Tag: lowcarb

Clean Eats, Keto Recipes, Paleo Recipes, Recipes

One Skillet Lamb Curry

Jamie

Curry – I think folks either love it or hate it! Its a powerful mix of spices with a lot of depth and sometimes a punch of heat. I’m a fan! I love a good curry. Unfortunately many Indian recipes and restaurants use cream or yogurt (dairy) in their recipes and I dont tolerate it well. Sometimes Ill “cheat” and take the digestive enzymes and throw caution to the wind, but that usually results in regret. Fortunately, I love to cook and experiment and so I make a lot of my Indian style recipes at home. I recently got a free sample of a Maharajah Curry from Seasonality Spices in exchange for a post in my IG feed (full disclosure). How could I say no to testing out their premium quality, fair trade spice blend? I went ahead and created a recipe and blog post because I was so impressed .
The good news is that YOU CAN GET IT FREE TOO! Just go to the link above or HERE, and select a 1 oz sample and use the code “KINGOFSPICES” at checkout. All you pay for is shipping!
If you get some and try it, Id love to hear what you made! Tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@dailybagofgoodness) so I can see your creations! 🙂

When I first received the package, I had to chuckle at their marketing. Possibly not for the masses? But really funny if you know who Kimbo Slice is!

The first thing I had to do was smell it. Wow! Beautiful spice with balanced notes of cardamom and cinnamon most prominent on the nose. The blend contains saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, turmeric and pepper – it’s a balanced and versatile blend.

I was trying to dream up a great recipe and lately I’ve been needing simple meals for quick weekday dinners. Also, its been hot outside and the less I heat up the kitchen the better!

I love a good lamb curry and I had some local ground lamb on hand, so I whipped up this one-skillet lamb curry. I’m eating low carb (keto), so I added plenty of cauliflower in lieu of rice. But this would be excellent served over rice. I had extra roasted sweet potatoes and served my husbands curry over sweet potatoes. That works great for a grain-free option. Plus, I think sweet potato and curry go really well together! I need to find a recipe for dairy free Keto naan bread. That would be fantastic!

I’m a big fan of cooking in cast iron. It provides a nice even heat, adds iron to your meal (many women tend to be deficient), and keeps dinner warm for a while if you end up going back for seconds. I was keeping it simple, but onions, garlic and ginger sauteed into the meat would have been really nice in this as well. You could also add more coconut milk, or none at all, depending on what you like.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb ground lamb ( but if you don’t have any or aren’t a fan, some dark ground turkey meat would work as well.
  • 1 to 1-1/2 tsp Sea salt (being keto, I tend to like more salt)
  • 3 tsp Maharajah Curry from Seasonality Spice
  • cauliflower florets from 1/2 a medium head of cauliflower
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh peas
  • 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
  • Approx 3/4 – 1 cup full fat coconut milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. To a large cast iron skillet add the ground lamb. Lamb tends to have plenty of fat to release so you don’t need to add more fat to the pan. However, if using turkey I’d recommend 2 Tbsp of coconut oil to fry it in.
  2. Sauté lamb until it’s just starting to brown and then add salt and sprinkle the curry powder in so that it cooks into the meat.
  3. One the meat is slightly browned, add the cauliflower florets and peas. Stir through the meat and cover.
  4. Every 2-3 mins remove lid and stir.
  5. Cook until cauliflower is steamed but still firm.
  6. Add the spinach, stir in and cover for 1-2 mins more until spinach wilts.
  7. Remove lid and stir in coconut milk.
  8. Stir occasionally and allow to simmer w/ lid off so it can thicken to your liking.
  9. Serve as-is or over a grain or starch of ur choice.

Serves 3-4 (depending on how hungry you are!)

Keto Recipes, Recipes

Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream

Jamie

My sugar free journey started about 2 years ago when I went to a Functional Dr who diagnosed me with candida overgrowth. Which, in combination w/ hypothyroidism, was a major cause for some awful fatigue at the time. Getting off sugar and treating the candida made such a big difference in how I felt and functioned on a daily basis. About a year in to the treatment I thought I had it beat, but it flared up again and so I put myself on a super low carb diet for 4 weeks. Around that time, I learned about the ketogenic diet and when I looked at my macros, I was REALLY close already. So I tweaked my fat and protein and easily went into ketosis. I’m eating keto mostly for its promise for hormone healing and it has definitely helped me! My goal is to get fully off my thyroid meds. My levels have already improved so I’m currently at half the dose I was previously! Super excited about that, though my hormones are not super happy about the lower thyroid dose, so my body is currently recalibrating. Its seems that a health journey never truly ends. But, I’m determined to heal my body and I truly believe in food as medicine.

So all of that to say that in the past 2 years, desert has not been a big part of my life. I was never a big dessert person anyway (don’t need it everyday after dinner). But from time to time, I really miss a few things. Especially ice cream in the summer! I’ve been dairy free for around 7 years but I used to be able to eat the store-bought stuff. Since going sugar-free, I just can’t find an ice cream in the store that I can eat!

