The healthy cooking/keto thread

[House Cat]

I had thought that "keto" was very close to Atkins, so I would not have thought that people doing a keto diet ate bread. But what do I know? I never saw a "keto" diet written out. I have only heard people (including a "real life" friend) discuss what they eat.

Deb,

Here would be my macros for Keto. There are calculators all over the net. In the simplest of terms, when you follow these, your body enters ketosis and burns fat. There’s the keto diet!

 

[whitewave]

Try upping your salt for the next day. If you are peeing a lot (normal keto side effect), your salt will be quite depleted and give you the headache and fog. I will just microwave some chicken broth and drink that lol.

I remember the last time I was on keto (years ago) I drank chicken broth with a splash of heavy cream.... delicious

 

[Ellen]

Deb, 111?? I didn't even weigh that when I graduated. And I was thinnnn.

And now you're all the way to a whopping 117? One pound short of my graduation weight. No fair.

Seriously, I know if we don't weigh what we want we're not happy, but you are pretty blessed my dear. Unless you're like 4 1/2 feet tall.

I hope you get back to where you were too.


housecat, I'm not sure who you were talking to about doing keto and bread, but if you were thinking it was me, it's not. I'm just eating healthy. I asked Deb about bread because people do make exceptions at times.



whitewave, I second the salt recommendation. And good luck! Keep us posted. And I would recommend watching YouTube vids by Dr. Berg. Super informative guy, and knows much about Keto/IF. Has a ton of super short videos. Like 3-6 minutes, but a few are longer.


telephone, keep us posted and good luck!

 

[AGBF]

Deb, 111?? I didn't even weigh that when I graduated. And I was thinnnn.

And now you're all the way to a whopping 117? One pound short of my graduation weight. No fair.

Seriously, I know if we don't weigh what we want we're not happy, but you are pretty blessed my dear. Unless you're like 4 1/2 feet tall.

Unfortunately, I am getting close!!! I used to be 5' 4 3/4" tall and said I was 5' 5" all my life (rounding it off). I wore medium heels to work and was delighted once to hear someone refer to me as "that tall thin girl". I have now shrunk to 5' 2". I finally summoned up the courage to ask my internist to measure me a few months ago. People have really noticed how much I have shrunk! I hate it!

Deb

 

[Ellen]

Unfortunately, I am getting close!!! I used to be 5' 4 3/4" tall and said I was 5' 5" all my life (rounding it off). I wore medium heels to work and was delighted once to hear someone refer to me as "that tall thin girl". I have now shrunk to 5' 2". I finally summoned up the courage to ask my internist to measure me a few months ago. People have really noticed how much I have shrunk! I hate it!

Deb

Unfortunately this shrinking stuff seems to come with the territory.

My mom used to be 5'8", she's now 5"4'.

(but she's also had several compression fractures which helped aid this) And I have shrunk an inch. So yeah, I do get that the shorter we are, the harder it makes it. Hopefully you don't shrink much more, or people might need to get a magnifying glass out.....

 

[Ellen]

I made this recipe recently. Not bad, but I felt it needed a bit more spice. Super healthy though.

Spiced Chai Breakfast

INGREDIENTS
1 cup quinoa (be sure to rinse)
2 cups 1% milk (you could use almond, I use whole, raw)
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, unpacked
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (didn't have, just used a sub of equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 dashes ground cloves
Unsweetened coconut flakes and/or nuts for topping (optional)


DIRECTIONS

Bring milk to a full simmer in a small saucepan. Add Quinoa, return to a simmer and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Cover, leaving a tiny crack for steam to escape, and simmer until about two-thirds of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. (mine was here at about 9 min. but I didn't realize that and let it go too long, so watch closely! absorbs quickly)

Remove from heat and stir in egg white, brown sugar, vanilla and spices. Return pan to stove, covering again with a tiny crack for steam to escape, and continue to cook on low until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.

If desired, serve with additional milk and garnish with coconut flakes, nuts and/or additional brown sugar. (definitely needed more milk, along with spices) And I put dried coconut and chopped pecans on it.

Makes about 3 c.

