Ice cream shakes and chocolate milk – everyday!

Posted in Home, Ketogenic Diet, Recipes by ten40s

When I first inquired about the ketogenic diet, a nurse told me, “It is really hard, you have to drink cream on the diet.”

And that is considered hard? 🙂

Let me just say that I would like to indulge in as much cream as Autumn gets to enjoy!

Autumn often has ice cream shakes several times throughout the week, but almost always on late Sunday afternoons because all her siblings love a big batch of Jamocha shakes for….dinner! We eat a late lunch so the shakes are a late dessert/dinner 🙂

(If Autumn is having “milk” with one of her meals, she just measures out the needed amount of cream, adds a little water and some chocolate stevia drops for a delicious chocolate milk.)

These are the ice cream shake ingredients (Click on “Recipes” tab for exact measurements):

First, measure out your cream and unsweetened coconut milk, then blend it on high until it is no longer runny.

This is what it will look like. Now it doesn’t look like there is much there, but just wait!

Next you add ice cubes and frozen coconut milk cubes.

We have never hooked up our icemaker so they are standard ‘ice cube tray” size. I pour the coconut milk in the tray and freeze them (then store them in ziplock bag), so we always have frozen cubes on hand. The plastic bag contains 3 frozen coconut milk cubes and 3 ice cubes. For some reason the blender (even though it is a Vitamix) does not blend smaller amounts well, so I crush the cubes up with that good old meat mallet before adding them to the blender.

Then measure your cocoa and sweetener of choice. Today, Autumn wanted to have a chocolate raspberry shake..yum..delicious..so we added some Sweetleaf drops. Add a dash of salt, and blend all the yumminess together!

Pour into a favorite festive glass..and….

Enjoy that cream!!!!

Sometimes we have chocolate chip cookies to go with them….and Autumn does too. I will post that recipe soon!

8Nov2013

Let Your Life So Shine

Posted in Home, Ketogenic Diet, Uncategorized by ten40s

I “met” Natalie on Facebook when we were just starting our seizure journey last year. Natalie is the mother of Gianna, a stunningly beautiful, brown-eyed 8-year-old girl who has more challenges than I can even name. I broke out crying the first time I watched a video of Gianna that her mom had shared. I cried because of the incredible grace of this mother…never giving up….always encouraging her daughter to press on. She has given her life to searching for answers to help her daughter ….and along the way she helps all of us. Her life is like a stalworth, beaming lighthouse for others to catch a glimpse of… on the murky waters trying to find their way in the storms and fog….and it keeps shining.

One day Natalie posted that someone had watched one of her videos of Gianna and left the following comment;

“Why don’t you just kill her, and save the government money.”

Shock…Horror…What? …Really?!!!!

It literally took my breath away when I read it.

So what does Natalie do? She keeps going. She is not existing. She is living – living perhaps more “lively” than many who have none of these challenges and are just merely existing in their own self-centered world.

We need to get beyond ourselves. “Whoever loses his life shall find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

To the Natalies’ of this world…faithfully serving the beautiful Giannas’ of this world… I salute you…and am indebted to you. Thank you for giving us a stunning example of grace. For those of us who have the ability or resources….let us take the example set before us…find someone whose load we can lighten…today…and everyday.

“Let your life so shine” Matthew 5:16

7Nov2013

Living – not just exisiting – another reason for KetoJoy!

Posted in Home, Ketogenic Diet by ten40s

There is not much living you can do when your child is dropping to the floor up to 80 – 100 times a day. Even when Autumn first started having seizures and was “only” having 1 or 2 an hour, someone always had to be with her for fear of injury. She had to be very careful as to what activities she did. She could have never done what she did today – making candles with hot beeswax sitting in boiling water! 🙂

Autumn chose to wrap her candle in purple ribbon for Epilepsy Awareness Month and green buttons to represent The Charlie Foundation.

The diet that many doctors and patients think is such a burden…brings to us such a blessing…allowing us to live again…and not just exist…that is Ketojoy!

