Recipe frist. Story Later!!!

What’s in a Chaffle?

1 egg

1 cup shredded mild cheddar

⅛ teaspoon baking powder

That’s it.

Plug in the waffle maker. When the light goes off it's ready. I put a little olive oil on the heating element.
1/4 cup of the mixture goes into the waffle maker. Close it and the light will come back on. Once the light is off again you're ready to move your waffle. It will be steaming hot!! Be careful!! I put them on a cooling rack and once they are cool and crispy I carefully slice them in half for sandwiches, burgers, chicken thighs, you name it. 

You can store them in the fridge but I recommend popping them back into the waffle maker to warm them up. Cool on the bakers rack again and slice them when they’re crispy. The resistance is helpful to get a good clean slice. Here are a pic of my very first chaffle. 

Beautiful Grain Free Cheesy Waffle!!!

Can I possibly still be learning new things about the keto lifestyle more than 2 years in? YUP!

Can I still be learning about my BODY after almost 44 YEARS? You Bet!!

Do you know people who follow this way of eating for a few weeks and think they’ve mastered it?  I’m here to tell you no way! 

I came down with a fever on July 27th. Hit me like a ton of bricks. No symptoms, just achy. I was in full-blown nutritional ketosis yet gained a pound a day for several days. Yes! I gained 6 pounds in 5 days WHILE IN KETOSIS. My body did NOT care. I was in a health crisis and my body was focused on that. 

Lesson: If you're eating on plan, drinking your water, following your macros and not losing? Your body is handling more important stuff. Stay the course and be patient. 

I ended up in a full-body rash which landed me in the ER to ultimately be admitted for testing. Testing that has so far led to no conclusion.

After being discharged from the hospital and continuing to stay keto despite the carb-laden hospital food I proceeded to lose 9 pounds in 5 days. How is that even possible? I stayed the course. I trusted my nutrition and allowed my body to heal itself and not fight against food and ingredients that I was not used to eating (even though I truly thought I earned those hostess cupcakes). 

After a few days of being home some of you know, I had a delivery that included an item I put in the Amazon cart during the middle of the night hospital stay. The MINI Waffle Maker!! 

 Last week I told you how I made my zucchini bread into mini waffles!. What I learned in the last week is my sensitivity to coconut flour. YUP! That’s what I learned. Brand new to me. I’ve eaten the coconut zucchini bread in the past and never noticed anything. Keeping my diet so clean as I continue to heal is what made the difference here.

I ate one waffle. The only new thing in my diet. Up a half a pound the next day. Didn’t think much of it as our weight fluctuates based on our water consumption, what’s literally in our stomachs at the time, how much salt we had in the days prior.

Ate another waffle. Gained another ½ pound. OK time to test it out...No waffle, next day down ½ pound. And the same the following day. If I wasn’t being so careful about what I was eating I would never have noticed!! I was like AREYOUKIDDINGME? 

Lesson: Just because it’s Keto doesn’t mean it’s Keto for ME! (Or you. We’re all mystical creatures who are different in so many lovely ways)

This brings me to the BASIC CHAFFLE! You guys! This is the item that once I tried it I texted my husband and told him “You’re gonna fall in love with me all over again!!” I was right!!! 

Cat’s Kielbasa and Cabbage

www.eatcraveketo.com

Quick one pan meal? YES, PLEASE!!!

Be sure to brown the sausage nicely for extra flavor!

Servings 4

Ingredients

12oz Hillshire Farms Lite Polska Kielbasa (I like this because I couldn’t decide which kielbasa I wanted, turkey, Pork, or beef. This had all three!!!)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

4 cups chopped cabbage

A pinch of thyme

Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Slice the smoked sausage into thin rounds.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until sausage is deeply browned on both sides, about 6 minutes.

Add the onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to the skillet and cook 3 more minutes to soften onions.

Add the cabbage to the skillet and stir to coat it with the onion, garlic kielbasa mixture.

After a few minutes add the butter in pieces to the skillet and stir to coat.

Sprinkle on a little more salt and pepper to taste

Cook the cabbage, stirring constantly, until it becomes tender, about 10 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Calories: 286 Fat:23g Net Carbs: 5g Protein: 14g

One Pot Wonder!

My Mother in love made is these cookies all the time around the holidays. She would know with that mother’s intuition that we could use some cookies and a little bit of her joy and just come up stair with them. She would make hers with oats so I had to find a way to keep the tradition alive for our family. Here is the keto-ized version of the most delicious no back ‘Haystack” cookies!!!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons real butter

2/3 cup all natural peanut butter (or your choice of nut butter)

1 cup unsweetened all natural shredded coconut

2 tablespoons confectioners swerve

1 tsp real vanilla extract

Note* if using a granulated swerve add it to the butter to the melted butter and stir to dissolve.

1 tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)

Instructions

In a microwave safe dish, melt butter.

Beat in peanut butter until smooth.

If you chose to make these with cocoa powder, add it now.

Add Swerve and coconut. Mix well.

Scoop 1 tablespoon portions onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Freeze for 1 hour. Store in the freezer in a freezer safe container.

Put a lock on your freezer to keep you from eating the ENTIRE BATCH!!!

No Joke!

XOXO

Peace, Love, and Avocado!

~~Cat

Peanut Butter Haystack cookie!