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Camp Time!

Posted on July 17, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

Last Sunday I sent my two oldest children off to camp in another state. They were super excited about their time at camp except for one thing…the food!

It is kind of funny that this was somewhat upsetting to them considering other children look forward to the pancakes at breakfast, chicken fried steak, and the candy store. Other children that go to this camp rave about the food, but mine, of course, were anxious. I have to admit, it makes me a little anxious too, but so proud of them at the same time for knowing that they understand the foods that fuel their bodies best. If you read my post recently about my children refusing the almond flour muffins it makes sense.

My oldest is definitely Keto-adapted. The other two have a way to go, but my middle child would be closer if not given outside choices. As parents, it is virtually impossible to keep our children healthy at all times. Erin and I have a 90/10 rule. If you are sugar-free and Keto-adapted 90% of the time, forgive yourself for the other 10%. Many times it can’t be helped if you are away from home also. If my children are 75%/25%, I am happy. I can’t control everything that happens at birthday parties, grandparent’s homes, and eating out with friends, nor do I try. Don’t get me wrong, I am a bit of a control freak, but I know a bad ending when I see it coming! The last thing we want to create is the forbidden fruit syndrome. They need to experience the difference in how food makes them feel to make them WANT to eat healthy. This takes time, just as it does for us. My goodness, it took me over 35 years to figure it out! Hopefully with our guidance it won’t take our children as long.

Once they figure out that carbs and sugar make them feel badly, it becomes much easier. That is, until camp time; or really anytime they are away from home for a prolonged period of time! I tried to counsel them about food choices before they left. I thought about requesting no sugar from the camp, but my husband talked me out of it saying this is their time to be kids. Again, the 75/25 for them, and he was right. My prayer is that they always make good choices, and just like most other bad choices, they will feel the consequences of them quickly if they decide to buy three candy bars and a gatorade at the camp store for snack. I have to admit, I am really curious to see how it goes. This is a lot of freedom for them.

The best advice I could give them was to remember the foods we eat at home and try to mimic them. If everything is fried or brown, go for the salad bar option and pile on the proteins and full-fat salad dressings to make sure you are energized. Instead of the cinnamon rolls and waffles at breakfast, remember how much better and energized you feel when you choose eggs and bacon for breakfast. They can skip the extra bread, have two patties instead of a bun, and go for extra veggies instead of the mashed potatoes. Pick the bag of nuts or sunflower seeds in the camp store instead of a candy bar or crackers. They know how food makes them feel now, so now is the time to put that into play. I think we all realize there will be days when there may not be a better choice, but that is okay too.

As many of us send our kids off for a few weeks, we pray for their safety, lasting friendships, spiritual growth, and growth as individuals. Encourage them to make good choices in all aspects of life including nutrition. Know, however, that if they can’t always make good healthy eating decisions, it is okay. The most important thing that you can do as a parent in teaching them, as in so many other aspects of life, is modeling. If you are making good eating choices in front of them, and cooking good healthy, low-sugar meals for them when they are sitting at YOUR table, you are making a world of difference in their futures. They will have those memories of dinnertime rituals at your table forever and carry those on to future generations. So set those examples at home, and with a little hope and a lot of prayer, let’s look forward to a future generation of very healthy eaters that can make great decisions on their own.

Happy summer!

Posted in articles, Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Eating Out, Health, Kids, Snacks, Sugar, tips tagged with Camp, Carbs, Choices, Healthy Eating, Keto-Adapted, kids, Summer, Teaching, tips

A Night Out on the Town

Posted on July 16, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

It’s the weekend, and what is better than taking a night off from the kitchen to have a wonderful meal out? For those of you not local to San Antonio, you will have to make the trip down here. We know many of our readers are local though, so we have some great tips you can try for an evening out!

The kids are off to camp this week so we decided to try some new restaurants we had heard about. We ventured out four nights this week which I think is a record! Of the four, two were very much post worthy.

