Back on the Keto Train

I love food. I LOVE eating. With that being said, having to become gluten free and not by choice, I thought, "This is it! This is how I die." I love flavors. I love color. I don't like boring, tasteless food. As a result of loving food and having a desk job, as you can imagine, the number on the scale started to increase as did my waist size. So, I made a pact with myself to eat better and actually exercise.

When I first started researching what "diet" to go with, I had landed on Paleo and Keto. Half of my husband's family is on the Keto train. I have a family member on Paleo. I had been following her food posts on the Paleo way of eating and how much weight was melting off her and her husband, I thought perhaps this was the one for me! Her food pics are amazing! Then I googled the paleo diet. No cheese. No dairy. Whelp, that's out! I LOVE cheese. I'm out. Keto it is.

People had been talking to me about Keto. "Oh, watch out for that Keto flu. It'll get ya!" Okay, while I appreciate the heads up, you don't know me or my current eating habits. Guess what...I didn't get the keto flu as I already eat gluten free, low cal, low sugar and organic. I was able to make the jump to keto with no issues at all. Making this transition, for me, was not too hard or that drastic of a change. I had to cut out rice, gluten free pasta and potatoes. I really miss potatoes.

I had recently taken a 2 week break from keto to enjoy the foods that I miss. But I am back on it again. I kept up on my training so I didn't really change in weight. This round of Keto, I am using my new tool, the Instant Pot.

So to kick off this portion of the blog, I thought I would share 2 of my favorite keto/gluten free Instant Pot friendly recipes.

Crack Chicken:

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of organic chicken breasts

• 6 slices of cooked bacon (I used pre-made bacon bits from Costco)

• 1 pkg of cream cheese

• 1C. of cheddar cheese

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch mix (I used my organic ranch mix from World Spice) See below for my recommendation on World Spice Market

• 1/2 C. of water

• One package of prepared organic riced cauliflower (at Costco)

Directions:

1. Place chicken and cream cheese in the IP.

2. Sprinkle the packet of ranch seasoning over the top.

3. Add half cup water.

4. Place your IP on Manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Do a quick release.

5. Remove chicken only and shred I used my kitchen aid to shred my chicken.

6. Keep your IP on low Add chicken back in. Add cheese and stir. Stir in bacon and enjoy.

7. Directions for slow cooker: Place chicken cream cheese and ranch seasonings in crock pot cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Place back in the pot

8. and stir in bacon. bacon and enjoy.

I served my crack chicken over seasoned cauliflower rice. So, So GOOD! And the next day, I put it in butter lettuce and had it as a chicken salad wrap.

Pork Baby Back Ribs:

Ingredients:

• 1-2 racks of pork baby back ribs

• 1 C. organic Beef broth

• BBQ Sauce (if you have a keto one. I omitted this as we don't.)

Instructions

1. Cut the racks of ribs into thirds and season generously with salt and pepper. (Note- if you prefer to add a rub on your ribs, this is where you would do that! We did. We had a smokey bbq rub with no sugar added) I opted to not cut my ribs up.

2. Pour beef broth in the bottom of the pot, place the steaming rack inside, and put the seasoned ribs on top.

3. Lock the lid, select the Meat function, and set timer for 30 minutes.

4. Quick release your valve after the timer beeps and remove the ribs from the cooker. Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet (prepared with cooking spray) and brush on your barbecue sauce on the back side of the ribs.

5. Broil the ribs for 3-4 minutes (watching carefully to prevent charring), flip the ribs over and brush the other side with barbecue sauce. Broil that side again for 3-4 minutes. Place on platter and serve with additional barbecue sauce on the side. We did our on the BBQ for 3 minutes per side. SO. GOOD.

We served our ribs with loaded mashed cauliflower (Costco) with shredded cheddar, bacon, green onions and sour cream. So good!!

Okay, now for my World Spice Merchants review. My amazing cousin, who lives in Seattle, turned me onto this place. They have a lot of wonderful things. I definitely suggest going there if you are local or visiting. We popped in as we were up there. The place smells amazing! And, you get to taste and smell all the delicious things they offer. As we are not local, we are blessed to be able to order it on line! Ranch is one of my favorites! We no longer buy ranch dressing and make our own, using their seasoning. We add in garlic, dill, and some paprika. Delicious! Here's our ranch recipe:

Ingredients are to taste:

• 1 C. of sour cream

• 1 C. of Mayonnaise (we use the one with avocado oil)

• Dash of milk. If you want your ranch to be more runny, add more milk

• Ranch seasoning

• Dill

• Paprika

• Salt & Pepper

Enjoy~