Keto Life Articles Related to the Keto Diet – KETO-MOJO https://keto-mojo.com/keto-lifestyle/ Mon, 06 Jun 2022 18:04:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 Meet Dr. Melanie Tidman – Researching the Effects of a Ketogenic Diet on Parkinson’s https://keto-mojo.com/article/keto-interview-melanie-tidman-parkinsons/ Tue, 10 May 2022 23:42:16 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=23583 Dr. Melanie Tidman is an Adjunct Professor at  A.T. Still University where she researches the effects of the Ketogenic Diet (KD) or Low-Carb-High-Fat (LCHF) nutrition...

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Dr. Melanie Tidman is an Adjunct Professor at  A.T. Still University where she researches the effects of the Ketogenic Diet (KD) or Low-Carb-High-Fat (LCHF) nutrition on health, specifically in patients with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Tell us about your personal journey to learning about the ketogenic diet.

I have been in healthcare for many years and always advised my patients to eat a low-fat, high-carb diet, avoid red meat, and exercise a minimum of three times per week. I too followed this advice for most of my life. In 2013, I ended up with five major medical conditions and was on five medications. I had chronic fibromyalgia preventing me from doing many tasks, as well as severe obstructive sleep apnea which had me on CPAP for over eight years. I was on three medications for hypertension, chronic supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and heart arrhythmias. I also had occasional asthma, osteoarthritis, pre-diabetes, and was chronically overweight. My ability to exercise was declining and even simple tasks became increasingly difficult. I finally came to the end of my rope and ended up at the Mayo Clinic. It was there that the revelation of the ketogenic diet came to me.

I then googled the ketogenic diet during the 2014 World Low Carb Summit from Cape Town, South Africa and I tuned in. As I listened to all the talks, frankly, I became very angry at the advice I had followed and had given my patients about diet for many years! I had followed the advice, and look what it got me: five chronic health conditions.

Being the 110% personality that I am, I returned home from the Mayo Clinic visit and went “cold turkey” onto a ketogenic diet (70% fat/25% protein /5% carbs) and went off all sugar and almost all carbohydrates, except for an occasional salad. Within six months I was off all medications. Within one year I had no medical conditions and began daily exercise. Today, I am mostly a carnivore after almost 10 years of strict adherence to this lifestyle. I teach dance aerobics classes three times per week and power lift heavy weights two times per week. I teach for four university doctoral programs, and am a Clinical Researcher for the Colorado Parkinson Foundation. Since 2014 I have read almost every book written on the ketogenic/low-carb approach, listened to almost every podcast, and read dozens of research studies. At 65, I feel I am in the best shape of my life.

How did that impact and guide you as an Occupational Therapist working with patients who have Parkinson’s Disease?

For over 40 years, I have witnessed the devastation caused by Parkinson’s Disease (PD) including the tremors, rigidity, and gradual loss of independence. By viewing lectures through the Nutrition Network, Diet Doctor, and Low Carb USA and participating in various low-carb conferences, I have learned a great deal about the science of inflammation and its effects on the biochemical and mitochondrial processes in the body and brain. I have seen the use of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction (TCR) and the ketogenic diet produce a reduction in inflammation and bring about vast changes in symptoms of PD in my patients including greater control over tremors and improved independence in activities of daily living.

In addition, due to the improvement in brain energy through the production and usage of blood ketones, I have seen improvements in symptoms of anxiety and depression in my patients with PD. Depression and anxiety are common problems in PD due to the deficits seen in dopamine production which I call the “feel good” neurochemical.

Additionally, patients with PD develop chronic metabolic conditions as they seek pleasure from sweet food items and junk foods to compensate for the loss of dopamine-producing neurochemicals that help them to feel good. By increasing the production of blood ketones (specifically BHB), patients report they feel better and have better brain function, cognition and memory with fewer cravings for sweet foods and junk foods.

What lead you to become a Certified Metabolic Health Practitioner?

I was so excited to see the formation of the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners. Finally, an organization where those of us practicing TCR with our patients can have a “home.” We can receive ongoing support, training, and recognition as we seek to support each other along with encouraging ongoing research endeavors addressing the need to fill the gaps in research and add to the body of evidence for the use of TCR in chronic disease.

What inspired you to start research using a LCHF diet for Parkinson’s Disease patients?

This is an interesting story. I was camping with some friends who are on the board of the Colorado Parkinson Foundation (CPF). They were talking about some of their medical conditions and how as they grew older, they were experiencing more and more chronic health concerns. I taught them about LCHF/KD and worked with them over the course of a year. Their health improvements were impressive. As a result, they asked me to present the approach to the entire Board of CPF. Many of the board members were so impressed, that they too adopted the LCHF approach and witnessed vast improvements in their health.

I approached the Board about the possibility of conducting research on the LCHF/KD and TCR on Parkinson’s Disease. They were overwhelmingly enthusiastic! They provided the funding needed and we recruited our study participants from their membership rolls.

How do you educate patients with Parkinson’s to adopt a LCHF diet? What has been your biggest challenge?

I have not found a website with more educational materials and videos for my patients and participants needing to adopt the TCR lifestyle than the Keto-Mojo website. I use the videos on the website for training on blood glucose and ketone testing to teach my participants and patients how to use the Keto-Mojo meter. I find the resources to be incredible and direct my patients to the site to answer any questions they might have.

My biggest challenge in PD is the apathy associated with reductions in dopamine levels as the disease progresses. It is difficult to encourage patients with PD to initiate and follow-through, especially on dietary changes that reduce the sugar, something they use to “self-medicate,” if you get my meaning. Many persons with PD struggle with sugar in their diet. So little in their experience gives them the “highs” they crave and sugar often fits the bill.

Another challenge with the ketogenic diet is the abundance of meat in the diet. Many persons with PD have issues with chewing and swallowing so adjustments need to be made to be able to keep the high fats and moderate proteins without sacrificing safety when eating.

What were the most surprising results from the pilot study?

To tell the truth, I anticipated a few of the variables improving, but I never imagined that every single variable we tested would improve significantly over 12 weeks! Every one! This, in my experience, is rather unheard of, even for a small, short-term study like this one.

All biomarkers, and I mean all of them, improved significantly (Triglycerides, HDL, Fasting Insulin, C-Reactive Protein, Waist Measurements, Weight, HgA1C). Of course, I knew these would improve somewhat but did not expect them to show statistically significant changes in 12 weeks.

More surprisingly were the changes in the UPDRS scores. The UPDRS is a scale used to assess symptoms of PD. There were significant improvements in Behavior, Mentation, and Mood scores in 12 weeks. Additionally, improvements in scores on the Depression and Anxiety scales were also seen in 12 weeks, even in the midst of COVID isolation. This was surprising.

Many of my 16 participants reported improvements in quality of life including increased willingness to socialize with others. Persons with PD often isolate themselves due to feelings of embarrassment over their symptoms or speech difficulties. Many said they were more willing to get out into society and participate (once the COVID restrictions were eased). They reported improvements in cognition and a reduction in brain fog, which is a common complaint in PD.

Based on your experience, how are the current protocols for treating Parkinson’s Disease symptoms missing the mark in terms of improving anxiety and depression symptoms?

Well, I could really write a book here! The most common treatment we have for PD is the administration of a Carbo-Levodopa medication to replace the missing dopamine neurochemical. Unfortunately, this medication has many side effects, a short half-life, variability with interference from dietary ingredients, and the schedule for dosing vary from day to day. I also feel the treatment of anxiety and depression in PD uses all the common medications used for patients who do not have PD but have depression or anxiety diagnoses. Therefore, these medications often exacerbate the symptoms and cause severe side effects like lethargy, suicidal ideation, loss of appetite, etc. There has to be a better way!

