Review: The Wooden Elk, South Melbourne

Yesterday I went past a cafe that had opened recently on Park St in South Melbourne. What caught my eye was the advertising on the window for Paleo pizza. It took a while, but I eventually found it via Google, as they had no signwriting on the outside at all.

So, we went to The Wooden Elk for a Valentine's Day brunch this morning!

First thoughts- small inside. Only 4 or 5 tables inside, but a big bar wrapped around the back, perfect for evenings when they sell tapas and pizza. The decor was neat- lots of wood and stone. Some tables outside, which filled up quickly as the weather turned sunny.

We took a seat, and our menus were delivered to us. The menu looked pretty good, a lot of very popular Paleo options. Pancakes, eggs benedict, rosti, a big breakfast style plate, omelettes, and even Paleo granola- including a fruit free option! They also had a lot of juices, smoothies and even Bulletproof Coffee.

We ordered the pancakes (banana and walnut option; they also had pumpkin and pecan) ($15.50), and eggs benedict on Paleo toast ($16.50), plus an almond milk latte for me ($3.30 plus $1.20 extra for almond milk).

Banana and walnut pancakes, with coconut cream and fresh berries

Almond milk latte

Eggs benedict on Paleo toast

The pancakes were great- nice and fluffy, not too sweet, reminded me a lot of banana cake. The walnuts appeared to be ground, so there were no lumps of nut through out the pancake. It came as a stack of 2 big, fluffy pancakes, with a garnish of fresh berries and cinnamon. There was also some coconut cream, but as the plates were warm, it was melting by the time it was on the table. If anyone from the cafe reads this, maybe put it in a small bowl so it retains the texture.

Eggs benedict was really good. The eggs (free range, of course) were perfectly poached, with bright yellow yolks oozing. The sauce was delicious, and there was also a butter (maybe have been olive oil?) drizzle. The bacon was nice too, though I would personally would have preferred it crispier. The paleo toast was a real hit. It soaked up the egg yolks and sauce nicely. It was a little crumbly, but it was a fairly thick piece, and really filled me up.

I had probably the best almond milk latte ever! The milk was sweet and creamy, totally unlike the usually watery ones I've had previously. 

I would definitely recommend The Wooden Elk for a lazy weekend brunch. They have a good selection of options, even vegetarian ones!

Score: 8.5/10

The Wooden Elk

52 Park Street

South Melbourne, VIC 3025

03 9645 9006

thewoodenelk.com.au

Recipe - Chocolate Nut Slice

I was feeling a little peckish this afternoon. I really wanted somethign a bit sweet and chocolatey to snack on- I've had a lot of cheese for the past few days, so anything but that seemed attractive to me. 

I spied a bag of macadamia nuts that I needed to use up, and this recipe was born!

Ingredients:

130 grams (1 cup) of macadamia nuts

50 grams (1/2 cup) almonds 

30 grams (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds

20 grams (1/4 cup) ground flax

20 grams (1/4 cup) shredded coconut

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablepsoons peanut butter (I used Mayvers Peanut and Cacao spread)

2 T sugar free drinking chocolate ( I used Avalanche Sugar Free mix but you could substitute 1 tablespoon cocoa, and 1 tablespoon (or more) sweetener to taste)

Pulse macadamias and almonds in a food processor, the finer you grind them, the less chunky the bars will be. Add sunflower seeds, flax and coconut.

Melt coconut oil and peanut butter together, stir in chocolate powder and add it to the nuts. Pulse to combine.

Spread mixture in a lined baking dish, and refrigerate for half an hour until set. Cut into 12 equal pieces.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 179
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 18 g	27 %
Saturated Fat 5 g	27 %
Monounsaturated Fat 9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 4 mg	0 %
Potassium 59 mg	2 %
Total Carbohydrate 5g	2 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	11 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 4 g	7 %
Vitamin A	0 %
Vitamin C	0 %
Calcium	2 %
Iron	4 %

What I Bought - January 17

Apologies for my lack of blogging for the past few months. I had pretty much zero motivation to write anything, including a very failed attempt at Nanowrimo. But I'm back!

Grocery shopping today was awesome. I had a moment in the supermarket where I realised I had to buy food- REAL food- so I wouldn't be tempted to pop down to the store for an ice cream every time I was hungry. Which I admit had been happening sometimes, shame on me. Bad for my waistline and for my wallet.

I hadn't been very well prepared lately- I hadn't been making shopping lists or checking what I already had, so I would often get bored, or not have anything in the fridge I could eat. The last 3 days I had been eating whatever was keto that I could find in the fridge- a lot of snacks of celery and dip, ground beef made into patties, and macadamias I'd found stockpiled in the cupboard.

