Eggplant Chips

Eggplant Chips

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant (or if you are like me, you make 2 or 3 at a time!)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 olive oil

Note:  these amounts are approximate, the amount will change depending on how large your eggplant is and how many you make at a time

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Slice eggplant into rounds.  Place on baking pan and brush with olive oil.  I allow a good amount of olive oil to soak into each slice of eggplant.  Then in a bowl, mix together parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, and garlic powder.  Sprinkle on top of eggplant slices and spread out so that it creates its own thin layer on top.  Below is a picture to show what the sprinkled layer on top will look like:

Now place into oven and allow to cook approx. 15 minutes on this side, until the sprinkled layer has completely melted and looks like this:

Now, using a fork, flip each slice of eggplant over to the other side.  Now, on the new tops, sprinkle mozzarella cheese.  Mine look like this before cooking:

Place back into oven and cook for another 15 minutes approximately, until the cheese starts to brown.  They are delicious and make a great side dish for a meal!   As far as carb information for eggplant, 1 cup of eggplant equals 5 total carbs or 2.5 net carbs.  Enjoy!  

Great Online Sources for LCHF Diet Information

Great Online Sources for LCHF diet information

Sources for great information on the LCHF diet. I hope these sites and YouTube videos will help to guide you in learning information about the LCHF diet and how it can benefit you.  The majority of these sites and presentations are written by medical professionals, and others are people living with diabetes who are sharing their success stories.

First and foremost, the most complete collection of information about the diet and how to integrate your diabetes treatment plan along with the diet for the achievement of normal blood sugars is the book entitled:

Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars by Richard K. Bernstein, M.D.

Dr. Bernstein also has several YouTube videos in a series called Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes University:  A Video Guide to Normal Blood Sugars

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ11OJynsvHMsN48LG18Ag

A great beginner’s guide the the LCHF diet

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

Excellent website from dietician Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE

http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com

Website complete with LCHF information including a “How to Start” page

http://www.ditchthecarbs.com

Excellent website and blog from cardiologist William Davis, M.D.

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com

Facebook page from Kelley Pounds, an RN and diabetes educator who embraces the LCHF lifestyle

https://www.facebook.com/TheLowCarbRN

Keto Nurses Blog from Barbara Tracy, MSN, APRN and Jenni Gallagher, MSN, APRN

https://ketonurses.wordpress.com

YouTube video “My Healthy Type 1 Son” by Lisa Scherger  - excellent presentation from the mother of a type 1 teenage son who is following the LCHF diet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtiduHZdbUg

YouTube video:  Dr. Troy Stapleton - 'LCHF to manage Diabetes'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI5l6NqVYw0

Another great YouTube video by Dr. Troy Stapleton – “I Manage My Type 1 Diabetes By Eating LCHF”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR8rc_AF6XU

YouTube video: Prof. Tim Noakes - 'Medical aspects of the low carbohydrate lifestyle'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL5-9ZxamXc

YouTube video:  ABC Catalyst - Low Carb Diet: Fat or Fiction? – an excellent documentary on the LCHF diet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNUh7P3TrAE

Spaghetti Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese, softened

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and heat in the oven at 400 degrees for approx 35 minutes until completely softened and easy to pull "noodles" apart.  Scrape out seeds in the middle and discard.  Then scrape out the spaghetti squash "noodles" across the width of the spaghetti squash as shown below.  Place spaghetti squash "noodles" in a baking dish. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.  Add heavy whipping cream, softened cream cheese, melted butter and shredded cheese to dish and mix all ingredients together.  Bake covered at 400 for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 20 minutes.  I made this dish and brought it to my family's Thanksgiving dinner, not telling anyone that it was low carb.  Certain members of my family can be picky eaters, but they all raved about how good this was and were surprised to hear that it is low carb!  This is one of my favorite dishes!  Enjoy!  

Approx carb count on this is 8 carbs per serving.  This particular recipe usually makes 4 servings for me, but if you have a larger spaghetti squash it can be 6 servings.  Just know that 1 cup spaghetti squash is approx 7 carbs.  The rest of the ingredients add trivial amount of carbs (cheese, cream cheese).  

Above is what the spaghetti squash "noodles" will look like.

And the finished product!  Delicious! 

A Day of Eating Low Carb High Fat Style

If you are new to the idea of the low carb high fat diet, you probably have lots of questions about what to actually eat in a day.  What do I eat if I am avoiding sugars, fruits, starchy vegetables and grains?  There is plenty left!  As you can tell, I like vegetables a lot, so many of my sides for my meals use vegetables as a base.  There are also low carb bread recipes out there, low carb deserts, and pretty much anything can be made low carb.  It is definitely some work doing all the cooking, but for me, doing cooking is a lot better than developing diabetes complications and all the hassle that would be!  I like to cook several batches of things and refrigerate or freeze leftovers to save on the workload.  I only cook 2-3 days per week, and cooking extra and saving food for later really helps with that.  Here is an example of all the things I ate for my meals today, along with how to make them.  I hope this will help to give you ideas about meal-planning.  