Why do you think there isn’t much evidence yet with using KD for neurodegenerative diseases? What else needs to happen for other practitioners to adopt this treatment modality?

This is a really good question and one that baffles me. With PD and Alzheimer’s Disease on the rise in our world, why are there very few research studies or talks online regarding the effects of TCR and KD on persons with neurodegenerative diseases? This, in my opinion, is a large gap. I have kept track, and for all the conferences on the LCHF/KD lifestyle I have attended in the past five years, there has not been one talk on the management of neurodegenerative diseases using this approach. Why is this? It seems the focus has been largely on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, which is good to establish the benefits. However,  Pringsheim (2014) estimates that 50 million people worldwide suffer from neurodegenerative diseases (NDDS), and that by 2050 this figure will increase to 115 million people (para.6). This is in comparison with type 2 diabetes where according to an article by Khan (2020), the author estimates that “Globally, an estimated 462 million individuals are affected by type 2 diabetes (T2D), corresponding to 6.28% of the world’s population” (para.7).

So 115 million are affected with NDDS versus 462 million affected by T2D….maybe this is why? Nonetheless, NDDS are a significant problem and they are on the rise, especially as the population lives longer. However, longevity is not the only factor. I had one participant in my study with Young Onset Parkinson’s Diseases (YOPD). She developed PD in her early 30’s. Perhaps NDDS like T2D will become increasingly an issue in the young due to our poor diet and lifestyle starting at such a young age.

I sincerely appreciate the work of Dr. Matthew Phillips in New Zealand who encouraged me in the design of my study and allowed me to use some of his patient materials with my participants. His work in PD is ongoing and I consider him to be one of the few experts on the use of TCR and KD with PD.

You used a similar approach to a continuous remote care model with your subjects; specifically measuring dietary compliance through ketone tracking. Do you think checking blood ketones was a helpful measure for adherence to the prescribed diet?

 I sincerely appreciated the ability to Zoom with my participants as much as they needed for support and education and to encourage them to monitor their blood glucose and ketones. I only wish, in retrospect, I had had them test daily. Some of them did, but the study requirement was once a week just to monitor nutritional ketosis. This was probably not as accurate as daily testing would have been. My next study, already in the works, will use daily testing. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) felt that daily testing could possibly be “too invasive or arduous” so I had to change this to once a week. Now that I know the importance of daily testing, I will push to include daily testing in my next study.

My next study will test the effects of the ketogenic diet on cognition, various types of memory, and also include biomarkers of health. I will add the variable of the use of MCT oil. I hope to make this a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a control group and an intervention group. I hope to once again collaborate with Keto-Mojo on securing blood glucose and ketone meters for my participants and have them test daily. Exploring more of the research resources available through Keto-Mojo will be helpful as well. I am thankful for their continued focus on supporting research on this highly effective nutritional approach.

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Keto Cooking for Healing and Weight Loss https://keto-mojo.com/article/book-review-keto-cooking-for-healing-weight-loss-cookbook/ Fri, 30 Jul 2021 00:45:56 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=18186 Keto Cooking for Healing and Weight Loss: 80 Delicious Low-Carb, Grain- and Dairy-Free Recipes by Vivica Menegaz  (Page Street Publishing Co.) is a beautiful, soft-cover...

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Keto Cooking for Healing and Weight Loss: 80 Delicious Low-Carb, Grain- and Dairy-Free Recipes by Vivica Menegaz  (Page Street Publishing Co.) is a beautiful, soft-cover keto cookbook with 80 recipes and images that make you want to eat right off of the pages. If it looks familiar, that’s because it is; it’s a revamp of The Keto Paleo Kitchen (Page Street Publishing Co.). The only real difference is the title, which was changed to clarify the book’s benefits. 

But is it more than a pretty, re-launched face? Does it deliver on the promise of offering keto recipes that heal and help you heal and lose weight? Read on for the answers and to learn whether this keto cookbook deserves a spot on your bookshelf!

About the Author

The author of the blog thenourishedcaveman.com, Vivica Menegaz started her career as a photographer, and, after growing up in the restaurant industry, has had a lifelong passion for food and cooking. As a certified technician in whole food nutrition, the Californian has figured out how to infuse all her recipes with flavor and nutrition. 

What’s Inside

One might suppose that a book focused on healing and weight loss would spend a lot of time getting into the finer points of how and why the type of cooking in question gets the job done. Not this book. It has a brief introduction about the author’s history and how she landed in her current culinary philosophy, a handful of pages covering “Keto and Why to Do It” (the failure of the Standard American Diet), and a handful more pages focused on a therapeutic ketogenic diet (what keto is, how it works, what it does). The reason for this could be that this 2021 release is, as we mentioned, an update of the author’s 2017 book, The Keto Paleo Kitchen, including many of the same recipes and images. In any case, if you already have that book, skip this one. But if you don’t, read on.

So what makes this 175-page book different from other ketogenic cookbooks? We’ll start with drool-inducing, first-class photography. Almost every recipe has a corresponding photo, and each of them are downright mouthwatering with great lighting and styling, so you feel like you’re simply browsing a fantastic cookbook, not a “diet” cookbook. More fundamentally, this book has a focus on whole ingredients and is totally dairy-free. You won’t find a lot of bacon or cream cheese here. Organics are recommended, as the author designed each recipe for optimal macronutrients and micronutrients, ideally void of pesticides. (It’s worth noting that if you don’t have access to organic ingredients, the recipes still work!) These are recipes that don’t make you feel like you’re cheating the system, the way the keto chaffle burger does, if you know what we mean (though you can find BLT meatballs here!). Plenty of good fats, plenty of vegetables, plenty of flavor. It’s a win-win-win! 

The nutrient-dense, healing recipes include breakdowns of total calories, total carbs, fat, protein, fiber, net carbs, and prep time, and are divided into the following subsections: 

Main Meals

There’s a hearty selection of keto dinner recipes here (23), and they travel the globe in cuisine. Think Butter Poached Scallops with Meyer Lemon Gremolata, Chicken Cabbage Pot Pie, Keto Lamb Koftas, and Thai Green Chicken Curry. 

Breakfast

Don’t expect anything revolutionary here. Instead, look forward to some solid options. Think cereal, Benedict, and egg dishes.

Quick and Easy Lunches

Thank goodness for this section, because you know what the difference between lunch and dinner cooking is? Available prep and cooking time! Expect superfast, super simple recipes for the likes of curried egg salad rolls, seared carpaccio salad, chicken shawarma, and more. 

Side Dishes, Soups and Snacks

A generous selection of mostly vegetable-forward dishes, it includes delicious (and so simple) Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup (see recipe link below), Stir-Fried Chinese Long Beans, Crab Cakes, and even a spiced but mix. 

Breads and Noodles

There are just a few selections in this section, but if you want Cinnamon Swirl Muffins, Herbed Croutons, Keto Lard Biscuits, or Keto Seed Bagels, you’ll find ‘em here. 

Dressings and More

This self-explanatory chapter has some recipes you’ll use regularly, like Creamy Avocado Dressing, Butter Lemon Sauce, and Keto Goddess Dressing. 

Sweets

Not surprisingly for a healing cookbook, sweets are kept to a minimum. Just four recipes, in fact: Brown-Butter Cookies, Chocolate Halvah, Coconut Chocolate Bars, and Healing Hot Chocolate.

