Please note:  All recipes that will be posted here reflect a general guideline for primarily a 3:1 ratio* for a 9-year-old, 60 pound girl.  You will need to work with your dietitian and the ketocalculator for your appropriate ratios – EVERYONE is different! 🙂

* Although most recipes BELOW the “Taco Salad” listing are approximately 3:1 or higher, on February 13,  2014  we have started to slowly reduce Autumn’s ratio as we began a “slow wean”  – so please make sure you are putting all recipes in your Keto calculator account to get what you need!!!! 

Click on each recipe title to see how it is made.  This page lists the ingredients only.

 If you are brand new to the diet, my suggestion would be to start VERY BASIC. We started on a 4:1 ratio with most of the recipes listed below and adjusted them as we moved along. Try just a handful of recipes you might like and stick with those until you have good seizure control.  Remember when you are starting this diet – it is just that – a start – it is not the way things  will be forever.  Be encouraged, knowing that you walk daily with many others who are doing the same thing.  Along the way you might begin to enjoy some new creative ways of cooking, other activities and people that you might not otherwise have had the opportunity.   Try to take “Joy in the Journey” even though it may not have been one you wanted to take – as long as you have to be on it – you might as well enjoy whatever you can. 🙂

“Consider it all joy when you face trials…knowing it is perfecting you.” James 1

A few notes on some ingredients:

Truvia, THM and Stevia Extract Powder:  I will be doing a future post on these sweeteners along with artificial sweeteners ( I have never used Splenda or NutraSweet/aspartame with Autumn).  For now I would just like to make the note that we grind our Truvia in a coffee grinder to make it like a powdered sugar.  This helps it mix well in recipes.  Stevia extract powder is very concentrated and is already in a fine powder. Please note that when you use stevia extract powder you only need a  VERY TINY AMOUNT!  You can go from yum to yuck with just a few too many granules – it is that sweet – so be careful not to use too much! Also, always add just a pinch of salt to your recipes to balance the flavor – this may sound weird but it can make a huge difference in the final taste. Check out the Resource page to see different recommended brands.

Macadamia Nut Butter:  I have never found this at a store. I have either bought macadamia nuts and ground them with a blender or purchased the butter on-line. When you buy it make sure it is pure macadamia nut butter with no other ingredients except for perhaps salt. Macadamia Nut Butter is wonderful because it is almost a perfect 4:1 ratio food.

Cream: I remember when I asked a nurse about the diet and she said it was really hard because you had to drink cream.  Wow, how about turning it into an ice cream shake or rich chocolate milk or pudding?!  Whenever Autumn has cream as part of a recipe she generally adds a little water to it to thin it down a bit, and puts in a few drops of Chocolate Stevia drops – or another one of Sweet Leaf’s myriad of delicious flavors. In the ketocalculator you will see three “grades” of cream 30%, 36% and 40% listed.  36% is what we use in all of Autumn’s recipes. Cream is a tasty way to get your “fat”in to raise that ratio!

Nuts: I will do a future post on the health benefits of soaking your nuts before using them.  Soaked nuts are much easier on the digestive tract and this is particularly important on the keto-diet. Macadamia nuts and pecans are another great way to increase the fat in your meals. Don’t forget to add a brazil nut daily if you can – it is a great way to get in selenium.

Flavorings:  In her book Keto Kid, Debbie Snyder recommends Bickford Flavorings.  When we first started the diet, we did not use any flavorings at all until we had good seizure control.  When we started to use them, we did use the Bickford brand.  Several months ago we moved to the store brands – but again we only use a little amount at a time.  Also, please check out the stevia flavored extracts – they are basically considered “carb-free.” There are so many flavors and we use them often! I show a picture of them on the “Resource” page.

Lettuce: I always make sure Autumn has a “salad “at lunch and dinner to help avoid constipation. Often times, her salad is just plain lettuce with nothing else – and she actually loves lettuce now!

