Keto Foods available at Canadian Grocery stores

(Diane) #1

Thought I’d start a new thread…I find it frustrating trying to find keto friendly foods sometimes in Canada. Our American friends to the south seem to have more to choose from. Aside from the usual veggies and meat, I’m finding that I have to buy online a lot and sometimes you don’t want to brave Costco. Thought maybe we could post keto friendly versions that we find in the regular grocery store here.

For example today I was in Loblaws and spotted La Costena Salsa. It had no sugar listed in the ingredients and was $1 cheaper than the one I recently bought online (lowcarbgrocery.ca). It was hidden in the “International Foods” section. I don’t know what makes this particular salsa international or why an “international” section is even necessary nowadays?

Anyway, it’s nice to know it’s there. All the salsa in the regular salsa aisle has sugar added.

What other keto “finds” have you found in the grocery store lately?

Thanks!

(Trish) #2

Superstore and value mart both have cauliflower bacon cheese mash, rice cauliflower and also rice cauliflower with veg. All in the frozen veg section. Farmboy has bacon by the gross. Bought a 5kg box for 30 bucks. A and W does keto burgers now…lettuce wrapped of course but nicely done with appropriate sized lettuce and no weird looks LOL.

(Diane) #3

I had a lettuce bun burger last weekend. A tad slippery but very good!

(Donna) #4

I’m in Calgary and I’ve been on the hunt for keto choices as well. And I also have an aversion to Costco. Luckily we have 3 great farmer’s markets on this side of town, plus a couple of great butchers. I don’t look for “processed keto” like premade bars and stuff, and I do try to keep costs down on staples so I can spend more on good meat and fresh eggs. A couple surprises for me - London Drugs and Shoppers often have keto food (coconut oil anyone?) on sale…

(Rob) #5

I’m not sure I eat anything I can’t get in a mainstream supermarket. I don’t do bulletproof things so I don’t take MCT. The one thing I get sometimes are low-carb tortillas but they are just with the normal ones. I don’t really like the fake pastas and cauliflower rice covers that grain. I do have the various flours, erythritol, etc. but they are all in a cupboard since I gave up fake-baking. I live a boring, delicious life. :yum:

(Steve) #6

Food Basics has Lactancia 35% whipping cream (0 carb).

For those of us that don’t live in Toronto (St. Lawrence Market), it can be a challenge to find pure ground chili peppers to make Mexican or cajun spices with. If you don’t have any Mexican grocery stores near you, search for Latin American grocery stores. Found one here in Kitchener and was able to pick up some Guajillo and Chipotle ground chili powders. (added a smidge of the chipotle to the Guajillo in the seasoning I made). The recipe from lowcarbmaven.com.

Cracker Barrel Old Cheddar seems to have 0 carbs (haven’t found a source yet suggesting where/if there’s a tipping point that they start to add up).

Best pricing on Almond Flour (ground almonds) has been at Bulk Barn. Keto’s become so popular that the stores here in K-W are selling out most weeks. :slight_smile:

Oh - and Bulk Barn also has the best price on Erythritol (Swerve) - in bulk.

(Diane) #7

Yes! Bulk barn is the first place I go when I’m looking for some weird new keto ingredient. :slightly_smiling_face: almond flour, coconut flour, unsweetened coconut, bulk coconut oil, nuts, psyllium husk, etc.

(Steve) #8

Fiddleheads has the Lakanto Maple Syrup - 2T - 21 Calories, 0 Fat, 1g Carbs, 0 Protein, 74mg Sodium

Think the regular price there is $14.49.

I’m tempted to find an “Aunt Jemima” like recipe and try making it myself with Erythritol (which is what Lakonta is doing). Think you just need some maple extract.

(Steve) #9

Paying $15 for a little bottle of syrup is a bit nuts, so I’ve been searching for alternatives.
I think we likely could do it. There’s a home-made syrup recipe (without corn syrup) here: https://housewifehowtos.com/cook/make-your-own-maple-syrup/

So, we’d use Erythritol rather than sugar. BUT, what about the brown sugar??
It’s also pretty offensive to pay $20 for 500g of Sukrin Gold (https://www.amazon.ca/Sukrin-Gold-Natural-Brown-Substitute/dp/B06XDGJYHT/)
So, in looking for alternatives I found:
https://www.lowcarbmaven.com/brown-sugar-substitute-recipe/
Which is a 0 carb recipe (though how it could taste like brown sugar when you’re using maple extract??)
(maybe you could do a combination of rum and maple extract to get the flavour right?)
But then I found this recipe:
http://gwens-nest.com/sugar-free-brown-sugar-recipe/
Which is 3 carbs per cup of “brown sugar” using blackstrap molasses (which is going to be MUCH closer to the real thing!!)