Today's list:
1 lettuce $1.99
Sour cream $1.19
Bunch of spring onions $1.79
Bunch of celery $1.99
500g mushrooms $3.49
Bag of baby spinach - $1.99
Pork leg roast - $14.27 - $4.99/kg
Thickened cream - $2.19
Lamb rump steak - $8.94
Scotch fillet steak - $14.91 (for 4 steaks!)
Rump steak - $6.09
Kransky sausages (3 pack) - $2.99
Turkey mince (500grams) - $3.99
Halloumi (250grams)- $4.99
Spinach dip - $2.49
Canned tomatoes x2 - $1.18
Greek Yogurt - $2.99
Sugar free energy drink x2 - $1.98
Tomato paste - $1.29
Broccolini x2 bunches - $3.98

Total - $87.00

And for him:
Pack of 6 hot dog buns: $1.89
1kg of peaches: $1.99
1.8kg of sausages (that I refuse to cook or even look at because they are so gross!):$6.89
Total = $10.77

Grand total - $97.77 - $22.23 under budget :)

Not bad considering how much meat I bought!
I have enough at least for 5 dinners- plus leftovers of the pork roast and kransky sausages for lunches and dinners. I also have plenty of ground beef and a whole chicken in the freezer to use up.

I might go to Coles during the week and get some different cheese with my last $22. All I have is a little smoked gouda and some regular cheddar, and Aldi doesn't have a great range of snacking cheese for me.

What I Bought: 4-5 October

My poor blog has been sadly neglected- the weather has been pretty good here, so I've been out! Outside enjoying the sun, seeing friends, you know, having fun! That means my blog has been on the back burner. But I'm back!

On Saturday, we went to Aldi. We tend to shop there more than the other supermarket, as they have less junk food, and more real food- and for better prices too.

We got:
- bag of baby spinach
- about 2kg of beef mince
- dozen free range eggs
- cream
- sour cream
- haloumi
- 4 sugar free energy drinks (Aldi's brand is identical to Red Bull!)
- diet ginger beer
- salami
- asparagus
- canned tomatoes
- broccolini
- red pesto

And for my husband:
- 2kg apples
- 3kg oranges
- 1kg pears
- 1kg of pasta (spaghetti)
- muesli
- swiss chocolate

Total spent: $66.23

Sunday, we decided to take a walk to the markets close to my house. Unfortunately, we missed them due to daylight savings change, but we went to the fruit and vege store that is near there instead. This week, I will definitely be trying to eat more vegetables! The variety that vegetables add to my diet really improve things, and my husband loves them too.

We got:

- a GIANT cabbage (it weighs around 4.8kg!)
- bunch of celery
- handful of snowpeas
- cauliflower
- zucchini
- giant head of fennel
- choy sum (an asian green)
- 3 bunches of bok choy (possibly my favourite vegetable!)
- spring onions

Total spent: $15.40

Then I went on a search for some Botanical Cuisine products I'd heard about on Facebook. I found some at Prahran Convenience, which is an awesome cross between a health food store and American imports!

I got some Cashew Mayonniase to try, because I'm out of mayo, and I'm super curious to try it. I also got some Mint Slice Pudding, and split it with my husband. So delicious! Very much a sometimes treat though.

I spent $18 for both of them, which is a little pricy, but if they are delicious, it's definitely worth it!

What I Ate - 4-10 August

I tidied up my pantry last week- I found 2 bottles of salad dressing (Ranch and Creamy Caesar) which need to be used this month- so I guess I will be eating a lot of salad!
I also got an order of low carb products from groceryrun.com.au so I have been using them as quick meals.

Monday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Salmon pate with a packet of Fine Fettle Flats
Dinner: Chicken wings with my awesome dry spice rub for chicken wings, bok choy, zucchini and baby broccoli.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, and a pack of Aussie Bodies Low Carb Apple and Raisin cookie bites
Lunch: A small steak with garlic butter. I had intended to make a salad, but I forgot!
Dinner: 2 salmon patties and salad (salad greens, romaine lettuce, smoked cheese and Caesar dressing)

Wednesday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Salad with romaine lettuce, mixed salad greens, ham, smoked chicken, avocado, sunflower seeds and creamy Caesar dressing.
Dinner: Roasted lamb shoulder chop with roasted cauliflower

Thursday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, a piece of smoked cheddar
Lunch: Got carried away with a project I was working on, so had a Vanilla Atkins shake and a pack of low carb cookies.
Dinner: 2 salmon burgers with peri-peri mayonnaise, and steamed broccoli and zucchini

Friday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, smoked cheddar cheese (this is cheese was GOOD, and now it's all gone :( )
Lunch: Salad with chopped romaine lettuce, mixed salad greens, smoked chicken, ham, avocado, sunflower seeds and creamy Caesar dressing.
Dinner:

Saturday
Breakfast: Skipped because I slept in!
Lunch: Bunless burger from Grill'd (I had the Simon Says burger, which had grilled chicken breast, bacon, avocado, and herbed mayo on a nice big bed of salad), and a Pepsi Max
Dinner: I let my husband cook! Hot dogs with mustard and fried onions

Sunday
Breakfast: LC cookies, a vanilla protein shake.
Lunch: 8 chicken wings and garlic kelp salad at a Chinese restaurant
Dinner: Kassler steaks, cabbage with butter. An Atkins Cappuccino Nut Bar (to review for the blog) for dessert

My haul from Grocery Run

I am a sucker for a bargain, and I love online shopping, so I often find myself browsing GroceryRun looking for something to buy.

