Guilt Free Buffalo Chicken Tenders - Keto, LCHF

I have always LOVED buffalo wings. We had this late night delivery spot that was pretty close to my college campus, they had about 30 different flavors and to this day it is still my favorite wing place. Every UMass Amherst or Springfield area college alum knows exactly what I’m talking about… Wings Over. [drooling]. That said, they also made me pretty fat in college, and that is no bueno. Oh, and then they opened one in my hometown. If one pops up in LA, I’m doomed.  

Not these babies though!! They are breaded with almond flour and pork rind which keep the carbs low and the fats up so my body just keeps on burning fat like a well oiled machine. It’s a beautiful thing.

The buffalo sauce is as simple as they come and it’s all you need for a really good buffalo sauce. Not too hot and the right amount of saucy. It’s just equal parts butter and Red Hot. Now, I love all my hot sauces, but Red Hot is an old stand by. It’s the only one they had in my high school cafeteria and I put it on everything. 

These Keto Buffalo Tenders are really easy to make and don’t take much preparation. The chicken is very lean and protein dense so be sure to not over do it, too much protein can knock your fat burning ass right out of ketosis!

The egg batter and the breading...

Ready for the oven... 

The Sauce...

Back to the buffalo tenders, hit em with the ingredients…

• 1 pound Chicken breast or tenders.
• ½ cup Almond Flour
• 1 cup Pork Rinds
• 3 Egg
• 2 tablespoon Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
• ½ Cayenne Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Pepper
• ½ cup Red Hot
• ½ cup Butter

The Steps... 

1. Preheat oven at 400F

2. Cut the chicken breasts into desired size and length. I usually just get the pack of chicken breast “tenders” which are the perfect size. Plus they stay really moist with a bit of thickness. 

3. Pound and flatten the chicken a bit. I actually just use my handheld citrus juicer to do this, because its pretty heavy. 

4. Mix your batters. In one bowl mix your egg, heavy cream, salt, pepper and a little bit of Red Hot if you like it spicy.

5. In another bowl, mix crumbled pork rinds, almond flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper

6. Dip the chicken in the egg batter and then into the breading. Make sure to get an even coat. If nothing is sticking add another egg, this will make it stickier.

7. Lay all the tenders on a baking sheet. If you have parchment paper this works really well to avoid the breading sticking to the pan.

8. Cook chicken for about 20 minutes or so. Until the tops look crispy. Flip halfway through for crispier tender.

9. In a small pan mix Red Hot and Butter and cook on a low heat until fully melted and mixed.

10. In a large bowl add the chicken fresh out of the oven. Add in the hot sauce and toss.

11. Slice up some celery, blue cheese whatever you preference and enjoy!

The Macros...

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cup Fat Bombs

Ok, I have a confession to make… I made a batch of these on Saturday and I ate them all by Sunday, which is way, way too many calories. Don’t do what I did. More importantly these were so good and so easy to make that I just couldn’t help myself, but don’t worry I made another batch and this time didn’t eat them all in one sitting.

I also forgot to take many pictures. So this is the only one I have, until the next batch!

 Pictured above is at step 3. As you can see we filled the chocolate up about a third of  the way and froze. The bottom layer is nice and firm so we can scoop in our peanut butter. 

The ingredients…

• Coconut Oil
• Organic Peanut Butter (No Sugar)
• Erythritol (or sweetener of choice)
• Cacao Powder (Hershey’s Original)

The Steps…

1. Mix (melted) coconut oil, erythritol and cacao powder to a smooth consistency

2. Add the  first layer of chocolate, about ⅓ the way full and freeze

3. Add peanut butter, teaspoon each and freeze.

4. Add the final layer and freeze

5. Each freezing step should only take about 20 minutes. Test to make sure it’s solid by putting a toothpick in it. If you can’t get it through, you’re good!

