For many people, shaking the bread habit is the hardest. Although it is very difficult to find a recipe that tastes the same as your old favorite, there are some great recipes that will get you by.
Here is my favorite recipe for 90 Second Low Carb Keto Bread. It is taken from the variety of healthy recipes that people get when they subscribe to my Keto Conversion 101 Course!
I use this bread recipe to make french toast, grilled cheese sandwiches and a breakfast bread to have with my soft cooked poached eggs with hollandaise sauce. Mmmmmmmm.
Keto 90 Second Bread ● 3 tbsp almond flour or 1 1/3 tbsp coconut flour ● 1 tbsp oil (melted butter, melted coconut oil, avocado oil) ● 1/2 tsp baking powder ● 1 large egg ● pinch of Himalayan sea salt
Add all ingredients to a 4×4 microwave-safe bowl or a coffee mug. Tap on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles, and microwave for 90 seconds. You can also bake in an oven-safe container for 10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Throw it in your toaster to get it nice and crispy (this is important!). Add your favorite toppings such as butter, almond butter, or sugar-free syrup and enjoy!
Makes 1 serving (macros based on using almond flour and 1 Tbsp coconut oil): 198 calories, 17g fat, 8g protein, 2g net carb
I am always looking for new recipes and trying new things. Check out my personal Pinterest Boards for some of the recipes I have tried. Through my boards, you will find links to many other amazing chefs that are creating delectable keto creations.
As I continue my learning and experimentation on this low carb keto journey, I am getting better and better at eating less frequently (2 to 3 times a day) and making sure I am packing nutrient dense food into my meals. Real whole foods. But it is an adjustment!
When I first started eating low carb, I eased into it by just simply replacing my high carb foods with low carb options. I ate eggs with almond flour mug bread for breakfast instead of toast. I used lettuce wraps instead of bread for my sandwiches and burgers. I replaced my supper starch by cooking my meal in butter or eating a tasty fat bomb to fill me up. I would just pick one thing each day that moved me closer to being fully keto, under 20 g a day whenever I could.
The most critical thing I have learned is the importance of loading up your house with low carb options so you are not tempted to sneak an old high carb favorite. If you are not supposed to eat it, why do you even have it in your house? Like most people, my days are packed and I don’t have a lot of time to cook fresh food.
How do you stay with whole foods then? Buy pre-washed and cut vegetables. You take a block of time, maybe 1 hour every weekend, 2 hours every second weekend, or 4 hours once a month and prepare some tasty treats, delicious snacks or cook up some protein so you always have something on hand.
This Keto Power Seed Breakfast Granola recipe is one of my favorites because you can use it in so many ways!
pour unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk on it as a breakfast cereal
Just eat it straight up as a snack
Sprinkle it on some ice cream or berries and cream for a tasty dessert
Sprinkle it on muffins or puddings for some extra crunch
Keto Power Seed Breakfast Granola
1 cup of Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1 cup of Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1/2 cup of Flaked Almonds
1/2 cup of Flaxseed
1/3 cup of Pumpkin Seeds
1/3 cup of Chia Seeds
1/3 cup of Sunflower Seeds
1 tablespoon of Cinnamon, ground
1/3 cup of Erythritol or Swerve
1/3 cup of Coconut Oil, melted
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 160C/320F. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl until very well combined. Spread evenly over a lined cookie sheet. I use a silicone mat but you can use parchment paper. Whatever you prefer. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to prevent burning. Remove from the oven when the ingredients are golden brown and toasted. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
I usually make a double batch and store in smaller containers in the freezer so I always have lots on hand. Enjoy!
You have
probably heard that losing weight involves eating lots of low-fat food. For a
few years there, eating fat-free was all the rage. Companies produced a mind-numbing
amount of fat-free foods that claimed to be healthy and would help you lose
weight.
And guess what? They were wrong! It turns out, eating fat does not make you fat!
