Keto for beginners - Ep 2 - How to start the Keto diet | Free Keto meal plan | Keto Basics

Horns up and welcome to Headbanger's Kitchen. My name is Sahil. I'm a heavy metal musician and the author of the recipe book Keto Life. Out now worldwide. Hey folks, welcome to episode two of my Keto for Beginners series. If you haven't watched the first episode yet, please click here on the i button and watch that video in its entirety before watching this one. So on this series, I basically tell you what to eat, when to eat and how to eat on the keto diet and in episode one, I gave you a meal plan for the first week. Now, if you have done that first week of keto and you followed the meal plan, please let me know your progress in the comments below. I really want to know how many of you have done it and what your results have been. So once again, I'm here to give you a meal plan, breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner, and I want you to eat the same food for the next seven days. Yes, I said it in the first episode as well. It's not going to be easy, but this is what you are going to need to do to lose weight. And of course, come back next week when I will give you the meal plan for week number three and then week number four. And yeah, that'll be your one month of keto. And let's see how everyone has progressed. Now, before I get into the recipes, there are a few points that I need to make. Point number one, please buy a kitchen scale. This is cheap, it's reliable, and it is a friend for life. And honestly, I consider it to be one of the most important tools in the kitchen today. And I will leave a link on the blog post where you can purchase a scale. They cost like $10 or even less sometimes. And my American friends, I know you love measuring things in cups. But when it comes to accuracy, nothing beats the weighing scale. In fact, these have the option of switching between grams and ounces. So it doesn't matter what kind of recipes you are used to using. This will definitely come in handy. So please buy a kitchen scale. Point number two, please start exercising. Now I know a lot of you don't like exercising. Many of you are perhaps unable to exercise for whatever reason. But I want to encourage you all to start moving. And it doesn't matter whether you want to go to the gym, whether you just want to go for a walk or cycle, or even just dance. Even if you put on your favorite music and dance for an hour, just get some physical activity going. Start getting used to the idea of exercising regularly. In fact, what I would recommend is download an exercise app. You get many available today. I know that Nike has an exercise app. There's one which I use called 8Fit. And these will give you short, intensive 15-minute workouts. So that's all the time you need to spend in a day, not more than 15 minutes. So please start exercising. Point number three, please measure yourself. Now it's good that you are weighing yourself. And that's a good way to keep a track of your progress. But the weighing scale is not the only way to see progress. Sometimes you are losing inches. So measure your waist, measure your butt, measure your arms, and keep a track of those measurements as well. And finally, please read the blog post. In my last episode, I said this as well. I give you all the food substitutions and all the additional information that you need, including things like if you're a vegetarian, what can you substitute in my meat-heavy menu, so to speak. So please go to headbangerskitchen.com and read the blog post. I'll leave the direct link in the video description box just below this video. Anyway, enough jibber-jabber. Let's start with the meal plan. So for breakfast this week, you are going to be eating a very delicious spinach and feta cheese omelette. So to make our omelette, I'm going to start by cracking three whole eggs into a bowl. Anyway, once I've cracked those eggs in the bowl, I'm going to add in some heavy whipping cream. About a tablespoon will do. I'm going to season the eggs now with some salt, some black pepper, and some dried oregano. And as always, you can use any herbs that you like. And then I'm just going to beat it. Just beat it. And I'm going to beat them like they really deserve to be beaten. Anyway, beat those eggs and then set them aside. Now I'm going to get my non-stick pan on the stove and I'm going to add three rashers of bacon. And you're just going to cook the bacon till it's done to your liking. In my case, that's nice and crispy. And as always, we start the bacon on a cold pan so that the fat will render out. And I have to be honest, ladies and gentlemen, I originally did not intend to add bacon to this recipe. But since I had some bacon at home which I needed to use up and the fact that I like to cook with bacon fat, this made perfect sense. But the bacon in this recipe is completely optional. So if you don't want to use bacon, just skip it completely and you can start directly with some avocado oil or some coconut oil or any keto approved oil in the pan. Anyway, once the bacon has been cooked to your liking, remove it from the pan, put it on a paper towel and just dab all that excess grease off it. And once the bacon has cooled down, chop it up into small pieces. Now you can see there's a good amount of bacon fat in the pan. So I'm going to put it back on the stove on a medium high heat and then I'm going to add in some baby spinach. Now don't worry if it looks like a lot of spinach, ladies and gentlemen, because it will wilt down and it'll become like a really small amount. So anyway, I'm using about 