Method

So, so easy. Cut an avocado open, remove the flesh, and put it into a bowl or something where you can get a little wild with making it smooth.

Yum. Now add the tablespoon of cinnamon and stir with gusto.

The tablespoon of cocoa powder, this time stirring with vigor.

Coconut Oil

There are two kinds of coconut oil:

1. That which smells and tastes of coconut
2. That which does not taste or smell of anything

I found this out the hard way when I cooked a steak in coconut oil recently, as I’d previously only had the no flavor, no scent variety.

For this you can use either, but obviously if you don’t like the flavor of coconut, don’t use it if that’s what you’ve got.

I’d say use at least 1 tablespoon, but feel free to add heaps more if you want, finally, finishing up with as much a sweetener as you need.

This will vary greatly from person to person as, though avocado has a light flavor, it still has flavor all the same.

Refrigerate

I recommend putting it in the fridge until it cools down, yes, the coconut oil will solidify and it will (still) look dreadful, but it leads to a nice and fudge-like texture.

If you’re looking to change it up a little, add in some shredded/desiccated coconut! It’s so super fatty that if you’re looking to get back on keto, eat this and do some light exercise, and you’ll be well and truly cutting the time to be back in ketosis.

The post Quick and Easy Chocolate Keto Dessert appeared first on Eat Keto.

We’re talking seriously hot here. Set your oven to 230ºC/450F and leave it there.

Pick Perfect Pork

Make sure you get cutlets with a lovely layer of fat and clean skin. If it’s practical and affordable, always buy grass-fed meats, or at least not grain fed! Here’s a side view of the Pork I was working with.

Score Like a Samurai

The key to this cooking correctly, and getting a killer crackling, is to score it properly. With a sharp knife (and you’re going to need sharp) cut into skin and down into the fat, but not the flesh, every half inch or so.

Salt Heavily

Douse the pork with oil, be it Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, or even get outrageous and use Bacon Grease, rubbing the cut thoroughly, being sure to get down into the scores made earlier. Then salt it, salt it like you’re never going to taste salt again. Salt it all over, into the scores, on the sides, and even the bottom.

Then salt it some more, just to be on the safe side.

Pork, Meet Oven

Place the pork on a baking tray in the oven, on the top shelf, not checking on it for 25 minutes. By which time the skin should be a delightful golden color and coming into its own as a grand crackling. If that’s how it looks, turn the oven down to 190ºC/375F.

Important: all ovens are different. If at the 25 minutes mark you find the skin isn’t as described above, shut the door and let it carry on at that temperature through till the end, though check intermittently to make sure it isn’t burning.

Vegetables

I love broccoli and cauliflower, which is why I chose them. That, and they’re a good source of fiber and potassium, something Keto eaters don’t get enough of and may even need to supplement. I’ll always recommend them, but you should feel free to mix it up and go with whatever you want.

Bok Choy, Spinach, Choy Sam, and Asparagus would all complement the meal in their own way. In hindsight, I wish I had have picked up some Brussels Sprouts and roasted them with the Pork.

This pot was full, entirely full, of those vegetables. They’ll take the least time of everything to cook. How long that is depends on your preference between firm vegetables and mush.

Cheese Sauce

Here’s the fun part, the cheese sauce. It’s extremely simple to execute, and telling a person of romantically interest “Hey, who needs tasteless bechamel when you’ve got it homemade” will surely win some points. Unless they’re French. This cheese sauce is an adaptation of one I’ve used earlier in my Mousakka, except this one is cheesier.

No cheese sauce has ever looked pretty before being done. Melt 250g Butter in a pot on low, and once it’s entirely liquid, put the 125g parmesan cheese in there with it. Turn up to simmer, and stir continuously for a solid five minutes. Parmesan won’t melt all the way down like other cheese, but doing it this way will get it as close as possible.

Soon enough it will look somewhat creamy, or at least it’ll be thick. If your pork is not ready by this time, turn the heat off and allow it to rest.

Pork Check Time

The Pork takes about an hour to cook and will leave a lovely crackling for you and your guests to enjoy. If the skin looks great, it’s probably done, but I recommend checking by poking it with a skewer. The juices should flow a light pink, but that’s it, no darker.

