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Look, there’s an easier (cheaper) way

This entry is part 132 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

So the newly FDA approved AspireAssist has been all over the news (even made the Colbert Show back in 2015). It’s a tube that is implanted into your stomach so you can suck out undigested food before it is absorbed. In other words: it’s a FDA approved form of surgically assisted bulimia, that’s the consensus over on /r/keto (note: on the comments “ED” means “Eating Disorder” not… something else).

There’s a much easier, enjoyable, SUSTAINABLE and cheaper way to change your life: eat bacon stop eating sugar; and by “sugar” I mean glucose, fructose, polymerized glucose (starch) and the like. Call it what you will – I will call it “Keto” and it’s really not that hard. Look, if you are like me and your body apparently can’t handle carbohydrates like it’s supposed to: don’t eat them, eat better food. People wouldn’t insist that celiacs eat bread, they don’t tell people with peanut allergies to have some, and Jim Gaffigan frankly needs to stay out of the sun. Switching over to the lifestyle of keto changed my life – and more and more of those around me are doing it too (or at least giving it a try).

Personally I use Keto Chow for most of my meals but most people doing Keto use “regular” food – either way is fine. Got a gut? Keto might be right for you too. Best part is: it’s not a MLM, it’s not being promoted by any special interest group and you can do it yourself! You won’t need surgery, you’ll have more energy and my wife claims doing keto has made me more attractive, so there’s that too. Here’s a handy guide:

keto-paleo-diet-food-pyramid

By |2016-10-13T07:27:37-06:00June 16th, 2016|Ketogenic, Weight Loss|2 Comments

Keto Chow 1.5 update – almost there; Finally missed reps on StrongLifts

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Weight Lifting

So first the good news: The roll out of Keto Chow 1.5 is nearly complete. Rather than list what is updated to 1.5, I’ll just list what isn’t:

Weeks

  • Chocolate Fudge

Samples

  • Banana and Butter Cream Toffee (as they’re discontinued but I still have some)
  • Chocolate Mint
  • Snickerdoodle
  • Vanilla
  • Cookies & Cream

Days

  • None. They’re all switched over.

 

Now for the bad news: Up until last night I hadn’t missed a single rep doing StrongLifts. It was inevitable that I would and it finally happened. Last week I was able to finish the full set of Overhead Press doing 95lbs but doing 100lbs was too much for me, even resting 5 minutes between sets:

2016-06-15 16.04.57

Well, life moves on. The kids asked for Strawberry and Peanut Butter keto chow today.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:37-06:00June 15th, 2016|Weight Lifting, Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow|2 Comments

Keeping the kids alive until Mom gets home

This entry is part 131 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

This week my wife and 3 of our kids are at a girl’s camp, so I’m working from home so there’s somebody here in case something explodes… or somebody looks at the 6 year old wrong and the world ends. Last night I was buying food for my wife to take (camping while doing keto can be challenging if you’re the only one doing it). I was going to grab some easy frozen food so I could have the 3 that are staying with me stay alive and healthy – then I remembered that I have this tasty drink that I make and the kids are always stealing.

Disclaimer: Keto Chow is not designed for children, that said it’s better than the frozen pizza and corn dogs I was going to buy (yes very low bar).

For lunch they were dead set on making turkey lettuce wraps (thereby stealing my low carb tortillas) but I put a stop to that, told them I had a surprise for lunch. When I brought out the blender bottles, my youngest said “Keto Chow, ooh yeah!’

Between the 3 of my kids and the neighbor kid that was over playing, they drank 2 containers. I told them they get to vote and pick out the flavors for tomorrow since today it’s all Snickerdoodle.

Speaking of flavors, since I put the Banana and Butter Toffee samples on sale they’ve been moving steadily, just today somebody decided to buy half of what I had left of the banana. In related news we found a week of banana hiding in the snickerdoodle so I put it back in stock with a quantity of 1.

By |2016-06-14T14:25:35-06:00June 14th, 2016|Soylent, Ketogenic, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Keeping the kids alive until Mom gets home

Keto Chow 2.0 and 1.5 update

This entry is part 2 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

We got our second round of flavors for Keto Chow 2.0 yesterday. I talked to a different co-packer who had super awesome pricing but their minimum order quantities were astronomical. Going off the last 3 months of sales we would be ordering a year’s worth of Rich Chocolate at the low end and 2 years worth of Strawberry at the high. Given expiration dates I think that’s a bit over-optimistic. So I’m working on nailing down order amounts and costs with my original co-packer still.

As for 1.5: we’re closer and closer to having all the flavors and sizes switched over to 1.5. If you’re getting flavors/sizes that aren’t on this list and want 1.5 you’ll need to drop a note in the order comments and we’ll try to fulfill your request. Here’s what’s switched over so far:

Weeks

  • Vanilla
  • Rich Chocolate
  • Chocolate Mint
  • Strawberry
  • Cookies & Cream

Days

  • Everything but Chocolate Peanut Butter

Samples

  • Rich Chocolate
  • Strawberry
  • Chocolate Fudge
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter

I’ve reduced the price of the other flavor samples, also samples are the only size with Banana and Butter Cream Toffee still in stock.