The first one worth mention was Cured, which is located in the Pearl area near downtown San Antonio. I went with Erin and another Keto friend, Kelley, where we decided to get three different dishes and serve them family style.

We ordered a great variety.

The first was the Crabmeat Ravigote:

It is basically lump crabmeat in a mayonnaise base topped with a ton of avocado and salad fixings. I asked them to leave off the beets. It was a delightful summer dish, not to mention beautiful!

The second was the Wagyu Brisket Sandwich:

Of course, without the bun! Another delicious dish. Look at the Herb Creme Fraiche and picked onions! And…the wonderful natural beef fat could only help to make it perfectly KETO!

The third dish was a hands down favorite with all three of us. Pork Cheeks Poutine:

I am still salivating over this one! I had never had pork cheeks or any kind of cheeks for that matter, but I guarantee I will have them again. They are melt in your mouth tender with wonderful flavor. They braise these and then slow cook them for hours. It was topped with gobs of flavorful cheddar cheese, pickled cauliflower, and we chose to add the fried egg. Can you say Keto, Keto, Keto! AMAZING!!! I can’t say it loudly enough!

Over all Cured got 5 Stars from all of us for food, atmosphere, staff, and Keto friendly!

The other restaurant we tried was The Cookhouse! This one is located off of St. Mary’s on Mistletoe in a cute little restored house. Make sure you have a reservation! We went on Tuesday night and the only reservation they had left was 6:00 pm. We probably watched them turn away 7 or 8 parties while we were there. Another advantage of this restaurant is their corking policy. You can bring your favorite wine to enjoy for a $20 corkage fee.

The Cookhouse is a New Orleans style restaurant so we were a little anxious going in because of all the heavy carb dishes usually associated with New Orleans. They could not have been more friendly about substitutions here even though they had a large party that evening. Everything is prepared fresh while you wait, and we were able to have a perfectly Keto Low-Carb meal.

We tried a lot of different dishes, and realized we ordered too much once the entrees arrived. They are massive so go hungry!

We started with the Shrimp Remoulade Salad and Pork Cracklins:

The Pork Cracklins are you guessed it, Pork Rinds served with an incredible cream cheese, sour cream and chive dip. These are a far cry from the pork rinds at the gas station!

Above is the Shrimp Remoulade Salad-A meal in itself but watch out for the fried green tomatoes.

Trout Almandine above

Braised Pork Shoulder with zucchini.

This was in place for the Blackened Drum in the menu, I believe it was a red fish.

When you think of cajun often the first thought after spicy and gumbo is grits. None of the four of us had grits and none of us missed them.

The Cookhouse was super accommodating and the objects on your screen are about three times larger than they appear. 🙂

Posted in Dinner, Eating Out, Main Course, Restaurants tagged with appetizer, dinner, keto, Restaurants, Summer, vegetable

No More Buns!

Posted on July 8, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

So today I served up some leftover hamburger patties for my kiddos. As I was fixing my lunch and carrying on with my day, I suddenly realized that not one of my three children even asked for a bun! I had one ask for blueberries, one ask for milk, and the other ask for cheese, but not one asked for bread! What a glorious day!

This is what our hamburger used to look like:

Hopefully this image doesn’t send you to the nearest burger joint! Honestly, this image does nothing for me anymore. As a self-proclaimed carb-aholic, I am amazed that I no longer have cravings for the bun! The meat – yes! I could care less about the bun though. I never thought I would say this, so I post in order to bring you hope for a happy bunless forever.

I am so grateful too. A typical 100% whole wheat hamburger bun has 25-35 grams of carbs, and generally is about 75% carbs or more when calculating macros (Fat, Carbs, Protein). I’m not even going to talk about the dreaded refined white flour buns! And…30 grams of carbs is about my max intake of carbs on a typical day so that bun would be it.

I knew I had made it past the carb craving stage, but I also knew it would be a more difficult task for my children. After all, they usually eat what they are served and find themselves in places with many offerings. In the beginning of this new “Way of Eating” (WOE), I heard a lot of comments like, “How long are you going to do this diet?”, or “Why can’t we have buns?”

