Super Bowl Keto Frito Pie

As a keto mom, I find days that revolve around food a little exhausting. Got to keep those keto kiddos happy and feeling like part of the crowd! 

Super Bowl Sunday is tomorrow and I was thinking about what we'd eat. Our typical go-to Super Bowl meal is Buffalo wings and green bean fries (battered and fried in the fryer). Oh my. So yummy. I could do it keto, but I really wanted Eamon to have a great meal super close to what we're going to be eating on Super Sunday. 

If you're like me, the thought of eating chili without the beans is dumb. For me, beans (and a little bit of brown sugar) make a chili. Make it so good. I've made a few low carb/keto chili recipes and have always felt a little unsatisfied. It just needed something! I remembered Frito Pie from my childhood and smiled. Not saying that corn chips are low carb or anything, BUT I could find a way to make that keto and that would definitely satisfy me and the lack of beans. Huzzah! 

All of that cheese, all of that meat...FRITOS! YUM! 

I like to eat low carb in solidarity with Eamon, so I had a chili, corn chip salad thing. Pretty good! I've posted a pic of my salad for you, just in case you feel the same. 

Frito Pie on top of some romaine lettuce...not bad! 

This is a pretty easy recipe, so it's just standard directions below. 

Super Bowl Keto Frito Pie

3:1 ratio, 502 calories

Ingredients

Heavy cream, 67g

Onions-raw, 2g

Tomato Sauce-Muir Glen/canned, 9g

Chili powder, .5g

Corn Chips-Fritos, 8g

Jalapeno-fresh, 1g

Trader Joe's Mild Wisconsin Mild Cheddar, 6g

Beef, raw 80% lean, 30g

Mayonnaise-Duke's, 4g

Olive oil, 10g

Directions:

Measure oil and place in a non-stick skillet. Heat on medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and jalapenos and cook for about 3 minutes. Add measured ground beef. Cook and crumble beef with the vegetables. When beef is no longer red, add chili powder and saute for 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce and heat. Meanwhile, measure and crumble corn chips into a bowl. After meat mixture is hot, add to top of corn chips. Add shredded cheddar and dollop (4g) of mayo. Cream on the side. Serve it up!

Optional: Use a different spice, like cumin. Calculate in some sour cream and mix it with the mayo. 

Can't believe it's Keto Cinnamon Rolls

This diet is such a struggle sometimes. I feel depressed for Eamon. For all of the things he's missing. For all of the things I'm missing. Don't get me wrong, this diet is a blessing and a miracle. I'd totally do it again in a heartbeat, but it's been a rough road.

We live in Maryland, so we spent last week inside in the blizzard. As I perused the grocery store in the attempt to hoard food with the rest of Maryland, I paused from my heavy cream and butter grabbing to see what the rest of the future prisoners of the snow were putting in their carts; frozen pizzas, refrigerated cookie dough, chips and dips, flour and sugar for baking. I was so envious. I wanted to bake for my boys. I wanted to create these "every blizzard we make snow ice cream" memories. I hated the feeling of waiting on the plow as I watched our stock of heavy cream dwindle.

It's okay, it's okay. All of us keto parents have these moments, days, months. We just have to shake it off and remember all that keto has given us. I'm really so very thankful that it was an option for our son. I don't want to think about the alternative.

One of my splurge buys for the "normies" (non-keto eating children) was a can of cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls, you ask? Yes! Keep it Keto, mama!

Have you heard of Carbquik? Thanks to a keto parenting facebook page, I did and I immediately ordered it. Immediately. I then felt a little depressed as I tried to calculate it into something palatable for Eamon. I just couldn't get it right. It took a few weeks, but I finally came up with some good recipes (biscuits and keto sawmill gravy, biscuits and honey, etc). One of Eamon's favorites is the cinnamon roll. Another bonus? Depending on ratio or personal taste, you may just calculate yourself out of extra cream!!! Woo woo!

WARNING: Lots of pictures and directions. See below for ingredients and written directions.

Carbquik and butter measured before you cut in the butter

Butter cut into Carbquik before you add the cream

Cream added and mixed for 30 seconds

Add mix to some parchment paper 

Smoosh and roll the mix until...

