Keto Update

Posted by Lisa Eirene

I think I’ve been back to keto for about two full weeks now? Maybe three. I weighed in last weekend and I was happy to see that I was exactly the same weight I was right before my surgery. So taking two weeks off and eating all the carbs didn’t do a ton of damage, thankfully! I weighed in this week and am down another pound, so moving in the right direction.

I’ve doing ok back on the keto diet. I’m still struggling to get to 20 net carbs a day. No matter what I do, I am still averaging around 25-30 net carbs each day. I looked at my diet and I guess I should probably drop my plain Greek yogurt. I mean, it’s not a ton of carbs because I eat a half a serving, but I add berries to it, and those are the carbs. I thought I was being smart by adding a spoonful of ground flaxseed (fiber) and chia seeds to it to try and offset it but I am still getting carbs with the berries. So I think next week I will try and go back to trying nuts, bone broth and maybe cheese sticks for snacks at work and see what happens.

I found a keto recipe website I like a lot. I’ve only tried a few of the recipe so far but so far I like it and the website/instagram is really visually pretty, so there’s that, too. 🙂

PERUVIAN CHICKEN WITH TANGY GREEN SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoon avocado oil
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 4 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken

Salsa Criolla (Lime Pickled Onions + Tomatoes)

  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 roma tomatoes, quartered
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Tangy Green Sauce:

  • 1 large bunch cilantro, stems and all
  • 10 large mint leaves
  • 1 jalapeño
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • Salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
  2. Mix together the cumin, avocado oil, paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Brush the chicken with the lemon juice then rub with spice mixture. Place the chicken in a large cast iron skillet and transfer to the oven.
  3. Roast the chicken for about 60 minutes until the internal temperature reads 165° F.
  4. While the chicken is roasting make the salsa criolla by placing all of the ingredients into a jar and shaking well, refrigerate until ready to use. *They get better as they sit so feel free to make ahead
  5. To make the cilantro green sauce simply blend together all of the ingredients.
  6. Serve the chicken with the green sauce, salsa criolla, and additional lime if desired. 

Calories: 824 Net Carbs: 4.3 Protein: 58.2

I used chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken. So I think the calories are a little off for the recipe. Chicken thighs are generally around 250-300 calories each, depending on the size (we had small ones). The sauce was made with real mayo, so there was definitely calories there. But overall, I don’t think the dinner was 800 calories worth. I’d put it more around 500.

I cooked the chicken thighs for about 45 minutes in the oven.

The dinner was absolutely divine! One of my favorite new recipes I’ve tried! I loved the tangy sauce. I love the “salsa” with the chicken. All the flavors worked great together.

This would be a great recipe to make for a dinner party if you want to impress your friends!

Sleepy and a Recipe

Posted by Lisa Eirene

I’ve been back to work for a few days now. The first day was ROUGH. I was absolutely, bone-tired exhausted. I forgot just how much surgery takes it out of you. It takes awhile to feel back to normal. I’m not quite there yet. I definitely needed a nap on Monday and wished I’d taken one on my lunch break! But I got to work and blinked and somehow it was 12:30 and I’d missed my morning break and it was already lunch time.

Thankfully I work from home on Wednesdays, so I was able to sleep in a bit before getting to work. I love my Wednesdays! I’m supposed to be clear to start doing cardio in a few days. Part of me misses it and is it ready to get back to it. And part of me really wants to just sleep. LOL. We’ll see how I feel in a few days!

In other news, I’ve finished a few books but not enough to do a book update. Soon! I’ve been watching a lot of TV on my time off for my surgery. I finally got caught up on some shows that I had fallen behind on (I never have time for TV). I am currently working my way through season 3 of Outlander. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s actually really good. I love historical period books/shows so it’s right up my alley. I read the first few books in the series but then quit. But I do love the TV show.

I wanted to share a recipe that I sort of created that was really good. I adapted it from two different recipes but based it on this recipe Zucchini Pasta with Chicken & Pistachios. I made some adjustments to make it keto-friendly.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • minced garlic (I used 3 medium sized cloves)
  • minced mint leaves (about 7 leaves)
  • 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
  • Boneless, skinless chicken (I used chicken thighs)
  • Zoodles (We used 3 small zucchinis to make the zoodles)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chopped green onion for garnish

Make the zoodles (We used our Kitchenaid Mixer attachment, which is AMAZING, for making zoodles). Set aside. Chop the chicken into small, bite size pieces. Cook the chicken in a skillet with ghee, salt and pepper. Then in another skillet, cook the zoodles in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a small sauce pan, add the garlic. Add the heavy cream, stirring constantly. Add the mint and lemon juice. Stir constantly. Then mix the chicken, sauce and zoodles all together in one skillet.

Divide into pasta bowls, top with chopped pistachios and green onion as garnish.

It turned out really well! I liked it a lot and would definitely make this recipe again. I like the flavor and texture combos. I think next time I would use salted pistachios (I only had unsalted). I loved the sauce. The mint was a really nice, unusual flavor. It all worked really well!