Breakfast

This is my favorite breakfast.  I eat this pretty much every day just because I love it and it's so easy to make.  I have two eggs cooked in 1 tbsp of coconut oil, add in sliced avocado, then top with shredded cheese.  I drink a cup of unsweetened almond milk and a cup of coffee with heavy whipping cream and some Sweet Leaf drops to sweeten it.  

Lunch

For lunch today I had some chicken wings which I roast in the oven after coating them with either olive oil or butter and sprinkle them with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and sometimes spices like rosemary.  Along with the chicken wings, I ate a cup of my low carb cauliflower soup.  I like to eat chicken wings for lunch a lot along with either a soup or side that I make, but sometimes I make recipes that can be my entire lunch like low carb zucchini lasagna.  

Dinner

For dinner, I always start with a salad. I mix in lettuce, green peppers, green onions (small amount), cucumbers, carrots (small amount), and cheese.  I top with red wine vinegar and oil for dressing.  Tonight I cooked a whole chicken in my rotisserie by coating the chicken with olive oil and paprika and letting it cook while I did other things.   I had eggplant chips for my side   I always drink coffee for dinner too, using the same heavy whipping cream and Sweet Leaf sweetener as for breakfast.  

Snack

Although many people who eat low carb high fat do not eat a snack before bedtime, I do like to have one before bed on most nights.  If I am not hungry, I do not eat.  I listen to my body.  I usually just have a small snack like this one, almond milk and 1/4 cup of ranch-flavored sunflower seeds.  Sometimes I have a low carb high fat dessert for snack like fat bombs or chocolate mousse.  These are really only a few of the options, there are many, many more!

I hope this helped to give you an idea of what my eating is like on a daily basis.  Like I said, these are only a few of the things I eat regularly and I like to change things up and have lots of variety (except breakfast, that is just my favorite!).  I hope to add more posts like this on different days and stay tuned as I share more recipes and information on my personal experience on the low carb high fat lifestyle.  If you have any ideas on what you would like to see, I'd love to hear from you!  You can always send me messages through my Facebook page Low Carb Heather.  Thanks for reading!

Low Carb Brussel Sprouts Gratin

Ingredients:

12 oz brussel sprouts, cut in half and steamed

3 slices bacon, cooked and sliced into small pieces

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 sandwich bag of pork rinds

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cut brussel sprouts in half and steam until tender.  Cook bacon until crispy and cut into small pieces.  Add brussel sprouts, bacon pieces, heavy whipping cream and cheddar cheese into small casserole dish and mix all together.  Take a sandwich-sized plastic bag and fill it with pork rinds.  Crush until they look like breadcrumbs.  Combine with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and sprinkle on top of the dish to cover like breadcrumb topping.  Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 30-40 minutes.  

I separated the dish I made into 4 servings, which each contain approximately 5 carbs.   This is a great side dish for dinner to go along with chicken, turkey, steak, ect.  Happy eating! 

Low Carb Cauliflower Crockpot Soup

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower - cut into small pieces, uncooked
1 green pepper - diced
1 small yellow onion - diced
1 clove minced garlic
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 slices bacon
pepper to taste
2 tsp parsley

Cook bacon on stovetop until crisp. Slice into small pieces and add all ingredients into crockpot. I took the cauliflower and put it into my ninja food processor, chopping it up really fine and taking the work of chopping out for me. This is the best part, take the grease from the bacon and add that to the crockpot as well! Cook on low for 6 hours. 

This meal could also be kept in the freezer, so make extra and freeze some for later! 

Carb count per 1 cup serving of soup = approx 10 grams. This soup is very filling and satisfying, so you don't need much! I eat this for dinner with chicken or any other type of meat. Happy eating!

Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
2 pounds grated zucchini
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried basil
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce (I use Aldi's Simply Nature brand, it has 5 net carbs per 1/2 cup and has no added sugar)

Brown ground beef in a pan, I don't use any oil to cook it in as I use the 20% fat ground beef and it cooks well in its own fat.

Grate zucchini and place in a glass 9x13 pan, top with ground beef, then mix in oregano, basil, olive oil, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese. I literally just mix all the ingredients all together in the dish to make a casserole-like dish. Then top with mozzerella cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. I cover it with foil for the first 30 minutes, then uncover to let the cheese become brown and crispy. 

Carb count per serving (makes 6 servings) = 8 grams

Happy eating!

This would also be a great meal to freeze and save for later, so make 2 trays and freeze one! I am a huge fan of making extras and freezing them to save time!