 

Try the following recipes from Keto Cooking for Healing and Weight Loss now:

Roasted Asparagus Soup Recipe

Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup

 

Cashew Crusted Salmon Recipe

Cashew Crusted Salmon with “Ponzu” Sauce 

 

Seared Steak with Brazilian Vinaigrette

Seared Skirt Steak with Brazilian Vinaigrette

 

What You’ll Learn 

If you’re not familiar with how to eat “clean keto” or cook keto without tons of red meat, dairy, or both, this book will give you many wonderful examples. 

What We Like

What do we like? Oh, the photos! They put most keto recipe books to shame. And the recipes themselves because they are surprisingly easy and also quite delicious without the heaviness of many keto dishes!

Room for Improvement

There’s not a lot we wish for with this book, except, perhaps more desserts. 

The Final Word

This reissuing and repositioning of the 2017 cookbook The Keto Paleo Kitchen features dairy-free, clean keto cooking, gorgeous photos, and lots of flavor. If you want to keep keto but feel like you’re eating super healthy and light (meaning lots of keto-friendly veggies and good fats from meat and fish and no heavy dairy products), you’ll be happy with this 80-recipe cookbook. 

Shop for Keto Cooking for Healing and Weight Loss.

 

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The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook https://keto-mojo.com/article/book-review-dirty-lazy-keto-5-ingredient-cookbook/ Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:38:32 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=18198 The 2021 addition to the “Dirty, Lazy, Keto” cookbook series, The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes Low in Carbs, Big on Flavor...

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The 2021 addition to the “Dirty, Lazy, Keto cookbook series, The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes Low in Carbs, Big on Flavor by Stephanie Laska and William Laska (Adams Media) strikes keto-cooking gold again, this time with a proposition no one can refuse: recipes that fit your macros and require just five ingredients!

Does the keto cookbook deliver on its promise? And what can you possibly make with five ingredients? Read on and all your questions will be answered, and you’ll get a few sample recipes to try, too!

About the Authors

Authors Stephanie and William Laska are the duo behind the ever-popular “Dirty, Lazy Keto” cookbook series. Stephanie’s story is hardly a secret; with appearances on “The Today Show” and beyond, she’s told the world how she lost 140 pounds with her “dirty” version of the ketogenic diet, which promotes a relaxed attitude and eating a low-carb diet that allows for some “dirty” keto foods and is only strict in regards to sticking with proper macros. The team continues to create reliable books that help you follow Stephanie’s laid-back, successful perspective on the dirty, lazy keto lifestyle.  

What’s Inside

If you’ve seen any of the “Dirty, Lazy, Keto” cookbooks, this one will look familiar; it’s a softcover and about 226 pages. It features 100 recipes, many with cutesy names. It has images for some, but not nearly all of the recipes, and it’s easy to read with a voice that seems to be speaking to the keto newbie. 

The preface and introduction share Stephanie’s (and her husband William’s) before-and-after photo and an honest pep talk about what it takes to stay in ketosis on a low-carb keto diet and how you can do it without getting too uptight about it. While there’s a lot of mention and anecdotes for losing weight, the book remains focused on easy keto cooking and recipes loaded with healthy fats. 

Chapter 1: An Easier Way to Keto

Before getting to recipes, chapter 1 talks about “An easier way to keto,” which is essentially Stephanie’s beliefs on how to follow the keto diet, including how imperfect is perfect and you don’t need to buy all organic ingredients to be successful. It’s real talk for real people, and it’s refreshing. It also includes basic primers, like how to calculate net carbs and how to factor in sugar alcohols when calculating your macros. 

Chapter 2: Get Your Kitchen Keto-Ready

This includes lists of useful tools and gadgets, pantry staples (specifically salt, pepper, almond flour, baking powder, garlic powder, olive oil, vanilla, 0g net carb sweetener, vegetable broth, and sugar-free chocolate chips), and ingredients to buy when you head to the grocery store. 

Chapter 3: Carefree Cookin’ 

Stephanie discusses how she’s formatted the recipes and how to approach them. It’s pretty standard stuff, much of which is most useful to kitchen newbies (“turn pot handles in,”  “let cooked meat stew in its juices for a few minutes,” etcetera). But in between are a few gems everyday cooks may appreciate, such as tips for how to dial back the dilemma when you’ve overspiced or oversalted. 

Chapter 4: Breakfast Recipes

Right out of the gate, there’s an eyebrow-raiser; the first recipe, “Chocolate Chip Muffins in a Jiffy,” requires seven ingredients. But, as the author explains in Chapter 2, she doesn’t count the pantry staples she instructs you to buy (the aforementioned salt, vanilla, olive oil, etc.). So, by her standards, since this seven-ingredient recipe contains two pantry staples, it is, in fact, a five-ingredient endeavor. 

In any case, the 13 breakfast recipes are compelling and familiar: scrambles, waffles, chaffles (“Punk Peanut Butter Chaffles” to be precise), avocado toast…you get the idea. One zinger you’ll appreciate is the Runner-up Strawberry Syrup (included in the Stuffed Birthday Cake Surprise recipe, featured below). 

Chapter 5: Soups & Salads

Here there are 16 recipes for soups and salads, some of which are sides and others easily main courses. Expect tomato bisque, “Scrimpin’ Shrimp Salad,” and “Naked Tuna Salad” (tuna, celery, red onion, avocado, mayo, garlic powder, salt, pepper).

Chapter 6: Keto Snacks

The 10 options include wings, radish chips, kale chips, and “Movie Poppin’ Corn” (a clever air-fryer treatment of cauliflower florets). 

Chapter 7: Keto Bread & Pizza

Seven recipes used for a variety of other recipes. Interesting explorations include a pizza crust made from ground chicken and mozzarella cheese and “Minute Bread,” which is made in the microwave in 60 seconds. 

Chapter 8: Veggies & Sides

Dishes like  “Bamboozling Bacon Brussels Sprouts” and “Freedom Asparagus Fries” are bolstered by “Gold Star ‘Sushi’” (it’s turkey-bacon wrapped!) “Unwed Onion Rings” (onion strips cooked in bacon fat and served with ranch dressing), and more. The mostly keto vegetable-forward dishes in this section are creative, interesting, non-cauliflower ways to enjoy keto-friendly vegetables like green beans, mushrooms, cabbage, and asparagus.  

Chapter 9: Keto Mains

The most robust recipe section is dedicated to main dishes. There’s a lot to like here, starting with the fact that the recipes stray from the same-old, same-old, and are appetizing. Take “One Minute Man Enchiladas.” They call for cabbage, chicken breast, enchilada sauce, jack cheese, and olives. Totally doable and yummy! “Orange Crush Chicken” is another five-ingredient wonder of chicken, onion, sugar-free catsup, diet orange crush soda, keto sweetener, and bell pepper. When have you seen that on the blogs?! Ditto Simple Salami Skewers (see below) and her fresh take on cheeseburgers (also below). There’s no question the well-rounded selection of 22 recipes will give you plenty of new keto dinner ideas. 

Chapter 10: Keto Drinks & Desserts

The last chapter finishes strong with 20 recipes for drinks and desserts. Donuts, pumpkin pie, cheesecake bars (made using cream cheese), Stuffed Birthday Cake Surprise (see below), and even “Skinny Gummy Bears” make an appearance here.  

