Spicy Loaded Chicken Breasts

Spicy Loaded Chicken Breasts = Chicken breast + bacon + cheese topped with banana peppers.

Add your favourite toppings and BOOM you are good to go! 

I love loaded chicken breasts, they are so simple and they leave you feeling so full!

To cut carbs I like to use dry rubs on my chicken breasts for flavour, I then bake them while making the bacon. Once the bacon and chicken breasts are ready I put the oven on broil, place the bacon on the chicken breasts and add shredded cheese to the top. You can garnish the breasts with your favourite toppings, I like to add a little zip with banana peppers but you can also add chopped tomatoes and other toppings to make it your own personalized loaded chicken breast. :) 

Chicken Hugs

My apologies, it has been quite a while. You can catch up on my cross-country move, change in professions, puppy adoption and travels here.

Right now, I've got a creation that was inspired by mean post-workout hunger and very little time. We used 3 chicken breasts, a cup of cheese, 6 slices of ham (you could use any sliced deli meat) and 4 slices of bacon. It made 4 entrees, we each had two and we were very full after!

I'm not sure what to call this; "Chicken Hugs" comes to mind or "Reverse Chicken Cordon-Bleu" (I realise it is a different). Regardless here is what you need to do to make this meaty treat for yourself.

1. Cook yourself up some chicken. I blackened mine a little with some chili pepper spices and hot chipotle salt, but if you want to go a more Italian route you can season with garlic powder and traditional Italian spices.

On a separate ban half cook a piece of bacon for each entree you plan on making. Remove when half cooked.

2. Let your chicken cool after cooking and then rip it up into strips. I was able to use an entire small chicken breast in one of my entrees but it was tiny.

3. Lay out an entire piece of sliced ham on a baking sheet.

4. Lay down a bed of shredded cheese.

5. Lay down a layer of chicken with an inch or so to spare on each side to allow the ham to wrap over top.

6. Sprinkle more cheese on top of the chicken.

7. Wrap the layer of ham over the top of the chicken. As you can see for some of mine I double wrapped using two pieces of ham. Stick a toothpick through all the layers to hold it together.

8. Wrap your half cooked bacon around the ham with the ends coming together at the top.

9. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

10. Place pan in oven and allow to cook until the bacon is crisp and the cheese has melted.

11. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Bam, there you go! My unnamed chicken creation! To simplify the process we stuck out bacon I our George Foreman grill for a quick half cook and used chicken breasts we already had made. We had plenty chicken left over from the 3 breasts to make a salad as well!

Cheesy Jalapeño Low Carb Biscuits

Things have been crazy over the last couple of months. All of my boyfriend's hard work eating right and working out has payed off! He has dropped over 100lbs since we started keto and has now officially sworn into the military. He will be heading to basic training in less than two weeks so we have been cutting pretty hard and I have even been hitting the gym for moral support. We only get to workout together once a week, but it is nice to be on the same page. I have been back in the gym for 6 weeks now and I have worked our 34 times. Leaving little time for innovative cooking, while Kev is at Basic I will have more time to post.

I really like these biscuits. They are great to have in the fridge for a quick snack. I have been putting a little pizza sauce on them and melting more cheese on top for a pizza-style snack. 

Letting them sit really does make a HUGE difference. I tried them as soon as they came out of the oven but found that they needed that time to really finish melting together with the shredded cheese. 

Unfortunately biscuits will never be low calorie if you want them moist and flavourful. To save some calories you can use lower calorie cream cheese, nix the bacon grease and maybe skimp on the butter a bit. 

Ingredients:
-1 medium jalapeno
-1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
-3 eggs
-1/3 cup coconut flour
-(optional) 1/2 tablespoon bacon grease
-1 tablespoon of cream cheese
-1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used tex-mex)
-1/3 cup melted butter   
Procedure: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Remove the seeds and chop up the jalapeno.
3. In a bowl combine dry ingredients. 
4. Blend the wet ingredients and the jalapeno. 
5. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until there are no lumps.
6. Fold in cheese. 
7. Spoon out the batter into nine equal units in greased pan.
8. Bake for 15 minutes. 
7. Brush tops of the biscuits with melted butter. 
8. Let sit for at least half an hour.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 141
Fat: 12.3g
Carbs: 3.3g
Fibre: 1.8g
Sugar: 0.5g
Protein: 4.6g

Low Carb Saganaki

Fried Cheese? Sign me up. 

