Easy Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe

 Easy Egg Roll in a Bowl is a simple, quick and frugal dish.  It only has a few ingredients and can easily being adjusted to fit different tastes or flavor profiles.

In my family everyone has a different taste preference.  Toppings or add ins can completely change this dish up to fit everyone.

Easy Egg Roll in a Bowl

1 lb. ground beef

12 oz bag of coleslaw mix or chopped cabbage

1 Tbs.  butter

1/2 finely diced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 diced pepper (or more if desired)

1/2 c. beef or chicken broth

1 tsp.  each salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

Optional toppings or add ins: sriracha, orange ginger sauce, sour cream, soy sauce, liquid aminos, etc

In a large skillet pan melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic and peppers until tender.  Add the ground beef cooking until done.  Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder mixing well.  Add the broth and the cabbage.  Stir well until well mixed.  Cover and cook over medium to low heat, stirring occasionally until cabbage is to the desired texture.  We prefer very tender.  Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

At this point you could add a variety of sauces or other seasonings to the dish.  We prefer to serve it and then each person adds whatever they like to top it.  Another option, though probably unusual, is to top with shredded cheese and let it melt.  Sour cream is also chosen on occasion.

Easy Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

After experimenting with a few different Keto Chocolate chip cookie recipes I ended up merging a few of them together.  That is where this recipe comes from.  This has become my favorite keto cookie for both texture and flavor.

For me a mixture of coconut flour, almond flour and xanthan gum produce the best texture.  If I use just coconut flour it produces a cookie that is just too dry for my taste.  When using just almond flour you get a very crumbly cookie.  Xanthan gum helps bring the two together to a better texture.

Cookies made with just butter as the fat are good.  But I love the taste of cream cheese sugar cookies.  This recipe gives the best of both in one cookie.

These cookies hold up well.  They last for about a week in an airtight container on the counter before starting to get dry.

Easy Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. Coconut flour

1/2 c. Sweetener ( I prefer Monkfruit)

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Tbs. Almond flour

1/2 tsp.  Xanthan Gum

3 Eggs

1/4 c. Butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 

1/2 c.  Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the butter and cream cheese.  Mix until smooth and well combined.  Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add the sweetener, mixing until well combined.  

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Mix until smooth.

Fold in the chocolate chips.  Let the batter sit for about 10 minutes.

Spoon by the tablespoon onto the baking sheets.  Bake for 12 -14 minutes.  Cool before removing from the sheets.

Store in an airtight container.

  Baby Led Weaning Keto Style

With myself living a meat based keto lifestyle my goal was to continue this with my son.  He was about 4.5 months old when I started.  He was sitting up on his own and showing an intense interest in the food being eaten around him.

I wanted to minimize the risk of choking on food, but I also didn't want him eating purees.  I started with steamed veggies such as broccoli and carrots.  I gave him large strips of cooked steak and let him gum on it and suck on it.  He loved this the most.  He absolutely loved cheese sticks as well.  He would suck on them and gum them forever.  As he got better at moving food around in his mouth I moved on to berries.  Mushed blueberries and raspberries.  Eventually I gave him blackberries.  He wanted to try everything he saw me eating.  I let him taste almost everything.  He usually just wanted to lick it and taste it.

Now that he is 3 he eats or at least tries almost everything.  He has no qualms to going up to anyone eating and asking for a bite.  He prefers food with flavor.  He will stick his nose up at bland food.  

A short list of foods he started out with:

    1.  Steamed veggies

    2.  Cheese Sticks

    3.  Large pieces of cooked meat

    4.  Avocado slices

    5.  Keto Ratio yogurt

As he was more and more able to move food around and mash it in his mouth I added in:

    1.  Mushed berries

    2.  Steamed and seasoned squash cubes

    3.  Scrambled eggs

    4.  Sausage sticks

   

Once he mastered chewing and swallowing his food I added in:

    1.  Small bite size pieces of tender meat

    2.  Small pieces of cheese

    3.  Keto Ratio yogurt with berries and granola

    4.  Shredded chicken

    5.  Pulled Pork

As he continued to master chewing, swallowing, and using utensils I started to offer him everything I was eating.  He has developed his own taste preferences.  To this day he seems to prefer his food either cold or room temperature.

With drinking in mind I started him on a small shot glass size cup with a tiny amount of water in it.  It took him a lot of practice to actually get it to his mouth and drink it.  He preferred to dump it, stick his hands in it, and splash in the spilled water.  It was well worth the mess.  At 3 years old now, he uses a regular cup easily.  Uses the water dispenser on the refrigerator to fill it.

I had a huge fear of him choking when I started out.  I quickly learned that he was capable of knowing his limits.  He had a few times of gagging on food, but coughed it out all on his own.  He seemed to learn from these incidents.  Food was played with more than eaten for a long time.  That is ok.  He was learning from this through feeling and manipulating the food.  He was engaging all his senses and thoroughly enjoying himself.

