California Style Grilled Artichokes

California Grilled Artichokes

Grilled artichokes is a family favorite, even the pickiest of my nieces and nephews love the prickly thistle when it’s steamed, marinated and grilled. I can never take the drive to our coastline in Monterey without stopping in Castro Valley for some artichokes. They even have Italy beat in their pricing. Most of the year you can find 10 artichokes for a dollar at the Castro Valley roadside stands. I love the bargain as much as I love eating them!

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Lynn’s Creamy Pesto Keto Chicken

Lynns Creamy Pesto Keto Chicken

This recipe I learned from my mother-in-law Lynn, she was the first to introduce us to the Keto Diet about a year ago. Back then I barely understood the concept, but she has persevered and lost a lot of weight on the Keto Diet. This past week we visited them and spent a week eating delicious Keto meals. From a Smoked Rib Dinner with all of the sides, to Beef Brisket, Jalapeño Poppers, Scallops, Hot Wings and much more. We never felt like we were dieting and still gathered around the table each night to nourish our tummies and hearts. It’s what family is all about, good conversation, good card games and enjoying time around the dinner table.

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Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers (Keto Approved!)

Jalapeño Poppers, easy just remove the seeds, fill with cream cheese and top with bacon, broil until crispy on top!

The first time we tried these Cheese-Stuffed-Bacon-Wrapped-Spicy-Wonders-of-the-Appetizer-World was about 13 years ago in Hawaii. We were visiting friends on the island and they whipped up a BBQ extravaganza including Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers! I’m not sure if it was the friends, the beach scene of the Jalapeño Poppers but we never forgot them and promptly made them part of our cooking repertoire.

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A Week in the Life Of a Keto Diet

A Week Of Keto Meals!

So what exactly does someone on a Ketogenic diet eat? I was a little baffled on this in the beginning too. Is it like the Atkins diet that was so popular several years ago when people ate all protein and could eat copious amounts of bacon and butter? Well, I guess it’s similar but technically the Keto diet should be all veggies and healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, seeds, nuts and a healthy source protein like eggs, fish and meat. What you can’t have is carbohydrates like wheat, corn, rice, potatoes or beans. Most fruits are not allowed either with the exception of berries.

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Keto Waffles

Keto Waffles

So no need to write anything about Keto Waffles except YUMM!! Today my husband and I came home at lunch time and decided to eat breakfast for lunch. I had been wanting to try Keto Waffles every since my mother in law told me how much she liked them.

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Keto Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes”

mashed potatoes

The Classic American Turkey Dinner…comfort food at its best. a Turkey dinner can be a huge hurdle for Keto eaters because of the carb heavy side dishes like stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams and cranberry sauce. Basically it’s a hard “No” all around leaving you with a few pathetic slices of turkey sadly looking up at you totally void of his faithful side kicks.

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Keto Coconut Cacao Butter Balls

Keto Coconut Cocoa Butter Balls

The wifely support of a husband on the Keto diet continues this week as we surmount another family dinner full of tasty temptations. Having just arrived home from Italy I wanted to cook a true pasta dinner for my sister and her family. I chose to make Ragu and homemade pasta which is a pretty hard thing for a husband to pass up, especially my husband who has a particular soft spot for homemade pasta.

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Keto Seed Crisps

Crispy "Keto" Seed Crackers (Biscuits)

While still in Italy, we visited the Marche region and stayed with some friends from South Africa. My friend recently became diabetic and so she shared some of her favorite recipes with me. We loved her cooking style because it is essentially the same diet as “Ketogenic”. Being from South Africa they refer to this diet as “Banting” diet after the doctor who came up with this eating style.

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