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Low Carb (Keto) Chili

The weather is turning cold here, and there is nothing more than I love than a good, hot bowl of chili to warm me from the inside out. Chili is one of the best comfort foods I grew up on. So when I decided to do a low carb diet, I thought chili was going to be a no-go for me anymore. Like I do with just about anything, I took to Pinterest for inspiration. It was then I came across a Keto Chili recipe. It sounded pretty good and very simple, plus it was to be made in the Instant Pot and I love an excuse to use that! This is the one that I have Instant Pot Ultra 8 Qt 10-in-1  and I love it – it’s big enough for double batches of soup. (Instant Pot LUX80 8 Qt 6-in-1  is also an 8 qt one, but a little more budget friendly and depending what you use it for, it is more than sufficient). (Scroll to the end for full recipe details)

So for this recipe, you need:

1 lb ground beef 1 lb sausage 1/2 onion, diced 3 Tbsp Chili powder 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder Unsweetened 1 Tbsp smoked paprika 2 Tbsp cumin 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1 Tsp salt 1 Tsp pepper 2 Tsp garlic powder (or fresh garlic) 2 cups beef broth 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes 1 can Rotel 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum for thickening

So first, I put the the Instant Pot on saute and put in a little olive oil and the onion. I cooked for a couple minutes, then put in both meats.

I continued cooking all of that until the meat was done and no longer pink. While it was browning, I mixed all the spices together.

That’s a lot of spices!! 

Once the meat was done, I threw the spices and some fresh garlic in and mixed well.

Sorry for all the steam!

Once well mixed, I put the rest of the ingredients in the meat and stirred until it was all mixed in.

I put the lid on and turned the pressure on. This cooks for 10 minutes.

Once the 10 minutes are up, do a quick release. I can’t tell you how AMAZING the house smelled when this was releasing. And it looked so good!

All done

Normally I would like to eat chili with crackers, but they aren’t keto/low carb (not the kind I like anyways). So for low carb, I went with some cheddar cheese and sour cream, and it did not disappoint! Next time, I will be making a double batch and dividing it up and freezing it. **UPDATE 10/19/18 – I made a double batch in the Instant Pot Ultra 8 Qt 10-in-1 but kept the spices the same for 1 batch. It was PERFECT! Still plenty of spice and heat. And this time I only used hamburger, not pork sausage. Honestly, I didn’t notice a difference. Maybe if I had them side by side I would, but not in this case. I divided it up into these Reusable Meal Prep Containers. They are freezer and microwave safe, although mine aren’t staying in the freezer long! This stuff is SO good. You won’t be disappointed with the recipe.

Instant Pot Keto Chili 1 lb ground beef 1 lb sausage 1/2 onion, diced 3 Tbsp Chili powder 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder Unsweetened 1 Tbsp smoked paprika 2 Tbsp cumin 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1 Tsp salt 1 Tsp pepper 2 Tsp garlic powder (or fresh garlic) 2 cups beef broth 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes 1 can Rotel 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum for thickening

    • Set instant pot to saute. Add a little olive oil and saute onion until they begin to soften. Then add in meat.
    • Cook until meat is no longer pink, drain grease if desired (a little extra left in just enhances the flavor!)
    • While meat is browning, combine the spices together. Once meat is done, add in spices and fresh garlic if using. Stir to mix.
    • Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir to mix.
    • Put lid on instant pot and set timer for 10 minutes.
    • Once complete, do a quick release.
    • ENJOY!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE Nutritional Content – Yours may vary depending on exact ingredients Nutrition chili **UPDATE – After I made the chili and it sat in the fridge for a couple days, the spices got much stronger! The flavor was still amazing, but I think next time I’m going to cut the spices in half. It slightly changes the nutritional value. Chili Nutrition - seasonings halved

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Week 1 Check In

It’s been just over a week since I started on TruVision. Sunday’s are my check-in days, so today I weighed and measured myself, and I was pleasantly surprised! I started TruVision on 9/21/18 weighing in at 308.8 lbs and an overall 489.7 inches. Today, 9/30/18, I weighed in at 298.4 lbs and an overall 483.5 inches. That’s a total loss of 10.4 lbs and 6.2 inches in just a little over a week!!! The craziest part is, I didn’t exercise AT ALL. I’m actually still recovering from surgery on my Achilles tendon and can’t walk well and without crutches or using a knee roller. I need to take it easy and keep my foot elevated as much as I can, so exercise wasn’t even an option. I have changed my diet to try to not eat as many carbs. Now somedays, I did still eat quite a few, but the majority of the days between weigh ins, I tried to make smart, low carb/low sugar choices. Other than that, I didn’t change anything. I did notice that with taking the TruVision, I didn’t seem to be as hungry and wasn’t snacking all day or eating large portions. So far I’m going to call it a success, but I have a LONG way to go. If you’d like to give it a try, you can go to my website here:  yabboutique.truvisionhealth.com/trynow
Long way to go, but just getting started!

