[Mike Nolan]

We both loved the cartoon!

The challenge I've set for myself is to see if I can come up with a repertoire of keto-friendly dishes that people would actually enjoy eating, regardless of whether they're trying to go keto or not. (Things like steaks and salads are too easy.)

So far the ones that have been the biggest hits are the keto-friendly cheese souffle with mushroom sauce (that could easily be turned into mushroom soup) and the keto-friendly egg custard. I'd feel comfortable serving either of those dishes at a dinner with friends.

[Mike Nolan]

The cauliflower crust pizza was a mixed success, it was edible but I wouldn't say it was delicious. However, I can think of several things I could do to make it better next time.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight I'm trying a recipe for a cauliflower pizza crust, with assorted toppings.

[Mike Nolan]

Well, they're out and kind of a mixed review. I think they taste too salty and they probably need more butter, vanilla, and maybe blueberries instead of banana extract. Possibly fewer or no nuts.

They're better with some cream cheese, but what isn't!

They've got a good muffin-like texture, though, so I think there's plenty of room for improvement.

[Mike Nolan]

I am testing a low-carb mini muffin recipe today.

[Mike Nolan]

I made more low-carb custard Friday. At Diane's suggestion, I added more vanilla. She thinks it's better that way.

[Mike Nolan]

Ozempic as a weight loss tool is becoming popular for non-diabetics, so much so that it is impacting the supply chain, but the WSJ recently had an article noting that those who use it to lose weight are likely to gain it right back again when they stop using it, unless they change their eating habits.

Years ago, when the liquid protein diets were the in thing, I knew a doctor who lost over 100 pounds using them. When he stopped, his weight ballooned right back up and he wound up being a good 20 pounds heavier than before.

The breath ketone tester seems to be providing useful information, and it is a lot less expensive than a blood tester which requires strips that cost as much as a dollar each. I may get one anyway, though. More information is usually better than less information. What I've learned is that there are three different ways to measure ketones and each one measures a different type of ketone. I think they should be pretty much in lock step with each other, but being an engineer I like to experiment to prove it. So far, neither of us have hit readings indicating we're approaching ketoacidosis, which is dangerous.

I've lost at least 5 pounds in the last two weeks. I switched which scale I use for my daily readings because the digital one has a lot of variance, I can weigh myself several times and get readings as much as 2 pounds apart. So I'm back to using our platform scale, the kind where you slide a weight to get a reading. I just have to remember to reset it for Diane afterwards.

Earlier this week I started using a new app for meal tracking and recipe analysis. I want to use it for a while before I post specifics, but so far it seems pretty good.

[Mike Nolan]

I started a new Aerogarden today, 4 different types of lettuce again. We're trying to eat more lettuce under the keto diet.

[Mike Nolan]

We had a beef stir fry on cauliflower rice. Aside from the cauliflower rice not absorbing much of the liquid, it was hard to tell it wasn't rice.

[Mike Nolan]

I once took my Kitchenaid pasta roller apart to clean it, but it took me over a week to figure out how to get it back together again, too many parts all had to be in just the right place at the same time.

[Mike Nolan]

Small appliance repairs shops are a vanishing breed, I think the last one in Lincoln closed recently when the owner retired.

They actually make mixer attachments for a power drill, but I've never heard how well they work. They don't have two blades so they might not create as much whipping or mixing action.

I don't even know the last time we used our hand mixer, I've got a manual mixer that I use for things like custard and popovers.

[Mike Nolan]

We're having steak, mushrooms and salad.

[Mike Nolan]

One of the keto books I looked at has to be the worst organized cookbook I've ever seen.

The top of the page has the title of the book, but none of the recipes have titles on them, though I think they're all just one page long. I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to find a recipe in it.

[Mike Nolan]

As I recall I tested about two of the recipes in that book, but then I had work projects that kept me from doing any more of them. The ones I tried were also kind of a mixed bag.

I've got Splenda, and while I use it in tea I really haven't liked any of the baking we've done with it. As for monkfruit/erythritol (corrected), the erythritol makes things taste 'cool' and we didn't like anything I made with it. I'm not sure pure monkfruit would be an improvement, it is said to have some aftertaste.

I haven't done enough with the allulose to know if I like it or not, the custard I made using it was OK, could have been a little sweeter but I'm not getting any odd aftertastes.

I think my coconut flour is long past its 'best buy' date, I may get some more if I keep experimenting with baking.

For now I'm concentrating on the savory end of things, where I don't have to play around with artificial sweeteners.

[Mike Nolan]

I spent about 15 minutes browsing the keto books at Barnes & Noble yesterday, but so far I haven't bought any. Yeah, there are a lot of keto-friendly recipes on the net, but I'm also interested in adapting the recipes I've already been making to be more keto-friendly. I've also been looking at the recipes in Peter Reinhart's gluten-free sugar-free baking book.

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