I have to preface this by saying that I initially began the ketogenic diet, only, I repeat only to prove to my mother that it works, so that she will blindly follow me into a healthier lifestyle! Ahhh the joys of having a desi mother! She tunes my voice out, completely when I speak to her about her health or diet, unless I drop a dramatic amount of weight. A dramatic amount of weight, would be mean when she sees me she feels this urgency within her to feed me! It is truly laughable, but also cute and frustrating all at the same time!

Once I got the hang of this diet I really did love it! I felt satisfied and happy, and at first the pounds didn’t fall off, but slowly but surely the “Woosh” happened and I dropped first 4 extra pounds and up until that point I watched my arms get slimmer, and hips, and basically all over. Clothes fit so much better, so I wasn’t too concerned about the weight, everything that I had read and seen from my friends, I knew it would come in wooshes. Now I must say before I put all these recipes up, I got a few ideas from Hope’s Keto Kitchen, which for the most part is a great group of people following the keto diet. The lady who runs the page, is amazingly helpful, and if I lived closer to her I would be buying her keto goodies.

Lets get down to it!

Prior to doing this, I was already doing intermittent fasting or IF for people who are all up on the lingo. I fast from 9pm to around 3pm the next day, and drink a ton of water with my coffee with MCT oil in it, and sugar free syrup, and instant espresso. I CANNOT survive without my coffee, and throughout the day it is my indulgence, and I don’t feel guilty at all about my indulgences. I use a gigantic bottle of water throughout the day with Nuun tablets dissolved in it to replenish my electrolytes and avocado oil (keto friendly) these tablets have 1net carb in them, which I personally think is worth it because of all the benefits it adds to your body. I also take instant ketones if I know I’ve got a full day ahead of me, to avoid the “low carb crash” that I ALWAYS get when I do any low carb diet. All of my items were bought on Amazon.ca

MCT oil:

Sugar Free syrup:

Espresso powder:

Nuun tablets:

Big Mother water bottle:

Instant Ketones:

Now When I first began the keto diet, I lived on bacon, bacon, all day every day, this was hard for me, because I don’t really eat bacon regularly but I got tired of that and decided to switch to soups and eggs.

Instant Pot Roasted Broccoli & Cheddar soup topped with oven baked bacon (any full fat bacon or meat without filler will work) This was super easy to make: Roasted the Broccoli in the oven I did it at 400 for 15 mins, until the tops of were brown I also chopped up the stem part and roasted it too! Then threw it in my instant pot with garlic salt, sea salt, onion powder, tumeric, chilli powder, mushrooms, half a stick of butter and two chopped up zucchini. I put the pot on Stew and added enough water to cover the vegetables so about 750ml. Then when the pot went off, I buzzed it all with the handheld food processor and added 1 cup of coconut flour, and 2 cups of old fort full fat cheddar cheese. Then I topped it with roasted bacon that I thew in the toaster oven while it the soup was cooking. My kids and hubby ate this for dinner with fresh bread, I ate it with chilli powder and was very, very satisfied.

Instant pot fish Stew with purple cabbage: This looked like a gross brown colour, but it tasted good. Again I put the frozen fish in my instant pot threw the spices over it, added purple cabbage (i would probably use the regular one next time) I used some chicken bone broth stock, and then set it to stew again. I pulsed it again to hide the veggies from my kids and husband, but you don’t have to. I also added the 1 cup of coconut flour to thicken it up and full white cheese. It was good, but not as big of a hit as the broccoli soup.

Cauliflower Mash: I have a surefire easy recipe for this, but I never get a chance to take a picture of it, because it gets inhaled!!!!!!!!!!!!  I make double the portion, and I have fooled my husband, My Desi Mom and children into thinking it was mashed potatoes! Cut up the cauliflower (1 use two), including the stem, boil it for 15 mins in your biggest pot, drain it, rinse it in COLD water to stop the cooking, dry it with bounty, it should still be pretty firm, you can even boil it for 10 mins, it should be pretty crunchy still throw it back in the pot and on a very low heat add butter, salt, garlic salt and onion powder and buzz it with the hand processor, add a bit of cream if it isn’t creamy enough. FULL FAT CREAM! I keep this in the fridge to eat for myself in the week. Update: I found the picture!!

Chilli Lime Green Beans: When I lived in Abu Dhabi, I was re-introduced to corn in a cup, it reminded me of my dad, because he would make this for me as a kid. So I made it keto friendly with Green Beans. I sauteed the green beans in roasted garlic puree, and butter! just until they changed colour so that they were crispy crunchy, then squeezed half of a lime (half a lime for 2 packs of green beans won’t throw you out of ketosis) and Red Chilli powder! like really throw on that chilli powder to make it stick to that butter!

I paired the beans with my turkey Nacho meat above!

Those green beans and Mash can be served up with so many things, to feel full and satisfied throughout the week.

