Kitchen Stories Archives - Kirsten Oliphant

Jul 30 2017

Low Carb Diets: What’s the Difference Between Keto, Paleo, and Whole30?

I wish that my 90s teenage self could see the diet trends of today. SHE WOULD DIE. My diets back then (you know, when I didn’t NEED a diet but thought I did) were fat free. Like: totally. Today’s low-carb (often high fat diets) would have seemed like insanity. But even now it can seem crazy because there are so many low-carb-ish diets. So what’s the difference between Keto, Paleo, and Whole30?

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What’s the Difference Between Keto, Paleo, and Whole30?

There are a ton of other kinds of diets that are in this sort of realm, but I keep hearing about these three lately. Everyone I know seems to be trying ONE of them. In my mind, they were all sort of jumbled up. So let’s clear up the confusion between keto, paleo, and Whole30!

Keto or the Ketogenic Diet

This has become a big one for our family as my husband has recently became involved with Pruvit, a company selling ketones. (More on that later.) I have several friends posting UNREAL photos online of how they’ve changed since trying keto.

What’s the basic premise?

Ketosis is the process wherein your body is using fat for energy, not carbohydrates. This means that your body will start fueling itself by burning up your fat storage. YES!

More than just a low-carb diet, it is a HIGH FAT diet. This is really different than some of the other things I’ve tried (like South Beach or when I tried Nutrisystem a few years back) because often even those mostly-low-carb diets encourage low fat and are high in lean proteins like chicken breasts.

Your body produces ketones when blood sugar is in short supply. Excess proteins can even be converted to blood sugar, which is why lean proteins are limited and higher or full-fat proteins recommended.

What’s GOOD

Ketosis has more benefits than just weight loss. (Though that is a huge one and people who successfully attempt a keto diet often lose weight quickly and easily.) Many people report higher brain function and overall a better overall sense of well-being in ketosis. Click How It Works on this page from my husband’s Pruvit site gives a quick overview.

What’s HARD

Ketosis is hard to maintain. Lots of people I know on keto use strips to test that they are still in ketosis. And as I told Rob, it’s frustrating to me that you could wreck your body’s ketosis by eating too many carbs. Where some diets have a cheat day or tell you that you can bounce back quickly, if you choose to have a piece of cake while out at dinner, it may take a few days to get back on track.

There is also what’s known as the keto flu, which is how your body feels the first few days you’re detoxing from sugar. This should really tell us something about sugar, right? (Shhh, sugar. Don’t listen. I still love you.)

You may feel not-so-great for the first three days or so, which explains me crying in Walmart on day two of my first time trying the Atkins diet. After trying keto, I can say that there is a pretty awesome natural high feeling if you can push past the “keto flu.”

My Personal Takeaway

I love this idea. I can eat my cheese! And when I tried this, I really felt AMAZING. (As I said, after like three days where I felt not bad, but meh.) I’ve got some great keto recipes coming up on the blog (start with this low-carb pancakes one!!) and really started to see weight loss when I started taking ketos from Pruvit, EVEN when I wasn’t staying strict to a keto diet.

Resources

Ruled – This site has a great starter guide with recipes and more to get you going on ketosis!
Healthful Pursuit – I love this YouTube channel, with videos showing things like a full day of high-fat eating and what difference this has made over time.
Pruvit – This is the site where Rob is a promotoer. They have great resources and you can check out their products. I personally LOVE the raspberry lemonade and maui punch!

Whole 30

I’ve also seen a ton of friends trying this with great success…at least for 30 days. So what’s it all about?

What’s the basic premise?

I didn’t realize that the Whole 30 was developed by one person, kind of like the Atkins diet. The goal of the diet is that you eliminate the most inflammatory foods from your diet for a full 30 days: sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes. As a result, the Whole 30 site and its many believers say that is will help get rid of cravings, reset your body’s gut health, and move your toward long-term change.

The GOOD

I love the idea of getting rid of all things processed and getting down to SIMPLE ingredients. In a world full of things that you can’t pronounce or identify, this sounds great! I also think that the elimination of cravings and dependency on sugars and processed foods is fantastic.

The HARD

For me, you’ve lost me at dairy. I really don’t think I ever WILL give up things like cheese and milk-products. The end. You lost me at cheese, Whole 30. You are also supposed to reset to day 1 if you slip up at ALL. I haven’t tried this, so I don’t have a personal response to it!

Resources

Whole 30 – You should really go to the source, right? You can find the basics and specifics about the program here.

Tips for Surviving the Whole 30 – I love this post from my friend Kelli that helps make it accessible.

