Maria Emmerich - Keto Comfort Foods: Family Favorite Recipes Made Low-Carb and Healthy

First Published in 2017 by Victory Belt Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2017 Maria Emmerich

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-628602-57-9

The author is not a licensed practitioner, physician, or medical professional and offers no medical diagnoses, treatments, suggestions, or counseling. The information presented herein has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Full medical clearance from a licensed physician should be obtained before beginning or modifying any diet, exercise, or lifestyle program, and physicians should be informed of all nutritional changes.

The author/owner claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

Front and Back Cover Photography by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley

Interior Design by Yordan Terziev and Boryana Yordanova

Printed in Canada

TC 0117

food is celebratory,

food triggers memories,

food stirs emotions.

I had the great pleasure to travel to New Orleans for business in 2011 and was taken to eat at an amazing restaurant on Bourbon Street called Antoines. Our group was seated not in the main dining area, but in a haunted private dining room!

I had the touffe, on which my Crawfish touffe recipe () is based. The kitchen staff also prepared special Swerve-sweetened sugar-free desserts for our table.

A lot of the people I was dining with were locals. They asked me how I stay keto and said that it is extremely difficult to do in New Orleans because the local motto is live to eat, not eat to live, which I found quite interesting.

Were often told to regard food as fuel and nothing else, but food is more than that. Even at the young age of two and a half, my son demonstrated how food is more than just nourishment. He would jump into his booster chair, buckle in, and start to sing. It wasnt because he was getting chicken nuggets, boxed macaroni and cheese, or a bowl of ice cream. In one video I have of him, I was making my Meatballs with Brown Gravy (), and he was singing at the top of his lungs simply because it was mealtime. Food is pleasure, food is love. Food should also be nourishing, and thats why I was so excited to write this book. It is filled with pleasure, love, and nourishing foods.

It isnt a bad thing to enjoy food. My goal is for you to fall in love with ketogenic foods so that you can nourish your soul and your body.

I have had the pleasure of writing numerous cookbooks, and I will never be able to pick a favorite; however, I think this book was the most fun to write. I really enjoyed reminiscing about my favorite foods from my former unhealthy diet and pondering how to recreate such favorites as Bomba Burgers and Death by Chocolate Cheesecake as keto dishes. What I find extraordinary is that I enjoy the taste of these recipes even more than the traditional carb- and sugar-filled versions!

As I continue to grow with my cooking, I am finding techniques that are fantastic at adding that special umami flavor profile. Umami is a savory flavor that is sometimes described as the fifth taste, along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. This book is filled with amazing recipes that will make you feel satisfied on your ketogenic journey.

Keto isnt a diet to me or my family; it is a way of life. We enjoy feeling this amazing, so we never want to veer away from ketogenic foods. We arent tempted by traditional mashed potatoes or wheat-filled breads. I think the main reason we are never enticed is that Im always on the hunt for new ways to make ketogenic foods even more comforting and delicious.

Food is tradition!

Im guessing you and your family have a few traditions that are food-related. When I was a child, we always had lasagna on my birthday. I love lasagna, especially BBQ chicken lasagna, and I always made it for my siblings birthdays. My brothers and sister and I would gather at our parents house, and we would celebrate with my lasagna and then play a fun game of volleyball outside.

Food is memory!

Many years ago I worked at a restaurant called High View that specialized in fried fish. Whenever I ride my bicycle past the lovely Tin Fish restaurant on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, I am immediately transported back to my time working at High View, which also happened to be when I fell in love with my now-husband, Craig. Im not a huge fan of fried fish, but I adore that smell because of the amazing time in my life that it conjures.

Food is love!

Food is a great way to show love and affection. I often give food-related gifts for the holidays and friends birthdays. Even when I was a poor college student, I would make homemade food gifts for my friends and family. It was usually caramel apple pie (not healthified!), unbaked and frozen, with a label on it explaining how to bake it so that the recipients could enjoy a fresh-baked pie whenever they desired.

I still love to give food gifts, but I choose healthified gifts now. This past year I made gift baskets filled with a bag of Swerve sweetener, chocolates from ChocoPerfection, and Primal Kitchen Greek salad dressing, as well as my homemade taco seasoning. The reason I love to include this taco seasoning mix is that it also helps educate people. I had a family member tell me that he hadnt been feeling well for quite some time, so he decided to cut out gluten, but it hadnt helped. I asked him if he had cut out smoked meats, beef jerky, spice mixes, and a few other products, all of which contain gluten. He hadnt. Once he started following the rules on my avoid-hidden-gluten plan, he finally began to feel amazing.

Food is celebratory!

When I ran my first marathon, my parents took me out to eat afterward. When I graduated from college, we celebrated at a fun German restaurant filled with traditional German food and accordion music.

We often celebrate major life events with food. Weddings, funerals, and other rites of passage all include food. This isnt a bad thing; food helps bring us together to celebrate someones life, a couples commitment to each other, or someones hard work and achievements. The trick is to learn to celebrate with foods that your body will celebrate, too!

I had a great childhood. I remember going to visit my Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jerry way out in the country. They didnt have much, but going to see them was always fun. Both of my grandparents were amazing musicians, so there was always music. And there were always brownies with more frosting than brownie. You could smell the sweet aroma of chocolate wafting from their mobile home before the door even opened. Grandma Betty always made a pan without crushed walnuts on top because she knew that my brother and I didnt like them with nuts. Grandpa would sing How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? while they both played guitar, and my brother and I would dance around with chocolate-coated fingers.