Set-It-and-Forget-It Cheeseburger Recipe

If you’re making a burger and your meat is not frozen, then you can stick a thermometer in your patty and let the thermometer beep when the meat is at your desired temperature. The problem with this is you may have to flip the burger one or more times and, if your patty is thin or not dense, it may be difficult getting the thermometer probe in the center and staying there. If your patty is frozen, like it is at many stores that sell packages of burger patties, then you can’t stick a thermometer in it.

Frozen burger patties may not taste the best, but they are still good. Since they’re frozen, they will last long as well. To simplify the cooking process, I use the T-fal Optigrill. It grills both sides and has a drip tray to catch all fatty juices.

Here’s how to cook a frozen beef patty in the simplest way possible.

  1. Press the power button to turn on the Optigrill
  2. Press the snowflake button because your patties are frozen
  3. Press the burger button since we’re making a burger. The Optigrill will heat up as indicated by the blue light. This takes about 5 minutes.
  1. When the Optigrill beeps, it’s done heating up. Open the lid and place your patties.
  2. The Optigrill will beep and change color every time the meat reaches a doneness level.

When the Optigrill has reached your desired doneness based on the color of the doneness cycle, remove your patties. In my experience, it takes about 7 minutes to get to medium-well.

For the buns, Artesano Bakery Buns are pretty good. Don’t toast these buns. They taste good as is at room temperature.

Almond Mocha Chocolate Latte Recipe

For this recipe, I’m using the PHILIPS 3200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine w/LatteGo.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add almond extract and chocolate sauce to the mug (I use a pipette to transfer the almond extract).
  2. Steam milk to make 1 cup (I put mine in a measuring cup).
  3. Add 1 shot (1 oz) of espresso to your mug.
  4. Pour steamed milk into mug and mix using heat-resistant, scratch-free silicone stirrer.
  5. Enjoy

Fried Rice Made Using Automatic Pot Stirrer

One thing I really dislike when cooking is having to occasionally stir the food. This is the case with fried rice, soups, and stir-fried vegetables. Fortunately, the Koreans feel the same way. A company called LAMPCOOK with the slogan “Innovative Cooking” sells this (overpriced) automatic pot stirrer on Amazon for $155. I normally would spend that much on a pot, but like I said, I really dislike manually stirring food every so often for 10-20 minutes while cooking.

I’ve had the pot for a couple of weeks now and it actually works. But, you can’t put it over heat higher than medium. If you do, you’ll see discoloration at the center.

In this post, I’ll share my recipe for a super simple fried riced cauliflower dish. Riced cauliflower has far fewer calories than rice, and it’s a healthier option. For the flavor, I’ve found either one of the following fried rice packets to be the best.

  • Indofood Racik Bumbu Spesial Nasi Goreng
  • Bamboe Nasi Goreng

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of frozen riced cauliflower (available in packs of 5 at Costco)
  • One of the two spice packets above
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • Oil spray

Instructions

  1. Spray pot with oil
  2. Add water and riced cauliflower
  3. Remove the glass window, turn on the stirrer, and cook on medium
  4. Set a timer for 20 minutes and go do something useful
  5. After 20 minutes, the water should have evaporated. Remove the lid and stirrer arm attachment.
  6. Add the spice mix and stir with a heat-resistant and scratch-resistant silicone spatula.
  7. Optionally, mix in precooked meat, vegetables, eggs, etc.
  8. Transfer to a plate or bowl and enjoy

Steak, Egg, and Cheese Burrito Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1x patty of Steak-EZE Thinly Sliced and Shaped Sirloin Steak Strips, Frozen
  • 4 x eggs
  • 1 x 10″ diameter tortillas (the whole wheat carb balance kind has 110 calories, the flour kind has 210 calories)
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • Olive oil

Instructions

  1. Warm up the tortilla in a 10″ pan on low heat
  2. Put 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small 8″ pan on medium-high heat
  3. Add the steak patty and cook patty for 2 minutes
  4. Flip patty and cook for another 2 minutes
  5. Using a heat-resistant silicon spatula, break the patty into small strips.
  6. Transfer steak strips to a strainer over a small bowl and press to squeeze juices out. This will limit how much juice will leak through the bottom of the burrito and make a mess.
  7. Flip the tortilla and cook the eggs. I prefer to scramble them.
  8. Turn off the heat to the eggs before they’re done because they will continue to cook on their own
  9. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on the eggs, add the steak, and mix
  10. Transfer the mixture to the tortilla
  11. Let the mixture cool a bit while washing the dishes
  12. Fold the tortilla the way you make a burrito
  13. Enjoy

Beef Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients

  • 400 grams of long grain rice (leftover from the day before or refrigerated for at least 2 hours)
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup carrots, diced (can just chop pre-shredded carrots)
  • 3/4 cup red or yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 cup meat (chicken or beef, optional)
  • ¼ cup green onions, chopped into small pieces
  • To taste MSG, salt, pepper (MSG is actually not bad for you)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

Make an omelette. Beat the eggs (I like to use a handheld electric mixer). Using a small pat of butter, make an omelette (I use a large pan for this). Slice the omelette into squares and set aside.