They have a lot of processed stuff- candy, cereal and snack foods. But I often find excellent deals on low carb products.

In my last order, I got:
2 boxes of 9 Aussie Bodies Lo Carb Protein Cookie Bites Apple & Raisin 50g for$4.79 each =$9.58
2 boxes of 6 Atkins Advantage Shakes Vanilla 325mL for $7.44 each = $14.88

I had seen the LC cookies for sale in stores for around $3 each, and the shakes are $3.86 each at my local supermarket, so I was excited to be able to buy them for such a good price.

They have a shipping cap of $9.99, so you can buy as much as you want and not pay more in shipping, so I added a few more things that I knew I'd use in the kitchen

2x Medallion Instant Mashed Potatoes 235g $3.98
(Great for thickening sauces if you're gluten free, I admit I have also used it to whip up a quick side dish for my husband)
2x Nando's Perinaise Peri-Peri Mayonnaise 265g $5.48
(So delicious! Has definitely spiced up my salmon burgers this week!)
Bic Razors Sensitive 15pk $3.99
(Cheaper than the supermarket!)
2x Patak's Rogan Josh Simmer Sauce Medium Spice 350g $4.98
(Useful for when I want to whip up a quick curry for dinner)

 Total = $52.88

They also have great deals on vitamins, and household items such as paper towels.

They often have $1 days- where some items are $1. Last time they ran this, I got 4 packs of Laksa instant noodles (I usually ditch the seasoning, and give the noodles to my husband as a side dish for stirfry), udon noodles, wraps, dental floss, a nail art pen and rolled oats- all very useful additions to my pantry as food for my husband. Apart from the nail art pen, which I've been using, and floss, which we use a lot of.

What I Ate - 28 July - 3rd August

Monday:
Breakfast: Leftover pork sausage and coffee with cream
Lunch: 2 hot dogs with mustard, glass of diet cola
Dinner: Bolognaise (made with ground beef, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, garlic, oregano) on zoodles, with fresh mozzarella. Dessert was a Chocolate Cream Pot (dark chocolate and cream melted together, then set in the fridge to make a very rich ganache). After dinner snack: handful of smokehouse almonds, cup of tea with cream, and a can of ham in mayo

Tuesday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Half a jar of sauerkraut, 2 kassler steaks (German smoked pork, kind of like very thick cut bacon!)
Dinner: Chicken breast strips with Nando's hot sauce and bok choy. Some dark chocolate and a handful of macadamias for dessert.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, leftover spaghetti squash from Monday's dinner.
Lunch: 2 hot dogs with mustard (last hot dogs for the week!)
Dinner: Roast beef, roasted brussels sprouts, and a couple of roasted yams (NOT SWEET POTATO!). Dessert was whipped cream, half a dozen frozen raspberries and some macadamias smushed together.

Thursday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Leftover roast beef with mustard
Dinner: More leftover roast beef, this time thinly sliced and served with roasted cauliflower.

Friday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Leftover roast cauliflower, sauerkraut, and 2 kassler steaks.
Dinner: Chicken breast with taco seasoning, cubed zucchini and lots of cheese. No sour cream, since my husband forgot to pick any up after work.

I forgot what I ate in the weekend, but I know it involved pork belly and broccoli for lunch on Saturday, along with a large helping of capsicum from my husbands plate- he hates them and his beef with black bean sauce was full of them! We ordered pizza on Saturday night for dinner, so I ate a LOT of pizza toppings for dinner and lunch on Sunday. We shared a fresh coconut at the Queen Victoria Markets when we picked up some vegetables for the week, and then shared a sugar free Slurpee on the way home, since I had a sore throat and felt like something cooling.

Recipe: Dry Spice Rub for Chicken Wings

I freakin' love chicken wings. They are so cheap, and easy to throw in the oven and bake. I usually do an Asian style marinade (soy sauce/tamari, sesame oil, chili sauce/sriracha and ginger), but tonight I felt like experimenting.

I present to you the best chicken wing rub ever!

1 T Cumin
1 T Paprika
1 t Chile powder
1 t Garlic powder
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper

Combine, sprinkle over wings and bake.

Simple Chia Pudding!

It's been cold here in Melbourne lately, which surprised me, since it's my first Australian winter. I was definitely not expecting it to be this cold! Cold weather has me craving sweet, hot desserts- like apple crumble and rice pudding. Sadly, both of those things are big no-no's on keto, but I experimented a little and came up with something that rivals rice pudding for a place in my heart.

