Thursday, May 8, 2014

Keto Blackberry and Sour Cream Muffins

If you're on a low carb diet and missing your standard blueberry muffins for breakfast everyday, these keto-friendly blackberry sour cream muffins will fix any craving! For 118 calories and 1 net carb per muffin, these can't be beat!

Keto Blackberry and Sour Cream Muffins

1 c. Almond Meal (I used the Trader Joe's brand)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. sour cream
1/3 c. blackberries, chopped
1/3 c. splenda
2 eggs
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/3 c. water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
coconut oil for greasing the pans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin pan using coconut oil, dab a little bit in each muffin cup and rub it around the sides. Combine all of the ingredients until well mixed. Portion batter into muffin pan, you should have enough for 10-12 muffins. Bake until lightly browned on top, 15-20 minutes. Poke with a toothpick to check doneness. 

Serve with butter! (duh!)


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Keto Bacon BBQ Sauce

Let's face it...every bbq sauce on the market is loaded with sugar. I was craving ribs smothered in bbq sauce recently, so I decided to develop the best possible keto bbq sauce I could.

Guess what? This is probably the best bbq sauce I've ever had! (Thanks to bacon!) You can  put this stuff on ANYTHING and it will taste great. Wings, ribs, burgers, chicken, whatever. Try it!

Keto Bacon BBQ Sauce

strips of thick smoked bacon, chopped fine (I used neuske's applewood smoked, so good!)
1 medium onion, minced
3 clove garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 can (12 oz) diet (sugar-free) cola, you can also use diet dr. pepper!
1 cup heinz reduced sugar ketchup
6 Tbsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Fry the bacon in a saucepan until crispy. Add the onion and cook over medium until soft. Add garlic and stir until combined Add the rest of the ingredients, plus about half a cup of water. Stir well. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. It will cook down a bit and flavors will combine.  Adjust the seasonings so you have the balance you want - you can add vinegar or hot sauce. In a blender, puree the sauce until smooth.

The recipe makes approximately 20 servings of 1/4 cup each. Each serving has about 3 grams of net carbs.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Keto Sausage Crust Pizza

I love pizza. Pizza is a comfort food to me. When I discovered that Lou Malnati's (a famous pizza institution in Chicago) served a "crustless pizza," I was thrilled! While this pizza is a great treat every once in a while, it is quite expensive if you start eating it 3 times a week, like my s/o and I did when we first discovered it.

Then I remembered, "I"m a chef! I can do this at home for a quarter of the price!" So, I did. 

Here's the recipe! Enjoy.

Keto Sausage Crust Pizza
For Crust:
1 # Bulk Italian Sausage, hot or mild, up to you. 
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. italian herb seasoning
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Pre-Heat oven to 350. Using a round pizza pan, press out the italian sausage on to the pan, make sure the sausage is pushed out all the way to the edge. DO NOT GREASE THE PAN! (cause fires! but really, the sausage has enough grease, it won't stick. If you're worried you can use a non-stick pizza pan). Season the sausage with the remaining ingredients. Bake the crust until the sausage is almost done cooking, it should look sort of grey, not browned. Take pizza out, drain off excess grease if necessary. 

For Sauce:
1 28 oz can of tomato sauce (try to find one lower in carbs! I found one at dollartree that has 4g per serving!)
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. italian herb seasoning

Heat olive oil in a sauce pot. Add garlic and seasonings and cook until golden brown. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 15 minutes on low heat. 

For toppings:
2 C. Provolone/Mozzarella Cheese, shreds - most grocery stores carry a blend of the two.
Sliced pepperoni, for topping
Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning to taste

Time to assemble the pizza! On the par cooked crust, sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded provolone/mozzarella. Place the pizza back in the oven to melt the first layer of cheese. Take the pizza out and spread the tomato sauce on top, use as much or as little as you want. Lay out your pepperoni and then top with the rest of the provolone/mozzarella. Place the pizza back in the oven and bake until golden brown. Let it cool before cutting and top with parmesan and herb seasoning to taste.


My Keto Sausage Crust Pizza

Lou Malnati's Original Crustless pizza