Ketogenic, keto, ketosis...

You have likely encountered ketogenic, kept and ketosis buzzing around your cycling class, the coffee shop, the neighborhood alley wine drinking (wait, you don't share wine with you mom friends in the alley while your kids burn off 8,000 calories and mad energy? we must visit this topic soon!) and of course in your news feed of latest and greatest "diets". I put diets in parentheses because diet is a confusing word, I like to use diet as the way a family eats. But diet is so often used to refer to weight loss techniques in altering types, quantity, and quality of food. It's getting to be tricky as I have an 8 year old daughter that is a genetic anomaly with a rare autoimmune disease and some endocrine issues (we'll cover this sometime) but I get lots of unsolicited advice from mothers apparently "concerned" about her health. It would be tricky with an 8 year old without health issues because we all know we live in a world that feels free to comment on and expect certain things from the female form. 

Initially my research into the ketogenic diet  (great introductory resource) started because a friend in my cycling class mentioned the benefits they have experienced. Then I started looking at it as a way to help our daughter who seems to be hungry often and maybe more than her friends. I'll save the topic of her illness and diet for another post because it's interesting but not the focus of this topic. 

It was winter 2016 heading into 2017, I remember because it was a terrible snow season for us and we spent many days home from school due to weather closures. I used this time to experiment with ketogenic recipes. I pretty much loved that I felt feed, nourished, energized and all with stable blood sugar! Bulletproof coffee was novel and tasty but I am really a black coffee drinker and the idea of not eating until lunch time after consuming a 400 calorie coffee was almost enough for me abandon the experiment and dig into a bowl of warm oats with heavy whipping cream! Here you can fine some guidelines for keto rules. I much prefer food to drinking my calories. Hello avocado toast!!! Life should be delicious, it's too short to spend your time starving or gorging as your body searches for fulfillment. One of my favorite recipes and a favorite of my kids is Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. We have the ingredients around all the time because they are basically staples in our house. I am certainly making this tonight because we've had a few nights of pasta at our house and I am dragging and of course I am blaming the carbs! Kids need carbs that most normal adults do not but all brains need fats and I am the first to admit that my brain health is better when I am getting enough fats and sleep. Squeeze this recipe into rotation, I promise you will not be disappointed!