Christmas 2022

Jennifer sent this pic of their Christmas morning in California.  She surfed in the ocean and Oceanna played in the sand on the beach.  The RV park pool was open too!  I love the pic, the tree, the presents, and the scene out the window of palm trees and mountains and picnic tables.  

Our Christmas here was quiet.  Betsy & Kyle had a combo of strep and covid, so we still have presents to open with them.  Rachel's birthday is coming up quick, Jan 5th, so maybe we'll do a shared Christmas and birthday dinner.

I made a few desserts, these were my favorite.  Sugar cookie bars from Carolyn's All Day I Dream About Food.

Mark bought me a new light ring that has a little remote to take pictures with the phone.  Now that's a handy gizmo!

Seven years keto :)

Mark is on a new medicine for the Waldenstrom's.  Hoping it will work well with few side effects.

That little remote, along with a lot of treats, helped get some sweet pictures of Murphy and Skye.

And oh yes, that cute little Cali girl turned three!

 

A Good Day in the Kitchen

Keto cookies and Betsy.  It was a good day in the kitchen.

Things That Happen in 11 Years

 Our Betsy girl is 11 for a couple more months.  

She's grown up so much, and she's beautiful inside and out.

And I'm thankful to have shrunk a little since way back then too.  One thing I haven't always been so thankful for are all those wrinkles that have come home to roost on my face and neck.  But I went to see Terminator Dark Force with Betsy this weekend and saw Linda Hamilton once again play that badass Sara Conner.  She obviously trains and has great muscles but she absolutely RockS those wrinkles.  

Linda is my age, 63 yo.  I'm putting her picture on my mirror to remind me that with the right attitude, wrinkles can make you look even more badass. #channelingmyinnersarahconner

Keto Con, A Reunion, & A New Boat

Here's a happy man with his new boat :)

We went to Keto Con in Austin and met so many of our keto peeps!  Here we are with the amazing Carrie Brown who is a pasty-chef-turned-keto-cookbook-author.  She has an incredible story of how keto helped her recover and get her life back too, and now she's helping all of us have success in our keto kitchens. 

We also met a baker who's lost 50 pounds and then founded Fox Hill Kitchens where she bakes bread for us.  Another person's recovery story led to building a wine company Dry Farm Wines that provides keto friendly wine to the world.  Keto Con was one inspiring story after another.   As Robin Roberts said, make your mess your message. 

We ate amazing barbecue at Black's barbeque.  Like every day!

We got to visit with Uncle David, Aunt Fina, and my cousin Denise.  They came to Austin to visit with us from their hometown of San Antonio.  We're already planning to go back to Keto Con next year!

A little before & after

My mama is just the cutest ever!  She's 80 years young and this is proof it's never too late to go low carb.  On the left, taken two years ago when we visited The Farm.  Picture on the right taken yesterday.  Thank you to PJ for sending this one--I love the apron and she looks so happy.  Wish I could have been there to hang out with you all too.  Love love to my Michigan peeps :) 

PS:  Mama--will you make me an apron too??

A New Website!

I've been working on a new website called Keto With Kynda and it's live today! I wanted a space where I could share what's happened to us with this low carb/high fat keto way of eating over the last year.  I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think. 

Canada Garden will still be here too but maybe a bit less keto-ing  and  more flowers  :)

Coconut Almond Crisps

Are you iced in today?  Mark has chipped out the driveway and we'll try to get out in a little bit, but it looks like we're in for really cold weather and more freezing rain :/

So while Mark was working outside, I made up a batch of these coconut almond crisps from over on alldayidreamaboutfood.  I did sub some sugar-free pancake syrup for the molasses.   She's right when she says they will burn quickly if you don't have them in the top third of the oven.  Mine didn't turn out as thin as hers and they may be a tad chewier than crispy but they are really good!  My recipe made thirteen cookies.

"Only" thirteen would have been my comment back in my sugar days, but now it's not that big of an issue.  Now thirteen is plenty.  Yes.  Life is different when you've been living low carb/high fat for almost a year and it's really really different when your size 12 pants are starting to get too big!

I hope you have good weather where you live today.  And I hope you're having a merry-getting-ready-for-Christmas time too.  And if you've been unhappy about your weight or your health, think about giving yourself the gift of keto for 2017.  You'll be so glad you did.

Cauli-fried Rice

We loved it!  Even Mark, who isn't a cauliflower fan. 

One package of green giant frozen riced cauliflower steamed it in the microwave as directed on the package. 

 In a skillet, saute chicken, fresh garlic and a little onion in your favorite healthy fat--I used bacon fat for the flavor. 

Season with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. 

Take the chicken/vegetable mixture out of the skillet and set aside. 

Add the "rice" to the skillet with more fat and a fresh egg and stir fry together. 

Return the chicken/vegetable mix and stir into the rice. 

 I added a few roasted cashews for crunch and some fresh green onion and more coconut aminos to taste. 

 Mark put dried crushed red pepper on his for heat. No need to miss fried rice to stay keto! If you try it, let me know how yours turns out

Weighing In on Weighing In

How do you use the scale?  Is it a helpful tool or is it the enemy?  As my friend Mary says so often, this keto weight loss journey is about getting our heads right.  And my head has not always been friends with the scale. 