6Nov2013

Wonderful Wednesday Waffles

Posted in Home, Recipes, Uncategorized by ten40s

Well….Wonderful Waffles any day of the week!

The wonderfully, warm, maplely, aroma when these are “baking” in the waffle iron inevitably brings one of my kids…then another and another….into the kitchen saying, “Yum that smells so good, what are you making?” but alas…they are only for their Keto- sister Autumn to enjoy – oh, the benefits of being on the diet! This recipe comes from The Keto Cookbook listed under resources. We quadruple the batch, several times over, and then freeze them so they are ready to have on hand whenever you want to serve up, well… “Wonderfulness” 😉

Here are the ingredients you will need (See “Recipe Tab” for exact measurements)

The first thing you need to do is measure out how many pecans you will need. You then “grind” them until they are into very small pieces. We have tried using a blender, but for some reason pecans just don’t grind well. We put the nuts in a double plastic bag and get out the good old meat mallet (works great when you can’t find a hammer as well 🙂 ) and start pounding away. To save time, we “pound” a big batch of nuts at a time. This only takes a few minutes and some of the kids think its fun. Any extra nuts you have, store in the fridge – which is where we keep all of our nuts to keep them fresher longer.

Next beat your eggs, and add a bit of maple flavoring – or any other flavoring you might like. Bickford Brands is the brand that Debbie Snyder recommends in Keto Kid. Then add the rest of your ingredients, stir it up and pour into waffle iron.

Depending on your waffle iron they will cook for about 7-8 minutes – and your house will smell so good!

After these are cooled we wrap each one in its own bag and then put them all in a large freezer bag and into the freezer they. They are then ready when you are. When it comes time to eat one, we top it with whip cream (don’t let anyone discourage you by saying you have to use a lot of cream on the diet – I only wish I could enjoy as much as my daughter does!) and berries. Measure your cream, beat it up, add a bit of your preferred sweetener…

Spread it on…yum…

measure your berries…

top that waffle….And ENJOY a bite of wonderfulness!

5Nov2013

Consider it all Joy

Posted in Home, Ketogenic Diet by ten40s

Although we started this blog several days ago by putting up recipes and resources, it hasn’t been “live” until today , so, live post #1 🙂

It is Epilepsy awareness month and I find some of the statistics I am reading just staggering. In all of this, I am reminded where we were a little over 17 months ago…in a hospital room where drug after drug wasn’t working and every few minutes the seizures raged on. I had a friend call me in the midst of it all and say, “Just remember that today is not the way it is always going to be.” I hung unto those words knowing that time has a way of working things out – in one way or another. And I, and my husband and kids, just kept doing the next right thing in front of us. I think of the 2 moms in the video – Tresa and Kate – where they once were and where they are today – with the success of their kids, and how much more they know since that “one day” when their worlds were shattered. We all have seen examples of this in our lives and those around us. Thus, I am reminded of the verse in James 1 that says: ”Consider it all joy my brethren, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of you faith produces patience, and let patience have its perfect work in you, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Looking for joy? Look to those trials that are perfecting you, as you patiently walk through it, day by day. 😉

4Nov2013

Monday’s Breakfast – Peanut Butter Cookies, Apples and Dip

Posted in Home, Recipes by ten40s

I asked Autumn this morning what was for breakfast and she said “Mom, I always have peanut butter cookies on Monday.”

So I got out the camera and started taking pictures!

I had a mom call me several weeks ago asking some questions about the diet. She had seen a picture of Autumn eating peanut butter cookies on my FB page asked me for the recipe. She had not started the diet yet and was just trying to go “low-carb with her son. When I started to write out the recipe for her, I realized that if you have never made a keto-recipe it would be hard to explain the size of how things look – thus was another reason to start the blog to show people what a keto meal/dessert looks like:

Here are the ingredients you need: (See “Recipes” tab for exact measurements)

Now, when you mix these up all you need is a small cup – yet you will end up with 16-18 “mini” cookies:

A tip when adding egg: Typically you only need a few grams of egg in a recipe. Mix an egg in a small food storage container and then pour just what you need into your recipe and store the rest in the fridge.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together and then place a “dime-size” amount of batter per cookie on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 7 minutes. We have a convection oven so oven times may vary.