100 grams of baby spinach and I'm going to season it with some salt and some pepper. And then I'm just going to give it a good mix and let that spinach wilt down. And as I mentioned, the bacon was optional. So if you are skipping the bacon, you would start directly with some avocado oil in the pan and put the spinach directly into that. Anyway, as the spinach is starting to wilt down, I'm going to add a nice big knob of butter and I'm going to turn the heat down to low and you're going to give it all a good mix now. So after you've mixed it, we're going to now pour in the beaten eggs. Pour it around your pan and then you just want to kind of give everything a little bit of a mix so that the egg reaches the bottom of the pan on all spots. And now you're just going to let this cook on a really low heat. I'm also going to add in my feta cheese at this point and I'm just going to crumble it across the omelet. And once again, you can use as much or as little feta as you like. In fact, you can even use cheddar cheese if you don't like feta. You can use goat's cheese, you can use gouda, it's completely up to you. And I'm also going to throw in that chopped bacon because, well, why not, you know? So I guess this is more than just a spinach and feta omelet. It's a bacon spinach and feta omelet. Anyway, now I'm just going to cover it with the lid and let it cook for about three to four minutes. And of course, I'm just going to take a sneak peek to make sure it's cooking properly and nothing is burning. And after about four minutes, I think my egg is ready. I'm going to use my spatula to help release the omelet from the sides. And I'm actually going to finish it with a little bit of red chili flakes, just for a little bit of heat. And then just put it on your plate and your spinach and feta omelet is ready. And it looks pretty good if you ask me. A great way to start your day. So that was breakfast. For lunch, you're basically going to have a hamburger steak or a naked burger, whatever you want to call it, with a side of broccoli. So beef and broccoli, basically, which is a classic combination. So the first thing I'm going to do is prepare my broccoli and I'm going to cut the florets away from the broccoli stem. And I'm going to use a combination of my knife and my hands to get the job done. And of course, make sure you don't throw away the broccoli stem because that can be used in a number of recipes. I'll put all the information on the blog post. So for the hamburgers, I'm using 80-20 ground beef. That's 80% lean meat and 20% fat. This will ensure a nice juicy burger. Now it's time to get your kitchen scale and we are going to weigh out the meat for our burger patties. I'm going to make each burger patty about 115 grams. I think that's an ideal size. So weigh out the meat and then I'm going to use this nifty burger making tool that I have. So you just put the meat in that, you squish it down and the patty pops right out. But if you don't have one of these, don't worry, you can just shape them by hand. A rustic hand-shaped patty has its own charm. Now to make my burgers, I'm using my cast iron skillet and I'm going to heat up some avocado oil in that. Now you can use a non-stick pan, you can use a stainless steel pan, you can even do this on the grill. But for me, the cast iron is the perfect tool for burgers. So once that oil is smoking hot, I'm going to put my burger patties into the pan and I'm immediately going to hit it with some salt and some black pepper. Because remember, we haven't seasoned the meat, so I'm just doing it in the pan. I find it much easier. Anyway, you are going to let this cook for about three to four minutes on a high heat and the patty will develop a delicious brown crust. And you don't really need to do anything, you don't need to fiddle around with the meat. Don't play with your meat, ladies and gentlemen. After about three or four minutes, I'm going to flip those patties over and oh yeah, look at the crust on those babies. Anyway, I'm going to hit this with a little bit of salt immediately, because we didn't season this side, though I should have. And then on goes a slice of cheese on each burger patty. And then I'm just going to cover it with the lid and let that cheese melt. After about a minute, take that lid off. You can see the cheese has melted. Our burgers are probably going to be cooked all the way through. And then there's nothing to do except remove it from the pan. Now you're going to notice that there is a lot of residual oil in the pan. We don't need so much oil, so I'm going to pour that oil right out, get the pan back on the stove, and then in goes my broccoli. And then I'm going to add some water as well, about a tablespoon or so. And then I'm just going to cover the broccoli with a lid and let it cook for about four minutes. The idea here is that the broccoli is going to steam and become nice and tender. Of course, make sure you open it up halfway through the cooking, give it a good mix, make sure nothing is sticking or burning. And once your broccoli is done cooking, it's just a few more things to do. And after a few minutes of cooking, my broccoli is as tender as I like it. So what I'm going to do is throw a nice big knob of butter in the pan. And now I'm going to hit that broccoli with some everything bagel seasoning. Now the everything bagel seasoning is basically a generic mix of stuff. It has some onion, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and other spices. I'll leave a link to purchase this in the blog post on headbangerskitchen.com. But if you can't get your hands on this, you