Keto Crab Cakes

My husband loves, and I mean LOVES crab cakes. He has been on a keto journey for many years. I do lower carb but not keto. He has missed having crab cakes and has asked if I could make him some keto crab cakes. I haven't eaten many crab cakes in my life time. However, recently I've had them at a couple restaurants and they were good. I enjoyed them. I figured that now that I've tried them and know what I like about them, I could give them a go. So here was my first attempt at keto crab cakes. I didn't look up any other recipes on line. This is my brain child. Such as it is. :) My husband thought they were really good. He does like to praise about his food. He ate it with some tartar sauce, then said they were good without any sauce. So that is also high praise. I used a specific keto bread crumb called "Kiss my keto breadcrumbs". As I searched to post the link for you to add to your shopping list, I found they are no longer made. :( This makes me sad. I'm sure you could possibly substitute different breadcrumbs. I am sad that I won't be able to replenish my own stock once my bag is empty. I guess I use them sparingly enough. 

Keto Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

2 large eggs (blended)

1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend

1/4 cup superfine almond flour

2 Tbsp Kiss my Keto everything breadcrumbs

1-2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

1 stick celery (finely chopped)

1 slice of onion (finely chopped)

8oz jumbo lump crab meat

Directions:

Finely dice (I used my small food processer) onion and celery. In a small bowl mix blended egg with celery/onion, and old bay seasoning. Then add the cheese, breadcrumbs, and almond flour to the egg mixture and stir to incorporate. Add the crab meat to the mixture in the bowl. stir to mix in the crab meat. I blended so there were some chunks and finer pieces. Next, I formed the crab cakes with my hands about the size of my palm. Once the cakes were formed, I placed them on some wax paper until ready to cook. My mixture made (7) 3in crab cakes.  I put a couple pats of butter in my skillet and let melt, then added the formed crab cake about 4 at a time in the melted butter over medium/high heat to let a crust form on the bottom. I then turned down the heat to cook through. Flipped the crab cake over and repeated the process turning up the heat after I flipped it over so I could create a crust on the other side as well.  The butter was a delicious addition to the flavor of the crab cake. 

Enjoy warm. refrigerate all leftovers, use within 2 days or freeze once cooked for 1 month. 

Keto enchiladas and tacos

Keto Enchiladas and Tacos

It all starts with the "tortilla shell" or in this case cheese. Yes, I did say cheese. I used a mixture of freshly shredded cheddar and Colby Jack cheese. Placed on my silpat covered jellyroll pans. Placed on the oven at 350F for approximately 7 min. Until the edges were Brown and the cheese melty.

Make sure to give enough room for spreading. About 1/4 of a cup or so. I eye balled it. 

I made a keto friendly taco meat mixture for the enchiladas and used the same meat in the tacos. Both were delicious. I used a low sugar taco mix (you can make your own). Diced tomatoes and ground beef with onion cooked in avacado oil. I added beans after I took out the portion for the keto enchiladas and tacos to add extra fiber for my kids enchiladas (made out of flour tortillas. I used regular red enchilada sauce for the enchiladas. About 1 medium can. About, 8oz I think.

 Meat for my kids enchiladas

 My keto pan for enchiladas was lightly spread with enchilada sauce in the bottom to keep the cheese "tortillas" from sticking to the pan.

 My separate meat mixture for the enchiladas taco and enchiladas. (No beans)

 I placed the meat mixture in the cheese and rolled them up then placed them in the prepared pan.

 Topped with more shredded colby Jack cheese. Then baked for 10min to heat through. My "tortillas" kept their shape and had a great texture for the enchiladas.

For my Taco shells, I took the cheese about 1 min after taken out of the oven. I draped them over wooden spoon handles to create the "tortilla" shells. Ate cold or cool with meat and it was hearty. I couldn't eat more than one it was so filling and delicious. Enjoy!

Keto Shrimp Scampi with Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp: raw, deveined, shell and tail off
1 lemon
1 cup cooking white wine (zero carbs)
2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 stick of butter
 1 Spaghetti Squash: cut in half, seeds scooped out.
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Avocado or olive oil
S&P to taste
Parsley for sprinkling

Directions spaghetti squash:
Place 1 cup of water in Instant Pot. Place trivet in instant pot. Lightly oil the inside of the spaghetti squash with avocado oil and S&P. Place into Instant Pot. Close lid, (make sure your ring is in place). Set on Manual/Pressure to high, set time for 10 min. Let cook.

