Keto Club (low-carb lifestyle)

[Ava Glasgow]

As much as I love eggs, a year of egg breakfasts has left me looking for an occasional alternative. I tried various hot cereal recipes, but couldn't make a taste/texture that was palatable enough to enjoy. But last week I was cruising keto products on Amazon and found High Key keto instant hot cereal.

HighKey Snacks Keto Instant Hot Cereal: Cinnamon Spice (9 oz bag)​

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HighKey Snacks Keto Instant Hot Cereal: Cocoa Almond (9 oz bag)​

I ordered the cinnamon spice and holy fuck is it delicious (though I added a touch of salt because I like my hot cereal that way). It doesn't raise my blood sugar at all, and I find it quite satisfying. The ingredients are excellent, mostly nuts and seeds and spices, plus sweetener (erythritol, monk fruit, and stevia) and added protein (milk protein isolate and hydrolyzed collagen). No added fiber, it all comes from the nuts and seeds.

Most awesome: The taste, it's fast and easy to make, and it's only 1 net carb per serving. (A serving is 170 calories, similar to a standard serving of nuts/seeds.)

Not awesome: The price, just under $2 per serving. Not terribly surprising, ready-made keto products tend to be spendy because they're small-scale producers using expensive ingredients, but it still gives a bit of sticker shock.

Even so, I'm stocking up on the cinnamon spice and trying out the cocoa almond.

Spoiler: Nutrition info and ingredients

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

So, apparently, peanuts aren't what caused me issues, which is good because Slimfast now makes keto meal replacement bars and better yet, peanutbutter cup fat bombs. They are a life saver, even if, again, not as cheap as one would like.

 

[Rose Karuna]

So I was playing with my instant pot again and I made this over the weekend and it was AWESOME!

Poblano Chicken Soup

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 large Poblano peppers
1 or 2 Jalapeno peppers (depending on how much of a slow burn you like)
1 cup Philadelphia whipped cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon cumin
1 - 2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove chopped garlic
1 carton of chicken broth

Directions:

Cut open and clean the poblano and jalapeno chili's, sprinkle them with a small bit of olive oil and put them on a pan in the broiler on high to get some char on the skins. I use my food processor to chop the onion, garlic and 1/2 the cilantro together. The chop on the onions should be small.

On a cutting board, chop the chicken into about 1/2 to 1 inch chunks.

Set the instant pot on saute and when it gets hot add the chicken, stir until very light brown, then add the onion, garlic and cilantro mixture and saute until the onions are transparent. Add 1 cup of broth and turn the pot off and then back on again so it exits the saute mode. Turn the instant pot to manual and then set it for 8 min and cook the chicken. When the pot beeps because it has pressure cooked the chicken for 8 min, depressurize the pot, remove the lid and remove the chicken and put it into a bowl on the side.

Add the hot liquid to a food processor (or blender) and puree it with the poblano and jalapeno peppers until it's a soup, add one more cup of broth. Put the pureed mixture back into the instant pot, set the pot on saute and add the whipped cheese first blending it and then add the cheddar. Use a whisk to blend it smoothly into the mixture. Depending on how thick you like your soup, you can add additional broth now also. After it is all blended, add the chicken back in. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring it to a boil in the saute mode and then turn it off or if you have time, just put it on the slow cooker setting.
If you're non-keto you could serve this on rice but my husband and I enjoyed it just as a soup alone. We put the remaining chopped cilantro on top and added a a teaspoon of sour cream on top.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

So I was playing with my instant pot again and I made this over the weekend and it was AWESOME!

Poblano Chicken Soup

Damn Rose, that sounds so good it's making me swoon!

 

[NyteWytch]

Starting the IBIH 5 day soup diet. I've been low carb/keto off/on for a bit but was looking for a soup recipe and found this. At a bit of a plateau for the moment so figured why not? Just making my soup now and wow is it pretty.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

My weight loss is slowing down, so it's time to start slowly adjusting my calories and macros. To help be more precise about it, I decided to start using a food tracker.

I tried a few different ones, but settled on Carb Manager. It has a website and mobile apps, synced if you use the same account. The free version has everything I was looking for including an extensive food database, and after selecting most of my regular foods, logging meals and snacks is pretty easy. I'm finding it really useful, so will probably go premium to support them and get a few extras.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Tried the new BBQ place down the street...


They sell the meat a la carte, so no need to pay for carby sides I won't eat.


The brisket was SUPER delicious with just the right amount of fat.


They were light. My pound of brisket was only 11.5 ounces.


Not sure if they were just off or meant pre-cooked weight, but it was definitely less than I get at the other (less convenient and slightly less tasty) BBQ place. I might still consider it worth the price.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

They were light. My pound of brisket was only 11.5 ounces.


Not sure if they were just off or meant pre-cooked weight, but it was definitely less than I get at the other (less convenient and slightly less tasty) BBQ place. I might still consider it worth the price.

It's usually pre-cooked weight. Some places have a disclaimer to that fact buried somewhere in their menus in small print

 

[Ava Glasgow]

It's usually pre-cooked weight. Some places have a disclaimer to that fact buried somewhere in their menus in small print

This place didn't even have the a-la-carte meat on the menu, so no disclaimer. But if that's the standard, I'm cool, I will just have to order more at a time if I want enough leftovers.

