Two years of keto

The 26th of March 2018 marked two years of keto and the two best years of my life. It hasn't all been sunshine and bacon, this wasn't an easy journey. But it was definitely the best decision I ever made. I'm not a magical willpower unicorn, it was a decision that I had to (and still have to) make each morning, each time I went out, each time someone offered me sugary goodness. You do stop thinking about it as "a diet" and it just becomes how you live/eat. People become more accepting, for the most part, and while it is still inconvenient at social gatherings, it just becomes a habit. The last two years have taught me so much about myself, my body, my life and what I want. 

I have successfully lost 32kgs and I have been maintaining that loss for the last 6 months. Have a look here if you are interested in trying keto. 

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.

I want to try keto but I don't know where to start?!

After two years of doing keto, I STILL don't feel qualified to really answer this question. I am constantly learning new things every day. So I've crowd-sourced this post. Thank you to everyone who helped me!

Firstly, the best place I can recommend is Reddit. If you have never used Reddit before, it's an online forum dedicated to thousands of different subjects. The keto subreddit is a great source of information for people starting out. Go read the FAQ and if you have any questions you can search the sub, because chances are, your question has been asked before. Ketoscience is a great place to go if you want to get to the scientific stuff regarding low carb and ketosis. 

I posted about starting my personal keto journey here and here. Go give it a read. I talk about some of the things that helped me when I started as well as how keto has improved my health. 

How To: Creamed Spinach

Creamed spinach is another keto staple in my kitchen. These days, I'm very hesitant to order this at a restaurant because most places use flour as a thickener. Luckily, it's a very easy dish to do at home, as it takes less than 10 minutes to put together. I have experimented with different flavours in this based on what I am cooking. Meat drippings are a great addition to creamed spinach.

How To: Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise sauce is pretty much a keto staple for me. I used to only have it when I went out for brunch but when I started keto, I taught myself how to make it correctly. In the beginning when I asked Waide if he wanted Eggs Benedict he would always say no thank you because he hated the taste of hollandaise. After a few months of this he eventually consented to try it. "Oh, this is what hollandaise is supposed to taste like?" I don't blame him, restaurant hollandaise can taste really bad if they do it wrong - or buy packaged stuff.

Don't be too scared of messing this up... I curdled the sauce about 3 times before I finally got it right. It took me a little while to figure out that the secret is LOW HEAT. If you don't own stainless steel mixing bowls, I recommend you fix that and go buy some. They are easy to use and a great way to make DIY double boilers. I use these bowls for my sauce because it makes it easy to check the heat underneath. The ideal for hollandaise is when your water (not touching the bowl!) continues to steam without boiling.

How To: Poaching Eggs

I learned how to poach eggs for the first time last year. I had tried everything - having my mom walk me through her method, buying an egg poacher (those things suck, don't bother) to finally accepting that restaurant eggs are it for me. Then I figured out that actually it's just all about the freshness of the egg. I started buying eggs from a local supplier recently and I buy two trays every two weeks (60) so when I get those, it's poaching time! My default method used to be the vinegar water swirly technique. Sometimes it worked, sometimes I lost three eggs before admitting defeat and making boiled eggs instead. When poaching fails, it fails in a big messy way, your eggs just fall apart in the water. But the common theme was; even when they worked, they were never very pretty. 

Then I watched the Masterchef Australia episode that would change my eggy life forever. Thank you Heston Blumenthal! Now, you can watch his video (<--- click over there) but I am still going to describe how I finally perfected it because I do it slightly differently. Fresh eggs are still important but I have actually done this with two week old eggs and it worked perfectly. I LOVE poached eggs and will never go back to swirling water again.