 

[Ellen]

I have decided to make my own sauerkraut. I've read it has more probiotics than any pill you could take, so I figured I'd try. So I went to YouTube and saw all the reviews on this video, 16 million+, and clicked. No wonder. Not only is the recipe easy, he's easy on the eyes. (read the comments, funny)

 

[whitewave]

Ok, I was doing well on Keto and then my BIL died, so we were eating whatever people brought us.

I’m starting again this week. It’s been a month tomorrow,

I’m ordering two books that are highly recommended in the keto world, both by Maria Emmerich,

Comfort Foods

quick and Easy Keto meals.

 

[Ellen]

Ok, I was doing well on Keto and then my BIL died, so we were eating whatever people brought us.

I’m starting again this week. It’s been a month tomorrow,

I’m ordering two books that are highly recommended in the keto world, both by Maria Emmerich,

Comfort Foods

quick and Easy Keto meals.

Totally understandable. I would just ease back in, maybe not be TOTALLY strict with yourself right off the bat. Give yourself a little time to adjust, you'll get there.

p.s. Let me know what you think of the books please.

 

[whitewave]

I bought these three

 

[Ellen]

Looking forward to reviews!

 

[whitewave]

Looking forward to reviews!

I’m on a FB group called “Keto” and everyone makes these recipes and raves about how the whole family loves them.

 

[mrs-b]

Does anyone have any decent recipes for keto compliant 'bread'? I tried the keto stuff from Julian's Bakery, and I swear it crumbled in my mouth like dirt. Couldn't finish a slice. Tried adding butter. A LOT of butter. In the end had to admit that the only thing that tasted any good...was the butter.

@junebug17 - you said your almond bread looked better than it tasted. Was it edible? Did you find any ways to tweak it to make it better? Any and all suggestions welcome.

I'm currently doing full keto as I had a glucose reaction to steroids recently. This happened to me once before and I went keto then also and it dropped back to normal, even after going off keto. It shot up again with this dose (about 5 years after the last time), so I'm back on the keto path. I cope with it by keeping it VERY simple: 1 protein + 1 veg + 1 fat. I eat for nutrition rather than interest - for example: fried or baked swordfish with broccoli and cauli or beans, par-boiled for 30 seconds, then browned in olive oil. I keep to 30gms of carbs or below each day and I also do intermittent fasting - 16:8, tho occasionally 18:6 if it just works out that way. Two meals a day. NEVER hungry. Keto is the bomb for that.

So - anyone? Bread?

 

[junebug17]

@mrs-b, the bread I made was edible but that's about it lol - it really didn't taste that great and I never made it again. I have since read that a few drops of liquid stevia improves the taste but I haven't gotten around to trying it.

 

[Matata]

I made soft keto seed bread from the recipe on dietdoctor.com. Imo, none of the keto breads will satisfy the way a French baguette drenched in butter will but this recipe wasn't bad, B- C+. It's a dense heavy bread that tastes better the day it's baked but leftovers with a lot of butter wasn't too bad.

 

[mrs-b]

Thanks so much, @Matata. Just looking for anything I can make into a sandwich. Anything at all!

 

[marymm]

^ mrs-b, have you tried any of the recipes floating around for "Cloud Bread"? Here's a link to the recipe I've used https://dailyyum.com/no-carb-cloud-bread/

Cloud Bread has a light and airy texture and works pretty darn good for an open-faced sandwich (if the toppings aren't too heavy). I tried building a traditional sandwich with cloud bread on bottom and top but decided I much prefer going open-faced if using cloud bread.

 

[lulu_ma]

I know this thread has been inactive for a while but I’m just restarting Keto and wanted to share this tortilla for anyone who is looking for a keto friendly bread. 1 tortilla has 3 carbs.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Does anyone have any decent recipes for keto compliant 'bread'? I tried the keto stuff from Julian's Bakery, and I swear it crumbled in my mouth like dirt. Couldn't finish a slice. Tried adding butter. A LOT of butter. In the end had to admit that the only thing that tasted any good...was the butter.

@junebug17 - you said your almond bread looked better than it tasted. Was it edible? Did you find any ways to tweak it to make it better? Any and all suggestions welcome.