can use any seasoning that you like. Just salt, just pepper, maybe some paprika, maybe some cumin. It's completely up to you. I like the flavor of this, so I'm using it. So anyway, give it all a good mix. Taste your broccoli to make sure that it's cooked perfectly and has enough salt as well. And if you're okay with it, your broccoli is done and ready. Now I'm just going to serve up my beef and broccoli. So I'm going to put those burger patties onto my plate, one on top of the other. I'm going to top it with some gherkins and then just surround that beef with the broccoli. And it looks so good, ladies and gentlemen. And ladies and gentlemen, that is your beef and broccoli lunch done and ready. Now hopefully lunch will keep you satiated, but if you are hungry, there is an evening snack that you can eat. And you can have my version of a caprese. Now that is a delicious Italian salad made with mozzarella and tomatoes and basil. And it's really delicious. So for my version of the caprese, we are going to be using a cheese called bocconcini, which is basically like a bite-sized buffalo mozzarella ball. And bocconcini is really delicious, but if you can't find it where you live, you can always just use fresh buffalo mozzarella. So I'm just going to take my bocconcini and I'm going to slice it into two halves. So cut it right down the middle. This is just going to make the salad much easier to eat and way more presentable. So cut that cheese and set it aside. Now instead of regular tomatoes, I'm using cherry tomatoes for this recipe. But once again, if you can't find cherry tomatoes, you can just use a regular tomato, no problem. So I'm going to cut the cherry tomatoes as well, just right down the middle into two halves. So the bocconcini and the tomatoes pretty much look the same, except one is white and one is red. Anyway enough jibber-jabber, let's get on to the basil that we're going to be using. This is pretty much standard Italian basil and what I'm going to do is put the leaves one on top of each other. Then I'm going to roll them up and I'm going to slice them. I picked up this way of cutting it from Gordon Ramsay. Anyway, now it's time to make the salad dressing. So for the salad dressing, I'm going to use about a tablespoon of good quality extra virgin olive oil. To that, I'm going to add a splash or two of balsamic vinegar and I'm going to season it with some salt. And then I'm going to give it all a good mix and the vinegar and the olive oil is going to emulsify and that's your dressing. Pretty simple, isn't it? Now into the salad dressing go my cherry tomatoes and I'm going to give them all a good mix so they are well coated. And then once I've done that, in goes the bocconcini. And of course, you give it one more good mix and then I'm going to transfer it to a serving dish because I'm going to be taking pictures of this dish. And then I'm going to sprinkle the chopped basil on top because, well, it has to look beautiful for the photographs. Otherwise, I would have just mixed it all together in that very same bowl and eaten it. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, that's how simple it is to make this salad and your caprese is ready. And your final meal is, of course, dinner and for dinner you are going to have some delicious pan-roasted chicken with a creamy curry sauce and a side of green beans or french beans as they are called. So we are going to start with the chicken and I'm using a full chicken leg that has been deboned and still has the skin on. However, you can do this recipe with chicken legs, chicken thighs, chicken breast, whatever you like, no problem. So the first thing I'm going to do is season the skin side of the chicken with salt and just let it sit for 15 minutes. And this is going to help us get a nice and crispy chicken skin. Now I'm going to prep our french beans or green beans, whatever you like to call them, and I'm just going to chop off the tops and the bottoms and then cut it right down the middle. Pretty simple, cut the top, cut the bottom, cut down the middle. We could make this a song ladies and gentlemen. Cut the top, cut the bottom, right down the middle. Anyway, that's enough for the french beans. So to cook my french beans, I'm going to get my non-stick pan on the stove and I'm going to heat up a knob of butter. Now if you're wondering why my butter is white, well that's because this is unsalted butter as I ran out of salted butter. But you can use salted butter, no problem. Anyway, once the butter has melted, I'm going to put my green beans into the pan and I'm going to season them with some salt and also some black pepper. And because I'm feeling very dangerous, I'm throwing in a few red chili flakes. And then I'm going to give the beans a good toss to ensure that they are all coated with that butter, the salt, the pepper, the chili flakes. And then what I'm going to do is put in some water and then I'm just going to cover it with a lid and cook it for about four to five minutes till the beans are nice and tender. And of course after about four or five minutes, the water has evaporated, the beans are tender and they are pretty much done and ready to eat. Perfect. So now that the beans are done, it's time to get on to cooking that chicken. So now to cook my chicken, I'm using my stainless steel pan and I've got it on the stove on a medium high heat and I'm heating up some avocado oil. And now you want to let the avocado oil get really nice and hot till it starts smoking. And then you're going to put the chicken in skin side down. Yep, put that chicken in skin side down. And