Category Archives: Keto

5-minute Party Prep with (Zero ABV) Red Raiderade and Pineapple-Bacon Cream Cheese Dip

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Whether it’s football season, basketball season or summer break sitting out by the pool, we all want some tasty, easy-to-make snacks and beverages to tide us through the fun.

I decided to pay tribute to Texas Tech University, mainly due to a new Red Raider in the family this Fall (my youngest son) and also taking into account my husband and I are both graduates of this fine institution in Lubbock, just south of the Panhandle.  Hit ‘em, Wreck ‘em, Texas Tech!!

Here’s the kid going to Texas Tech, shhh let’s not tell him Mom posted his photo here!

In just five minutes, I can whip together a non-alcoholic drink (Red Raiderade – a Michelada mocktail) and snack dip that the whole gang loves thanks to a few of my new favorite products. Keep reading for all the delicious deets!

First, let’s start with the drink Zero-AFB “Red Raiderade” – think of a Michelada mocktail or Ojo Rojo that is alcohol free and you get the idea, but lighter, fewer calories and no hangover. These types of tomato beer drinks are so popular in Texas and so refreshing with a spicy bite! Instead of a Mexican beer though, I just substitute unsweetened sparkling water with lime or lemon flavor in my non-alcoholic Michelada version. This sparkling water, along fresh juice of a lime, Clamato juice and a splash of Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce are all poured over ice in a tall pint glass – and I garnish the glass edges with Tajin!

Speaking of pint glasses, I’m feeling super school spirited with College Town Glassware from Well and Told. Get a pair of classic pint glasses printed with the map of your favorite college town – I picked Lubbock for Texas Tech University, but there are lots of choice from around the country.

5 Minute Party Prep with seedz crackers, bacon pineapple dip and no alcohol Red Raiderade (like a Michelada tomato beer cocktail)

Now, for snacks in a snap, you can’t go wrong with crackers and cream cheese spread – that easy-peasy classic preparation of opening a brick of cream cheese and pouring preserves over the top. However, instead of my typical Jalapeno jam, I found these fabulous “everything sauces” from Ricante – made in Costa Rica and now all over the U.S. (look for them in Whole Foods or on Amazon). There are four different choices in this line up of spicy tropical sauces (which are friendly for keto, gluten-free and Whole30 diets).

Use them for dipping, marinating, salad dressing and reducing/glazing with meats – I chose the Tropical Pineapple Habanero Infused Everything Sauce and just doused it right over the cream cheese and then dumped on extra diced pineapple and crumbled bacon. Pineapple Bacon Cream Cheese Dip will make you feel very tropical and no worries! It’s SO GOOD with veggies sticks or crackers.

And speaking of crackers, I don’t set out crappy crackers for my 5 minute party prep – lol! Only the best stuff for me, the family and lucky guests — I like to serve Top Seedz Crackers. Top Seeds Crackers are SO DELISH are were created by Rebecca, an avid traveler and sports competitor, who knows first-hand (as do I) that healthy eating influences with way we live and feel in our bodies. She insists on good, natural ingredients like roasted seeds that are naturally vitamin and mineral dense with other important nutrients to fuel an active lifestyle like fiber and protein. I just adore these roasted seed crackers, so crunchy, satisfying, and flavorful (several options)– they really tide me over!  

So anyway, cheers to your favorite college, sports team, season of the year or WHATEVER – and drinking and snacking responsibly and with good health in mind! What are your favorite tips for quick entertaining and putting together 5 minute party prep?

Also I encourage you to stay up with the latest healthy eating inspo and entertaining ideas by visit these amazing companies on Instagram @WellToldDesign @RicanteHotSauce @TopSeedz

This post is sponsored by the aforementioned companies and also contains Amazon affiliate links.