I'm currently doing full keto as I had a glucose reaction to steroids recently. This happened to me once before and I went keto then also and it dropped back to normal, even after going off keto. It shot up again with this dose (about 5 years after the last time), so I'm back on the keto path. I cope with it by keeping it VERY simple: 1 protein + 1 veg + 1 fat. I eat for nutrition rather than interest - for example: fried or baked swordfish with broccoli and cauli or beans, par-boiled for 30 seconds, then browned in olive oil. I keep to 30gms of carbs or below each day and I also do intermittent fasting - 16:8, tho occasionally 18:6 if it just works out that way. Two meals a day. NEVER hungry. Keto is the bomb for that.

So - anyone? Bread?

Just saw this @mrs-b! If you’re still looking then the website “Maria Mind Body Health” has an easy recipe. If you want something that tastes suuuuper close to real bread and you dont mind the effort then then the instagram page keto.luna has some excellent recipes. Another great recipe site for baking is gnom-gnom. They have a pretty good bagel recipe and are easier than keto.luna. Best of luck!

 

[mrs-b]

I know this thread has been inactive for a while but I’m just restarting Keto and wanted to share this tortilla for anyone who is looking for a keto friendly bread. 1 tortilla has 3 carbs.

Hi @lulu_ma -

The whole 'net carb' thing drives me insane and I'd love your take on this.

I have no idea why some diet programs say you can deduct fiber to calculate carbs; I mean - what difference would fiber make to counteracting the effects of carbs in your blood stream?

I do straight keto and count all carbs, and it keeps my blood glucose very low and stable. Net carbs blow me out immediately and it shows up straight away on my meter. Like - immediately. It seems to me like a marketing tool to allow people to eat a lot of carbs without counting them. For instance, I can find a bunch of chocolates that have low net carbs but moderate total carbs. Ditto ice cream and desserts in general - altho the desserts are more like high carb, by my estimation.

This is probably fine for some people who don't have the glucose sensitivity that I do - but all my life glucose has affected me badly: I eat sugar and I blow up like a balloon, go bright red, my heart races, and a bunch of other side effects. When I stay off carbs, my skin is better, my pulse is about 20 bpm slower, my skin is cooler and less swollen and red, and my glucose is rock steady between 85 and 95, with an A1C in the high 4's. And my pancreas says thank you daily.

I don't EVER want to have to take meds for insulin issues, so I stay on a low carb diet. But that means less than 50 total carbs a day, and preferably less than 30. I blow out on my birthday and on Christmas day - that's it - and even then I try to make 'keto friendly' desserts and treats. The decrease in sugar has also led to a big drop in triglycerides (down from around 200 to around 50) and my LDL cholesterol has gone down, while my HDL has gone up. My inflammation levels have also gone down, and that's a real issue for someone with Crohn's disease.

I've never heard any medical expert in keto ship the net carbs idea, tho I've heard plenty advocate counting total carbs - but it's entirely possible they're pitching more to people with medical problems when it comes to sugar. Since carbs are aging, tho, and inflammatory, staying away from them seems sensible to me.

Having said all of that, tho, a lot of things with low net carbs often aren't too bad for total carbs either, and I can normally work something like that into my diet every so often. So I'll keep an eye out for it as I love a good wrap! And if you have any thoughts on the net carb vs total carb thing, I'd love to hear them.

And thank you!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Hi @lulu_ma -
The whole 'net carb' thing drives me insane and I'd love your take on this.

I have no idea why some diet programs say you can deduct fiber to calculate carbs; I mean - what difference would fiber make to counteracting the effects of carbs in your blood stream?

I do straight keto and count all carbs, and it keeps my blood glucose very low and stable. Net carbs blow me out immediately and it shows up straight away on my meter. Like - immediately. It seems to me like a marketing tool to allow people to eat a lot of carbs without counting them. For instance, I can find a bunch of chocolates that have low net carbs but moderate total carbs. Ditto ice cream and desserts in general - altho the desserts are more like high carb, by my estimation.

This is probably fine for some people who don't have the glucose sensitivity that I do - but all my life glucose has affected me badly: I eat sugar and I blow up like a balloon, go bright red, my heart races, and a bunch of other side effects. When I stay off carbs, my skin is better, my pulse is about 20 bpm slower, my skin is cooler and less swollen and red, and my glucose is rock steady between 85 and 95, with an A1C in the high 4's. And my pancreas says thank you daily.

