Finally, the flax seed recipe I promised. Someone is lazy.

I say I am going to post, and I don't; merely because I'm a lazy puke. Sometimes I wonder how in the world there are people out in internet land that can make a decent living by maintaining a website, but I really don't need to wonder - They have motivation, desire, and a want to be successful. I lack motivation most of all... and a reliable camera. Oh, and a decent sized kitchen with good lighting, which seems to be a problem no matter where I move to...

Who am I kidding? No motivation is a shit poor excuse. I quit smoking almost a month ago, and my  motivation was saving money and getting healthier. It is merely a psychological warfare that I put myself through. I either do it, or I don't!  So I choose to do. (Now if I could psych myself up to pick up the phone and call people. Ha.) I can't guarantee that my posts will be up to par with super bloggers, but I will do my best to entertain.

Now that I'm done with my soliloquy, just a bit of information regarding the flax meal recipe I made. I did make the food, and I have pictures to post, I swear! My phone just won't bloody charge for me to get to them. Once I get it charged, I'll put the pictures up. I need to get a camera...

Well, I found this recipe for faux cinnamon crunch cereal on I Breathe... I'm Hungry (Seriously love that blog). I changed a couple things in the recipe because I didn't have hemp seeds, and apple juice isn't keto friendly. Here's the quick and dirty recipe.

Keto Friendly Cinnamon Crunch Cereal

adapted from I Breathe… I’m Hungry

• 1/2 cup ground flax seed (I used Bob's Red Mill golden flax seed meal)
• 1/2 cup almond meal (Grind your own, saves you money. Almond flour is ridiculously expensive!)
• 2 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/4 cup granular natural sweetener (I used stevia, but you can use  xylitol, erythritol)
• Make sure you have parchment paper or a lot of coconut oil!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Dissolve the sweetener in the water. I like to have very few dishes to wash, so I threw all the ingredients in my blender after measuring it all out with one measure cup. (Remember, I'm lazy.) Blend the crap out of the batter, and quickly! Flax seed thickens up like whoa! Spread the batter super thin on to parchment lined cookie sheet, or make sure the sheet is well oiled with coconut oil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Pull the pan out, and cut the cereal into little squares. Put the sheet back into the oven and lower the heat to 250 degrees. Bake 10 minutes. (I would suggest you bake longer. Probably bake for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it.) Turn the oven off, and let the cereal sit in the oven until completely dry and cool. Break the cereal apart and store it in the refrigerator in an air tight container. Lasts a week safely in your refrigerator. Enjoy your noms.

What I adapted:

• Substituted the 1/2 cup of hulled hemp seeds for 1/2 almond flour.
• Use 1/2 cup of water to 1/4 cup of sugar substitute instead of apple juice (I use Stevia in the raw, 5lb bag)
• For some people, sugar substitutes will knock them out of ketosis. Be aware before you dive into the different sugar substitutes.
• You may need more water. The batter is very thick and hard to get out of the blender if you let it sit too long. The flax seed gets gelatinous. I think the next time I try this I'll add a little bit more water, probably about 2 tbsp.Might help keep the batter thin, who knows... Yay experimenting!
• Don't follow my mistake- please use parchment paper! I tried to use wax paper (I always do this. I'm so dumb sometimes), and it stuck to the paper. I salvaged some of the batter, and had to start all over. 
• Second time around, I greased the pan I was using with coconut oil. Be very liberal if you have to go this route. My cereal still stuck in some spots. :(
• I really need to invest in parchment paper.
• After all the baking is done, the recipe says to leave the cereal in the oven for an hour with the oven off. I will probably bake the cereal longer next time I make it. It was still fairly moist after following the directions; probably has a lot to do with sugar substitute. I'll update this post when I try it again.

Taste Test - Although the cereal is not the same as cinnamon toast crunch, it definitely holds its own. The cereal actually reminds me of wheat chex with cinnamon and sugar thrown on top. I ate the cereal with a 1/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk. The sweet taste was subtle, but enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Definitely will make again!

Nutritional information - Six 1/2 cup servings. Calories: 113, Total fat: 9 g, Total carbs: 8 g, Dietary fiber: 5 g, Net carbs: 3 g, Protein: 4 g, Potassium: 11 mg.

I added the nutritional information on both SparkRecipes, and on MyFitnessPal. The data is almost spot on with each other. Enjoy!

Don't forget! DID YOU DRINK A BUTTLOAD OF WATER TODAY!?

Just a rant post.

It's been a rough week for me. I'm going to take a moment to complain a "bit".

I've been having the hardest time getting back into keto since I moved back to my hometown. John and I had decided about two weeks ago that we were getting back into the lifestyle hardcore, and that nothing would stop us! Well, I'll tell you what has been stopping me: Sure laziness, and the lack of space. I will not deny that I've been eating junk carbs; cooking sucks in the kitchen made for ants. I take a step in the space and lose the will to cook, and it's really put a number on my body - bloated, weird sleeping pattern, weight gain, lack of desire to get up and do anything. Heck, I'm surprised my menstrual cycle hasn't called it quits yet! I am, once again, going in the opposite direction of Happyville, and straight back into the ghetto that is called Depression. I seriously need to figure out a keto system for John and I before I lose my damn mind.

I need to do something. I think, tomorrow, I'm going to reorganize and clean out the 'fridge and a cabinet, or just designate a spot on the counter for all my supplies. (This works well enough) If its in my view, I can't deny that I have the ability and need to cook real food! Now to tackling the laziness - Doesn't anyone else get tired of cooking? I'd love for my husband to cook for me, for once, but I'm the "designated" cook. The cook gets tired of cooking just the same as anyone else!

Preparing food ahead of time is something I really need to work on - including chopping and grinding necessary ingredients, thawing out and marinading meats, precook all food that can be safely cooked ahead of time, and figuring out the nutritional info. This will save my sanity, and give me something to do other than reaching for a pop tart or gorging on crackers when I'm bored and my blood sugar levels are low.

Look out for a flax seed cracker recipe tomorrow in a week. (Hur hur. And it's actually cereal because I change my mind a lot.). I haven't been a big fan of flax seed since John and I started cooking with it. I'm hoping these crackers the cereal come out tasty and not like kitty litter. Guess we'll find out. Thanks for reading, and I don't mind if you rolled your eyes at my complaints and excuses. I needed to vent my frustrations out. Just time to get back up, dust the dirt off, and keep moving forward!

Salek