It's in a flattened roll like this

Add butter and cinnamon and spread on the top of the flattened dough

It's very sticky, so use the parchment to roll the dough up

Flatten the dough...you don't want it to be too tall. It won't cook before it browns. 

Ready to go in the oven. Use the spatula to scrape the parchment clean. 

Pulling it out of the oven

Yeahhhhh, add that frosting and serve. Drool. 

Can't believe it's Keto Cinnamon Rolls

3.04:1 Ratio,  502 calories

Ingredients:
Carbquik, 40g

Cream, 60g

Butter, 24g (14g chilled, 10g softened)

Splenda, 1g
Vanilla extract, 1g
Cinnamon, 2g
Erythritol (powder), 15g

Directions:

1. Measure Carbquik, Splenda, and a dash of salt in a bowl and give a quick stir. Add 14g of cold butter. Using two knives, cut the butter into the Carbquik and be sure to use a rubber spatula to clean off the knives. 

2. Add 30g of cream and mix with a rubber spatula for 30 seconds. It doesn't all have to come together. Don't be tempted to overmix, the dough can get tough that way. 

3. Pull a about a 6-8 inch piece of parchment paper. Carefully, scrape all of dough into the center of the paper, cleaning the bowl. 


4. Use the parchment to gather the dough, trying to get it all to stick together (it may take a minute). Rolling the parchment, try to make a "snake" like you're playing with playdoh and flatten it. Try to make it pretty long, if you can. It makes a prettier cinnamon roll. 
5. Mix room temperature butter and cinnamon until blended. 


6. Spread across the dough. 

7. Using the parchment, roll the dough up into a cinnamon roll shape and flatten the top. 

8. Put in a 400 degree, pre-heated oven and bake until browned and cooked through. I use a small toaster oven for Eamon, so it's only about 12 minutes. Keep checking it. The butter and cinnamon will stay soft, but make sure the dough is drier and cooked well. My guess is 15-18 minutes in the oven. 

9. While it's in the oven, mix 15 grams of cream, vanilla, and erythritol in a bowl and stir until blended. It will be on the runny side because Eamon likes it that way. Use less cream if you'd like it thick. 

10. Serve with extra cream. Eamon likes his as "coffee." Silly boy! 

Optional: Add one of the grams of cinnamon into the actual dough. Eamon liked that once. Consider calculating cream cheese into frosting if calories and ratio allow. Yum! 

Sides for your calculation: Zucchini Fritters and Cheesy Tater Bites!

Well, I got super tired of asking Eamon what veggie he wanted cooked in butter or oil, so I knew I had to make some old favorites keto. Especially when the "normies" feasted on a buffet of Trader Joe's appetizers for New Year's Eve. Have I mentioned my obsession for Trader Joe's? Seriously, I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's.

Zucchini Fritters 

We've made zucchini fritters before we started the ketogenic diet. We had joined a CSA and I was looking for some new ways to use our squash stores before the next week's bounty and found a recipe online for the fritters. Man, I love veggies. They were SO GOOD and I didn't even need to get too fancy! I like them super salty and dipped in a good ketchup (um, do I need to mention Trader Joe's has amazing ketchup?). Eamon really enjoys the saltiness of the fritters and the other boys enjoy them as well! You could add a spiced sour cream/mayo dip and calculate a meat for a meal.

Ingredients:

25g shredded zucchini with skin, raw

8g egg

4g almond flour

10g coconut oil

Optional: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, etc

Directions:

Shred zucchini and place in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze zucchini in a dishcloth or paper towel and measure. Add egg and almond flour and either a sprinkle of garlic powder, cayenne pepper, or some paprika and mix well. Add measured oil to non-stick skillet and heat until shimmering. Drop spoonfuls of zucchini mixture in hot oil. Cook until brown and flip until both sides are nice and brown. At this point, I let the fritters sit in the oil to absorb any remaining oil in the pan off of the heat. I sprinkle with salt and serve it up! 