I don't EVER want to have to take meds for insulin issues, so I stay on a low carb diet. But that means less than 50 total carbs a day, and preferably less than 30. I blow out on my birthday and on Christmas day - that's it - and even then I try to make 'keto friendly' desserts and treats. The decrease in sugar has also led to a big drop in triglycerides (down from around 200 to around 50) and my LDL cholesterol has gone down, while my HDL has gone up. My inflammation levels have also gone down, and that's a real issue for someone with Crohn's disease.

I've never heard any medical expert in keto ship the net carbs idea, tho I've heard plenty advocate counting total carbs - but it's entirely possible they're pitching more to people with medical problems when it comes to sugar. Since carbs are aging, tho, and inflammatory, staying away from them seems sensible to me.

Having said all of that, tho, a lot of things with low net carbs often aren't too bad for total carbs either, and I can normally work something like that into my diet every so often. So I'll keep an eye out for it as I love a good wrap! And if you have any thoughts on the net carb vs total carb thing, I'd love to hear them.

And thank you!

not @lulu_ma but I did a lot of reading around the net carb / total carb debate some time ago so maybe this is helpful. The short answer is that it sort of depends on your own sensitivity and also what exactly is being subtracted from the “total” number to get to the “net” number. For example, dietary fibre (like psyllium husk) is indigestible, so in theory, if you eat like six spoonfuls of fibre it should have a negligible-to-no impact on blood sugar. That obviously doesn’t mean that you can eat a chocolate cake and then scarf down enough dietary fibre to make you poo for six days straight since fibre doesn’t magically cancel out actual carbs eaten, but if you eat a dish which has some fibre in it (eg all vegetables have some amount of fibre in them, most keto breads have some amount of fibre in them) you should theoretically be able to subtract it since it passes through your system indigested.

Things get sticky when we talk about sugar alcohols / polyols. Some of them have a glycemic index of 0, like erythritol, and so shouldn’t cause an insulin response (though some people argue just eating something with the sensation of sweet can cause an insulin response in some people, this is how Diet Coke can cause an insulin response for example despite containing literally 0 carbs net or total). Erythritol is also indigestible and therefore you should be safe subtracting it from your total carbs in a dish since it goes through your system undigested. Other sweeteners vary, xylitol is a popular one for keto but has a GI of 7 as opposed to 0, so may cause an insulin response in people who are very sensitive. Maltitol is the one to avoid but it can be hard as it is ubiquitous. But it has a GI of 35 and causes a response in most people.

interestingly, in some parts of the world, like Europe, the number you see on the label already is “net carbs” since dietary fibre is not considered a part of total carbs, since it is indigestible. so European foods will have total carbs (with only sugars and polyols as subcategories). Fibre is its own line item. Depending on the polyol, you can subtract some/most or all of it. But you should be 99% safe subtracting at least dietary fibre if you’re US based. Just don’t subtract it if you’re Europe based since it’ll already be done for you!


So, to summarise, you’re fairly safe to do “net carbs” for the things you make for yourself. You can test your own response to various ingredients with a glucometer and then you know what works for you. It’s when you eat store bought things you need to be careful for things like maltitol which are “technically” sugar substitutes but bad for you in the way sugar itself is.

 

[mrs-b]

Thank you for your response, @AllAboardTheBlingTrain!

I've been doing keto for 2 years now, and I know for a fact - I can't do net carbs. We have a saying amongst people who do what we call 'full keto' as opposed to 'dirty keto' - "eat to your meter" - and I've been doing that for a long time. If I want to keep my numbers permanently in the 80's, I can't have Splenda in my coffee and I can't have the one diet soda I allow myself each day. I'm one of those people whose pancreas kicks into gear, even if it *thinks* I'm having sugar. So I *do* have Splenda in my coffee and I *do* have one diet soda each day, and my numbers sit between 85 and 95, and I'm happy with that, but I have to calc on the basis of total carbs, not net. I'm on a number of diabetic keto websites, and this is true for most of the members there also. Altho I'm a member of those sites, I'm far luckier in that my pancreas still produces insulin and I'm on no meds and my reaction to sugar is far more mild than most of theirs. But after long term steroid use for Crohn's, my pancreas and glucose production has taken a beating and - combined with a natural sensitivity to sugar that I was born with - I have to be careful all the time to keep my numbers low.

