"Protinis" A Great Snack When You Are In A Pinch!

I was in a pinch on Saturday. I had locked myself out of my office and had a meeting a half an hour after working out, I did not want to leave my protein needs in the hands of the gym staff and pay an arm and a leg for a carby protein shake. I hustled around town to the grocery store where I thought I would find a premixed shakes that are hot right now but Safeway only had cold chocolate milk.

I geared up to by some meat and dig in when I happened to pass by a new product called “Protinis” by Maple Leaf Foods. I was in awe. There are multiple flavours of “Protini” but I have stuck with the Glazed Oven Roasted Chicken & Apple flavor because out of all of the varieties at my local Safeway it is the one with the lowest amount of carbs.

I quickly downed both of the “Protinis” in the package; I was impressed at how good the cold chicken and dried apples were. Nutritionally there are 80 calories in each of the Glazed Oven Roasted Chicken & Apple packs with 5 grams of carb, 1 gram of fibre and 4 grams of sugar. Protein wise they definitely do not measure up to a shake but there are 11 grams of protein in each pack of the Glazed Oven Roasted Chicken & Apple.

They are a little pricey, but nice little treats when you are in a pinch. I plan on packing them for road trips, hikes and any instance when I know I am going to be hard-pressed to find low-carb quick food fixes. I hope gas stations start stocking them!

Here are all of the different flavours of “Protini” on the market right now:

 

From http://www.protinis.ca/en/product.html

Try them out and save a little money with this "Protini" coupon! 

Low Carb Pulled Chicken

Step One: Root-beer and seasoning! 

I make pulled every week. It is the perfect meat ingredient to have kicking around the house, we put it click here to check out that recipe).  But, we wanted to switch it up a little bit and made the switch to chicken. Now, it is a bit more expensive, but it is just as tasty and a great way to change things up a little bit. 
in everything and eat it on its own for a quick lunch (

We did not buy a jumbo pack for this experiment, one family pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs made a of shredded chicken for two hungry adults. We used chicken thighs because they are cheaper than chicken breasts and hold the flavour better than chicken breasts.

This recipe is basically the same as pulled pork, we just switched up the meat and times.

Ingredients

Fully cooked!

-One can of diet or stevia root beer
-Seasonings (we used paprika, chilli powder, pepper, chilli flakes)
-Hot sauce
-One package of chicken thighs

Procedure
1. Place chicken thighs in slow-cooker set on low heat.
2. Pour root-beer over chicken.
3. Spice to taste.
4. Stir/flip chicken every 2 hours (not really necessary, if you are leaving it overnight)
5. After 7 to 8 hours drain the leftover liquid from the crock-pot.
6. Pull apart chicken.
7. Season and sauce to taste. 

-Depending on what taste you are going for you can use different sauces. We have used everything from 0 carb sweet Hawaiian sauces to salsa. You can mix it up, I tend to use chipotle sauce and Kraft low cal barbecue sauce.

It is pretty hard to make pulled chicken look pretty.
But, damn it is tasty.

The Glory Of Eggs

"Messy Eggs"

When living a low carb lifestyle, one of your staple foods will be eggs. You can add eggs to many meals or have it has the main part. Eggs are amazing, they have incredible filling powers and can help you feel full for long amounts of time. Every time I have experienced periods of weight loss I have consumed eggs regularly.

One of the first ways I started integrating eggs into my diet further was to ensure I had a breakfast style meal everyday. The picture to the left is what I call 'Messy Eggs'. These eggs are fried, seasoned with cajun spices and chilli peppers and topped off with cheese.

"Chipotle Loaded Chicken Breast"

This meal was consumed as part of supper. I ate fancier sausage with bacon and "Messy Eggs". The seasoning is what helps make the meal versatile and more than just a breakfast style meal. 

Another one of my favourite ways to add eggs to my meal outside of breakfast is to add one to my burgers. Just like bacon, you can use a fried egg as garnish for a burger. Why not add cheesy scrambled eggs as a side too? 

 An egg is the prefect way to add a little something to a meal when you are really hungry but do not want to eat two servings. I recently added a fried egg to one of my favourite entrees, "Chipotle Loaded Chicken Breasts" (right photo).

"Loaded Chicken Breasts" are simple supper entrees. Cook a chicken breast in the oven, season to taste. I stick with Chipotle because I have a great PC 0 Carb sauce (left) and I season with a little Italian seasoning, grated parmesan cheese, chilli pepper and sometimes I throw a little bit of almond flour breading on. When the chicken breast is finished add a slice of bacon to the top and grate cheddar cheese on top. Above, I simply added a fried egg underneath. 

Do you have any secret egg additions you live off of? 

Low Carb Vanilla Pudding

I worked this out to be part of my eclair recipe and had to try the pudding on its own. Not the lowest in carbs, but it is a satisfying treat.