At first we thought we couldn't make this treat but quickly started to think outside the gluten box and got almond flour involved.

This one is really simple. We have only made it once, I think it will be a common appetizer for our meals from now on. 

We used Krinos frying cheese to make this saganaki. We changed up the traditional recipe a little bit, no flames were involved. The next time we make it we will try using olive oil and let you know how that goes.

Ingredients

-One 110g block of sheep's milk grilling cheese

-1/2 cup of almond meal/flour 

-1/4 cup of butter for frying

-1 tsp. of chili pepper

-1 xl egg

-a dash of salt & pepper

Procedure

1. Add all of your dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Crack an XL egg and whip it in a small bowl.

3. Dip the block of cheese in the egg.

4. Heat butter on high in pan.

5. Coat your dipped block of cheese in flour and seasoning mixture.

6. Fry until golden brown on both sides. 

Nutritional Information per Serving (makes 4 servings):
Calories: 202.5
Fat: 16.75g
Carbs: 4.1g
Fibre: 1.5g
Sugar: 0.6g
Protein: 12.57g

Lettuce Wrapped Tacos

This is a super easy taco fix, perfect when you need to pig out and eat six tacos and not feel too guilty for cheating. Not much to tell on this one, not an original post (most people can figure this one out on their own).

Ingredients:
-1lb ground beef
-1 Head of Boston lettuce
-Shredded Cheese (I use tex mex)
-Sour Cream (optional)
-Salsa (optional)
-Seasonings for meat (to taste):
   -chili peppers
   -salt
   -pepper
   -cheyenne peppers
-Hot Sauce
-Toppings to taste

Procedure:
-Fry up the beef and then season to taste in the pan with seasonings and hot sauce.
-Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
-Grate cheese.
-Separate lettuce leaves on a plate.
-Add meat and your favourite toppings and sauces to the lettuce.

You can switch up the meat you use to, we have also made tacos with pulled pork (pictured below).
If you need a pulled pork recipe click here.

Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

Pork chops and pork tenderloin are a staple in our diet. They are a cheap alternative to chicken and beef. We are poor new grads so saving a few bucks on meals is huge, I imagine this would be a perfect meal for a family. For $7 we bought 5 pork chops.

Ingredients
-Pork chops (I used 5)
-2 tsp of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb (you can also mix your own blend of herbs and garlic)
-a dash of salt and pepper
-1/2 tsp. of chili peppers
-coconut oil
-1 tsp. of hot sauce
-100-200g of your favourite cheese (we used marble)

The pork chops I used were rather thin, it was impossible to find thick cut chops at our grocer. If you can, use thick cut pork chops.

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350. And spread enough coconut oil over aluminum foil on pan for each pork chop.
2. Slice cheese into strips.
3. Make a length-wise slit in each pork chop that will fit your cheese. Do not cut down the entire length.
4. Stuff each pork chop with cheese.
5. Tooth pick the pork chop shut.
6. Add all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
7. Add hot sauce to the dry ingredients.
8. Dip each side of each pork chop in the spices in the bowl.
9. Bake the pork chops for 20 minutes.
10. Remove pork chops from oven and each one over. If cheese is leaking out you can try to put it back into the pork chops (or on top of them).
11. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information
(to come)

Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Fritters

I have a hard time adding cauliflower into the mix in my meals. I am not a huge fan its the taste, but I
love the potential it has for substituting foods like potatoes in my diet.

One potato product I really, really missed was breakfast hash browns. I love them loose and McDonald's style and this recipe is spot on with producing the texture of grated potato hash browns.

Now, this recipe is time consuming. Give yourself a good hour the first time you make it.

It should make twelve fritters.