Also, I can't stop smelling my fingers!

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Tried shiritaki noodles. Did it right, got the smell/taste to go away, but I don't see the point when zucchini noodles are so much better and so much easier to prepare.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

I've decided to start using the La Tortilla Factory low-carb tortillas again, at least occasionally. Sticking with the whole wheat original size which are 3 net carbs and 50 cal each. Good source of fiber, which I'm low on despite eating lots of veggies.

Non-GMO, Low Carb Tortillas, Whole Wheat, Original Size - La Tortilla Factory

www.latortillafactory.com

This morning I made a scrambled egg quesadilla which was quite yummy. Kinda faked it, cooking the tortillas and cheese, then assembling with the scrambled eggs.


ETA: These are available at normal grocery stores, at least here in the SF Bay Area. They're together with normal tortillas. LTF also does regular carb tortillas, so look for the ones that specifically say low-carb.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Tried Keto&Co's pancake mix this morning. They were quite tasty, and didn't budge my glucose levels.

Amazon.com : Keto Pancake & Waffle Mix by Keto and Co | Fluffy, Gluten Free, Low Carb Pancakes | 2.0g Net Carbs per Serving | No Sugar Added | Diabetic & Keto Friendly | Makes 30 Pancakes : Grocery & Gourmet Food

Amazon.com : Keto Pancake & Waffle Mix by Keto and Co | Fluffy, Gluten Free, Low Carb Pancakes | 2.0g Net Carbs per Serving | No Sugar Added | Diabetic & Keto Friendly | Makes 30 Pancakes : Grocery & Gourmet Food

www.amazon.com

Strangely the pancake mix isn't listed on the company's website (hence the Amazon link), so I'm not sure if that means it's new or that it's been discontinued.

I did find that I needed to add a little more liquid than the recipe called for, and also had to manually spread the batter after pouring into the pan because they got pretty dark before the middle cooked all the way.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

OH HELL YES!

Explorado's monthly keto bake box


The ingredients are good, and the price is about normal for keto snacks. I went ahead an ordered because I really like the idea of having such a variety of baked goods and not actually having to bake them myself.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Also, I tried a trial membership with Thrive Market, but their keto selection wasn't as good as I'd been led to believe, nor were the prices as low as people said.

But worst of all, they're one of those companies that deliberately makes cancelling a membership really difficult. You can't just press a button, you actually have to do a live chat. Then the guy kept trying to sell me on keeping the membership, and even said "I'll just leave it active and you can cancel later if you want". Um, I WANT TO CANCEL NOW DOUCHEBAG!

In the end I just had to type CANCEL MEMBERSHIP over and over until he gave in. Or said he did. I wouldn't be surprised if I get billed at the end of the month.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

So yeah, Thrive Market did NOT cancel my membership as requested. I had to do another live chat to get them to actually do it this time. I made sure to save the transcript this time and requested a confirmation email, which I didn't receive last time. Never ever doing business with them again.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Big dinner tonight, mostly courtesy of a local restaurant:

* poached salmon with lemon tartar sauce
* marinated roasted chicken leg
* steamed veggies with garlic butter
* a couple pieces of mocha chocolate (keto of course)

So yummy, and so so stuffed!

 

[Ava Glasgow]

It's weird how some things cause a freak appetite episode, while other very similar things don't at all. I tried two new things this month with very different results.

First was that I got a Keto Bake Box subscription from Explorado Market. It's basically a sampler of keto bakery treats like brownies and cookies and cupcakes and caramels. Everything tasted really good and the ingredients are on point. I've been having one of the things just about every day, fitting them into my macros, and everything has been fine. No cheating, no cravings, just feeling very satisfied.

Then tonight I finally broke out a baking mix I bought a while back, Good Dee's cracker biscuit mix. The last time I tried one of their mixes was the night I learned about IMOs, but this mix uses soluble corn fiber instead. I've tested other products with SCF, so I know it's safe.

I made the biscuits and the smell immediately drove me crazy. I had planned to have one tomorrow, but ended up splurging and having one tonight. The weird thing is that they're not even that good, but I still want to eat the whole damn batch (6 mid-size biscuits at 300 calories each). I ended up smashing the rest and throwing them in the garbage just so I would stop being so damn tempted. But the smell lingers, so I'll probably feel like this for the rest of the night.

I'm not sure what the problem is because there is nothing unusual in the ingredients, and I've baked other mixes that tasted a lot better without any unusual cravings. But that's two times I've tried Good Dee's and two times I ended up throwing out the whole batch, so I'm definitely done with them.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Been making chicken soup with bone broth, Better Than Boullion, cooked chicken, and veggies du jour, and it's proved pretty tasty and filling.

Tonight I put a handful of the angel hair shredded cabbage (the bagged stuff) in the bowl, then poured the soup over it and let it sit a couple minutes. It was very noodle-y! I think I might try pho this way.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Finally found a pork rind that I really like!

Pork King Good

I got a 4 pack on Amazon, two white cheddar and two sour cream and onion. I had the latter this evening dipped in sour cream and damn if it didn't feel like I was a bad girl cheating on my diet eating chips and dip! Except these actually left me feeling satisfied.

The downside is that they also left me with the scraped up feeling in my mouth that I used to get when eating a big bag of potato chips. Well, I guess that will keep me from eating too much at once.