By |2016-06-09T10:18:33-06:00June 9th, 2016|Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Keto Chow 2.0 and 1.5 update

Review: Keto & Co. Brownie Mix

I picked up some Brownie mix from Keto & Co. Didn’t tell my wife I was making it. She came down when it was about to come out of the oven and wanted to know if I was making cake. Not quite =)

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Overall it’s super yummy. I’m glad I got two packages so I can make another since this first one only has one piece left (and we didn’t let the kids have any). It does require 1/2 cup oil (preferably melted coconut oil), water and two eggs. And it’s $11.50 per mix. The price is the only downside. You might be able to find a recipe that would give you similar results but for convenience it’s a win, literally took less than 5 minutes to make including pre-heating the oven, finding ingredients, finding a measuring cup and melting the coconut oil. The fact that it has coconut flour is a non-issue since it’s solid food and not a drink, makes all the difference in the world. Honestly it tastes like a regular brownie, though it is a bit “airy” and not as substantial as I remember brownies being (sue me, it’s been 18+ months since I had a brownie). My wife likes it too.

By |2016-06-08T17:33:53-06:00June 8th, 2016|Ketogenic|Comments Off on Review: Keto & Co. Brownie Mix

Keto Chow 1.5… ice cream?

This entry is part 130 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

The overwhelming consensus of Keto Chow 1.5 is

tastes like melted ice cream

I agree and decided to see what would happen if I tried making it back into ice cream. So I mixed up 6 meals worth of Cookies&Cream and put it into (one of) my ice cream makers. One of my daughters did a science experiment on salt/ice ratios for ice cream 2 years ago so I have the technique down solid (30+ rounds of ice cream will do that).

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So, I think that Keto Chow has too much water in it to make ice cream. It would be fine for shaved ice or something but it turned out more like Ice Milk than Ice Cream. I put it into pint mason jars and into the freezer, once frozen you could easily see the clear ice. I later softened it and had my awesome wife try it out. She likes how it’s cold but has been letting it melt and drinking it – there are easier ways to make cold Keto Chow =)

By |2016-06-06T11:18:50-06:00June 6th, 2016|Keto Chow|3 Comments

Keto Chow 1.5 status update

This entry is part 129 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

Since posting about it last week the most frequent question I’ve gotten is “what flavors have switched over to 1.5 already?” Well, that depends on the size you’re talking about =) We have a large supply of samples that were made before the switch in all flavors but two that are still available – those will be 1.0.4 for a while. This includes the banana and butter cream toffee ones we still have. Although I can’t find those flavors anymore we still have samples available, I’ve even discounted them and entered inventory into the site so if you’re really wanting to grab some you can.

Anyhow, here are the size/flavors that are completely switched over to 1.5. You can request the ones that haven’t switched yet and we’ll try to make sure you get 1.5 (though I can’t guarantee we have all available in 1.5 yet).

Samples (1 meal) that are 1.5

  • Strawberry Blast
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter
  • Chocolate Fudge

Days (3 meals) that are 1.5

  • Strawberry Blast
  • Cookies and Cream
  • Chocolate Fudge

Weeks (21 meals) that are 1.5

  • Gourmet Vanilla
  • Rich Chocolate
By |2016-06-02T10:34:46-06:00June 2nd, 2016|Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Keto Chow 1.5 status update

Keto Chow 1.5

This entry is part 128 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

TL;DR: swapped psyllium husk for acacia gum, added more xanthan gum resulting in better texture and improved bowel… stuff.

It’s been some time since there was a major formulation change in Keto Chow, it’s been stable for over a year. As part of the progress towards Keto Chow 2.0 I’ve updated the recipe. On paper it looks like a nominal change: replaced one ingredient and increased another. Functionally it’s a significant revision.

For those unaware: I’m working on getting Keto Chow mixed and packed in a co-packing facility. There are a bunch of reasons for this, primarily it will increase the amount of stuff I can make since it’ll no longer be such a manual process. It will also free up a lot of time =). In order to do this I’m needing to find replacements for the problematic ingredients that can’t be found in 100kg+ sizes (the vitamins, protein, flavoring) in addition to finding a co-packing facility. I’m in the latter stages of getting the vitamin mix replacement, the second revision of the protein+flavoring should be coming sometime in the next week or two and it’s almost time to “for realsies” sign papers with co-packers.

Several weeks ago I went to a trade show with various food ingredient vendors. I knew my Potassium and Xanthan Gum supplier would be there, the people I’m getting the vitamin pre-mix from had a booth and I was surprised that the lady I buy peanut flour from was there too (“hey, I buy your stuff… wait a minute, I buy it from YOU!”). I was looking for an alternative vitamin pre-mix supplier but was also on the lookout for protein sources and especially a solution to my Psyllium Husk problem.