Chia pudding!

It's very easy to make and only requires two ingredients: chia seeds and liquid of some kind- plus flavourings if you like a little more flavour. The texture is kind of like sago, a kind of tapioca my mother would make when I was a child.

Simply add 3 tablespoons of chia seeds to 1 cup of liquid for one serving.

For hot chia pudding: heat liquid in a pan, when it starts to bubble, add your chia seeds. Stir, lower the heat, and cook for 3-4 minutes until the chia seeds have thickened considerably. Add flavourings, spoon into a bowl or glass, and then garnish!

For cold chia pudding: put liquid and chia seeds in a container, stir or shake to mix, and leave overnight in the fridge. In the morning, stir and serve!

You can use any kind of liquid you like- almond milk, coconut milk, coconut cream, even regular milk.
I've tried out a few variations below:

-2 cups of coconut cream, 6 tablespoons of chia, 1/4 cup of frozen raspberries, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, sprinkle of flaked almonds
-1 cup of almond milk, 1 cup of chai tea (1 cup of boiling water with a chai teabag added), 6 tablespoons of chia, a sprinkle of cinnamon, drizzle of cream to garnish
-2 cups of almond milk, 6 tablespoons of chia, 1 tablespoon of cocoa, 4 drops chocolate flavoured chia
-2 cups of coconut milk, 3 tablespoon of dessicated coconut, 6 tablespoons of chia seeds

You can halve double, or multiply the recipe any way you'd like- there are infinite flavour combinations too!

What I Ate - 14 - 20th July

Monday:
Breakfast: 3 hot dogs with mustard, and 2 coffees with cream
Lunch: 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of cheese and a serving of Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds
Dinner: Beef ragu with zoodles, fresh mozzarella torn over the top.

Tuesday: I was soooo hungry today! felt like I had the munchies!
Breakfast: Burger patty with a slice of cheese and a fried egg, coffee with cream
Lunch: 3 devilled eggs, 2 string cheese, coffee with cream, salami, slice of coconut flour brownie.
Dinner: Salmon with mixed herbs, roasted cauliflower, chai tea with cream. 2 Atkins peanut butter cups, strawberry cream cheese with ground almond.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Small can of salmon, mixed with dijon and mayo.
Lunch: Tea with cream, salami and fresh mozzarella sprinkled with oregano and basil, baked in the oven to make a kind of pizza!
Dinner: Baked chicken wings with sesame sriracha and ginger marinade, lots of stirfried bok choy. For dessert, a Quest bar, a handful of peanuts and a sugar free lollipop.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, 2 leftover chicken wings
Lunch: Coffee with cream, 2 burger patties with cheese.
Dinner: Massaman beef curry and green beans. Chocolate chia pudding and some peanuts

Friday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, 2 burgers patties with mustard
Lunch: Chocolate chia pudding, 2 teas with cream, a handful of peanuts.
Dinner: Braised speck with cabbage and butter. Chai tea with cream, some peanuts, hot chia pudding, 2 string cheese and a handful of peanuts.

Saturday
Breakfast: Coffee with almond milk and cream (i only had a drizzle of cream left!), and a handful of macadamias
Lunch: Chinese style chargrilled chicken wings, pork belly and lamb, and a can of diet coke
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken with some mayo, hot chocolate chia pudding for dessert.

Sunday:
Breakfast: A handful of jerky
Lunch: About 1/3 of a Nando's chicken with mild sauce, and a side salad.
Dinner: Leftover rotisserie chicken, and coconut chia pudding for dessert.

Grocery Shopping - 12/13 July

I learnt a pretty big lesson this week-  BE PREPARED! I completely forgot to buy more hot dogs, which you can probably see, is my staple lunch food. I ate the last couple on Monday, and on Tuesday there was sort of a panic. It's Thursday now, and I'm sort of enjoying the variety and the challenge of having to come up with something edible for lunch. Yay me!

This week, we didn't go to Costco. It felt weird breaking our routine, but I wasn't tempted to eat any of their hot dogs or pizza, which was a nice change.

We went to Aldi. We got:

Pack of gravy beef (around 600 grams) - $4.81
Beef mince (just over 2kgs) - $10.40
Piece of speck - $3.21
Tub of bocconcini (fresh mozzarella) - $3.69
Sugar free energy drink - $0.99
1kg cheddar cheese - $6
Flaked almonds - $3.29
Jar of Massaman curry paste - $2.49

Plus for my husband:
Vanilla cheesecake: $2.99
Hot dog rolls - $1.49
1kg basmati rice - $2.99
Can of apricots - $2.49
Udon noodles - $1.79
Loaf of bread - $0.99

For a total of $47.60

We then went to the South Melbourne Market. We mostly went for a walk, not to buy anything in particular, and there we got:

Bag of turmips and parsnips - $0.50
Coriander micro greens in a pot - $0.50
Bag of nectarines (around 1.5kg) - $1
Bag of muffins - $1.50
Bag of hamburger buns - $1.50
2 butternut halves - $2

Total spent: $7

So we were WAY under budget, which is nice sometimes, because yay, money saving. But I did struggle a little this week to make tasty keto food, and I can't wait to buy some more hot dogs! It's nice to empty out the freezer a bit, and make our way through the chicken I appear to have been stockpiling. We also had plenty of vegetables, so I guess i didn't do too badly.

