Easy Low Carb Cooking, Restaurant Meals & Simple Keto Snacks

I cooked since we last talked.

TWICE. 🙂

I cooked two full meals even, not just eggs -lol.

Here are some easy low carb meal ideas for you, including the two keto dinners I made and a few recent low carb restaurant meals – plus some of my usual snacks and meals at home that are super easy.

Plus a new dessert that will keep you from going off the rails when you’re craving a REAL treat!

Getting Creative With Creamy Low Carb Sauces

Normally I like my low carb foods plain and just use a little salt to amplify the natural flavor, but every now and then I crave something creamy or something savory or spicy – or just something a little different to mix things up!

This low carb dinner of glazed shrimp over steamed broccoli was super easy. I literally made it (freezer to plate!) in about 15 minutes.

The broccoli was Pictsweet Steamables brand and steams right in the bag in the microwave in a few minutes.

The shrimp were frozen so I put them in a large bowl, covered them with water, let them thaw at room temperature – then plucked the tails off, drained the water off and patted them dry.

I melted one TBSP of real butter to a nonstick skillet over medium heat, added the shrimp, then sprinkled them with Oh My Spice: Sweet & Savory – which I love on any kind of seafood!

I drained the water & butter out of the skillet after a few minutes. The shrimp are already full cooked, I just wanted to get them hot & buttery. I turned the heat up and seared them hot & fast for a minute – just because that’s how I like them.

I added just a TBSP or so of Chipotle Lime Mayo to the melted butter and stirred that up together, then tossed it back in with the shrimp and coated them with it.

You can find a Chipotle Aioli at the grocery store, or the Primal Foods brands I used (link above), or use plain mayo even to make a creamy butter sauce without the kick.

I served the “glazed shrimp” over the steamed broccoli, which was lightly salted only.

It made a great flavor combo, and a super quick healthy meal!

 

The “Fake Pasta” Chicken Alfredo Dinner

I made another cream sauce that I called “spicy alfredo” in a similar way when I decided to try the can of Palmini Pasta that came in this month’s Keto Krate box.

I was a bit skeptical of it. I don’t even know what a Palmini is, lol.

The instructions said if the smell was offensive, to soak it in milk first. 😯

I didn’t want to take any chances so I held my nose and drowned it in coconut milk for about 45 minutes. 🙂

Then I just rinsed it good, drained it, and boiled it for about 10 minutes to make it more tender.

 

First though, I roasted broccoli & cauliflower for the side dish.

Those take awhile – especially if they’re frozen vs fresh or already steamed, and depending on how “crisp” you like your roasted veggies.

I was busy and had things to do still before dinner, so I just dumped a bag of frozen broccoli florets and a bag of frozen cauliflower on a foil-lined baking sheet, doused them with olive oil and garlic powder – and tossed them straight in the oven.

I stir/flip them a time or two, but otherwise just bake them at 400 degrees until they suit me. Sometimes I like them “crisped” and other times just lightly browned.

Back to the pasta, I also had some Tyson Grill ‘n Ready chicken strips in the freezer (Fajita style), so I browned those in butter real quick while I was boiling & draining the fake pasta…

I decided to make “Chicken Alfredo” so I took about 1/4 cup Bertolli brand Alfredo Sauce, 2 TBSP of real butter, a TBSP of regular mayo and a TBSP of the Chipotle mayo.

I just microwaved it for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until it was all melted & blended together into a nice buttery sauce – with just a slight kick. 🙂

I felt like Alfredo Sauce alone would be too bland, plus it’s a little “stout” to me anyway. And this meal needed a pick-me-up. 😉

The sauce turned out great! I mixed most of it into the hot “pasta stuff” and saved a little to drizzle over the top.

The Palmini Pasta was interesting. Not at all like traditional pasta, but more fibrous – like a vegetable side. I actually liked it once I considered it a vegetable (lol).

Aaron didn’t seem to love it, but didn’t hate it either.

It’s one of those foods I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy, or even cook again, but it was fun to try – which is one of the things I love about getting the Keto Krate box!

 

My Easy Egg Trick

I’ve been eating eggs A LOT lately. I go through spells where it’s a daily meal, then I go through phases where I can’t stand the thought of an egg. Lately it’s been a daily thing…

I get a lot of compliments on my pretty eggs. 🙂

Here’s how I make them…

I melt a full TBSP of real butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. While the butter is melting I chop up colby jack cheese in small chunks – usually half ounce per egg, so 1.5 ounces for three eggs.

