Cooking In the Kitchen with KETO

Options
Mjkozki
Mjkozki Posts: 45 Member
edited June 2019 in Social Groups
Learning the Keto lifestyle can be challenging, especially when cooking for a family or yourself outside your feasting window!
Share your experiences and solutions to preparing meals for yourself and your family.
1. Do you prep your meals within "your" window? How about your family?
2. How do YOU get around tasting foods that you no longer eat?
3. At what point do you ask yourself, "Should I be counting this taste test as a calorie?"
4. Have you ever been knocked out of ketosis, preparing a meal for your family?

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Options
    1. Meal prep is usually just packing my lunch (sometimes breakfast) whenever I have time (after dinner or morning). I don't prep for the family I just cook dinner most nights so prep is just remembering to lay out a pack or two of meat to thaw.
    2. I make other people taste them, or if it's something small like checking for done using a single macaroni noodle, I just taste it and don't worry about it.
    3. I don't worry about that, but I don't allow myself to use tasting as an excuse to exceed consumption. It's rare to need to taste more than a tiny bit...but if I'm tasting a lot like with a new recipe, then I will count those taste amounts when I log my food.
    4. I don't understand how that would even happen, carbs are not topically absorbed, touching carbs can't knock you out of ketosis. I don't try new carb heavy recipes, and I don't need to taste test the recipes I already know how to cook.
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    Options
    I am lucky that daughter and boyfriend wanted to go on Keto with me.

    My boyfriend and I take turns cooking.

    But my favorite way to prep meals is to precook up a lot of protein, then just reheat our three servings each meal.

    Like make up a pound or two of taco seasoned beef, use it in taco salads one night, then next day use it in a Tex Mex omelet.

    I've been doing this with many different meats and different flavor profiles (Italian, Mid East, Greek, Indian, Mexican, etc.). It keeps our menu diverse, and meal prep down to 5-10 minutes.

    I add veggies to everything and cook everything in butter, coconut oil or olive oil.

    This way of eating is easy for us so far. We love it!
  • zanyterp
    zanyterp Posts: 291 Member
    Options
    1. depends on your definition of "prep." I do a lot of the cooking for dinner and, as such, we eat dinner around my schedule (which hasn't changed since I went keto last year). i have never been much of a breakfast eater, so getting kids cereal & other things for breakfast is not a problem for me; lunch (at work) is whatever i ordered for myself through instacart or peapod (we are a small office and i got that responsibility after the last person was let go).
    2. i don't. i taste them (if it is new) or trust the timer for old (pasta stuff). i am not worried about the extra carbs i may or may not get from this (since i am doing keto for the lifestyle benefits rather than medical necessity [which i am hoping keto will hope me avoid in the future]
    3. after i have had enough of a "taste test" that it counts as a full serving
    4. yes; but more because my kids still love peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and next thing i know, i have eaten way too much peanut butter with jelly knife licks. as far as actual _food_ kicking me out? no
  • dawnz75
    dawnz75 Posts: 579 Member
    Options
    I do sometimes taste small amounts of what I cook, like the one noodle or a small taste. But if it is only once I don't worry about it.
    There are foods now that I ask my hubbie to dish up, like ice cream. Or other chocolate type foods to divide up between himself and the kids.
    My nemesis is anything potato. I made a potato salad for a potluck for the hubbie last week and tried a small taste to make sure the seasonings were well balanced. I had one spoonful more then made sure I was 100 calories under for the day as well as under on carbs in general. Typically I try to stay away from slippery slopes, I have a tendency to fall.
  • prowell57
    prowell57 Posts: 140 Member
    Options
    Oooh I love potatoes too! I purposefully don't fix them any more cause I know I wouldn't be able to stay out of them lol. You did good with just a spoonful, more will power than I'd have 😋
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    Options
    I feel very lucky, I'm a freak of nature who never liked potatoes, rice, yams, or pasta.

    I only added to meals as a filler.

    Now bread is another story. I miss bread, we home-baked all our own breads. I miss the smell of fresh baked bread coming out of the oven.
  • shelbydodgeguy
    shelbydodgeguy Posts: 194 Member
    Options
    dawnz75 wrote: »
    I do sometimes taste small amounts of what I cook, like the one noodle or a small taste.

    One of the things I do around here is that I almost always cook our dinner and occasionally I taste test something that I don't eat to make sure it's done or seasoned properly. But what I do in those cases if it's spaghetti or potato or something is spit it in the trash. I never really cared for pasta or potatoes or such any way, the only thing I miss on occasion is corn tortillas. But on rare occasion I do eat teeny tiny portions of rice since it doesn't seem to cause me any issues inflammation wise.

  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    Options
    dawnz75 wrote: »
    I do sometimes taste small amounts of what I cook, like the one noodle or a small taste.

    One of the things I do around here is that I almost always cook our dinner and occasionally I taste test something that I don't eat to make sure it's done or seasoned properly. But what I do in those cases if it's spaghetti or potato or something is spit it in the trash. I never really cared for pasta or potatoes or such any way, the only thing I miss on occasion is corn tortillas. But on rare occasion I do eat teeny tiny portions of rice since it doesn't seem to cause me any issues inflammation wise.

    That's interesting, I've been wondering about rice, because it is the only one that doesn't cause me bloat or pain as well.

    During week of unleavened bread, we didn't eat bread, sugars, potatoes, but we did consume rice. I had no bloat that entire week.