Paleo or Primal

People jokingly refer to this as the caveman diet, but it’s not so far off. The idea started in 1975 but really took off when Loren Cordain wrote The Paleo Diet book. The argument is that this diet is how you were DESIGNED to eat on a genetic level. Paleo is about lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, and veggies. It eliminates grains, legumes, and dairy, similar to Whole 30.

In fact, this diet is so close to Whole 30 that I had to find this blog post to tell me the differences. The differences are small. With paleo, you must cut out refined sugar, but can have things like raw honey. It also recommends GRASS-FED meats (because these are similar to what our ancestors ate), and allows to recreate some of your favorite processed foods (while Whole30 advises against that).

What’s GOOD

It’s hard to argue with the idea of eating how our ancestors ate. Right? At the same time, we aren’t living in our ancestor’s world. A lot of these diets are more expensive and I can say for sure that if our family had to only eat grass-fed meats, we couldn’t afford meat. Period.

What’s BAD

As I just mentioned, grass-fed meats are simply not an option on our budget for our sized family. If we want to eat meat, that is. All these diets can be expensive, really. But this requirement kind of puts things over the top.

I also feel like all species adapt over time and there wasn’t ONE culture in the paleo era. This largely depends on where people lived. So giving a sweeping “this is the diet everyone ate and you need to stick to it” statement seems like a generalization. Maybe I just like to be contrary?

Resources

Precision Nutrition – This post is massive and insane and really great for an overall view.

So…Should You Low Carb? And If So, Which?

See how these are all similar, but also different in some slight, but specific ways?

The end question though, is which low-carb diet you should try. IF ANY. Maybe we should go back to eating what I did in high school…which was essentially Diet Dr. Pepper and pretzels. (How am I alive???)

I have seen the greatest results when I’ve tried low-carb diets. Though in the last few years (before I was pregnant with Piper) NOTHING worked. And even this year when I essentially ate nothing for like 10 days after dental surgery (more on that later), I lost NO weight. Yikes. I actually had my thyroid checked. Nothing.

What kick-started my weight loss was trying Pruvit, the ketones that Rob promotes. While I was recovering from surgery, he had just started taking them and had an energy like I’ve NEVER seen in all our years of marriage.

I’m a skeptic and will post later if I see long-term results. But losing ten pounds in a few weeks after changing nothing…THAT says something.

I have a few keto recipes coming, but you can start with this one for two-ingredient keto pancakes, which my whole family LOVES. I struggle not to eat the full batch by myself. I’ve also got a killer kale salad with avocado. Seriously.

Orrrrr…if you’re rebelling against this and want to try some of my favorite TOTALLY NOT LOW CARB recipes, you can see my favorite ever chocolate chip pumpkin cake or these fish tacos, which you could totally do without the whole tortilla part.

Are you a fan of any of these diets? Have your own favorite style of eating? Share in the comments!

Feb 22 2017

Low Carb Pancakes (Two Ingredients & Gluten Free!)

Sometimes you encounter a recipe that changes your life. Maybe you think I’m being dramatic. MAYBE I AM. But these low carb pancakes with only two ingredients and NO bananas are so amazing. So amazing that after seeing the recipe, I made them twice today. And took photos for a new blog post.

Did I mention that these low carb pancakes have TWO INGREDIENTS? (Plus salt. Which is a given.)

{Pssst! This post contains affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, any items purchased after clicking through may send me a commission.}

I got this post in an email today from Mary at Barefeet in the Kitchen and knew I had to make them. So many of YOU asked me about this on Facebook, I thought I’d create my own post. And if you want to see another version, check out this one from Hurry the Food Up, with a suggestion to use these as taco wraps. BRILLIANT.

I’m not a huge fan of the eggs + banana pancakes that are all the rage. Have you tried them? They are good for some people who want a grain-free pancake, but I like more savory things for breakfast. So these cream cheese pancakes are the answer. When is cream cheese NOT the answer?!?

Here’s the recipe:

cream cheese + eggs + salt = amazing low carb pancakes

I can’t even stand it. My kids liked them. I like them. My husband likes them. Valentina from The Baking Fairy said she even uses these as bread when she’s doing a keto diet. I just want to stuff them in my face. My kids like them with honey. I like them plain. Just straight from the pan to my mouth.

To make them, put 4 ounces of cream cheese in the blender along with 4 eggs plus some salt (I did about 1/4 teaspoon). Blend until fluffy. Let rest for a moment and cook on a greased pan or griddle. THE END.

Most gluten free pancakes or low carb pancakes require buying some kind of fancy flour. You may already have these ingredients in your fridge.

You should probably be a little more careful with your eggs though…

When you’re flipping them, take a little more care. I watched until they were starting to have bubbles and look a little more finished around the edges. Usually I undercook the first batch, overcook the second, and get it right on the third. These are more delicate than regular pancakes, so don’t expect a sturdy pancake when you flip them. Be kind and gentle. Or…you may make a mess.