What I Ate - 7 -13 July

Monday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Salami, fresh mozzarella, and a chocolate peanut butter Quest bar
Dinner: Chicken thigh ragu, with zoodles, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves

Tuesday:
Breakfast: 4 hot dogs with mustard, coffee with cream
Lunch: Caprese salad (tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper)
Dinner: Beef stew with roasted cauliflower, and a chai tea with cream.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream and salami
Lunch: Hot dogs and mustard
Dinner: Chicken thighs, zoodles and stirfry vegetables.

Thursday
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, and leftover stirfry
Lunch:  Hot dogs and mustard
Dinner: Chicken taco salad with lots of cheese and sour cream

Friday
Breakfast: Cookies and cream Quest bar and coffee with cream.
Lunch: 4 hot dogs and mustard
Dinner: Indian takeaways! Tandoori chicken, a tandoori lamb cutlet and a few pieces of paneer.

Saturday:
Breakfast: leftover Tandoori chicken and a coffee with cream
Lunch: Soft taco filling (pulled pork and beef, with shredded vegetables, tomato, cheese and sour cream)
Dinner: Leftover butter chicken curry.

Sunday:
Breakfast: last of the leftover butter chicken, and a coffee with cream
Lunch: Had a late breakfast, so nothing.
Dinner: Beef burger, topped with fried onions, lots of cheese, mayo, SF ketchup and mustard

Recipe- Creamy Asparagus Soup

Winter is well and truly here in Melbourne. Unfortunately. But that also means it's the perfect soup weather!

Soup is the perfect way to warm up and get your vegetables in! I grabbed the asparagus I used in my soup at the South Melbourne Market  on Sunday and this soup was the perfect way to use them.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

1/2 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 slices of bacon (optional)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 bunches of asparagus
1-2 stalks of celery (optional)
2 cups of chicken stock
1 T parmesan
Cream (to taste, but I used around 2 T)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Finely chop onion, garlic, bacon (if using) and celery. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add onion, bacon, garlic and celery. Cook until softened, stirring often to make sure it doesn't burn (or your soup will have a brownish hue). Rinse and chop asparagus into 5mm pieces. Add to pot, and stir to cover in all the delicious buttery goodness. Add chicken stock and a little cracked black pepper. Cover, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

Pour soup mixture into blender or food processor. Add cream and parmesan, blend and taste. Blend until smooth, tasting and adding more seasoning as you need.

Serve with a swirl of cream and chopped parsley.

What I Ate - 30 June - 6 July

Monday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, 50g mild hungarian salami
Lunch: Beef burger patty with 2 slices of bacon and a fried egg (complete with runny yolk!)
Dinner: Salmon fillet with parmesan and black pepper, dessert was strawberry cream cheese mixed with whipped cream and macadamias.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, 2 cups of tea. (it's COLD, I love my hot drinks when it's cold!), roasted salted macadamias.
Lunch: Cold corned beef (cooked yesterday for my husband's lunches though we've eaten half of it already!)
Dinner: Bolognaise with shirataki noodles and zucchini noodles, topped with lots of parmesan and a drizzle of garlic infused olive oil. Dessert was lemon flavoured cream cheese, mixed with whipped cream, and sprinkled with roasted almond meal.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, leftover bolgonaise and noodles
Lunch: 2 beef burger patties with mustard and cheese slices. Cup of tea with cream.
Dinner: Creamy coconut chicken curry with broccoli

Thursday
Breakfast: 3 hot dogs with sugar free ketchup and mustard
Lunch: 2 beef patties with cheese and mustard, and a chai tea with cream
Dinner: Meatloaf muffins and broccoli

Friday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, 2 leftover meatloaf muffins
Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad- a pan fried chicken thigh, lettuce, Caesar dressing and parmesan, chai tea with cream.
Dinner: Chicken wings from a local pizza place

Saturday:
Breakfast: Leftover chicken wings, a chocolate protein shake.
Lunch: Pizza toppings and a hotdog (no bun) from Costco
Dinner: Wasn't hungry, so I had two cups of tea while watching a movie :)

Sunday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream
Lunch: Chicken satay from a Chinese place, sparkling iced tea.
Dinner: Pizza on a low carb tortilla (salami, a smear of tomato, mozzarella, oregano, onion, bocconcini and fresh basil), and a glass of almond milk (though I'd really really love some soda!)