5 Minute Party Prep with seedz crackers, bacon pineapple dip and no alcohol Red Raiderade (like a Michelada tomato beer cocktail)
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No Alcohol Red Raiderade (Zero ABV Michelada)
Prep Time
2 mins
Total Time
2 mins
 

Enjoy all the flavor of a citrusy, spicy sparkling tomato drink without any alcohol — my easy Red Raiderade is low-cal, low-carb and no hangover.

Course: beverages, Drinks
Keyword: clamato, entertaining, low carb, no alcohol, party
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 36 kcal
Ingredients
  • Tajin Chili Lime seasoning for coating the glass rim
  • 4 ounces Clamato tomato juice
  • 4 ounces sparkling water, lemon or lime flavor (unsweetened)
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lime)
  • 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
  • 3 to 8 dashes tabasco sauce, depending on heat preference
  • Garnishes like lime slice, cherry tomato, pepper, etc
Instructions

  1. Wet rim of pint glass and set inverted on plat sprinkled with Tajin, move around to get some to stick to the rim.

  2. Turn back over and fill pint glass 1/3 with ice.

  3. Pour in Clamato, sparkling water, lime juice, Tabasco and worstershire sauce, gently stir with tall spoon or straw.

  4. Add any garnishes desired, enjoy.

Recipe Notes

36 calories, 6.5g net carb, 0 fat, 242mg sodium, 0.5g protein

15-minute Shrimp with Hatch Chile Green Sauce (Keto, Low Carb, Gluten-Free)

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So green and so good and so glee-fully easy to make and clean up, my recipe for 15-mintue Shrimp with Hatch Chile Green Sauce, makes a speedy southwestern-inspired meal made with one of my favorite ingredients, Hatch Green Chiles. Suitable for keto and low-carb diets with 3.6g net carb per serving.

This baked shrimp dish can be on the dinner table in 15 minutes -- a quick blender sauce with Hatch green chilies, spinach and cilantro is poured over thawed, cooked shrimp, cooked and garnished with avocado, green onion and crumbled queso fresco cheese!

If fact, I love these mild-to-hot green peppers that hail from Hatch New Mexico so much that I hold the title of Hatch Green Chile Champion in a local Austin cook off (and have been runner up a couple times too). You can find my Hatch green chile cookoff recipes in a past post, 101 Ways to Use Hatch Green Chiles.

I was looking to make a bright green sauce for an entrée, like BOOM . . . GREEN! So, I knew I needed a protein that could cook fast at a high heat so the vibrant green of the blended hatch peppers, cilantro and spinach didn’t start to turn to a darker green – that’s what happens when you cook green stuff too long. I knew shrimp would be the perfect “fast cook” protein to help me avoid blah, deep green sauce . . . and I even short-cut my Hatch green chile recipe even further by using frozen shrimp that had been shelled, deveined and pre-cooked.

If fresh Hatch green chiles are not in season, order from Hatch-Chile-Store.com

After blending my fresh Hatch chile green sauce ingredients (cilantro, spinach, green chiles, garlic, etc) for about 30 seconds, the only task that remained was to dump those thawed shrimp in a baking dish, cover with the sauce and sprinkle of queso fresco, and bake in the oven at 475F degrees for 10 to 12 minutes – just until the sauce bubbling and cheese starting to get slightly browned on top.

Garnish with green onions and avocado hunks to kick up green! If you put on a pot of noodles or rice at the start of this recipe, you’ll have a hearty base to pile on all this green magic! Who doesn’t love a 15 minute meal that is nutritious and tastes great?!  Each serving has 236 calories, 12g fat, 3.6g net carb, and 25g protein making it work for those looking for low carb Hatch green chile recipes and Keto Hatch green chile recipes.