 

CHOCOLATE COCONUT MOUNDS BARS

(Click on Recipe Title for Pictures and instructions)

These are a really high-ratio treat. You would want to make sure you, or your child, is not in any danger of being overly ketotic before making these.  Although Autumn is at a much lower ratio, I let her enjoy these once in a while as they are one of my “low-carb treats.”  The coconut bar recipe originally comes from this site (although, I did not use agave nectar,)  and then I used “skinny chocolate” from THM (Trim Healthy Mama)

For Bars:

1 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

14 grams Coconut oil (you could use more for a moister bar.)

 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Pinch of stevia or a dash of truvia

 For Chocolate topping:

 25 grams Cocoa

50 grams Coconut oil

15 grams Ground powdered Truvia/ Several pinches of Stevia – Sweetener of choice

1/8 teaspoon salt

Samoa Shakes and More!

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

Listed here are the “general guidelines” for the Samoa Shake.  If you need a higher ratio – omit the cottage cheese and use more cream! You could also use an 85%  or higher Cocoa Chocolate bar like Lindt or Ghirardelli and break into pieces for a higher fat “chocolate chip.” 

66 Grams Cream (We use 36%)

22 grams 4% Cottage cheese

Generous ½ teaspoon Caramel flavoring

10 grams ground powdered Truvia or several “pinches” Stevia

Pinch of salt

6 Frozen “Coconut cubes” made with unsweetened coconut beverage, crushed

15 grams Unsweetened Coconut (or sweetened with stevia as I show in post)

7 grams Mini chocolate chips 

If shake is too thick, add a little unsweetened coconut milk 

BASIC CHOCOLATE SHAKE

Edit: 4/2023

I have had to update my recipe links and noticed I never had one for a basic chocolate shake!

So here is a link with pictures, but I don’t have the amounts since it has been about 9 years since Autumn was on the diet. I would say it would be similar to the snickers shake below.

For the Snickers shake: 

44 Grams of cream

25 grams Unsweetened Coconut beverage

22 grams 4% Cottage Cheese

5 grams cocoa  (Ghirardelli has a higher fat content than Nestlé’s)

 15 grams of peanut butter

10 grams ground powdered Truvia or some pinches of Stevia

Generous ½ teaspoon Caramel extract

Pinch of Salt

6 Frozen “Coconut Cubes” made with unsweetened coconut beverage, crushed

Top with Chopped Pecans 

Mint Chocolate Chip or Cherry Chip

Omit caramel extract and use ¼ tsp. Peppermint extract and 1 tsp. vanilla. Omit coconut, and top with ratio allowed amount of Chocolate chips 

For Cherry Chip use ½ teaspoon Cherry Extract, omit coconut, and top with ratio allowed amount of chocolate chips 

Whenever I make a “berry” type of shake, I use Bickford raspberry or strawberry flavorings and then some drops “Berry” flavored Stevia drops. I then add in whatever amount of berries she is allowed – sometimes I use frozen – sometimes fresh.

 

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

 If having Grilled cheese WITHOUT tomato soup, below are the items we use. If making WITH tomato soup, add more cream and mix with a low-carb tomato sauce to fit your ratio.

Although we used this recipe a lot when Autumn was at a 4:1 ratio, the one listed here is 2.5:1.  Add more cream, oil, butter or nuts to get your ratio up if needed. 

29 grams Flax bread (from Charlie Foundation recipe – also listed in keto calculator)

20 grams Kraft Cheddar Cheese (Mild, medium or sharp)

8 grams Butter

14 grams Cream (For drinking. However if you need more fat for a higher ratio, add more and whip up, add sweetener and flavor and serve as a”pudding” or shake)

5 grams Pecans

28 grams carrots

Lettuce (24 grams are considered “free)

Mustard and  low carb ketchup (grams will vary on ketchup depending on brand)

5 grams  melted coconut oil – Autumn takes off of spoon before eating

(For soup – again just add ratio amount of tomato sauce and cream – add spices)

Taco Salad

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

As mentioned above, all recipes listed below “Taco Salad” are approximately 3:1 or above. We have started to slowly start the weaning process -so we are now down to a 2.25:1 ratio.  The original 4:1 recipe for Tacos is on page 83 of The Keto Cookbook.  