6. Store in a cool place. The Refridgerator works and don’t eat them all at one!!

2 Minute English Muffins! Blueberry Vanilla & Maple McGriddle Keto Approved

Blueberry Vanilla English Muffin

I've been playing around with recipes and this seems to be the best variation so far, but that’s subject to change because well I like testing and playing with my food. However, it may be awhile before I find one as simple and delicious as this...

If you are on a ketogenic diet these ingredients should not be strangers to your kitchen. If they are strangers, well then you need to get them aquinted ASAP because you are missing out! It literally takes 2 minutes of cook time… plus maybe an extra 5 if you want to toast it, I know, I know so much extra time, but I promise it’s worth it.

These are pretty fat dense so they come in at about 300 calories per muffin, but like I said they are dense and they are filling. Best of all only 3 net carbs, so go ahead make two sandwiches.. and so perfect for a bacon egg and cheese sandwich. Or in this case of the sandwich below... carnitas, egg and pepperjack cheese sandwich…

And the blueberry vanilla version does quite nicely spread with some cream cheese…

Let’s start with the basic ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of almond flour
• 1 tablespoon of coconut flour *
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt

*Coconut flour this makes it less eggy, use a ½ tablespoon for more moisture but a full tablespoon for a more bread like texture.

Cheddar Rosemary Buscuit 

The Ingredients...

For Cheddar Rosemary Buiscut 

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of almond flour
• 1 tablespoon of coconut flour *
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon densely packed cheddar

For Blueberry Vanilla:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of almond flour
• 1 tablespoon of coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• 8 blueberries
• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon of stevia

For Maple McGriddle:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of almond flour
• 1 tablespoon of coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of maple extract
• ⅛ teaspoon of stevia

Cooking Instructions:

1. Get a bowl with a good shape! I like mine to be wide and thin… so I use a bowl with a wider base, remember the muffin will form to shape of the bowl so keep that in mind. If you want a thicker muffin use a deeper bowl.

2. In the cooking bowl, melt butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave, until liquid.

3. Add your dry ingredients: Almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, salt, rosemary, oregano. And mix.

4. Add egg and mix thoroughly. It should be a smooth consistency just like any other batter.

5. Microwave for 90 seconds.

6. Flip the bowl and put muffin on a plate. Be careful, it will be hot! Slice the muffin in half, just like you would a regular english muffin.

7. Grill on a stovetop. A frying pan will work, add a little extra butter if you prefer, but greasing the pan isn’t necessary. Toast until desired.

8. Add cream cheese or butter or peanut butter or whatever and ENJOY!!!

View fullsize

**For Blueberry Vanilla recipe, add the berries last with the egg (assuming they are chilled). I like to mash the berries so they are deeply mixed, or keep them whole and have little berry bombs in each bite. You’re the captain now… go for it!!

And the macros...

5 Ingredient Keto Stuffed Jalepenos

Warning these are spicy… if you’re a wuss. Just kidding, the jalapenos definitely add a healthy kick nothing unbearable, but I have a high tolerance for heat so I think my scale is a tad skewed.

If you don't like spicy or nightshades try these as stuffed mushrooms! 

Regardless, these were a big hit at the keto Cinco De Mayo Party, which consisted of 5 people and a lot of cheese, meat and oil.  

These were really easy to make and work GREAT as a party appetizer, and nobody will even think twice about it being “keto”. Especially when you tell them it’s meat and cheese, topped with meat and cheese.

The Ingredients...

• Jalepenos
• Chorizo
• Cream Cheese
• Shredded Cheese
• Pork Rinds

The Instructions…

1. Preheat Oven to 425 F

2. In a pan add the chorizo and let it cook down, chorizo is pretty greasy so no oil is needed for the pan. Let it cook at medium heat 5-7 minutes. Stirring regularly so it doesn't dry out and stick to the pan.

3. Once chorizo is fully cooked, reduce heat to low and add cream cheese. Mixing until it creates a thick consistent texture.