Psyllium Husk provides fiber (and is the primary ingredient in metamucil if you are wondering) as well as acting as a thickener; it grows in India. All psyllium husk is shipped from India and while getting it in small quantities in the United States is easy, buying a palette worth is difficult without going directly to the manufacturers in India and buying an entire shipping container worth. Don’t get me wrong, a shipping container in my back yard would be kinda cool but I didn’t want to go that route. I found a company in Chicago that would sell psyllium by the 25kg/55lb bag but their supplies were sporadic and if they were out of stock I was out of luck and would need to go back to buying 12lb bags from AllStarHealth. No bueno.

At the show I happened upon one booth for a company specializing in dietary fibers. So I asked if they had psyllium husk powder and the guy asked me what I needed it for. Honestly that was the best response: instead of just saying “no”, he figured out what my “pain point” was. Turns out that guy in the booth was doing dietary ketosis, said “oh you don’t want psyllium, THIS is the stuff you want to use for keto” and so I was introduced to Acacia Gum.

Acacia Gum – Features and Benefits. This was sizeable enough I decided to put it into a separate post so it’s easier to refer to, go ahead and read it, I’ll wait.

Now, as I said earlier: Psyllium Husk also acts as a thickener and while Acacia thickens liquid a little, replacing psyllium with acacia left the mixture rather watery. I tried some other thickening ingredients but came back to Xanthan Gum which I was already using. I upped the amount almost 3x and the thickness was just right.

I considered Keto Chow 1.0.4 to be exceptionally smooth with practically no gritty texture (especially compared to the stuff I had in the past that was full of coconut flour and chia seeds). Apparently psyllium husk powder does have some texture/grit to it because the change was notable. Keto Chow 1.5 has no discernible (to me and those I’ve had test it) texture. It’s seriously like somebody melted a milk shake. It also mixes better: there’s no need to do a second mixing 5 minutes after initial mixing to prevent the fiber from accumulating on the bottom in clumps. Acacia Gum is also nicer to your intestines and seems to eliminate some of the bowel issues people were experiencing  when initially starting. For lack of a better way to say it delicately: you should be able to put more trust in a fart being just a fart, especially at the beginning.

We do have some of the old recipe still on the shelves but most of the flavors will be transitioned over to 1.5 in the next week or so. If you don’t notice the texture at all in the older formulation it won’t be a big deal but if you’re anxious to get the new stuff just put a note in your order comments and we’ll do our best to send the new stuff. We have most of the week packs in 1.5 and a few of the day flavors. Samples are all currently the old stuff.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00May 27th, 2016|Soylent, Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow, Ketogenic|3 Comments

Sous Vide Update: Yeah, it is yummy.

Completely unrelated to Keto Chow but still quite relevant to ketogenic diets. The chuck roasts I had cooking for 44 hours with my Sous Video “Precision Cooker” finished cooking (like yesterday but whatever, I was going for awesome overkill). Turned out awesome.

On an unrelated note, I’m claiming a personal victory: none of my kids cut any of the fat off the meat. All of them ate ALL of it, in fact they ate most of one of the plates full by themselves (I think it was mostly the 14 year olds but whatever). Only my wife cut some fat off, old habits die hard after a life of “fat is bad” indoctrination.

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By |2016-10-13T07:27:40-06:00May 19th, 2016|Ketogenic|Comments Off on Sous Vide Update: Yeah, it is yummy.

Old flavors, new flavors, dead flavors.

This entry is part 127 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

My wife just reminded me that I need to post something about the state of the flavors of Keto Chow. The ones I can get have diminished significantly in the last while:

  • Piña Colada: discontinued
  • Smooth Banana: discontinued
  • Butter Cream Toffee: discontinued
  • Cinnamon Bun: discontinued
  • Mint Chocolate: not certain, most of my suppliers have removed it from their sites, and it’s getting harder and harder to source. Might not be long for this world =(

We still have some stock of a few of the discontinued ones (mostly samples and days) but we’ll be watching the stock levels closely. The ones I can still get easily:

  • Rich Chocolate
  • Vanilla
  • Strawberry
  • Snickerdoodle
  • Chocolate Fudge
  • Cookies and Cream

So I guess it’s good timing that I’m getting closer to having my own flavors for Keto Chow. Speaking of that: today I received the first 5 samples of the protein + flavoring that I’ll be using in Keto Chow 2.0. I’d be mixing it up right now but we made 12 meals worth last night and don’t have any clean blender bottles available (not to mention I need to drink down the supply in my fridge). Closer and closer every day!

By |2016-05-27T12:09:27-06:00May 5th, 2016|Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow, Ketogenic, Ingredients|2 Comments