Try these recipes from Dirty, Lazy, Keto 5-Ingredient Cookbook right now:

Slip 'n' Slide Queso Burger Recipe

Slip ’n’ Slide Queso Burgers

 

Simple Salami Skewers Recipe

Simple Salami Skewers

 

Stuffed Birthday Cake Surprise Recipe

Stuffed Birthday Cake Surprise
  

What You’ll Learn

While cooking with five ingredients (plus pantry staples) doesn’t conjure visions of creative or particularly exciting cooking, there are some great recipes and ideas here that you can use on their own or with other recipes. You’ll also get a lot of weight-loss and stick-to-it inspiration as well as a primer on tools and ingredients frequently used in keto cooking. 

What We Like

Stephanie talks a lot about her experience and adds a hefty side of humanity to the book. For example, she shares that she loves adding butter to her veggies to improve their taste, when needed, and also acknowledges that ongoing veggie consumption is one of the reasons she’s been able to lose weight. 

She also provides a lot of good information, including macros for every dish (calories, fat, protein, sodium, fiber, carbohydrates, net carbs, sugar, and sugar alcohol), prep times and cooking times, and many tips along the way. Plus, there are icons associated with the recipes that indicate whether a recipe is no-cook, less mess, super filling (“I’m Hangry!”), crowd-pleasers, fancy enough for guests, and vegetarian-ish. 

Room For Improvement

Aside from the misleading title (again, many recipes do call for more than five ingredients total), there’s an occasional requirement for special equipment like an Instant Pot or an air-fryer. If you’re deep into keto, you may already have the extras required. But newbies may want to sidestep those until they determine whether they want to invest; this is fine, since so many of the included keto recipes do not require special equipment. 

More noteworthy is sometimes the instructions aren’t detailed enough to provide complete confidence that you know what you’re doing while you’re doing it. On such occasions, a little improvisation may be required. But we found these occurrences to be less impacting on the final result than they are in creating moments of uncertainty as you’re cooking. 

We wish all the recipes had photos! Just less than half of them have corresponding images of the finished dish. 

Final Word

With an enthusiastic, friendly, encouraging, reassuring tone and lots of simple facts about how to navigate cooking keto, this paperback keto cookbook with 100 recipes seems geared toward people new to keto cooking. Additionally, the author’s discussions about her significant weight loss through low-carb recipes and supportive dirty keto diet tips makes the book a good primer for people who want to lose weight and eat yummy food along the way (but not necessarily spend big money on grass-fed and other “clean keto” ingredients). 

But if you’re not a newbie and don’t care about weight loss, yet want to cook keto comfort-food meals, you’ll find a number of solid recipes and tips in this book. 

Technically, many of the recipes require more than the five ingredients promised in the title, but the additional ingredients are excluded due to their “pantry staple” status. Sometimes the instructions are not detailed enough and you may need to make your best guess along the way. But still,  these “dirty, lazy, keto” recipes are accessible to pretty much anyone with basic cooking skills and a kitchen, and their included macronutrients breakdowns make it easier than ever to follow a keto diet plan. 

MORE: What’s the difference between dirty and clean keto?

 

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Strength: A Metabolic Goal https://keto-mojo.com/lowcarbusa_video/strength-a-metabolic-goal/ Fri, 02 Jul 2021 21:11:35 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=lowcarbusa_video&p=18014 The post Strength: A Metabolic Goal appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

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Keto BBQ (100+ Delicious, Low-Carb Recipes for A Keto-Friendly Barbecue) https://keto-mojo.com/article/keto-bbq-cookbook-100-delicious-recipes/ Mon, 14 Jun 2021 18:35:40 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=17696 Barbecuing doesn’t seem like it would need much instruction while on a keto diet. After all, if you oil up the grill and throw some...

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Barbecuing doesn’t seem like it would need much instruction while on a keto diet. After all, if you oil up the grill and throw some meat, fish, or low-carb veggies on the barbie, you’ve got yourself some keto-friendly barbecue. But the minute you start thinking about brines, rubs, marinades, sauces, glazes, and condiments, you quickly enter the high-sugar danger zone. That’s where Keto BBQ: From Bunless Burgers to Cauliflower “Potato” Salad, 100+ Delicious, Low-Carb Recipes for A Keto-Friendly Barbecue (Adams Media, 2021) becomes valuable. Written by Faith Gorsky and Lara Clevenger, MSH, RDN, CPT, this soft-cover book featuring 150-plus keto bbq recipes is a go-to guide for a healthier way to whip up all the barbecue basics, reimagined with the keto lifestyle in mind. But does this keto cookbook hold up when put over the coals? Read on to find out!

About the Authors

Also known as “The Keto Queens” authors Faith Gorsky and Lara Clevenger, MSH, RDN, CPT have been teaming up on keto endeavors for years. They’re a symbiotic pair. Faith is a lawyer turned food stylist and photographer; she’s behind the blogs AnEdibleMosaic.com and HealthySweetEats.com. Lara is a dietitian, nutritionist, personal trainer, and author of food blog LaraClevenger.com. Together they run TheKetoQueens.com website to simplify the art of eating keto. 

What’s Inside

Formatted like most keto cookbooks, this one starts with a primer about the keto diet and all its main buzzwords: ketosis, macronutrients, signs of ketosis, tips, etcetera (it even gives the Keto-Mojo glucose and blood ketone testing meter a shout out!). It also includes a very approachable list of key keto-barbecue sauce ingredient staples (think gluten-free, sugar-free, keto-friendly sweeteners like allulose, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, black pepper, onion powder, etc.). But five pages later, it dives straight into the meat of the matter, so to speak, with chapters arranged as follows:

    • Keto Dry Rubs: Expect seven recipes for dry rubs, including those that contain coffee, “brown sugar” (keto style), Memphis style, and southwest.
    • Keto Brines and Marinades: Brines and marinades usually include salt (to lend juicy moisture to meat) and often include sugar. The eight options in this chapter make flavoring your food fun, with options like Basic Brine, Coke Zero Marinade, Lemon-Thyme Marinade, and Balsamic Marinade.
    • Keto Barbecue Sauces and Glazes: You can put delicious, flavorful sauces back on the menu with these 11 options, including a tangy keto bbq sauce recipe. Expect Smoky bourbon Barbecue Sauce and Classic Barbecue Sauce to Kansas City Barbecue Sauce and Hawaiian Barbecue Sauce.
    • Keto Condiments: Whether you want to slather your bbq recipes with usual keto no-nos like ketchup or honey mustard or just need recipes for green goddess or ranch dressing, this section has you covered.
    • Keto Barbecue Chicken and Turkey: With a whopping 16 recipes for chicken or turkey, this section gives you plenty to squawk about. Expect grilled chicken leg, thigh, and breast recipes that allow you to mix and match using the book’s rubs, marinades, and condiments, plus more complete dishes that leverage them such as Barbecue-Ranch Chicken Salad, Southwestern Turkey Burgers, and more.
    • Keto Barbecue Pork: Glazed pork, grilled pork, pork ribs, pork butt, pork chops…all the cuts are represented here. Like the chicken chapter, they too, guide you through how to leverage marinades and rubs for flavorful results.
    • Keto Barbecue Beef: Of the 20 recipes here, 10 are dedicated to burgers featuring various flavorings, such as Greek Burgers with Tzatziki (a yogurt sauce), Blue Cheese Burgers, and Stuffed Cheddar Cheese Burgers. The other half of the chapter pays homage to steaks, Smoked Brisket, ribs, and more.
    • Keto Sausages and Dogs: Not to be forgotten, sausages and dogs get their moment in the limelight with this chapter featuring 10 recipes for how to doctor up your dogs. Think sausage sandwiches, French Onion Hot Dogs, and more. (Bun recipes can be found in a later chapter.)
    • Keto Barbecue Seafood: Scallops, salmon, cod, shrimp, snapper, and other seafood favorites are on the menu in this chapter.
    • Keto Salads and Sides: It’s not a barbecue without sides! Thus, there are sections dedicated to each. Among the Cauliflower “Potato” Salad and Greek Salad recipes, you’ll find a wide variety of slaws, while side dishes celebrate low-carb vegetables like grilled peppers and eggplant, Bacon-Sauteed Green Beans, buns, cornbread, and more.
    • Keto Drinks: You won’t find the most original collection of recipes here, but if you need a primer on how to make Sweet Tea, Strawberry Lemonade, or Blue Raspberry “Kool-Aid,” it’s at your fingertips. 