The ingredients are basically hamburger – spiced with what you like (just make sure no sugar in spices!), that I cooked up and then pour butter over. Then shredded cheese, lettuce, full- fat sour cream and a few drops of low carb ketchup.  For additional fat I added pecans and Autumn then has her milk/cream – although in the cookbook, Dawn whips the cream and adds a bit of vanilla and stevia for a vanilla “pudding” – yum – I think I will do that next time!  Autumn takes a full tablespoon(6 grams) of melted coconut oil off the spoon before eating – although you could add the fat with something else if you like (mayonnaise or more cream).

Skinny Chocolate 

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions.)

This is for a single batch recipe, which we rarely use unless we are doing a parfait. Typically we do a big batch so we have plenty on hand!

 12 grams Coconut oil

5 grams cocoa

3-4 grams ground powdered truvia (See note at top of page on truvia/stevia)

Pinch of salt

5 grams nuts

Flavorings if desired. The Sweet Leaf flavored drops( see “Resources” page) work well for this – but remember just use a couple of drops or you will go from yum to yuck! 

Raspberry Whip Cream Pie

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions.)

 For Pie Crust:

15 grams of pecans – Remember that different nuts will give you a differen tratio.

3 grams of butter

Smidge of stevia if desired

 Raspberry Pie Filling:

 This is a high ratio dessert – often I have made this at a higher than 4:1 ratio as long as it fit within Autumn’s calorie amount.

Cream – use appropriate amount for ratio – you could you 50g. or you could use 100g. It really will depend a lot on your calorie requirements

Raspberries – Frozen or fresh – again put it on the keto Calulator for appropriate amount for you  – I use around 40 grams for Autumn.

Pinch of Salt

Few grams of Truvia (See note at top of page on Truvia/Stevia)

 Raspberry flavoring if desired – just a few drops. The Sweet Leaf stevia “Berry” drops work really well – but remember – just use a couple of drops or you will go from yum to yuck!

 If you desire “chocolate chunks,” add a portion of “Skinny Chocolate.”

 Chocolate Raspberry Parfait

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions.)

 This is a high ratio dessert – often I have made this at a higher than 4:1 ratio as long as it fit within Autumn’s calorie amount.

Cream – use appropriate amount for ratio – you could you 50g. or you could use 100g. It really will depend a lot on your calorie requirements

 Raspberries – Frozen or fresh – again put it on the keto Calulator for appropriate amount for you  – I use around 40 grams for Autumn

A few grams of sweetener of choice(See note at top of page regarding Stevia/truvia)

 1 Bar (1 batch) of Skinny Chocolate broken in pieces – we typically use about 1/2 of the bar.

Munch-Time Sandwiches

(Click on recipe name to see pictures and instructions)

30 Grams Hormel Uncured Salami

20 Grams Hard Cheese (We use Kraft/extra Sharp)

8 Grams Butter

Lettuce (Approximately 24 grams)

30 Grams Cream (with desired amount of water added)

7 Grams Pecans

(You will note that pecans were not on the “Posting Page” because Autumn is now at a lower ratio.)

7 Grams Oil – Coconut or Fish

PB&J

(Click on recipe name to see pictures and instructions)

Ingredients for Bread/Muffin:

This is for a single serving recipe – we quadruple it in our Sylin’ with PBJ Post

5 Ground Flax meal

20 Raw Macadamia Nut Butter

12 gramsOlive Oil/Coconut Oil/Walnut Oil/ Use one or a combination or whatever taste you prefer

35 grams mixed well egg

Sprinkle of Salt

2-4 grams Truvia/ Much less of Stevia(See note at top of page on Stevia/Truvia)

Ingredients For “Jelly”

Fresh or frozen fruit – If make it into a jelly stir up fruit and add a pinch of stevia if you like. You have to check your own amounts needed in the keto calculator! We used approximately 25 grams raspberriesOR 15 grams blueberries.