4. Cut jalapenos in half, and remove all seeds and core.

5. Fill with chorizo mixture.

6. Top with shredded cheese and crumbled pork rinds

7. Bake for about 15 minutes. Until cheese is gooey and golden!

The Macros…

Italian Flank Steak Pinwheels

I’ve been on a real pinwheel kick lately, but this one was just a mountain of flavor. It was definitely worthy of a post and flank steak is such a great cut of meat. Too good to pass up…

This was simple, a bit messy, but overall pretty easy. The hardest part is making sure to keep everything together. Twine can be a lifesaver in situations like this, pictured I used a skewer, because it was all I had at the time. This wasn’t the easiest approach but I learned my lesson and now I have a stockpile of twine and toothpicks.

I had a pretty good size flank steak, make sure to grab a cut with plenty of length and not too much width… that’s what she… stop. No more of that.

The rest is pretty much just roll it up and cook it… another innuendo that I’m staying away from.

Ok let’s talk ingredients…

• Flank Steak (at least a pound)
• Sun Dried Tomatoes (dry)
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Mushroom
• Spinach
• Parmesan Cheese
• Basil
• Cooking Oil

The steps…

1. Dice your mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and saute until soft. Do this by heating a pan to medium heat with a little bit of oil (tablespoon). Add the sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper.. Cook for about 5-7 minutes just to soften them up and draw out the flavors.

2. Roll out your flank steak onto a large flat surface and pound flat. Add a bit of salt and pepper, no more than ¼ teaspoon each.

3. In this order: lay down a bed of spinach, followed by sauteed mushroom and tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, and parmesan cheese.

4. Now roll it up and pin it! You can do this a few different ways. Twine is by far the easiest.

5. With twine still attached cut into desired size, I prefer about an inch thick. Seen above.

6. Use a skewer or toothpicks to keep the pinwheel tight.

7. In a hot, greased skillet (make sure it works with the skewer and won’t cause the meat to be elevated) sear each side until gooey and melty!

The Macros…

Keto Baked Spaghetti & Meatballs - Zoodles and LCHF Meatballs

Growing up I ate a lot of pasta and Italian food. It has always been my favorite thing to not only eat, but to cook as well. The transition into a ketogenic lifestyle has not left much room for the Italian foods I grew up with, but that said all the pasta made me super fat and I don’t like being fat… clothes don’t fit as well plus some other stuff. It’s a whole big thing. Thankfully, keto made fatness a thing of the past for me and it only required ditching the pasta, but I digress…

These zoodles are an amazing substitute. I use a simple handheld spiralizer. It costs under 10 dollars at CVS and the added effort of doing it by hand means you’ll burn more calories, so save the money and buy handheld.

The rest is pretty much the same as any baked pasta dish. The meatballs are a single guy, fatbody staple! I love meatballs because (besides being a ball of delicious meat) they can freeze and store easily, they are simple and relatively inexpensive to make and it’s pretty hard to screw them up.

Check out the recipe for the meatballs! 

I'm going to catch some heat for this but... I used a jarred sauce.  The trick is to find one with NO ADDED sugar. Rao's is a good brand, but most natural food stores will have a variety of brands. Tomatoes have enough sugar naturally, they don’t need it added in and the low quality jarred sauce brands add a ton of it. But, I also like to dress the sauce up a bit… add some olive oil, a bit of cream and some seasonings to give it that home cooked taste. It comes out pretty good. It’s not Mary's recipe but it's a good quick substitute.

The Ingredients…

• 12 Meatballs
• Jar of Sauce
• 4 Zucchini
• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
• ½ cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tablespoon Garlic
• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper  
• Fresh Basil to garnish

The Steps…

1. Make the meatballs. Click here for that recipe.

2. Spiralize your zucchini, salt them and let them rest. See picture below*

3. In a cast iron skillet or oven safe pan, add half of the olive oil called for in the recipe and preheat at a medium heat (6 out of 10).

