healthy food – Page 2 – Mom of 2 and Foodaholic

Keto Hamburger Soup

Soup has become one of my favorite foods, especially with the weather turning cold. There is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup to warm you from the inside. Keto soups are some of the best soups I’ve ever had and probably the only time I’ve felt FULL after eating a bowl. This soup is definitely one of the easiest and is only 6 ingredients (7 if you count the oil to cook the peppers and onions in).

Start by heating a pot over medium high heat on the stove. Add in the oil (I used extra virgin olive oil) – about 1-2 tbsp and add in the onion and green pepper. Saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Add in the hamburger.

Continue frying until hamburger is done and no longer pink. Drain fat if desired. I don’t! Then add in the can of rotel and box of beef broth.

Stir until it’s all incorporated, then add the cream cheese. Continue to stir until it’s melted.

Once the cream cheese is melted, it’s ready to serve!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Keto Hamburger Soup

1 lb hamburger
1 can Rotel
8 oz package cream cheese
1 box (4 cups) beef broth
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced

Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Saute onion and pepper until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add in hamburger and cook until no longer pink. You can drain the fat, but I leave it in. The fat is good for keto! Put in can of rotel and beef broth and stir. Cut cream cheese into chunks and add into soup. Stir until cream cheese is melted and incorporated into soup. Serve and enjoy! Makes 8 servings.

*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!

Keto Snack – Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Fall is the perfect time of year to make your very own roasted pumpkin seeds. Pumpkins are very abundant this time of the year and it’s perfect to carve pumpkins with the kids and save the seeds and roast them for a great low carb snack!

There isn’t really a ‘recipe’ for these and there are so many variations on how to make them, but here’s what I did.

Start by removing as much of the guts from the seeds as you can. Place the seeds in a colander and rinse. Place water in a large saucepan, filling it about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Salt the water with about 1 tsp salt. Boil the seeds for 20 minutes then drain.

Lay out on a cookie tray to dry overnight.

Once dry, you can pick off any bits of guts that remain. Then melt 2-3 tbsp of butter in a bowl, add in seeds, and toss to coat. Once coated, spread back out on a cookie tray, salt, and bake at 300 for approx 30-35 min.

You can season really however you want. I put a little salt and pepper on mine, but you can mix it up and use any seasoning you like! They are a perfectly nutty treat and just over 2 net carbs per ounce!

*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!

Keto Green Bean & Mushroom Casserole

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and in my family, the traditional side dishes are green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. In other words, nothing Keto friendly. I want to be able to have a big Thanksgiving dinner that is Keto friendly, but that others will also enjoy so I browsed through recipe after recipe until I found something that sounded like it would fit the bill – and this green bean and mushroom casserole certainly does.

It’s a pretty simple recipe and I usually have just about everything on hand.

Start by steaming your green beans. Use a Vegetable Steamer Basket set over 1 inch of water in a large saucepan. Steam about 10 minutes or until tender.

When beans are done, transfer to buttered 8-Inch Casserole Dish.

Start melting butter in a 12 inch frying pan. Once melted, add in mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms begin to brown.

Remove from heat and put on top of green beans. In a Glass Mixing Bowl , beat cream cheese with Hand Mixer. Add in vinegar, garlic, and onion powder, mixing well. Slowly add 1/2 cup stock, mixing as you add. It will get runny, so be cautious or you’ll be covered in it. Once mixed, stir in 1/2 of the parmesan cheese.

Pour mixture over green beans and mushrooms, then top with remainder of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

These cheesy green beans are so filling and so good!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Keto Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

1 lb cut green beans, frozen
2 tbsp butter (use more if necessary)
8 – 12 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Start by steaming your green beans. Use a Vegetable Steamer Basket set over 1 inch of water in a large saucepan. Steam about 10 minutes or until tender.

When beans are done, transfer to buttered 8-Inch Casserole Dish.

Start melting butter in a 12 inch frying pan. Once melted, add in mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms begin to brown.

Pour mixture over green beans and mushrooms, then top with remainder of cheese.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

*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!

