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!