Another week, another parade of carnivore/keto/paleo meals for your cooking inspiration. Please let me know if you have any questions about any of these meals.

First up: quiche. This was special because I made a crust with almond flour, lard and water. I enjoyed it because it seemed like such a treat, but my one child only liked the inside. Oh well, you can’t win them all!

Chicken salad: usually I buy a rotisserie chicken, but on this day, I had boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand so I grilled those and used that instead. Also in this yummy chicken salad: toasted pecans and bacon. I normally add grapes, but I didn’t have any.

This is my normal meal – either for lunch (when I eat lunch) or dinner when everyone else is having something I can’t eat – ground beef and some “bread” cheese cubes that I fried in the ground beef fat. Non-carnivore people would say yuck, but carnivore people know that this is super duper delicious.

Parmesan pork nuggets

This was date night at a local burger place. They have grass fed burgers, gluten free buns, hand cut fries fried in a dedicated frier and homemade sauces. So even on my night out when I allow myself to eat “off plan” I still often choose a burger. Creature of habit over here!

Quick story: We just moved my son into college and for the week leading up to that dreaded day, I was an emotional wreck. I would break down in tears many times per day, seemingly unprovoked. I can say that it felt awful, but my husband was so understanding and kind that I made his favorite dinner as a thank you gift. That’s the lasagna you see below.

My lasagna is the beef and sausage plus the ricotta, egg and mozzarella mixture from the lasagna. So basically I had all the lasagna except for the noodles and tomato products. It was still delicious.

And below you see the results of subscribing to Netflix for a month. I started watching The Great British Baking Show again. Yes, I attempted gluten free croissants. These were definitely ok and nothing else. The person in my house most likely to eat these was moving away two days later, so this was a ridiculous thing to do, but what can I say, I was an emotional wreck and sometimes I bake my feelings. Right now, my freezer is full of these mediocre croissants.

And finally, none other than the cheeseburger pie.

To finish up this week, a few notes on why you might want to consider following a carnivore diet, either for a short time for healing or for the long haul:

• Hard as it is for me to believe, there are people who don’t enjoy cooking and don’t even enjoy eating. Those people could benefit from a carnivore diet because it’s highly nutrient-dense, yet very, very simple. There is not much thought or planning involved.
• Increased energy – it can come from the ketones your body is going to produce when you quit burning sugar for energy, it can come from the carnitine-rich red meat you’re eating or the increased protein consumption.
• Reduction in inflammation, including autoimmune diseases. This is a huge, gigantic, broad benefit. I believe that all disease stems from inflammation of some sort and yes, a carnivore diet reduces inflammation.

Next week, I’ll share a few more benefits of the carnivore diet. Until then, happy eating! I hope you’re feeling well.