Keto Krate – October 2018

I’ve signed up for so many subscription boxes over the years. Some for clothes, some for kids toys, some different food items – some were good, some were bad. So when I heard of Keto Krate I was a bit hesitant to give it a try. I haven’t had the best of luck with previous subscription boxes so I was a bit skeptical this would be much better. Especially with how some Keto foods are – not exactly ‘great’ by any means.

But wow. Was I PLEASANTLY surprised!!

The stuff tasted amazing AND it was KETO friendly!!! Do you know how hard that can be to find? Very!

So I bet you are dying to know what was inside, aren’t you??

Here’s the breakdown of what was in the Keto Krate, how many net carbs it has, and a quick review of it.

Bhu Fit bar – Salted Caramel Pecan flavor: This tasty bar only has 1 net carb and is full of nutty goodness. It’s slight sweet, slightly salty and is almost like a KETO version of a candy bar. Get your own box of these BHU Fit Salted Caramel Pecan bars here.

Pywiack Krackers – Savory Parmesan: Crackers are one thing I have been missing. I love to have a slice of cheese and piece of summer sausage on a cracker. It’s just not the same eating it without. So when I saw crackers, I immediately had to try them. They are great on their own and so good with meat and cheese! They almost taste like a rye cracker but are made with almonds, flax seed, chia seeds, and seasonings. You can get some of those direct from their website here. At only 2 net carbs per serving, I’m back to having crackers with my meat and cheese!

Curly Girlz Candy – Sugar Free Hemp Brittle: Oh my god. This is by FAR my favorite item from this box. The name was a little off-putting. I mean who EATS hemp? Certainly not something I’d ever done and didn’t think I ever would. I find it so hard to believe that this is sugar free. It’s amazingly delicious and I want to know what else Curly Girlz Candy makes and buy ALL OF IT. There are ZERO net carbs in this candy! It’s as close to toffee as you’ll probably get and I could eat the entire pouch in less than 5 minutes. There is no after taste. Seriously, go to Curly Girlz Candy website. NOW. Their candy is hand crafted and made with locally sourced ingredients in Owatonna, Minnesota. Best part? They have KETO candy AND traditional candy for the non-KETO’er in your family.

Macalat Chocolate Wizardry Organic Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate: Ok – this is CHOCOLATE. Do I really need to say more? Oh yeah. It’s organic. It’s sugar free. And it’s only 3 net carbs per serving. Now – this is why it’s important to read your labels. This bar is not very big and there are 4 servings in it. So if you eat the entire bar, you just set yourself back 12 carbs. Granted that is much better than a sugar loaded Hersey’s bar, but you still wouldn’t want to do that. If you are a choc-o-holic like me and want to get some bars to keep on hand, get a box of the Macalat Chocolate Wizardry.

Gorilly Goods – Hillside Pumpkin Seed and Kale: So I call this the KETO trail mix. It’s got pumpkin seeds, kale, and seasonings. Perfect savory snack. It’s only got 3 net carbs in the whole packet and it’s got 17 g of fat and 12 g of protein. Perfect to help fill your macros!! You can get a box of GORILLY GOODS, HILLSIDE or try the Gorilly Goods Variety Pack.

Burn Butter – Hazelnut (Grass Fed Butter with MCT and Avocado Oils): Oh my. I love Hazelnut ANYTHING. And this can be used 2 ways. You can refrigerate it and use it as a butter, or leave it at room temp and use as an oil. One thing a lot of KETO’ers use is bullet proof coffee. This is perfect to put in it and give it that nutty flavor! Best part – ZERO net carbs! Or put it in the fridge and top some toasted 90 second microwave bread with it. Either way, it’s delicious! Get your Burn Butter Hazelnut or try a Burn Butter Sampler .

Landcrafted Food – Original Smoked Beef Stick: Well, you can’t really go wrong with a good ole’ beef stick when you are on KETO. These have 1 g of carbs, but not sure if that is net carbs since it does not say if there is any fiber. These are made from 100% grassfed beef and a perfect snack! Grab a pack of Landcrafted Food 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks (Original Smoked) and keep them on hand for when hunger strikes! These are so easy to grab and go.