So I bought an ice cream maker and I’m experimenting! And WOW, I hit the nail on the head w/ this one! Its made completely out of coconut milk, but w/ the vanilla flavoring, you can barely taste the coconut. It’s just YUM!

Tonight I was also really craving something chocolate. I just love Good Dee’s products. Her low carb brownie mix is just fantastic! She uses sunflower seed flour as the base for these. I tried something different and baked them in muffin cups. Actually, it was really just me being lazy and not wanting to cut waxed paper for the brownie pan. 😉 But it worked out great! I should have let them cool more before removing from the paper, but who can resist a hot brownie w/ ice cream??!

I hope you enjoy this ice cream as much as my family and I did. So rich and satisfying! It would be even better w/ real vanilla bean! Feel free to play around w/ other flavors – like cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. You could even blend in some fresh fruit.

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. To a high speed blender (like a Vitamix), add all of the ingredients listed above.
  2. Blend on high for approx 30 seconds.
  3. Make sure your ice cream maker is set up per the manufacturer instructions. Instructions below are for the Cuisinart ICE-21R Ice Cream Maker.
  4. Place fully frozen bowl onto the base and assemble the paddle and cover.
  5. Turn the ice cream maker “ON”.
  6. Pour the mixture from the blender into the frozen bowl.
  7. Let run for 15-20 minutes, checking every 5 minutes or so.
  8. When ice cream looks like a soft serve, stop the machine.
  9. Scoop out the ice cream into a freezer-safe container and place in freezer.
  10. If you can wait, let it set up in freezer approx 15 minutes, stir and return to freezer for another 15 minutes.
  11. Serve after it sets up (or right away if you don’t mind a softer ice cream).
  12. Top w/ fresh fruit, over a Good Dee’s treat, nuts, or anything your heart desires.

Makes approx 1 quart.

Clean Eats, Keto Recipes, Paleo Recipes, Recipes

Low Carb Keto/Paleo Waffles

Jamie

Everyone loves a good breakfast – right?! Well, you dont have to miss out on your favorites while embracing your keto or paleo lifestyle.

While my normal weekend breakfast favorite is pancakes (be sure to check out my Almond Flour Keto Pancakes  recipe), but every once in a while a nice fluffy, but crisp on the outside waffle w/ some sausage or bacon, just sounds perfect! For some reason, you can top waffles with something more substantial than a pancake. I guess it’s the crunchy exterior – but it just works.

For this recipe I wanted to experiment with tigernut flour. I just learned about tigernut flour about 6 months ago. Tigernut is actually not a nut at all but a small root vegetable. It has as much iron as a serving of red meat (10% of recommended daily allowance), 15% of your vitamin E and 8% of your daily magnesium! It also has as much potassium as coconut water. All of that makes it a super-food in my book! Bonus – while it has 19 g of total carbs per 1/4 cup its loaded w/ prebiotic fiber (10 g per 1/4 cup). So net carbs are very low (9 g net carbs). Pretty fantastic! I haven’t tried other brands but I really like the Organic Gemini Tigernut Flour. I’m a Thrive Market member and saw it on their site and heard good things about tigernut so I gave it a try.


Here are some price comparisons for the Organic Gemini brand:
Tigernut flour through Organic Gemini website ($14/lb); Amazon ($12.05/lb); Thrive Market members ($10.49/lb).

If you have a low carb recipe with a really dense flour, try cutting half of the flour w/ tigernut. You may need to add slightly more water, so add your liquids slowly to get the right consistency of your batter on your first try. I have cut my Almond Flour Keto Pancakes with tigernut and they definitely make a fluffier pancake over all almond four! Try it! I also think tigernut would be great in a keto 90 second bread (I’m going to work on that recipe!) or other keto baked goods. The possibilities are endless.

I like to top my waffles with either some butter, almond butter and/or a drizzle of the Lakanto Maple Flavored Syrup. Try mixing some coconut cream and your favorite nut butter together – its to die for!
Or, try my latest combo – 2 Tbsp coconut cream w/ 1 tsp maca, 3 drops liquid stevia and a dash of sea salt!


Maca has some great health benefits and can help support your thyroid and hormone balance. Im working on both right now, so Im working on incorporating more maca into my recipes. I really like the ‘butterscotch’ flavor. I think it can take some getting used to, but I’ve really grown to like it.

* BTW – If you pair two of these with a fatty coffee or tea latte, it makes for some near perfect keto macros!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. The waffles freeze and reheat really well. I just threw two in my toaster this morning and they tasted like they were fresh! I think these would pack really well for camping or backpacking as well! They should hold together enough to make a sandwich with them (However, I would wait to assemble the sandwich until you are ready to eat). I’ll have to test that as well. If anyone does before me, please let me know how it goes.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup tigernut flour
  • 4 Tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 pkg of dry or 4 drops liquid stevia (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil (or butter or ghee)
  • 6 drops liquid stevia (or 1 packet of powder)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup coconut milk (blend 2 Tbsp coconut cream + balance of water to 1 cup mark for 30 sec)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Pre-heat an electric waffle maker.
  2. While warming waffle maker, mix all dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk with a fork to combine.
  3. Add all wet ingredients on top of the dry (in the same bowl) and whisk until batter is smooth.
  4. My waffle maker made 2 square waffles at a time. For this size, scoop ~1/4 cup of batter into each square (until just covered) and close the lid until the light indicates the waffle is done. *leave in an extra minute for a crisper waffle.
  5. Set cooked waffles on a cooking rack or in a warm oven to prevent them from getting soggy.
  6. Served topped with butter, a low carb monkfruit syrup, coconut cream, and/or nut butter.

