😇 Staying On Track With Quick Easy Keto Meals

The last couple of years have been a real challenge with all the unexpected change and stress, and then of course me being so sick for the last 16 months too.

But I’ve stayed on track, consistently eating very low carb, because that’s the ONE thing I can control, and because I feel SO much worse if I don’t (and so much better if I do).

I’ve tested that of course. Maybe three times over the last year I’ve eaten a higher carb meal to intentionally knock myself out of ketosis and then got back in ketosis, wondering if a “metabolic reset” might help. It didn’t – it just made all my symptoms flare up WAY worse, plus add Keto Flu on top of that (ugh). I don’t know what I was thinking, lol. 🤦‍♀️

That’s always been the case, even when I was healthy and well: I feel MUCH better eating very low carb. Eating carbs & sugar makes me feel bloated, lethargic, and yuck – less energy, and of course more inflammation, aggravating any chronic pain issues.

Then there’s the mental and emotional side of it too. I FEEL good when I’m eating good. I feel good about myself I mean, in addition to feeling better physically. Back when I was on/off I was in this constant cycle of berating myself, feeling disappointed in myself, I had less confidence and less motivation, I felt discouraged, I didn’t like the way I looked OR felt – all that.

I’m just not at my best (off track), and it trickles over into every other area of my life. Feeling better physically AND mentally makes me better at everything else in my life, and I handle all the challenges as they hit much better too.

It took me years to get that figured out, and to stop the maddening roller coaster of dieting and self sabotage (disguised as “treating myself”) and all the other ways I tricked myself out of feeling my absolute best.

My 25yo daughter is a little over a year into her own keto journey, and she’s going through those same things. It’s a normal process I guess. Watching her reminds me SO much of my early years at it, the way I used to rationalize things (for me: binge/restrict/repeat ugh!), etc.

Fortunately if you stay at it, you eventually work all that out, and find it way easier to stay on track. 😉 I also found myself a much happier person in general, finding new (better) ways to deal with stress, and having that sense of control and accomplishment – which makes me feel more “grounded” in every area of my life.

Watching her low carb food choices also reminds me of my first year, and how SIMPLE and easy meals can be. So I thought I’d show you some of our recent meals, hers and mine both, for examples & ideas of easy keto friendly meals…

Below is a quick photo tour of our easy low carb meals. There’s no fancy presentation of “food styling” about it. I haven’t been well enough to cook, or do much at all most days, but hopefully this will at least give you some visual examples and ideas you can use.

My daughter works long hours without much time to meal prep or prepare, so she eats and cooks quick & simple. I’m relying on a meal delivery service since I’m mostly home alone and can’t cook, and we get take-out sometimes too, but even those meals can easily be recreated at home.

I included recipes too. 🙂

I start my day with a collagen coffee. I’ve never been much of a breakfast eater. I do LOVE breakfast foods (any time of day!), but I usually eat my first “meal” closer to lunch.

The keto collagen in my first coffee holds me over for a bit anyway. 😉

Lately I’ve been battling mid-morning nausea and lack of appetite, so I’ve been having a protein bar around late morning then a healthy meal for dinner. Or some days I can’t stomach hot food until later evening, so I’ll have two bars throughout the day.

I get those bars 45% off on this page, and I also use the Unflavored Collagen Powder from Perfect Keto too. I order them separately, and use code LYNN20 for 20% off the collagen order. With that 45% off deal, I get $100 off 5 boxes of their original keto bars + a free gift and free shipping, so I just stocked up again – because that’s a sweet deal!

That’s what I had this morning: my coffee, then a bar around lunch, and I’m finally eating dinner now: a big bowl of chunky chicken salad (because some days hot food makes me feel even worse).

Easy Keto Meals That Require No Thinking, Effort or Planning

When my daughter has the rare day off she’ll usually meal prep a little, and make us both a nice breakfast around lunchtime. She makes the BEST fried eggs, btw! She’s been on a sausage kick lately, so sausage & fried eggs – topped with a little cheddar:

For keto meal prep, she’ll usually do my “simple sausage balls recipe” and boiled eggs. Those are things she can “grab and go” the rest of the week, and we both enjoy a plate of that for lunch.

I bought this Dash Go Rapid Egg Cooker and she loves to use that for perfect boiled eggs. She’ll put it on, take a quick shower or do her morning stretches, and her eggs are done! It comes in a bunch of pretty colors too, but I just got the black one.

👩‍🍳 My recipe for sausage balls is SUPER SIMPLE: 1 tube of raw ground sausage, 8oz bag of shredded cheddar (2 cups), 2 eggs. You can even leave out the eggs if you like, it works both ways. Mix it all together with your hands, roll into 2 tbsp size balls, bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes: 24 📊 Macros: 93 calories, 0.6 carbs, 7.6 fat, 5.6 protein – (each)

In a hurry she’ll just fry one big skillet of eggs (usually 7 large eggs, a medium sized skillet), somehow flip them perfectly (I have no idea how, lol), turns off the heat and tops them with cheddar – then covers the pan to melt the cheese.