Want a taste of what’s in store? Try these recipes from Keto BBQ:

Grilled Citrus-Marinated Keto Pork Chops

Orange Citrus Marinade Keto Porkchops Recipe

Indian Chicken Burgers and Creamy Cucumber Salad

Indian Chicken Burger

What You’ll Learn

The greatest value for the keto home cook is that the recipes will teach you how to replace usually sugar-laden ingredients with keto-friendly ones, especially for marinades and dry rubs. Once you’re familiar with the acceptable ingredients and methods, you can apply them to transform non-keto recipes. 

What We Like

The mix-and-match style of this cookbook allows for endless recipes of your own creation. For example, the Southwest Dry Rub can be used on beef, pork, or chicken. You can then barbecue the meat, bake, or roast it. And perhaps you even marinated the meat first. See? All kinds of room for creativity with your bbq chicken, chicken wings, or pulled pork, but also clear instructions for those who just want to follow directions and be done with it. 

Additionally, these keto bbq recipes require minimal prep time and no added sugar, perfect for the grilling master or novice who wants easy keto recipes. 

They also include macros, including total carb count and net carbs, so it’s easy to make sure you don’t go overboard on carbohydrates. Plus fat and protein macros ensure you don’t go too high on protein. 

Room for Improvement

We feel inclined to point out that there aren’t that many images in this cookbook. So, there’s definitely room for improvement from a visual-seduction perspective. However, many of the recipes are not really photo friendly; we don’t really need to see a bunch of different dry rubs, do we? 

The Final Word

The recipes are fine, but the guidance on turning everyday barbecue foods into keto-friendly feasts is the real value of Keto BBQ

Shop for Keto BBQ here.

 

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The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook https://keto-mojo.com/article/new-mediterranean-diet-cookbook/ Wed, 21 Apr 2021 18:13:22 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=16001 Crafted by a team of culinary, medical, and science professionals, the 206-page The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: The Optimal Keto-Friendly Diet That Burns Fat, Promotes...

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Crafted by a team of culinary, medical, and science professionals, the 206-page The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: The Optimal Keto-Friendly Diet That Burns Fat, Promotes Longevity, and Prevents Chronic Disease by Martina Slajerova, Dr. Nicholas Norwitz, Thomas DeLauer, and Rohan Kashid (2021 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.) is more than a collection of ketogenic recipes. It’s a vibrant bounty of insight, tips, tricks, and flavors to enhance your health and wellbeing through a flavorful, well-balanced keto diet. How is it different from the myriad other keto cookbooks on the market? Read on to find out!

About the Authors

Unlike many cookbooks, which have one or two authors who are focused on cooking or keto or both, this book has four authors, and each brings his or her expertise to the pages.

Martina Slajerova is a prolific cookbook author, health and food blogger, and keto app creator (she’s behind the KetoDiet app). A self-professed science geek, she also has Hashimoto’s, which inspired her to pursue and master a low-carb keto lifestyle and share it with millions of followers. 

Dr. Nicholas Norwitz specializes in nutritional science, specifically ketosis and brain aging. After garnering a Ph.D. from Oxford in two short years, he’s pursuing his M.D. at Harvard Medical School. Like Martina, his own personal circumstance inspired his work; he developed severe osteoporosis and ulcerative colitis as a young man, and cured himself through a ketogenic diet. 

Thomas DeLauer is a known health, fitness, and keto expert with a focus on combining optimized nutrition and exercise to enhance personal and professional performance. You can find him on YouTube, where his channel attracts more than 5 million viewers monthly. His inspiration came from his journey of transforming himself from a 280-pound corporate executive to becoming a cover model for health and fitness magazines. 

Rohan Kashid is a professional chef with Indian heritage and global culinary pedigree. After decades working in the restaurant industry, he found himself pre-diabetic and obese. But a chance meeting with Dr. Norwitz inspired him to reverse his health status, dropped more than 40 pounds, and began developing ketogenic recipes. 

What’s Inside

Yes, this is a cookbook. But it’s also much more. Along with recipes is important, easy-to-digest scientific and nutritional information that helps you better understand what nutrients your body needs and how to optimize them through ingredients and recipes. And of course, there are recipes. Loads of them. And they’re easy to prepare and delicious. 

Better still, many of them are 3:1 recipes or 4:1 recipes. What are those? They’re recipes that have extremely high ratios of fat to protein plus carbs. In the case of a 3:1 recipe, there’s three times as much fat as protein plus carbs. 4:1 recipes contain four times as much fat as protein plus carbs. These extra-fatty ketogenic diet ratio recipes are very important for people using keto for therapeutic purposes because they help to ensure high levels of ketosis through diet. They’re also great for the rest of us!

Chapters are traditional and intuitive cookbook-style: 

  • Mediterranean Meets Keto: This section explains the philosophy behind the recipes. The concept is simple: increase the health and longevity benefits that come with the Mediterranean diet by layering it with a low-carb, high-fat keto diet. There’s some light science talk, mostly explaining scientific/medical terms like antioxidants, inflammation, and oxidative stress, so you can easily understand topics and effects discussed in the book. This section also includes a primer on “New Mediterranean Staple Foods,” or the seven high-fat superfoods that are cornerstones to the diet and 11 “foundational veggies.”
  • Breakfasts: Far from the expected yet still familiar and approachable, this section celebrates energy-packing day-starters like low-carb avocado toast (you make a 2-minute keto bread in the microwave), a veggie-heavy Golden
    Egg Skillet, Crunchy Vanilla Protein Bars, and Creamy Cinnamon Porridge.
  • Snacks: This concise collection of recipes for items you can make and keep around for quick energy boost, includes crackers, dips (including an awesome hummus; see the recipe link below), chicken liver pate, and “upgraded” baba ghanoush.
  • Salads & Soups: Greens combined with healthy fats are one of the focuses of this section. Expect gorgeous, vibrant dishes, including simple, delicious Taverna-Style Greek Salad (see the link to the recipe below); Upgraded Shrimp Cocktail Salad; Steak Salad Bowl with Asparagus, Avocado, and Gremolata. The rest of the chapter is dedicated to soups, which range from Chilled Avocado Pesto Soup to Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup.
  • Lunches: What’s the difference between lunch and dinner? The answer is here, where nutritious quick-to-prepare dishes include Salmon Poke Bowls, Chard Wraps, Turkey Meatballs with Salsa Verde, and more.
  • Dinners: With a landslide of options here (more than any other chapter), you’ll never have to rely on the same-old, same-old dinner. And why should you when you can choose from the likes of eggplant manicotti, salmon ratatouille skillet, chile-lime mackerel with cilantro slaw, and wild mushroom chicken risotto?
  • Sides: Yes this section includes the keto staple cauliflower rice (with three ways to make it), but it also celebrates “superflax” tortillas, focaccia (!), roasted eggplant with tahini dressing, and braised fennel. 
  • Desserts: You can count the number of recipes here with two hands. But the Chocolate Hazelnut “Powerhouse” Truffles alone are worth the price of the book (see a recipe link below). Still, there’s seductive blueberry panna cotta, lemon coconut cake, almond-pistachio biscotti, and more.
  • Basics: The six recipes here are for foods you’ll likely use again and again: harissa spice mix, blender marinara, pesto, blender Mayo, tahini dressing, and sauerkraut.
  • Further Reading: So modern! Come to this section and you’ll see a QR code, because, according to the authors, “there was too much we wanted to fit into this book to include it all in the printed version.”

