If you are like me you love yourself some yummy girl scout cookies. My all time favorite? The Samoa cookies. Given that there are girl scouts at every super market corner these days, I thought it only fitting to ketofy this cookie. Afterall, shouldn't everyone get a chance to experience some of this deliciousness without the guilt of carbs and sugars? 

Keto and low-carb friends rejoice! This version has the flavor, texture and taste that rivals the original with far fewer carbs. Plus because I used unsweetened shredded coconut, there is only a minimal amount of naturally occurring sugar/carbohydrates.

ONE 'normal' Samoa girl scout cookie will set you back 9grams of Carbs with 5g of sugar. 
My copycat Keto Samoa cookie is only 0.5g of Net Carbs and 0g of sugar!

Ingredients:
*Cookie Base: Follow my Shortbread Butter Cookie Recipe
*Caramel: Follow my Keto Caramel Sauce Recipe
1.5 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup Lily's dark or semisweet chocolate morsels
3 teaspoons coconut oil

Directions:

1. Mix the Cookie dough per the regular recipe instructions.
   NOTE: The only change would be to rollout the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to about a 1/4" thickness and use a small 2" round cookie cutter to cut circles out for your cookie base.
   
2. Bake per the recipe instructions. Remove when done and cool completely.
3. Make the caramel sauce per my recipe and set aside to cool.
4. While everything else is cooling, prep the coconut. Spread a thin layer of the shredded coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the oven at 250° for 8-10 minutes or until a light golden brown color (be careful not to burn it). Stir the coconut every 1-2 minutes to ensure even browning.
5. When done, add the coconut to the caramel sauce and stir to combine.
6. Carefully spoon the coconut on the cookie in a ring form. Place the cookie in the fridge to set and harden.
7. While setting, melt your chocolate for the chocolate base and drizzle.
8. Combine chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl. Heat at 50% power in 20 second intervals until the chocolate is melted. Stir in between intervals.
9. Remove the cookies from the fridge. Carefully dip the cookie in the chocolate to coat the boat. Place on a cookie cooling rack to allow the chocolate to drip and set. Take the remaining chocolate and drizzle over the cookie in a zig zag.
10. Set cookies back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to set completely. ENJOY!

Before we went Keto my family had pasta at least 3 days a week for dinner, possibly more. I never had any desire to make my own pasta then because there were so many options out there. Fast forward to being full keto and there really is NO keto pasta option at all, so here I am deciding that I needed to make my own; not because I was necessarily craving pasta, but because I wanted to see if it was possible.

My family and I have found some relatively decent pasta alternatives— shirataki noodles and black bean noodles—but yet, I still wanted to make my own. Before keto I loved the soft, chewiness of gnocchi. There was something so comforting about eating a bowl of it.

I knew that gnocchi could be made with ricotta or even potatoes. Since potatoes were out, I opted for ricotta for these lovelies.

They are quite delicate, so read the notes and tips carefully so they don't fall apart while you’re boiling or sautéing them. Serve them warm, straight from the pan drenched in your sauce of choice. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 Tub (approx 7-8oz) ricotta cheese, full fat
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon almond flour
2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder
pinch of salt

Directions:
Prepping the Gnocchi dough:

1. Gather all your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
2. Dry out the ricotta on a paper towel to remove some excess moisture (I know this sounds weird, but the extra moisture can make your dough too wet). Lightly squeeze the ricotta to get as much moisture out as you can.
3. Add ricotta, egg and cheese with the almond flour and psyllium husk. Stir until combined.
   (TIP: If your dough is too wet, add more almond flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together). The dough should easily form into a ball.
4. Dust your countertop with more almond flour. Bring your dough together into a ball and cut into 8 even pie wedges.
5. Dust with more almond flour and roll each wedge into a thin log about .5-.75 of an inch in diameter. Cut the log into 1 inch "pillows".
6. Using the back of a fork, gently roll the pillows on the fork to form grooves. Or if you want easy, just leave them as small pillows.
   (TIP: The ridges mostly go away after you boil the gnocchi anyway, so it may not be worth the time. Just saying :))

Boiling your Gnocchi:

1. While you finish rolling out the rest of the dough, preheat a pot of boiling water.
2. Once ready to boil, turn the heat to LOW (you DO NOT want a rolling, boiling pot of water. Your gnocchi will fall apart if the water is rolling).
3. Boil the gnocchi for 15-20 SECONDS, just until they start to float (NOTE: they will NOT float to the very top like regular gnocchi. The almond flour is too heavy, but they will start to jump just a bit. Watch them carefully and boil in batches).
4. Use a slotted spoon to pickup and drain the gnocchi and let them dry on a paper towel or piece of parchment paper. Allow them to dry for 10-15 minutes.

