Leftover Meal…

So being 8 months preggo makes meals sometimes a bit challenging. With all the restrictions when it comes to what you can and can’t have (runny eggs I miss the most…)  

Today I decided to attack that left over chicken that we had sitting in the fridge.  OK…  What to do with it I thought to myself. 

The it hit me…  I chopped up four snack tomatoes, half a small red onion and threw this all in a hot pan with the stripped off the bone left over chicken. I added some cajun herbs for that extra flavor boost. 

Then I paired it with a small avocado.  

Result? A fast keto meal with lots of good healthy fats and protein! 

Coming soon!

So for the longest time I’ve wanted to have crunchy muesli… so today I got off my tush and made the first mini batch just to test it out.  

Basically it’s a mix of nuts and my home made peanutbutter which I baked off in the oven. 

Result wise I’m pretty happy for  a batch one… I have to start somewhere right? It wasn’t quite crunchy, it was a bit on the wet side. 

I baked this at 180 Celsius for around 30 mins… somehow it just wasn’t getting crunchy so I turned on the grill. 

Going to have to fiddle with this a bit but at least it really did taste good when I added it to my yogurt. 

Just wanted to share! 

Eggs & Avocado

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, had some serious family stuff going on and my eating habits took a land slide.

But like all things at some point you need to pick yourself up and get going again. So here we go… picking up and going.

This for me is one of the best keto breakfasts around. It includes protein and lots of good fat. It’s also creamy and tasty!

What is it?

Just two boiled eggs, one small avocado, and some olive oil. Mix it all up in a bowl and enjoy….

Sugar Free Nutella

Holy nut butter!

After missing Nutella but a bit jaded after my past less success at making it I’ve decided it is time to try again.

And now I’m really that I did. It’s actually a lot easier than I had made it previously. 

Firstly you’ll need a hot oven and will need to roast about a cup or two or blanched hazelnuts and half the quantity of blanched almonds.

Once the nuts have gone slightly golden you’re ready to start.

You do need a strong blender or food processor… this is quite a heavy job so if your food processor is a small hand held one this might  not work.  That was the mistake I had made before. 

If your blender can handle crushing ice cubes then it’ll be fine for certain. 

Anyway now just throw the nuts into your processor (in batches if needed). Then let it start to crush.

Once the consistency is close to more of a paste add in some some pure dark cacao and sweetener. Then leave it to get crushing until it is a more silky texture. You will want to taste along to make sure it’s as chocolaty and sweet as you like it to be.

Once all that is done your done! Now enjoy!!

Lower Carb Chili Con Carne

This is one of those dishes that has been on my “to do” list for a while now. For some reason I just never got around to it.

Now I haven’t worked out the nutritional values for this but I can say it’s a lower carb dish but not a strictly low carb dish. Especially if you add more beans.

I used smaller black beans as they have the lowest net carb count. Something like 8 net carbs per 100 grams. There is 130 grams of beans in my entire batch.

You’ll need to look at the different tomato puree cans and find the one which is the purest. I found one that the only ingredient was tomato. No added sugars. Perfect.

So… here we go!

What you’ll need:
500 grams to 1 kilo ground quality meat
1 can tomato pulp
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 table spoon smokey paprika
1/2 or 1 tablespoon cayenne powder
1/2 or 1 tablespoon ground chili

1 large white onion
1 large red onion
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

130 grams black beans

In a large pot sauté the chopped onions, garlic and 1/2 of the peppers chopped finely.

Once they’ve softened add the meat and cook till golden brown. Add salt and pepper.

When the meat is brown pour in the tomato puree and paste. Now stir it till everything is well mixed together.

Firstly add the chili, paprika and cayenne powders. Wait 10 mins and then add the rest of the herb & spices.

Leave this to simmer on a very low heat for at least 1 hour. But the longer the better. If your going for a long boil add in some water  (about one can) and cover while simmering.

About an hour before serving chop the other half of the pepper and add those in plus a can of beans.

I served mine with some avocado on top and that was yum! 