Eating healthy means you need to eat fat. Dietary fat has lots of health benefits for your body and is necessary for you to live. In fact, eating a lot of fat can be great for you since fat can fuel your body (instead of glucose) and help you feel full.
Why Fat Helps You Feel Full
When you
consume fat, you are eating a calorically dense macronutrient that plays a big
role in your digestion and hormone production.
First, fat slows digestion. Your food hangs around a little longer in your body when it is full of fat. This is great news when it comes to feeling full and satisfied. You can become full more quickly and stay full for hours after you have finished eating a high-fat meal.
Fat also has an effect on the hunger hormone, ghrelin. Ghrelin tells your brain that you are hungry and you need food right away. However, fat can suppress ghrelin, which will eliminate that “I need to eat everything,” feeling you get when you follow low-fat diets.
Fat also
decreases your blood sugar and insulin production. Not only is this great news
for decreasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but it also allows
another hormone, leptin, to do its job. Leptin actually tells your body that
you are full and no longer need food. When you keep your insulin levels low,
leptin is not interfered with and functions properly.
An interesting fact: Leptin is released when you eat fat and protein, but it is not released when you eat carbohydrates. The only mechanism to tell your body to stop eating carbohydrates, is you telling yourself it is time to stop. Or, you stuffing yourself so physically full that you are physically uncomfortable and choose to stop eating. The other substance that has no hormone mechanism to stop you from consuming is alcohol. It is no wonder that they are both addictive…a topic for another blog.
In order to be sure that you can experience the benefits of leptin, make sure you eat more slowly so you are able to experience the full sensation that leptin provides before you have eaten too much.
Feeling Full = Weight Loss
So now
that we know why fat makes you full, let’s talk about how it leads to weight
loss.
We have
all tried to lose weight at some point in our lives on a high carb, restricted
calorie diet. And we have all realized we cannot live on very few calories! You
may have some success but eventually you give in because you are hungry. So,
you wind up bingeing and you gain back any weight you may have lost.
When you
feel hungry, you get cranky, anxious, and lose your will power. But when you
feel full, you are satisfied and not tempted to snack. Therefore, staying full
is key to success in weight loss!
So, the
reason is simple. If you are full, then you are much more likely to stick to
your eating plan.
Eating a
high fat diet is also a delicious way to eat. You look forward to your meals
because they taste good and leave you full.
This is where my keto taco pie comes in. This crustless taco pie has plenty of healthy fat that will leave you full and satisfied. And did I mention that it is delicious? Both your high carb and low carb family and friends will love this one. But watch out and only eat one piece…otherwise, you will feel too full! 🙂
It only takes a little bit of this pie to fill you up!
Keto Taco Pie
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 packet of keto compliant taco seasoning
2 green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup sugar-free salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
4 large eggs
½ cup heavy cream
½ tsp sea salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” pie pan with coconut oil or grease with butter.
Heat a greased large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, breaking up with a spoon or spatula. Stir occasionally until brown.
Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the ground beef.
Whisk together the eggs and heavy cream in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the green onions, salsa, ¾ cup of the cheese, and salt.
Stir the prepared taco meat into the egg mixture. Pour into the pie pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top of the pie is a nice golden brown colour. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
You can add extra taco toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, or extra salsa and onions.
Regardless of what religion you are or aren’t, spiritual or not, it is good to pick a day for relaxation and human connection. I do my best to keep Sundays that day. It is the kind of day where I like to have a slow start and put a little extra effort into our brunch. It usually involves more comfort types of food than I usually eat, and often I end up splurging with something like waffles.
Luckily, there are lots of great recipes out there for waffles. These waffles are heavier than waffles made with wheat flour. Double bonus for me! 1.) I have to eat less to be filled up. 2.) I get to spend less time cooking since I don’t have to make as many! And actually, it is a triple bonus for me, because I really enjoy them and it makes me feel like I am treating myself.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup of almond flour
1/4 teaspoon of ground sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of erythritol (such as Swerve)
Instructions
Pre-heat your waffle iron.
Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well mixed.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well blended.
Depending on the size of the waffle iron, add around 1/4 cup of the batter to your waffle iron and close the lid.
The waffles are done when they stop steaming and they are golden brown.
Remove and top with your favorite topping! I usually make my own syrup with a 1/4 cup of frozen berries, warmed up in the microwave or saucepan. I sweeten with a bit of erythritol and thicken the syrup with a sprinkle of xanthum gum. Top that off with some fresh whipped cream and you will think you are in heaven!
2 servings. Macros per serving: 6g net carbs, 37g fat, 24g protein.
Guacamole is one of my favorite snacks. I use it on homemade almond flour crackers, pork rinds, and as a vegetable dip. I put it on top of my burgers, salads and sometimes I just eat it up with a spoon!
The invention of frozen avocados made so that I can whip up a batch easily whenever unexpected guests come over. If they live the high carb life, then I just push some taco chips their way while I stick to dipping in the veggies or whatever else I happen to have on hand.
Just note that frozen avocados are found in the fruit aisle. It took me a bit to realize that. In fact, if you keep the following items always on hand, you will always have what you need to make this recipe:
dehydrated onions
minced garlic in a jar
salsa (replace this for the Roma tomatoes)
This recipe is the easiest I have found. I have adapted it a bit over time. I am one of those people that think cilantro tastes like soap, so I don’t include it in this recipe. If you are a cilantro fan, go ahead and add it!
Avocados are a magical food that tastes rather bland on its own, but simply add some salt and pepper to it, and suddenly it is the most delicious snack! If avocado tastes so good with just salt and pepper, you can imagine how yummy it is after you add onion and garlic.
Here is my favorite recipe:
2 avocados, mashed
1/4 cup chopped red or yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 small Roma tomato chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together in a small bowl. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (while you are talking with your guests) to allow the flavours to mix. Then take it out and season to taste. Garnish with some parsley or black olives for a nice touch.
Depending on your mood and tastes, consider adding the following:
Cilantro
Bacon
Mayo
Red or green chilies
6 servings: 2.3g net carbs (5.6g total carbs, 3.3g fibre), 7g fat, 1g protein
The holidays are coming…how are you going to stay eating low carb when there are so many tasty sugary favorites surrounding you? Will you have the will power? Will you be able to resist??
Remember, in the low carb ketogenic world, you don’t have to be deprived…you just have to make better choices. And luckily with this way of eating there are SO MANY different choices! You can eat everything you used to eat, you just have to prepare a low carb version of it.
It is much simpler than you think and eventually you will even start to prefer the low carb option over the high carb favorites you use to eat!
To help you out this holiday season, I would like to share my Holiday Cookbook with you for FREE! It contains many of the traditional favorites, but with lower carb ingredients. You are going to love these recipes!
Download your copy by clicking on this picture button below:
I hope this cookbook will help you to be stress free as you prepare for the parties, company, or just downtime this holiday season.
The most important secret to a happy life has got to be gratitude. The happier you are with what you have and all your blessings, the more of those things you will attract. The same applies to your diet! Rather than focusing on what you can’t have, focus on what you can. I love that I can eat higher fat foods, creamy sauces and tasty fat bombs. I love that I feel full after meals rather than being hungry and counting the minutes to the next meal. I love that I now know which foods are nutrient dense. I know that the food I eat is providing me with the vitamins and minerals I need for health and not just providing empty calories. I know that every bite of food that I put into my mouth is decreasing the amount of inflammation in my body and making me healthier. It feels great!
I hope you are enjoying experimenting with low carb foods. I hope you are taking the time to learn new recipes. I hope you are finding some new favorites that not only taste good, but are making you healthier every day. You deserve this level of health!
