Shugar Not Sspice

I will be off enjoying time with my family for the next week! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy time spent with family and know that even if you 'slip up', a brand new day is just around the corner to start again! I am making my own desserts, cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and thickeners for sauces while I'm eating at non-Keto family members houses. Your meats and veggies are usually pretty Keto friendly so you just need to watch the 'other stuff'. Again, don't stress over it! I'll be back after Christmas!

Y'all, have you seen this cookbook yet? It has several things in it that I will be trying this week! We started out Sunday (a snowy day here in the South :-(  ) with this delicious Egg & Sausage skillet. Amazon has this cookbook at a super deep discount! Go check it out!!

This is definitely for me this week!

I'm not a wine drinker, but I have several family members who are. Here's a wonderful little pic of several wines which you can find that are under 5g of carbs per serving. I prefer a flavored vodka/rum in a club soda. No carbs in my club soda... just have to watch the 'flavor' in the vodka/rum. Typically a clear alcohol does not have any carbs either but add that flavor and it goes up from there!

 Honestly, if you are eating all your GREEN veggies (& Cauliflower), It just doesn't matter how many carbs you are eating! I heard Dr. Eric Berg say one time that he had not ever heard of someone getting fat by eating salads/veggies! So true! However, don't think you add those orange (carrots, sweet potatoes) or yellows (corn, potatoes) to the mix! Those will increase your carb count in the wrong way!

Since Thanksgiving is over, don't beat yourself up over your 'mistakes' because every day is a new chance! You can do this!!

This is my last post this week because of traveling 'home' for the holiday. I wish you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving! Remember eating Keto is a lifestyle, not a diet. The holidays may seem like they will be tricky, but you just plan for them and you'll be just fine! There are always Meat & Veggies at the table. I will be bringing a Meat 'Stuffing' (my mother-in-laws recipe with a few Keto twists) & I thought I was bringing a Cauliflower Stuffing until I just saw an Instagram post last night where someone used Pork Rinds as their bread... OMGosh, I will be trying that recipe this year! And, I always bring dessert so that I can enjoy something sweet too! So, my Pumpkin Custard Pie (Pennsylvania Dutch style) and I'm trying @FoodDreamer's Goey Pecan Pie this year too! So bottom line - Enjoy yourself! Don't Stress! Make do with what you've got and when the holiday is over, get back on track! Chat with you next week! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

You guys, I made this yesterday and posted on Instagram with a HOLLER out to Cristina Culp at The Castaway Kitchen .... This is the best pumpkin bread I have found since going Keto!! It did come out thin, but it is so moist and delicious! I didn't find the recipe on her site yet, it came through the newsletter that she sends out, but I did ask her if she has a link so I can post it here! If she does, I'll be back to edit this post with the link!

Potassium is super important on a Ketogenic diet (actually, in general, no matter what eating style!). These are a few ways to add potassium to your diet!

I know that this picture is not that great.... but these Cinnamon Roll Knots were the bomb! I practically inhaled them and then remembered to take a picture for you guys! I've seen Gnom Gnom's posts on Instagram but hadn't tried any of her recipes until these... Let me tell you, I will be trying more of her creations! Eating these almost felt like I was "cheating"! Honestly, soooo goooood! Here's the link for you to try them yourself: https://www.gnom-gnom.com/gluten-free-keto-cinnamon-roll-knots/ Let me know what you think after you try them!

We love boiled eggs at my house. We eat them in our salads, made into deviled eggs, or just plain as a snack. The only issue w/ boiled eggs is the peeling process... especially fresh eggs!! I have tried many techniques including adding a ton of salt to the boiling water (which worked pretty good) but, since I have found the Pressure Cooker method - this is hands down the way to go!! These eggs peel like a dream and you won't overcook them! Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of your Pressure Cooker. Place the basket of eggs (as many as you want) into the pot. Close the lid, set the cooker for manual High pressure and for the minutes you desire (5min.). It will take the cooker approx. 5 min. to build to pressure and then 5 min. to cook. Let the pressure naturally reduce for an additional 5 min. after the cooking cycle is completed. Then do a quick pressure release. That should be approx. 15 min. total. Place the hot eggs into cold water to halt the cooking process. You ca

