Five ways Keto works for me…and how I still get to have dessert

Many ask: “Why are you following a ketogenic diet?” or “What is a ketogenic diet?”…I’ve certainly tried almost all diets over the last 30 years, and have struggled a fair bit…How is this different? Why is it working? Why is it more than a fad for me?

Some History: I started seeing a new doctor last fall, with the same litany of old complaints of weight, aches and pains. This time though, my bloodwork showed that I was inching ever so closely towards diabetes. Both Doctors at this practice follow this diet, and one of them has been on it for 15 years, and has reversed his own type 2 diabetes.  This was enough for me to trust them, heed their suggestion and give it a try.

Results: Within six months I have lost 27 pounds, more than 10% of my overall weight. It is slow and consistent. My fasting glucose has gone down significantly and my A1C and triglyceride numbers have improved.  I’m thrilled that it is working and re-routing me to a much better, healthier place.

The Diet: A ketogenic diet is low carb, moderate protein and high fat. Your body converts to burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates, and you remain in a state of nutritional ketosis.  I won’t get into the details, there is tons of stuff you can read and research online.  Low-carb means 20-30 grams per day.  That’s the equivalent of one sugary drink, or one granola bar…but it also is the equivalent of at least five servings of vegetables. So I eat lots of veggies (but not the starchy, high glycemic ones), a fair bit of protein from all kinds of meat, fish, poultry, plus eggs and cheese, and then use additional fats in cooking and salad dressings.

 

5 Reasons why it works for me….

• I can eat out, anywhere: really…. you can always find something on the menu, just eliminate the starch. Meat, fish, chicken, lots of veggies and salads plus dressings/sauces…
• I don’t count or measure: yes, my weight loss is slower because I don’t count or restrict calories (by doing so you could hasten the weight loss), but I can LIVE like this. And I get to enjoy lots of food without calculating, portioning. I’m trying to craft a way of life, long term.
• The foods I eat are so satisfying: because they are high in fat, they are very satiating, and I’m never hungry. So then I eat less!
• It’s taking me away from the brink of diabetes: I’ve tried to lose weight to look better, and to just be “healthy” in general, and I found this hard to stick to…. but this time it’s critical I conquer my pre-diabetes. I just. won’t. cheat. It’s too important to me; and now that I’m making significant progress, I’m even more determined to keep it up!
• I’m eating lots of things I love, and losing weight: This particular diet has so many things I love (cheese, chicken wings, butter, meat, for example) AND the scale keeps going down. What’s not to like! And bacon. Did I mention bacon?

But I’m not here to tell you about the diet, I’m here to talk about creativity.  How do you tweak dishes you like so you can eat them on your keto diet?  There are a few kinds of sweeteners that are zero-carbs and I’ve been experimenting with them. There are lots of flavored stevia options that fill part of the void.

Sometimes ya just need a little dessert….

Here’s how I changed a regular cheesecake (similar to the typical recipe on the Philly cream cheese box) to one that I can enjoy on my keto diet:

Keto Chocolate Cheesecake

CRUST

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup flax meal (ground flaxseed)

1/4 c coconut oil (melted)

Mix together, pat firmly into 9” spring form pan, and chill till firm

(it will get firm while you make the filling)

 

FILLING

In the food processor:

3 blocks of cream cheese (250g/8 0z each) (softened, or room temperature)

3 eggs

3/4 cup erythritol (zero-carb granulated sweetener)*

1/2 tsp liquid stevia

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 tablespoon coconut oil

 

Mix the cream cheese, eggs and erythritol till blended in a food processor or beat in a large mixing bowl

Melt 4 oz. of unsweetened chocolate and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, cool slightly.  Set aside one half of this and add the other half to the food processor once other ingredients are mixed smoothly, pouring in to the food processor while mixing, in a small stream.

Pour filling into chilled pan with crust.  Drizzle remaining chocolate mixture on top, and draw a knife through it a bit to swirl & incorporate into batter. Make a pattern!

(Raspberry (or other berry) variation:  Skip the chocolate and make a coulis or concentrated fruit sauce, with no carb sweetener…(approx. ½ cup) and swirl/drizzle on top, draw through batter to incorporate but maintain a pattern…)

*If keto isn’t required, just substitute 3/4 cup of regular white sugar for the erythritol and stevia. I order my erythritol from Well.ca, it is hard to find in my local health food/organic stores….

Bake in pre-heated oven, middle rack, at 325 degrees F, for one hour, or until almost set in the middle (can still wiggle a little…) then leave in the oven, with the oven off, and the door cracked open only slightly, for another hour. Once cool, chill well in the fridge.

(this is the hard part….waiting….)

 

Here’s a raspberry swirl version, in progress….

Other creative variations: you can usually add a few tablespoons of a liquid flavoring, or ½ to one cup of solids without affecting too much….

Peanutty: add ½ cup peanut butter to the filling, while still mixing in the food processor, then top with chopped salted/roasted peanuts when cooled, before serving. Peanut and chocolate nice together too!