Low Carb Tacos

I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately, and we all know what a challenge that can be – no matter what diet you choose to do. I had previously done Keto and lost and kept off a solid 20 lbs, but doing Keto was getting to be too difficult. I yo-yo but ultimately am back just doing low carb, not really Keto. If anything it’s a lazy/dirty Keto. But one thing I like is I can still make most of my favorite foods, albeit with a little tweaking. 

Tacos is one food that EVERYONE is this house loves – so it’s probably one of the most often made foods. There really isn’t a ‘recipe’ for them, I’ll just tell you how we like to make them. Typically we have all of the ingredients for tacos in the house at all times, so if there’s ever a night that I don’t know what to make, tacos it is! 

For tacos, we like to keep it simple. Fry up some hamburger (you can always use ground turkey or chicken for this as well) and when it’s done, we just use Tones Taco seasoning. You can get it at Sam’s Club super cheap if you have one near you. My husband doesn’t like them too ‘spicy’ so we only use about half of the seasoning it calls for. You can always create your own taco seasoning with cumin, cayenne pepper, etc if you are trying to decrease sodium as well. The taco seasoning is just so convenient and cheap, it’s what I like to use. 

To make the shells, just use cheese. I’ve made them two different ways. You can either use shredded cheese on the stove or sliced cheese in the oven. I’ve had them both ways a few different times, and I prefer to use shredded cheddar cheese cooked on top of the stove. Heat a pan over medium heat. Put in about 1/4 c cheese and let melt. It will bubble up. Once brown, flip over and cook til lightly browned. Then remove and drape it over something so you get that taco shape. I use a spatula and it seems to work well. For the shells in the oven, you are basically going to do the same thing – heat the cheese, then drape over something to get the taco shape. I’ve used provolone circles. Put them on parchment paper and in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Bake for about 10 minutes until browned and bubbly. Remove and drape. Do it quickly because cheese sets up fast! 

Once I’ve got my shells done, I fill with meat, some Ortega taco sauce, lettuce (which I was out of tonight), and sour cream. Easy and simple. 

These are always a win for me, although I prefer the cheddar shells. Ignore the white spots on the plate – the dark dishwasher always seems to do it to plastic plates, and these are Tupperware too. 

This is such a versatile food, you can really make it however you like!   

Coconut Curry Shrimp

Well tonight’s supper wasn’t a full blown success, but it wasn’t bad. Definitely learned some things I didn’t like and things I would do differently. First things first – this recipe called for raw shrimp, something I have never cooked before. To make the process easier, I did buy shrimp that was already deveined, but I did still have to peel it. I’d never done that before, so good ‘ole YouTube to the rescue! Luckily it wasn’t very hard, just time consuming. For this recipe I prepped the vegetables and the shrimp earlier in the day so then come supper time, it was a lot quicker. I’ll walk through the recipe I used, but also tell you what I would do differently. First off, heat a large pan (use a wok/stir fry pan if you have it – I don’t, so I just use a large frying pan – if you want a wok, here is one that’s not too expensive: T-fal A80789 Specialty Nonstick Dishwasher Safe Oven Safe PFOA-Free Jumbo Wok Cookware, 14-Inch, Black) to medium high heat with 2 tbsp coconut oil. Throw in 1 large chopped yellow onion and 3 large garlic cloves, minced. Cook 4-5 minutes.
Personally, these cook down SO small that next time I would leave the onions sliced. I would also add in the fresh ginger here, not later. Next add, 2 tbsp curry powder, 2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp, 1 red bell pepper diced, and 1 large carrot shredded. I decided to slice my carrots and I’m glad I did, I like the pieces bigger. I would also recommend leaving the pepper in strips, not dicing since they cook down too. Cook that for 5-7 minutes until shrimp is cooked.
I put the carrots and peppers in first to cook for a couple minutes so I didn’t end up with crunchy carrots, then mixed the rest in.
I cooked this a few more minutes all together, then added a 5.3 oz container Silk Dairy Free Vanilla Yogurt, 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, 1 tsp minced fresh ginger, and 2 cups snow peas (I substituted snap peas, my store was out of snow peas). Stir it all together and bring to a boil, then it’s done! You can serve over rice or noodles, or if you’re doing it low carb like me, just omit that and eat as is. You could try cauliflower rice too.
It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t crazy about the vanilla taste the yogurt gave it. It just doesn’t go with the shrimp/curry. Next time I would omit the yogurt all together and just add in more coconut milk. I don’t need a ton of sauce either since I’m just eating it plain and there’s no rice or pasta to soak it up. I think it was also missing a little heat, so I’d probably throw some red pepper flakes in there too. All in all it wasn’t bad and I would make it again. Let me know what you think! PRINTABLE RECIPE
Coconut Curry Shrimp 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 large chopped yellow onion 3 large garlic gloves, minced 2 tbsp curry powder 2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 large carrot, sliced thin 1 can coconut milk Heat oil in large skillet or wok. Add in chopped onion and garlic, cooking 4-5 minutes. Add in carrots and peppers and cook another 3-4 minutes. Add in the spices and shrimp, stirring to coat. Cook until shrimp is done. Add in coconut milk and stir to mix it all together. Bring to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes. Done!