But if ever you want to hear about the miracle that is full keto, you should go to one of those sites and hear their war stories - people with glucose readings over a thousand and people one day away from starting dialysis and people who were going blind and were in agony with neuropathy - and on and on and on. People who literally came back from the brink. It's super inspiring and keeps my lazy arse on the straight and narrow!

 

[lulu_ma]

Hi, @mrs-b I think that @AllAboardTheBlingTrain's explanation is definitely more scientific than anything I could offer!

It's fantastic that you are able to manage your blood sugar level with the Keto diet! And I'm totally with you. I feel better when I have less sugar. But I am so glad that I am still able to have monkfruit sugar on Keto.

Specifically on the Mission Plant Power Tortilla, I usually use only 1/2 of one to satisfy my "bread" craving. It counts as 1 Net Carb. I tend to only eat these 1-2 times as week because, frankly, I would rather eat a whole cup of cauliflower rice for the same number of carbs!

Just think of these tortillas as something to try if you feel like having a wrap. But not if you are wheat sensitive! I love the idea of homemade Keto bread, but most days, I just want something quick and easy.

Btw, with my current Carb Manager settings, I can have 14 Net Carbs a day out of a total of 29 Total Carbs so I'm very stingy with my carbs

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Thank you for your response, @AllAboardTheBlingTrain!

I've been doing keto for 2 years now, and I know for a fact - I can't do net carbs. We have a saying amongst people who do what we call 'full keto' as opposed to 'dirty keto' - "eat to your meter" - and I've been doing that for a long time. If I want to keep my numbers permanently in the 80's, I can't have Splenda in my coffee and I can't have the one diet soda I allow myself each day. I'm one of those people whose pancreas kicks into gear, even if it *thinks* I'm having sugar. So I *do* have Splenda in my coffee and I *do* have one diet soda each day, and my numbers sit between 85 and 95, and I'm happy with that, but I have to calc on the basis of total carbs, not net. I'm on a number of diabetic keto websites, and this is true for most of the members there also. Altho I'm a member of those sites, I'm far luckier in that my pancreas still produces insulin and I'm on no meds and my reaction to sugar is far more mild than most of theirs. But after long term steroid use for Crohn's, my pancreas and glucose production has taken a beating and - combined with a natural sensitivity to sugar that I was born with - I have to be careful all the time to keep my numbers low.

But if ever you want to hear about the miracle that is full keto, you should go to one of those sites and hear their war stories - people with glucose readings over a thousand and people one day away from starting dialysis and people who were going blind and were in agony with neuropathy - and on and on and on. People who literally came back from the brink. It's super inspiring and keeps my lazy arse on the straight and narrow!

Eating to your meter is absolutely the best way! There’s no one size fits all approach to diet, even within a specific diet.

Splenda has a mildly elevated GI compared to erythritol and stevia btw, can’t remember what it is offhand (if you use powdered Splenda since it is bulked with dextrose). So you could experiment with erythritol/stevia if you want to try and reduce your insulin response further. Though, tbh, given your particular circumstances with the steroid and natural sensitivity to sugar I’m not 100% sure it would make a difference. But maybe worth trying (as long as you get a brand of erythritol/stevia that isn’t bulked with maltodextrin or dextrose). There’s one caveat - a loooot of erythritol brands taste minty (because erythritol naturally has a menthol effect). Swerve is quite good, it doesn’t do this.

I’m quite fortunate that my health issues are managed quite well with low-carb and not full keto; but I’ve been tending towards going full keto again because I just plain feel better when I’m on it. Hence the increased activity on the keto threads on my part

 

[lulu_ma]

@mrs-b not sure if you have tried this but I really like this brand-not minty at all...

Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener - 1:1 White Sugar Substitute, Zero Calorie, Keto Diet Friendly, Zero Net Carbs, Zero Glycemic, Baking, Extract, Sugar Replacement (Classic White - 8.29 Oz) https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00CF2B...abc_J98SC18WDH6ZP73G3KD8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1