I crack the eggs straight into the melted butter, add a dash of salt, and scramble them right in the skillet.

About halfway through I add the cubed cheese, and finish scrambling them.

They come out nice and cheesy! 🙂

The difference between the eggs above and the eggs below is when you add the cheese. If you add it earlier, it melts into the eggs more. If you add it later (closer to done) you get globs of melted cheese (yummy!).

The sausage I’ve been eating is Smithfield brand, and you can find it usually at Publix stores I think. It’s in the frozen foods section near the other breakfast items, and it’s zero carbs – and very few ingredients.

 

Recent Low Carb Restaurant Meals

This time of year I love any restaurant with a patio. Even better: a patio with a view of the river! This meal was at a fun little local place on the river – with a very limited menu, but delicious food.

I ordered the hamburger steak with a side salad instead of fries.

Their side salad is a super fresh spring mix topped with bacon, cheese & tomatoes (which I picked out, because I can be picky like that sometimes – and carb stingy lol).

We also ate at Logan’s Roadhouse after our last hike, because we had a great coupon – and they have tons of low carb entrees and sides.

We started the meal with a side salad and naked wings.

I got a caesar salad with no croutons, and we just asked for the wings with no sauce. Even their mild sauce was high carb. I looked it up on my phone before we ordered. I told you I’m carb stingy! 😛

Aaron and I both prefer our wings with no sauce anyway. He’s like me – most of the time we prefer the real flavors of real foods cooked well. Simple!

For dinner, I ordered the prime rib with steamed broccoli.

I actually ordered it medium, but it came out RARE.

Aaron’s cedar plank salmon on the other hand, came out charred. lol…

I ate a few bites of the prime rib anyway (it was fabulous, even if it was mostly raw!) but I was actually full on the salad & wings by the time they finally brought our food.

I ended up searing the prime rib in butter real quick the next day for lunch – along with the broccoli I also brought home. That was a huge 12oz prime rib, so I made two meals out of this.

Three meals out of one ain’t bad! 😉

 

Low Carb Snacks & Meals You Don’t Have To Cook

That ^ would be my favorite kinds of low carb foods!

Lately I’ve been super busy with tech work and consulting so I’ve been grabbing whatever is convenient and eating at my desk – or just making eggs real quick.

I try to keep easy foods on hand for those times I need to grab something quick & easy. Like deli meat, olives, dill pickles, almonds, pecans, cheese, etc.

This is Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Rotisserie Chicken slices with pecan halves and colby jack cheese. A simple but satisfying meal!

Another evening, more as a quick snack, I had some of that same chicken dipped in ranch dressing (leftover from restaurant take-out) with some colby jack cheese sliced off the block.

I tried to call this lunch yesterday… but I didn’t end up eating the sunflower seeds. For some reason they didn’t appeal to me after I opened them.

The Babybel cheeses are delicious though! The new Chocolate Peanut Butter Keto Bars are okay. Not my favorite. Kind of like a salty Mounds bar. They’re great for a quick grab, and definitely good for hiking – because they come in a sealed pouch and don’t melt or fall apart all over you.

And of course there’s my favorite “cereal” I make: 1/2 cup (60 grams) of pecan pieces, 1/4 cup of Daisy cottage cheese, 4 strawberries and 18 grams of blueberries.

Sometimes I eat it with blueberries, sometimes without.

It just depends on if I’m in the mood to dice blueberries or not. 🙂

Blueberries are really good for you though! I try to make it a point to eat them almost daily, in moderation: 18 grams – which I think is only 1/8 of a cup.

 

Back To Exercise!

I’ve been getting consistent with my workouts again lately, which feels GREAT! Including tricep dips at home (daily!) and a fun river hike this week with Aaron before dinner at Logan’s.

 

After our hike we did a variety of tricep dips and modified push-ups on the way out using the benches at the overlook.

Tricep dips are really simple, but a much better workout than they look like they might be!

You want to hold your core tight, squeeze your glutes tight, and breath out when you raise yourself up. Not only does this tone up your triceps (that flabby underside of the arms), I can also feel it in my abs and thighs – especially when I hold the position longer in between.

Using your own body weight is a great way to tone up!

 

How are things going with you this week?

Are you still on track and doing great? Any questions or struggles you want to discuss? I would love to catch up…

Leave a comment and let’s chat!:)

Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler

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