Cheesy Tater Bites or Mac & Cheese Bites

I was cruising around on my favorite keto blog, Ruled.me, and knew right away that Eamon would love the mac & cheese bites. Of course, there would be less cheese and more oil, but we would give them a try anyway. What a hit! He said they reminded him of tater tots, which is why I've named my version, Cheesy Tater Bites. Eamon ate them as they were, but I suppose you could also add a dip. We had an appetizer fest on New Year's Eve, but next time we'll use them as a side item and add a meat and cream.

Ingredients:

36g cauliflower raw, riced (or pulsed in a food processor)

1g paprika

8g mild cheddar cheese

10g egg, mixed well

10g sunflower oil

Directions: 

I bought the Organic Riced Cauliflower from the frozen section at Trader Joe's, let it thaw and squeezed out excess water...you know, cause it's easy and less messy. Thanks, Trader Joe's! I love you. You could, however, use fresh cauliflower florets and pulse them a few times in the food processor to get "riced" cauliflower. Measure remaining ingredients, except for oil, and add to the cauliflower, mixing well. Heat measured oil in the skillet until shimmering. Drop spoonfuls of the cauliflower into hot oil, cooking until brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and serve it up! 

Sorry I didn't have a better pic...

Peanut Butter Cups

This peanut butter cup has saved lives.

During the first few months of beginning the ketogenic diet, you're spending so much time and energy making new recipes, just to try to figure out what to make for your keto kid that he will actually eat without tears. My husband and I jumped on the keto train in solidarity and were also struggling a bit (the old man's got a sweet tooth). We stumbled upon a blog with a keto peanut butter cup and knew we had to try one for Eamon. I'll never forget his moaning in delight that first time he pulled one out of the freezer. I knew at that moment, that we'd make it on this diet, but only if we could make the things we used to love by Keeping It Keto. 

Eamon has these everyday. At first we thought we'd keep the recipe reserved for special occasions, but it's just too easy, too good and comes without cream! It also keeps very well when kept right next to a freezer pack in a lunch box or cooler. 

I usually put two bowls on the scale and measure like this...just faster

Adding the peanut butter - I usually make two cups at a time, as you can see on the right

The bowls after a good microwaving. About 45 seconds in our microwave

I stirred the chocolate and poured it in the silicone mold.
Now, I'm going to mix the peanut butter and pour it in, making sure
all of the bowls and spatula are scraped clean...got to get that fat to keep the ratio!  

Ready for the freezer! 

After about an hour in the freezer! Ready to eat! 

Here's the deal!

3.09:1 and 153 calories or
4.18:1 and 145 calories (for 4:1, increase butter to 14 grams and peanut butter to 8g and reduce Truvia and cocoa powder to 2g each)

Peanut Butter Cup

Ingredients:

Cocoa, Hershey's (unsweetened), 3g
Truvia Natural Sweetener, 3g
Peanut Butter, Creamy Natural Skippy, 8g
Butter, 13g

Directions:

Place two bowls on the scale. Measure 10g of butter into one bowl and 3g into the other (this seems tedious, but keeps you from losing grams of butter transferring into new bowls). Measure Truvia and cocoa powder and add to bowl with the 10g of butter. Measure peanut butter into the bowl with 3g of butter. Microwave both bowls and mix well, being sure to dissolve Truvia into butter. Pour chocolate mixture into silicone muffin cup. Pour peanut butter mixture into the center of the chocolate and freeze. Keep frozen until ready to eat. Melts very quickly. Eamon uses the silicone muffin cup like a little holder or napkin to keep his hands from getting too messy.
3.09:1, 153 calories

Quick Tortilla Pizza

If you follow me on my facebook page, you'll see that I promised several things this week. I admit, I'm a slacker. In my defense, it is the holiday season AND my husband redid our plumbing AND I mowed the grass AND raked the leaves AND rinsed the mud from the steps. Busy lives are just the way of things, after all. Sometimes, things don't go as planned. When you're on a normal diet, you just hop in the family van and grab some grub from your favorite dining spot. When you've got a kid on the ketogenic diet, you're freaking out, and that's why I've got this weeknight or last minute dinner gem up for you!

Best part of tortilla pizza? The whole family can have a tortilla pizza without any complaints from the normies (those two normal eating kiddos of mine)! Seriously. This is the easiest dinner. 