Ingredients 

1/3 Cup of Granulated Sweetener

1 Tablespoon Liquid Sweetener 

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch 

1 Tablespoon Almond Meal

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Prep Work

-Beat eggs in a small bowl.

Procedure

1. Mix together in saucepan on: almond milk, cream, liquid sweetener, sweetener, cornstarch and almond meal. 

2. Stir occasionally. The mixture should thicken. Once it begins to thicken cook and stir for 3-5 minutes.  

3. Pour one cup of the hot mixture into the eggs.

4. Pour egg mixture into the saucepan and cook for 2-4 minutes. 

5. Remove from heat and melt butter into the mixture.

6. When the butter is fully melted add in the vanilla.

7. Chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.

Nutritional Information (for 1 of 4 servings)

Calories: 302

Fat: 27.1g

Carbs: 5.2g

Fiber: 0.4g

Sugar: 0.6g

Protein: 4.0g

Thanks For The Support!

I would just like to thank everyone who has been following my online cookbook and sending feedback on my experiments in the kitchen. I am currently 40 lbs lighter than I was at this time last year and I am loving every minute of it! In the following weeks I will be posting more great content including my all-time favourite keto/low carb pizza crust! 

Thanks for the great year, if you are interested in helping with my pursuit of keto/low carb foods please click a featured ad link on this page! 

Kate

Almond Meal Brownies

Pictured Here With Cookies & Cream Homemade
Protein Powder Ice Cream 

Yet again I could not find a pan so I used a pie pan. This recipe makes 8 equal pie pieces, nutritional information is based per piece. 

Ingredients
3/4 Cup of Almond Meal
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
40 drops of liquid sweetener 
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla 
1 Tablespoon Granulated Sweetener
1/4 Cup Butter
2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Chocolate Almond Milk 
1/2 Bar (25 g) Lindtt 99% Cocoa Chocolate

Prep Work
Grease an 8x8 pan or pie pan.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Procedure
1. Mix together in medium bowl: almond meal, salt, cocoa, granulated sweetener and baking powder.
2. Melt together in a small bowl: chocolate, butter, 10 drops of sweetener.
3. Mix together in another medium bowl: eggs, the rest of the sweetener, almond milk, heavy cream, vanilla.
4. Pour melted mixture from Step 2 into mixture from Step 3.
5. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Cool before cutting 


Nutritional Information (Per Slice)
Calories: 146
Fat: 14g
Carbs: 3.2g
Fiber: 1.8g
Sugars: 0.4g
Protein: 3g

Where Are The Pork Rinds?

If you would have told me at this time last year I would be craving pork rinds I would have said one of two things:

1. "I need to stop watching American Horror Story because weird cravings are not my style."

or, more likely...

2. "What the hell are pork rinds?"

Keto has opened my eyes to some new foods, things I never thought I would eat. Like miracle noodles. Granted, I never will eat Miracle Noodles again, there is one thing I truly miss now that I am back in Nova Scotia that is impossible to find. Pork rinds. 

Living in the arm pit of the universe makes it hard to find certain things you grow accustomed to eating beyond the boarder. Pork rinds are the first example, they common place in any convenience store in other provinces and in the United States but impossible to find in Nova Scotia. My boyfriend and I joke about the reasons why these 0 carb snacks are "illegal" on the peninsula, but I would seriously like to know why we are not allowed to buy pork rinds. 

In general, we do not have a diabetes store or anything of the sorts that we can find. This obviously does not make keto/low carb living impossible, but it does add a few challenges. When living in Calgary we were able to by 0 carb, sugar-free foods pretty conveniently.  Here, it is a completely different story. Pete's Frootique carries some sauces that have made life a little easier, but lines like "Guy's Barbecue Sauce" and "Walden Farms" sauces simply do not seem to exist here. 

Have you run into these problems? This is a problem for me, I do not have a credit card. I would much rather buy local than order things online, but right now that is looking pretty impossible. I try to cut frankenfoods as much as possible from my diet, but sometimes a syrup or sauce is just nice to have. And, pork rinds are the perfect snack for nachos or just on their own. I much prefer them to Beanitos (which we do have in Nova Scotia). 

Believe me, if I had money to spare (if I wasn't a poor student), I would open a Diabetic store in Nova Scotia. 

Keto Banana Bread

Next time I make this recipe I will double all ingredients. The picture shows just how thin this recipe makes a loaf, a good snack but I would like a little more next time. Also, you can use the recipe to make muffins (adjust times of course).

Definitly going to double the recipe next time.

Ingredients
1/4 Cup of Almond Flour
1 Tablespoon Sweetener
1/8 Teaspoon Cinnamon 
1/8 Teaspoon Baking Soda
Dash of salt
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Shortening
1 Egg
1/8 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Banana Extract
1/4 Banana Mashed

Prep Work
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
-Grease a loaf pan.