Mission Meats – Graze Beef Bites: Similarly to the original smoked beef stick, you can’t go wrong with these! These ones are not smoked, but are perfect poppable bites. They come in a resealable bag, which is perfect so you can grab a few when you need a quick snack! Unfortunately, there is no nutritional information on these ones. According to Amazon, there is 1 net carb per oz, so 4 for the entire pouch. Get your own Keto Sugar Free Grass-Fed Beef Snacks to much on 🙂

Intakt Cheese Lover Original: This is probably my second favorite item in this box. It’s basically a KETO’ers popcorn and has 1 ingredient – CHEESE! In the entire pack, there are only 2g net carbs. Cheesy and crunchy, this is an awesome replacement to cheese popcorn! Make sure you grab a few bags of Intakt Snacks Low Carb Crunchy Cheese Bites for your next movie night!

Natural Heaven – Veggie Pasta Noodles, Spaghetti Shape: These are probably the most impressive item contained in the box. These are noodles made from Hearts of Palm. That’s it, just that one ingredient! And at only 2 g net carbs per serving, you can have your favorite pasta dish again!! AND these require virtually NO cooking. Just heat with your favorite sauce, and eat!! It’s amazing to be able to eat ‘pasta’ again!! Be sure to grab some Natural Heaven Pasta Spaghetti so you’ll be prepared for Italian night and NOT have to skip the noodles anymore!!

This is seriously the best thing I have ever ordered in regards to my KETO diet. Keto Krate really knocks it out of the park. I can’t wait for next months! I don’t usually snack much since changing to a KETO diet, but it’s so awesome to have food you CAN snack on (or make a meal out of!) Thank you Keto Krate!!!

So seriously – what are you waiting for?! Go order your Keto Krate now!

KETO Fudgey Brownies

Fudge. Brownies. Put them together and it’s blissful heaven. One common misconception about the KETO diet is that you can’t have sweets. WRONG! You can have them, you just have to know how to make them. No using regular white/wheat flour, sugar, honey, maple syrup. Once you learn what you can and can’t have, it gets a lot easier.

Well, my KETO diet buddy decided he was hungry for some nice chocolately brownies, so like I normally do, I scoured the internet trying to find some KETO friendly recipes that sounded good (I’m not a HUGE almond flour fan, so I tend to shy away from recipes that call for a lot of it – not that I WON’T make recipes with it). I found one that was semi-KETO, then modified it to make it KETO friendly.

The end results was a super fudgey, not overly sweet decadent dessert. This recipe will make a full 9 x 13-Inch Pan or you can divide it into two 8 x 8 in pans.

For starters, get all your ingredients together:

First think you need to do is get the avocado out and put it in a food processor. I HIGHLY recommend the Ninja Kitchen system if you don’t already have a food processor. I’ve had mine for YEARS and it’s never let me down. It comes with the food processor, blender, and single serve blender cup (2). It’s a great multi-use gadget that is worth every penny.

If you’ve never used avocado before, you have to cut it lengthwise, cutting around the pit. Twist the halves apart. If you ‘chop’ into the pit, you can twist the knife and it’ll pull right out – don’t throw it away though, there are lots of uses for the pit which I’ll get in to in a future blog. Use a spoon to scoop the meat of the avocado out of the shell into the food processor.

Now that you’ve got the avocado in, process until it’s as smooth as you can get it.

In a microwave safe bowl, put the chocolate broken into smaller pieces and the coconut oil. Microwave until melted.

Add the chocolate and oil mixture into the avocado and blend again. Then add the water, eggs and vanilla, blending until mixed.

Once that’s done, get another bowl and mix the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the food processor, half at a time and blend. Once all dry ingredients are incorporated, either put mixture into 9 x 13-Inch Pan or divide amongst two 8 x 8 in pans. The batter is VERY thick. Try not to curse at it when you are spreading it in the pan. It has a mind of it’s own and needs to be tamed like a wild child.

