There is nothing particularly special about this meatball recipe; I post it here mostly because we tried an experiment this weekend to see if my kids could tell the difference between these and “regular” meatballs, and the results were interesting.

I tossed together this recipe from memory, simply substituting Beyond Beef bulk burger (comes in 1lb packs in the meat dept.) for hamburger/ground pork. Feel free to use your own meatball recipe, what I found is that this stuff basically cooks the same way, there were no surprises.

1 lb Beyond Beef Plant-Based Ground Whatever
2 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano (or “Italian Herb Seasoning”)
2 TBSP grated parmesan
2 TBSP feta cheese (optional)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 TBSP fresh chopped parseley
1 egg (or equivalent egg whites) (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Hand mix all ingredients
Use your hand or a small scooper to make 1 1/2 inch diameter balls.
Arrange onto a baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment paper.
Bake until browned/cooked through, generally 15-20 minutes

Serve with cooked marinara or in your favorite dish.

Here’s what’s in Beyond Meat burger stuff:
https://www.beyondmeat.com/about/our-ingredients/

Nutritional information:

1/4 lb of Beyond Burger has
270 calories
5g saturated fat
13 g unsaturated fat
4g carbs
2g fiber

You can get it in bulk here:

Let me know what you think!  My kids’ verdict: they couldn’t tell I was pulling a fast one on them.  Of course, their palate stinks, but my wife and I were pretty impressed and we’ll have them again.

A recent study published in Circulation got headlines recently, screaming “HIGH PROTEIN DIETS ARE LINKED TO HEIGHTENED RISK FOR HEART DISEASE..” This prompted a lot of questions to the show about ketogenic diets and whether they were “dangerous” and should be abandoned.

As usual, the hype isn’t warranted;  even the original study states clearly “In middle-aged men, higher protein intake was marginally associated with increased risk of HF.”

It’s also a myth that ketogenic (and NSNG) diets are necessarily “high protein.” “Low carbohydrate”doesn’t necessarily mean high protein; a classic low carb meal would be a salad with lots of green, leafy vegetables, cucumbers, peppers, etc., and grilled chicken or salmon. It boggles the mind to think that anyone would consider this an unhealthy meal, and it’s certainly not “high protein” in the sense that this was used in the Circulation study.

Let’s look at some of the research on ketogenic diets:

Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets.

• Ketogenic diets are “better than most of the new antiepileptic drugs” for refractory epilepsy in chidren.
• Ketogenic diets improve parameters associated with cardiovascular disease.
• Ketogenic diets are effective in the management of type II diabetes.

Another review article discusses positive effects of ketogenic diets:

Ketogenic diet for obesity: friend or foe?

I have to get to work;  I’ll continue to post to this thread as time goes on.  There is an overwhelming amount of data on ketogenic diets (not all positive, of course, as is true in most science) and we’ll continue to update you on this fascinating topic.

your obt svt,

Steve

Please visit stuff.doctorsteve.com

Crust
2 cup almond flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup granulated stevia/erythritol blend
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 medium egg
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Filling
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 Tbsp. sour cream
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
½ cup plus 2tsp granulated stevia/erythritol blend, divided
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9” pie pan with 1 tsp. butter.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the crust ingredients with a fork until the dough forms into a ball.

Spread out the dough in the pie pan using your fingers until it evenly covers the bottom and sides of the pan. (Wetting your hands with cold water can help prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers.)  Using a fork, poke holes in the bottom and sides of crust to prevent bubbles from forming as it bakes.

Place crust in the oven and bake for 11 minutes. Remove crust from the oven and loosely cover edges with foil. Return it to oven for 5 to 8 more minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown. Allow the crust to cool completely before filling.

To prepare the filling, place cream cheese, sour cream, butter, vanilla extract, ½ cup stevia/erythritol blend and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.

Using a mixer on low speed, blend ingredients to combine, then increase to high speed and beat until fluffy.

Place the whipping cream in a separate small bowl. Using clean mixer beaters, whip the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the 2 tsp. sweetener and 1 tsp. vanilla extract and beat until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture to lighten. Add remaining whipped cream mixture and fold it in gently. Do not overmix. Fold just until mixture is reasonably uniform.

Scoop the filling into the crust and smooth the top with a spoon. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Serve with low carb heavy whipped cream (store bought is fine).

Crust
2 cups almond flour
4 TBSP melted butter
1 tsp stevia/erythritol blend
1 egg
½ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Filling
Sugar Free Butterscotch Pudding
8oz milk
16 oz whipping cream, divided
4 TBSP water
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1 tsp stevia/erythritol blend

Assembly
Preheat oven to 350F. Add unflavored gelatin to 4 TBSP water in a small microwave-safe bowl and set aside to thicken.

Make the crust by combining all crust ingredients and mix until it forms a ball. Press into pie tin and bake for 8-10 minutes until crust has risen slightly and is firm and lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool in freezer while making filling.

In a bowl, mix pudding, milk, and 8oz cream with whisk for 2 mins and set aside.

Microwave the thickened/solid gelatin/water mixture for 10 second intervals until fully dissolved and watery.

In a separate bowl, beat 8 oz whipping cream at high until soft peaks form. Add stevia and gelatin solution and beat until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat.

Fold stabilzed whipped cream into butterscotch pudding and turn out into the cooled pie crust.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with low-carb heavy cream whipped cream.

[note: 8oz whole milk adds 12g total carbohydrates to this recipe (2g/slice) but lightens it considerably.  Feel free to sub another 8oz heavy cream if desired.]

Before he went full-vegan, GVac was an adherent of the NSNG lifestyle.  These were his favorites, made by our friend Trish Lyons.  Enjoy!

Almond Butter Brownies

Ingredients

•  1 cup almond butter
•  1 egg
•  ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
•  ½ tsp vanilla
•  ½ cup of coconut palm sugar
•  ½ cup of “Enjoy Life” mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line bottom of 8×8 dish with parchment paper
3. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chunks until smooth
4. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into pan
5. Bake brownies until golden dark brown – about 25 mins
6. Cool brownies for at least 10 mins before cutting

Notes

• Try to find roasted (not in soybean oil) and unsalted whole almonds.
• Blend almonds in food processor until creamy – about 5-10 minutes. No stirring required, just let it do its thing.
• I like to double the recipe and use a 13×9 dish.
• I like to freeze the mini chocolate chips in advance – almond butter is warm when fresh out of food processor.
• Brownies freeze nicely.
• Leftover almond butter is great with apples. Mix in a little honey and cinnamon.

[I left out a few steps when I first posted this…if you DL’d the original post, you’ll want this version instead, sorry!]

INGREDIENTS
1 head cauliflower
1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)
5 oz soft garlic/herb cheese (Boursin or Allouette or similar)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (not the stuff in the can)
1 1/2 – 2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups stock (beef or chicken, substitute water if you’re cheap or lazy)

SEASONING BLEND
1 bay leaf
2 TBSP fresh, chopped rosemary (1 tsp if dried)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground allspice (optional)

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut cauliflower into florets and place in large pot with half the stock; bring to a boil. Lower the temp, and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until cauliflower is very soft, then puree with a potato masher and thoroughly mix in both cheeses.  Set aside.

Brown meat in a large skillet; add seasoning blend, onions, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are translucent and tender.  Add tomato paste and remaining stock. Cook until filling thickens slightly.  Remove bay leaf.

Transfer meat to a casserole dish and top with even layer of cauliflower purée. Add some texture to the topping with a wooden spoon (this will promote selective browning which looks cool).

Bake the casserole 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and bubbly at edges.