4. Add the meatballs to the pan making sure to allow each side to cook evenly.  

5. Once the meatballs have cooked, remove them and set off to the side.

6. Lower the heat to a medium low (2 out of 10) and add your garlic and the remaining oil.

7. Next add the  sauce, cream, salt and pepper and let the sauce thicken up a bit. Allow about 10 minutes at a low simmer with occasional stirring.

8. Preheat oven broiler on high.

9. Add half of the parmesan cheese and stir.

10. Pat down the zoodles one last time and add them to the sauce.

11. Next add back the meatballs and mix. Allowing all the parts to simmer together on a low heat so the flavors can combine. About 10 minutes to simmer.

12. Top the pan with the mozzarella cheese, followed by the basil and finally the rest of the parmesan cheese.

13. Broil on high for no more than 10 minutes or until the cheese gets nice and golden brown. It won’t take long… a broiler is just the top burner, so your heat is coming entirely from the top of the oven. Be careful this can burn very quickly!!

The trick is to lightly salt it and give about 20-30 minutes laid out over a large pan with paper towels underneath and on top to soak in all the water being pulled out of the zoodles. This will save your sauce from becoming too watered down.

The Macros…

Mary's Keto Meatballs

My parents taught me to cook from a young age and I love them for that (among other reasons!). But, a lot of my Italian recipes came from Mary.. my work mom. My first job out of college was as a financial analyst sitting in a row of cubicles, gotta love that cubicle life. Mary's cube faced mine, so we basically could only see each other from our desks. 

She makes an eggplant parm that will knock your socks off and I was blessed with that stuff on almost a weekly basis. I'd show up to work and there would be a tupperware waiting for me, I'm not kidding you when I say she would bring me in leftovers at least 2-3 days per week. Her kids apparently don't do leftovers, but I guess I wouldn't either if I had Mary cooking for me at home too. 

When I left the company to pursue new adventures in Los Angeles, Mary bestowed two final parting gifts to me. A full tray of eggplant parm. Along with a tray of chicken parm, baked ziti, and of course meatballs and second she gave me the recipes to each! Jackpot.

Well here I am a decade 6 years later, still love to cook and still love Mary's food. Only now I am full on keto making these recipes not part of the diet, they also did a damn good just making me fat. So I hoped on the phone with Mary and talked ketofication strategy... turns out she's already been on the low carb train and making low carb versions of her recipes! 

On to the meatballs, so tasty, so delicious… I usually eat one too many but who’s counting. Just kidding I am, I’m counting macros and these are macro approved. Need I say more?

This recipe make about 35 meatballs depending on how big you make them, mine are roughly ~60 grams each. If you’re a single person like I am shopping in bulk vs food waste can be a big issue, which why I love meatballs! They store easily in the freezer and they don't require much defrost time. 

Mary's Tips:

Keep a bowl of water handy as you are making the meatballs so you can keep your hands wet. This stops the meatballs from sticking to your fingers. I couldn't believe how well this worked. It was definitely a game changer. 

The Steps...

1. Adds all ingredients to a bowl except cream and eggs

2. Mash and Mix thoroughly! The last thing you want is one meatball with all of the garlic… that’s a hot ball.

3. Add in the cream and eggs and mix thoroughly*

4. On a large baking sheet or parchment paper roll out the meatballs. I use a scale and weigh out each one. The total recipe came out to just under 2000 grams which means I could make 35 balls at 58g each, which is the typical size.

5. In a frying pan  heat cooking oil (I use walnut or avocado oil) to a medium heat.  

6. Cook evenly letting them crisp on one side for about 10 minutes.

7. Flip and cook for about 5 more minutes. Cooking times very for size 

* When mixing wet and dry ingredients it's a good rule of thumb to mix separately before adding everything together. This will prevent a clump of almond flour in the middle of your meatball.  

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef (The macros are for 85/15 beef)
• 1 pound ground pork (80/20 trader joes)
• ½ cup almond flour
• ½ cup pork rinds
• 6 eggs
• ¼ cup heavy cream 
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• ½ cup freshly chopped basil
• ½ cup freshly chopped Italian parsley
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons garlic
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper

The Macros...

