Keto at Trader Joe’s

I have been finding some great keto options at TJ’s, and here are just a few.

Shaved beef for pho!

Keto Crackers

The crispy amazingness of Keto Crackers strikes again!

All you need are the Low Carb Mission Tortillas.

Preheat an air fryer or convection oven to 300 degrees. Use avocado oil or other oil spray on each side of the tortilla. Cut into cracker-sized pieces. Put in a metal basket or other container that will allow air flow around the crackers. Air fry or convection bake until the crackers are a golden brown. WATCH CAREFULLY to make sure that they do not burn. Let them come to room temperature completely before eating so that they will be perfectly crispy!

Also, try them with beer cheese!

Some Trader Joe’s goodies to use with your crackers?

Keto Cheesy Mini Meatloaf

This was one of the most successful made up recipes that I have ever made! I took some inspiration from my friend, Michele, who made something akin to this with ground chicken. These are mini fat/protein bombs with only 2 net carbs each. They’re very tender and definitely satisfying. I was full after only eating one.

There are two options with the barbecue/ketchup sauces. One you can buy in the store (see photo), and the other is my amazing sweet BBQ sauce.

https://amzn.to/36E8BBB

I cheated a bit when I was forming these and used a spam musubi mold. Ironically, I have never used it for musubi. This recipe made seven perfectly formed mini meatloaves when the mold was pressed to about 2/3 full.

Ingredients

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup keto “breadcrumbs” (chicharrones in the food processor)–optional
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb ground beef (I used 73% but you could go leaner)
• 3 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
• Keto BBQ sauce of choice (see above)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer, mix the egg and sour cream until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients except for the BBQ sauce until well combined (probably about 30 seconds on medium speed). This can also be done by hand.

Shape into seven loaves and place on a baking sheet with a baking mat or grease the baking sheet. Spoon about 1 Tbsp sauce over top of each meatloaf and spread around the sides using the back of the spoon.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160.

Keto Barbecue Sauce

This is absolutely SWEET and amazing with less than one carb per serving!

I use it to put on my Keto Cheesy Meatloafs, but it is also great with a bunless burger or pulled pork.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar free Heinz ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar alternative
• 1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

Just whisk together and use on whatever you’d like!

Keto Cheese and Crackers!

Yes. Yes. All of your prayers answered, and this was crazy simple!

These were CRISPY!

All you need are the low carb Mission Tortillas and an air fryer or convection oven.

Simply take a whole tortilla, spray on both sides with avocado oil (or some other oil you prefer). Cut the tortilla up into “cracker” size pieces.

Place them into the air frying basket. Air fry at around 300 degrees for 4 minutes on each side. WATCH them to make sure that they do not burn. When they turn color, they go quite quickly.

Make sure they are a light brown on each side to insure that they are nice and crispy with no remaining moisture.

Cool for 10 minutes before eating.

Serve with any dip or cheese of your choosing!

Poke Bowl!

Who says you need to have rice, or greens, or zoodles to have a Poke Bowl? This was soooo good, and I just ordered without a base, lots of fish, extra avocado, and ponzu sauce. Avoid the sugary sauces, as those very quickly drive up the carb count. This was a great way to eat out without having to worry about picking out the carbs.

Lemon Rosemary Salmon

This was a really protein packed and easy very low carb recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For the salmon, season both sides with salt and pepper. Take 1 Tbsp oil in a cast iron skillet (or oven proof skillet) over medium high heat. Cook for two minutes with skin side up. Flip over and put into the oven for an additional 7-9 minutes depending on your preferred level of doneness.

While the salmon is cooking, prepare the sauce:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
• 1 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.

Drizzle sauce over the top and serve with roasted veggies!

Keto Margarita Pizza!

This had a tasty, crispy crust, and an authentic and traditional margarita flavor. Perfect!

This will make about six slices. Keep in mind that this is much more filling than the carb-filled pizza so you will not expect to eat the entire pizza as you would with the traditional margarita.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• ¾ cup almond flour
• 2 tbs cream cheese, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 8 oz whole milk mozzarella, sliced and dried (if purchased in brine)
• 1/2 cup low carb marinara (Trader Joe’s in the refrigerator section with the pizza crusts)
• 1 medium tomato, sliced, seeded, and dried
• 3 basil leaves, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine almond flour, garlic powder, salt, xanthan gum, and cheeses and stir in a bowl. In the microwave, heat for about a minute and 30 seconds.  Stir the mixture and add egg until combined. Use wet hands and press to form into a pizza crust shape and size to your liking. Using a baking mat or parchment will keep it from sticking.  You want it to be relatively thin so that it is crispy (unless you like really soft doughy texture for your pizza).

Poke the crust all over with a fork. Bake for 5 minutes. Poke down bubbles with a fork and cook an additional 3 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

Spread the marinara throughout the crust with the back of a spoon. All a layer of sliced mozzarella, half of the basil, and then the tomatoes. Bake until desired doneness (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from oven, top with remaining basil, and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Makes six slices (servings).

Nutrition

Calories 260 SODIUM 500mg FAT 19g PROTEIN 15g CARBS 8g FIBER 3g

More Beer Cheese Dip in Action!

I used my bread bites in order to make the dippers, and they made these great, puffy morsels to dip into the beer cheese. This got 100% love from both my husband and son. The only thing that I would do differently would be to get the almond meal WITHOUT the almond skins. The dough would have been more smooth without.

Dip Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz low carb beer
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 tsp dijon mustard (even better if you can find stone ground)
• splash of worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese (could use more if you like)

Method

Put all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and stir. Microwave for 35 seconds, whisk, then another 25 seconds. Whisk until smooth and serve over whatever you’d like!

In the comments, I would love to hear what others ended up making with this! Dip for broccoli crowns or Cauliflower?

Keto at Costco

As I was cruising the aisles at Costco, I saw several items listed as “Keto” friendly. Once I read labels, I realized that the version of Keto that they were referencing must be pretty loose. I do not think that 9g of net carbs for a small snack serving is a great choice, but to each their own. One thing that I did find was this little snack that was really filling and once I weighed my portion out, it was more than I expected. If you’re looking for a keto snack with some crunch, this is a yummy option!