I’ve been following a clean, whole food way of ketogenic eating since August! I feel great and have experienced so many great changes happening to my body which make me SO glad I chose to dive in and try it.
My long term plantar fasciitis has completely healed, I’ve lost over 40lbs, I’ve gone from a size 24/26 jeans to a size 18/20, and I just FEEL awesome all around. I still have more milestones to hit (and smaller clothes that I hope to fit into!), but so far so good!
In these past 6 months, I’ve definitely made a few mistakes, tried recipes that crashed and burned, eaten things with sugar and hidden carbs I didn’t know about, and, as in all weight loss adventures, the scale has gotten either gone up, or gotten stuck (thank goodness for non-scale victories like shrinking pant sizes and slack on an airplane seatbelt vs. needing an extender!). But, the show must on go, and luckily things have started moving in the right direction again. With some small tweaks, more practice in eating for hunger, instead of boredom, and getting my Orangetheory workouts in more consistently, I’m back on track and ready to see what’s next!
February 11, 2018
People always ask me “What’s your favorite go-to keto friendly meal?” My answer is usually a few things: bunless burgers, omelettes, and anything made with my favorite low carb dough.
If you have heard of the ketogenic diet, then you have probably heard of “fathead dough.” Basically, fathead dough is a low carb dough base made with a couple of things: cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, a low carb flour, eggs, and seasonings. It first appeared a few years ago on the Fat Head blog, and low carb followers around the world have been using it help curb carby cravings ever since. Fathead dough can be used for SO many keto-friendly treats: crackers, biscuits, flatbreads, focaccia, bagels, breadsticks, pizza crust, croutons, avocado toast, empanadas, and even low carb cinnamon rolls- all with one recipe! Once you find a fathead dough recipe that you love, just do a Google search for recipes and you’ll see all of the yummy things you can make with a batch of this dough! 
I’ve tried a lot of fathead dough recipes out there, but I always go back to this simple, yet delicious recipe that is so versatile, I use it for everything. My recipe uses blanched almond flour for tenderness, olive oil for a golden crunchiness, my rich and delicious backyard eggs (good, organic eggs are a must for this dough!), and something called oat fiber, which is a flour type substance that has no calories, no fat, and no effective carbs! Not only do I love to bake with oat fiber, but it’s also great as a binder for meatloaf and meatballs! Not to be mistaken for oat FLOUR, oat fiber is the only insoluble fiber out there.
Here’s the 101 on oat fiber:
From this website: Oat fiber is made from grinding the non-digestible oat hull… It’s made from the hull or husk that the oat was harvested from. Nutrition wise, oat fiber is really more akin to sawdust than to oatmeal. It does contain some nutrients, but because it’s essentially non-digestible, it does not provide any nutrients or carbs for the body to burn. But that’s OK, because it’s not used for its nutritional properties. It’s used in low carb baked goods as a flour sub either on its own or in a blend of other lower carb flours. It’s very affordable and very absorbent-oat fiber is capable of absorbing a lot of liquid in a recipe and can be used to add moisture to baked goods. Since oat fiber doesn’t break down in the digestive track it also helps to prevent constipation by bulking up the stool.
My dear friend Kristen is the one who introduced me to oat fiber. She has been following a ketogenic way of eating for over two years now and has seen great success- not only in weight loss, but also in managing her MS! She is my go-to for all-things-keto and has patiently been there every step of the way in helping me get my footing. She has cooked up some amazing low carb goodies, including some things using oat fiber!
I’ve been experimenting with oat fiber for a few months and have learned that it’s a great ingredient to use to reduce the amount of coconut or almond flour a recipe calls for, but to not completely use it to replace it as a 1:1 substitute. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of blanched almond flour, you can use 1 cup of the almond flour and 1 cup of oat fiber to reduce the carbs in the recipe. It’s practically tasteless, so it will take on any flavors you pair it with.
A few days ago I made a batch of my favorite fathead dough and turned it into a few individual-sized pizza crusts, 2 flavors of bagels (everything and onion), and some buttery biscuits! This crust is my favorite because it’s crispy, but also has a great chew to it- just like real bread/pizza dough/bagels! The oat fiber gives the dough some bite, and the addition of xanthum gum gives it its chew. I turned the pizza crust into a delicious pepperoni, tomato, and parmesean pizza for dinner! It was DELICIOUS! 
I topped the crispy and chewy pizza crust with freshly grated parmesean cheese, a couple of sliced tomatoes, pepperoni, italian seasoning, and cracked red pepper. You’ve GOT to try it!
So are you ready for this dough recipe yet? Well here it is!
- 1 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup oat FIBER (you can get it at Netrition.com (search for Lifesource brand)
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 2 cups freshly grated full fat mozzarella cheese (from a block- not fresh mozzarella) (I have also had success with Monterrey jack cheese!)
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesean cheese
- 2 oz. full fat cream cheese
- 2 large whisked eggs
- melted butter for biscuits or olive oil for pizza crusts/bagels
- toppings for bagels (everything but the bagel seasoning, dried onion flakes, parmesean cheese, pretzel salt, etc.)
- Stir together the almond flour, oat fiber, salt, and baking powder- set aside.
- Combine the shredded mozzarella and cream cheese in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, stirring with a spatula halfway through the cooking process.
- Remove from the microwave and stir until the cheeses are well combined. Set aside to cool just a little bit (if you put the eggs in right away, they will scramble- so wait just a few seconds!).
- Stir the flour mixture and eggs into the melted cheese mixture. Oil your hands with butter or olive oil, and while the mixture is still warm, knead it until a ball of dough forms (adding extra grease to your hands if the dough begins to stick to your hands).
- At this point you can use the dough for a variety of creations!
- >>>To make bagels- divide the dough into 8 sections, form a cigar shape by rolling and pulling the dough in your hands, then form bagels by pressing the two ends together. Brush with melted butter or olive oil, top with your favorite topping (I love Trader Joe's everything but the bagel seasoning!) and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes on a greased baking sheet, or until the bagels are golden brown.
- >>>To make biscuits- divide the dough into 8 sections, form biscuit shaped discs, brush with melted butter, top with a sprinkle of sea salt, and bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes on a greased baking sheet, or until the biscuits are golden brown.You can also place these in a small hot cast iron skillet coated in butter for pull apart biscuits/rolls!
- >>>To make pizza crusts- place the warm dough on a floured (use a little oat fiber) cutting board and roll out to desired thickness, size, and shape. Brush with a little olive oil. For thin individual sized pizzas, bake at 350F for 10 minutes on a greased baking sheet then add toppings and broil under high heat for 1-2 minutes to melt toppings. For a large pizza crust, adjust the baking time to 12-15 minutes, depending on thickness.
- Remember to search for other fathead dough recipes! There are TONS out there! Have fun exploring and experimenting!