Bake at 350 for 30 mins (may take a few minutes longer if using a 9 x 13-Inch Pan or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

They don’t rise much, they stay very thick, fudge, and creamy. I figured out the nutrition for twelve servings from this batch to give you a decent size brownie. If you don’t like it that big, your dessert is even less carbs 🙂

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ingredients:

6 oz 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate
3 tbsp Coconut Oil
3 avocados, peeled and pitted
3 eggs
1/2 cup Powdered Lakanto sweetener
1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tbsp Coconut Flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp water

Preheat oven to 350.
Put avocados in food processor and process until smooth.
Put chocolate and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl and microwave on low for approx 1 minute, stirring ever 15 seconds – or until fully melted. Pour on top of avocado and blend.
Add in eggs, vanilla, and water to food processor and blend until mixed.
Put dry ingredients in separate bowl and whisk until mixed.
Add dry ingredients, half at a time, to avocado mixture, mixing well between each addition. Once mixed, put batter into a 9 x 13-Inch Pan or divide between two 8 x 8 in pans. Bake approx 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, top with whipped cream and enjoy!

I highly recommend dividing up and freezing these so you don’t eat the whole pan in one sitting! These Meal Prep Containers are my absolute favorite. I use these for just about everything. They are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe.

Comment below if you make them! Feel free to adjust sweetener as desired!

*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!

Quick & Filling 3 Carb Dinner

There are some days when I just don’t know what to eat. Those are the days that I stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open, browsing through what’s in there. Be it cheese that got shoved into the back of the drawer and was now starting to mold, my husbands Hamburger Helper leftovers that I can’t eat anyways, or a multitude of other things that I just don’t know what to do with and have of which I can’t even have.

So what do I do? Find some low carb foods and put them together! When it happened this weekend, this is what I ended up with:

We will just call it the Breakfast Bacon Avocado Cheeseburger (BBAC for short – because that name is a bigger mouthful than the burger was). Compliments of my fridge and freezer and only 3 net carbs! Plus, it was SO filling, I could only eat 3/4 of it. Sometimes the mish-mash of things you throw together end up being the best and this was no exception.

So here’s what I used for my BBAC –

Frozen Ballpark burger
Crystal Farms sliced cheddar cheese
Hormel Microwave bacon
One Fried Egg (Runny yolk of course)
Heinz mustard
Hellmans Mayo
Sliced Avocado
Salt and pepper

Not bad considering I stood in front of the fridge for 10 minutes mentally going through every item to see what I can/can’t have and how to make a meal out of it.

Here was my nutrition for this:
burger nutrition

As good as this was, it’s so much easier when I have my meals all planned out! This week I’m hoping to make sausage, peppers, and onion in the crockpot as well as butter chicken and green beans w/ mushrooms, plus avocado brownies for dessert. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

What are you meal plans for this week??

KETO Eggs Benedict Casserole w/ Hollandaise Sauce

When you get tired of making chicken, steak, hamburger, pork, etc etc, for supper, what do you do? My favorite thing is to make breakfast food! Now pre-Keto that would have most likely meant pancakes or hashbrowns; those evil carb loaded foods. But now that I’m doing keto, those items are a no fly zone.

Eggs benedict was (is) one of my favorite foods, but obviously you can’t have the english muffin on Keto. So when I found this recipe for an eggs benedict casserole, I just knew I had to make it.

There aren’t many ingredients to it either. The most difficult part for people will be the hollandaise sauce and even that isn’t that hard. After having made it, I would make a few adjustments on the recipe due to personal preference, but I’ll give you the recipe as I found it and made it and tell you what I personally thought of it and would have done differently.

For the casserole, start by preheating the oven to 350. Set aside enough of the canadian bacon/ham to line the bottom of at 9×13 casserole dish and chop the rest. Heat up 1 tbsp butter or olive oil in a Frying Pan and cook until browned. Place on paper towel so it absorbs any excess liquid. Lay the reserved ham slices in the bottom of the 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Put the eggs (no shells please!) in a large mixing bowl and whisk. Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Pour over the ham and sprinkle 3/4 of the cooked ham into the egg mixture. Bake for 20 minutes then add the rest of the ham and bake another 10 minutes until egg is set.

