Just a quick question:
I am ketofying my pantry and ordering some “weird” 
ingredients from amazon like xantan gum , sweetener etc.
What is REALLY worth getting?
Sometimes keto version of some recipes are overwhelming even for a person who loves to cook and has time for it ( psylium hask etc).
It is mostly for recipes for baking, desserts or pizza etc.
Normally i am very happy with so called normal food like eggs, meat, cheese and occasional leafy greens but I just want to be prepared once cravings for keto treats or just something different hit home. Winter is coming 
KETO pantry
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#1
MarkGossage
(bulkbiker)
#2
Personally I’d go 3 months without even thinking of making Keto snacks and treats… by the end of three months you probably won’t ever want them and if you do you’ll be better informed about what to get. I went out and bought some of that stuff which just sits of the shelf and never gets used…waste of money.
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#3
So what did you but but not use Mark?
Little background: l did proper Keto 6 years ago and then went to paleo. Long story short,since then l never touched “carbage” but still those carbs mostly from from fruit and some starchy veggies or occasional rice (trips to Asia) creeped up. Also l think l was overdoing with meat under of the project of getting more muscle mass(Keto is moderate protein).
Now since l’m back there are new recepies and it is way easier to Keto with new websites, podcasts etc.
Also l’m planning to pay it forward, i.e. convince some ppl who are open to try Keto for weight loss or health benefits.
How am l going to convince them you might ask?
I’ll either invite them for home cooked dinners with desserts etc or l already am cooking Keto for other ppl who are beyond busy at work.
Where l live ( Luxembourg in Europe) Keto is very new and it is almost impossible to get some Keto friendly products or ingredients that you guys have so everything has to be cooked at home or carefully chosen from a resto menu (still tricky). Thank goodness for Amazon and podcasts 
MarkGossage
(bulkbiker)
#4
Almond flour… macadamia nut oil… 100% cocoa chocolate… almond butter… avocado oil (have used that 3 times for browning meat).
All now well past their use by dates and mostly untouched.
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#5
Most of those l already have and use regularly 
I love cooking and experimenting with new recepies that’s why l’m asking 
MarkGossage
(bulkbiker)
#6
Now I tend to stick to butter, animals fats and meat. I’m experimenting with carnivory…
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#7
I’m loving all the “strange” french traditional recepies ( that happen to be Keto already if you ignore the baguette) that call for lashings of butter of course, snails, pigs feet or ears, super fatty stakes and foie gras!
DiMo
(Diane)
#8
I intend to stay keto for the long haul and one of the ways I stay motivated on my keto journey is to regularly try new recipes. So here are some thoughts which came to mind. Sorry for the long post, but hopefully you’ll find some information that is useful.
My best advice is to find trusted recipe developers and get the ingredients they use in their recipes. It is often not possible to substitute low carb ingredients for each other one for one (for example- almond flour vs almond meal vs coconut flour are NOT interchangeable). One sign of a well developed recipe is that the dry ingredients are measured in grams (or possibly ounces).
Some recipe developers I like are:
CARRIE BROWN- she has many free recipes on her website https://carriebrown.com/recipe-index. She has also published some excellent cookbooks. I bought the e-versions which are not well formatted for kindle (but still some of my most precious keto possessions). I’ll probably buy physical copies in the future. You can order these cookbooks from her website or on Amazon depending on which version you’re looking for. One of the first of her recipes I tried was her Cheesy Biscuits recipe, I enthusiastically recommend it.
LEANNE VOGEL- she has many recipes available on her website https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/recipe-search/. This is her cookbook (though I hear she is in the process of writing a second cookbook now!):
MARIA EMMERICH- some of her recipes get very complicated, even more than normal for low carb recipes (in my opinion). A few of the recipes from her cookbooks are available for free on her website. I’ve found the best way to find her recipes online is to do a google search as I find her website particularly difficult to search/navigate (just google Maria Emmerich recipes or add in another key word like pudding, ice cream, asian, etc). It’s worth noting that she has young children so she has many kid friendly recipes on her website. She also has around 5 best selling keto/low carb cookbooks available on Amazon. I recently cooked her Asian Meatballs with Cabbage Noodles (though I cooked my cabbage noodles in an InstantPot instead of a slow cooker) from her first cookbook. They were really yummy and took care of the Chinese food craving I was having. Her website is https://mariamindbodyhealth.com/
Urvashi Pitre- https://twosleevers.com/recipe-index/?fwp_dietary_consider=keto. She has many keto and InstantPot recipes. She also has many recipes which are NOT low carb or keto. So, keep that in mind if you peruse her recipes. I love her butter chicken recipe: https://twosleevers.com/instant-pot-butter-chicken/. She has an InstantPot Keto Cookbook which is available on Amazon.