I love low carb tortillas. Especially, the Mission Carb Balance Tortillas. We use them in place of bread for all of the sandwiches we miss. Oooh! That reminds me of the time we had Bahn Mi tacos...maybe I'll make that next week...Anyhoo, Mark (the hubster) and I need to lose extra pounds quick before we go on vacation. Lose five to gain five. It is our way. So, we need easy meals for the kiddos this week while we eat like rabbits and it couldn't get any easier than tortilla pizza. 

Cutting out the mini pizzas with the cookie cutter

Flipped in olive oil

All ready for the oven!

Tortilla pizza for the whole family! Keto on the right.

Cook on the top rack, side by side. Just Keeping It Keto, folks. 

No filter. Just one tasty dish! 

Here's the deal

3:1 ratio at 497 calories

4:1 ratio? Increase cream to 82g and reduce tortilla to 20g, marinara sauce to 8g and mozzarella to 12g. Lose the parmesan cheese (sorry!). That's 4:1 ratio and 502 calories

Ingredients:
67g cream

24g Mission Carb Balance tortilla
19g Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (*Pretty low carb for a marinara sauce and flipping delicious! Plus, it's in the calculator!!!)

20g whole milk mozarella

2g 100% parmesan cheese, grated

16g olive oil

3:1 ratio, 497 calories

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees

1. Use a cookie cutter to cut pizza circles out of tortilla. Weigh to proper gram amount. This can get tricky, but you'll get the hang of how many grams you get out of your cookie cutter. If you're a few grams over, try peeling the outer layer off of the tortilla. Tricky, tricky! 

2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Measure oil and pour the oil into the center of the foil. Flip tortillas back and forth in the oil covering both sides of the tortillas. 

3. Measure sauce. Using a rubber spatula, spread sauce. 

4. Shred and measure cheese, or slice the cheese if you want to be fancy. Place on pizza. 

5. Bake for about 12 minutes or until it's perfectly brown. You can always broil for a few seconds, but watch out! The edges of the tortilla quickly burn. 

6. Don't forget the parmesan cheese. I suggest putting it in a bowl and letting your keto kiddo sprinkle. Just like the normies do (normal diet people). 

7. Serve it up! Whole or slices, it's your choice! Cream on the side!

OPTIONAL: Calculate in some toppings by reducing cheese or sauce first. Maybe a sprinkle of oregano or hot pepper flakes, if you've got an adventurous kiddo. 

Jambalaya

Like I said before, Eamon feels so much better about being on the ketogenic diet when he's eating things that the rest of the family are eating, so when the craving hit me for some good ole jambalaya I just had to figure out how to Keep It Keto.

CAULIFLOWER. Duh, mom (winky face)!
Cauliflower is one of my most favorite things on the planet. It's so diverse; mashed, riced, chunked, roasted, and I'd never complain about giving the kids more veggies.

Before our low carb/keto days, I loved the Quick Jambalaya Recipe from Betty Crocker, so that's where I went for inspiration. I left out the green peppers for Eamon and switched the stewed tomatoes for tomato paste and he went bananas (oh, we miss bananas )!

Recipe and instructions below, but I've got a few pictures for guidance.

Chop cauliflower into pieces and place about 1/3 of cauliflower
into the food processor 

Pulse about 12 times until it's super small;
kind of like rice! 

Meanwhile, saute the sausage and veggies in the oil.
This is Eamon's serving, but do the same for the family's portion.

Add the remaining ingredients (this is Eamon's), mixed.

The family pot

Family jambalaya 

3:1 ketogenic jambalaya (cream not pictured)

Here's the deal

3:1 ratio at 498 calories

4:1 ratio? Increase cream to 75g and oil to 17g, reduce cauliflower to 85g, onions to 1g, and sausage to 22g. This comes in right at 4:1 and 502 calories.  