These cookies can be made as a “snack” but this recipe has “apples and peanut butter” added to it to make it more of a meal. While the cookies are baking, add together the peanut butter, butter, coconut oil and a bit of stevia and stir. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature so we put a little in a metal measuring cup, heat it up on the stove to melt and then measure it into the batter.

When we first started out in the diet we were at a 4:1 ratio. And although at that ratio you don’t get a whole lot of apple, they are still tasty! The picture here is a 2.5:1 ratio. The key is to cut the apples thin so there are lots of slices to go with all the cookies 🙂

Here is what the cookies look like after baking:

And here is what it looks like all together – Autumn loves to dip the apples and the cookies in the sauce!

Of course I forgot to take a picture of her eating them this morning, but here is one from her birthday breakfast – Yum Yum!

4Nov2013

Cheesecake Berry Crunch – simply yumifiable!

Posted in Home, Recipes by ten40s

Cheesecake Berry Crunch is not only one of Autumn’s favorites, but a family favorite as well!

This is a heavenly blend of raspberries, blueberries, pecans and cream cheese – all mixed together it tastes like raspberry ice cream – only better!

This recipe actually comes from the book Trim and Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. I will be doing a post about this book in the future. The book has nothing to do with seizures BUT it tells you everything on how to be a Trim Healthy Mama, which helps you have lots of energy when you have 8 kids and your youngest starts having seizures! I tweaked the original recipe a bit by changing the almonds to pecans because pecans have a higher fat ratio.

Put your ratio of ingredients in a small blender or use a hand blender with attachment (which is what we use), and then blend. (See “Recipes” tab for exact measurements.)

Then pour into a dessert type glass. Autumn and her sisters have fun going to Goodwill to find wonderful crystal stemware for serving up desserts. When doing the keto-diet, “presentation’ of a meal or dessert can really add to the joy of eating it! 🙂

Then it is time for…

Keto Joy!

1Nov2013

Friday Night Pizza!

Posted in Home by ten40s

Friday night pizza is a mainstay in our home! And Autumn enjoys her keto pizza right along with her brothers and sisters, she even makes a glass of her favorite ‘soda” to go with it! Here is a step by step guide on how we make it:

These are the ingredients:

Remember that each person will have differing amounts of each ingredient depending upon what ratio they are on (i.e. 4:1 or 3:1 etc.) and calorie needs. (Click on “Recipes” tab for this pizza in a 3:1 ratio.)

Step 1: Mix together proper ratio of Macadamia nut butter, Olive oil, Mayo and a sprinkle of garlic salt.

Step 2: Beat proper ratio of egg white until stiff and then stir into macadamia nut mixture

Step 3: Spread mixture out – into a circle, rectangle or whatever you like- on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Put this into 350 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes

Step 4:

While pizza is baking, you can prepare your sauce and cheese. We pour a can of tomato sauce into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen we store them in a plastic bag. Whenever it is time to make pizza we take one out and melt it on the stove, then measure on scale.

Step 5: Measure Cheese

Step 6:

Take pizza out of oven and spread on sauce and cheese. If your ratio allows, you may add onions, peppers, mushrooms etc.. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Autumn has a salad (lettuce) at lunch and dinner. With pizza, she has a Caesar salad with bacon bits and cheese (sometimes she puts her bacon on her pizza). We buy Hormel no nitrate and no bht bacon, fry it and then freeze it. When she needs bacon for anything we just take out a piece and measure what we need. Hormel bacon strips have more fat than any other processed bacon bits you might buy and that is why we use it.

Autumn also likes to make “soda” to enjoy with her pizza. We use plain carbonated water, flavored stevia drops and just a bit of truvia or sweet leaf stevia powder. She has lots of fun with all the different flavors!

So it’s time to serve up the pizza, salad and soda!!!! And for dessert she will be deciding on a chocolate shake, Cheesecake Berry Crunch or perhaps peanut butter cups and chocolates….more recipe posts to follow!

Keto Joy!