then I'm going to season the other side which we didn't season earlier with some salt and some black pepper. And now you're just going to let that chicken cook on the skin side for a good four to five minutes on a medium to high heat. What's going to happen is the chicken fat is going to render out, that skin is going to become delicious and nice and crispy. So just be patient and let it cook. And after about five minutes of cooking, oh hello, come to daddy, that chicken looks so good. That skin is beautiful, golden and crispy and that's just like food porn right there. Oh man. Anyway, cook it on the other side for another three to four maybe even five minutes and then well just remove your chicken from the pan. And of course let the chicken rest because it's had a really hard day. Now I'm quickly going to take a spring onion and separate the white part from it, chop the white part up, then chop some of the green part of it and then chop off the middle part and set them all aside. Now you can see after cooking the chicken there's a lot of residual oil in the pan. So I'm going to add the white part of the spring onion now and also some minced garlic and I'm going to give it all a good mix. Also notice the fond, the brown stuff at the bottom, that is a lot of flavor right there. And now you just want to cook this till the garlic starts to turn golden brown. And as soon as you see it turning golden brown, you're going to put in about a teaspoon, in fact a heaped teaspoon of curry powder. Now I'm just using this generic curry powder that I picked up in Bangkok but you can get this in most Asian grocery stores. And if there is no way for you to get this then well I'll give you a few other options, check the blog post on Headbanger's Kitchen. Anyway put that curry powder in and you're going to fry this now for exactly 60 seconds. So give it all a good mix, the curry powder, the oil, the garlic, the spring onion, it's all going to fry together and get aromatic. And at this point after 60 seconds of cooking this, you're going to take your chicken and there should be some resting juices in the plate, pour those into the pan. And you're also going to pour in some water as well. And what we're doing now is we're also deglazing the pan. So scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, there's a lot of flavor in that. And give everything a good mix. And as you can see your sauce already has a rich golden color almost. I won't even say brown, I'll say golden from that curry powder. Anyway now I'm going to add some heavy whipping cream to my sauce and I'm going to give it all a good mix. Now my American friends, I can already see some of you wondering what kind of cream am I using because the heavy whipping cream in America is not so thick. Anyway that doesn't matter, use the standard heavy whipping cream you get. If you live in the UK, use double cream. And what you're going to do is you're going to reduce the sauce down to the thickness that you are happy with. Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to grate some cheddar cheese into this sauce. And what the cheese actually does apart from giving great flavor is actually help thicken the sauce because that cheese is going to melt and the sauce is going to reduce and it's going to get nice and thick without us having to use any flour or any xanthan gum or any other thickener. And now you want to cook the sauce down. I like to get it to a consistency where it coats the back of the spoon. For me that's perfect. Anyway before I finish things off I'm going to check the sauce for seasoning and I felt like it needed a little bit of salt so I seasoned it with some salt. And then there was also a little more of those resting juices in the chicken plate so I poured that in and I gave everything a good mix. And finally I threw in the middle part of the spring onion, gave it all a good mix and my sauce was ready. And it looked oh so good. Now to plate up I'm going to first put some curry sauce at the bottom of the plate. Then I'm going to put on the pieces of chicken. Oh yeah. And then I'm going to put those green beans around the plate wherever there's space. And finally I'm going to finish it with the green part of the spring onion. And that's it ladies and gentlemen. Our delicious chicken in a curry sauce with green beans is ready. And your dinner is now sorted. But of course I can't let you go without cutting into that chicken and just showing you how beautiful it looks. So make sure you dip it in that curry sauce and that ladies and gentlemen is one tasty dish. So ladies and gentlemen that is your meal plan for the week. I trust that you will enjoy it. And remember you can double, triple and quadruple the recipes and cook all of it in big batches so that you don't have to cook on a daily basis. But even if you do these recipes are quick and easy so they won't take up much time. So anyway ladies and gentlemen that's all for this episode. If you are joining the Keto for Beginners meal plan late don't forget to do week one first. Then watch this video do week two. And I will see you next week for week three. Anyway enough jibber jabber. Cheers and keep cooking. Ladies and gentlemen don't forget to hit the thumbs up on this video if you enjoyed it. Subscribe to Headbanger's Kitchen and share my Keto for Beginners series with all your friends who are interested in the Keto diet. Also if you want to purchase my book I'll leave the link in the video description box just below this video. I'm also a musician. Click here and listen to one of my songs or watch another Keto video right here.