Dinner out

Belated

Posted by Lisa Eirene

We had a nice weekend! The sun was actually out, it was a little chilly but not raining so that was nice. On Saturday we went to OMSI to see the Pixar exhibit, which totally BLEW Logan’s mind. 😀 He was ecstatic to see all his favorites in real life! We met up with friends at OMSI, too, so that was cool. Their daughter is a bit older but it was fun for Logan to have a buddy. 😉

And then we all went out to dinner after that at Produce Row. Thankfully I was able to find something on the diet to order. A salad with steak, hard boiled eggs, cheese, bacon and blue cheese:

Then on Sunday friends came over for dinner for a very belated birthday dinner. We were supposed to celebrate our birthdays (they are a few weeks apart) back in late January but I got the flu and we had to reschedule.

Since I’m now doing the keto diet, I had to modify the menu I was going to make (which also meant I wasn’t making sourdough bread). Kind of a bummer on the bread, but I appreciated that my friends were understanding. 🙂 I’ll get back to making the bread soon!

This is the recipe I made for dinner:

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Thai Yellow Curry Coconut Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 6

Calories per serving: 345

Fat per serving: 2g

Carbs per serving: 9g

Protein per serving: 14g

Fiber per serving: 2g

Ingredients

  • For the Main Soup Recipe
  • 4 chicken thighs skinless boneless
  • 14.5 oz unsweetened coconut milk full fat
  • 2 teaspoons Thai yellow curry paste (see note)
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 3 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
  • 2 green onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 inch minced ginger finely chopped
  • Veggies to add to cooked soup
  • 1 can straw mushrooms (optional)
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes sliced in half
  • 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
  • 3 green onions chopped
  • 1 lime juiced

Instructions

  1. For the Instant Pot
  2. Place main soup ingredients into an Instant Pot and seal.
  3. Using the SOUP button, cook under pressure for 12 minutes. The Soup button prevents the coconut milk from boiling and separating.
  4. Quick release the pressure and remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
  5. Add the veggies to the hot broth. You want to give them a little scalding in the hot broth but not cook them to mush so you can still taste the freshness of the veggies and herbs.
  6. For the Slow Cooker
  7. Place main soup ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
  8. Put in veggies and herbs for the last half hour. You want to give them a little scalding in the hot broth but not cook them to mush so you can still taste the freshness of the veggies and herbs.
  9. Remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
  10. For the Stove Top
  11. Place main soup ingredients into a thick-bottomed pot and cook until the chicken is well cooked and the broth is flavorful.
  12. Remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
  13. Add the veggies to the hot broth. You want to give them a little scalding in the hot broth but not cook them to mush so you can still taste the freshness of the veggies and herbs.

Notes

From: https://twosleevers.com/low-carb-thai-yellow-curry-soup/

http://www.110pounds.com/?p=56660

I did not add honey to the recipe, because that would not be keto. And honestly, it didn’t need it! Also, I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce to make it keto. So the recipe was pretty simple. I did the stovetop instructions. I didn’t have yellow curry paste but I had green curry paste and actually preferred it. It was so tasty! Loved the green curry paste.

The one issue I had with the recipe was that it claimed to make 6 servings and there is no way the ingredients as it stands made 6 servings. After I shredded the chicken, I realized quickly that there was not enough fluid to make soup for 4 adults. I ended up adding about 1 cup of chicken broth to the pot and a mini can of coconut milk (and then added 1 more teaspoon of the curry paste). This was the perfect amount of fluid to make the soup.

But it only made 4 servings. So FYI.

But despite the misleading servings size, the soup was absolutely delicious. It was creamy and decadent and so flavorful. It was filling and really really good. I would definitely make this recipe again. It was super easy and pretty quick to make. We had a kale salad along with the curry soup.

My friend Star wanted to make dessert so she did this keto recipe:

Keto Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 6 ounces sliced almonds about 1 1/3 cup
  • 3 tablespoons low carb sweetener
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
  • 5 tablespoons salted butter melted

Filling:

  • 32 ounces cream cheese softened (4 blocks)
  • 3/4 cup low carb sweetener more or less to taste
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract optional
  • 16 ounces sour cream at room temperature

Instructions

Crust:

  • Place sliced almonds in food processor and process with cutting blade until a finely ground.
  • Pulse in 6-9 stevia extract packets and cinnamon (if using).
  • Stir in melted butter.
  • Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Set aside
  • Filling:
  • Beat cream cheese on low speed until light and fluffy.
  • Add 24-36 stevia extract packets to desired sweetness. Beat on low to mix in.
  • Add each egg, one at a time, beating on low after each addition.
  • Mix in extracts, then beat in sour cream on low speed until incorporated.
  • Spread cream cheese mixture over crust.

Cooking:

  • Bake at 300°F for an hour. If top has browned, turn oven off. If not yet browned, cook until browned then turn off oven.
  • Leave cheesecake in oven with door ajar for an hour. Then, remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Chill at least 24 hours before serving.

Notes

Sweetener amounts used are minimum. Those just getting started on keto may want to up the amount to the max noted.

