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...