This baked shrimp dish can be on the dinner table in 15 minutes -- a quick blender sauce with Hatch green chilies, spinach and cilantro is poured over thawed, cooked shrimp, cooked and garnished with avocado, green onion and crumbled queso fresco cheese! For more quick, easy and healthy dinner inspo, visit thefitfork.com

If you are looking for Hatch green chile and it’s not August (the short season for this much coveted pepper), you have a couple options. Head over to the Hatch Chile Store and order a bunch of roasted, skinned, seeded and chopped Hatch chiles to be delivered to your door flash-frozen. I get the 1 lb. zip-top bags that are frozen “thin” (like the thickness of a magazine) which makes it easy to pop open the freezer and just break off what you want (even without thawing first). Second, you can substitute canned green chiles, which in some cases can be a reasonably decent substitute (like for stews and such), but this super-fresh tasting shrimp hatch chile recipe turns out much better with fresh or flash-frozen Hatch chiles.

This baked shrimp dish can be on the dinner table in 15 minutes -- a quick blender sauce with Hatch green chilies, spinach and cilantro is poured over thawed, cooked shrimp, cooked and garnished with avocado, green onion and crumbled queso fresco cheese!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

 

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15-minute Shrimp with Hatch Chile Green Sauce
Prep Time
1 hr 5 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 

Green and so good for you, this speedy super is a slightly-spicy lip-smacker thanks to mild Hatch green chiles! Suitable for keto, low carb and gluten-free diets.

Course: dinner, entree
Cuisine: Southwestern
Keyword: fish, black cod, sablefish, merken, spicy, tangerine, 20 minute, gluten free, green bean, hatch green chile, keto, peppers, shrimp
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. frozen medium pre-cooked shelled shrimp (thawed)
  • ¾ cup roasted mild Hatch green chile thawed (I get mine from Hatch Green Chile store)
  • 2 cups packed fresh spinach
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro upper tender stalks okay, but discard bottoms
  • 2 tbsp. avocado oil
  • ¼ cup seafood or chicken stock
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 oz. queso fresco cheese crumbled
  • 3 green onion stalks whites and greens chopped
  • ½ avocado diced
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 475F degrees.
  2. Add Hatch chiles, spinach, cilantro, oil, salt and stock to blender; blend for approximately 20 to 30 seconds.
  3. Pour out thawed, drained shrimp into 8”x8” baking dish or 9” round baking dish.
  4. Pour sauce over top of shrimp to cover and sprinkle to with crumbled queso fresco cheese.
  5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese starting to brown a bit on top and sauce bubbling.
  6. Remove and garnish with chopped green onions and diced avocado.
  7. Great served on rice or noodles of any kind (traditional, gluten-free, zoodles, etc)
Recipe Notes

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Egg White Chips – Low Carb, Gluten Free

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Egg white chips, I’ve heard rumor of them . . . sometimes they are called cloud chips and popular with the keto and low carb diet fans.

Whether you call it a chip or cracker, I call this low-carb snack super yummy! Made from egg whites, peanut butter powder, cinnamon and stevia this keto-friendly recipes has almost no carbs or fat and a good source of protein. So addictive, you'll love them for entertaining or as a grab-and-go snack after a workout. 50 calories, 1g net carb and 8g protein per 12-chip serving.

I googled “how to make egg white chips” and found an assortment of savory takes on this low carb snack. The method on how to make egg white chips seemed time consuming, requiring them to be made in mini muffin tins and pulled out one by one (ugh, I’m thinking SO MUCH STICKING).

Whether you call it a chip or cracker, I call this low-carb snack super yummy! Made from egg whites, peanut butter powder, cinnamon and stevia this keto-friendly recipes has almost no carbs or fat and a good source of protein. So addictive, you'll love them for entertaining or as a grab-and-go snack after a workout. 50 calories, 1g net carb and 8g protein per 12-chip serving.

I also couldn’t find any type of egg white cloud crackers that were sweet . . . in a low carb sweet way. Everything was just salty, herby, cheesy — I have a sweet tooth and want a sweet egg white chip.

My solution to both the time consuming making process AND the lack of sweet egg white chips was to just come up with my own recipe and own way of making these keto snacks.