A one-for-one sugar replacement granular low carb sweetener can be used in place of the packets. Here’s the conversions:

  • 6 packets is 1/4 cup sugar equivalent
  • 24 packets is 1 cup sugar equivalent

Tips to prevent the cheesecake from cracking from comments:

  • Make sure all the ingredients are room temperature.
  • Don’t over mix! Over-mixing will cause the top to crack.
  • Bake for an hour. Then turn oven off and let it cool in the oven for 4-5 hours then remove and allow to finish cooling at room temperature.
  • Use a pan of water in the oven to make it steamy while preheating and keep it in the oven during baking.
Nutrition Facts:
Amount Per Serving (1 slice)
Calories 356
Total Fat 34g
Total Carbohydrates 5g 
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 3g
Protein 7g

I really appreciated that Star offered to make dessert and made a keto cheesecake from scratch! The crust was really good! It was made out of almonds. It was a unique way to make a keto-friendly crust. It was a nice treat being able to have cheesecake on the diet.

So there ya have it, two good keto recipes!

Keto Meals Week 1

Posted by Lisa Eirene

Here is the first week in meals. Everything I ate (100%):

Day One

Breakfast – Cheese omelet with sausage on the side. Unsweetened iced tea. Coffee with nutpod creamer.

Lunch  – SkinnyTaste’s Picadillo on salad with avocado

Snacks – Walnuts, Olives stuffed with jalapenos, Cheese

Dinner – Turkey Burger with Smoked Gouda Cheese, Bacon, Mayo. I made a cucumber salad with avocado and Newman’s Own Lite Italian Dressing (low carb and no sugar! Yay!) and a glass of red wine.

How I felt & how I did- Felt good! Wasn’t hungry! Like not at all! Didn’t feel tired or run down, either. I even worked out. My macros were great! I was pretty close on all the macros, not perfect, but that’s ok. The important part was I got to 20 net carbs. Yay me!

Day Two

Breakfast – 2 scrambled eggs (with heavy cream), with sausage and red peppers topped with cheese and sour cream and hot sauce. Coffee with heavy cream and nutpod creamer. Unsweetened iced tea.

Lunch – Antipasto Salad. Green salad with Italian dressing. Salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, cucumber, Greek peperoncinos and olives.

Dinner – This was the first challenge–going out to a restaurant. I could have changed our start date so that we began the Keto diet after our dinner plans with friends, but I wanted to be able to make this work even going out. We met our friends at Hopworks (basically a beer and pizza place but it’s kid friendly). I got a Cobb Salad (salad with blue cheese dressing, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes, bacon, avocado, hard boiled egg). It came with a breadstick, which I did not eat but wanted to!

I did have a glass of wine but just one.

Overall, my second day was good. I was MUCH closer to my macro goals (67% out of 70% of fat, 23% out of 25% on protein) but today I was at 27 net carbs for the day, so over. Looking over my day I discovered that my highest carb count was the avocado–ironically–but that’s ok because it’s the good carbs. (I mean HOW is the avocado higher in carbs than my WINE?!?!)

But I worked out today, so maybe the few extra carbs were a good thing?

Day Three

Breakfast – Omelet with cheese and bacon and hot sauce. Unsweetened iced tea and coffee with heavy cream and Stevia. Still not quite the same as my coffee creamer. WAHHHHH!!!! 🙁

Lunch – I got home from swimming feeling the first effects of the coming Keto-flu (I think). I was weak and shaky and felt like my muscles didn’t work. I had steamed broccoli with Goddess Dressing and some pork rinds (which are kinda weird but good if you are craving chips). Then I had a “wrap”–two slices of turkey and salami and a slice of prosciutto wrapped around a hunk of fresh mozzarella with mayo and mustard.

Snacks – Today I had a mug of bone broth. It was good! Warm and filling. I also had a piece of cheese and, some nuts and some olives.

Dinner – Michael made pastrami on the traeger grill! It was a week long process, too! But it was cool to have homemade pastrami for dinner and we have a ton for lunches for the week. Dinner was pastrami in a low carb wrap with mayo and lettuce. It was really good!

Day Four

Breakfast – Scrambled eggs (with heavy cream) with red peppers and sausage topped with some shredded cheese. Unsweetened iced tea. I had coffee with heavy cream and Stevia when I got to work.

Lunch – Pastrami in a low carb wrap! These wraps are really great! Not only are they actually tasty but they are low in calories and low in carbs. They are only 5 net carbs. So I made a wrap with mayo, mustard, pastrami, some lettuce and cheese. Bone broth.

Snacks – I made ranch dip from scratch (Hidden Valley packet with Tillamook full fat sour cream) and had raw broccoli and cucumber. Then later I had mixed salted nuts and a piece of cheese.

Dinner – Zoodles with pesto and meatballs. Some mozzarella on the side.

Day Five

Breakfast – Cheese omelet with hot sauce. Unsweetened iced tea. Coffee with heavy cream and stevia.

Lunch – Pastrami (no wrap), avocado, mozzarella, Newman’s Own Lite Italian dressing.

Snacks – Mixed salted nuts (only 1 ounce this time), cheese in the morning. In the afternoon I had homemade ranch dip with cucumbers and broccoli.

Dinner – Pork chop with herbed butter sauce and shaved brussels sprouts.

My Take Away From Week One

  • It is actually a lot harder to get fat in your diet than you think.
  • I’m going to miss my Kombucha. 🙁
  • I have a lot more thoughts and working on a post for next week!