Cook the meat. I used ground beef. When done, set aside.

Sauté veggies. Using butter, sauté the onions, carrots, peas and garlic until soft and cooked through. (I use a wok for this)

Stir fry rice. Turn the burner to high heat. Scooch the veggies over to one side of the pan, melt the remaining butter in the other half, and add the chilled rice, soy sauce, and oyster sauce (if using). Then stir to combine with the veggies and continue sautéing the rice, stirring every 15-20 seconds or so for 3 minutes, or until you notice the rice and veggies starting to brown slightly.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in the green onions, sesame oil, sliced omelette, and meat.

Taste and season. Give the rice a taste, and season with MSG and pepper, plus any extra soy sauce or sesame oil, if needed.

Mixing 3 eggs
Chop some shredded carrots
Make an omelette
Slice the omelette
Ground beef

To break up the rice, use a food masher utensil.

You can also just buy one of these spice packets to make things simple.

I’ll try to make fried rice using each of these spice packets and rate each one.

RatingNote
No spice packet. Recipe above.7/10
Bamboe Nasi Goreng7/10
Bamboe Nasi Goreng Pedas7/10Too spicy
Kokita Nasi Goreng Fried Rice
Indofood Racik Bumbu Spesial Nasi Goreng8/10
Kikkoman Fried Rice5/10
Indofood Racik Bumbu Nasi Goreng
Pamana Seasoning Mix
Noh Chinese Fried Rice
Munik Fried Rice3.5/10
Nagatanien Fried Rice Mix
Pronas Bumbu Nasi Goreng6/10

Quick ‘n Easy, High-Protein, Low-Calorie Eggs (Whites) Recipe

Eggs are some of the healthiest foods you can eat. And, they taste good and are very cheap. However, if you’re looking to lose weight while maintaining or building muscle mass, you probably should only eat egg whites instead of whole eggs. As you can see in the table below, most of the protein in a whole egg comes from the egg white and all of the fat comes from the yolk.

Egg WhiteWhole Egg
Calories1871
Protein4 grams6 grams
Fat0 grams5 grams

You can buy egg whites cheap at Costco. A box of 6 16oz cartons costs $9.

Cooking it is super simple. I prefer the set-and-forget method to create an egg white patty. Here’s the recipe.

  1. In a small pan, spray non-stick cooking oil.
  2. Pour in the equivalent of 4 egg whites.
  3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Cover with lid
  5. Set timer to 3 minutes
  6. Cook on medium heat

Keto Weight Loss Food Menu

Alright, lately I’ve been obsessed with finding recipes and food for weight loss that I personally enjoy eating, especially Keto-friendly ones. To keep track of all my discoveries, I decided to just make this menu.

Microwave-Cooked Eggs

  • Eggs (I usually eat 4)
  • Shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar) – optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Microwave on high for 2 minutes (depending on microwave)

Air-Fried Chicken Drumsticks

  • Chicken drumsticks (skin removed)
  • Spices
  • 1 Anaheim pepper

Healthy Keto Protein Smoothie

  • 1 tbsp Navitas Acai powder
  • 2 frozen strawberries
  • 1 :ratio keto yoghurt (if not available, get Two Good yogurt – on 3 g of carbs)
  • 1 scoop pure protein powder
  • 1 tablespoon of Matcha green tea powder
  • Almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon Chia seeds

Keto Chicken Rice Soup

  • 2 x 8 oz packs of Shirataki Konjac rice
  • Chicken broth
  • Chicken breast (pregrilled from Costco)
  • Salt to taste

Keto Rice with Tomato Sauce

  • 2 x 8 oz packs of Shirataki Konjac rice
  • 1 8oz can of tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp of oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper

Riced Cauliflower or Konjac Rice With Scrambled Eggs & Minced Beef

  • Riced cauliflower or Konjac rice
  • Eggs
  • Minced beef

Keto Spaghetti

  • 2 packs Healthy Noodle (from Costco) – 120 calories
  • 1 18oz can of tomato sauce (105 calories)
  • Minced beef (optional)
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)

Air Fried Tofu

  • 1 pack tofu sliced into 1 inch cubes
  • Canola oil spray
  • Sea salt

Grilled Asparagus

  • Asparagus
  • Canola oil spray
  • Salt and pepper

Celery & Hummus

  • Celery
  • Hummus

Iced Green Tea

  • Green tea with Matcha
  • Erythritol

Vegetable Stir Fry With Chicken

  • Vegetable medley (Costco)
  • Lee Kum Kee Supreme soy sauce (0 carbs)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast (Costco)

Broccoli, Chicken & Egg Scramble

Spicy Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower

  • Spicy Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower (Trader Joes)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast – optional (Costco)

Riced Cauliflower Stir Fry With Chicken Breast

  • Riced Cauliflower stir fry (Trader Joes)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast (Costco)

Peanuts

Available at Costco and Smart n Final

Whisps Crisps

Available at Costco

Keto yoghurt

No Sugar Keto Cups

Available at Costco

Beef Jerky

Available at Costco
Available at Smart n Final

Coffee

  • Nespresso coffee
  • Frothed milk
  • 1/4 tsp Erythritol (or Stevia or Monk fruit)
  • Cinnamon

Pickles

Pickles are very low calorie and low carb.

