Keto candy Thursday

A super-quick blog to address how I handled my (very) strong desire for Reese's PB Cups during Halloween. Specifically, I wanted the Reese's PB Bats, but I digress.

One fun thing about this whole keto WOE (way of eating - learning something new every day!) is that it allows for a lot of what you want to eat. It just takes a little bit of time to learn modifications and adjustments to recipes. 

Thus far, in no particular order, I've made the following foods in a way that complies with keto "rules". I use the term "rules" loosely. Hence the overuse of quotation marks.

- Pizza (Fathead pizza crust is on another level)
- Breakfast burritos
- Peanut butter cups
- Chocolate chip cookie dough
- Pancakes

The list goes on. Since I plan to keep blogging the recipes, though, I'll add more - as well as more blogs with recipes - to expand what I've been doing. 

This is what I made last week for my peanut butter cup cravings. And also, I made it again today. As in, just now. 

I am unable to make candy in a way that is neat. This is not problematic for me, however.

The recipe is simple. Here's what you'll need:
- 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt should be the only ingredients)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- Sweetener of your choice to taste - I use about 2 T of a stevia/erythritol blend (optional)
- 1/2 cup of Lily's dark chocolate chips
- 1 T of coconut oil 

You can also sub in almond butter if you like. 

Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners - or not. These will slide out fairly easily without. 

Melt the PB and  1/4 cup coconut oil over low heat in a saucepan, or in the microwave in a bowl. Stir together, and after removing from heat, add your sweetener.  Make sure everything is mixed well, and then fill mini-muffin tins about 3/4 full with the melted PB. 

Melt the chocolate chips and remaining 1 T of coconut oil in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring until smooth.  To get the drizzled, marble effect here*, just add a generous spoonful of the melted chocolate to each cup. 

*Note: I will make true PB cups - where the chocolate encases the PB - in another post. This is the fastest way to make them.

Stick in the freezer or the fridge until firm. Most of the chocolate sinks to the bottom, creating a lovely chocolate layer on the bottom, while the rest of the PB cup is swirled throughout with chocolate. 

Nutritional info (per each PB cup): 100 cal, 8.6 g fat, 2.8 carbs, 2.4 protein

About that bulletproof coffee life...

Keto, week 3. Plugging along, seeing results, happy with it for the most part except for one or two things.  (Those two things: 1) Parmesan cheese loses its appeal when it starts to harden and taste like woodchips, and 2) I'm spending a lot more time reading nutrition labels and finding non-keto ingredients everywhere. Guess that's not a bad thing?)

Keto grocery shopping, and more running music

I recently went through the painstaking process of cleaning my pantry and refrigerator.  For most, I don't think it's all that difficult of a concept, but I was raised in a household that believed you should always have enough food in the pantry to survive a zombie apocalypse, space and convenience be damned.  So, my natural train of thought after cleaning it out was, of course, to fill it right back up again. 

Running again....

This blog came into existence due to a love of music, and a love of running; I combined the two, talking shoes, courses, races, music, you name it. Sadly, there hasn't been a single thing on this blog about running in quite some time. That changes now. If you're not interested in running and music, or hearing about the wonders of the SI joint, or one of the neatest ways EVER to train for a half marathon, no need to follow after the jump ;)

I did Keto way before it became a "thing", but...

So, I've been hearing a lot about keto, ketosis, the keto diet...it all started back in the summer when Billy Football (intern for Pardon My Take, pretty much the best sports podcast out there - if you don't know who Big Cat and PFTCommenter are, we need to talk) got his bosses onto that keto lifestyle.  Drinking a gallon of water a day, cutting out carbs...these guys were roasting sausages in the office and peeing on keto test strips on the daily in order to lose weight. 

I didn't think much of it myself until a few friends got really serious about it, then decided to take a little keto journey of my own.

No, I won't back down

"I'll keep this world from dragging me down, and I'll stand my ground, and I won't back down..." - Tom Petty

Kinda crazy that the very blog that was named for my favorite Tom Petty song is one that I decided to start up again on the day of his death. Originally this blog was about running marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, and the music that inspired me while I did so. Then it morphed into cooking. Then, my Mom's health, and reflections on grief. 

I have no idea where this evolution goes next, but I know what songs I'll be listening to while I'm reworking the blog and writing this post. Not a bad metaphor for life, tbh. 

"Baby, there ain't no easy way out. Hey, I stand my ground. And I won't back down."

August 9, 2006: a tribute

This week drew to a close a long struggle that was fought for the last four months. On Wednesday morning, at 0545, the strongest man I have ever known died.  I was curled up in one of the most uncomfortable chairs ever - no lack of those in a hospital setting - when the nurse leaned over me and whispered my name over and over until I sat up, blinked, and looked at her.

"I'm so sorry," she said, tears in her eyes, "but as of ten minutes ago, your father's heart stopped beating. There's no blood pressure. He's gone."

August 9, 2007: a reflection of pain

It's been one year and about 11 hours since my Dad passed away. So much has changed in the past year for me. I made the life-changing decision to get out of the Air Force and move to my dream city of Chicago. While my dream city has not been meeting expectations, I know that it will once I've given myself enough time to grieve the loss of one life and the beginnings of another one.