10 grams All Natural, no sugar added Peanut Butter – We use Smuckers

5 grams Butter

We also serve this up with about 

10 grams of carrots and “Free Lettuce”

Please check your own ratios!

Kale Chips

(Click on recipe name to see pictures and instructions)

Several Bunches of Kale – ribs removed

 A few tablespoons of butter (or olive oil) melted in a pan and a bit of salt to taste

 

Cheese Crackers

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

(4:1 Ratio recipe from The Keto Cookbook by Dawn Martenz)

This recipe is for one batch – We quintuple (5X) this batch and make 20 crackers

18 grams Macadamia Nut Butter

4.5 grams Kraft Cheddar, block style, grated

3 grams egg whites

Pinch of salt

Chocolates!

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

 quick note: If you are looking for a really yummy quick chocolate recipe that literally just takes minutes, you can combine coconut oil, unsweetened cooca, sweetener, nuts if desired and pinch of salt mix (2:1 portion on coconut oil and cocoa, sweetener to taste) and put in freezer for a couple minutes – instant dark chocolate flavor you! I will do a post on this soon – just don’t have time today! The recipe listed below for the Chocolates I posted is a high ratio – 4+:1 REMEMBER – you need to know what your requirements are and working in your ketocalculator – these are just a guideline!

175 grams Cream (see note on cream at top of page)

35 grams Butter

28 grams Bakers unsweetened chocolate

14 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips (we use Nestles mini)

14 grams ground powdered Truvia (or sweetener of choice – grams will GREATLY vary- see note at top of page)

35 grams pecans

For “Reese’s” Peanut Butter Cups

(Click on Recipe title for pictures and instructions)

46 grams Natural No sugar added Peanut Butter (we use Smuckers)

40 grams butter

5 grams of ground powdered Truvia (or sweetener of choice -grams will GREATLY vary – see note at top of page)

Then add a drop of “Chocolates” mixture in middle of each – see recipe post

Pumpkin Frappe!Shake!Ice Cream

(Click on recipe title for pictures and instructions)

A note on this recipe – it is a bit higher than a 3:1 ratio- Make sure you do your own calculations in the ketocalculator and are with your guidelines!  This is also a bit on the high side for calories, so depending on your daily requirements you could “half” the recipe or lighten up on something else during the day.  Autumn has several meals that are a bit on the lower side of calories so she would have this shake on one of those days.

80 grams Cream (See cream note above)

 250 grams of Frozen Unsweetened Coconut Beverage Milk (which is approximately 10 ice cubes) We don’t have our ice cube maker set up so we do it the old fashioned way 😉

25 grams Full fat cream cheese

50 grams Unsweetened canned pumpkin

Pumpkin Pie spice – perhaps 1/8  – 1/4 tsp -really depends on your taste. I make my own recipe for this  – see below

Dash of vanilla and maple flavoring (see note above on flavorings)I would say about 1/4 tsp. each

5 grams ground powdered Truvia (or sweetener of choice- see note at top of page)

Couple shakes of salt – do not forget this step as it really brings out the taste!

This recipe is pretty easy to adjust for different ratios.  You could use regular ice cubes instead of coconut milk if you ended to.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Blend/mix together 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger, 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cloves. (I typically double or triple this to have on hand – you can adjust amounts to your own preference). 

Cheesecake Berry Crunch

(Click on recipe title to see pictures and instructions)

3:1 ratio

40 grams frozen raspberries

15 grams frozen blueberries

3-4 grams ground powdered Truvia ( see note at top of page if using stevia extract) 

36 grams Pecans

25 grams Cream Cheese – Make sure it is NOT reduced fat!

Sprinkle of salt

When we were on a higher ratio, I added coconut oil to the recipe.  Autumn would just take a few grams of oil before eating.