Oh, and if you have drips, eat them too. Duh.

Low Carb Pancakes

4 eggs
4 ounces cream cheese
1/8 tsp salt

Add all ingredients in a blender. Blend until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. (I found they were fluffier if I blended longer.) Let rest for 1 minute.

Pour slowly (they spread FAST and get thin) onto a greased griddle or pan on medium heat. Cook 1-2 minutes per side. Flip the first time when they are starting to look settled and cooked around the edges.

I hope this changes your life like it did mine. You can go see the original post that inspired me to eat these all day every day (I mentioned I made them twice today, right?) right here at Barefeet in the Kitchen. She has a great video that shows the whole process!

If you are wondering about what we use, I have the Ninja blender and we have an awesome griddle like this one that goes over our gas stove. This was seriously one of the things I was most excited about when I got a gas stove!

So…are you going to try them? Let me know! Do you have any recipes that changed your life? Let me know in the comments!

Apr 29 2016

Eggplant and Olive Tapenade

I remember the first time I tried tapenade. It was New York, pre-kids, pre-marriage, pre-adventurous eating. I was in my friend Jennie’s cramped Manhattan apartment, in New York on a whirlwind visit. I had already ridden to the top of the Empire State Building where I caught snow from a surprise snow flurry on my tongue and walked the slanted twist of the Guggenheim by myself. So when Jennie held out the jar of tapenade and some small crackers, I decided that yes, I WOULD try something I’d never heard of, made with two things I did not (yet) like: olives and eggplant.

The taste surprised me. The rustic warmth of the eggplant and the bright briny-ness of the olives combined into something wholly new to me and wholly delicious. This tapenade eaten straight from a jar may have been the beginning of my love affair with olives and eggplants, together and alone.

What in the world did I eat before I loved everything?? (Except, of course, pickles.)

The word tapenade actually comes from tapeno, which was the name for the capers preserved in olive oil, traditionally used in this Mediterranean dish, whose main ingredient is olives. Traditionally, it features anchovies as well. There are many variations with ingredients like artichokes or mushrooms or eggplant. You know from my recipes (like this simple jambalaya) that I love variations.

The inspiration for me to make this dish came from an unexpected place: The 2nd Annual Seven Seas Food Festival at Sea World San Antonio. This post is sponsored by Sea World. (As always, all opinions and content are my own!) The Festival runs on weekends through May 15th in the Sea World San Antonio Park, where you can sample 65 chef-created dishes and unique wines, craft cocktails & beer from 12 countries around the world. Sound tasty? Here’s a peek at some of the recipes!

For my Seven Seas inspired dish, I sauteed eggplant and garlic, then processed it in our Ninja blender with olive oil, a little lemon juice, and parmesan cheese. So simple. So good. Perfect with pita bread or pita chips or even on a slice of crusty french bread. If you want to be a purist, just use a spoon.

Eggplant and Olive Tapenade

Eggplant Tapenade

2016-04-29 15:00:19

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Ingredients

1 eggplant
1 cup green olives with pimentos
1/2 Parmesan
4 cloves garlic
4-5 T olive oil
1/8 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Peel and chop the eggplant. Saute in about 1 T of olive oil until soft. Remove and saute chopped garlic cloves until soft. Using a food processor, blend the eggplant, olives, garlic, salt, and Parmesan together with 3 T of olive oil. Add more olive oil or a little water until you achieve a chunky consistency that is still spreadable. Chill or eat immediately, served with pita.

Kirsten Oliphant http://kirstenoliphant.com/

Print the recipe to try your own tapenade for a unique and delicious twist on a normal appetizer or dip. You can either refrigerate for a bit to let the flavors settle, or eat while it’s still warm from the eggplant. I like it both ways!

Try this simple eggplant and olive tapenade for a rustic Mediterranean appetizer.

Apr 25 2016

Five Ingredient Easy Jambalaya

Let’s talk about jambalaya. Because this easy jambalaya recipe is not TECHNICALLY jambalaya. (If you know me, you know I don’t do a lot of technical in my kitchen…) An authentic jambalaya recipe would have the Cajun holy trinity: onions, celery, and peppers. From what I’ve read there are actually two types: the Cajun brown jambalaya (without tomatoes) and the Creole red version (with tomatoes). My version? Is a five ingredient rice-based dish that is delicious and low stress.

[Want to get nerdy about real jambalaya? Read this great post. This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something through a link, I may get a referral commission at no extra cost to you!]