1. Low Carb Recipe
Although I have gotten used to not eating bread or pasta, every now and then I feel like I want a piece of toast with peanut butter and jam. You can definitely do this low carb style! Check out the 90 Second Keto bread recipe by Kitchn. It is super fast to make. You just mix up the biscuit mix individually and put it in a mug to cook in the microwave. Then you can slice it and toast it in the toaster or in a frying pan. I make some home made jam by mixing a couple of tablespoons of berries with 1/8th of a teaspoon xanthum gum and some zero calorie sweeter like Swerve or Xylitol, and I have an old favorite meal to comfort me on a lazy Saturday morning. Give it a try!
Carbohydrate intolerance causes many common illnesses of our society. It is why we have epidemic levels of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and others. Carbohydrates, especially sugar, causes inflammation in the body and insulin resistance. What is super interesting that these conditions can be reversed just by decreasing the amount of carbohydrates we eat daily. These diseases are preventable and reversible!
One of my favorite companies called Virta is doing just that for thousands of patients. Check out their explanation of carbohydrate intolerance to learn what they have to say about common illnesses of our modern day society and the ability to reverse them.
Want to see more research from keto experienced doctors? Follow me on Twitter @LLifenow.
3. Inspiring success story
Why do I spend so much time on this low carb keto stuff? Because I truly believe that it can make a difference in so many people’s lives. It has been transformational for me. I think learning how to flip our body into the natural state of ketosis it is a basic skill that we all should know how to do.
I love it when people share their stories. Share yours on my Facebook Page.
Happy learning! Low Carb and Keto is a way of living, not a short term diet. There is a lot to learn, but it is a journey that just get better and better. Good luck on your journey! Feel free to reach out to me at tiffiny@lowcarblifenow.com if you have any questions.
This month I did an experiment that I would have never done in the past. I didn’t step on the bathroom scale to weigh myself for 7 days. This may not seem like a big deal for most, but in order to keep my weight down, I have literally weighed myself every day. If the numbers started to move up, I would quickly make adjustments so I didn’t gain too much weight. A bit of an obsession I guess. The problem was that I craved food ALL THE TIME. I felt like I was always thinking about the next snack.
During the last 7 days I made a conscious effort to only eat when I was hungry. If I didn’t feel like having breakfast, I would skip it or have a keto coffee instead. If I was hungry I would eat a low carb breakfast of eggs, spinach, cheese and real crumbled bacon. Similar with lunch and supper, I would eat what I felt like eating and not because I felt I had to because it was “meal time”. Sometimes I at a lot until I was stuffed, sometimes I only wanted a little snack. I was actually pretty freaked out when I went to look at the scale at the end of 7 days. But then I remembered…I know how ketosis works and if I gained weight, I know the secret to taking it back off painlessly. No reason to worry! And you know what the scale said at the end of the 7 days? I was 2 pounds lighter than the week before. No stress. No starving. How can you not love this way of eating?
I hope you all are enjoying this journey and are finding your way to low stress weight loss with more energy and health than ever before.
1. Low Carb Recipe
If you Google “low carb” or “keto” + your favorite food, you can find a replacement for nearly every one of your old recipes. At first you will be disappointed that the low carb version doesn’t taste as good as your regular high carb foods. However, after awhile, you will find that once you stay low carb for a few weeks, when you go back to your high carb foods, you will find that you now actually prefer the low carb version of the food! It will become your new normal.
That happened with me and pasta. I have learned to find vegetable versions of nearly all of my past pasta favorites and I haven’t looked back. I easily avoid pasta now with no regrets and without feeling like I am missing out at all. I feel so good about all the nutrients I am getting from the vegetable version that I don’t miss the empty pasta calories from the high carb version.
Here is a zucchini lasagne recipe from The Kittchen. I just used tomato sauce from the grocery store, being careful to chose the brand with the lowest amount of carbs. Delicious!
