possibly dropping you below 0.5 mmol/L and out of ketosis. If you are following our recommended diet, your body will return to ketosis quickly as it doesn’t have much glycogen stored.

If this happens, for instance, if you cheat, you can get your ketone level up quickly by taking BHB, the supplement we mentioned above.

NEXT: Your Keto Journey

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easydayketo-blog · 6 years

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How To Prepare to Start The Keto Diet

You’ve made the decision to start the keto diet. Great! The problem is now where do you go? You understand the diet conceptually and you are ready to get healthy but how do your really go about it? What do you need to buy and what plans do you need in place?

We recommend you set a start date. Then you have a deadline to gather what you need, plan your first weeks and maybe eat that last piece of bread. With your deadline set, you can work backwards to set a timeline to be ready.

Start The Keto Diet – Grocery List

Let’s start with the most important items, food. We gave you an overview of two lessons ago on what you can eat in keto. Our best advice is to write out a list of meals for a week, keeping your keto macro calculator results nearby.

The hardest part of the opening weeks is to know what the macros and the calories of the food you are eating add up to. Believe us when we say that you will quickly get up to speed and feel comfortable soon.

Equipment

There are a few key items you recommend you have before starting keto:

Kitchen Scale

Nothing fancy is required, just something you can weigh a few pounds. Larger surfaces make it easier to set bowls on, but don’t get too large as storage can be problematic. You shouldn’t spend more than $25.00 on this item.

Blood Glucose Meter & Test Strips

This is the largest investment we will recommend. With specialized ketone strips (that are purchased separately) you will measure your exact blood ketone level. You shouldn’t spend more than $50.00 for the meter. The ketone test strips are $1.50 each normally purchased in groups of 30 for around $20.00. To be clear, you will test more often as you enter and settle into ketosis. Thereafter there is little reason to test more than 1-2x per week if even that often.

Blood note: You do have to prick your finger with this test. We respect that not everyone can or will do so. In this case there are alternative, although less accurate methods.

Urine Strips

If you do not want to prick your finger or cannot afford the meter and ketone test strips there is an alternative. For around $9.00 you can purchase 150 strips. We are most interested in blood ketones. When the body has more ketones than it needs, the excess are flushed out through the urine. These ketones show up on the strips. The information these provide is relevant in knowing is you are in keto and give you a general sense of your level, but cannot give you the more granular detail of blood testing.

Ketone Breathalyzer

Breathalyzers ranging from $20.00 – $100.00 are a third alternative. Again, they are not as accurate as blood but can be more accurate, depending on the device, than urine.

If you cannot afford to measure, or just decide not to, you can still execute a very successful keto diet. The downside is you will have less information to help with troubleshooting or understanding what exactly is happening in your body. Do not use this as a reason not to start.

Apps

There are a plethora of calorie tracking and diet smartphone applications available for all platforms. You can choose any you are comfortable as long as your app allows you to adjust the targeted macros. The percentage recommended for Fat, Protein, Carbs. If you cannot change their recommendations, which will be inline with the standard carbohydrate diet, you will setting off alarms and notices all over the place!

We have had good luck and can easily recommend MyFitnessPal. Macro balance can be adjusted, there is a good database of foods, many restaurant chains are covered, the bar code scanner helps addf food quickly and interface is easy to follow. We get no compensation for this recommendation.

Plan & Prepare for Your First Week

Trying to master all the new keto information, feeling a bit off from the transition into keto and answering all the questions from your family and friends may be overwhelming. We recommend, just like the best sports teams, you pre-plan your opening game strategy. This way you can execute the plan while becoming comfortable with your new journey to health.

You should plan your meals, which started when you went grocery shopping prior. Pre-cook your lunches to take to work if you need. Each will make your life easier.

We also recommend that you get comfortable with your new equipment and applications. Know them prior to week one so you can plan how to use them in the opening days without frustration.

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