If you’re not convinced then cut it open, I did, as I wanted to be sure. Once you’re happy that it’s cooked, allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

Finishing the Cheese Sauce

With your Pork cutlets resting, and your vegetables cooked just right, it’s time to finish off the cheese sauce. Apply a medium heat to the pot and allow it to commence simmering, at which time you must add cream, all 300mL in one hit. Stir gently for five minutes and dust nutmeg in, allowing it to ever so slightly darken the color. When done, allow it to rest.

Serving

Plate up the cutlets and vegetables, and pour the cheese sauce over the top of the vegetables, stirring it pretty wildly before pouring. This is because the parmesan doesn’t melt entirely, and the heavier parts will sink to the bottom.

Fin.

If you’re looking for what to eat on Keto that’s fast, easy, and extremely hard to get wrong, this is for you. So anyone who is looking to start Keto but isn’t confident in the kitchen, this is where to begin. As mentioned earlier, if you don’t like Pork, Lamb makes a fantastic substitute.

The post Roast Pork Cutlets with Vegetables and Homemade Cheese Sauce appeared first on Eat Keto.

In a large mixing bowl, place your ground beef, garlic, salt, and dried herbs of your choice

Mix it around, with hands is easiest, until the salt, herbs, are garlic, are mixed through adequately

When you’re happy, shape them as your lettuce dictates, and let them rest on the bench while you handle the next steps

Step 2: Peppers

Peppers are pretty great, I think, but it’s even greater when pan fried in some butter, so I did just that. Slice yours in flattish pieces and throw them in the pan. You’ll know they’re ready when they have some browning.

If you’re super concerned about your carb intake, you can definitely omit this part.

Step 3: Cook the Patties

I prefer my burgers to be juicier and not overcooked, so I cook my patties on a higher heat than most, choose what suits you though

Step 4: Layer Your Burgers

Like any good burger, this one too, commands layers. I start off with the Cos lettuce, and a couple of pieces of fried peppers

Followed up with a layer of delicious cheese

And now it’s time for the patties. I cut mine in half, as once they’d cooked and deformed slightly, they were just too wide.

Avocado is a must in almost all meals, and this one is no exception, and that’s not to mention the jalapeños!

Step 5: Finishing Up With Toppings

I used a very traditional ketchup and mustard for mine, choosing the lowest carb varieties I could find. Chop and change it to suit your tastes.

I’m so happy with how these turned out, they were just delicious, I was over the moon. I’ve tried many keto friendly burgers, but these are definitely my favorite.

The post Keto Burger Boats appeared first on Eat Keto.

But in spite of the pros of the humble lettuce taco, it still comes with the cons of a regular taco: being very messy. Not to mention that peeling lettuce shells off without problems is just about impossible. Lets fix that.

So without further ado, here it is: the right way to eat lettuce tacos is to use a bowl.

You may think I’m crazy, but give it a go before you make that call.

Step 1: Chicken

Throw some bacon fat or oil into a pan and turn it right up, and throw the chicken in.

Step 2: Lettuce, meet Tomato

Roughly cut your lettuce up until you’re happy with the consistency, and the tomatoes to boot.

Step 3: Taco Seasoning

If you want to make your own taco seasoning, mix salt, black pepper, cumin, and paprika together until it looks about right, or you can buy it from the store.

When you add it to the chicken, and a small amount of water to help it spread evenly

Step 4: Ingredients

Crack open your jalepeños and taco sauce, and get some cheese ready

Step 5: Layers

Here’s the fun part, layering!

Step 6: More Layers!

Repeat what you’ve just done, but this time, add some taco sauce to the top!

That’s All She Wrote

Go forth and conquer the bowl of wonder, it’s really, really good. Even if you have an aversion to this approach from the traditional approach, I’m confident you’ll be swayed in the right direction.

The post Lettuce Tacos the Right Way appeared first on Eat Keto.

I love to slow cook, well, pretty much anything. I love to cook big, flashy things because it’s fun and people are never expecting it. But these, unless you are well prepared and have swathes of free time, are more geared towards weekend cooking.

I’ve also been getting a number of emails from curious people, asking what I would typically eat in a day, how I manage to keep it keto, but not lose evenings. So my goal for the next month or so, is to bring really easy, fast keto meals to the table (pun intended), that don’t compromise on flavor.

But seriously when did a keto meal ever compromise flavor anyway?