Grocery Shopping - 5/6 July

This probably isn't the most exciting blog post I've ever written, but I like keep records of this kinda stuff so other people who are on or considering keto can get some data on food costs and the like. Starred items are not keto items, and my husband will eat them!

Saturday we went to Costco! Yay! I love Costco!

We spent $51.10, and I lost my receipt, but I know the price details of a few items.

Chicken wings - $3.99/kg
Chicken drums - $3.99/kg
Chicken thighs $9.99/kg
Bok choy (6 'heads') - $3.49
Stir fry mix (cabbage, carrot, onions, baby broccoli) 1kg bag - $3.99
Cream (1 Litre) - $3.49
Frankfurters (15 pack) - $4.99
Sweet potatoes (3kg) $7.49*

The chicken thighs are cheaper elsewhere, but I like the convenience of the packs the chicken comes in- the chicken is divided into 3 sections, which can tear off, and freeze really well. The wings and drums are an excellent price though.

Saturday night we went to Aldi. Riveting, I know ;) I really wanted salmon for dinner, and I wanted to grab some canned tomatoes while I had my packhorse (I mean, husband) to lug them around for me.

Frozen spinach - 99c
Tomatoes (well, one tomato) - 65c
Bocconcini 250g - $3.69
Coconut cream 89c x2 = $1.78
Cream cheese dip (250g) - $1.99
Frozen salmon (2 portions, mixed herb flavour) - $6.79
Sauerkraut - $2.29
Dried basil - $1.99
Sardines in spring water - $0.65
Diced tomatoes - $0.59 x 4 = $2.36
Whole cauliflower - $1.99
Wok-ready udon noodles - $1.99*

I also bought a bunch of cookies and chocolate to send to my sister for her birthday! I won't detail them here, but it was $13.46!

Total spent: $40.46

This afternoon, we went for a walk to the South Melbourne Market. It's roughly 2.5kms each way, but it wasn't raining (rare for Melbourne in winter!), so I was happy for a little excursion.

We bought:
Bunch of basil (still with roots attached, so I'll try to regrow it!) - $1
Apples (roughly 1kg, 7 apples) - $1*
Jalapenos (4 giant red ones!)
2 bunches of asparagus
Mandarins (10, about 1.5kgs)* - all 3 for $2
Bag of 4 zucchini - $1
Giant cauliflower - $1
Giant cabbage - $2
5kgs of potatoes - $2*
Bag of 5 flatbreads - $1*
Bag of 4 danishes - $1*

Total spent - $12!

So, grand total spent was: $103.56
$16.44 under budget! I would have spent that on garlic, coriander and some diet soda ideally! :P

My meal plan for this week looks like:
Monday: Ragu with stewing beef from the freezer, bocconcini, zoodles, torn basil leaves
Tuesday: Creamy mustard chicken thighs with roast cauliflower
Wednesday: Frozen salmon, roast potatoes for my husband, green beans.
Thursday: not sure what I'll have, but baked sweet potatoes with refried beans, sour cream, cheese for my husband.
Friday: Takeout! Woohoo!

Breakfast is muesli or porridge for my husband, it's always coffee with cream, sometimes with a protein shake or a Quest bar.
Lunches are always leftovers for my husband! For me, I'll have salad, hot dogs with mustard, something with sardines, fried eggs, or canned ham with mayo.

At the time of writing this, the danishes have been eaten, the flatbreads are lined up for pizzas and some for the freezer. Apples and mandarins for his snacks, along with oranges and bananas I bought last week (might have to make banana muffins or something with the bananas!)

What I Ate - 9-15 June

Monday:
Breakfast: Pate with a cake fork
Lunch: 6 chicken wings and some shredded kelp at a Chinese restaurant
Dinner: Creamy mustard chicken and baby broccoli. Chocolate cupcake for dessert.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Small pack of tomato and basil Fine Fettle Flats and some chicken pate
Lunch: 1/4 of a chicken and a side salad at Oporto
Dinner: A salmon burger, half a sliced avocado, drizzled with garlic infused olive oil, lots of salt and pepper

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Toasted flax coconut bread with butter, and a coffee with cream
Lunch: Salmon burger with half a sliced avocado. Tea with cream.
Dinner: Chicken taco salad, with avocado, cheese and a few slices of tomato. Last remaining cupcake with a little whipped cream.

Wednesday
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream
Lunch: Flax coconut bread with butter
Dinner: Chicken thighs in a coconut curry sauce, with baby broccoli

Thursday:
Breakfast: Protein shake and coffee
Lunch: Hot dog (with no bun) and pizza (toppings only) from Costco
Dinner: 2 bratwurst, coconut flax bread with herbed goats cheese

Friday:
Breakfast: none! Oops ;)
Lunch: Smoked salmon and salad from Ikea, black coffee.
Dinner: Roast lamb shoulder, roast cauliflower, roast baby broccoli.