Available at Smart n Final

Cheese Sticks

Cheese sticks are very low carb, but high in protein and calories.

Garlic Spinach With Ground Beef

  • Frozen spinach (steamable in bag)
  • Minced garlic
  • Lemon juice
  • Ground beef
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Cucumbers Slices Dipped in Salt & Distilled White Vinegar Solution

Red’s Egg’wich

$12 at Costco

Egg Whites

  • $9 at Costco
  • High protein, low fat, low carb
Egg WhiteWhole Egg
Calories1871
Protein4 grams6 grams
Fat0 grams5 grams

Extra Lean 96/4 Ground Beef

  • $10 at Smart n Final
  • 96% lean / 4% fat
  • Top it with a slice of mozzarella cheese and eat without as is (no bun or condiments)
  • 1 patty contains
    • 112 grams
    • 150 calories
    • 25 g protein

Lowest Calorie, Lowest Carb, Filling Food

Just out of curiosity, I wanted to find the lowest calorie, lowest carb food that could be considered a dish/meal. The goal is to be able to lose weight while feeling full after eating something that is relatively tasty with a flavor that everyone is familiar with. When it comes to filling foods, most people would think of rice or bread. Apparently, there’s something very similar to rice called Konjac.

It has a neutral taste and its shape is very similar to rice. But, it does have a slightly different texture than rice. Nevertheless, one pack (150g) contains only 5 calories and 0 net carbs.

Of course, eating plain rice alone, especially Konjac rice, doesn’t taste good. After considering various ingredients to add to Konjac rice, I decided that chicken broth is one of the best flavorings to add. Everyone knows what chicken tastes like and since it doesn’t contain meat, even vegetarians can eat (drink) it. It’s also not a forbidden food by any of the major religions.

This particular brand of chicken broth is organic, doesn’t contain salt, provides a mere 5 calories for 1 cup, and has 0 carbs.

If we cook one pack of Konjac rice with 1 cup of this chicken broth, we’d only be consuming 10 calories and 0 net carbs! Since 1 pack seems too little to make me feel sufficiently full, I’ll go with 2 packs and 1 cup of chicken broth (15 calories total). That’s nothing! (calorie-wise)

2 packs of Konjac rice + 1 cup of chicken broth.

The broth says “no salt added”. That may be good for people with high blood pressure but for me, the rice just didn’t taste good without salt so I added some. Here’s the finished dish.

I know it looks super boring and tasteless but since I added chicken broth, it actually tasted like chicken soup. On a scale of 1 (yuck) to 10 (yum), I’d give it a 7 (not bad). Of course, the only reason for eating this is to lose weight until you reach your target weight after which time you can adjust your diet so as to just maintain your weight.

Now, don’t go eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

  • The Konjac rice has 0 fat, 0 net carbs, and 0 protein = 0 essential nutrients
  • The chicken broth has 0 fat, 0 carbs, and 1g of protein = hardly any nutrients from protein

So, if you eat this and nothing else, your body won’t be getting any of the essential nutrients it needs from fat and protein.

This ridiculously simple dish is good in combination with other food so that your total daily caloric intake is less than your calorie expenditure so that you can actually burn fat and lose weight, especially for people who don’t want to exercise in conjunction with dieting.

According to one calculator, my basal metabolic rate (BMR) or, calories I would burn each day by being sedentary / not active, is 1788. You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of body weight. So, if I was sedentary and could consume a max of 1288 calories per day (which is not easy to do considering how so many foods contain so many calories), then I could have a deficit of 500 calories per day and lose 1 pound of body weight per week or 10 pounds in 2.5 months.

Konjac rice with eggs

If you’d like to eat Konjac rice with something else that is full of nutrients and is healthy, then you may want to try mixing the rice with scrambled eggs. One scrambled egg has 100 calories, 8g of fat, 7g protein, and 1g of net carbs.

Konjac rice with chicken

Since we’re adding chicken broth to the Konjac rice, it would make sense to add real chicken as well. Pictured below I added pregrilled chicken breast from Costco. It tasted good and was super easy to make since everything was precooked.

A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of chicken breast provides 0 carbs, 165 calories, 31 grams of protein and 3.6 grams of fat.

Konjac rice is relatively expensive. For a cheaper alternative that still has much fewer carbs than rice, you can use riced cauliflower.

Ninja Foodi: Easy, Indoor Grilled Asparagus

If you like grilled asparagus, here’s an easy way to make it without firing up the outside grill.

Ingredients

  • Asparagus, Refrigerated (I get mine at Costco)
  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • Canola oil spray

Instructions

  1. With the grill plate inserted, turn on your Ninja Foodi, hit the Grill button until its set to MAX, set the time to 7 minutes, and hit the START button
  2. Snap off the ends (white part) of the asparagus
  3. When the grill is preheated, spray the grill with Canola oil, lay the asparagus flat on the grill, spray Canola oil on the asparagus, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper
  4. Half way through grilling flip the asparagus
  5. When it’s done, just remove it (I use tongs) and eat!