SERVINGS: 4 (2 WAFFLES EACH)

Print recipe card: Low Carb Keto_Paleo Waffles

Keto Recipes, Paleo Recipes, Recipes

Instant Pot Ribs – Keto & Paleo Friendly

Jamie

I love fall-apart, well-seasoned ribs just as well as the next carnovorie! But I lack paitience and time for smoking meat. I just buy my smoked meat from BBQ joints who have it down – or visit friends who do a great job smoking their own! But Im always looking for ways to use my Instant pot, and a Pintrest recipe caught my eye from I Breathe I’m Hungry. Im sure the original recipe is great, I actually used the dry rub ratios, but I didnt have time to make my own sauuce. So, I simplified the recipe and these hit the spot! I guess you could say I “cheated” a little by using a bottled sauce, but hey, I have a lot going on :). I found that after reading the labels on every single bottle of BBQ sauce in Whole Foods Market, Annie’s Naturals (Original) had hands down the lowest sugar/carbs of any BBQ sauce on the shelf! Bonus – It was actually good too!

                                 Annie's Organic Gluten Free BBQ Original Recipe Sauce, 12 oz

INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs pork ribs individually cut up
DRY RUB:
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
 
~1/4 cup Annie's Naturals Original BBQ Sauce (just need enough to brush the top of each rib with sauce before broiling.
    1. Cut ribs into individual pieces.
    2. Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
    3. In a large bowl, or using the Instant pot bowl, place the ribs and then sprinkle the dry rub over the ribs. Toss the ribs by hand in the dry rub until each rib is thoroughly coated.
    4. Using the steamer basket of your Instant Pot, place the basket in the bottom and then stack the ribs over each other.
    5. Add 1/2 cup of filtered water to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
    6. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
    7. Pre-heat your oven broiler to 400F when only 5 minutes remain on the Instant Pot timer.
    8. After the Instant Pot beeps and 35 minutes is complete, release the pressure per the manufacturers instructions.
    9. Carefully remove the ribs with tongs and place on a baking sheet.
    10. Brush each rib with a little BBQ sauce.
    11. Place under a broiler approx 5 minutes or until they crisp up on the outside. Becareful not to cook too long and dry them up.
    12. Remove from oven and serve up as desired.
  2. In the photo, I served them up with a small salad and sauteed aspargus and spinach. But, these would also pair great with a little homemade slaw for an easy summer meal!
  3. Serves 2-3 (depending on how hungry you are)

  4. Check out my food and lifestyle inspirations on Instagram  – just follow dailybagofgoodness
Keto Recipes, Paleo Recipes, Recipes

Keto Crab Cakes

Jamie

I love seafood and was looking for something I could make into a keto seafood meal aside from another salmon fillet. I happened to be looking thorugh some wild caught seafood options at Trader Joe’s and something caught my eye – this package of wild caught crab meat with only one ingredient – crab meat! Score!

I had been playing around w/ a salmon cake recipe, but hadnt got it just right yet. The canned variety is good, but this frozen crab meat is lump crab and frozen from fresh (not processed at all). I knew I could do more with this! These exceeded my expectations. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I did. I secretely wanted to hoard them all for myself.

IMG_2622

COMBINE THE FOLLOWING:
1 Flax egg - 1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp water 
(combine and let sit for 3-5 mins prior to adding)
1 large egg
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp finely diced onion
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 Tbsp mayo (I like Primal Kitchen's avocado oil mayo)
1 Tbsp mayo for topping cooked crab cakes
5 Tbsp Tigernut flour (I found Organic Gemini brand on Thrive)
  (almond flour would probably work as well, but I have not tried)
2 packages of Trader Joes Wild Caught Crab Meat (there are 2 per package)
2 Tbsp coconut oil or ghee (for frying)
    1. Throw all of the ingredients aside from the crab into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
    2. Add the crab and fold into the wet ingredients. Add more flour if necessary to create a thicker batter. Note that the batter will be loose but will bind as you cook due to the egg.
    3. Add oil of choice (use a high temp oil like those listed above) to a hot non-stick pan and once the oil is hot, drop the batter into 4 equally sized cakes.
    4. Brown approx 4-5 mins on each side. IMG_2617
    5. I served mine atop a couple bib lettuce leaves w/ an extra dollop of mayo on top for taste (and to balance out my macros). IMG_2619

     

    I also sauteed some kale for my side, squeezed a lemon wedge over everything and it made a fantastic and satisfying meal.

    MACROS: 426 cal, Fat = 32g (68%), Carbs = 8g net (7%), Protein = 27g (25%)

  2. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!
    Check out my food and fitness inspirations on Instagram  – just follow dailybagofgoodness