It is hard to explain to children how wheat, something that is grown from the earth, is harmful to them. I used to mill my own wheat and bake my own bread for goodness sakes. I get the questions! I used to think I was doing all the right things by giving my children fresh milled whole grains. Then I read Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD and Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD. Wow! What eye opening reads! Being a faithful person, I always believed that anything provided on earth and grown from the ground had to be good for us. I had no idea how much the wheat we were provided has been changed over the years by human scientists. It is actually very sad! I prefer my family eat things from nature, not the product of a scientist. So, that is why I removed wheat not only from my diet, but that of the rest of my family as well.

I was shocked today when I realized that there was not a comment, not a mention, not a whine for bread! Even the kids get over it!

At breakfast today, I served grain-free lemon blueberry muffins, and my oldest told me that he just doesn’t really care for the muffins anymore. When I asked him why he didn’t like the muffins, he told me that it wasn’t these muffins in particular, it was just muffins in general. He asked for a poached egg instead.

Wow! Breakfast breads used to be a staple, and now they are turning them away! What a corner we have turned.

So, I hope that this gives you a glimmer of hope that the whole family can live this Keto lifestyle. I emphasize lifestyle. This is not a diet for us anymore – it is a lifestyle. It is the way we shop, eat, cook, and live. We love it! It gives us more energy to get through the day and through these years of parenting. The kids notice the difference too. Everyone just feels better, which gives us the willpower to get through the choices that used to challenge us. Now it is not a obstacle for us, and surprisingly our children either. I do want to say, that I don’t offer the options at home, but if we are out, I don’t tell the kids it is off limits. I let them make the choice for themselves. I never want them to feel like the things we choose to eat are “forbidden fruit”. I try to educate them to make healthy choices so that they have a lifetime of healthy eating, not just the forbidden foods we tell them they cannot eat. Example teaches what 10,000 words cannot! Be a great example for the kids, and they will follow suit!

Here’s to healthy eating and healthy teaching! It is possible!

Posted in articles, Breakfast, Dinner, Eating Out, Health, Main Course, Research, tips, Uncategorized tagged with Bread, breakfast, Carbohydrates, Children, Choices, dinner, Eating Out, Hamburgers, kids, lunch, Macros, Wheat

Preparing for the Road Trip!

Posted on June 9, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

Yesterday, Erin posted about air travel, and relatives or friends preparing for your visit. Summer also means road trips, and we do quite a few! The Lutz clan just returned from the Texas coast. I knew after a busy school year, that I wanted it to be a relaxing time for the family. As much as I love to cook, I didn’t want to be running upstairs, while the rest of the family played in the pool, just to start dinner. I also know that my kitchen at home is much more stocked than any vacation home on the planet – and I am not one that likes to be without my kitchen tools. It is just so much faster and more efficient to have the right tools! You can find many of the tools we use in our store. The best thing to do is prepare in advance!!!

There are a few staples we always take along with us (coconut oil, a spinner, cream, eggs, and Kerrygold), and several meals that are easy to prepare and freeze for easy travel that have become our “summer road trip meals”. It takes a little planning, but it is totally worth it, to prep some food before you go. I start making a list about a week before we leave, so I can do my grocery runs and start prepping! A few of the things I did before we left were:

1. Spiraled some zucchini for noodles, and packed in a airtight container. Spaghetti is a super easy meal to throw together in a pinch. I took some precooked sausage that I boiled to throw on top with my favorite low-carb pasta sauce. Normally, I would top with shredded mozzarella or parmesan, but I forgot the shredded cheese. We did have string cheese, so for those that wanted cheese atop their spaghetti, I just pulled some strings off the string cheese. Along with a salad, topped with avocado, we had a meal in a flash.

2. I used my Cuisinart to make Cauliflower rice in about 2 minutes. I put it in a Ziplock bag as flat as possible for easy packing, and freeze. This freezes so well, and then all you have to do is defrost, throw on a cookie sheet for about 25 minutes and you have rice ready to go. Serve with fish (you catch) or I used a chicken curry and broccolini that I had in the fridge. Another well-balanced meal!

