On The Keto Diet and My Triglycerides Are Crazy Low

Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Frosting

My Triglycerides are lower than they have ever been. 

Really, I'm not joking. 

I felt a little like a time bomb waiting to happen. 

How did I do this wonderful thing? 

By eating a Ketogenic Diet. 

It's Low Carb with a twist. 

And I love it!!

Of all of the Low Carb, Keto recipes that I have made 

this is really the best. Or close to the best. 

Sometimes you just need a little something sweet without breaking the bank. 

The carb bank that is. Everyone that tasted it loved it. 

You can go to Carolyn's web pages for more wonderful recipes. 

You won't be sorry. It's Here. 

And no you can't see or taste the zuchinni. 

I used a 9x13 inch baking pan and it worked great. 

I added a little extra lemon and zest because 

I love lemon. 

Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Frosting

Yield: 1 9-inch cake

Serving Size: 1/16th of cake

The best low carb cake of the summer! Zucchini, blueberries and lemon come together in a heavenly gluten-free, grain-free dessert. Inspired by I Am Baker

Ingredients

Cake:
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/3 cup unflavoured whey protein powder (Low Carb)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
• 1/2 tsp liquid stevia or Sucralose drops (my personal favorite) 
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Lemon Frosting:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
• 2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 3 to 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Garnish:
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions

Cake:
1. Place zucchini in a sieve and sprinkle with salt. Toss to combine. Let drain 1 hour and then press on zucchini to release as much moisture as possible.
2. Preheat oven to 325F and grease 2 (two) 9-inch round cake pans very well. You can use 8 inch pans as well but your cake will need to bake a little longer. And if your pans are not very non-stick, you may want to line them with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, whey protein, baking powder and salt.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener(s) until well combined. Beat in eggs, lemon zest, zucchini and vanilla extract. Beat in almond flour mixture until well combined. (If your batter is quite dry, add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk until it is a thick but spreadable batter).
5. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter between prepared pans and spread evenly to the edges. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and set on the top. Remove and let cool 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
6. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Beat in sweetener until well combined, then beat in lemon zest.
7. Beat in 3 tbsp lemon juice. Add remaining tbsp if frosting is too thick.
8. Place first cake layer on a serving platter and spread the top with half of the frosting. Add second cake layer and spread with remaining frosting. Top with fresh blueberries.

Notes

Serves 16. Each serving has 9.73 g of carbs and 3.11 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6.62 g.

Food energy: 310kcal Total fat: 26.35g Calories from fat: 237 Cholesterol: 81mg Carbohydrate: 9.73g Total dietary fiber: 3.11g Protein: 8.50g

Love, Grammy T.

A New Start No Matter How Old you Are

I am still enthralled by the Keto Diet that I have been studying about. There is a very touching video by Kristie, a lady that changed the way she eats and the way she looks. It is about her journey of being very chubby all her life and now at 45 she is finally wearing the clothes she has always wanted to wear. Her story is here and you should watch it if you also struggle with being heavy or just not feeling good. 

Kristie asked a lady that she went to church with to pray for her in her struggles with weight loss. She just couldn't do the things she wanted with her family being as heavy as she was. This lady not only said that she would pray for her but she also brought her the book that had changed her life. Now Kristie dedicates her life sharing how she now cooks for herself and for her family in her YouTube videos called "Cooking Keto with Kristie"

I have been eating this way for awhile now and I do have more energy and I am loosing weight also. There are so many names for eating this way and so many YouTube videos showing you how to cook this way that you can't go wrong trying it. 

We are all getting older all of the time and it isn't fun being old and tired and in pain. This way of eating helps to eliminate the tired and the pain part, the getting old part is just the way it is but we may as well make it as good as possible, not by taking pills etc. but by eating the way we should to feel better.  

I hope this post will give you the information that you need to make a new start no matter how old you are. 

Love, Grammy T.

Diet Cauliflower Tattie Mash

Cauliflower Tattie Mash

When we were in Ireland Tommy Tynan our bus driver/guide called mashed potatoes Tatties. In fact the Haggis we had in Scotland tasted delish on those tatties. Well I've been craving mashed potatoes but decided to do Cauliflower Tattie Mash instead. 

I had some left over taco meat so replaced Haggis with that and then I made my "Tatties".

Here is the recipe:

• 2 - bags of frozen cauliflower cooked until very tender in the microwave for about 6 minutes each bag.
• 4 Tbls. butter
• 4 tbls. grated cheese, I use Parmesan, Dubliner (in honor of Tommy) or sharp Cheddar. 
• 3 Tbls. of homemade ranch dressing that is made with heavy whipping cream and mayo.
• Pepper to taste, it already has lots of salt from the other ingredients but that is up to you.

Dump all of the above in your food processor and whip. Dump in a bowl and top with a big pat of butter. Walaaa you have it. 

So yummy, so filling and you are getting your veggies in the evening which helps with a good nights sleep. 

Enjoy. :) 

Love, Grammy T.

Diet Fudge Recipe

I've been living the love of the Keto diet now for a couple of weeks and have a few updates for you. 

1. Eat what you like. You will be more apt to succeed if you do and I found if I ate my favorite Keno friendly veggies at night with lots of butter and salt and pepper I had a good nights sleep. For those of you that haven't had a good nights sleep being on keto then that might be your answer too. 

