Tag: recipe

This is super easy and tasty to do, but since I get lots of questions on IG, I figured I’d add this as a quick recipe.

I use thick cheese slices (usually Tillamook or HEB Natural) so these make nice mini tacos. Provolone is the best, followed by muenster, followed by Monterrey Jack, in my opinion. Cheddar is ok, too, but gets toasty and hard fast–which makes it good for tostadas or “chips”!

Preheat your oven to 400°. Place parchment paper or a silicone mat on a cookie sheet then place your slices of cheese about 1.5 to 2 inches apart so they won’t make 1 giant “tortilla” –or DO, if that’s what you want LOL! I can make 6 “tortillas” or “shells” at a time with my large cookie sheet.

Bake for 5-6 minutes, keeping an eye on them, until nicely browned on the edges. I’ve let the timer ring for an additional minute and *BOOM* tostadas 😆 . So, with that being said: if you want tostadas or “chips,” bake for an additional 1-2 minutes for a total of 7-8 minutes.

Let your slices sit for about a minute (to prevent them from becoming gooey if they’re scooped up too soon), then transfer onto a paper towel to drain them. Then fill (or top) and serve :).

Everyone who knows me, knows how I feel about sushi. Eating Keto since the end of April is really making me crave it! A few months ago I tried my first shot at Keto sushi. It tastes incredibly similar to the real thing! All you need to do is grate some cauliflower in place of rice. I hope I can explain how to do this correctly! Please let me know what you think in the comments!

You’ll need:

A fine cheese-grater

A half-head of cauliflower

A bamboo sushi rolling mat

Nori (seaweed wrap)

2 long strips of cucumber

Seasoned, cooked shrimp (I season with garlic powder, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, cayenne pepper and dried parsley)

Half an avocado, thinly sliced and scooped

Cream cheese

Chopped scallions

Spicy mayo (mayo mixed with sriracha)

Directions:

Grate the half-head of cauliflower into a bowl, then microwave to warm up and let some of the moisture out.

Let cool just a bit. Meanwhile, lay some nori on your bamboo rolling mat. Note: if the nori has preforated lines on it, make sure those lines and the “lines” of the bamboo roller are “opposite”. The lines help you cut into your rolls easier. Spread a thin layer of the grated cauliflower on the nori, making sure to completely cover it. Then, at the very edge of the nori/cauliflower that is closest to you, layer your seasoned shrimp, a strip of cucumber, avocado, a few plops of cream cheese, some green onions, some spicy mayo as compact as you can.

Then comes the tricky part: grabbing the nori and bamboo mat and rolling it together over itself till you make a roll.

This is my 2nd time making these and I had more trouble this time with my nori tearing (probably because I didn’t let the cauliflower rice cool long enough), so don’t lose patience. The end-result is AMAZING!

I was having a bit of a woe-is-me type of day yesterday (I’ve been like this the past few days and it could be a few things: Shark Week coming up, not working out since last Thursday after doing so well, probably not fitting into my new bathing suit like I would have liked, and devouring 2 chocolate mug cakes in the span of a week and feeling guilt for it–someone has to taste-test the recipe! 🙄 ), AND it seemed like everything was going wrong regarding everything else in life, so I referred back to a few of my recent Instagram photos and posts on the blog to remind me that no matter how minuscule, I *have* been making progress with Keto, at least.

Weight

I weighed myself this morning on that horror of a scale and it read: 117.4 Which means that I’ve held steady, even though it *had* gone down to 115-116. And I need to realize that maintaining is GOOD. One of my main goals was to go under 119, which I hadn’t been able to do with exercising alone in about 4 years, and I have! So that’s a feat in itself!

It’s incredible how body dismorphia and anxiety always seem to creep their evil little heads out, no matter how well you’re doing. I hate it. They’ve been messing with me, like I said, and I need to kick them in the teeth!

Hair

In one of my posts in May I mentioned that I was in desperate need of a hair cut/style. Well, I finally made it out there (to Jorge’s relief 😆 ) and got it done with a new stylist! I never stray from my usual stylist because she’s the ONLY person who hasn’t screwed up my hair. Well, she was either nrver open, or had too many people ahead of me. My new girl is Marcy and her salon is Curl Up and Dye! I love the decor and the owner is just the sweetest and the best!