This recipe serves between 4 -6

Greek Style Chicken Salad

One thing after years of being on a lchf lifestyle I’ve learned is that food is all about the herbs.

They will transform even the most basic of ingredients. They are the best way to really bring food alive.

Take this salad… the ingredients are humble. Baby spinach, rocket salad, cherry tomatoes and a bit of cucumber. Not too exciting right?

But when you cook the chicken and sprinkle over some dried Greek herbs, throw in some feta cheese… bam. A lot of great flavor!

Simple Tuna Salad

Sometimes you just want to be simple.

And sometimes I’m also lazy…

But I always want to make sure that food is nutrient packed!

So this salad is my go to lazy meal.

It’s one can (well almost… my cats demand a tax) mixed with about 20 grams of cream cheese, dash or few of cayenne powder, paprika powder then the usual salt and pepper. Sometimes I’ll add a small smidgen of mayo to give it a creamy boost.

Mush that all up together till nice and creamy.

Then sit it over a bed of your favorite salad veg. Mine is butter lettuce, orange pepper, celery and cherry toms.

Added a crushed walnut & some sunflower seeds for crunch.

Then there has to be an egg… because tuna and eggs love each other like peanutbutter and jelly.

Quest Bar muffins

One of my most favorite all time protein packed treats are Quest bars.

20 grams of protein and normally around 4 net carbs. Oh and did I say they taste amazing?

What I love to do is warm up an oven to about 200 Celsius then cut the bar in half and put it in there.

After a couple of minutes they get nice and soft so pull them out and stuff them into a muffin mold.

Pop it back into the oven and leave it till the top gets golden and great!

That’s really it!

Yummy yogurt….

Upping my protein is important as I’ve started seriously working out and trying to build some muscle.

So I use full organic sugar free soy yogurt – now I know there is a lot of fear about soy but really I’m skeptical. I love this yogurt as it’s got a great neutral taste and is protein packed. Plus it doesn’t cause me any stomach upset that I do get from full dairy.

Raw foods are great as well so to pack in all those nutrients I mix in some pure cacao, chia, flax and cacao nibs + a sprinkle of dried coconut. 

I also add in some isopure protein. Great stuff!  Super low in carbs and doesn’t have that super gross fake taste a lot of other ones do.

All in all it totals to 5 net carbs and keeps me going all afternoon.

The best part? This tastes like pudding! It’s like having a non guilty super treat!

What you need:
200 grams sugar free soy yogurt
15 grams dried pure coconut flakes
10 grams crushed flax
10 grams chia seeds
30 grams isopure protein
Cacao powder to taste

Mix everything except the dried coconut & protein in a bowl and put it in the fridge.

Leave it there for at least an hour… the longer the better.

About 20 mins before eating throw in the protein powder and let it cool. If it’s too thick add some water to the mix.

Mozzarella Tuna Melt

Tonight I’m doing two things – beating the cold & making use of what I’ve got lingering in the pantry.

So I decided to make a mozzarella tuna melt for dinner. It’s been a gym day today as well so I’m really glad to get that extra protein from both the tuna and mozzarella.

What does make me happy is that I’m getting better and better results using eggplants. I’ve always loved them when prepared by anyone else other than myself.  But now I’ve got it and loving it!

Firstly I had planned on making salad but the cold weather inspired me to try something different.
Totally packed full of great nutrients but also giving a great comforting feeling 🙂

What you’ll need :
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
80 grams of spinach
45 grams eggplant
75 grams mozzarella
60 grams mini orange peppers
Dried Italian herbs
Dried basil

Firstly in a hot pan add half of the olive oil and let it get warm. Add in the eggplant and let it soften slightly. Once soft add in the spinach and also just let the leaves soften. Then add the peppers. Mix it all up in the pan and then add in the tuna. Mix it all up and add this to your baking dish.

Sprinkle over the last bit of olive oil and sprinkle in the herbs. Give it a good mix up and then cover with the shredded mozzarella.

Pop this into the oven at 240 Celsius and leave it in for around 10-15 minutes.

In total this was 3 net carbs and 400 calories.
That’s it!