A few weeks ago, Hal and I decided to go for the Carnivore diet. We listened to the Carnivore Code by brainiac Dr. Paul Saladino (book is here) and were totally impressed. We are avid omnivores wanting to reduce inflammation and stop the creeping arthritis pain and weight gain.

The book is worth a read, it has excellent info on the macros, what you need and what you don’t. He dispels a LOT of myths about foods and farming. Paul Saladino is a very smart guy who can relay info in an understandable way to those of us who are not "sciencey" :)

We did it full tilt for 2 weeks and definitely felt better… BUT carnivore is really hard to stick with if you have any kind of a social life or other eaters at home. And we’re healthy, no lives at steak here. (See what I did there?)

We WANT to feel better but we’re not going to suffer dramatically if we eat a bread stick.

Obvious answer: we went Carnivore-ish.

Carnivore-ish is like extreme paleo or VLC (very low carb) and very manageable for us. Our most important food change has been giving up bread and assorted white foods: rice, pasta, potatoes, chips. Because we’ve given up those foods several times over the years, that was fairly easy at this point.

DIET CHANGE PRO TIP: The biggest help is NOT having those foods in the house. Honestly, I've thrown away more chips than anyone on the planet. My motto is: better in the trash then on my hips or damaging my gut biome, right?

We do feel better because of this way of eating, no question. And a bonus: my weight is stable, Hal’s tiny beer gut is tinier and we’re never hungry. Yay!

We have never been big fruit and veggie eaters so going low carb on that front was zero effort. Frozen organic broccoli, berries and fresh whatever's-in-season keeps us satisfied. We always have mushrooms, lemons and avocados on hand.

The Sweet Tooth

The hardest thing has been a yearning for SOMETHING anything sweet at night before bed. I'm not a fan of paleo or keto desserts -- they seem to perpetuate the sweet tooth rather than help it dissipate. Honestly, there are more keto dessert recipes than ways to make meatloaf, lol. I know because I’ve looked.

However, I've hit on something that satisfies our sweet tooth and you don't want to eat them all in one sitting! A handful goes a long way. Honestly, I avoided making this recipe for YEARS because it's so simple, I was seriously afraid I would make them everyday and eat them all at once.

We haven't. We enjoy them but have not eaten too many. Maybe the first batch :) There's a container in the fridge now and I have no desire to sneak one past Hal.

Here you go, hope you enjoy these like we do!

Keto Candied Pecans

Ingredients

• 2 Cups pecan halves (I get my organic pecans from Azure Standard)

• ¼ cup Butter

• 1/4-1/2 Cup* sugar substitute. We are using Xylitol because I have a bunch, but you can use allulose or erythritol, anything that cooks like sugar. These are all available organic from Azure.

• 1-1.5 tsp vanilla (Yes, can get organic from Azure!)

• If pecans are not salted, add 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan.

2. Once melted, add the sugar substitute, stir well every couple of minutes until dissolved.

3. Stir in vanilla.

4. Continue to cook down until it thickens a bit, stirring constantly, about 2-4 more minutes.

5. Remove from heat, add pecans, stir to coat well.

6. Place pecans in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, pour over any remaining liquid.

7. Put in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to cool and harden.

8. Once ready, it looks somewhat like brittle only grainier. Break apart pecans, store in airtight container.

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 C but we found that very sweet. The last batch, we used 1/3 C and still a little too sweet, working our way down to a good taste for us.

Give them a try, see what you think and please report back how it's going for you. Haha, don't tell Paul Saladino I eat this!

UPDATE: My SIL is going to make these with a spicy cayenne! That sounds yummy. I’ll report back!