Sound good? 

Try Some Recipes From the Book

Keto Hummus Recipe

4:1 Hummus

3:1 Keto Greek Salad

3:1 Taverna-Style Greek Salad

4:1 Keto Chocolate Truffles

4:1 Chocolate Hazelnut “Powerhouse” Truffles

3:1 Keto Savory Garlic and Herb Granola Bars Recipe

3:1 On-the-Go Savory Granola Bars

What We Like

There’s a lot to like about this book. We’ll start where it’s most important: flavor! The recipes are very tasty and diverse. They showcase wonderful ways to integrate healthful greens into your diet. They also skip the usual keto suspects and offer a variety of unexpected, doable alternatives, especially for breakfast.  

We’re also fans of their frequent “practical tip” and “key point” boxes, which offer important facts and valuable insight into how to get the most out of the foods you put in your body (e.g. adding turmeric and black pepper to eggs boosts your omega-3 absorption; who knew?!).

Essential for anyone following a strict keto diet, recipes include extensive macros for every recipe, including total carbs, fiber, net carbs, protein, fat, calories, macronutrient ratios (percentage of carbs, protein, and fat per dish), percentage of SAT/MUFA/PUFA (saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fat), and the Omega-6/3 ratio.

Another perk: icons that indicate whether a recipe is dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, nightshade-free, and vegetarian. 

What You’ll Learn

Of course you’ll get great new recipes you’ll want to make on repeat. But there is also insight into why the Mediterranean diet is widely regarded for its health- and anti-aging properties, how layering the ketogenic diet on top of it provides you maximum health benefit, and how focusing on a wide but specific list of ingredients can help you bio-hack your way to optimal nutrition and health. 

Room for Improvement 

The images are mouthwatering. We wish every recipe included one (most, but not all, do). 

The Final Word

Even if it weren’t loaded with useful, easy-to-digest scientific information and guidance on the ingredients to eat for optimal health, we would recommend The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook. As with all the best cookbooks, the photos entice us to get into the kitchen to try new things and the recipes are creative, approachable, and delicious. 

 

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The Best Keto Meal Delivery Services: Where to Order the Tastiest Keto Dishes for Home Delivery https://keto-mojo.com/article/keto-meal-kit-delivery/ Mon, 29 Mar 2021 16:40:07 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=10609 While preparing a keto meal can be an enjoyable, meditative event, sometimes it’s the right time to let others do the cooking, especially if you’re...

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While preparing a keto meal can be an enjoyable, meditative event, sometimes it’s the right time to let others do the cooking, especially if you’re working all day, raising young kids, in a culinary rut, or struggling to stay on a macros-minding track. 

Fortunately, meal delivery services now have wonderful options for the ketogenic community. 

More and more companies are offering fantastic, reasonably priced reasons to set aside your apron and pull up a chair to a delicious readymade keto meal or one that’s easily prepared from pre-prepped ingredients. 

But which keto meal delivery services are worth the money and the macros? And of those, which is right for you? We tasted our way through the latest options that deliver nationally to bring you the keto mail order meals worth sinking your teeth into.  

Green Chef

Aptly named, Green Chef delivers premeasured, super-fresh, Certified Organic ingredients, and instructions that allow you to quickly and easily cook up shockingly delicious, generously portioned meals for two. Their keto meal plans offer all the convenience and flavor of upscale meal kits with far fewer carbs. Their keto meals are also gluten-free.

What’s on the menu? How about beef fajita lettuce wraps? They’re straight-up gourmet thanks to the included Cuban spice blend and dairy-free aji verde sauce. Though the phenomenal dish tops out at 830 calories and 9 grams net carbs per serving, we found we didn’t need to use all the sauce in one go (Hooray for leftovers!), so we definitely consumed less of the macros. 

Some of Green Chef’s keto dishes have higher net carb counts, such as the Kale Salad with Pork (870 calories and 16 grams net carbs per serving). However, the portion is generous enough that you can divide the meal into smaller portions (More for later!) or skip the included bountiful diced beets, which account for much of the carb calories. 

Accompanying each kit is a recipe card with info on cooking time (less than 30 minutes), calories per serving, net carbs per serving, and noted allergens, making it easy to know what you’re getting. Trust us, it’s good.  

Fast Facts

  • Amount/delivery frequency: Weekly with 3 recipes per week / 2 servings per recipe
  • Storage: refrigerator
  • Cost: $7.66-$12.99 per serving
  • Highlights: Fresh, organic ingredients delivered prepped and ready to be combined and cooked into a gourmet meal, following simple directions
  • Contact: GreenChef.com

Factor 75

If you’re excited for a completely no-fuss keto dining experience, Factor 75 is for you. 

Factor 75 meals are packaged in single-serving recyclable plastic containers with a clear plastic cover that lets you see what’s inside. Sleek black and white branded sheaths cover the food and are easily slipped off to peek at what’s in store. Flip to the back of the sheath and you’ll learn the name of the meal, what’s in it, heating instructions (via microwave or oven), and macros. Nothing much to do other than heat and eat! 

Meals stack nicely in the fridge, where they should be stored if you’re eating them within a week of receipt. Another option is to freeze them for future enjoyment.  

Ease isn’t the only reason to order from Factor 75. Quality is another. The company focuses on organic produce and grass-fed meats that are free of hormones, GMOs, and antibiotics. 

Most importantly, the meals are tasty! Examples include Tuscan Tomato Chicken, featuring a pre-cooked antibiotic-free chicken breast, a bed of kale accompanied by a Tuscan cream sauce, and a side of parmesan-butter cauliflower. It’s a total of 660 calories with a net carb count of 18. Yes, this is higher than those following a super-strict keto diet may want, but here too, meals are somewhat hearty, allowing you to eat smaller portions if desired. 

Fast Facts

  • Delivery frequency: Weekly, four to 18 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 6 days)
  • Storage: refrigerator or freezer
  • Cost: meal plans (ranging from 4 to 18 meals per week) range from $11 to $15 per meal
  • Highlights: Quality ingredients, great flavor
  • Contact: Factor75.com

Clean Eatz Kitchen

Clean Eatz describes their offerings as the “grab ‘n’ go meal” with “real ingredients and real results.” They’re not wrong. Their meals come in a microwavable container. Slide the colorful sheath loaded with all the meal information off, peel back the container film, and microwave for a few minutes to get a totally edible, totally keto meal. 

From the Clean Eatz Kitchen website, you can choose from a selection of keto offerings, such as tasty Keto Garlic Parmesan Chicken, which comes with a good helping of bite-size chicken breast in an ultra-creamy, garlicky, cheesy sauce and a hearty pile of asparagus cut into bite-size pieces. Total calories come in for the meal at 358, including 26 grams of fat, 32 grams of protein, and 5 grams of total carbs. 

