Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A staple in our home for almost a year has been Liz’s, “The One-Pot Ketogenic Diet Cookbook”. Without this, I wouldn’t have gotten the idea for many of the fast and delicious foods that my family enjoys. Although my family is not 100% keto, or even 50%, they know dinner will be keto and it’ll be delicious. When Liz’s new cookbook, “Keto Meal Prep”, was introduced, I was SO READY! I have a keto meal plan that I’ve purchased; however, after a mini-stroke, I found it incredibly difficult to make a list of items I needed from this meal plan without getting lost on what was needed on what day and not buying things too far in advance and so on. I left something off, always – or bought too much of something and started a stockpile in my freezer. Here are my favorite things about this new meal prep book! 1. Great list of items to enjoy while on keto and why or if it should be in moderation. 2. List of foods to limit and why. Being told why, helps you rationalize WAY more why it’s limited. 3. Keto flu symptoms and how to avoid it. For some, it just happens. I’ve been lucky and never had it. 4. Basic meal prep principals. We all hear how awesome meal prep is but if you’re busy, you still think it’s just not an option. Liz helps you realize, it really is, and it’ll help you stay on track! 5. Intermittent fasting is explained in the simplest of ways – maybe it’s right for you. 6. “The Art of Storage” – you never knew this was really a big deal, but I now know it is if I want my food to last! The food storage chart was incredibly helpful. I NEVER knew that cooked meats could last so long. I’ve been throwing away items WAY too soon! 7. Meal prep lifestyles – What is this? Well – whether you’re a beginner or advanced and just want to maintain, she’s made it easy for you and customized it without you whipping your HSA card out. 8. Weekly layout – This my friends is where the glory lives. I cannot put into words how incredibly helpful these pages are. a. Shopping list for the week, sorted by produce, protein, dairy and pantry. Woman after my own heart! My heart fluttered; my OCD smiled, and I KNEW this was going to be easy. b. Step by step prep – condensed into a couple pages and NOT overwhelming! c. Daily menu in a snapshot – this helps me know what I need to change IF I want to OR tells my kids what they’re going to be having for the week. For my family, I still make the dinners but add a pork chop or other protein for them, so they feel fuller. Personally, I DO feel full because I’ve been eating different than them for the day. 9. Customization with each meal. Liz gives you the freedom to be creative and add a few more ingredients for taste. I like this because I don’t feel like it’s a take it or leave it menu. 10. DAIRY FREE OPTIONS!! You read right. For each meal, you have the option to be dairy free. For many, lactose intolerance and keto are hard. Everything has cheese – cheese is life after all! Liz gives you a replacement item for your dairy, so you still have a thickener in place of a dairy item. (my personal experience is that it’s usually a thickener but don’t take that as gospel) 11. Macro listings – Liz makes it easy to know what you’re eating for the day without tracking everything in an app the exhaustive and manual way. You already know for each meal what your macros will be and what your daily intake is going to be. 12. Ingredient and cooking tips – Liz tells you some tips for ingredients you may want to add that she loves to add or some cooking tips to make your food more flavorful in the long run. 13. Staples and bonus recipes– So this sounds weird, but this section of the cookbook is just…BEYOND one of my favorite. a. Avocado lime dressing – what an awesome side item. This is something I put on everything. It’s SO good over deviled eggs. I LOVE the flavor. b. Dairy free ranch – YES PLEASE! Although since being on keto I’m far less lactose intolerant, sometimes I just don’t want to chance it. c. Caesar dressing – my daughter is a sucker for Caesar anything and she LOVES this dressing in the biggest way! d. Fat coffee – don’t feel obligated to have this but if you do, the ground cinnamon is a game changer. MCT oil and I don’t get along but the rest of it helps to get it on down. 8 oz isn’t that much either. e. Breakfasts – I use this for quick things to make on the weekends sometimes. Now with an instantpot, omelet muffins are easy, and the kids can do it. 14. Lunch and dinners – these are QUICK people and I rely on these for days I come home and don’t feel well or it’s late and my family has so sweetly waited for me to cook… 15. Vegetables and snacks – you can read this section but let me jump to a few of my favorite items a. Coconut chocolate mousse b. Blended strawberry coconut ice pops c. Caprese chopped salad – I could live on this stuff! My take away from this book is this – no matter how much time you think you don’t have, this guide makes it possible for you to have time. Recipes are simple, quick and delicious. It’s so well laid out, not confusing and visually puts you at ease. When I first saw it, I thought, “Oh wow, I can do this”, and I did. I used to feel overwhelmed with other meal preps because you don’t get it drilled down like this. In this format, it’s easy to be successful. HUGE kudos for Liz in writing another incredible tool for keto’ers of all styles!