I went for years not weighing.  It was so depressing and I didn't know the first thing about what to do about my weight so I just avoided it altogether.  After all, I knew what it was going to say--it was always a higher number than the last time. 

But now  I know that all that old dietary advice--like cut calories, move more, eat low fat, eat small meals--is based on faulty assumptions.  Now  I know the hormone insulin--not calories--is  responsible for my weight gain.  And I know what to do about it.  YaY!  Stepping on the bathroom scale isn't such a scary thing anymore.

So here are my step by step instructions for making the scale our friend, not our enemy.  Assuming of course that you're eating low-carb healthy-fat!

1. Before you step on the scale, take a deep breath and tell yourself "This is  a number, a piece of information.  It has nothing to do with who I am.  This is a good day before I get on the scale and it's  a good day after I get off the scale.
2. Weigh. 
3. If the number is lower, smile & give yourself a pat on the back.
4. If the number is the same or higher, smile & give yourself a pat on the back.  Then think about--in a non-judgemental compassionate way--what might have influenced the number.  1.
   
   1. Have I been keeping my carbs at a good level? 
   2. Am I eating enough fat?
   3. Have I been drinking enough water?
   4. Have I been eating when I'm not hungry?  (also known as eating too often)
   5. Have I had higher salt intake lately?
   6. Is it that time of the month?
5. These questions are just ways to uncover possible clues as to what's happening.  Maybe there's nothing to change.  Just keep going, don't give up.  If there is something you want to tweak, then make a plan and go for it. 
6. And this last step is as important as the ones above:  Eat good keto food the very next time you're hungry and enjoy your day.  This is the keto life :)

Now there are some people who know that for them, it's better not to weigh very often.  Maybe it's better to weigh no more than once a week or once a month.  Or just when you go to the doctor's office.   Some people throw the scale out and go by the way they feel and how their clothes fit.  And if that's best for you, then that's a great plan.

For me, I know that I need to weigh more often.  At this point in my journey, I need that daily feedback to keep me on track.   For me, going back to not weighing daily would be a way for me to to cut corners, allow a little extra carb here and there, give myself permission to eat a snack even if I'm not really hungry at that moment.  Maybe one day in the future when I'm in maintenance, I'll skip the weigh-ins.   Or maybe not.  I'll have to see when I get there!

I hope these thoughts about using the scale as a friendly tool are helpful.  If you try them, let me know how it goes :)

Honey Mustard Dressing

Honey Mustard Dressing-- a pinterest find this week.  I've already made two batches!

And to make it even better, be sure to make the mayo first:

1 whole large egg

2-3 Tbls fresh lime or lemon juice, or vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup extra light tasting olive oil

Place all in a quart jar and let the egg settle to the bottom.  Place stick blender at the bottom of the jar and blend without moving the stick for a couple of minutes until the mayonnaise emulsion forms. 

And if you're at Humphrey's, pick up a bag of their in-house pork rinds.  My grandma would have liked them.  Seems like a lot of the food we eat these days was her kind of food.

Dinner Rolls

Okay, so I didn't really try to stage this photo very well.  I do admire the food bloggers who take such beautiful pictures of their creations!  But photo quality aside, these were really too good tonight.  Too good as in I could have eaten several instead of just one.  Tonight was a little get together for friends who helped me practice for my upcoming event Keto With Kynda.  So we had dinner and talked Keto and it was a great time with good friends and good keto dinner rolls!

Recipe from Dietdoctor.com:
Each roll:  5 total carb, 2 fiber, 3 net carbs; 6 fat; 5 protein
1 1/4 cup almond flour
5 Tbls psyllium husk powder
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t apple cider vinegar
1/1/4 cup boiling water

Mix dry ingredients, add egg whites, vinegar and then boiling water together for 30 seconds.  Don't overbeat.  Form into 12 roll-shaped pieces.  Bake 50-60 minutes.  They are ready when they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

When it says 50-60 minutes, believe it.  The original recipe said it made eight rolls, which were way too big and took way too long to cook.  After over an hour of cooking, I turned the oven off and let them sit inside it while it cooled off.

These aren't like a white yeasty dinner roll made with wheat flour, but they were definitely tasty slathered with butter.  I'll save them for special occasions like when my keto peeps come over for dinner.  And maybe Thanksgiving too. 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Keto Update

The year 2016 is going down as our Keto discovery year.  Mark's recovery from diabetes and high blood pressure has been incredible.  He's down to one med for his blood sugar and off blood pressure meds entirely.  I've lost 55 pounds and am off all anti inflammatory meds for pain.   And best of all, this is something we can live with--we're not hungry, we're eating great food, and we feel so so so much better.

There's lots of info out there about this way of eating. You may not hear about it from mainstream media and health care professionals yet.  But if you're on the lookout, you'll see healthy fat making a comeback.  The success stories  are amazing.  If you're interested in learning more, here are some resources:  

• Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore  
• Ketovangelist.com 
• Facebook group Ketogenic Success  
• Dietdoctor.com    

  

  Recent keto lunch at Augie's: Burger of the day sans bun and salad with blue cheese dressing.