Apples and Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter Cookies

(Click on recipe to see pictures and instructions)

3:1 Ratio

For the Cookies:

8 grams Natural Peanut Butter – No Sugar added – We use Smuckers

            7 grams Macadamia Nut Butter   (see note at top of page)

6 grams butter

.2 grams baking soda

.2 grams baking powder

Dash of Salt (we use Sea Salt)

Sweetener of choice: 3 grams Truvia  or less than that for Stevia Extract Powder (see note at top of page)

6 grams raw egg, mixed well

12 grams heavy cream – for Milk to drink (see note at top of page)

For Apples and Peanut Butter Dip:

20  grams of peeled apple

7 grams of All Natural Peanut Butter – No Added Sugar – We use Smuckers

5 grams softened butter

6 grams melted Coconut Oil

5 grams Pecans

You will note in the Post of this recipe, there are no pecans or cream in the picture;  that is because we have reduced her ratio to 2.75:1

Pizza and Caesar Salad

(Click on recipe to see pictures and instructions)

3:1 ratio

 (The original 4:1  Pizza ratio recipe comes from The Keto Cookbook)

17 grams Macadamia Nut Butter – see note at top of page

11 grams olive oil

15 grams Mayonnaise

 29 grams of beaten egg whites

A sprinkle of garlic salt

17 grams of Contadina Tomato sauce (lowest carb sauce I could find)

11 grams of Hard parmesan cheese( we use the Kraft “Black Top” shredded parmesan found in the refrigerator section)

For Caesar Salad:

Approximately 24 grams of lettuce or more (24 grams a day is considered “free” so you may add more if you would like)

3 grams hard parmesan cheese

3 grams bacon – We use Hormel Bacon and put it into “bits”

These is an easy recipe to have at a higher ratio – especially if you like salad dressing on your salad.  Autumn does not. You can make a yummy dressing of mayo, (and oil too if you like) a bit of mustard and a smidge of stevia. You could then add more cheese or sauce on your pizza too.  But remember to know your own calorie/ratio requirements!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Click on recipe to see pictures and instructions)

17 grams heavy cream (see note at top of page on cream)to drink with cookies

14 grams Macadamia Nut Butter

9 grams butter

6 grams of raw egg , mixed well

.2 grams baking powder

a bit of baking soda(maybe .1 -.2 grams) and a shake of salt

4 grams ground powdered Truvia (see note at top of page if using stevia extract powder)

5 grams Nestles mini chocolate chips(or whatever brand you would like to use, just get it checked in the keto calculator)

Wonderful Waffles

This recipe was adapted from the Ketogenic Cookbook which has it originally at a 4:1 ratio.  This recipe is very easy to adapt to differing ratios because there are so many ways to add additional fat if needed – you can add butter to the top, add more whip cream  for the “topping”or add additional oil. To lower ratio, we just added more fruit.

(Click on recipe to see pictures and instructions)

Please note: these are the ingredients for 1 waffle.  We quadruple this batch because our waffle maker makes 4 waffles at a time.

30 grams of heavy cream –  5 for the making of the waffle/ 25 for the whip cream topping

45 grams raw egg, mixed well

20 grams ground pecans

11 grams coconut oil, melted split 6/5

My note here is that I only put 6 in the batter and Autumn takes 5 grams “off the spoon” because I like her to start her morning with coconut oil feeding her brain right away.  Remember, I am a mom first – not a dietitian –  and subject to my own prejudices on what I think makes the diet work. I remained convinced that coconut oil first thing in the morning is a key to the success of the diet.  You could put all the oil in the batter if you like.

2-4 grams ground powdered  Truvia (or much less of stevia powder – see note at top of page.)Use some in batter and some to sweeten whip cream topping

0.2 baking soda and baking powder

sprinkle of salt

pinch of maple flavoring (see “flavorings” note above) or any other flavoring you prefer

Fruit for topping: Use the keto calculator to find correct ratios for fruit you enjoy. Currently Autumn is using a mix of  about 15 grams blueberries and 20 grams raspberries. She likes either fresh or frozen.

4/3/2023 A Few Edits 

ALthough I do not have the ratio’s because I am now writing this 9 years after Autumn has been on the diet, here are a few other recipes on the blog:

Sprinkle Birthday Cake – Colorful Fun!

This could be adapted using full fat yogurt and stevia

Zip it up!