Keto Prime Rib with Horseradish sauce and Cream Spinach was a bit trickier to heat since the paper-thin strips of beef were ready before the mound of frozen cream spinach, but a little stirring helped along the way. This meal came in at 434 calories, 34 grams of fat, 24 grams of protein and 8 total carbs. (It’s worth noting that this one contained a bit of wheat, which seems to come from the splash of beer included in the prime rib recipe.) While not quite as tasty as Factor 75 meals, these were still totally enjoyable and are recommended, especially since you can freeze them. 

Ordering is convenient, too: select five (or more) meals from a pulldown menu and the food shows up a few days later at a shockingly low price, including free shipping. 

Fast Facts

  • Delivery frequency: 5 meals (or more) at a time
  • Storage: refrigerator or freezer
  • Cost: $39.95 for 5 meals (or about $8 a meal), including shipping
  • Highlights: Order on demand. Order as many as you want (in increments of 5), and they keep in the freezer. 
  • Contact: Clean Eatz

We’re always looking for more great delivered keto meals. Know of some we should check out? Let us know!

 

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One-Pot Keto Cooking https://keto-mojo.com/article/one-pot-keto-cooking/ Thu, 18 Mar 2021 20:19:08 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=13757 One-Pot Keto Cooking: 75 Delicious Low-Carb Meals for the Busy Cook (Page Street Publishing Co, 2020)  is one of the best all-around keto cookbooks we’ve...

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One-Pot Keto Cooking: 75 Delicious Low-Carb Meals for the Busy Cook (Page Street Publishing Co, 2020)  is one of the best all-around keto cookbooks we’ve come across for one simple reason: each of the 75 recipes requires a handful of extremely common ingredients, is super fast and easy to make (in one pot!), and is flat-out delicious. 

If you want to whip up exciting meals every day with the simplest meal prep and clean up, this book can help you do it with ease. What comes with near perfection in a keto cookbook? Read on to find out. 

About the Author

Author Charlotte Smythe is behind the food blog Clean Foodie Cravings. Though not specifically a keto blog, it does showcase why Charlotte was qualified to craft a keto cookbook; she knows how to write a great recipe, use “clean” ingredients, and work within specific dietary guidelines. She also has a world of experience; after spending the first 10 years of her life in Liberia (and cooking with her sister frequently), she moved to the U.S. and grew to establish herself as a respected food blogger in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After starting with Whole30 and Paleo, she transitioned to a ketogenic diet, and this book is part of the result. Her vivacious personality and passion for health and tastiness come through in her writing and keto recipes. 

What’s Inside

This is a straight-up cookbook. No long stories about a keto journey, weight loss, or other (though Charlotte does have a history of weight struggles, which she discusses on her blog), this book jumps right into keto recipes, which are divided into the following sections:

  • 30-Minute Skillet Meals
  • No Mess Sheet-Pan Dinners
  • Oven to Table
  • Comforting Soups and Stews
  • Sunny-Side Up (i.e. breakfast)
  • Back to Basics (keto staples like cauliflower rice, zoodles from zucchini, and other keto standbys)

Like the title promises, all recipes are easily made using one pot (or one skillet or one sheet tray). They include macros, including total grams of fat, carbs, net carbs, protein, and fiber. But they don’t include any mention of calories, which means you’ll need to calculate them yourself if you’re calorie counting. 

Ingredients are familiar and readily available. Think ghee or keto-friendly oil for cooking, some sort of protein, some veggies here and there, and spices. Most recipes call for less than 12 ingredients (many of which are common spices), and there are several that have closer to six ingredients yet still yield exciting, wildly flavorful results. 

Additionally, each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful full-page photo, shot by the author herself. 

Don’t hope for dessert recipes here. You won’t find them. This book is all about comfort-food keto dinner recipes and breakfast recipes that are as easy to make and as approachable for weeknight dinner and weekend entertaining. 

Yet they offer great diversity for your keto diet (and consequently a gluten-free diet as well). Expect yummy recipes for everything from stir-fry to sheet pan meals to keto one-pot meals that are to die for. Think creamy sauces, spicy chicken, juicy pork chops with garlic butter, Parmesan-kissed egg cups (see below), ground-beef meatballs, Mexican enchilada skillet recipes, and so much more. 

Try These Recipes from One-Pot Keto Cooking now:

Low-carb Breakfast Egg Cups

Low Carb Breakfast Egg Cups Recipe

Braised Mushroom Short Ribs

Braised Mushroom Shortribs Recipe

Cajun Chicken and Green Beans

Cajun Chicken and Green Beans Recipe

What You’ll Learn 

At a minimum, you’ll get many new recipes you’ll want to make again and again. But pay attention and you’ll also learn some great skills you can apply to your own recipes, like how to make chicken thigh skin perfectly crispy (see the Cajun chicken recipe above) or how to cook sides alongside anything you’re roasting (also in the Cajun chicken recipe).

What We Like

The recipes are wonderful yet simple. The photos give you a clear idea of what you’re aiming for and are gorgeous and very appetizing. 

Room for Improvement

We wish there were calories included in the macros so we could easily know how many calories there are per serving. 

We also wish there were weight measurements included in the ingredient list for vegetables. Since a “medium spaghetti squash” or “medium onion” isn’t specific (and both must be eaten in moderation to keep carb macros in check), it leaves the opportunity to miscalculate carbohydrates macros if you don’t recalculate yourself using the actual weight of your ingredient. However, risky-vague vegetable measurements are a rare occurrence within the book, and they’re easily navigated if you know how to calculate macros or aren’t extra strict. 

The Final Word

There is every reason to grab this keto cookbook. It’s gorgeous, its recipes are delicious, and it’s so approachable, it’s guaranteed to bring flavorful diversity to your keto meal planning. We are huge fans. 

Shop for One-Pot Keto Cooking here.

 

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The Frugal Keto Cookbook https://keto-mojo.com/article/the-frugal-keto-cookbook/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 00:33:11 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=14080 There are a lot of keto cookbooks flooding the market, but The Frugal Keto Cookbook: 75 Flavor-Packed Recipes That Are Easy on Your Budget  (Emily...

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There are a lot of keto cookbooks flooding the market, but The Frugal Keto Cookbook: 75 Flavor-Packed Recipes That Are Easy on Your Budget  (Emily Pierce, Page Street Publishing Co., 2020), is one of the better recent releases. 

It’s appeal? Super-duper easy, totally delicious recipes made with common ingredients accompanied by close-up food photos to whet your appetite. 

If you’re new to keto cooking or need creative ideas for everyday meals, this book will be a great addition to your cookbook collection. There is one keto caveat. Read on to find out more!

About the Author

Author Emily Pierce had a lifelong struggle with weight when she began the keto diet. Since then, she dropped 120 pounds and began creating keto recipes that focus on whole foods and whole satisfaction. Today, she shares her creations on the blog Keto Copy and in this cookbook. She also hosts a podcast called “The Keto Happy Hour.”

What’s Inside

According to author Emily Pierce, the frugality referenced in her book title lies in buying and cooking with whole foods. Indeed, buying ingredients costs significantly less than purchasing processed or readymade foods. But most cookbooks cook with whole ingredients, so the cost-saving aspect isn’t as much of a standout as you might expect from this book; instead, it’s more about a celebration of everyday-delicious doable, recipes made from scratch using common ingredients. And that’s just fine by us because the recipes within the glossy 168 pages are super simple, totally yum, and yes, a heck of a lot cheaper than buying readymade food! 