Philly Steak & Cheese Zucchini Boats

These Philly Steak and Cheese Zucchini Boats seemed to be a big hit on  Instagram and I promise they taste as good as they look. Wicked simple to make and the steak (pictured above from Instagram) was leftover from the night before! Proof that with a little imagination any leftover can be turned into a winner... Winner Winner LCHF Dinner.

Steak and cheese grinders (sub, hoagie, whatever) were always one of my favorites and I’ll have one for my cheat day meal every now and then, but these zucchini boats do a pretty solid job satisfying that craving. Plus, it’s a hefty helping of vegetables, which should be a primary goal of ANY diet. Vegetables, particularly the green ones are DENSE in micronutrients, the same micronutrients that are directly related to health and longevity and a decrease in several factors that play a role in all cause mortality. Eat your veggies people!

So whether you are making a fresh steak or reheating some leftovers this recipe will be a fan favorite. Fatbody Guarantee.

The Ingredients…

• Steak
• Zucchini
• Green Peppers
• White Onion
• Provolone Cheese
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Parsley

The steps…

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Cut your zucchini in half and hollow them out. Salt lightly, this will help draw out the water. Let them sit for about 20 minutes and pat dry. Some people like to add the hollowed out zucchini back in, but I usually just save the space for more steak. Woops.

3. Season your steak with a little salt and pepper and let rest for about 10 minutes.

4. Preheat your cooking pan to a heat and add your cooking oil. I prefer walnut oil or avocado oil due to it’s high smoke point. I’ve mentioned this before, but I also prefer my cast iron skillet. It rocks at high heat and makes the perfect steak. 

5. Lay the steak down on the pan, if you don’t instantly hear a big loud sizzle, you’re not cooking it at a high enough heat, with steak you want to sear the outside without overcooking the inside. So, we want hot hot temperatures which will flash cook the outside of the steak and create that nice exterior crisp.

6. After about 2 minutes, depending on thickness, flip the steak and sear the other side spooning the juices onto the meat. 

7. This should take about 5 minutes to cook and then you want to remove the steak and let it rest. The steak will continue to cook on the inside for a few minutes after taking it off. 

8. Reduce the heat to a low medium (4 out of 10). Add butter, peppers, onions, garlic, salt and pepper to state. Let the vegetables saute a bit, until the peppers and onion soften up.

9. While this is happening you are going to want to slice your steak into thin strips. 

10. Turn off the heat from the pan and add your steak back to the pan allowing all the flavors and juices to come together.

11. In a oven safe baking dish, or the current skillet, load up your hollowed out zucchini with the steak, pepper and onion batch.

12. Top with cheese and parsley and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until cheese starts to brown.

13. Cut them into thirds, grab one and enjoy!!

The Macros…

Slow Cooker Carnitas - Fatbody Keto, LCHF Approved

I reaaaally love these slow cooked pork carnitas. I will make a huge batch and eat it throughout the week with absolutely no complaints. I use to be a big fan of BBQ pulled pork but these carnitas are just so much more versatile and flavorful, and much lower in sugar with no sweeteners needed.  

And let me tell you, the slow cooker is by far the best way to look like a rockstar in the kitchen with the least amount of skill required. It’s almost impossible to do it wrong. Even if you are a total novice in the kitchen, I promise that you can make world class food. 

Make sure to plan your time accordingly. This is the perfect Sunday Dinner, but it’s going to take about 8 hours all in, 6 hours to cook followed by another hour or two to cool down, shred, strain and remove all the non meat. Next, I like to crisp it up in a frying pan or under the broiler before finally eating, but this is definitely worth the wait. The juices, the tender pork… ugh I think I might need to go heat some up right now. And that’s the other thing…

Slow cooked food freezes so well. Since I am a single guy, cooking for one the ability to cost optimize is an important one. I can split the whole batch into 3 or 4 bags and freeze most of it while still having a weeks worth of fresh food. A month later, I can pull it out of the freezer and into a pan and the pork will crisp up like it was made that day.