Procedure
-Mix all wet ingredients together in a bowl.
-Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
-Mix contents of the two bowls together.
-Add in mashed banana. Mix until smooth.
-Pour batter into a loaf pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool. 

Nutritional Information (Per Loaf)
Calories: 429
Fat: 38.3g
Carbs: 13.3g
Fiber: 3.8g
Sugars: 5.1g
Protein: 12.6g

Low Carb Cauliflower Brownie

Brownie Mix

I figured I would try a recipe I found online that used cauliflower to make keto brownies. I was really skeptical, but I had some cauliflower that needed to be used in my fridge so I thought I would give it a try. I am so happy I did. 

It was my boyfriend's birthday this week and when I started telling him about my plan to make the cauliflower brownies he told me not to tell him what was in them. He soon forgot that I had ever mentioned cauliflower and I was so excited after he approved them. I thought they were great, but I was really unsure about what he would think. 

I made this in pie form, instead of a birthday cake. Normally it will make about 36 brownies. 

The result, in pie form. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of pureed cauliflower
3 teaspoons of brewed coffee ***optional***
1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
1/2 bar Lindt 99% chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1/4 bar of cream cheese (2 oz)
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoon sweetener
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt


Prep Work:
-Puree cauliflower.
Cut off cauliflower florets and throw out the cores. Steam the florets for 8 to 10 minutes. Puree in food processor for 2 minutes. Instead of using water for texture I used brewed coffee, but this is just a little something extra I did. Water is perfectly fine to use. 
-In a medium bowel melt butter, chocolate, and cream cheese in the microwave for 1 minute. 
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Grease a 9x9 pan.

Procedure:
-Add almond milk to the pureed cauliflower mixture and puree together until smooth.
-Add butter and chocolate mixture to the cauliflower and almond milk mixture in the food processor. Puree until smooth.
-Add eggs to the mixture and blend.
-Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowel. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture and then stir until smooth.
-Spread mixture evenly in pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and then cut.

Using my ingredients this is the nutritional information per brownie (36 in total).

Nutrition Info (Per Brownie):
Calories: 53
Fat:  4.8g
Carbs: 1.1g
Fiber: 0.8g
Sugar: 0.2g
Protein: 1.4g

I recommend these brownies with sugar free caramel sauce or ice cream (or both) for garnish. 

Keto Jalapeño Poppers-> Four Different Types

This recipe makes 10 poppers.

Originally, we started making this recipe using the standard bacon to wrap the poppers. But, we found they were greasy and looked for a way to solve this. 

Don't get me wrong, the bacon was delicious, but here are three other alternatives to the bacon recipe. 

1).  Cheesy Poppers-> can be crispy if you allow the cheese topping the stuffed jalapeño to firm

2).  Prosciutto Poppers-> these do not leave the jalapeño as soft and greasy as bacon, lighter and easier to handle as well.

3).  Ham Poppers-> not as much taste, I used Piller's Simply Free Breakfast ham. They are not as greasy, but are thick and can absorb the jalapeños heat. 

Cheesy Poppers (crispy option)

Ingredients

5 jalapeño peppers

1/2 cup of grated marble or cheddar cheese

4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.

-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.

-Sprinkle grated cheese on top of each stuffed jalapeño.

-Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Cheesy Poppers and Ham Poppers

-Briol for a few minutes to crisp cheese further.

Nutritional Information (per popper)

Calories: 54

Total Fat:  4g

Carbs:  3.7g

Fiber:  1.5g

Sugar:  1.9g

Protein: 2.1g

Ham Poppers 

Ingredients

5 jalapeño peppers

5 pieces of breakfast ham 

4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.

-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.

-Cut each strip of meat in half.

-Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a piece of ham.

-Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per popper)

Calories:  47

Total Fat:  2.6g

Carbs:  4.1g

Fiber:  1.5g

Sugar: 1.9g

Protein:  3.2g

Prosciutto Poppers (my favourite)

Ingredients

5 jalapeño peppers

5 pieces of prosciutto  

4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.

-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.

-Tear each strip of meat in half.

-Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a piece of prosciutto.

-Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per popper)

Calories: 47

Total Fat:  2.9g

Carbs: 3.6g

Fiber:  1.5g

Sugar: 1.9g

Protein: 2.7g

Keto Pulled Pork

This is one of my favourite recipes. 

I make it and used pulled pork in everything.

Pulled Pork and eggs, pulled pork omelettes and as a garnish on burgers. 

Most of the time I eat it as an entree. 

This recipe makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:
2 lbs of pork shoulder (or tenderloin)
1 can of diet pop (root beer or Dr. Pepper)
a dash of cinnamon 
chipotle sauce 
hot sauce 
4 oz of low carb/sugar free bbq sauce

Procedure:
-Place pork in slow cooker and heat on low. 
-Pour diet pop over meat.
-Add dash of cinnamon.
-Let cook on low heat for 6 to 7 hours.

