8: Recipes

My favorite YouTube channels for Keto-friendly recipes:

Recipes I Make Often:

FatHead Dough

This may be the key food that launched my success in this journey. In the past my brain has always refuted any notion of life with out bread. What if bread was made of cheese, rather than those inflammatory processed flours, though?

This is a link for the basic recipe & process I follow, with some modifications, for FatHead products: Carl’s Fat Head Pizza. For pizza crust I use garlic powder rather than garlic salt, substitute flaxseed meal for 1/4 of the almond flour, and add some dried herbs like oregano & basil. (Note, Carl is not a relative, as far as I know 🙂

Here’s my Fathead Pizza Crust Video: Video Link

Sesame Seed Buns

I have never gotten into the idea of the ‘lettuce bun’. I know you can order a burger and many shoppes will serve it between 2 lettuce leaves, just why? (I do like a legit ‘lettuce wrap’, like those at PFChangs).

140g Almond Flour
50g Psyllium Husk powder
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
240g hot water (1c)
3 egg whites (90g)

2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds

Preheat oven to 350°
Whisk dry ingredients together. Mix in vinegar & egg whites with spatula. Mix in hot water in 3 additions. Use spatula to fold/knead dough until well mixed.
Divide into 8 equal portions and shape as desired (these will rise!) Brush rolls with egg white or melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool completely before serving (interior of rolls will finish cooking as they cool).

(see additional bread-ish recipes over in the left sidebar)

Simple Guacamole

I eat fresh guacamole almost daily. As a side dip with some FatHead Chips or on a burger or chicken breast. Here’s how simple it can be (I do sometimes scratch up the ‘salsa’ myself): find a flavorful fresh-made-in-store salsa in the produce section of your market. Mash 1 ripe avocado in a bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons of that fresh salsa. I like to add some pink himalayan salt. Give it a good mix. Dig in. With these chips:

CopyCat Cheeze-its (coming soon)

I’m avoiding a lot of things that are found in store-bought chips & crackers…

Cheese Chips/Crackers

My new favorite snacky is almost too easy. I buy deli-sliced Gouda, cut each of those slices into 2 triangles (chips) or 4 squares (crackers), sprinkle with paprika (or cumin), lay them out on parchment-lined baking trays and put them in a 200° oven for 25 minutes. Then raise them oven to 375° for 10-12 minutes for browning (keep watch!). The original recipe (see video link following) says they’re done, I find they crisp up more if you turn the oven off and leave them in a while. I also, sometimes, like to place a pickled jalapeño slice on each softened cracker before cranking the heat up. Or use pepper jack cheese…

Video link

Bacon

The experts I follow endorse bacon. I like that. I like to pre-cook bacon so it’s ready to use. I prefer Alton Brown‘s method for doing a pound or more at once. If I just need a couple slices I’ll microwave them between a few paper towels on about 50% power until they reach desired doneness destination (lower power lets the rashers ‘render’ rather than toast, imho).

AB’s Oven Bacon Method: Place the strips of bacon onto a sheet pan fitted with a rack and place into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 400º and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Remove from rack and drain on paper towels. Enjoy.

Cheesecake

Basque Burnt Cheesecake, to be exact. Too easy! No crust, no water bath, no watchful eye. Simply cream up the cream cheese & sweetener, add the eggs 1×1, mix in the liquids, then the dry ingredients. Pour into a baking pan well-lined (2x) with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 60 minutes. Cool completely. Serve at room temperature. Check the video below to better grasp the simplicity (and pan prep).

My Keto-friendly ingredient list: 2 lb. cream cheese (room temperature); 1 cup monk fruit sweetener; 6 large eggs; 2 cups heavy cream; 1 tsp. kosher salt; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1/4 cup almond flour; 2 Tbsp coconut flour

Video Link

The Spinach Milkshake

Drink 4 cups of spinach in 60 seconds, and love it, like Popeye!

Place 16oz of organic spinach + 4 cups water into the blender.
Blend for 60 seconds. Add berry-flavored stevia to taste. Blend.
Transfer to 4 1-pint freezer cups. Freeze until ready to serve.
To serve: thaw 1 pint to slushiness. Pour into shaker bottle. Add 2 Tbsp heavy cream & shake until frothy. Drink down your spinach. >

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NOTES:

Macros: I have not included any macronutrient info here. I do recommend you enter the recipes in your tracking app (I use Carb Manager) and the app will calculate the macros as you track your consumption.

* baking powder: I recommend using aluminum-free, gluten-free baking powder. I make my own: equal amounts by weight: baking soda (25g) + cup cream of tartar (25g) + cup tapioca starch/flour (25g)