That said, anytime you make a “healthy” version of something that’s delicious and high-calorie, you will almost certainly end up sacrificing some flavor. To compensate for that, instead of reducing or removing things (like a traditional dough) that give delicious flavors, we’ve replaced them with something that will produce a delicious flavor all on it’s own. So while these keto-friendly pizza pies will never replace a classic large from your favorite hole-in-the-wall up the road, this will make contest prep a hell-of-a-lot easier. At the end of the day, it’s nice to know that you can diet and prepare for a contest without needing a traditional “cheat meal” or the extra calories that come along with it when you can have a delicious low carb version that will satiate you until the contest is over and you can splurge again!

This is our first pizza-entry and for sure we will try out different versions. If you have any similar low carb or keto pizza recipes you’ve enjoyed, or have an idea on how you would modify this one feel free to leave a comment and tell us about it!

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Rich in omega 3’s and high in protein this meal will leave you feeling very satisfied.

Come each meal time, it is important that we are having a serve of both protein and healthy fats as part of what is plated before of us. The protein we receive from the foods we eat is used by every part of our body. Protein ensures our bodies develop, grow and function properly. It is also known that protein works at stabilising blood sugar levels, can help with weight loss, supports muscles and bones, not to mention helps with the absorption of vital nutrients.

Healthy fats such as omega 3’s found in salmon are an essential part of what we should be eating to live a healthy lifestyle. We need fat to absorb certain nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants. Fat is also important for cell structure as well as nerve, brain and heart function. Omega 3’s are also well known for supporting healthy nail, skin and hair; can reduce the risk of heart disease and fight depression and anxiety!

We guarantee you won’t be disappointed with this meal, put it on the list next time you’re looking to add some variety to your dinner. Serve with your favorite selection of vegetables or side salad. We highly recommend sautéing a mixture of Asian greens in a little ghee or butter with garlic and pinenuts…. DELISH!

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You can only shove so many chicken breasts into your mouth before you start to go a little crazy. This was my feeling, anyways, and I needed something to take me out of my diet. Not a cheat meal, but something that had reasonable macro’s, easy to make, and something that was full of flavor. Enter: Chicken Wings. I’ve always loved chicken wings, usually too my own detriment, as most wing-joints flash fried their wings in a vat of hot fat. So now I had a new challenge: could I make hot wings at home that rivaled the ones you could find at your favorite beer pub?  Could I make paleo-friendly buffalo wings?  How about keto-friendly buffalo wings? We’re pretty sure we’ve gotten it pretty dang close, and we’ve created a healthy buffalo wing recipe that’s delicious in it’s own right. Here’s how we did it, and here’s how you can do it too:

The first obstacle of course is getting around the traditional fat-fry, and getting around that intense crisp that fat-fry can offer. If you eliminate the fried option, two other choices immediately come to mind: oven-baked and grilled. Grilled wings are a fantastic alternative to fried wings. You replace that consistent crispyness that only hot oil can make with an excellent fire based char type of crispy. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a grill all-year round, so we need to go back to the drawing board. I’ve had ‘okay’ experiences with oven-baked wings, but they are just that, ‘okay’. This method can create a decent wing, but it never comes close to the type of crisp you can get with frying or in a grill. So our two options both leave a lot to desire, so where do we go from here?

A Gimmick Saves The Day

I hate gimmicks.  That’s why when I received an electronic “Air-Fryer” for Christmas, my first response was to chuckle to myself and do an internal eye-roll.  “There’s no way this thing could work, and there’s no way I’d use this thing”.  Since I was at the end of my rope, I decided to go into my closet and dust off my old forgotten about present and see what it had to offer.  I won’t go into specifics too much here, as you can read my full write up on it HERE, but let me just say one thing: this thing blew my mind!

The Air-Fryer was the answer to my prayers.  It gave me a chicken wing that was perfectly cooked, and with a skin that was as crispy as any full-fat fry, all without any extra added calories from the fat.

Meal Prep PRO-TIP:

Meal prepping is a nice idea, but so is fresh food.  Doing one is usually a sacrifice for the other.   However, what if I told you that you could have a high-protein, delicious snack ready in minutes, any time of the day?  Cook the wings to step 4, before the first sauce, and store your wings in an air-tight baggy or contained in the fridge.  Whenever you want hot and fresh wings in minutes, just throw it in the sauce and finish the recipe as described.  Your low-carb buffalo wing will come out fresh and piping out.  I like to keep two third-portion bags in the fridge at any given time so I can have a fresh and low-calorie, high protein snack in minutes when a craving for something delicious hits in the middle of a cut.

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The 2nd best thing about this recipe, next to it’s fantastic flavor, is that it’s incredibly simple, and next to impossible to mess up.  It’s warm, light, and full of protein and will become a staple in your meal prep recipe catalog.  If you’re cooking for two, it’s also easy to double the recipe without too much room for user error.

Quick Tips

A few words of warning: this high protein soup requires patience.  The key to a good French Onion soup is to make sure you allow your onions to caramelize long enough to develop a deep and dark richness.  If you are a beginner in the kitchen and you haven’t yet developed your confidence, it will be tempting to say “okay, this is far enough”.  Don’t be afraid to push it a little farther than what your comfortable with.  Onions are incredibly cheap and if you mess up the caramelization process, it’s really no big deal to start over since that’s really the first step in the entire process.

Make sure to use a stainless steel or copper pan to encourage a high level of browning and to cultivate the “sticky” bits that form at the bottom of a pan.

Cut Calories

You can easily modify this recipe to be even lower calorie by cutting out an extra tablespoon of butter.  That would save you 102 calories across the whole dish.  This will affect the flavor some, but it will still be delicious if you are currently on a serious cutting or other low calorie diet that limits your options.

Add Flavor

A word on cheese. We tried and experimented with several different cheese types while fine tuning this dish: Jarselburg, Swiss, and traditional Guyere.  All of them taste great, but each had slightly different nutritional values.  Ultimately, our taste tests determined that a Guyere resulted in the most flavorful dish. Because Jarselburg resulted in the lowest calories, we have featured that cheese in this dish’s recipe info, though it’d only cost you 6 extra calories to switch to Swiss or 16 extra calories to switch to Guyere.  Feel free to mix and match!

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