-After 6-7 hours drain the slow cooker well.
-I then add sauces to taste. I try to use as little bbq sauce and as much of the other sauces as possible to reduce the carbs. An alternative to this is using a 0 carb bbq sauce. 

Nutritional Information (Per Serving):
Calories: 148
Total Fat: 6g
Carbs.: 1.8g
Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 1.1g
Protein: 20.1g

Here is a pic from my latest Slow Cooker Sunday. I bought the biggest shoulder I have ever seen and cooked it over night. It was amazing to wake up to! I like to let it sit sauced before I eat for a few hours, but today I could not resist using some in a pulled pork omelette!

Cheesy Italian Cauliflower Crust (Thin)

Before baking.

I liked this recipe a lot. It ended up being pretty easy, even the first time I made it (and quick). I used to to make garlic fingers. You can also use this recipe for pizzas, or even bread and breading. 

Ingredients 

1/4 of a large head of cauliflower (1 1/2 cups grated) 

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 large egg

3-4 oz. of mozzarella cheese (I like marble too)

1/2 teaspoon Italian heb seasoning (dry)

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Prep Work

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

-Grate 1/4 large head of cauliflower (amount=1 1/2 cups)

-Line a pan with tin foil, spray with cooking spray 

Procedure

-Microwave grated cauliflower until softened (6-8 minutes), stir occasionally. Cool for 2 minutes. 

-Combine the rest of the ingredients into the bowel with the cauliflower, sir well.

-Spread on lined pan. Press down and spread evenly to create a thin crust, you can prepare the crust as thin or thick as you like. My times are for a very thin crust.

-Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Flip and bake for 4-6 minutes. 

Nutritional Information (per serving, 4 servings per crust

Calories: 173

Total Fat: 12.7g

Carbs: 3.5g

Fiber: 1.3g

Sugars: 1.1g

Protein: 10.3g

(Suggestion below is not added in nutritional value.)

***for added flavour grate parmesan cheese over the crust when you flip it, this can be a great snack on its own

Mini Keto Cheesecakes (with chocolate garnish)

    

Again, I apologize for the ugly plates.
New dishes are on my Christmas List.
Also, I drizzled this one with Smucker's
sugar free caramel sauce.

I had quite a few problems with this recipe, I am 
going to have to try it again. Below is my recipe, it is modified as I thought was needed. I will update this post as I work on perfecting it.

I found the recipe I started with way too sweet and buttery, this is the modified recipe I will now us. The following nutritional info varies by specific ingredients used. 


Yeild: 12 Cupcakes
Calories (Per Cupcake): 228
Fat: 20.5g
Carbs: 4.2g
Fibre: 0.8g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 5.2g

Ingredients 
2 teaspoon of  vanilla
1/3 stick of butter
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of splenda
2 eggs
2 8oz portions of cream cheese'
6 pieces of 90% Dark Chocolate


Prep Work 
-Pre-heat your oven to 350.  
-Soften the cream cheese.
-Melt the butter.

Procedure
-Stir almond meal into melted butter.
-Place a small amount of this mixture in each section of the pan, pat down to create crust. 
-Mix vanilla, eggs, splenda and cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. 
-Fill each part of pan with cheesecake mixture, until each is nearly full. 
-Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. (While baking) Cut chocolate pieces in half.
-Let pan cool and then remove cupcakes. Place a piece of chocolate on each cheesecake. This should melt on top. I added the chocolate to calm the sweetness of the initial recipe. 
-Chill cupcakes, it is worth the wait to leave them in the fridge overnight.

Welcome To My Cook Book

Hi,

I recently decided to revamp my cookbook with
the very best Keto recipes I could find.
Bye, bye carbs! 

My name is Kate Bruce. This is a special blog I have created to essentially electronically log keto recipes I make. I have been on a low carb diet since the end of April and lost 30lbs. I feel better than ever, I have rare cravings for sugary foods but I never seem to want grains. I love my new lifestyle, yes there are compromises but I feel better now than ever. It has also brought my boyfriend and I closer because we spend time cooking food rather than making meals out of boxes. I started keto as a 30 day challenge to myself and have been living low carb for over five months now, over the summer our kitchen was like a science lab every evening. Every night we tried something new, or a little different and enjoyed the results of our experiences.


I am not going to recap my tips for weight loss, or experience here. If you would like to find out more on that check out my personal blog at:
http://kategbruce.blogspot.ca/2012/09/how-i-lost-small-child-6-tips-to-help.html


If you have stumbled upon this, feel free to try and share my recipes. Most of them are taken from other pages and tweaked to my liking.


Good luck and enjoy!

Kate