Keto Pizza Bowl

I love pizza. Always have, probably always will. When I found out there was such a thing as keto pizza, I was the happiest diabetic ever. Skillet pizza, fathead pizza, cauliflower pizza, chicken crust pizza, meatza, so many variations. However, they all involve quite a lot of prep time. I wanted something that killed the craving and didn't take 3 hours of "is the dough supposed to look like this??"

Pizza bowls are easy to do, this took me 20 minutes to put together. If you prep it the night before it would make an epic lunch at work - all you need is a microwave. Whatever your pizza preference is, if you like anchovies on your pizza, asparagus, artichokes, spinach, avocado, bacon... it all works.

Suggestions for toppings:

  • Artichoke hearts
  • Spinach
  • Asparagus
  • Avocado
  • Chicken
  • Bacon
  • Salami
  • Ham
  • Biltong
  • Blue cheese
  • Pepperoni
  • Chorizo
  • Onions
  • Bell peppers
  • Ground beef/lamb/pork
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Chilli
  • Rocket/Arugula
  • Grilled eggplant

How to do keto when it feels like life is trying to sabotage you

Keto is not easy. Such a huge lifestyle change is never going to be easy, even when everything is in your favour, it's quite an adjustment. Now imagine if your life suddenly decides to start doing some internal sabotaging. Work gets crazy, you are studying full time, you have a new baby, or you have to spend lots of time away from home for whatever reason.

There are many ways you could suddenly find yourself facing the choice of life or new "diet". I've been pretty lucky so far, I work from home, don't have kids and when I started keto I had a lot of time to experiment with new food. But I am more the exception than the rule.

A few people have asked me how to fit keto into a busy lifestyle. This is a list of ways to simplify keto and ways to manage a new way of life when you just don't have time. Keto hacks. This list is not all inclusive, and should be used as a guide, rather than a list of absolutes to follow

Chicken Skin & Bacon Chips

Do you miss potato chips and all the other crispy, delicious, carb-filled things? I do. I don't actually miss those things, but sometimes I would kill for crunchy food. Crispy, crunchy deliciousness to eat with sour cream dip, guacamole, or chicken liver pâté.

Pork crackling is an appropriately crunchy snack, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, and not always easy to source or make. Bacon is usually a staple in keto houses and chicken skins are relatively easy to get hold of. Each time I make chicken soup, I remove the skins before using the chicken. They can both be turned into crunchy bite sized chips. 

You will need:

  • bacon, the fattier the better
  • chicken skin
  • 2 baking trays, preferably one large one and one smaller one
  • baking paper
  • a heavy oven safe pot
  • kitchen scissors
  • salt, pepper & any other spice of choice

Keto Basics: In My Kitchen

There are a lot of resources available for keto shopping lists and pantry staples. I will list some of them at the end of this post. This post is a list of what's in my kitchen, the food I buy, the appliances I couldn't live without, and my cooking staples.

This is a very long list, I have been collecting my staples for many years and not everything is used regularly. Because of this, I will use a key to indicate the food I use regularly. Remember, this is just the list of foods that works for me. I could probably trim this down a lot and still make nice keto food. If you are just starting your ketogenic journey, I would recommend doing an inventory of what you already have and if any of it is keto friendly. Next, decide which part of cooking is most important for you.  If it's being able to cook quickly and meal prep then maybe your staples are foods that keep well. You'll need good Tupperware that can be put in the freezer, and flavours you won't get bored of. If your priority is good value for less cost; minimise your spices to a few basics, figure out which cuts of meat are the best value for money, buy in bulk.I enjoy baking and using spices, so my priorities are making sure I always have these ingredients on hand, keeping my spice rack stocked, and having small dishes to freeze small batches of baked goods in. We also keep good cuts of meat in the freezer as well as easy to throw together lunch foods.

Pecan Flour

A lot of my recipes use pecan flour as the keto friendly flour replacement. I accidentally discovered this magical stuff last year when my friend started selling pecan oil. I was a bit sceptical at first because I was not previously a fan of pecans. Boy was I ever wrong. This flour bakes so well and, in my opinion, the flavour complements other flavours beautifully. It pairs really well with savoury flavours (meatballs etc.), spicy flavours (ginger, pumpkin spice etc.), and even chocolate.

It has roughly the same amount of carbs as almond flour but quite a lot less calories because it has half the fat. 

How To: Cooking with Eggplant

Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables. If you were to ask my mother, she would tell you how weird that is. Until I started keto, I point blank refused to eat this stuff even though my mom knows how to cook eggplant really well. I just really did not like the taste. Because of this, I am pretty sure that keto changes your taste buds. I've even started eating chicken livers.

Eggplant is a non-starchy vegetable that is high in Potassium (and many other things), perfect for keto. It also only contains 3g of carbs per 100g.

Meal ideas:

Ginger Pork & Cabbage Dumplings

I love Chinese food. But unfortunately there's not a lot of restaurant-made Chinese food options that are keto friendly. So I make do with Chinese food flavours. These dumplings are relatively quick to make and go well with almost any sides. I usually serve them with some soy sauce drizzled over the top. 

Meal ideas: 

  • Pork dumplings with fried bok choy and cucumber salad
  • Pork dumplings with cauliflower egg fried "rice"
  • Use the mince filling as meatballs. Fried and served on a bed of sautéed cabbage 
  • Fried shirataki noodles with dumplings
  • Keto crack and dumplings 

Lime & Ginger Cheesecake

If you like cheesecake, you're in the right place. If it wasn't for how much cream cheese these use, and the fact that I am still trying to lose weight, I would probably have them in my house all the time. Lime and ginger is one of my favourite flavour combinations. I use it regularly in sweet and savoury dishes.

At 2.5g carbs each, these cupcakes make a great dessert, or if you have the metabolism of my husband, a quick snack. They don't last long in our fridge.  You could make a large cheesecake out of this but the base would need to be doubled and it won't be as easily removable on a larger scale - the cupcakes are quite fragile.

Rose Panna Cotta

I have this thing about Turkish Delight, one day I will make a low carb version. Until that happens - everything rosewater is a GO. I love panna cotta - it always reminds me of pudding. These desserts definitely have a pudding consistency with a slight sugary crunch. The erythritol crystallises in the fridge and actually makes a weird crunchy "shell". This is one of my favourite desserts and always a crowd pleaser. The best part about this recipe - it's super simple to make.

Low Carb Hot Chocolate

I wish I could take credit for this amazing invention. My friend Kallah Ohr from Kallah Ohr Photography created this amazing hot chocolate (posted with permission of course). The first time we had this it was at her house in Paarl and I was completely blown away by how amazing this tasted. I was sceptical at first because I LOATHE almond milk. It tastes like bitter sadness to me, so when she told me that I wouldn't taste it in here I didn't believe her of course. I ate my words. And I drank a whole lot of this stuff.

This recipe is super easy to tweak. If you want a vegan version, just leave out the cream. If you are into chocolate coffee - add a shot of espresso to this. If you want something spicier, add cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or chilli powder. The possibilities are endless.

At 5g carbs per serving, it's a little high but not bad for the occasional treat. We are about to have a cold front this weekend so all I am thinking about is hot chocolate and my book.