While spaghetti squash is going, time to make the scampi.

Shrimp Scampi directions:
Add 1/2 of the butter and some avocado oil to non-stick pan. Let melt and get bubbly. Add in the garlic and stir. Once garlic is aromatic and slightly browned add white wine and reduce a little, once reduced add lemon juice and shrimp. Cook shrimp until pink. Stirring to incorporate the sauce and shrimp. (About 5 min, at most). Shrimp cooks very quickly. Add in parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate. It helps thicken the sauce. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Once the spaghetti squash is done cooking remove from the Instant Pot with silicone mits or coverings, caution will be HOT! Take two forks and dish up on plates, one half of the spaghetti squash can feed about 4 people. Add butter and S&P to squash on plates, top with shrimp scampi sprinkle with parsley, enjoy!

Keto sausage bake

Keto Sausage Bake

 Ingredients:
1 lb Beef smoked sausage
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 bell pepper (I used red)
15 baby carrots cut in 4ths length wise
1/2 red onion diced or chopped
2 TBSP Montreal steak seasoning
Avacado oil or olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut the sausage, zucchini, squash, bell peppers in about 1 inch pieces. Place in a gallon size plastic bag or large bowl. Add all ingredients to bag or bowl. Shake or stir well. You can line with foil or parchment if you choose, I lined mine with foil to help with easier cleanup Spread out in even layer on jelly roll pan. (Cookie sheet with sides). Spread ingredients on pan into a single layer. Place pan in preheated oven. Set timer for 30 min, flip ingredients or stir ingredients half way through. Serve warm. We eat it this way, but you can add a side of salad, rice, mashed potatoes or garlic bread. Enjoy!

Keto instant pot BBQ ribs

I recently got an Instant Pot. Dinners up until that point lately was mediocre at best, quick premade no real thought dinners. Instant Mac n cheese, premade hamburgers, junk to say the least. No excitement and desire to make dinner. I bought an Instant Pot at my you Gest sisters joy of feeding her family, quick, healthy, prepped meals. While getting her dinner done j. 30 mins. Target had a sale on them so I jumped in with both feet. Verdict... I love this thing!!! Don't get me wrong I was terrified I'd blow up the machine and maim one of my kids or myself in the process of using it. I psyced myself out and read the material, did the water test... Once I did the water test, my fears were gone! I was looking up easy recipes, like hard-boiled eggs, chicken breasts from frozen and dinner ideas. My hubby decided at about the time to start Keto! Another hurdle to overcome. How to make family dinners for basically 4 people with no pasta, bread or rice! Ok... Challenge accepted... Let's start with ribs!

I saw several people posting on Facebook their instant pot ribs... Looked easy enough.

Ok, ribs were super easy! IP with chicken broth (about 2 cups), apple cider vinegar (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup), and liquid smoke (2-3 Tbs). After dry rubbed the ribs with choice of dry rub. (Be sure to remove the membrane), cook manual high pressure 30-35 min (I did 35 min for two full racks), natural release for 15 min. Removed ribs, placed on cookie sheet, broiled with liquid BBQ sauce of choice for 5 min close to broiler. Serve! Delicious, fall off the bones!

End of school semester, holidays, kids and life update

As this school term for me comes to a close I am reflecting on how much has happened in the last 6 months. It's crazy to think of everything that has happened to our family. I'm glad there were lots of fun times with lots of family togetherness, messy house, lack of sleep, travel, growth, and learning.

We recently went on a drive to look at the beautiful colors around Table Rock State Park. It was so beautiful and very peaceful. We love this beautiful land where we live.

My family has recently moved outside Charleston, SC. We had a lot of adjusting to do. My school mentor suggested that I take the summer off of school so I could just focus on the family and all that was scheduled to go down this summer. Me knowing it would be hard to pick up after not doing school during the summer decided to keep going. I'm glad I did, I am now four classes closer to graduating. The last month before my term was to end was a mad dash to get it all completed... I still had three classes to finish. But my wonderful in-laws helped watch the kids so i could have some major time to study and do the required work to pass the three remaining classes. I was able to complete them with a week and a half to spare. That was close. I know I need to be better about scheduling dedicated time to study on a regular basis so i won't be cutting it so close next time.
Plus I'll be able to hopefully complete more classes, so I can finish sooner. We shall see how it all shakes out in another 6 months. I'd love to finish 8 classes in the next term however only 4 are required. We will see if i'm as dedicated as I should be. This next two terms are going to be very math heavy with lots of accounting classes. I'll definitely need to give myself time to complete them.