Ingredients - Ketogenic Jambalaya:
100g cauliflower, riced
3g raw onion (Eamon prefers just onions. Adjust to your kid's liking)
25g Trader Joe's chicken broth
4g tomato paste, organic Trader Joe's
25g beef smoked sausage - Hillshire Farms, cut bit-sized
15g olive oil
63g of cream, served how your kid likes it best! Eamon likes his as coffee
3:1 ratio, 498 calories

Directions: 

Cut cauliflower into florets and add to a food processor, 1/3 at a time. Pulse about 12 times until cauliflower resembles rice. Take out any big chunks and add to the next batch and pulse. Keep pulsing until all of the cauliflower is riced. Measure the keto kid's portion and set the rest aside until you're ready to use. Measure remaining ingredients. Add oil to a hot pan and add sausage and onion. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Cook until cauliflower is tender, about ten minutes. Keep an eye on it, you may need to add a few tbsp of water if it begins to stick or get too dry. Serve it up! 

Optional: add a pinch of chili powder and a little salt. 

Ingredients - Family's Jambalaya
1 cauliflower (minus portion for the keto kiddo), riced
1 green pepper (minus portion, if using)
1 onion (minus portion, if using)
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 package smoked sausage (the big long ones), halved lengthwise and diced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. thyme
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Add oil to a hot skillet or pot. Add sausage, onion and green pepper and saute until veggies are tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Serve it up! 

A ketogenic Advent Calendar

Through this whole ketogenic diet process, we've struggled to find "normalcy." There are just things we don't do anymore; we don't eat fast food on vacations, we don't have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on holidays, and last year, we didn't do advent calendars...much to the dismay of my two non-keto children. We were just a month on the diet and I was struggling to create meals that Eamon would eat, let alone creating chocolates that were "special enough" and  recalculating meals to account for the calories. The two non-keto-ers didn't really care; they wanted their calendars, their tradition, but how could I keep it keto?

Even Eamon was bummed he couldn't have an advent calendar, and that is the reason for this blog. It took me a long time on this diet to realize that its success and our happiness for these two years, is dependent on how included he feels.

So here it is...Eamon's Ketogenic Advent Calendar. Behold, for it is a Christmas Miracle!

The store bought Advent Calendar. I bought mine from Trader Joe's 

Carefully, take out the whole tray and remove chocolates. I tossed mine, but the husband gave me grief...
I suggest you save yours ;-) 

Measure the butter and chocolate chips in a bowl. Measure the Oreos. I measured mine and then pulsed in a food processor, but I think you should crumb them and then measure (I had to measure twice...oh, the humanity!). 

Add Oreos to the melted butter and chocolate chips. Don't forget the vanilla and stevia! 

Spoon the chocolate into the molds. I had tried using a syringe, but the spoon was pretty easy with little mess.

Here is the finished product after freezing! Cute little keto chocolate bear. 

Here's the deal
3:1 ratio/2g of chocolate is 13.5 calories (460 in whole batch).
*Check the grams in the serving size of your advent calendar to know how many grams each little mold will hold. I was left with 10g of chocolate. I created a bigger chocolate for Eamon on Christmas morning and will deduct 135 calories from his breakfast that day.
4:1 ratio? Increase butter to 53g, reduce chocolate chips to 7g, and Oreos to 9g. It runs 465 calories (which is within allotted caloric requirements).

INGREDIENTS
49g (forty nine) of butter
11g Nestle mini chocolate chips
10g mini Oreo cookies
3 drops of liquid stevia (may add more to taste)
1 drop of vanilla (optional)

3:1 ratio/13.5 calories per chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Measure all ingredients. Add butter and chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Melt on medium power, being careful not to burn the chocolate. Meanwhile, pulse Oreos in a food processor or blender until crumbs form. Remeasure or pulse cookies before measuring. Add Oreos and stevia to bowl and mix well. Using a spoon or syringe, fill candy mold. Discard unused or put into another mold, keeping in mind that every two grams is 13.5 calories. Let chocolates sit in molds until butter and chocolate come back to room temperature. Place in freezer until completely firm. Put chocolates back in Advent Calendar box, being sure the candies are facing up, so they are ready when you open the little windows. Keep in fridge or freezer until use on your countdown to Christmas! Watch your keto kiddo smile as they feel like one of the other kids (and it tastes amazing, too)!