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:
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
- For the Instant Pot
- Place main soup ingredients into an Instant Pot and seal.
- Using the SOUP button, cook under pressure for 12 minutes. The Soup button prevents the coconut milk from boiling and separating.
- Quick release the pressure and remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
- 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.
- For the Slow Cooker
- Place main soup ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- 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.
- Remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
- For the Stove Top
- Place main soup ingredients into a thick-bottomed pot and cook until the chicken is well cooked and the broth is flavorful.
- Remove and shred chicken. Put back into the soup.
- 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/
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.
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!