2.I have lost 5 pounds, yeah me but think I could do even better if I don't go hog wild on the protein. So I have reset my macros (see the My Fitness Pal App for your phone) to be 15% protein, 10% carbs and 75% fat which means all things naturally fat like butter, coconut oil, bacon grease and olive oil. No corn oil type stuff. Did you know that the turkey growers tried to fatten up there turkeys in the 1940's with margarine and killed them? The turkey's that is. So don't kill yourself with that stuff. Do what the pioneers did and eat the butter and the bacon and the bacon grease. 

3. If I'm not hungry I don't eat. That simple. My daddy always said we eat to keep from getting hungry not just because we're hungry. But I'll take that up with him at a later date. So in the morning I am not hungry for hours so I drink my keto lemonade which is a little lemon juice, Himalayan salt and water. If I get a little hungry I make a bullet hot cocoa which is fun with whip cream, butter, cocoa powder, sweetner like splenda or stevia (not sugar) hot water and whipped to a froth. 

I'm going to give you another fun fat bomb recipe. I also am going to make these for my hubby who is a diabetic for Fathers Day. 

Fudgy Macadamia Chocolate Fat Bomb

 

Author: Vivica Menegaz

Ingredients

• 2 oz (58gr) Cocoa Butter (if you make a lot of chocolate this one is the most convenient)
• 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbs Swerve
• 4 oz (112gr) Chopped macadamias (bulk is cheaper!)
• ¼ cup Heavy cream or coconut oil for dairy free option

Instructions

1. Melt cocoa butter in a small sauce pan in a bath of water. (I just use another slightly bigger sauce pan, half full with water)
2. Add cocoa powder to the sauce pan.
3. Now add the Swerve and mix well until all ingredients are well blended and melted.
4. Add macadamias and stir in well.
5. Add cream, mix well and bring back to temperature.
6. Now pour in molds or paper candy cups.
7. Let cool, then put in the fridge to harden.
8. Keeps at room temperature, with a slightly softer consistency than chocolate.

Have fun trying some of these recipes and let me know how you are doing on your own keto diet. 

Love, Grammy T.

One Of The Bests Of Keto Dieting

One of the funnest and yummy recipes that have tried are the Cream Cheese Pancakes (Low Carb and Gluten Free). My hubby and I both loved them. We had them with bacon and sugar free maple syrup. He happens to be diabetic so these recipes are good for him too. You can find the recipe here. 

One of the best websites is on the All Sweetener List for well just what it says - sweeteners.  It has a huge list of what is good and what is not good. A must see.  

One of the best websites on Keto Dieting is by Martina All You need To Know About Carbs. Go see her there you will love her. She is blonde and cute and a major brainiac when it come the Keto Diet. She has an app that makes life a lot simpler and cookbooks too. Here is her KetoDiet Buddy - Easy Way to Calculate Your Macros on a Ketogenic Diet.

One of the best All around websites with recipes that are gluten free and low carb is right here at I Breathe I'm Hungry. Ok, so how can you go wrong when you look at all of that great food to eat? 

Happy Ketoing everyone.

Love,
Grammy T. 
xoxoxo

PS:
I told you I'd be right back. And remember I told you I had three other things I'm excited about right now. Because I figure if I can't be excited about something 'shoot me now' . :)

Time For a Keto Diet

What have I been up to you ask. Well three or four things really. So I'll tell you all about them one at a time so as not to exhaust you. 

First off I am on a Keto Diet and I Love it!!! What is a the ketogenic diet? It is a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. It's a diet that causes ketones to be produced by the liver, shifting the body's metabolism away from glucose and towards fat utilization. It has been making my skin itch because of the liver thing but I can fix it quick by rinsing off in the shower. That works and I take milk thistle and dandelion root. And that is helping. I drink lot's of water like it is my job. I drink a hot drink called Pero with butter, coconut oil, heavy cream and no cal sweetner then whipped to a froth. Yumm and it makes me use the restroom regularly which is nice too. 

Lemon Cloud Pie Recipe

What is a Ketosis Diet good for? It's good for high triglycerides, 

fatty liver and a myriad of other ailments. 

The first time I got acquainted with high protein low carb diets was when I was pregnant with my second baby. The doctor said I was on the verge of having toxemia and that unless I went on the high protein, low carb diet he gave me he was going to put me in the hospital. So I obeyed him and I lost 10 pounds in a week. I'm sure it was a lot of water but still it kept me out of the hospital and I did really good on it until I delivered my baby girl. The second time was when I was pregnant with my fifth baby, yes I have lots of kids. I needed to loose the water weight and keep myself from the hospital again so I went on a low carb high protein diet and did really good and again lost 10 pounds in a week. After that I ate lots of egg and cheese omelettes with hot sauce for my two other pregnancies. That kept me faraway from toxemia because we need the extra protein when we are pregnant. Just like my ewes needed extra protein when they were about to lamb.  

I always did love sweets and those are not good for me. I found a few websites with lots of help and recipes etc. One is "I Breathe I'm Hungry". Look at this lemon pie which fits into my diet regime!!  Click the picture to get the recipe and she has lot's more.  

Another site is: 
Keto Diet App. And she has these killer Keto Bounty Bars. Check them out. 

Oh how many calories a day? I like to eat 800-1200 a day. that's all I need but I'm never hungry with this Kenosis way of eating. 

Well I think that is good for today. 

Love,
Grammy T.