Just shake up egg white, PB powder, cinnamon and stevia in a jar, pour out on baking sheet!

A little protein powder, cinnamon and stevia blended into the egg whites was easy enough, especially just all dumped in a mason jar and given a vigorous shake to combine. After baked crispy this tasty flavor combo reminded me of some popular cereals — like Captain Crunch mixed with Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Cut the egg white chips into squares BEFORE they are done baking.

Common factor here is the CRUNCH. If you can pour the egg white mixture thinly enough in a big sheet pan, and par bake, cut into squares, flip and continue baking you can get the crunchiest little bites of YUM! This process of cutting them in the pan eliminated the tedious process of cooking all these cinnamon egg white chips in muffin pans.

A serving of these cinnamon peanut butter egg white chips have just 50 calories for TWELVE chips. Also, just 1g net carb and and welcomed little protein boost of 8g. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, the leftovers can be stored in the fridge (air-tight container) and then re-crisped in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then let cool down some.

These cinnamon peanut butter "chips" are made from egg whites and powdered peanut butter, baked and then cut into squares! Crispy, yummy, addictive -- only 50 calories, 8g protein and 1g net carb per serving of 12 crackers.
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Cinnamon Peanut Butter Egg White Chips
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
29 mins
 

This creative "chip" is made from egg whites — almost no carbs or fat and a good source of protein. So addictive, you'll love them for entertaining or as a grab-and-go snack after a workout.

Course: Appetizer, Snack, workout
Keyword: eggs, keto, low carb, sugar-free
Servings: 4 servings (12 chips each)
Calories: 50 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1 cup 8oz 100% Egg Whites
  • ¼ cup peanut butter powder (like PB Fit) or almond powder, if preferred
  • 20 drops liquid Stevia more or less, depending on sweetness preference
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Generously coat 10” x 15” rimmed cookie pan with cooking spray, paying extra attention to corners/sides.
  2. Add all ingredient to jar with lid and shake vigorously until combined. Pour out onto baking sheet, the entire surface should be thinly covered.
  3. Bakes for 15 minutes total but in 3 stages: First bake for 5 min, then remove and make slices with knife (6 rows short side, 8 long side for 48 pieces). Second, return and bake 5 MORE min, Third, remove and carefully use flat spatula to pull up pieces and flip over and then return to bake 5 min MORE, or until golden and crispy.
  4. Remove and let cool 5 minutes. Store in air-tight container. If needed, crisp back up in microwave for 30 seconds or so when eating leftovers.
Recipe Notes

Makes 48 chips. A serving of 12 chips has 50 cal, 0.8g fat, 1g net carb, and 8g protein

Note: As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, however the price to you remains the same. Proceeds help to offset operating expenses for The Fit Fork. Thank you!

Pepperoni Pizza Style Stuffed Mushrooms for Instant Pot – Low Carb, Gluten Free

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Simple recipes for the win! Pepperoni Pizza Style Stuffed Mushrooms for Instant Pot are the perfect little low carb appetizer for game day – or any day!

Pepperoni Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms for the Instant Pot are a quick and easy hot appetizer that is low-carb, gluten-free and low in calories. A great choice for game day parties, entertaining, or as a side dish or snack.

You can even make this easy snack in the Instant Pot, read on for all the details on PAGE 2:

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Low Carb Chocolate Gingerbread Protein Truffles | Keto, Paleo, Vegan

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‘Tis the season for delicious little treats . . . gingerbread and chocolate things are my favorite, so I’ve combined the two in an easy, no-bake, healthy way! Plus, each truffle only has 5g net carbs! Low Carb Chocolate Gingerbread Protein Truffles - suitable for vegan, paleo, keto, and gluten free diets.

Get my recipe for Low Carb Chocolate Gingerbread Protein Truffles using a plant-based protein powder and sugar-free chocolate chips – seems like such a treat, but a very balanced snack to keep you powered up and satisfied between running holiday errands and actually running – or working out!

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