Saturday:
Breakfast: Chocolate protein shake
Lunch: Nando's- quarter chicken, chicken tenderloin, and a side salad.
Dinner: Curry made with leftover roast lamb, green beans. Dessert was a deconstructed cheesecake- whipped cream mixed with lemon cream cheese, sprinkled with roasted almond meal, and topped with a sliced strawberry.

Sunday
Breakfast: Bacon, eggs and half an avocado
Lunch: Salmon burgers and half an avocado
Dinner: Oven baked mozzarella sticks- I was too full after these to make a real dinner!

What I Ate: 2-8 June

Keto food can sometimes sound scary to an outsider. Lots of fat can definitely be off-putting. This week, I kept track of what I've eaten, to give anyone interested in keto an idea of what a week of keto food can look like. Please note not every meal has bacon ;)

Monday:
Breakfast: Bacon, and a coffee with cream.
Lunch: Shredded beef on baby spinach salad from Thr1ve, with an Island Coffee
Dinner: Beef sausages, celeriac mash, and cabbage fried in bacon grease.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Island Coffee and Protein toast with pate from Thr1ve.
Lunch: Lamb meatballs, yellow pepper strips, baby spinach, tomato, feta, olives- and dijon apple cider vinaigrette
Dinner: Jamie Oliver's Moroccan spiced chicken breast steaks, baby spinach, feta, olives.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Coffee with cream, chocolate protein shake
Lunch: Salmon with teriyaki on baby spinach salad from thr1ve, with an Iceman coffee.
Dinner: Lamb steaks with oregano and rosemary, baby spinach, feta, olives. A little whipped cream with cocoa for dessert.

Thursday:
Breakfast/lunch: Bag of kale chips, 200g of wild game pate, Fine Fettle Flats Zucchini and Almond crackers.
Dinner: Roast beef, mustard cream, roasted brussels sprouts, asparagus.

Friday:
Breakfast: 100g of duck and orange pate, a serving of Fine Fettle Flats Zucchini and Almond crackers, 2 coffees with almond milk
Lunch: Leftover chicken from Wednesday, cold roast brussels sprouts.
Dinner: 3 lamb koftas, baby spinach salad, feta, olives.

Saturday:
Breakfast: Leftover lamb koftas from dinner the night before
Lunch: Smoked chicken salad from Third Wave Cafe in Prahran
Dinner: Thighs from a Costco rotisserie chicken. Handful of smoked Blue Diamond almonds while watching a movie.

Sunday:
Breakfast: Chocolate protein shake
Lunch: Sausages and bacon, grilled in the local park near us on their free barbecues!
Dinner: Coconut chicken satay curry, and stirfried bok choy. A chocolate cupcake for dessert

Recipe: Chocolate Cupcakes!

I bought a huge bag of coconut flour from Costco the first time we went. I didn't have any immediate plans for it, but I knew there were a bajillion recipes for baked goods that used it. Friday night, I was craving something delicious and chocolatey, and I found this recipe from The Healthy Chef for Naked Chocolate Cake, and I knew what I had to do this weekend!

Naked Chocolate Cupcakes - makes 6 cupcakes, double the recipe for a more substantial amount!

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup high quality cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
4 eggs (I used extra large free range ones)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
16 drops of stevia - I used a combination of vanilla and chocolate flavoured stevia
(Original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of liquid sweetener such as honey)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (I omitted this because I used flavoured stevia)
1 tablespoon of cream (to make up for the lack of liquid from sweetener)

Mix together coconut flour, cocoa, baking powder cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
Melt coconut oil, add to dry ingredients but don't stir yet!
Add eggs, cream and stevia drops to the oil and dry ingredients. Mix well until smooth and everything is well combined- it will seem eggy to start with, but keep mixing!

Spoon into 6-8 lined cupcake cases. I got 6 pretty decent sized cupcakes from mine.

Bake for 20-25 mins until cooked. if they seem squishy on top, put them in for another 5 minutes.

Top with chocolate ganache- break chocolate into a small pot, add an equal amount of cream, stir until chocolate has melted. You may need to add a little more cream if you'd like a thinner ganache. I also added 4 drops of chocolate flavoured stevia, as I was using 85% dark chocolate.

Spoon on top of cupcakes once cooled, and decorate! I used flaked almonds on half, and sugar free gummy bears on the other.

Nutritional information via MyFitnessPal:

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 179
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 15 g	23 %
Saturated Fat 11 g	55 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 164 mg	55 %
Sodium 408 mg	17 %
Potassium 105 mg	3 %
Total Carbohydrate 5 g	2 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	10 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 6 g	12 %

My first trip to Costco!

(affectionately sub-titled: The Day I Woke Up And Decided to Join Costco).

I don't know exactly why, but on Saturday morning, the first thing I said to my husband was: "Let's join Costco today!"