When I was first researching low carb diets, I found it overwhelming and confusing. Everyone seemed to have a different opinion. Saturated fat is good! Saturated fat is bad. Salt is good. Salt is bad. Butter is good. Butter is bad. Who do you believe? After months and months of reading it soon became clear that there are different rules eating high carb than eating low carb. And doctors have their favorite approach and they are each passionate about their opinions. I have been able to find a reputable list of doctors and nutritionists that I trust, and those are the ones I listen to. Now that I understand the biology behind it all, I can easily detect an article opposing keto that is playing on people’s fears and old school research and beliefs. The world is changing, and just like society used to think the world was flat, the world will soon realize that ketosis is the secret to keeping our society healthier.
Want to see more research from keto experienced doctors? Follow me on Twitter @LLifenow.
3. Inspiring success story
I am a huge fan of a company called Virta that works with patients to reverse type 2 diabetes. This month I thought I would share one of their many success stories called No More Dangerous Blood Sugar Lows Now That I am On Virta. Find it here.
I love it when people share their stories. Share yours on my Facebook Page.
Happy learning! Low Carb and Keto is a way of living, not a short term diet. There is a lot to learn, but it is a journey that just get better and better. Good luck on your journey! Feel free to reach out to me at tiffiny@lowcarblifenow.com if you have any questions.
My First Newsletter on the Low Carb Ketogenic Lifestyle!
Does anyone even do newsletters any more? Well I am!
I am committed to sharing my low carb passion with anyone who is curious. This way of eating takes so much of what we have learned about what is healthy and turns it on its head!
There is a lot to learn, but I will help you through it in easy, but sized pieces.
Here is how it will be set up:
1. A new delicious low carb recipe.
There are a lot of really creative people out there cooking up tasty meals and treats that fit well within the low carb lifestyle.
2. An article from doctors who specialize in the low carb ketogenic diet.
This is not a fad diet, it is a movement. I will post articles from doctors who are working every day to prove it and have some great results to support it.
3. An inspiring success story.
Those who have committed to making long term changes have experienced amazing results. Not just weight loss but also health improvements that they previously thought would mean being on medication forever. Throwing out the pills?? Amazing.
I hope you enjoy it! Here we go…
1. Low Carb Recipe
Ideally when you are on a low carb keto diet you want to learn to live without bread. However, sometimes you need to treat yourself or just add some more variety. That is when I whip up a batch of these yummy waffles made work almond flour. I top then with a few berries and then whip up some cream with just a bit of vanilla and liquid stevia. Heavenly! Get it here.
There are so many health benefits of the low carb ketogenic diet. There has been some great research around how it can improve arterial flexibility and better blood flow in less than two weeks.
Want to see more research from keto experienced doctors? Follow me on Twitter @LLifenow.
3. Inspiring success story
Once people realize that weight loss is not a calorie thing, but a hormone thing, the successes are amazing!
I love this story from Ruled.Me. It is definitely possible (and easy once you figure it out) to adapt your menu to work with both low carb and high carb diets at the same time, but it is so much more fun to do it with your spouse. Learn about a couple’s story here.
I love it when people share their stories. Share yours on my Facebook Page.
Happy learning! Low Carb and Keto is a way of living, not a short term diet. There is a lot to learn, but it is a journey that just get better and better. Good luck on your journey! Feel free to reach out to me at tiffiny@lowcarblifenow.com if you have any questions.
There is nothing better on a warm, calm summer night then sitting with friends around a fire and laughing under the stars.
I have built up a really delicious collection of light low carb cooler recipes, but last night I wanted a comforting, creamy liqueur to sip on. A big beautiful bottle of white RumChata was catching my eye in my liquor cabinet, but sadly, RumChata does not for work my low carb lifestyle. It was time to be creative and make my own!
Here is what I came up with, and it was delicious.
Fill a short glass three quarters full of ice. Add:
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 oz white rum
1 oz sugar free vanilla syrup or to taste
A dash of cinnamon
Stir and sip!
You can stay sugar free and still enjoy your favorite liqueurs. Keep experimenting! ❤️
