Pill Popping – No more a problem!

Just had to celebrate again today!

After over 2 years on the diet, today at “snack time,” when Autumn usually crushes up all her vitamins and mixes them in butter (see previous post here ), she just picked each one up…even the horse pill size ones.. and swallowed them….one by one!  

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This may not make the top-ten list of most exciting things to accomplish in life – but it was certainly worth high-fives all around!

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Keto Joy!

Another Milestone – Chocolate Covered!

Although Autumn is still on the ketogenic diet, tonight (well actually, last night because I am writing this after midnight 😉 ) was the first meal in over 2 years that Autumn ate the same thing for dinner that we did – no weighing – no measuring.

I should have taken a picture before we ate – I thought for sure we would have leftovers, but it was too good for that.

Here is a picture from the recipe I used:

2e3ead83a621fd5ca925c7f4bbd8c051 Shortly after we were done eating,  I took her blood ketone level:

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Down to 1.4…and so far, no seizures. See ketone post here.

  Tonight, I purposely made a low carb dinner that I felt would be in her ratio range (with cream cheese, cheese, bacon, cauliflower and chicken!) because I really wanted to see if we could do it – without a seizure.  

And, yes we could.

 Wow, I still can’t get over how all this works.  Will this really work…will it keep working?  

Yes, to be honest,  I am still nervously….optimistic.

Then  for dessert, we turned a few of these…

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  Into these:  

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 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!  

They are so easy to make.  Click here for the recipe for “Skinny Chocolate” – It is basically a 1:.5 ratio of coconut oil, to cocoa and ground “powdered” truvia. Remember that if you are looking for a higher fat ratio -use the Ghirardelli.  We think it tastes better as well. I always mix in a little dark chocolate for a deeper flavor, but that is optional.

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 It only takes a couple of minutes to mix up the ingredients, and then dip in the strawberries. NOTE: The best way to dip – actually the only way to we dip – is to make sure the berries have been in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 an hour or so, so that they are COLD.  When they are cold and you dip them, the chocolate hardens right away. It is best to use a smaller container so that it is very full of the chocolate when you dip. Also, stir your mixture in between dipping.

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 You can also add “toppings” if you would like such as shredded coconut or nuts. Just make sure you do it RIGHT after you dip in the chocolate so the toppings “stick” before the chocolate gets hard:

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Even if you are on a higher ratio – just cut the strawberries up in smaller pieces and dip – one strawberry can yield lots of bites!

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Although Autumn enjoyed her allotted amount…I must say it was pretty easy for her mom to eat about a  1/2 dozen… 😉

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 Chocolate Covered

Keto Joy!

Strawberry Fields…(feels like)….forever!

If you don’t see many blog posts lately, it is because we’ve been a little bit busy with this….

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IMG_0635 10440874_573312166123020_7587112411017502757_n We have about 20,000 plants in the ground and are continuing on….hopefully they will be producing ….forever!

 So we will be able to offer people “Real Live Food, For Real Life Living!”

Forti Berry Acres

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The Power of Food- Keto Joy!

 

 

Be Your Own Candy Bar Company!

Anyone love Payday Candy Bars? How about Dark Chocolate Almond Mocha Bars? Caramel Turtles?

Whether you are on the keto diet or just a low carb diet – you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these teats! The only problem is having enough self control to not eat the entire batch!

Once again – it is the gifted chef Dawn Martenz to credit. If you do not have her book, The Keto Cookbook, or have not checked out the new Charlie Foundation website, you are missing out on some awesome food!

Awhile back I found a recipe for low-carb caramel sauce on the “Trim Healthy Mama” website.  I had tried and loved it – Autumn did as well and we have been making amazing “candy bars” ever sense. However, recently I ran across Dawn’s  recipe for caramel sauce here. By watching the video I saw how to get a much better consistency.  The only thing we do differently is add a bit of Caramel extract.

So check out the video – We do a huge batch! – and start enjoying some scrumptious candy bars!

Caramel sauce over peanuts for “Pay Days”

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Here we made a huge batch of Skinny Chocolate (with almonds- you can use pecans for a higher ratio) and covered pieces with caramel:IMG_0229IMG_0736IMG_0737

Today, when we made Dawn’s recipe (You can tell the difference in color); We made plain caramels and “Turtle Caramels” in molds:

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It was during lunch – so ignore the mess, (It was keto grilled cheese for Autumn today)- I am surprised we had any caramel left due to all the taste testing going on!

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And of course, a little after lunch taste-testing once the caramels had hardened in the freezer:

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With one extra little helper…..

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Even the dogs say:

Keto Joy! 🙂