The Ingredients...

• 4 lbs pork shoulder (6 if bone in - adds flavor)
• 4 oz chipotle peppers (half the jar from the picture above)
• Small can of ortega chiles
• 1/4 bunch of cilantro leaves dices
• ½ large white onion
• 2 limes squeezed and rinds added
• 2 teaspoons each: paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, cumin
• 1 cup bone broth (or water and 1/4 cup of oil/lard)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

The Steps…

Put it all into the crockpot and turn it on… just kidding, well kind of.

1. Start off by trimming some of the fat, typically a cut this size will have a ton of fat and it’s not all needed, plus you need to save room for all the other ingredients!

2. Cut the pork into 4 or 5 large chunks. If you are using a bone in cut make sure to keep the bone piece on the bottom of the crockpot as this will draw out a lot of good flavor and nutrients.

3. Dump everything into the crockpot and cook on high heat. My crockpot has 2 settings, hot and low. Low is good but will require a few additional hours.

4. 6 hours later… Open the lid (try not to do this at all for the first 6 hours, you don’t want to let the heat out). Pick up a piece with tongs and if it feels like it’s starting to fall apart turn the crockpot off.

5. Remove the large chunks of meat and let them sit for about 30 minutes to cool off. Once cool enough you can start pulling the meat apart, removing any excess fat or other ingredients.

6. Strain all other fats and ingredients from the juices. This is a very fatty broth so don’t worry about “straining” out fat, there is plenty of it in that broth.

7. Add all strained juices and shredded meat back into the crockpot and let the meat soak it all up.

8. It’s ready to eat this way, but I LOVE putting it in a pan for a few minutes on high heat just to get it a little crispy.

9. Serve and enjoy! This goes in omelets, tacos, on top of a burger, as a meal, in a lettuce wrap and whatever other way you can think of. It goes with everything

The Macros…

This is a bit hard to calculate as most of the ingredients used are removed and you are just left with a much leaner batch of meat, with some very fatty juices.

According to the USDA Food Database, cooked pork shoulder is about 31g of protein and 28g of fat per cup of meat, which is roughly 394 calories and 66% fat. I’d say with the added bone broth/oil you can estimate the fat content to be slightly higher.

Loaded Chile Relleno - Keto Taco Tuesday Special

One of the hardest parts for me about maintaining a ketogenic lifestyle has been giving up tacos and burritos and most Mexican food, but thanks to a bit of ingenuity and some google searches I've learned that I really don't have to give up anything.

From bread to cheesecakes to fried foods there is a way to make just about everything keto friendly. I can make an English muffin from scratch in 5 minutes and it tastes like an English muffin...

This diet isn't restrictive when you change your perception and start thinking in terms of what food do I want instead of what foods can I not have, from there you just google it and you have a keto friendly version of pretty much whatever food you'd like. Now does that mean you can go make a fathead pizza everyday and lose weight? Probably not, but if you want to turn Friday's into a pizza night you still can. It requires a bit of effort (honestly, it's pretty easy to make) but fortunately your body is operating off of ketones so you'll have the added energy needed to make a pizza! 

More importantly... back to the Chile Relleno.

I love a good chile relleno, it’s basically just a fried cheese bomb. I was doing a bunch of Keto Cinco de Mayo recipes and a keto Chile Relleno just seemed like a no brainer.

Poblano Peppers are my usual choice but I’ve heard people trying it with other types of peppers like Anaheim or Jalapeno. Also, we didn’t just stuff ours with cheese! We added a blend of chorizo and cream cheese to really flavor it up and it tasted awesome. 

Let’s get moving with the ingredients...