Ingredients

Though I’ve used bacon for this specific recipe, ground chicken works extremely well. I bought this 400g bag of vegetables from my local supermarket, it’s packing 6.6g carbs per 100g. I’m not sure how many net carbs, as in Australia, it’s simply not listed in a way that makes it easy to check.

Step 1: Get the heat on!

Take a large fry pan and turn it up high, a wok would be ideal, but worth with what you’ve got. Depending on its coating, greasing or oiling it is optional, I personally don’t when I’m cooking bacon though.

I cut it up into smaller pieces, like so.

Step 2: Add Vegetables

Cook the bacon as you would prefer it, I don’t concern myself with making it crispy for a stir fry, but you might. When it’s hit the right spot, throw in your bag of mixed vegetables.

Stir it through the bacon to take on flavor, and to soak up some fat. If you have a lid, I recommend putting it on to aid in cooking.

Step 3: Seasoning

At this point it needs a little kick. I add dried chili flakes, or some Mega Death, or both. But I also add in some soy, regular, and dark.

Important to note that these do have carbs, particularly the dark, but it’s still quite minimal, and you can find a brand that is lower than others. They add a lot of flavor and make it a fantastic dark color

Serve it up!

Keep stirring it around vigorously until the vegetables are cooked to a degree you like, and serve.

This photo is a little darker than it actually turned out, but you get the idea.

It’s probably lacking fat content if anything, so adding sesame oil is a great way to get it up, it also adds many layers of flavor. Give it a go and see how you like it, and be sure to change it to suit your tastes.

Bonus points if you eat it with chopsticks, too.

The post 10 Minute Meal: Bacon and Mixed Veg Stir Fry appeared first on Eat Keto.

Low carb diets afford you the luxury of eating decadent meals, leaving your friends wondering how in the world you can possibly be losing weight while eating like you do.

What other diet allows real cream in your coffee, creamy salad dressings or mounds of cheese in your omelets? Sites like this give you recipes to make and they are more than fit for company (who wouldn’t be wowed by a low carb Chicago style pizza?).

One of the biggest hurdles I faced when first starting to eat low carb was restaurant dining. I missed out on countless lunches and dinners with friends because I didn’t think I could eat Italian, Mexican or Chinese cuisine without ‘blowing’ my diet. I finally found out that I could eat any type of cuisine, and with a little imagination, still remain in ketosis. The following lists some ideas of restaurant dishes that can likely be consumed on a low carb diet.

Mexican

Try the Carne Asada or Fajitas with a salad. Limit the tortillas to one and you should be in good shape. Enchiladas are also a good choice; just don’t eat all of the tortillas and black beans! Don’t forget, you are encouraged to have the sour cream, cheese and guacamole. Delicious!

Italian

Opt for Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan (with extra cheese), hold the breadcrumbs, and a large salad. You’ll be wonderfully stuffed and still able to keto on. But don’t forget to check with the staff on the dressings and sauces, hidden carbs are everywhere.

Chinese

Chinese food is a little harder, somewhat of a gauntlet at times. A lot of it tends to be sauce heavy, and though traditionally cooked Chinese food is pretty good for carb content, a lot of restaurants tend to bastardize it to be more appealing to the western palate.

My favorites, and I would say I eat these once per two weeks, are Siu Yuk (crispy skin pork), and Char Siu(bbq pork). Char siu is coated in a sweet glaze, but it’s never kicked me out of ketosis.

Cashew Chicken and Mongolian Beef can be OK, but cashews are fairly carb heavy, but they’re also expensive, so many restaurants tend to cheap out there. Mongolian Beef can often involve corn flour in the marinade.

Most non-sweet Chinese dishes can be safely consumed. Just limit your rice – I try to have only one tablespoon of rice, but I eat all of the main dish that I want. Egg drop or Sweet and Sour soups are also a good choice.

Ordering In

When ordering in, just follow the same guidelines you would when eating out. Using a restaurant delivery service allows you to have a ‘cook free’ evening while eating gourmet food in the comfort of your own home, but these services are largely localized in the US for now.

If you’ve got any eating out hacks I’d love to know what they are!

The post An Intro to Low Carb Restaurant Dining appeared first on Eat Keto.

What is cheating?

Cheating is, in the most simple terms, eating a lot more carbs than you would normally. There’s no hard and fast figure, suffice to say that if you had somewhere in the realm of 50g – 100g you would likely break your ketosis, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It also stands to reason that you would possibly not have to go through unpleasant keto-flu again.