I wonder if the Club House Maple Extract (at Walmart) is as good as the Mapleine that they have in the US (McCormick owns Crescent - the makers of Mapleine)

Edit: According to the one review on Walmart.ca the Club House is no-where near close to Mapleine, so we need to find an alternative (or road trip to the US to get the real thing at Walmart).

Edit2: Corrected the brand at Walmart here in Canada - it’s Club House, not McCormick’s.

  • I also sent an e-mail off to Walmart Canada asking if they couldn’t import the Crescent Maple Flavouring.
(Diane) #10

Thanks for the share! I just ran out of my Sukrin Gold. I’m gonna try this today.

(Steve) #11

Awesome!! Let us know what you think of it!! :slight_smile: (haven’t made it yet myself - need to buy some molasses).

(Diane) #12

You bet. Gotta make a run to the grocery store for the molasses.

(Brian) #13

I have a bottle of blackstrap molasses around all the time. My chocolate pecan pie muffin recipe (I think one of my most used and favorite of my keto recipes) calls for an “optional” tablespoon of blackstrap molasses. It adds a wonderful depth of flavor for very little carbs. To me, it’s totally worth it. Plus, the extra minerals and such are a plus that comes along with the package. :slight_smile:

(Diane) #14

Ooh… is this the recipe you use?

https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/chocolate-pecan-pie-muffins-low-carb-and-gluten-free/

#15

WHY THE F IS EVERYTHING SO EXPENSIVE UP THERE??? There was a post a couple weeks ago for pork rinds and they were like $30 up there and $12 down here. How the hell do you guys do it? See if you have Cary’s Sugar free syrup. AWESOME, doesn’t taste alcohol-y many times it’s with the “real” ones sometimes it’s near the pharmacy type stuff for diabetics. Got a Walmart near you? Like $3 there, at least here but in any case Walmart should be the cheapest. There’s always Amazon!

(ANNE ) #16

I live in Okotoks and our Costco isn’t too bad. Lots of oils including the avocado oil and holy grail of coconut. Lots of fresh food available and a selection of cheeses
I guess I stay away from any of the ready meals.
And the awful T2D snacking bars.
If you come across Heavy cream from Green Acres at the farmers market, it is expensive, but it makes my day and I buy as much as I can afford.
Winter will soon be over…maybe

(Brian) #17

Yes, Diane, that’s the one!

I’ve tried a couple of variations on it but the original recipe is the one I like the best, with the blackstrap molasses, of course. The dark molasses does make them much darker than the ones in the picture but I don’t care about that.

I tried adding an egg and some baking powder to give it a more cake or muffin like texture but it’s not as moist. And I’ve tried it with half macadamia nuts and half pecans. That’s a little different but still good.

Really, it’s hard to beat the recipe as written. :slight_smile:

If you try it, I hope you like it as much as I do!

(Steve) #18

I can’t even begin to imagine how big a package of pork rinds it must have been for $30!!! :slight_smile:

Most chains are US based and it’s in their best interest to base their Canadian pricing on whatever the lowest our dollar was in the last 20 years - provided it’s still competitive.

Walmart is often the cheapest, but they don’t carry anywhere nearly as many products as they do in the US. Amazon is occasionally cheaper.

It’s a shame that Target was mismanaged and closed their doors in Canada - think they would have been the only one that could have given Walmart some competition.

There’s a LOT of price gouging that occurs on Amazon in Canada. Pricing that should be illegal.

(Steve) #19

First time I’ve ordered from lowcarbcanada.ca. It seems that they cap their shipping at $7 per order?

Ordered 3 cans of the Hunts Premium Pasta sauce ($3.49 each) and 2 pounds of the Lifesource Foods Oat Fibre 500 ($6.89 each). Looking forward to making waffles with that Oat Fibre!!! :slight_smile:

Going to see if Farm Boy carries Daikon radishes and/or Jicama - if I can get a substitute for potatoes, then I could do a full big breakfast meal with homefries, waffles, eggs and bacon. :smiley:

Edit: Farm Boy didn’t have either :frowning: - but they tell me they often have Jicama in stock - it’s random. Zehrs had Daikon in stock - asked about Jicama and she said it’s pretty rare that they get it in - it’s a big case and doesn’t sell well.

(Steve) #20

Popped into Vincenzo’s in Waterloo today (wanted to see if they had Mapleine or real ground chili’s from Mexico). They didn’t. :frowning:
On the plus side, they did have these (at $3.99 a bag). Yep, a little pricey - but Vincenzo’s is a gourmet grocery store - I’m sure other places must have them. :slight_smile: They’re only 2g of carbs for the whole bag!!! :slight_smile:

Think I’ll have them with some Brie cheese later in the week.

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Edit: Ok, I just checked - Loblaws also has them for $4, as do some of their affiliated stores (same price).
Do NOT buy them at Fortino’s though!!! They’re charging $5.99 a bag!!! :open_mouth: