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Keto Dinner Recipes That You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

August 20, 2019 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

After months of yo-yo eating (we eat what we want when we want only to regret it later and try to eat healthily), we’ve committed to living a Keto lifestyle. If you’re reading this post, you’re either already eating a low-carb diet or would like to make healthier eating decisions.

In my opinion, Keto* is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. So, our household has decided to get back on the eat-healthier bandwagon and adopt a new standard of better eating. I’m glad we did! Eating better just makes me feel better.

Like me, I’m sure you are strapped for time after getting home to prepare dinner. So, this post includes several dinner recipes that are low-carb and high on flavor that can be made in 30 minutes or less. Thanks to some wonderful fellow bloggers, I’ve created the ultimate line-up of dishes!

My version of Hibachi Steak Lettuce Wraps includes using soft ribeye steak cut into small chunks, then marinated in a soy sauce and canola oil marinade, and later cooked to perfection over medium heat. I prefer to cook my steak to medium-rare or medium. Spooned over romaine or green leaf lettuce, the steak wraps are delicious when combined with shredded carrot, red cabbage, and optional yum yum sauce.

If you’re someone who loves chicken, you’ll love indulging in Low Carb Spark’s Chicken Marsala recipe! If you’d rather swap out the wine for a substitute ingredient, there are smart options provided as well. The pan-seared chicken is smothered in a rich marsala wine mushroom sauce to create a scrumptious, easy weeknight dinner. The best part of this dish is that it is decadent in taste but low in carbs!

Looking for a dinner entree with a kick of spicy heat? Consider preparing Whip & Wander’s Cuban Picadillo, an entree with flavors of Latin American cuisine. The dish is a combination of ground turkey meat, tomatoes, olives, green onions, spices, and plenty of chili peppers, and it goes great when served on a bed of low-carb cauliflower rice.

Sometimes I think I could eat salad for lunch and dinner daily. I love a hearty salad made with ingredients that bring a flavor punch! If you love an Asian salad, then you’ll appreciate Drive Me Hungry’s Healthy Chinese Chicken Salad made with healthy ingredients. Because Jamie doesn’t include fried wonton strips or rice noodles in her recipe, the salad is low-carb. Making it is as easy as assembling the fresh ingredients in a bowl and preparing a shaker dressing made with soy sauce to pour over the salad!

One of my go-to meals almost once a week is preparing a seafood dish because it’s incredibly healthy and can be made in less than 30 minutes. That why I love the idea of Savory Tooth’s Keto Salmon Patties made by creating a salmon mixture, forming it into patties, and then pan-searing until they are crusty on the outside and tender on the inside. Julia also includes a dill-garlic dip to use for dipping (or smothering!) on the crispy salmon patties — the ultimate flavor bomb!

These Keto-inspired recipes are just the line-up you need to create delicious low-carb recipes for the work week. As long as you have the ingredients on hand and prep your workstation in advance, you will be able to get these meals on the table in 30 minutes or less!

Want a refreshing yet healthy drink to add to your meal? Try my Cucumber Mint Detox Water! Or perhaps you’re craving dessert after dinner? Give my Mixed Berry Popsicles with Coconut Water a try, a healthy alternative to ice cream.

I’d love to hear what you think of these recipes in the comment section below. Share your thoughts!

*Be sure to research the Keto diet and ask your doctor if it is right for you.

Soft Carrot Cake Energy Balls

February 5, 2019 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

Soft carrot cake with cream cheese icing. For over a decade of my childhood, I ordered carrot cake for my birthday cake when dining out OR when my mom asked what kind of celebratory dessert I wanted. Every. Single. Year. Today, I eat fewer heavy desserts like dense cakes or cookies, but I still love sweets and I know you do, too!

My Soft Carrot Cake Energy Balls are delicious and filling enough as a breakfast bite or snack that you won’t be hangry by meal time. The recipe’s mixture consists of nature’s best ingredients including dates, raisins, chia seeds, and say it with me…carrots! Admittedly, I use peanut butter as the binder so if you’re someone with a peanut allergy, this is not your recipe.

This is the right consistency for the mixture to form into balls.

Did you know carrots are a power food packed with nutrients and vitamins essential to our body’s good health? We all know that eating carrots improves one’s vision, but they also slow the aging process. Yes, please! (And there are 8 more reasons to eat them!) I know you’re going to love how simple it is to make this recipe and the clean-up couldn’t be easier.