Ingredients
-5 slices of crispy bacon
-1 medium head of cauliflower
-1 jalapeño
-3 eggs
-1 teaspoon of onion powder
-1 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I use tex-mex)
-1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese
-3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of almond flour
-salt and pepper
-coconut oil (for the frying pan)

*serve with salsa and/or sour cream

Procedure
1. Prepare 5 pieces of bacon, make sure it is crispy and easy to break up!
2. Steam cauliflower florets until tender. I did this on a frying pan and it took 7-8 minutes.
3. Rinse cauliflower with cold water and mash it like potatoes. Try to break up all of the big pieces.
4. Place cauliflower in a colander let water drain for 10 minutes.
5. Remove seeds from jalapeño and chop it up into small pieces.
6. Whisk together eggs, jalapeño, parmesan cheese, bacon, 2 tablespoons of almond flour and a dash of both salt and pepper.
7. Drain cauliflower and add to egg mixture. Whisk together.
8. Add cheddar cheese and the rest of the almond flour to the mixture. Whisk together well.
9. Heat coconut oil in a skillet or pan, make sure it is covered well.
10. Add batter in your desired size, I recommend a heaping tablespoon.
11. Press each cake down with a fork and fry until golden brown.
12. Flip.
13. Remove and place on paper towel.

Alternatively, you can fry your batter up in a loose fashion. It does not look as pretty, but it is a great alternative if you like it crisper (or with breakfast). You can add salsa to the mix if you make in the loose fashion.


Nutritional Information (per fritter)*
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 14.1g
Carbohydrates: 3.7g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugar: 1.1g
Protein 8.5g

*This will vary depending on what type of bacon you use and minor changes on exact amounts of cauliflower used. I used very thick bacon, an easy way to cut calories (etc.) is to use a thinner cut of bacon.

Pork Rind Nachos

This is such a simple snack, one of my favourites for sure! Before I cut carbs out of my diet nachos were my go-to snack. I missed them so much! So, once a week I will treat myself to some pork rind nachos to quell  my snacking needs.

Ingredients
-1 bag of pork rinds
-1 cup of grated cheese
-100g of deli chicken (or cut-up bacon, steak etc.)
-sauces for garnish to taste (salsa, sour cream, ranch)

*I recommend tomatilla salsa, it tends to have fewer carbs than other salsas.

Procedure (I microwave mine, but you can oven back them the same way you would bake tortilla chips)
1. Spread pork rinds over a plate.
2. Sprinkle half the cheese over the pork rinds.
3. Spread the meat over the cheese and pork rinds.
4. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the meat.
** I drip chipotle sauce over the top as well for a little more spice.
5. Microwave for 1:30 to 2:00. Keep an eye on it and pull the dish if all of the cheese has melted to a gooey point. You may need to rotate the plate half-way through if your microwave does not rotate well.

Nutritional Information To Come...

Prosciutto Parm Chicken

Ingredients

-1/3 cup, graded parmesan cheese

-1/3 cup, herb and garlic cream cheese

-2 teaspoons, almond meal (use more for more breading)

-8 to 12 slices of prosciutto 

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425. 

2. Grease glass pan with coconut oil (or whatever you choose).

3. Soften cream cheese in microwave. 

4. Coat chicken with cream cheese.

5. Sprinkle one teaspoon of almond meal over each side of the chicken breasts.

6. Cook for 12 minutes.

7. Remove chicken from oven and sprinkle with the other teaspoon of almond meal. 

8. Cook for 12 more minutes. 

9. Remove chicken and sprinkle half of the parmesan cheese over chicken breasts and wrap the chicken with prosciutto. 

10. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan cheese inside the prosciutto wrap and on top. 

11. Return the chicken to the oven for 5 minutes to crisp the prosciutto. 

Nutritional Information (per chicken breast):
*Will update
Calories: 310
Fat: 14.8g
Carbohydrates: 2g
Fibre: 0g
Sugars: 1.3g
Protein: 40g

I used two slices of prosciutto per chicken breast, but as you can see you could use a third to fully cover the chicken. I calculated the nutrition with ten slices, I only used eight.

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

This one is super easy!

Its a great appetizer or side for dinner parties and it also doubles as a quick greens fix when you are feeling overwhelmed by meat (even though this still includes meat). I never really liked asparagus until I tried it roasted in olive oil. It is as simple as cutting the asparagus out and just cooking the asparagus in the tablespoon in olive oil. If you are are on a budget, try switching the prosciutto out for normal deli ham.

