Keto Cheesecake

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My experience following the ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet has been that it works better for me to be pretty strict. That is, I don't incorporate 'cheats' into it. I'll write and make videos about that topic in future, but suffice to say that once it became apparent to me that I am insulin resistant - that is, if I consume carbohydrates over the barest amount my body reacts with elevated blood sugar readings and more body fat - the course of action was clear and made sense: Don't eat carbs, dummy.

So sugars and starches (which are the same thing, by the way, but we've gotten ourselves into a rut of thinking that some carbs are really bad and some are little angels) were banished from my meals. No pasta, wheat, bread. Adios to tortilla chips, popcorn and arepas (a beloved Colombian breakfast item Lovely Mate is an expert at making). Rice? Nope. Potatoes? Are you kidding? No way! And, of course, sweets had to go.

This was not as hard for me as it might be for others. Probably because I was so miserable inside my skin - at 90+ pounds heavier, my skin was none too happy, either - and was on deck to become the next person in my large family to have Type 2 Diabetes, that I had hit the proverbial 'bottom'. My 'aha moment'. My 'something's gotta give' meltdown. And my research of this, inspired by this quiet little video, got me on a path to making carbs a part of my (very fat) past.

With that, I've decided that for me, trying to make low carb versions of the foods that got me to my previous sad state was not a good idea. Pretend bread, faux candy, etc., are not something I've gotten into. For one thing, I don't want to risk having the pretend foods triggering me wanting the real thing. Methadone may work when treating heroine addicts, but I'm not willing to hazard a slice of supposedly low carb bread made from almond flour and psyllium husk sending me into a spiral, ending with a face plant into a deep dish pizza and a giant chocolate chip cookie chaser. Consequently, I don't usually partake of the Saturday morning keto-friendly pancakes featured here.

Again, this is how I roll. Lovely Mate, on the other hand, can tolerate foods that are verboten for me and remain lean and in ketosis. Nuts, for instance. They're not on the list of allowed foods but he can grab a few out of the almond jar whilst passing through the kitchen most days and be fine. And his favorite, the almond cookies I made for this video, are obviously made of nuts.

This brings up to today's recipe. It's a low carb cheesecake. The base of ground almonds and butter for the crust is not the big culprit for me but rather the fact that it's really rich (ultimately calories matter and I simply need very few in a day) and each slice has about 7 grams of carbs which is about half my daily norm. Cream cheese is allowed, but not 'free'. And once I start, limiting myself is a challenge. So.... all that is to say that some folks can tolerate more carbs and/or calories and/or trigger foods and be fine. This is for you, you lucky souls.

Also, sometimes you just need cheesecake. Recipe and nutrition info below.

A basic low carb cheesecake recipe. Hope you like it!For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below. ☞ SEE MY WEIGHT CHANGE CHART: http://caseydurango.com/my-next-goal ☞ READ MORE AT MY BLOG: http://caseydurango.com ☞ FOLLOW MY FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/ketocasey/ _______________________________________________________________ Product links: ☞ OXO FOOD SCALE: http://amzn.to/2d7wMvO ☞ CUISINART 11-CUP FOOD PROCESSOR: http://amzn.to/2dhokZ7 ☞ COOLING RACK: http://amzn.to/2d6PPI ☞ CUISINART 7-SPEED HANDHELD MIXER: http://amzn.to/2hmtaYj _______________________________________________________________ crust...

CRUST...
     •     almond meal               3/4cup (70g)
     •     butter                          1/4cup (2oz)
melt butter w/almond meal; spread out in bottom of 9" pie plate

FILLING...
     •     cream cheese              16oz
     •     eggs                            3
     •     sour cream                  1/4cup (2oz)
     •     Splenda®                      2/3cup (20g)
     •     vanilla extract              1tsp
pour into ~9" pie plate
bake at @ 350° ~45 minutes (or until golden)

Serves 8. Each slice has ~353 calories, 31g fat, 8g carbohydrate

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

- Casey

Sometimes You Just Want Coffee to Be a Bit Fancier

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One of the delights of being on the ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet is enjoying coffee with heavy cream. Not skim milk (ick) or some other option where the goal is to avoid fat. No, not with this program. Luscious, rich cream is allowed. Of course, some java lovers prefer their cup with nothing but the coffee. Between me, Lovely Mate, our three children and their spouses we serve it up in every permutation - from jet black unsweetened to sweetened without cream to unsweetened with cream to caramel flavored with cream, which is my favorite. Coffee from a bistro, a latte to be specific, will come with a nice head of steamed cream (be sure to make sure they use cream and not milk if you order a latte and are wanting to stay ketogenic since milk has lactose which is sugar). But trying to get the same effect at home can be a challenge. There are devices such as this Epica and even more elaborate ones but not wanting to either acquire yet another possession to take up space in our already semi-cluttered lives, or to have to use 1/3 of a cup of cream (!) - the minimum required for some models - I got us this little wand frother. Mind you, the larger one noted above might be fine if you're making enough froth for a few cups of latte. But for single cups, the smaller one might be the better choice.