Keto Lifestyle

I have been following the Keto lifestyle for over a year now.  Initially it was a last attempt to lose weight.  I had tried so many other methods of weight loss that I figured I would give it one more go around.  I went into this with zero expectations.  I didn't think it would work because nothing else did, at least not long term.

I should probably take a step back and explain the 6 months earlier I went low carb to try to lose weight.  I started working out every day, no matter how tired I was.  I lost 20 pounds after about 4 months.  Then my weight stayed.  It started to creep  back on in little bits.  I was tired of it.

Going into Keto, I decided that the only way it would work was if I didn't have to count calories or macros.  I knew that if this was the case I would not stick with it.  I have a busy and stressful life, and if I wanted to give this a chance it needed to be as simple as possible.

My new diet started out by removing the non Keto foods.  I did not find substitutes for things at all.  No Keto baked goods, bread or desserts.  Instead I concentrated on the foods I was already eating that were Keto friendly.  I slowly started trying new foods as well.  My goal was to keep my diet high fat, while keeping it as simple as possible.

I waited a month before weighing myself.  I was surprised to see that I had lost a decent amount of weight.  From that point on the weight seemed to just fall off.  I was dropping clothing sizes pretty fast.  It was awesome, but it also brought out a bunch of other problems for me.  I knew if I did actually lose weight that I would have to deal with the psychological impact of it at some point.  When this hit, it hit hard.  It made me do a lot of evaluating of my life, actions,goals, needs and wants.  It forced me to come face to face with a lot of psychological baggage I had buried deep for a long time.  I started to realize some things, and make changes in my life.  Baby steps to future goals.

It's funny, looking back, that I was worried about the cost of replacing clothing if I did manage to lose weight and keep it off.  In reality that was an insignificant result of the journey.

I have been maintaining for 7 months now.  I have to say, maintaining is more difficult than the losing of the weight.  It is worth it though.  This is a lifestyle change, not a quick weight loss and then reverting back to old eating habits.  I have never felt better eating this way.

Avocado Egg Salad

One of my frugal go to meals on Keto is avocado egg salad.  There are many different variations of this creation.  However, I decided to share with you the very basic mixture.  It is a very filling meal full of healthy fats.

To start with you need a small bowl.  Peel and mash one hard boiled egg. 

Next, either add half a drained can of tuna or one small tuna pouch.

Add half of a very ripe avocado or one small avocado cup.
 

Add 1-2 tablespoons of mayo and a squirt of mustard. 

Mash and stir this mixture together.  Add salt to taste.

Typically I eat this mixture with pickle slices.  I use the pickles as you would a cracker.

Common changes I make for this dish are:

Add some chives, onion, lettuce, bacon, turkey, ham, shredded or cubed cheese, or any other flavor you want.

Omit the tuna and add a second egg.  Or if really hungry, just add a second egg.

Sour cream instead of mayo is pretty good as well.

Use different seasonings such as paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, herbs, etc....

I tend to use avocado mini cups instead of avocados because I end up wasting avocados.  They either take forever to ripen or all ripen at once.  This way the initial cost is a bit more, but I am not wasting any food, so I save money in the long run.  It is also more easily portable, which I need to take to work with me.

Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite treats before switching to the Keto lifestyle was a good chocolate chip cookie.  Since maintaining my weight loss I have been experimenting with sweet treats.  This recipe has been a trial and error project for quite some time.  It has become a favorite of family and friends, keto and non-keto eaters alike.

Start by preheating your oven to 350⁰F.  You will need a medium size bowl.  To this add 1/2 cup of coconut flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. xanthan gum, and 2 Tbs. almond flour.  Mix together and set aside.

In a small bowl melt 1/2 cup butter in the microwave.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla, stirring well.

Add 1/3 c. monkfruit sweetener, mixing well.

 Add 3 eggs, mixing thoroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Mix until smooth.  The batter will be thick.  Let set for 5-10 minutes.  Do not skip this step.  The coconut flour needs time to absorb the liquids.

Roughly chop 2 ounces of 85% dark chocolate.

Fold the chopped chocolate into the dough.

Place spoonfuls of dough on parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake for 12- 14 minutes.  Cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Note:  I use monkfruit sweetener which is a 1 to 1 ratio to regular sugar.  You can use other sweeteners, but be careful of their strength ratio to regular sugar.  You may have to use more or less than the recipe calls for depending on what it is.

Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. coconut flour
1/3 c. monkfruit sweetener
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
2 Tbs. almond flour
3 eggs
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. 85% dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350⁰F.  In a medium bowl combine the coconut flour, sweetener, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum and almond flour.  Mix well.  aside.

In small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.  Add the vanilla and sugar, mixing well.  Add the eggs, mixing until thoroughly combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix until smooth.  Let set for 5-10 minutes.  Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Place by the spoonful onto parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Let cool on the sheets for several minutes before removing and cooling on racks.