Now, onto the hollandaise sauce. Start by separating the egg yolk from the white and put the egg yolks into either a stainless steel or glass bowl. The easiest way to do that is to use an Egg Separator . Heat about an inch of water in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is simmering. While it is heating, whisk the yolks and lemon juice together until it thickens. Then set the bowl on top of the simmering pan and lower heat. Be sure the bowl does not touch the water or it’s too hot and will scramble your eggs. Continue to whisk the mixture, then slowly put the butter in, whisking continuously. The sauce will thicken. Remove from heat. Add in seasonings, mix well, and serve.

There are six servings in this recipe. Cut a slice of casserole and top it with hollandaise. Voila! Eggs Benedict Casserole

Finished eggs benedict and hollandaise

It was such an easy recipe, but I would leave the mustard and the onion powder out of the eggs and omit the majority of the lemon juice in the hollandaise. It made it way too sour and I love a good hollandaise. Let me know what your thoughts on when you make it!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Keto Eggs Benedict

12 oz Canadian bacon or thinly sliced ham, diced
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
10 large eggs
1/2 c heavy cream
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Set aside enough of the canadian bacon/ham to line the bottom of at 9×13 casserole dish and chop the rest. Heat up 1 tbsp butter or olive oil in a Frying Pan and cook until browned. Place on paper towel so it absorbs any excess liquid. Lay the reserved ham slices in the bottom of the 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Hollandaise Sauce

4 egg yolks
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted
Dash hot sauce
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt

Start by separating the egg yolk from the white and put the egg yolks into either a stainless steel or glass bowl. The easiest way to do that is to use an Egg Separator . Heat about an inch of water in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is simmering. While it is heating, whisk the yolks and lemon juice together until it thickens. Then set the bowl on top of the simmering pan and lower heat. Be sure the bowl does not touch the water or it’s too hot and will scramble your eggs. Continue to whisk the mixture, then slowly put the butter in, whisking continuously. The sauce will thicken. Remove from heat. Add in seasonings, mix well, and serve.

*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!

Philly Stuffed Mushrooms

When you’re a self proclaimed carboholic like me, it can be hard to find recipes that filling the missing carb void, and philly steak sandwiches are one of my favorite foods – and how do you have a sandwich without bread? Well – let me tell you – I don’t miss the bread even a teensy bit with this recipe. The mushrooms are so big and meaty and filling is delicious, this recipe really doesn’t disappoint. It’s such a filling recipe too, you can fill up on half of one of these mushrooms! Since starting Keto/Low Carb, this has been my go-to dinner and it’s favorite of mine.

For this super simple recipe, you’ll need:

12-16 oz sirloin steak cut into bite size pieces (feel free to use less or more depending how much you like – or if you are vegetarian, skip the meat and add more veggies)
3/4 c diced onion
3/4 c diced green pepper
1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c mayo
1/4 c cream cheese, softened
3 oz provolone cheese
4 portobello mushrooms

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, then get the mushrooms ready. These are the ones I usually use. Sometimes there are 3 in a package if they are smaller, but these ones are just huge.

Clean the mushrooms, I usually just take a wet paper towel and wipe them off. Remove the stems and scrape out the gills. I cut the stems out with a small paring knife and gently scrap the gills with a spoon. Be careful not to break the mushroom and this is going to be your bowl for the filling. Lay them on an 11 x 15 baking sheet – I used a jelly roll pan.

Now to get to work on the filling. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a little bit of oil (I use olive oil). Season steak with salt and pepper to taste. Add steak to pan and cook about 1 1/2 -2 minutes, remove from heat and place on plate with paper towel to absorb any excess liquid. You’ll want a good size pan for this – Cuisinart 14-Inch Skillet

Once steak is done, reduce heat to medium, add in onion and peppers and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, mix the sour cream, cream cheese, and mayo in a bowl until well mixed. Throw cheese in as well, then mix. You can use shredded cheese, but I just by sliced provolone and tear it up for the cheese to mix in.

Once veggies are done, throw steak back in to warm.

Once that is done, put in the bowl with the rest of the filling.

Mix until it is all incorporated.

Now it’s time to fill your mushrooms. And I gotta tell you, the kitchen smells absolutely heavenly at this point – it’s hard not to just eat it right from the bowl with a spoon. But alas, I showed restraint and filled the mushrooms and they were just about overflowing.

Then top with a piece of provolone cheese. This will melt and get nice and browned.

Pop in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until mushrooms are cooked and cheese is melted. It’ll look similar to this. One of my mushrooms didn’t hold up as well, the sides got weak when it cooked, so a little of the filling came out, but trust me – it doesn’t affect the flavor! These are so yummy.

You can see the mushrooms do give off some water, so there will be some in the bottom of the pan when you take the mushrooms out. Don’t worry, that’s totally normal.

And that’s it! Now you can enjoy a delicious philly cheesesteak without all the carbs! Comment below with your thoughts or variations on this recipe!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Philly Stuffed Mushrooms

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, then get the mushrooms ready. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Scrape out the gills. This will leave you with a ‘bowl’ for your filling. Lay mushrooms on an 11 x 15 in baking pan.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a little oil.

Season steak with salt and pepper and cook about 1 ½ – 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place on paper towel to absorb and excess liquid.

Reduce heat to medium. Add in onion and pepper and cook about 5-6 minutes or until soft.

Mix sour cream, cream cheese, mayo, and provolone cheese while veggies are cooking.

When veggies are done, throw steak back in to warm. Then remove from heat and add meat and beggies to filling mixture.

Fill mushrooms with mixture and top with more provolone cheese if desired.

Bake for approx. 20 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

*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!

Peanut Butter Pecan Bars

There are lots of foods you can eat on a low carb diet, especially if you’re a big meat eater like me. Despite all the wonderful beef, chicken, pork, etc etc, sometimes it’s just nice to have a little something sweet. So like my usual, I searched Pinterest to see what was quick and simple, and something I had all the ingredients for. I didn’t want something I had to bake, and a lot of the sweet fat bombs I’m not a fan of.

Then I came across a recipe for Peanut Butter Pecan Bars. It’s only 5 ingredients and I had everything on hand. I figured, let’s do it!

So here’s what you need:
2 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (or any other brand – I have Da Vinci so that’s what I used)
8 oz Pecan halves or pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c Coconut Oil

That’s it! For most people on a Keto/Low Carb diet, these items are basic staples. (Maybe not the syrup if you aren’t a coffee drinker like me).

First thing you need to do is divide the pecans into 4 individual containers (2 oz – about 1/2 c – each). These containers work perfectly – NutriBox [20 value pack] single one compartment 12oz mini Meal Prep Food Storage Containers – BPA Free Reusable Lunch bento Box with Lids – Spill proof Proof, Microwave, Dishwasher and Freezer Safe

Once you do that, measure out the peanut butter and coconut oil and put into a microwave dish. I used a big glass measuring cup for easier pouring when it was done.

Microwave for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir until well mixed, adding in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour 1/4 of the mixture over each container. Once done, stir nuts in slightly to make sure they are all incorporated.

Cover and set in refrigerator until set up. That’s all that’s to it! See, told you it was simple!

These are so good, I could just keep eating them! It’s almost fudge-like. The pecans go perfectly with the peanut butter and it filled my sweet tooth. This is a recipe that you could easily modify. Swap nuts out, maybe add in some cocoa powder for a little chocolately goodness – you name it! Let me now what you think and if you make any changes to the recipe 🙂

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Peanut Butter Pecan Bars

2 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (or any other brand – I have Da Vinci so that’s what I used)
8 oz Pecan halves or pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c Coconut Oil

First thing you need to do is divide the pecans into 4 individual containers (2 oz – about 1/2 c – each).

Once you do that, measure out the peanut butter and coconut oil and put into a microwave dish.

Microwave for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir until well mixed, adding in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour 1/4 of the mixture over each container. Once done, stir nuts in slightly to make sure they are all incorporated.

Cover and set in refrigerator until set up.

*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!

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

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.

Tag: healthy food

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