You may also like my recipe for No Bake Energy Bites made with chocolate chips and dried fruit! That recipe also includes chia seeds since they help keep hunger at bay and are super healthy as well.

onedelightfullife.com

7-8 energy balls

Soft Carrot Cake Energy Balls

Love decadent carrot cake? These breakfast bites are the next best thing but healthy!

20 minPrep Time

20 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

1 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. shredded carrot
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. diced dates
1/4 c. raisins
1/2 tsp. chia seeds
heavy pinch sea salt

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until completely combined.
Test the mixture to see if it binds to make a ball. If it isn't quite ready, just add more peanut butter.
Remove the blade from the food processor.
Using your hands, roll the mixture into tight balls about the size of a quarter.
Transfer the carrot cake balls to a Ziplock bag or storage container and refrigerate until you'r ready to eat them. They last a couple weeks, if refrigerated.

Notes

Some people enjoy this recipe with shredded coconut added.

Nutrition

Calories

2303 cal

Fat

135 g

Carbs

181 g

Protein

86 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

No Bake Energy Bites: A Mid-Day Snack to Keep You From Feeling Hangry

March 26, 2017 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

Hangry – The word ‘hangry’ is a concise way to describe a common feeling. Hangry is a clever word combination of hungry and angry, and an adjective that describes being irritable due to hunger, according to Webster’s Dictionary.

Anyone who works with me knows that I keep snacks in my drawer (fruit roll-ups, whole fruit, or granola bars) so that in the event I begin to feel hangry, I’ve got relief nearby. Sometimes I can feel myself getting hangry mid-morning and nobody wants me to get hangry. Nobody. So, I grab a healthy snack.

Inspired by our healthier “lifestyle” (we’re not calling it a diet), I was inspired to make No Bake Energy Bites: A Mid-Day Snack to Keep You From Feeling Hangry. They taste like no bake cookies and curb your hunger thanks to the addition of oatmeal and chia seeds, a popular ingredient in smoothies and granola bowls. Chia seeds are a trending super food high in nutrients that provides boost of energy. You can purchase them in bulk at any health food store. Because they expand a bit when wet, they make you feel full! Oh, and total bonus…chia seeds are suppose to promote healthy skin and reduce the signs of aging. Well, duh! I think I’ll add them to every early morning breakfast.

These **No Bake Energy Bites** taste like a cookie but they’re healthy for you. This recipe included cocoa, chocolate chips, peanut butter, almonds, vanilla and honey add-ins. See the recipe card below.

Using quick oats as the base, the mix-in ingredient options are about as endless as your imagination. For example, you can make ingredient substitutions or try these flavor combinations:

butterscotch chips for chocolate chips
chopped dried bananas, bacon bits, and peanut butter
dried apple chips with raisins and cinnamon
sunflower seeds instead of peanuts or almonds
Nutella and dried berries like cherries or blueberries
crushed honey oat cereal and peanut butter
cranberries, raisins, and toasted coconut with Nutella (see photos below)

Making No Bake Energy Bites is as easy as combining all of the recipe ingredients in a bowl, mixing them (your hands are a great kitchen tool but beware – the added honey will leave your hands sticky), and rolling them into one inch balls after the mixture refrigerates for 30 minutes. It’s a cinch!

This recipe version of **No Bake Energy Bites** includes cranberries, chopped peanuts, chia seeds, toasted coconut, raisins, Nutella, honey, vanilla, and oatmeal.

Work together all of the ingredients by pressing your spoon into the walls of the bowl and then finish mixing.

If you initially have a hard time rolling the mixture into balls, squeeze it in your hand until the mixture is tight and then use both hands to form a one-inch ball. Tip: Layer parchment paper (or wax paper) between the layers of energy balls in an airtight container before you store them in the refrigerator for at least two hours. I’m impatient and put my Tupperware container of energy bites in the freezer for one hour. A-c-t-u-a-l-l-y, I must admit that I ate one before the rest even made it into the refrigerator. They’re simply delicious!

Cranberry Raisin with Nutella No Bake Energy Bites

There you have it! No Bake Energy Bites are healthy for you and will save you from hunger pains at work so you don’t “bite” your co-worker’s head off. Yes, I went there (insert eye roll). Grab some oatmeal and your favorite mix-in ingredients and get started making tomorrow’s mid-day snack (or breakfast)!