Battle of the Diets

Like most people in this world, I am constantly battling one diet or another. Or should I say ‘lifestyle change’. Whatever you want to call it, I’m just going to say it, it sucks. Not being able to eat what you want and when you want – whether you are counting carbs, calories, points, or whatever method of dieting you choose, it just plain sucks. I’ve been dieting on and off for the last 20 years and have tried most of them out there. Since I’m still overweight, it’s clearly not worked out well for me. I’m a yo-yo’er. I’ve never lost more than 50lbs, but every time I lose, I seem to gain it back plus more. 

This constant battle seems to dictate a lot of things in my life. I’ve been overweight since I was a child, but of course I wasn’t as heavy as I thought I was back then. Every time I gain weight, I keep thinking why I was complaining so much when I weighed less and I would be so much happier if my weight would just go back down to what it was. But is that number on the scale what is really going to decide my happiness? No, probably not, but it would be less stress on my body. 

So in an attempt to lose weight right now, I’ve started taking TruVision. I’ve seen lots of success stories and decided to give it a go. Is it going to work? I don’t know, but I’m hopeful. If you look hard enough, you can find successes and failures with any diet or supplement. I’ve tried and failed at most of them. I’m trying to do my research with this one and watch what I eat while also trying to be more active. I created a spreadsheet to monitor my measurements and my weight to see how and so far I’ve lost almost 10 lbs. Hopefully it will continue, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. If you want to check out TruVision, you can do so by going here: http://yabboutique.truvisionhealth.com and if you want to just try a sample, let me know and we can make that happen. Fingers crossed it keeps working and I’ll post updates here periodically.

Balancing It All

Some days I wonder how we do it. I wonder how we manage to cram everything we need to into a single day. Maybe that’s our superpower as adults, because there seriously not enough hours in a day. How do we make time for ourselves? I don’t know how everyone else does it, but in this house, there is so much I don’t have time for. I outsource my cleaning (mainly because I loathe it) and if I could I’d hire a chef and a nanny too! Maybe part of it is because I work full time. If things were different and I was a stay at home mom, I’d have loads more of time since my son is in school all day and my daughter a half day. 

A typical day in my life is wake up, get kids ready and off to school, commute an hour to work, work my shift, commute back home, homework for kids, make supper, bath, and bed. Where is there time for anything else in there? It’s craziness. And if my life wasn’t crazy enough, I’m also in school online right now as well to get a billing and coding certificate PLUS I sell for several direct sales companies. It seems like I always am adding more and more to my plate. A few months ago I started making custom design shirts, cups, etc. Now I’ve started a blog, which I do think is kind of exciting. What’s next for me? Right now I’m not sure, but I’ll find out. 

Eating Healthy with Picky Eaters

I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one here that has family that includes picky eaters. Personally, I’ll try almost anything and I love fruits and vegetables, although I don’t always eat them as often as I should. My husband, on the other hand, is the pickiest eater of them all. His diet basically consists of meat, potatoes, pasta, and dessert – no fruit, no vegetables (other than the potatoes). My children don’t have a very expansive list of foods they will eat, but there are at least some fruits/veggies on them. My son definitely takes after my husband and I can’t count the amount of times I’ve heard ‘I don’t like that’ before they’ve even tried a bite. My daughter is more like me and will at least try something. Tonight was one of those nights she tried something new. Tonight I made Lemon Garlic Butter Steak with Zucchini Noodles (you can find the recipe I used here: https://www.eatwell101.com/garlic-butter-steak-and-zucchini-noodles-recipe). While mine wasn’t as pretty as the picture, it tasted amazing. When you get a thumbs up from your three year old daughter and she says ‘that’s really good’, it’s a good feeling knowing she is loving food that is good for her. It’s hard getting kids to eat and like healthy food, especially when you have a kiddo that likes to eat sweets and junk. I try not to keep too much in the house since I’m trying to lose weight, but that is what the husband eats, so it makes it a little more difficult.
Reducing the liquid while it was cooking
Ready to eat!
While the food was really good, I would make a couple modifications to the recipe. It seemed way too oily, so I would definitely cut back on that. I would even add a little more sriracha to the marinade. If you don’t like the heat, you can cut back on that and the red pepper flakes. You can definitely taste the lemon in this too. If you don’t like lemon, cut back on it. It could use more garlic though, the amount the recipe called for wasn’t enough for me. Another thing to note is that it definitely takes more than 15 minutes from start to finish, so the title is a little misleading. First off, you have the marinate the steak for 30 minutes and then you’re supposed to let it sit and get to room temp before cooking, plus you have to spiralize 4 zucchini. So unless you’re a super chef with the ability to stop time, it’s not going to happen in 15 minutes. Total I think it took more like an hour for me. Overall it was a really good recipe and I would make it again.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome everyone! My name is Sara and I’m a Midwest mom who loves to cook and bake for my family. I have slightly picky children and an even pickier husband, so cooking can be a challenge somedays. Join me on this crazy day to day adventure of preparing healthy meals for my family and myself. This blog will focus mainly and being a full time working mom and trying to balance work, life, family, and food.​