Lemon: grate the rind of two lemons and mix into filling with 2 T of fresh squeezed lemon juice in the food processor

Coconut: add a teaspoon of coconut flavoring to the batter while mixing, and top the finished cheesecake with a thin layer of “icing” from the solid part of a can of coconut milk and then sprinkle toasted coconut on top

Espresso: dissolve 2T of instant coffee in 2T hot water, and add to the batter just before the end of the mixing phase. Dust with more instant coffee powder and/or cacao nibs when cool, prior to serving.

The possibilities are endless. What flavor floats your boat?

Sweet Tarts

Fresh Fruit tarts are so lovely, happy and bright. My mouth waters when I see them, but I’m usually a little disappointed as the crust seems too “manufactured” or they are already soggy.  I’ve always wanted to make my own…so I took my regular pie pastry recipe (Mom’s….close to the one on the Tenderflake box) and lined small and regular sized muffin tins with pastry.

For the middle filling, I used Birds Custard Powder, but used a slightly smaller amount of liquid and I made it with cream, not milk, so it was richer and thicker. When the shells were baked and cooled, I spooned in the cooled custard.

I put fresh mango and berries in various combinations on top of the custard.  Then the proverbial “icing on the cake” was the glaze.  I found a recipe in Julia Child’s “The Way to Cook” and boiled apricot jam and sugar together to make a syrup and when cool, spooned this glaze over the fruit. (1 cup of jam, put through a sieve to remove skin/pulp plus 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of dark rum, optional. Optional? I don’t think so! Boil till it starts to thicken and gets sticky)

How fortuitous I had friends coming over for dinner the next day. They devoured them.

Oh my….  yeah.

Frozen

When I told a friend of mine I wanted to get an ice-cream maker to try making my own treats, she gave me hers. She said: “I’ve just never used it – it’s been sitting here forever – you can have it”.

Well, that was a while ago! It then sat in the pantry downstairs with all the other seldom used appliances for over a year…funny how that works. I had a fabulous no-work-and-all-play weekend last week, after coming off a huge all-encompassing couple months of work – and making ice-cream was on my fun list.

I looked at a number of the recipes, but I can’t eat eggs. Many of them are made with a pre-cooked custard. Then I found there were a couple frozen yogurt recipes that were very simple and had only a few ingredients.

So my first try was this: 2 cups of full fat Greek yogurt (vanilla) plus one cup of whipping cream. I flavored it with 2 T of instant coffee and a ¼ c of white sugar, mixed with 2T of boiling water to mix and dissolve it a bit. I whisked this all together and put it in the machine. Presto! 20 minutes later it was thick and creamy and I put it in containers to firm up.

I used tiny little plastic containers for single servings and later, when firm, I held the containers under a warm water tap for a few seconds and then popped them out on to a plate. Great idea for a make-ahead dinner party dessert! And pretty tasty too! Summertime, here we come.

New Life for Old Apples

Yeah, you know…in the bottom of the produce drawer, in the fridge, or in the bottom of the fruit bowl…those apples…the ones that are getting a little long in the tooth?

I hate it when my plans have gone awry, and things get over ripe, too brown, a little bruised…not used…

So I have a great solution that is healthy too. I bake a fruit compote. It’s like a fruit crisp, but no sugary-floury crust – just fruit that benefits from roasting, as most things do.

Take all your old apples, pears, and/or peaches and chop them up into chunks (or any berries past their  prime). Add a handful of brown or white sugar, or agave syrup. Toss with the juice of a lemon and add the lemon zest from the peel. (These amounts are for 6-8 apples). I keep frozen cranberries on hand and often add them (1/2 cup or so) to the mix for some zing and colour. Sometimes I’ll make it spicier with cinnamon or I’ll add vanilla. I vary the flavorings.

 

And bake. At 350 degrees, for an hour or so, in a casserole or a deep baking dish, until nice and soft and tender, and fragrant, stirring occasionally. I’ll often cover it for half the time; more so if there’s not a lot of juice, or less if there’s lots of liquid bubbling away. Keep it going until deeply coloured, and starting to caramelize.

Put this on top of ice-cream, or yogurt, or a dab on top of cream cheese on crackers.  It’s an intensely flavored addition to many dishes, and you’ve dodged throwing anything away.,,,
And the kitchen. Smells. Great.

   

Personal Pavlova

It was Jody’s 61st  birthday last month – I offered to cook dinner – and came up with this dessert. It’s easily transportable; that was a factor as I prepped ahead and took it to her house.

I made the meringue shells the night before. I used a regular recipe for one big pavlova but piped small 4-5” rounds by making a fat coil, then piped some sides on them, around the edges. I also piped little meringue toppers. I baked them, cooled them and stored in an air-tight container. The next day I took the whipping cream, fresh fruit and assembled and plated it just before dinner, and held it in the fridge until dessert.

So pretty. I had some chocolate mint growing in the garden (it’s wonderful for desserts), so I picked some of those leaves for decoration. I spied some ribbon on the counter I had recently bought and thought it went perfectly with the kiwi….that lead me to add the chocolate chip “polka dots”.

After quite a heavy meal, it was a delightfully light treat. I love the textures of crunchy meringue and smooth whipped cream, and the chewy in-between as some of the meringue softens from the moisture of the cream and berries….and it was a nice birthday party “look”.