This was a perfect soup for this weekend! I have a huge soup cookbook from my pre-Keto days and every soup I've made from it was absolutely delicious. In my opinion, making soups Keto-friendly is pretty easy to do. Just swap out the non-Keto-friendly ingredients for Keto-friendly ingredients. For instance, in the soup: No 'real' dumplings, no corn, no flour to thicken it up, no noodles, no rice, no potatoes. Just added our favorite veggies: Broccoli and Green Beans. Can you imagine? It actually called for dumplings, noodles, rice, & potatoes! Wow, talk about Carb overload.... and my son absolutely LOVES it that way. He was very disappointed to see this version. However, the rest of us thought it was pretty darn good!

Happy Halloween!!

@fatforweightloss on instagram says, "Instead of thinking about all the foods that you can't eat, it's important to think about all the foods that you CAN eat. Simply shifting your mindset to enable positivity will be a huge part of your success, and will eventually become effortless to think about while you're at the shops. A general rule of thumb that is helpful when thinking about portion size and what to actually put on your plate can be shown visually in the diagram above." 50% veggies -- 25% fat --25% protein Which equates to: 70% Fat 25% Protein 5% Total Carbs "Envisioning this graphically is important. I do still suggest that green veggies are a vital nutrient when first starting the ketogenic diet."

We LOVE meatballs at this house! And they are so Keto friendly! If you have a great recipe that your family enjoys, just switch out the breadcrumbs for 1/2 the amount of Almond Flour. That should be the only ingredient that would need to be replaced. Enjoy!

I'm on the road tomorrow, but didn't want to forget to send my  Friday Funny!

I have been in the mood for French Toast for the last week or so and finally broke down to make it last night. My Pumpkin Cloud Bread puffed up so much it was touching the top rack of my oven. Luckily, I was able to get the rack out without demolishing the bread. The recipe said to bake it at 300* until it was golden brown on top (40-50min). Mine was already dark brown at 40 min. So I pulled it out and dumped it out of the pan onto parchment paper. I wanted it too cool so I could slice it. However, I didn't want it to cool all the way, so started slicing away... Dang it, it wasn't quite done in the middle. Oh, well, I'm going to fry it in butter anyway, right? I thought it turned out great! I think next time, I won't put as much batter in my loaf pan and make sure that it is cooked the whole way through. The last thing is to not make my syrup as sweet as I did. I've been playing with different recipes, so will keep testing until we find the one we like! Yo

Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm... Pumpkin Spice!! I don't know about you, but I am so on the Pumpkin Spice wagon! I just can't help it! And these 'muffins' did NOT disappoint! They were so moist and delicious. And the cream cheese icing even had pumpkin spice in it. My husband & I gobbled these up within 3 days... 😋 I found the recipe on instagram at @buttercup.low_carb who got it from @grandigirl

had my power & internet out this weekend :-(

I just recently came upon Shawn Mynar and her podcasts. Women have different nutritional needs than men due to our levels of hormones. I've only listened to her first 2 podcasts, but am enjoying the information that she is sharing. I'm looking forward to diving into more of her info (especially some of the calorie counting subjects and 'weight loss stalls'). If you are interested in checking her out, go here:  http://www.shawnmynar.com/ketoforwomen/

Last night I made pan-fried chicken tenders in butter with black pepper, garlic salt, and paprika sprinkled on top with a variation of Ketogenic Girl 's 'loaded cauliflower' from her Keto Essentials cookbook. Most recipes I make are variations of the original... most! Most often I add vegetables that I like and eliminate ones I don't. I usually add more spices (or sauciness)... sometimes only increasing the original recipes spice measurements or sometimes adding a few more spices that I think would enhance the dish. Don't be afraid to 'play' with a recipe! Then make sure to write on that recipe what changes you made. After you've eaten it, then make additional remarks on the recipe so you know what needs to be changed the next time around, or that it was DELISH!! and you don't need to change a thing! You don't have to be a master chef or recipe creator to know what you like and make some changes to a great recipe guideline! Have Fun!