With halloween tomorrow and the littles super excited to wear their costumes all day and get candy. I think back to my older boys when they were little and how much they loved halloween. All of their homemade costumes and a few store bough costumes. Lots of candy and excitement around the holiday. I miss having the older crew share in the holiday. They are "too old" for trick or treating. Bryen works and lives in WV, so i doubt he's going trick or treating, Braeden and Mikey will probably be working unless I can convince them to pass out candy at our house. With our neighborhood only having 14 homes currently, we are doubtful we will even get trick or treaters. We will see. We will be going to a different neighborhood nearby for our trick or treating.

Bryen has turned 20!!! I can hardly believe it! He has been working hard and being independent in WV. He recently made full-time salary at his job. This will be a big blessing to him through the winter with a steady paycheck in the slow months. He misses us but enjoys his independence. It's part of growing up and making your own way. We miss him but wish and want him to be happy in his choices. 

Braeden turned 19!!! When did I get so old!?  Braeden did not go to college this fall. He decided to have the military pay for college, but recently as of this week is thinking twice about that. He's working full time while doing Military PT twice a week. He spend some time in WV visiting friends and his brother. That might have changed his mind about the military. We will see.

Mikey is working and doing online seminary for the church youth. He stays busy and when not working a couple nights a week he also does some Military PT for the marines. He is planning on joining the Marines, April 2020. He's looking at the reserves. We will see what happens.

Aimee is finally potty trained... she has a few accidents every now and again, but I'm definitely grateful to only have to really worry about pull-ups at bedtime. She loves playing dress-up and using her imagination with Andy.

Andy is such a big boy, he is starting to write his name and can match numbers. He's learning lots of big things but reverts to baby talk and wants to be a baby a lot. It's understandable because so many changes have happened,

We love all of our children and pray for them daily. We've had lots of comings and goings this summer and fall. Braeden has come and gone a couple times, Mikey went and came a couple times, Bryen has visited a few times (I wish it was more often), My in-laws have stayed a few weeks at a time a couple times, which we enjoy greatly. We've had the pleasure of seeing my sister-in-law twice as well, where one time she stayed with us a couple of days.  We love visitors!

Bill is working and traveling a lot these days and we miss him while he is away. We try to go to the beach whenever we can. We are slowly making our house a home. Helping our kids with financial issues seems to take up house beautification monies. We will eventually have this place the way we want it. We are grateful for Bill's job and my ability to stay home. I would love to work outside the home but it just isn't in the cards right now.

Making friends is slow going for the littles and bigs... even mom and dad. Its hard going to a new area where you don't know anyone. Its isolating at times and I have a fear of  being too needy of a friend. I know I tend to smother and want a lot of friend time. So I have been reluctant to reach out to others. I try and meet new neighbors as they move in or shortly after. Not many have younger kids, which is fine. I'm glad Aimee and Andy are friends with each other. I just feel lonely, which is hard for me.

As we are coming into the major holiday season I will be focusing on the Savior and his love for us. For Jesus' birth and to be thankful for our many, many blessings. May you find the Lord's hand and blessings in your life. God Bless and keep you.

French onion smothered boneless porkchops

It's a dreary, overcast day outside and I just want to curl up in bed and sleep all day. I force myself to be productive even though it's hard.

I tried to use what I had at home, but realized I had to go out anyway so I picked up a couple items I needed for this recipe.

It is super easy, it was done in however long it takes to brown both sides of boneless pork chops. Maybe 10 min. Thrown in the Crock-Pot on high for 4 hours. Even put in at 2pm. Dinner will be done by 6pm tonight. That's a win in my book.

Ingredients:

6-8 boneless pork chops (I had 7)
1 onion, sliced thinly, halved
1 can Campbell's chicken with herbs soup
1 can Campbell's french onion soup
Season of choice. I coated both sides of my pork chops with Ms. Dash

2tbsp butter and olive oil for browning pork chops

Directions:
Brown pork chops in olive oil and butter.

Place half the sliced onions on bottom of Crock-Pot

Place first half of pork chops on top of onions then layer rest of onions on pork chops. Top with remaining pork chops.

Mix the two cans of soup together and


pour on top of layers of onion and pork chops. Set on high 4 hours. Enjoy!