FIORELLA - search “Fiorella recipe” on these forums. She has a lot of creative recipes here.
KRISTIE SULLIVAN- you can find her on YouTube as Cooking Keto with Kristie. She also has cookbooks on Amazon. She is not a professional recipe developer, and her first cookbook is roughly formatted (for example, she doesn’t list the ingredients in the order you use them in the recipe). She also doesn’t measure her dry ingredients by weight. But I’ve had a lot of success with her recipes.
I’ve also liked recipes from YouTube channels for: Headbanger’s Kitchen, Highfalutin’ Low Carb and DotToTrot. Again, not professional chefs and not always with dry ingredients measured by weight, but I’ve had success with the recipes I’ve tried.
KetoConnect.net. I’ve had zero success with their baking recipes but have loved their other recipes. I regularly use their low carb tortilla recipe from their Breakfast Enchiladas (the only ingredients are eggs, cream and spices).
If you’re looking for NON-BAKING recipes, there is a huge variety of good sources online. I feel braver about trying recipes from unknown sites which sound good as long as they are NOT for baked goods.
I also consider the low carb ingredients I buy by category. For example, thickeners- look at the following info and choose the thickener(s) you buy based on your intended uses in recipes.
Regarding Keto thickeners (as per Carrie Brown on the Ketovangelist Kitchen podcast Episode #26):
Konjac flour (also glucomannan powder)- thickener for hot liquids (soup, sauces, and gravies). Start at 1/2 tsp of konjac powder per 1 cup (8 oz) of liquid.
Guar gum- thickener/emulsifier for cold liquids; also for very limited use in soups to help suspend ingredients like mushrooms or chicken. Very narrow range of ph tolerance. Narrow range for heat and length of heat exposure. Most used in ice cream recipes and smoothies. If using in Carrie Brown’s ice cream recipes- should stick to the Bob’s Red Mill brand otherwise you might not get good results (people have reported “slimy” textures, not worth the risk of wasted ingredients).
Xantham gum for baked goods (stabilizer to replace gluten).
Another example is “flours”: almond flour (usually white and finely ground), almond meal (includes the whole almond including skins so it has brown flecks and might be more coarsely ground), coconut flour, ground sunflower seeds, ground flax seeds, ground chia seeds, oat fiber (NOT oat flour which has too many carbs), psyllium husk powder, etc. In this category I would stick with recipes as these are not at all interchangeable.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Edited for typos and content. I kept thinking of more info to add.
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#9
Diane thank you from the bottom my heart for your precious time to write this reply!!! Many, many thanks, l’m speechless 
DiMo
(Diane)
#10
I forgot to mention the sweeteners I use regularly.
Liquid sucralose. This is very sweet so a little goes a long way. This is liquid so it doesn’t have any of the added stabilizing starches like most of the granulated or powdered low carb sweeteners (like the Splenda packets, for example). I find that I don’t detect any weird aftertaste like with some of the other sweeteners. Hard to use in baking because it doesn’t replace the bulk of the sugar in traditional recipes. I’ve used it to sweeten herbal teas and whipped cream. The bottle seems expensive on Amazon, but I still have more than half of the bottle I bought a year ago. This is not considered a natural sweetener (like erythritol, xylitol and stevia) as its not naturally occurring but produced by a chemical process. Some people stay away from it for this reason.
Sukrin, Swerve and Pyure- granulated and powdered (AKA confectioner’s). These are all blends of erythritol and stevia. They are all slightly different blends, I think. I like the taste of Sukrin best, Swerve is acceptable and I don’t like Pyure much (doesn’t taste as good to me). I usually end up buying either Sukrin or Swerve; whichever is the cheapest. I also have found Swerve locally at health food stores (like Sprouts and Natural Grocers here in Salt Lake City, Utah) and sometimes it’s on sale. The erythritol is for bulk (but is less sweet than sugar) and the stevia adds extra sweetness. The info I’ve found online indicates that Sukrin:1 and Swerve can be used as a one for one replacement for sugar in recipes. I find this is usually too sweet for me, especially the longer I have been eating keto (about 13 months now). I usually start with half the amount called for (even in low carb recipes I find online) and go from there. I find that the sweetness is decreased slightly from the raw product after being baked. The use of a combination of sweeteners in these products lessens or sort of cancels out the bitterness of the stevia and the weird cooling sensation you get when using a lot of erythritol. FYI, if I find a recipe that calls for more than a cup or maybe a cup and a half of Swerve/Sukrin/or plain erythritol, I’m usually not happy with the weird cooling sensation in the finished baked good. I use the powdered or confectioner’s version in things where you want it to dissolve, like whipped cream or frosting. Actually, I prefer using the powdered version in almost everything these days.