3. Pack those frozen casseroles you have made when you have extra ingredients. I had a frozen zucchini lasagna made from extra ingredients when I made one recently for dinner. Defrost, throw in the oven, and dinner is ready in 40 minutes – no cooking or dirty dishes!

One trick I use for freezing is to line an 8×8 pyrex with heavy duty foil before I start layering lasagna or any other casserole. I wrap it up and freeze in the dish. Once frozen, I lift the whole thing out of the Pyrex and wrap in Saran very well. Now you have a brick of food that is easy to pack in the ice chest and don’t risk leaving your dish away from home. When you are ready to cook it, remove the plastic wrap and defrost in an 8×8 dish. Almost any condo or vacation home has an 8×8 pyrex or metal pan I have noticed. You can cook it in the foil in which it was wrapped. Check out this link at Southern Living for step by step freezing directions.

4. Another easy meal is precooked Bar-B-Que. I bought a precooked whole brisket which gave us dinner, a few lunches and dinner ready to microwave when we returned home. My trick for this is easy – save your bacon grease from breakfast when you cook on a foil lined cookie sheet. Yes! You can leave it out all day – I promise it will be fine! I plop that slab of meat in the grease, wrap it in extra foil, and you will have the juiciest pre-cooked meat you can imagine. I shredded cabbage before I left home and cooked it with bacon, onion and garlic. Store in an airtight container, and this re-heats better than any other veggie and is so good for you. We will be sharing this recipe soon! It is an excellent accompaniment to Bar-B-Que. This is the shredded cabbage before I cooked it!

5. I made another casserole that I had in the freezer that was similar to Chicken Divan like most of our mothers used to make. It’s the one with chicken, broccoli and cheese in a creamy curry sauce. The original recipe is almost Keto, but I change out the canned soups for more mayo, lemon, broth, and cream. Top with lots of cheese and you have a winner, winner, chicken dinner. I always serve with a side salad. Add the avocado my friends!

6. Generally we have scrambled or poached (yes, I take my poacher) eggs and bacon for breakfast. Check out our amazon store to see my poacher. Sometimes I mix in chorizo with the scrambled eggs to change it up. Last time I made a quiche at home, my kids requested ham and cheese, so I decided to do this ahead since the boys were playing golf early the next morning. It made for a quick breakfast with no clean up. I sprayed a casserole dish with Coconut Oil spray, cubed some ham, topped with cheddar cheese, and mixed 8 eggs with 1 1/2 cups of cream and garlic salt and pepper (go light on the salt for once on this one because the ham and cheese are already salty.) Poor the egg mixture over the ham and cheese and store in the fridge overnight topped with saran. In the morning when everyone is rising, remove the saran and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. This gave us two easy morning meals that were very filling, and the kids gobbled it up!

7. We had tons of left-overs at this point, so we served buffet style one night, and also at lunch if we weren’t making lettuce wraps for the beach.

8. We always eat out one night for some fresh fish. It just happened to be Snapper season, so my husband and I both started with peel ’em and eat ’em shrimp, and ordered the Snapper Special at Seafood and Spaghetti Works that was fantastic. It was blackened in butter and topped with sliced avocado and a crabmeat pico de gallo. It was amazing, and it could not have been more Keto. Once you learn to eat Keto, it really becomes easy to eat out. See our tips in our eating out post.

Isn’t that beautiful? REAL food is just awesome! These are the foods that were designed to fuel our human bodies.

As you can see, I really did no cooking at all for seven nights. It was all reheating, and I had a healthy dinner ready every night with less than 20 minutes of prep time. I literally prepped dinner and set the table while the children were bathing each night!

If you want a relaxing vacation with your family, plan ahead! It is so worth it when you can prepare dinner in a flash while the family is winding down from a fun day in the sun. (Wear your sunscreen!)

We all hope everyone has a safe, fun, relaxing summer filled with memory making vacations!