And, for a little more flavour add parmesan cheese to the mix. Sprinkle grated parm over the cooked asparagus.

I recommend eating your delicious asparagus as soon as possible after removing the from the oven. Or, plating them for a second time afterwards so that the remaining olive oil will not make your asparagus soggy.

Below are the directions to make one serving (one prosciutto wrapped asparagus) for four people. You make as many servings as needed by increasing the asparagus spears and prosciutto at a three to one ratio.


Ingredients: 
- 12 asparagus spears
- 4 pieces of prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil







Procedure: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Trim asparagus.
3. Wrap three asparagus with one pieces of prosciutto. I like to cut the pieces of prosciutto in half, length wise and use the two halves to wrap the asparagus.
4. Coat each in olive oil.
5. Once the oven has pre-heated cook for 7 minutes.
6. Flip asparagus and cook for 4 minutes.

Nutritional Information (it makes 4 servings)
Calories: 70
Total Fat: 5.11g
Carbs: 1.8g
Fiber: 0.9g
Sugars: 0.6g
Protein: 5.1g

Keto Garlic Fingers

Pie pan keto garlic fingers.

Okay, another not so new recipe. But, a great variation of the low carb pizza recipe I posted previously.

If you are like me and from the east coast of Canada you know pizza is always better with garlic fingers. So I use half of my thick crust pizza recipe to make garlic fingers and half to make pizza. This fits perfectly in two pie pans.

So, whats so different? Well, not much. This actually has fewer carbs than the pizza. Instead of pizza sauce use garlic butter.

You can find garlic butter specifically at some grocery stores or you can make it (to taste) by mixing garlic and butter; then melting it in the microwave. I add Italian Seasoning or oregano as well.

Pie pan low-carb pizza. 

After spreading the butter mixture on the cooled crust add cheese (and bacon if you like) like a pizza.

Just a few changes to the pizza recipe and you have garlic fingers, a great side dish!

Here's the link to the crust recipe. Enjoy!


http://katesketo.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thick-keto-pizza-crust.html

Thick Keto Pizza Crust

This is my favourite low-carb pizza crust by far! It is not eggy like others and it is thick enough to carry flavour and support the toppings. 

I usually top my pizza with chicken, bacon and other meats. I have not added toppings into the nutrition considerations.

This crust is FILLING, I consider a quarter of the crust one serving. The nutritional information below is for the entire crust, no toppings. 

UPDATE TIPS TO MAKE THIS BETTER & EASIER: 
-take the bacon grease and add a teaspoon to a tablespoon to the crust mix, this will help everything mix together if the greasy is still hot
-mix the crust in a large measuring cup and then leave it for a few minutes on the preheated oven to melt everything together, this will make the cream cheese less chunky when you whisk it 

Ingredients

-4 Tablespoons Of Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese

-3 Eggs

-1/4 Cup Whipping Cream

-1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

-1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

-1/4 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

-1 Cup Grated Cheese (I use Tex Mex or Marble)

Prep Work

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Grease pan and layer one cup of grated cheese on the greased pan. 

Procedure

-Beat cream cheese with eggs in a medium bowl. 

-Add whipping cream, grated parmesan cheese, italian spices and garlic to the first mixture one at a time. 

-Pour mixture over grated cheese lining the pan. 

-Bake for 10-12 minutes and then let cool. 

Your crust is now finished, now just add your favourite sauce and toppings and you will have  one of the best low-carb pizzas around. 

Top It Off

-Spread sauce on crust.

-Add toppings and cheese.

-Bake for 15 minutes. I find this varies by oven, keep an eye on your pizza and make the call when it bubbles.

-Let stand for 10 minutes. This will harden everything up and make it easier to eat, it also melts together further for a more flavourful pizza experience. 

Nutritional Information For Entire Crust: 

Calories: 1000

Fat: 75.5g

Carb: 4g

Fiber: 0g

Sugars: 2g

Protein: 54g


Here are some beautiful keto pizzas and garlic fingers made in personal pie pans.
I can make three large pie pan pizzas with this recipe. I usually do two pizzas and one garlic fingers. For the garlic finger recipe click here.