She made my hair feel so soft and smell so good!! Now, if I could just get my darn hair from FALLING OUT IN CLUMPS, that would be magical…

Work Outs, Goals & Acne

I’d mentioned that I never had time to work out, but for about 2-3 weeks I actually WAS working out. At…10:00pm or 10:30pm so I wouldn’t end my workouts till almost midnight! My energy levels were at an all-time high, thanks to Keto, but by the end of last week, I couldn’t get out of bed for my morning run on Saturday. It was really disappointing. Then I started helping Jorge out with some of his work, so there went the extra time to work out because by the time we got home, I was exhausted! Then on Sunday, I helped Jorge again and got home and got straight to doing laundry. It never ends!!

Plus, it’s been so dreadfully hot that even cleansing my face and wiping my sweat with a towel instead of the back of my hand caused me to get pimples (including a terrible cyst on my chin!!)! I was so upset–after going through Shark Week last month with very, very minimal new acne, something that I felt was making me feel (and look) so much better (P90X) was causing me grief!! I just can’t win! (Acne deserves a whole post of it’s own!) So, what I think I’m going to do is start working out inside the house, in the living room, instead of in the garage. Although, I will still have to do some exercises in the garage…like the chin-up bars/bands. Bleh!

My ultimate goal for working out was my new bathing suit Jorge bought me. I took “before” photos, and although I didn’t look too “bad,” I still needed to tone up a few areas (saddlebag area, belly, arms, back–the usual). But, since I haven’t worked out this week, I’m going to have to quit beating myself up and buy a cute cover-up. It’s not like it didn’t fit, and I am trying my best: simple as that!

Breakfast – Or Bulletproof Coffee

Staying up late and snoozing in the morning isn’t helping my situation. Well, maybe it is, since I’m sort of doing accidental “fasts.” I’m usually rushing out the door in the mornings so I decided to start making myself some Bulletproof Coffee, or Butter Coffee. I only tried BPC once back in 2013 when I’d first done Keto, and was just too put off by butter in my coffee that I didn’t continue making it. But I’ve done my research this time around (just Google “bulletproof coffee”). I don’t purchase anything from bulletproof.com, nor do I use MCT oil or coconut oil in my coffee (just yet; I’m thinking of using my organic coconut oil and I’d like to purchase collagen in the future, especially for the hair-falling-out-in-clumps problem) and I don’t purchase any newfangled accessories for my coffee in the shape of drops, Ketone powders or anything at all (way too expensive and pointless if you ask me! I haven’t really come by anyone who’s said “it’s life-changing!”). My recipe is pretty simple:

2 tbls. butter
1 tbls. heavy whipping cream (I love the creaminess!)
1.5 – 2 tbls. of syrup (either the Jordan S’mores or Torani Caramel)
And a 10oz.-12oz. K-cup of hot coffee

I toss everything into my Magic Bullet, blend and voila! A frothy, latte-like concoction that keeps me full till lunchtime! I have done the alternative: cinnamon and Stevia, but I much prefer the way I mention above.

Gramma’s Health

I worry about my Gramma a lot these days. Part of the reason my days run late is because I try my hardest to make it out to see her every day after work, especially after her episode with Bell’s Palsy and then later on the strange, irrational fear that she had daily. Well, it turns out the almost-hallucinating type fear of falling was due to a UTI. 2nd time that happens, you’d think we’d all figure it out, including her doctors 🙄 . I’m just glad she’s feeling more peace and that she’s getting the correct medications. It’s such a relief!

Lactose Intolerance

I mentioned back in my post Going Keto…Again that I was wary of Keto due to the “diet” including lots of cheese and dairy, and that I feared for my lactose intolerance problem getting worse. But after being “Keto” for over 3 months I can honestly say I think my lactose intolerance has been reversed, even when consuming large amounts of cheese, heavy whipping cream and the occasional Enlightened bar or Halo Top Ice Cream! Gone are the days of painful bloat all through the night due to having cheese on my burger or having a serving of ice cream. Keto’s been a God-send!

I’m anxious about my yearly exams next month! That means I get to do my cholesterol panel, and I’m really curious to know how it reads this time around. Keeping my fingers crossed that all is well and I don’t have to rely on genetics to determine my future.

There. Read it all back and I feel better already. Since I started this post, things have looked up in all areas. Just got to get the ball of positivity rolling yourself, I guess!