Food Blog: Butternut Squash Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite comfort foods, and something I am naturally drawn towards whenever I see it appear on a menu.  Likewise, butternut squash is in my top three favorite fall vegetables, so I thought it might be a perfect union if I combined them both.  I did look for several recipes, but ended up doing a hybrid and working on my own.  

Garlicky Smashed Potatoes

We need to lighten things up a bit around here, so I'm going to throw in a food post that will hopefully make everyone who tries it as happy as it made us here. We love potatoes in this household, and I enjoy trying out new recipes whenever possible. I bought a 5 pound bag of red potatoes recently, and after looking at something similar from Ree Drummond (also known as The Pioneer Woman), I decided to give it a try. 

An update on Mama P

Where to begin...

Well, if you're here after seeing my recent Facebook post - and I'd figure you would be, since I haven't updated this as frequently as I've promised - then you know that this blog has shifted from a running-cooking-running-eating type of deal to something a bit more serious.  I've decided to keep friends and family informed about my Mom's cancer progress via this blog, since there are a lot of details and frankly, I didn't want to put up a 7,000 character status when I wanted/needed to share information.

Gouda bacon mac n' cheese, and an update

I have to give props to my friend Colly for calling me out on not posting here, even though I post snippets of food porn onto my Facebook feed with some regularity. Last night, in celebration of Mama P's safe arrival and general happiness at the end of the week, I decided to make honey garlic chicken, Gouda bacon mac n' cheese, kale chips, and a pear-strawberry cobbler.  Save for the kale chips, the original version of all of these recipes can be found on my Pinterest page.

Roasted Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

So it's been a long time since I posted a recipe...I posted the following photo onto Facebook and found that a few folks wanted to know how to make this, so I decided a blog would be a quick and easy way to put it out there :) 

Little miracles everywhere...

So it's not a cooking post, but this story illustrates how something good can come out of something bad.

I've alluded to Mary's birth and subsequent health issues on this blog, albeit vaguely. Although I'm not typing the whole story out right now, I'll go into a little more detail. I mentioned previously that I've had HELLP syndrome. HELLP stands for hemolysis (breakdown/death of red blood cells), elevated liver enzymes (causing inflammation of the liver), and low platelets (those nifty little cells that help your blood clot). You can Google it for some interesting details in how it can manifest in pregnant women. It's extremely rare to have it in the severe form I had it - generally speaking, the cure for it is delivery of the baby. My HELLP was so rapid and severe in its onset - and its rarity - that my doctors didn't realize it for what it was until it was almost too late. Were it not for my OB, who had seen it before just once in her career, neither Mary or I would have likely survived. I like to refer to her as my guardian angel.

Christmas Crack (technically, Turtle Grahams)

OK - so one of the most loved recipes I made last Christmas was a recipe I'd found online called "Turtle Graham Bars" by Claire Robinson, host of Food Network's 5 Ingredient Fix. Her recipes are usually pretty decent, so I decided to give this one a whirl. I ended up adapting it to what I had in house, which happened to be mixed nuts (versus pecans) and light brown sugar (versus dark). The end result was still lovely, however, and so I've decided to go ahead and put it here. 

And we're back to running again...Galloway style?

So I've been having a two steps forward, one step back kinda deal going on with my physical recovery since January. It's been frustrating, but even with the setbacks, I'm still constantly making forward progress, and I can't ask for more than that at this point. Anyhow, after being cleared to run again, I dove in full speed (figuratively; I wasn't going fast at all) and after two runs, I was ready for my first five miler. Well, my lungs, heart, and brain were. My knees were not. After two more runs, both of my knees were howling and all a sudden, I found myself unable to walk downstairs or even sit on the floor to play with Mary without excruciating pain.

Recipe: Oreo cake truffles

It has been WAY too long since I've posted a recipe, so I decided to kick this off with a bang. One of my favorite desserts as of late has been the cake truffle. I first had one at my favorite restaurant here in South Bend - Uptown Kitchen - and ever since I've been wondering how to make one. They taste like a wonderfully decadent cake...but words don't really do them justice.  While researching different ways to make cake truffles, I happened upon the Oreo cake truffle. This recipe doesn't actually involve cake, per se, but the texture is almost exactly the same as a cake truffle, and the way of assembling the dessert is the same. Enough of an introduction, eh? Let's get to the recipe.

Run of the day

Today's run was a short but sweet 4 miles around the ND lakes again - I ran the first two miles, and alternated jogging and walking the last two...mainly walking since I was with my running buddy Phil for the last two and we were catching up.  However, I figure every little bit goes towards building my endurance, so right now my main focus is working on getting my body adjusted to the higher intensity cardio workouts it's now getting.  I'm working very hard on not getting injured in my training, as I know I'm asking my body a lot over the next 80 days.

Donut of Misery, the 2011 version

Although I certainly wouldn't choose to have my sweet husband deployed, I understand better than most why he has to go, and support him in what he does - and part of that support is offering up some humor whenever possible. I suppose it also helps that I've been downrange a time or two myself. 

It's been way too long...but I'm back.

It's almost mind-boggling to me how long it has been since I've blogged. It's been, actually, since I was about 20 weeks pregnant, which seems like a lifetime ago. In some ways, it was a lifetime ago. More on that later.