The book plays up the money-saving aspect through its chapter titles, which are as follows:

    • Money-Saving Mains
    • Small Plates, Sides and Starters
    • Super Frugal Soups and Salads
    • Beats the Bake Shop Breads and Rolls
    • Budget-Friendly Breakfast and Brunch
    • Dollar-Saving Dips, Chips and Sauces
    • “Use It or Lose It” Leftover Land
    • Dough-Stretching Desserts

It also features some less expensive ingredients and tips to go with them, such as how to cook cheaper cuts of meat with great results, how using a whole chicken rather than specific cuts is a huge money-saver, or how to save money by buying and freezing ground chicken or chicken breasts when they go on sale. The tips are simple, but good reminders of how to keep costs down while eating well. 

There are more expensive ingredients called for, too, like pancetta and Boursin cheese spread for the Pancetta-Wrapped Chicken Breasts. However, the results are so totally worth the expense; they look and taste like a fancy night out at a fraction of the price. 

The recipes themselves are practical, approachable, and mostly keto renditions of foods you probably already know and love: Firehouse Chili, Cauliflower Gratin, Lasagna, The Best Cobb Salad, keto burger buns, chocolate donuts, maple pecan shortbread bars, and more are on the menu. But again, Emily’s versions are super simple and fast to make, with surprisingly good results considering the minimal effort. 

One thing that will be an issue if you’re on a keto diet and are carefully tracking macros is there are no macros included in any of the recipes. No grams of carbs, net carbs, fats, or anything else. There’s a recipe intro, the number of servings it makes, the ingredients, and the instructions. That’s it. So, if you want to know macros for any dishes in this book, you’ll have to calculate them yourself. 

Want to try a few recipes? Check these out (we even calculated the macros for you):

Pancetta-Wrapped Chicken Breasts

Pancetta Wrapped Chicken Breast Recipe

Pizza Shop Garlic Knots

Pizza Shop Garlic Knots Recipe

Simple Chocolate Pots de Creme

Simple Chocolate Pots de Creme Recipe

What You’ll Learn 

We’re pretty certain, you’ll find some recipes here that will become part of your ongoing meal planning. There are lots of good, super easy ones that are prime for busy weeknight cooking. 

What We Like

The recipes are so yummy and easy (as if we haven’t said that enough)! The full-page photos give you a clear idea of what you’re aiming for. 

Room for Improvement

We wish the chapter called “Use It or Lose It” Leftover Land was more robust; it features just three recipes that use leftovers. 

The Final Word

The Frugal Keto Cookbook: 75 Flavor-Packed Recipes That Are Easy on Your Budget is loaded with easy, super delicious recipes that will make keto meal planning or last-minute cooking, fun and satisfying. Recipes don’t include macros, so expect having to calculate them yourself if you’re tracking macros. But don’t let this deter you from getting the book. It’s a good one for anyone who needs simple kitchen inspiration. 

Shop for The Frugal Keto Cookbook: 75 Flavor-Packed Recipes That Are Easy on Your Budget here.

 

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Dirty, Lazy, Keto No Time to Cook Cookbook https://keto-mojo.com/article/dirty-lazy-keto-cookbook/ Thu, 18 Feb 2021 18:48:22 +0000 https://keto-mojo.com/?post_type=article&p=13943 For co-author Stephanie Laska, MEd, “dirty keto” means anything goes. No foods are ‘off the table’ as long as you stay within your daily target...

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For co-author Stephanie Laska, MEd, “dirty keto” means anything goes. No foods are ‘off the table’ as long as you stay within your daily target amount of net carbs.” 

Meanwhile, her definition of “lazy keto” means only tracking net carbs.

Still, The Dirty, Lazy, Keto No Time to Cook Cookbook: 100 Easy Recipes to Save Money & Time by Stephanie Laska, MEd, and William Laska (Adams Media, 2021) includes info on all macros, from calories to protein to sugar and more. What else can you expect from this paperback featuring 100 recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less? Read on to find out!

About the Authors

If you’ve been keto cooking for a while, you may have come across authors Stephanie and William Laska’s work. After all, this is the fifth book in their “The Dirty, Lazy Keto” series. Their inspiration was life experience; Stephanie lost 140 pounds with her version of keto, which allowed for “dirty” foods but strict adherence to net carb macros. She’s also kept it off and kept going, sharing her relaxed, can-do perspective on working her dirty, lazy keto lifestyle, especially in the kitchen. 

What’s Inside

A large, hefty paperback, this cookbook feels functional and approachable. Its promise? Fast, easy keto recipes that are:

  • ready in less than 30 minutes
  • contain less than 10 net carbs per serving
  • taste great

Of course there’s much more. 

Along with an introduction to Stephanie and her way of thinking, there are sections that explain what dirty, lazy keto is, how it works, and what kinds of foods to eat and to avoid. 

There are assurances that this is a book even for people who don’t consider themselves cooks and guidelines on how to set up and operate in your kitchen for fast cooking and what shortcuts you can take to further speed the process (think buying cooked chicken versus raw). 

Then come the recipes. There are a whopping 100 of them, which are divided into chapters, as follows:

  • Breakfast
  • Soups and Salads
  • Snacks
  • Breads and Pizza
  • Sides
  • Main Dishes
  • Drinks and Desserts

As promised, recipes are indeed extremely easy and fast to make. They’re also familiar. You’ll find keto recipes for the likes of turkey meatballs, quesadillas, onion rings, chop suey, lasagna, chocolate chip cookies, bacon-maple cupcakes, and pina coladas. Only they have cutesy names that hint at their speedy prep (think “Pace Yourself Pina Colada” and “Clock’s Tickin’ Vodka Chicken”). Alas, only about half of them have accompanying photos, so you’ll have to use your imagination to envision those that aren’t shown in photos. 

Regardless, the recipes totally work and are totally delicious. In fact, those we tested we found good enough to make again, and that’s saying a lot. 

Want a taste of what’s in store? Try these Recipes from The Dirty, Lazy, Keto No Time to Cook Cookbook now:

Thai Time Crunch Salad

Thai Time Crunch Salad Recipe

Snappy Stuffed Salmon

Snappy Stuffed Salmon Recipe

Two-Step Satay with Peanut Sauce

2 Step Satay with Peanut Sauce Recipe

What You’ll Learn 

If you’re new to keto cooking or cooking in general, you’ll appreciate the up-front insight about how to get your kitchen ready. You’ll also find some permission to enjoy some of your “dirty” keto habits, if you have any (ahem, occasional diet soft drinks). 

But most importantly, you’ll learn a lot of simple recipes for a variety of dishes, which is really helpful if you want variety on your keto diet. 

What We Like

There’s an upbeat, cheerful attitude throughout the book. Also, there are a lot of recipes that require only a handful of ingredients plus lots of tips included with each recipe. Finally, the recipes really are quite easy, making it possible to hustle through meals made from scratch with solid results. 

Room for Improvement

The photos are great. We just wish there was an image for every dish. 

The Final Word

The Dirty, Lazy, Keto No Time to Cook Cookbook is a great addition to your recipe collection if you’re excited for keto renditions of familiar comfort foods or just fast recipes to bring variety to your keto lifestyle. It’s no-fuss cooking with reliable, tasty, and sometimes even fancy results.

Shop for The Dirty, Lazy Keto No Time to Cook Cookbook here.

 

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