Posted in Dinner, Eating Out, Groceries, Main Course, Restaurants, Side Dish, tips, Uncategorized tagged with groceries, meal ideas, preparation, tips, trips, vacation

It’s the Weekend! Let’s Eat Out!

Posted on May 30, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

Another BIG question!

How do you eat out on Keto? Well, it’s not as hard as you would imagine…

When we first started cutting carbs, it was a bit intimidating to go out. I wanted to know the exact source of my food and exactly how it was being prepared. This is much easier to do at home, but I still wanted to socialize with my friends. I wasn’t about to give up my few evenings of “adult time” away from the kitchen because of Keto! I soon learned I didn’t have to give up restaurants and neither do you!

I had always considered myself an easy, low-maintenance restaurant patron. And, if I must be honest, I was a bit embarrassed when someone at the table was the “difficult one”. I really love all food, and am a bit of a foodie. I love trying new things and new preparations, so eating out was always an adventure. It still is an adventure, but I am a little more cautious when ordering.

I may not be quite as low-maintance, but I have found that restaurants are more than willing to answer questions about preparations, and even more willing to oblige on certain dietary restrictions. While once an insult to a chef to change his/her dish, it is now all the more common as consumers have more and more dietary restrictions, whether allergies or eating preferences. Don’t hesitate to ask!

Here are some of my general questions when asking about a dish:

Is there sugar in the sauce?

Is the dish gluten-free?

What is the side accompaniment?

Is it breaded?

May I substitute the starch for another vegetable?

May I have the protein grilled or sautéed instead of fried or breaded?

You will find that breading, sauces, and sides are the main culprits.

Here are the main things you need to do:

1. Ask for sauce on the side – every time (Unless it is a heavy cream sauce made without flour or a lemon butter sauce – if this is the case, the more the better.)

2. Ask for extra veggies with butter instead of potatoes, pasta, rice, or risotto.

3. First thing when you arrive – ask your waiter to hold the bread, but bring the butter (real butter) – you may get a funny look, but they will do it!

4. Order a bottle of wine, a martini, or vodka soda. Stay away from the sugary cocktails.

5. Order your salad without crouton or crisps and stay away from sweet dressings. Blue Cheese, Ranch, and Caesar are generally safe. It gets dicey with the vinaigrettes.

6. Read the menu carefully – learn the code words: crispy or coated usually means fried, seasoned could mean sugar so ask. Crunchy usually means it has something on top, like fried onions, tortilla chips, panko, etc. Sweet, glazed, or brushed are almost always code for the dreaded SUGAR. In short, always read the description, and if you are still unsure, ask!

7. Good things to look for are: grilled, broiled, steamed, seared, baked, and sautéed. Savory is usually good, and seasoned is often good as long as the seasoning does not contain sugar.

8. At the end of the meal, refrain from looking at the dessert menu. Too much temptation. Ask for a decaf with heavy cream if you need a little something while your friends order dessert. They won’t be used to the heavy cream order, but almost any good kitchen has cream, so ask the waiter to check the kitchen.

I promise it is really easy after you get used to ordering Keto. Restaurants are starting to have more gluten free dishes (I just ate at one that had a gluten-free menu – remember though that gluten-free doesn’t mean carb-free), and many are used to patrons ordering low-carb. Most of all, don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is not about weight at this point, it is about your health!

Good places to start are:

Bar-B-Que Restaurants (Have all the meat you want, but watch the sauce and sides)

Steak Restaurants (Steak is great – order with Béarnaise and side salad and veggies – skip the potatoes)

Seafood Restaurants (Shrimp and Fish are great – Add lemon butter and it’s even better)

Here are a few pictures of meals we have ordered out to give you some ideas:

Both dishes below were from Houston Street Bistro. They were wonderful about substituting the pasta that was supposed to be served with each dish with vegetables instead. The shrimp is in a lemon butter sauce with broccoli and carrots. The chicken and mushroom dish is in a flourless cream sauce served with a side of spinach instead of over pasta.