Tips for Keto/Low Carb

After explaining what keto is and why it works so well, I hear from a lot of people that it sounds interesting, but overwhelming to get started. Many people wonder we have for meals, since mainstays in a normal American diet such as pasta and bread are out of limits. I wanted to share a few things from our house that might make others' transitions into keto or low carb a little easier.

First, let me share the meal that we had last night that you might not think of as keto right off the bat. Keep in mind, some people on keto are very serious about tracking the amount of carbs, fat, and protein they are taking in. T-Rex and I are not on a full keto diet (further explanation in a moment). Hubster kept track of his ratios in the beginning. Since he has been doing keto for about a year and has lost his goal amount of weight (25 lbs.! ROCK ON, BABY! SO proud of your determination!), he doesn't really track his ratios anymore. He mostly stays away from things he knows he should not eat and eats the things he knows he should. So, about our meal last night...

We had seasoned, bone-in pork chops and chopped salad. I seasoned the chops with my favorite "grill" seasoning that I get from the farmer's market. I'm not sure what herbs and spices are in it, but it is delicious and works well with pretty much everything. The chopped salad consists of chopped romaine, tomato, cucumber, onion, mushroom, broccoli, chopped "boiled egg" (check out my previous post here to see how I make my "hard-boiled" eggs), shredded colby cheese, and chopped bacon.

This meal may not seem low carb since it is typical to have a meat with a salad for dinner, but by adding things like bacon, eggs, cheese, and full-fat dressing to a salad, which is also full of lots of yummy veggies, you can bring up your fat ratio.

Like I said before, T-Rex and I don't follow a full keto diet. Our fat and protein ratios are usually high (good fat is very important for the development of young brains!), and our carb ratios low, but we will eat some carbs. When we eat grains, they are always whole grain. Other carbs we eat sometimes are beans and lentils.

Sometimes for dinner, I want to make pasta. T-Rex and I are ok to eat whole what pasta, but obviously that doesn't work for Hubster's diet. I use an idea from Alex, instead! I steam broccoli florets and put whatever pasta sauce on broccoli instead of pasta. He still gets the yummy sauce and a filling portion of veggies, without the added carbs.

We make another modification when we want to have sandwiches. T-Rex and I will have sandwiches on whole-wheat bread. Instead of bread, Hubster will have a wrap on a high fiber tortilla. These are the kind that we like:

7" La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low Carb Tortillas (Regular Size)

They end up being only 3 net carbs. Not so shabby for tortillas!

If you have any questions or modification ideas about/for keto, please leave a comment! We love to hear from you! Until next time!

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Homemade Chicken and Veggie Soup (Keto/Low-Carb Friendly)

Yesterday I was sick. I woke up and wanted nothing more than to curl back under the covers and die. But, alas, I have a little one to play with all day, and a house to clean in anticipation for opening my home daycare (I cannot put into words how excited and nervous I am!!). Sore throat, headache, body aches, the chills, yet no fever. I had no real appetite, which is insane, just ask my sisters. What could I eat at a time like this? Homemade chicken soup, of course!

This is very similar to the soup that our Yiayia and Papa Sid made us when we were sick. The one difference is they would both add rice. Obviously that doesn't work for our keto household, so I left it out. I'll write an option for it if you would like rice in your soup.

Homemade Chicken and Veggie Soup (Greek Style)

• Olive oil
• 1/2 of a medium onion, finely diced
• 2 chicken breasts 
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes 
• 8 cups water 
• 1 cup of celery, sliced 
• 1 cup of carrots, sliced 
• Optional: 1/2 cup rice. I prefer brown rice, but don't use rice when Hubster will be eating it

1. In a large pot, drizzle a bit of olive oil. On medium heat, sauté onions until translucent. 
   
2. Add chicken breasts, bouillon cubes, and water to the pot. Bring mixture to a roiling boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 45 minutes. Optional:if you are adding rice, add it to the pot now.
   
3. Uncover, pull chicken breasts out of pot, and cut into small pieces, or shred. Whichever you prefer. I used kitchen shears and cut the chicken up to my liking. 
   
   
   
4. Add chicken back to the pot. Add carrots and celery to the pot. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until veggies are tender, but not mushy. 
   
   
5. Remove from heat and enjoy your lovely cold weather comfort food. 
   

This soup turned out great! In the past, I have had a hard time seasoning soup well enough, but the bouillon, chicken, and veggies add great flavor. Hubster is usually critical of my soup (he has been such a trooper with my experiments!) and he loved this soup. T-Rex really enjoyed it too! We ate the soup along with cheese quesadillas and it was quite the yummy combination. It had me feeling much better on this yucky, sick day. 

I hope this soup brings you comfort as it did for me! Feel free to comment and let us know how you are liking the recipes!! Until next time. 

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Keto-Friendly/Low-Carb Pumpkin Muffins

I know Alex hasn't gotten a chance to post in a bit. She has some awesome guides to share but has had technical difficulties getting them up. Hopefully they will be up soon!

In the meantime, I couldn't wait any longer to share this new muffin recipe. The weather has been getting cooler here in the middle of the country and that means it is pumpkin season! These pumpkin muffins are moist, spiced, pumpkiny, and the perfect snack for fall. The base for these muffins is almond flour. The closest store that sells almond flour isn't all that close, unfortunately. Instead, I make my own almond flours straight from, you guessed it, almonds! Here is my guide to making almond flour:

You will need:

• 12 oz. bag of whole, raw, unsalted almonds
• a blender or food processor
• a medium bowl
•  a mesh strainer   

1. Add about 1/4 of your almonds to your blender/processor. I used my Magic Bullet, so I will now refer to the blender/processor as "the bullet"
2. Blend almond until powdery. Once you reach this point, stop immediately. If you process the almonds much longer, they will warm and begin to release their natural oils and you will have the beginning stages of almond butter!
3. Put your strainer into the medium bowl. Dump the almond flour into the strainer and gently shake the strainer to pull out the flour and leave the larger pieces in the strainer.
4. Put larger pieces back into bullet and reprocess.
5. Strain again. Now add another 1/4 of almonds to the bullet.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have used up all the almonds. I had a few pieces left (pictured), but when attempting to process them, they just bounced around the bullet. I just threw those out. You could also eat them. Yum!      
7. Store in your choice of container.                                     

Now that you have a stash of almond flour, let's get on to these yummy muffins!

Keto Pumpkin Muffins:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (this was just laziness on my part.  You could do 1/2 t. cinnamon and 1/4 t. each of ginger, nutmeg, and allspice).
• 2/3 cup Splenda brown sugar
• 1 can pumpkin  (NOT pumpkin pie filling)                          

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease well or line a muffin pan.
2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. T-Rex loves to help with this part! 
3. Fill muffin tins to desired height. These muffins don't rise much, so the point at which you fill the tin will be the height of the muffin.
4. Bake muffins 20-25 minutes. They should be well browned on the tops.
5. Allow muffins to cool, then use a fork around the edge of the tin to remove the muffins.
6. Enjoy before they are gone!  I intended to take some pretty pictures of the finished product, but they were pretty much gone right out of the oven.  Hubster and T-Rex love these things!  I have to admit that they are awesome.

Tomorrow I plan on trying out a pumpkin cream cheese frosting to put on another batch of muffins. If it turns out, I will edit this to share.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Until next time.

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Homemade Baby Carrier Wrap (and How To Tie It)

I have been baby-wearing sweet T-Rex since she was a few weeks old. We were gifted a Snugli carrier, which I used for months, but it KILLED my lower back within minutes. As I started researching other carriers, I came across the Moby and Boba wraps. They get awesome reviews and other mothers (and fathers) swear by them. They looked so comfy and you are able to hold your baby so close, but the prices were holding me back. They are upwards of $40! For a long strip of fabric. My solution: make one myself. 

Here is what you will need: 

5-6 yards of stretch fabric (I intended to buy jersey cotton, but ended up with a strip of polyester instead. It still works perfectly, but doesn't breathe as much as jersey would) 

A pair of scissors 

1. Lay your fabric flat along the floor. Try to smooth it out into one long strip. 

2. Fold your fabric in half along the length of the fabric (or as we early childhood educators might say, hot dog style!)

3. Cut along the fold. You will end up with two strips. That's right! You just made two wraps, one for Mom, the other for Dad, Grandma's house, or another momma! I gifted my other one to a pregnant friend. 

Now how to wrap that darn strip? Here a some videos! I hope they help. Please excuse the angry T-Rex noises in the background. Hubster took a few takes but T-Rex was greatly protesting me not holding her. Also, if these are too fast or confusing, YouTube "how to tie Moby wrap." There are some great videos out there. It looks confusing, but practice it a few times and it will seem second nature (or at least it does for me now).

Clearly, we LOVE our baby wrap! I seriously use this thing daily. We can't even make it through an entire grocery trip without it. Hopefully your wrap will be as helpful for you!

-Eleni

Blueberry Oat Muffins

These were so yummy and full of blueberries!

I passed the yucky processed muffins at the store the other day. It's funny how you know they are bad for you, but they still look so good! So I decided to pick up a package of blueberries and make some myself. T-Rex and I have been on an oatmeal binge, so I thought I would find a way to incorporate that as well. Here is what I came up with, and boy are they good!

Blueberry Oat Muffins

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oats
1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c. powdered Stevia and 1/4 c. organic sugar, but tend to limit our sugar intake whenever possible, especially when T-Rex will be consuming them.)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 egg whites
1/2 c. almond milk
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 c. blueberries (you can use fresh or frozen. I used and prefer fresh)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your muffin pan. Either properly grease tins, or use muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar/sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
3. In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredients. (egg whites, milk, applesauce).
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in blueberries.
5. Fill muffin tins with batter, about 3/4 way full.
6. Bake muffins 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of center clean.

I really enjoyed these. T-Rex actually helped add and stir. She was highly upset when she had to stop so we could get them in the oven. But she loved eating one for breakfast this morning!

I will try to experiment with these over the weekend to use banana and get rid of sugar. I'll post when I've got the right combination.

-Eleni