How does it happen?

Cheating can happen for a number of reasons, but there seem to be two main causes.

1. Emotions
2. Alcohol

Comfort eating is something everyone I know does, and I’ll admit to eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s on my own, no problems at all, when feeling down. Though those days are also long gone.

You could be stressed, sad, angry, or any number of other things, and may choose to seek comfort in sugary foods. After all, they raise your mood, though it’s only short term. You’ll probably feel down that you’ve stalled your progress or simply eaten foods that aren’t great for your body.

You might even drink alcohol for a range of the same reasons, or, as is very often the case, it may be a social event. A birthday, after work drinks, oh how I could go on… One thing’s for sure, too much can and will impair judgement. The last time I cheated was definitely after a few refreshments and I said “Hey, you know what, chocolate is a GREAT IDEA!”

But it wasn’t really.

You’ll Feel Like a Failure – But that’s OK!

The worst part is knowing that you’ve failed, but you must remember that it’s ok to fail, if you don’t, then you’re probably not doing a lot of trying or learning.

I recently read some great advice on failing. It stressed one point, and one point only, and I really want to reiterate it here.

Fail fast.

If it’s done, it’s done. Feel bad for as long as you do, and move on. Get back ont the horse.

But lets move on to some of the more common questions people ask.

I’ve Cheated! What does it mean for me?

Probably not a great deal. The day after a carb binge, your stomach could very well feel upset, and you may very a lack of energy. You’ll almost certainly be kicked out of Ketosis, and providing you abstain from carbs here on out, you may have to go through ketoflu again on the way back in. If you remember one thing let it be to …

Don’t Panic

If you’ve just cheated for the first time, don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. Everyone’s done it.

Consider that most people eat 20-50g of carbs when keto, and give thought to how long you were on a high-carb diet before that. Now, take the time to find out how many grams of carbs you’ve had.

What are people eating?

Through the occasional carb binge of my own, and listening to the stories of others, the two main foods that are consumed at these times are

• Confectionary, and
• Pizza

I’m not tolerant to wheat, and chocolate is a long time weakness of mine, so when I cheat, it’s usually chocolate as mentioned earlier. Through tracking this, I’ve found that it’s a struggle to consume more than about 150g of carbs in one chocolate binge. And it seems than an average, large pizza has about 180g carbs, which isn’t too much more than a chocolate binge.

And I’d argue that people who have a few weeks of eating keto under the belt, would severely struggle to eat an entire pizza.

It’s worth mentioning that no carbohydrate digestion takes place in the stomach, rather the small intestine, which is why you feel so damn bloated, for so damn long.

What do I do tomorrow?

If you’re reading this after you’ve carb binged, you’re probably wondering what you can do about it in the future. The key is, of course, to steer clear of carbs as best you can, simply stop eating them again, just like you’ve done before. It’ll take a few days to get back into Ketosis, and it’s possible that you may go through Ketoflu again, but otherwise, everything will be in order.

If you’d like to expedite the process, you can always fast for 16 or 24 hours. Though it’s important to consider if fasting is for you, and if it is medically sound for you to do so. It probably is, but if you have questions, consult a physician.

Don’t make it a cop out either, “oh I’ve had 6 beers today I just wont eat until dinner tomorrow” is no excuse, and the wrong mindset for long term success.

Remember

It’s more than likely inevitable, don’t feel bad about it. Over time you’ll probably cheat less and less.

Image via ground000

The post Cheating and You appeared first on Eat Keto.

It’s translates as meat bone tea. It’s more or less some ribs cooked in water and herbs, oh the most delicious herbs, for a few hours, though can be achieved in less. Naturally the longer you cook it for, the better it tastes. It’s super easy to do, and is a good way to impress your friends.

Ingredients

The herbs used in Bak Kuh Teh are typically star anise, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and garlic, so of course, you could make the mixture yourself, but it’s hard to find dang gui.

All good Asian grocers will carry similar to what is pictured, and the herbs are packaged within porous paper bags.

Step 1: Water

Place three liters of water, or more or less depending on what your herbs say, and bring it a rapid boil with the herb bags inside.

Step 2: Ribs

Use a sharp knife to cut down between the ribs so you have almost cube-like sections of bone and flesh.

When the smell of the herbs in the water is notable in the air, put the ribs into the pot, and reduce to a low heat.