Sukrin Gold- brown sugar replacement. I’ve only found this available online. I LOVE this. This is a blend of erythritol, stevia and a very small amount of molasses. I would imagine you can make your own brown sugar substitute with Swerve or erythritol granular by adding a small amount of molasses, although I haven’t tried this for myself. Yet.
Erythritol- good in baked goods. Cheaper than the blends I mentioned above. Is usually considered “cleaner” ingredient for health reasons. Maybe about 70% as sweet as sugar. Doesn’t work well in things like cranberry sauce (unless you’re eating all of the recipe in the same day). Re-crystallizes after a day or two in the fridge. I think products which use large amounts of erythritol leave me with a weird and unpleasant cooling sensation in the mouth.
Allulose. Just bought this to try in Richard Morris’s caramel recipe from a recent 2 Keto Dudes podcast. I bought this to try as caramel is one thing I haven’t found a good replacement for or recipe for after many failed attempts.
Xylitol. Must use in Carrie Brown’s Ice Cream recipes (for a scoopable texture) and in things like her cranberry sauce (so it doesn’t re-crystallize later). It’s not as sweet as sugar. Is DEADLY POISONOUS to dogs in very small amounts. Many dog owners won’t keep it in the house.
Liquid stevia- I hardly ever use this, I find it to be bitter. It is better used in combination with other sweeteners so you don’t have to use much at all. I prefer to use liquid Sucralose, though many people prefer to use stevia because it is a natural sweetener.
Powdered stevia- I don’t use and haven’t bought this.
Monkfruit based sweeteners. I don’t have any experience cooking with any of these. I haven’t found a need so far. I have purchased products which use monkfruit as their primary sweetener. Some are pretty good.
Good luck!
Alternatives for sweeteners
NinMD
#12
To add to what others have already mentioned…
-Good quality beef gelatin (my favorite recipe with this is Headbanger’s Kitchen’s panna cotta, omg…)
-Sugar-free extracts and flavorings
-Monk fruit/erythritol blend liquid drops
-Flax seeds
-Chia seeds
-Coconut flour
-Coconut milk and cream
-Coconut oil
-Lilly’s chocolate chips
OgreZed
#13
My pantry list is mostly geared around lazy microwave recipes, but I also do lazy meal preps based on buying the proteins that are on sale at any given time.
For “baking”, I avoid almond flour and either use coconut flour or protein powder. My favorite dessert recipes:
- Easy pecan cookies, although I usually add Lilly’s chocolate chips and unsweetened coconut.
- Chocolate donuts, although I make as cupcakes
Chipmunk
(Joanna Parszyk )
#15
Wow again what a great knowledge and experience!
Usually l stick to very simple “desserts” if any for myself.
But l’d like to know how to make Keto staples and treats to convince others that this WOE is great, as we all know
Normally l just stick to an occasional, whipped cream with a minimal amount of sweetener, a bit of frozen berries, handful of nuts like pecans/almonds/macadamia or 90% dark chocolate is just enough.
This might make me sound like a freak but l’ll day it anyways: l can have a tsp of unsalted butter and when it melts in my mouth it is like a dessert! 
My latest discovery for the colder days is a simple “ dark chocolate” hot cocoa cup: 2tsp cocoa powder (unsweetened), 1tbs butter, 1 tbs coconut oil, pinch of salt, a bit of hot water or nut milk (or any available milk substitute at hand). I mix it like a bulletproof coffee and l’m a happy camper!
Edit: forgot my staple for breaking fast longer than 20 h: chia seeds pudding. 20g of chia seeds (4 tsp) mixed with 150-170 ml of a chosen milk substitute. After living it overnight in a fridge it is simply delightful: thick and creamy !
OgreZed
#16
Add mascarpone cheese and you have a “cheesecake fluff”…
I have a quickie no-bake cheesecake type dessert I throw together without measuring anything:
- Several spoonfuls of Mascarpone cheese
- Several spoonfuls of extra creamy whipped cream
- EZ-Sweetz, almond extract, vanilla extract, and/or cinnamon to taste
Just mix it all up.
Variations:
- Fold in, or serve with, some fresh or frozen low carb fruit (e.g. sliced strawberries, raspberries, etc.).
- I’ve tried it as a chocolate dessert by adding a tablespoon or two of unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the cinnamon. Yum.
I’ve also been doing the chia pudding recently, but my measurements are 1/3 cup chia seed to 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk, with 1/3 cup erythritol.
I’m considering running it through my Magic Bullet, wondering if that would make it even creamier.
.