Nothing fancy. Not high tech. Just a little do-hicky that makes my morning indulgence just that touch more ... uh ... indulgent. Reminder: heavy cream is okay on keto, but you must measure. Measure. Measure. Deal? [This item and others we've found to be helpful tool can be found on this tab at the top of this site.

How I make my morning cuppa. It's the little things in life that count. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below.

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

- Casey

Ketogenic and Low Carb Friendly Almond Cookies

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There are many great resources for recipes that are compatible with the ketogenic, low carb way of eating. One of the sites to which I often return is Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes. It's very straight forward and easy to follow. Some of the recipes are not strictly ketogenic but ones that are marked with an asterisk, indicating they are 'induction friendly', are. That's a reference to the original Atkins program where one would spend the first 2 weeks in induction, or very low carb. The ketogenic diet is essentially never leaving induction. So navigate towards those induction friendly recipes and you'll be good to go.

But there are a couple of recipes I've found in other places and have tinkered with. A favorite in our house is a version of a low carb almond cookie. I don't remember where I found the original recipe but I believe it called for butter - I use coconut oil - and didn't use an egg. I do.

Here's a video of my method of making them. The recipe is below that, along with the nutritional info.

Keep in mind, almonds are not on the allowed food list (found here) and as I wrote in this post, I tend to avoid them. Lovely Mate can tolerate them and remain in ketosis. So, if you can do so as well, enjoy!

Here's how I make these little low carb treats. Recipe below. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below.

What I Ate Today (9.26.2016)

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You Can't Judge A Pork Rind By Its Cover.

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Having been following the ketogenic, low carb high fat (LCHF) diet for some time now, and having found a measure of success, I feel pretty confident about food choices. I enjoy the allowed foods (see an informal two page list here of what those are) and once I got into ketosis found resisting non-allowed, carbohydrate laden foods pretty easy to avoid. As noted in previous posts, eating out and travel haven't proved to be stumbling blocks. Just keep my carbs below about 20 grams a day, moderate protein and eat only when hungry. Got it down pat, right?

Enter devious food marketers.

While on a recent road trip with Lovely Mate - he's also in ketosis and knows what foods are okay to eat and which aren't - we stopped to get some gas. In the bad old days we would have gone inside the attached convenience market to grab some snacks: chips and/or pretzels, maybe some cheese puffs and sodas. You know, travel food! (I cringe when looking back) But, now being old hands at eating low carb, we know better. While I was tanking up the car, he went inside to grab some pork rinds. For the uninitiated, convenience stores are renowned for having the broadest variety of these keto-friendly snacks. They may be called cracklins or chicharrones but all are essentially fried pork skin. No carbs and very crunchy. Some are plain (my least favorite as they tend to be TOO porky for me) while you can find hot & spicy, salt & vinegar, barbecue flavor. You get the idea. So into the store went Lovely Mate, charged with getting something out of our norm.

He returned to the car with a couple of choices and off down the highway we continued. Later, we tried the vinegar and lime. It was a brand I'd not heard of before and they were pretty good. Much less porky and quite light. Yay. That sustained us for the next few hours. When we arrived at our destination, started to unpack and settle in before heading to the beach to dip our feet in the ocean and taking a long walk, we opened the other bag.  "Hot Chili Pepper & Lime Chicha-rrones".

 

Wow. They immediately tasted different. VERY light and crunchy. We agreed we might have found the winner. Then it happened. We noticed the small print....

My eyes about bugged out of my head. I actually ran to the sink and spat out the fake pork rinds. Then looked at the nutrition info...

Gadzooks! Fortunately, neither LM nor I had eaten more than a couple of these horrid little saboteurs. But the message was driven home. Even if one is pretty well versed in eating low carb, label reading on packaged food is really important. Keep in mind that this package is supposed to be "chicharrones" which is Spanish for pork skins. They were in the same section as the other brands and varieties of actual, true pork rinds. This is a cynical attempt at this company to capitalize on the growing low carb and ketogenic diets. But you can bet we won't be taking any unfamiliar product at face value again.

[As an aside, some folks think looking at the sugar grams listed on the nutrition facts label will tell you if the food is approved. It's not. Carbohydrate grams is the key.]

Eating whole, non-processed foods is always best. But there are times when you just want to ride down the road with your Old Man and munch on snacks and sing along with songs in the radio and laugh. Our search for the perfect pork rind continues. And you can bet we'll be checking them out thoroughly. Fool me once...

If you have a favorite brand or flavor, please share. And be careful out there!

I’ve been fortunate to have exposure to leading researchers, physicians and journalists regarding the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths. I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Thanks!  - Casey