Step 3: Garlic

Now with the meat slowly cooking away, crush up a bulb of garlic, breaking the cloves away, but leaving the skin on. Throw those in, too.

Step 4: Mushrooms

In most cases when you’d have Bak Kuh Teh in a restaurant or hawker stall, it’d come with tofu, which is not very keto, not very keto at all.

So of course, the best substitutes are mushrooms. Though Shitake mushrooms are ones you’ll mostly always find, I went with Enoki mushrooms as well, just for something a little texturally different.

Now is also a great time to add a little dark soy to the mixture, but not too much! Read your labels to make sure it’s carb safe. But a few splashes in 3L of water, I think it’ll be ok

Step 5: Waiting

You can cook this all for an hour, or even more, there’s really no limit. The pork will hit optimal tenderness at about one hour because it’s quite fatty. Of course, and as mentioned earlier, the longer the better.

Eat!

Look at all that amazing, glistening fat, on the surface, wow!

Add a little chili for some punch, or even a dash more soy, light or dark, to meet your tastebuds.

The post Bak Kuh Teh appeared first on Eat Keto.

It’s keto friendly, like everything else here, and so tasty, and the bread is good enough to convince others that it may even have wheat in it!

Ingredients

These are roughly the ingredients you’ll need to conquer the beast

Oopsie Buns

Egg Whites

Straight up, separate egg whites from the yolks. Mix 1/4 teaspoon, as a maximum, of cream of tartar, and using an electric beater, mix them for at least five minutes. Make sure that when you’re beating the egg whites to use a small container, or they wont whip up in the right way.

Yolks

Take your six yolks, and 180g of cream cheese, and beat until 90% of the lumps are gone from the mixture.

Folding

When you have both a lovely, foamy bowl of whites, and smooth mixed yolk and cream cheese, combine them, and fold them into one another, preserving as much of the air that you can

Baking

To make them into buns, use a springform pan, line the bottom, side optional, with baking paper, and pour in the mixture.

Pour half the mixture in at a time, and bake this at 150ºC for at least 20 minutes, or until it browns slightly. This is how it looks when it’s done.

Patty

As for the patty you will need 1kg of beef mince. Mix this with a clove or two of garlic, some olive oil, and mixed herbs. Knead the additions through in a big bowl

When you’re done, load this into the springform pan, flattening it out into an even surface.

Here’s how thick it will be in a 9″ pan, be prepared for shrinkage though

Put it in the oven at 180ºC until it looks like this.

You may need to take it out to drain the fluids from time to time, at least, place a flat baking tray on the rack beneath it.

Construction

Now you have two buns, and a patty. Take one patty and put down a layer of cheese

Now place the meat patty on top

Then a layer of cheese on top

Add some lettuce, then the top bun, and you’re done!

Serving

From here, it’s really up to you. I opted to put lettuce on here, as everyone I was feeding held no objections to it, but on my own piece I used tomato, mustard, ketchup, and jalapeños. Suit yourself, and your guests, and experiment with it. It’s fun to make, impressive to show, and tasty to eat.

The post Oopsie Burger appeared first on Eat Keto.

Step 1: Bacon

Take your 200g of bacon, roughly chop, and throw in a pan on medium-low, put in one clove of diced garlic, then cover with an appropriate lid

Step 2: Mushrooms

After 10 minutes of the bacon gently cooking, slice 185g of mushrooms and place on top of the pan

Step 3: Broccoli

Cut your broccoli as pictured, and put it in the pan with the rest, covering again once done.

Step 4: Sesame Oil

Pour the sesame oil over the top of the broccoli and cover again.

Yes, I used a shot glass.

Step 5: Salmon

Melt some butter in a non stick fry pan, and place the salmon in skin side down. Make sure the heat is medium to medium-high.

Apply a little salt to the top, I used pink Himalayan rock salt, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Put a lid over the top, too, it’ll help the top, and thus, the middle, cook better

When it looks like this, you know it’s almost ready. It will look like the skin is burning, and a tiny part of it might be, but it’s usually safe to keep going for a little while.

Serve

Serve the Salmon with the broccoli, mushroom, and bacon mixture.

Salmon should be very, very tender, and fall apart particularly easily, just as belowed.

The best part?

The skin, oh my!!

The post Crispy Skin Salmon and Stir Fry appeared first on Eat Keto.