I think he was stunned for a minute, before agreeing with me.

See, when we first moved to Melbourne, he had been really keen on the idea. I'd done some research and found that not everything was cheaper, as he had imagined it would be. I didn't think it was worth the joining fee ($60), and we'd be pretty much throwing that money away. I didn't know of any Ketoers in Melbourne who were Costco members, so I wasn't sure if they'd have Keto friendly stuff at decent prices.

But I decided to get it a chance. We had nothing planned for that Saturday, so we decided we'd head over to their warehouse in Docklands, which I had seen hundreds of times before.

And, wow, it seemed like half of Melbourne was there. It was raining, so that probably made everyone want to go shop there! So many trolleys, unruly children and well, SO MANY GIANT TROLLEYS!

I have to say I was pretty impressed by what they sold. I did think their produce prices would be a bit lower, but their meat is what really sold it to me.

So many giant packs of meat, at some pretty good prices. I wish I'd had more freezer space, I would have bought more!

They also had giant packs of literally everything you could think of- cereal, nuts, chips. Giant bottles of sauces, mayonnaise, vinegar, hot sauce. Huge tubs of ice cream, sour cream, yogurt. The freezer section contained pretty much every frozen food you could ever need! The bakery section had giant trays of muffins, huge cfheesecakes, and giant bags of bread rolls.

I think we purchased the least out of everyone in the whole store- their trolleys were overflowing!

Here's what we got:

250g bag of jerky - $8.99

Corned beef (just under 2kgs) - $11.87

Beef bolar roast (just under 3kgs) - $23.04

Tofu (900g) - $2.99

Japanese BBQ marinated chicken thighs (just under 3kg) - $11.34

Bag of 48 string cheese - $11.99

Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds (1.08kg) - $19.79

Organic coconut flour 1kg - $6.29

Cream 1 litre - $3.29

Pack of 4 BBQ lighters - $4.89 (not pictured)

Total: $104.48

We cooked roughly a third of the roast beef for dinner on Saturday night. It was amazingly flavourful, juicy and tender- just rubbed with salt and cracked pepper. Possibly the best roast beef I'd ever had! I had leftover this morning for breakfast.

The beef jerky is great, too. I am eating some as I type. It's an unbelievable price, considering I usually pay $6 for 100 grams when it's on special.

I am so in love with the string cheese. It is different the usual Australian string cheese- which is normally yellow and tastes like a cheddar blend. These seem to be pure mozzarella and are white. They are a super amazing deal, with 48 for $12 working out to be 25c each, compared to 8 for $5 (when on special), which is 62c each. 

One of the reason I finally caved and joined Costco was to get Blue Diamond almonds. They used to be hard to get here, but Woolworths has started stocking a few flavours- for $3.99/150 grams- $26.60/kg. I really like the smokedhouse ones, they are salty and smoky and delicious, and a bargain for $19.79!

The coconut flour was roughly half price I was going to pay, and I would have had shipping costs on top. The cream was 1 litre for the same price as I paid for 500mls. We have a gas stove and oven, so we use our BBQ lighters constantly, I'd paid $6 for one from Coles, so 4 for less than that was a great price!

Costco also has a food hall. You can buy hot dogs, giant slices of pizza, sodas, churros, ice cream, and some other snacks. The slices of pizza are HUGE american style ones, for $2.99. The hot dogs are great (yes, I ate the sausage only), and comes with a bottomless soda for $1.99. Pretty cheap lunch, if that;s your thing! 

I'm really looking forward to going again in a few weeks. Hopefully my freezer will be emptier!

Baby, I'm back! + May Challenge

Life can wear you out.

Nobody knows that quite as well as someone (like myself) who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Couple that with bronchitis, a nasty dose of the flu, and some casual work, and you've got a pretty good reason for not blogging for over a month. Ouch. 

I could barely get out of bed for a week there- my poor husband had to fend for himself. Luckily he didn't get get food poisoning or burn down the house! (Love you, babe!)

I assure you, I'm really sorry and I'll never EVER do it again! I promise!

I come bearing good news though!

My friend xHelenSarahx is running an awesome May Challenge- and I'm totally committed to it. Even to the point where I'm considering giving up a special dessert on my birthday (which is on the 14th) so I can give this my all. 

I love a good challenge, and having an awesome bunch of people to share it with should make May a pretty great month.

My personal goals are:

1. Keto. 

The whole month of May I'll be ketoing my butt off. Literally. There's plenty of it to last the month.

2. Blogging

Blog at least once a week. This has been in the way too hard basket for me, after a SUPER enthusiastic start. So, that's gotta change.

3. Knitting

This is totally the most Nana goal ever, but I'm knitting a Queen size blanket, and I need to get this puppy going faster! I am going to knit at least two rows a day, every day for the month of May. 

So, who's going to join me?

(Knitting is optional- maybe try an exercise related goal instead!)