The thing about New Orleans and cajun cooking is that it originated with a mix of various cultures and backgrounds to become something wholly unique. I love that. And I feel like that makes it okay that I’m creating my own version in the kitchen.

I feel truly like you could do anything with rice and a can of tomatoes. Yes, a can. I LOVE canned tomatoes. Fresh are great as well, but in many recipes, crushed or diced tomatoes just make everything better. This dish was born out of necessity: I literally had five things to make dinner. Kind of like an episode of chopped, but with no gummy worms or octopus that had to be included.

Easy Jambalaya Recipe

I had rice, onion, sausage, and a can of tomatoes. Plus olive oil and Tony Chachere’s seasoning, which I’ll put together to make the fifth ingredient. I’m including the full recipe, but essentially I sauteed the onions til soft in the olive oil (with a sprinkle of salt) until soft. I added the sausage and let it brown a little, though it was already cooked. I added a little more oil to the pan, the rice, and some Tony’s. I eyeball it, but probably 1-2 teaspoons. I stirred until the rice was popping a little, then added a large can of crushed tomatoes and the right measurement of water to rice. From there, follow the rice directions, which usually means bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 or so minutes.

You could top this with cheese (though that would make it even LESS of a jambalay-like dish) or cilantro or herbs, but it was stinking good as is. My hubby had seconds. I might have had thirds.

Easy Jambalaya Recipe

2016-04-23 12:16:23

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Ingredients

1 yellow onion
1 package cooked sausage
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 T olive oil
2-4 tsp Tony Chacheres seasoning (to taste)

Instructions

Chop the onion roughly. Heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions until soft. While onion is cooking, chop the sausage. Add it into the onions and let brown a little. Add 1 T of olive oil and the cup of rice. Season with Tony Chacheres to taste. Stir the rice until coated in oil and seasonings and popping. Add the can of tomatoes and the 2 cups water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer according to package directions, usually about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

You can use any kind of rice. Follow the directions on the package to cook correctly than sticking strictly to the proportions I've included here.
I used the fully cooked sausage that was sold in two large links, andouille style.
You could add garlic, peppers, or celery to the first stage when you're cooking the onion.

By Kirsten Oliphant

Kirsten Oliphant http://kirstenoliphant.com/

This dish was ready in under 30 minutes and had 5 (ish) ingredients. Can you ask for more? Well, you can ask for MORE because you’ll want to eat more of this easy jambalaya! But you can’t ask for much more in a dish.

Do you have any favorite easy recipes? Leave a comment below!

Here are a few other of our family favorites!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Focaccia Bread Pizza
Potato Soup
This isn’t a recipe, but everyone could use these 5 Fast Dinner Hacks!

Dec 31 2015

Candied Spiced Pears

This candied spiced pears recipe is another in my series of posts in partnership with Imperial Sugar. I love working with this local sugar company. The recipe and opinions are (as always) my own!

Every year, someone lovely gives a box of pears. YOU KNOW THE ONES. I don’t eat a lot of pears, but these pears…oh my goodness. But after a week or so, the whole family is ready for a change. Last year I made Ginger Pear Muffins, which are fantastic. They were gone by day one.

This year I decided to try a Candied Spiced Pear recipe and served it over a tiny bundt cake. I think these candied pears would be phenomenal over ice cream as well. (I will also admit to eating the remains right out of the pan.)

Candied Spiced Pears

2015-12-31 12:12:28

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Ingredients

1 pear
2 Tbs butter
1/4 cup Imperial Sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a small metal pan with nonstick spray. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As the butter begins to melt, add the sugar and then the pears. Add the chopped pecans after the pears have cooked for a minute or two. Let simmer for a total of 4-5 minutes until the butter is frothy. Sprinkle the cinnamon and cayenne on top and remove from heat.
Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and bake for 3-5 minutes until pears begin to brown. Remove and use while hot.

Kirsten Oliphant http://kirstenoliphant.com/

Pears simmering in butter, sugar, and with a sprinkle of cinnamon and cayenne (yes, CAYENNE) is about as amazing as it sounds. You really need the crunch of the pecans to offset the softness of the pears. This recipe reminds me of all the things you love about an apple crumble or pie, but the flavor profile of the pears plus that little zing of cayenne opens up a whole new world.

And if you’re thinking that you might just leave out the cayenne, DON’T. I mean it. Just a sprinkle. We aren’t talking fire here. We are talking about a tiny pinch. There is just something about a little bit of spice that rounds out the sweet. And these are definitely less spicy than my Chocolate Cayenne Cupcakes or the Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake. But if you like a bit of heat, try those too. But trust me when I say just a sprinkle of cayenne here. DO IT.

So, pears: are you in or are you out? How would you serve these Candied Spiced Pears?