Sautéing your Gnocchi:

1. In a frying pan heat 1-2 tbsp of grassfed butter. Add your desired seasoning (sage or garlic are great classics).
2. Allow herbs to cook until fragrant. Lower heat to medium and add your gnocchi dumplings in.
3. Cook gnocchi for about 2 minutes before flipping (avoid moving them so they can get a nice golden color to them). Flip them carefully and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Serve immediately, hot with your favorite sauce. Or just as is with some grated parmesan! Delish!!

If you've ever had lumpia or Filipino eggrolls, then you'll understand the desire to ketofy these babies. When I went keto a few years ago I said goodbye to rice, which if you ask my parents, is quite unthinkable for a Filipina to do. Well I've managed well without rice, but the other Filipino dishes were leaving an empty place in my heart (haha), until now.

Keto lumpias are a REAL-THING and quite easy. It is a multi-step process since you have to cook the filling, let it cool, then wrap the lumpias and lastly fry them. The actual recipe is not that hard at all, but the process is long, but oh so worth it. 

When I made these lumpia I used a coconut wrapper from Thrive Market that had 6g net carbs per sheet. While it is definitely better than the 20-38grams of carbs in ONE regular wrapper (Yup, let that sink in a bit. At the last Filipino party, how may lumpias did you have? Multiple that by 20-38g of carbs and yikes!), I wanted to see if there was better. Luckily Amazon sold these coconut wrappers with only 4g NC - woohoo! I've ordered them to try them so I'll make sure to update this once I do the test. In the meantime you can find the wrappers here ​amzn.to/30row1Q. Now onto the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1/2 onion diced
1 tablespoon avocado oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 head cabbage
1 cup green beans, sliced – These should be "slivered", sliced on an angel. Yes, it will take time to cut these.
1 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons liquid aminos
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
Coconut Wrappers (I recommend these)

Directions (Filling):

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat oil and sauté garlic until it is a caramel color and fragrant.
2. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
3. Brown the pork. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Remove the pork and set aside. In the same pan (with the drippings), cook the veggies for 5 minutes. 
5. Add the pork back in. Add fish sauce, liquid aminos and water. Cook until the veggies are tender and the flavors have combined.
6. Using a colander, drain the meat/veggie mixture so ALL the liquid comes out. Set aside and allow it to cool. NOTE: If the mixture is too wet or too hot, your wrappers will fall apart.

Directions (Wrapping):

1. Once the filling is cool, prep your wrappers. NOTE: these wrappers are not as pliable as traditional rice wrappers. Handle them gently and don't overfill.
2. Place the wrapper in a diamond shape in front of you. Add about 2 tbsp of the meat/veggie mixture on the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper.
3. Roll the bottom up and over the mixture. Fold in the sides (again, its not as pliable) and continue folding until you have your lumpia.
4. Fry in a preheated pan with 1 tbsp of oil seam-side down.
5. Fry each lumpia for about 1 minute each side — keep an eye that they don't burn. THEY WILL COOK QUICKLY!
6. The key to getting the wrappers crisp frying them long enough but not too long that they burn. My next test will be to try an air-fryer...but I don't have one yet. So if you try it in an air-fryer, lmk how they tune out!

With only 4 ingredients this overnight chia pudding is a great Keto breakfast option when don't feel like eating eggs and bacon (ha!). Don't be fooled by the name. This meal is not at all like a sweet pudding, but more of a oatmeal-porridge-custard consistency.

Chia seeds absorb liquid and expand in size overnight giving this pudding its texture. You can still taste the seeds, so if you are not a seed person, you may want to try ground chia seeds instead. The toppings a endless from berries to nuts to a few Lily's brand chocolate chips!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp maple syrup (Try this keto brand) or yacon syrup (This is our favorite. Click here)

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar. (The 8oz mason jars work well).
2. Stir until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight for better results.
3. Makes 2 servings