• 2 Poblano Peppers
• ¼ cup Almond Flour
• ¼ cup Pork Rinds
• 3 Eggs
• ½ cup of shredded cheese
• 2 oz Beef Chorizo
• 1 oz Cream Cheese
• 1 teaspoon Salt & Pepper
• ½ teaspoon Paprika
• ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
• ½ teaspoon Cumin

The steps…

1. Start by cutting the tops off of your poblano peppers, try and just cut out the stem so there is still a bit of “roof” left on the top.

2. Mix your eggs in one bowl and your batter in another:

3. To mix batter: add almond flour, pork rinds and all of your seasoning

4. Cook the chorizo in a pan, medium heat - should take about 10 minutes.

5. Add the cream cheese and mix until thick and pasty, add more if you prefer but don’t forget your macros!

6. Stuff the peppers with chorizo mix and shredded cheese. Really load them up. 

7. Stick the top of the pepper back in.

8. Smoother with egg, and then coat the batter as best you can.

9. In a deep pan add enough oil to fry the bottom and some of the sides.

10. Cook (and cover to avoid splatter) for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Flip and make sure all sides get cooked.

11. Remove from pan, smother with sauce or salsa of choice and enjoy that sucker!

**The picture above used this method but you may have better results baking it. I will be trying this next time. Updates to follow!

The Macros...

Traditional Pesto Sauce - HFLC, Keto Friendly

I'm all about the pesto. I use it in just about every way, from a meat marinade to a zoodle or vegetable sauce. Hell, sometimes I just dip snacks in it, More importantly I love how simple it is to make. If you have 10 minutes and a blender you have a jar of pesto that will impress you're friends big time! 

Pesto Sauce adds huge flavor when tossed in veggies, drizzled over meats, with zoodles or whatever other option floats your boat. It's just so damn good! Pictured above we have pesto zoodles with roasted tomatoes. This was pretty simple, On medium heat I roasted some tomatoes in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil for about 5 minutes, then added the pesto and the zoodles, mixed them up and that was it. 

The best part... it literally takes like 10 minutes to make, start to finish. 

Prep Time: 5 Minutes |Total Time: 10

The Ingredients...

• 2 Cups Basil Leaves
• ½ cup Pine Nuts
• 1 tablespoon Garlic
• ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
• ¾ cup Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoon Salt

The Steps...

1. Heat pan to a medium heat
2. Toast pine nuts and garlic for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned
3. Note: make sure to stir the pine nuts a bit so the brown evenly
4. Toss everything into food processor and blend until you have a smooth but thick sauce
5. EAT 

The Macros...

Cinnamon & Sea Salt Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

You know that one snack that you always eat way too much of... This one is it for me. Hands down my favorite snack, in fact I'm eating them as I write this post. 

Pumpkin seeds have a great macro profile for keto diets as well. They are ~76% fat with 1 net carb per serving (1 ounce) making them super keto friendly. Add in the coconut oil and now you're really cooking with gas. Pumpkin seeds also have a ton of nutritional value and health benefits including: 

• Great source of Magnesium and Zinc
• Anti-Inflammatory 
• Rich in Omega 3 fatty acid 
• Good for your heart and liver 
• Immunity Support 
• Improved Prostate and Bladder Health 
• Lowering Blood Sugar
• Improves Sleep

Difficulty: Easy | Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Total Time: 20

Cooking instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°
2. Heat coconut oil until it's liquid. 
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir until everything is evenly coated. 
4. Mix in the melted oil and vanilla extract and stir until evenly coated.**
5. Spread evenly across a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until brown. I do mine at 17 minutes on the dot, but BE CAREFUL they can burn quickly if you don't pay attention and every oven is a bit different. 
6. Let cool and enjoy. It's as easy as that. 

*Mixing the dry ingredients BEFORE the liquid ingredients helps prevent any clumping and forming balls of cinnamon.

Ingredients...

• 1 lb raw pumpkin seeds (Raw, hulled) 
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil 
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon stevia to liking (need measurement) 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt 

Macros...