Oven baked Chicken Thighs made with herbs and Ghee: I suggest making two batches of this because you will have leftovers, and you will like the leftovers. My kids never fight me on this meal! I do this shake and back style in like a big bag with herbs and seasonings, and then bake it on a sheet, once a week and they have it with cheesy rice and mushrooms, or pasta and butter and herbs (which i make fresh). The picture shows it with rice because I forgot to take a picture of mine.

Jeet’s chicken Recipe: I hate BBQ (ya I said it) but I only eat Jeet’s chicken if I eat BBQ! in a large ziplock I add chicken legs and breast, and add 1 cup of (full fat) yogurt, tumeric, tandoori spice, garam masala,black salt, and chilli powder. I stick it in the fridge and then bake it at 400 for 35-50 mins depending on your stove. I make it in my toaster over in batches because the longer it marinates the better it is (but don’t leave it in the fridge for more than 3 days) you can also grill it! Again I don’t have a picture of this because the smell of it makes everyone inhale it as soon as it is done. I eat this on a bed of fresh chopped cucumber and with half an avocado, for that full fat! I serve it over Orzo Salad for the kids and hubby, the chicken should be bright orange in colour when mixed with the yogurt and seasonings.

I know it isn’t fair that I’m posting carbs but usually not the whole family will be on this diet and I feel like you should be able to go on a diet and the whole family can eat differently without it being more work.
Turkey Nacho Dip: Sounds weird but oddly appetizing right? Basically I allow my kiddos to eat this on top of a bed of Nachos or french Fried, and I eat it on top of cucumbers or my green beans. I guess it would go well on the Cauliflower mash too! Basically sautee in one pot two packages of turkey meat with butter or coconut oil (with seasonings of your choice, I used garlic powder, onion powder, chilli powder and paprika), then add mushroom, and fresh spinach on top and cover the pot. Once the veggies are cooked, throw on some kind of shredded full fat cheese blend, and then cover to get it all melty and gooey. Everyone got their full amount of veggies for the day and all the plates were clean! You can also put this on top of spaghetti squash! That one is for you Tasneem and Mandeep!

Now this diet basically requires you to cut out sugar, this is difficult for someone like me who from the time I was in utero I was having sugar pumped into me! My mother loves to tell people the story that she only ate Indian rice pudding for her entire pregnancy!

My keto replacement for my sweet and salty cravings…

Ricotta Cheese with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup: Full fat Ricotta cheese, with a giant amount of cinnamon and two tablespoons or one of low carb maple syrup. Yes there is a such thing…The Canadian in me that it was sacrilege, but it tastes wonderful. I think i prefer the fact that it tastes more like maple sap, as opposed to syrup. It reminded me of being a kid and going sap tapping with our school trips in the cold, and they would put the sap on fresh snow! If you have never done this before, you need to do this! As you can tell this little snack is fantastic, since it brings back happy food memories for me! I also had this with a sliced almonds on top to cover the salty/Savoury craving.

Also eggs become a staple on this diet.

60 second poached eggs: I am going to let you in on my secret, use a ramekin, add half a cup of water, 2 tbsps of white vinegar and one cracked egg and microwave it for 60 seconds and you will have a perfectly poached egg, I eat eggs with avocado.

Scrambled eggs with heavy whipping cream or full fat Greek Yogurt (a few splashes) spinach and seasonings and sprinkled with feta and pepper.

Celery with Laughing Cow Cheese or Cheese Whiz: I mean this is an easy snack you can have ready quickly. Spread the cheese into the celery stalks eat, it is keto friendly.

TAKE OUT OPTIONS:

Gyro salad plate: I LOVE GYROs but carbs are not your friend on this plan, so I got a Gyro Plate, with extra full fat cheese, no tomatoes, olives and olive oil and tzakiki as my dressing! Gyro is lamb meat with 2.2g of carbs. and the good fats of olive oil fall into keto.

Chicken Shawarma Salad: I didn’t take a picture but take out the tomatoes, add pickled turnips or any other low carb veggie, when in doubt google low carb veggies (this is what i do).

Vietnamese Pho: If you live in Vaughan I would suggest Ox Noodle. The owners are amazing and will make you a double meat, Pho, it isn’t very high in fat, so if you eat this, indulge in a few fat bombs after eating this. I have actually asked for just a small amount of noodles on days when I know my body needs more carbs and then add shirataki noodles to it (remember to rinse them first!)

Wow,
So did you make it to the bottom of this page? I hope so! I’ve been trying to change my lifestyle around completely for a long time so I truly hope that all of my research and development is helpful for you! As I said earlier my Mom is my Rock, a crazy rock, but mine and only mine, and I want her to be around to drive me crazy and tell me my house is dirty until she’s 100 at least!  Again I’m not a doctor, I’ve gone to university and have two degrees, so I am educated. You should make informed decisions about everything I’ve posted above, and consult your physician prior to starting any regime. This worked for me, and I hope it works for my mom and you!

Cheers!