She makes the best “jammy fried eggs” ever!! Then she just splits it down the middle and slides it out of the skillet, half onto her plate, and the other half on mine.

Her boiled eggs are perfect too. 🥰

That little Dash thingy is super handy!

She went through a week of being tired of eggs, so one morning she just made breakfast without them (ha!) – and left me a plate too, for when I got hungry later. Super sweet. 🙂

This was a really nice, easy finger food plate: fried mini smoked sausages and colby jack cheese sliced off the block.

Every now and then she’ll cook something besides breakfast foods, but it’s usually some simple combination of meat & eggs – bacon, sausage, lil smokies, ham, etc.

I’m good with that! It’s hard to complain when someone else does the cooking. 😉 Plus I love breakfast foods any time of day.

I add a breakfast plate to my meal delivery order too, called “Carnivore Scramble” with eggs and ham and sausage. It’s a heat & eat meal so I just warm it up and add cheese & sour cream – usually for dinner though, not breakfast, on the nights my daughter works late.

She usually skips breakfast on work days, and just makes a collagen coffee on her way out the door, then eats lunch at work and dinner at home. She uses the Perfect Keto collagen too, but she likes the Cinnamon Toast collagen in her coffee. It smells amazing (!!) but I don’t like the sweetener they use so I stick to the unflavored collagen.

She’ll text me a picture of her lunch now and then, and ask me if I want anything when she comes home. 🙂 This was a “loaded” bunless burger with bacon, cheese, guacamole & pico de gallo.

Most days she’ll have a caesar salad with grilled shrimp or grilled chicken…

… or her favorite: smothered chicken with loaded broccoli.

It’s grilled chicken topped with mushrooms, onions & cheese. Plus steamed broccoli topped with butter, sour cream & cheese.

If she gets off work at a decent hour and I’m up and feel hungry, she’ll bring me take-out on her way home.

A super simple option that’s always been a favorite: bunless bacon cheeseburger with broccoli instead of fries. Easy!

Or if I have a good appetite and want a BIG meal: a ribeye steak cooked medium with double broccoli. 🥩🥦🥰

I’ve only been eating one meal most days, sometimes two meals if I’m feeling better. I don’t do OMAD (“one meal a day”) or IF (intermittent fasting) or any of those trendy dieting things – I just eat when I’m hungry and don’t when I’m not.

And lately, when I do make myself something to eat, it’s something SUPER easy.

This ^ is the chicken salad I’m having now. It’s a fancy chicken salad I buy, then add roasted pecans and sometimes an ounce of colby jack cheese.

The perfect “no cook” lunch or dinner I can throw together in a few short minutes!

My daughter loves that chicken salad too. It comes in a one pound tray of 4 servings, but I split it as two meals. And when she’s home, I’ll split it with her.

This is the ONE time I made HER dinner – lol.

I really love the evenings she’s home. Being so unwell for so long, and unable to drive or even go for a walk since last August, can get pretty isolating. Fortunately I’m an introvert and have a nice outdoor space here at home to enjoy – and a loyal dane girl to keep me company too. 🙂

A lot of people don’t eat carrots on keto, which is totally fine. I didn’t for years either. I do now though, in moderation, and they don’t knock me out of ketosis. The meal above and below for example, were both just 9 net carbs.

I get these heat & eat low carb dinners from Evolve most weeks because they’re easy & fast, they’re healthy whole foods, and they’re perfectly portioned for one person to have a nice dinner:

My discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER for 20% off at EatToEvolve.us. My favorite part: no assembly required! Just quick done-for-you keto friendly low carb meals. ✅

You can microwave them for 90 seconds and dinner is DONE, but I usually toss them in a skillet with a little butter and sear the vegetables. It only takes a few minutes, and I just like it better that way.:)

This is another favorite I’ve been eating on repeat lately: the pork chop and cheesy broccoli. I’ve never been good at cooking pork – and this one is always just right & perfectly tender!

I fry this one in the skillet too, and it makes the cheese all crispy. 😍

Another favorite meal that I’ve been eating 2-3 times a week lately is “egg roll in a bowl.”

It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. 😉

I order this from Evolve too, but it’s really easy to make at home and GREAT for meal prep.

You can get creative with what you use or add to mix it up too. It works just as well with ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or a mix of ground beef & sausage – whatever you prefer + your choice of vegetables or add-ins.

👩‍🍳 Egg Roll in a Bowl Keto Recipe
https://40aprons.com/whole30-egg-roll-bowl-paleo/

I toss it in a skillet with a little butter like the other pre-made meals, fry it crisp then add cheese. It’s SO good and so satisfying!

I order a la carte straight off their website menu, by the way. You don’t have to subscribe, you can just order when you want – and only what you want. It makes staying on track super easy. 😉

I’ve been using the Evolve keto meal delivery for over a year now. They have A LOT of variety and the menu changes up. Here are pictures of some of the different keto meals (on my own plates) so you know what to expect if you decide to try them out: My Favorite Evolve Keto Meals.

This is the ONLY low carb meal plan delivery I decided to keep using – after trying several. The food is always delicious, the meals freeze well, and it’s just EASY.

That’s a deep bowl, by the way. It’s more food than it looks like! I have a hard time finishing it in one sitting some days. It’s a great mix of meat & vegetables too – and super quick to make.

My daughter likes to make the Egg Roll In A Bowl herself, when she has time to meal prep. She also likes to cook up a big batch of taco meat to use in different ways throughout the week.

One night when I made one of my Evolve meals, she grabbed my tray and put steamed broccoli in it (frozen “steam in the bag” broccoli) then topped it with her taco meat plus cheese & sour cream:

That didn’t sound great to me, but she seemed to love it. 🤷‍♀️

As for me, I’ve been on a blueberry kick lately…

Blueberries and peanut butter to be specific. 🫐🥜 Sometimes I’ll have that with my Almond Butter Brownie keto bar, and just call it a whole meal. Quick, easy & delicious!

I got some of those Enlightened Keto single serve cheesecakes from Wal-Mart when I put in my last grocery order, so I added that one night + a fresh strawberry. 🍓 And yes, I called this dinner! DELICIOUS…

Those are the keto bars I mentioned earlier. They have a lot less ingredients than most bars, and don’t upset my stomach. Plus they’re very satisfying and actually hold me over as a meal replacement, unlike most bars that have me hungry again within the hour.

My favorite is the Almond Butter Brownie bar, which is one of the original Perfect Keto protein bars. Their newer ones are a totally different texture (more soft & chewy) and use a different sweetener.

It’s not overly sweet, the Almond Butter Brownie bar, and has the perfect hints of sea salt in it, which is great in place of breakfast – and really helps with my nausea earlier in the day.

Perfect Keto has 45% off ALL of their snacks & bars on this page. If you order 5 boxes of the keto protein bars, you get $100 off and a free gift + free shipping. ❤️ I’m not sure how much longer that 45% off snack bundle deal will last, so I went ahead and ordered more of my Almond Butter Brownie bars since they have such a great shelf life. I especially love them in place of breakfast and on the go – and I really hope to be “on the go” more now that it’s spring! 🙂

For anything else at Perfect Keto my discount code is LYNN20 for 20% off. I added some photos & taste test videos of their newest products on this page. Their new breakfast cereal is GREAT, btw. I was skeptical, but my daughter and I both love it.

Eating Keto Doesn’t Have To Be Fancy Or Complicated

I have 10+ years worth of daily low carb food diaries with a lot more variety, plus creative keto recipes on my blog if you’re looking for more ideas. I added some simple meal ideas & pictures in this post too: Simple Keto & Easy Low Carb Weight Loss.

Lately I haven’t been able to go out or shop or cook, but I’m still making it work!

I love that my daughter keeps it simple too, just eating very low carb and sticking to the basics: meat, eggs, vegetables, berries. Sometimes I crave more variety, but most days I’m good with my usual favorites.

Things like chicken salad, cheesy eggs, tuna salad, boiled eggs, sausage balls, pecans, macadamia nuts, almond butter, your favorite cheeses, etc are all quick & easy things to keep on hand so you have something to grab when you’re hungry.

How are things going with you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and how you’re doing with your goals lately!

My TOP goal right now is to get well, or at least better – and hopefully to a point where I can get back outdoors again: in my happy place!

Eating healthy, simple and very low carb is part of that. The two new supplements I started in the last few months have helped A LOT, allowing me to get back to work at least part time after more than 6 months of barely being able to function at all. So I’m hopeful I’ll keep improving. 🙂

I hope it helps to see what I’m eating, or at least that I’m staying on track consistently, even while I’m so sick, and even over the last two years with so much change and loss in my life. Like I said before, it’s the one thing I *can* control, when everything else is spinning.

You can probably relate, right? Life is just easier when you’re feeling grounded in your choices, working toward a goal, or doing things that make you feel good – and good about yourself. 💝

I hope things are well and happy on your end. I miss our chats and challenges, and publishing daily food diaries, so it would be great to catch up for a minute. And hopefully I can get back to all those fun things soon! Our challenge group continues to stay active, and there are even more meal ideas and discussions in that private group too, so join us there if you haven’t already. 🙂

Best,
Lynn Terry
aka @LowCarbTraveler

 

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