Sweet treats for your weight-loss plan

Not everyone is on a ketogenic diet and sometimes that can make eating out a little tricky. It's not too bad at most restaurants, but some places don't have many low carb options. The real problem is when going to benefits and fundraisers where the menu might not always suit your diet.

For Valentine's Day I purchased tickets to a prime rib dinner hosted by the Thompson Falls High School Select Choir. Prime rib is certainly low carb, but mashed potatoes and dinner rolls are not. In most cases you could decline putting these on your plate. But in this case, we were served and every plate looked the same. I decided one serving of mashed potatoes and a glass of fruit punch wouldn't send me back to square one.

And it didn't. I didn't feel guilty for "cheating" on my diet. I didn't go into a spiral and eat every delicious thing in sight because I had "already ruined by diet so why not?" I just enjoyed my mashed potatoes.

I decided from the beginning that if I was going to succeed at this, I would have to allow myself a little grace; there are too many delicious foods out there that are not "keto friendly" and I just can't commit to giving them up completely! Weight loss is a long journey, but I can still make my destination with a few quick rest stops along the way.

And for those times when you feel you need a little extra indulgence, there are recipes out there that are delicious and low carb. When I feel a sweet tooth coming on, one of my favorite treats is cream cheese pie, or in recent days, cream cheese pie filling. It's quick, easy and customizable!

CREAM CHEESE PIE FILLING

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sweetener, more or less to taste (I use Splenda)

1 pt. heavy whipping cream

Optional: sugar free jelly or sugar free coffee syrup, fresh pureed berries, or melted dark chocolate (look for a high percentage of cocoa and check the carb count)

1. Blend cream cheese sugar (and optional add-in) until creamy.

2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream.

3. Mix whipped cream with your cream cheese mixture and enjoy!

If you want to enjoy this as a pie, you might try making a "graham cracker crust" with almond flour instead of graham crackers, you can even add cocoa powder to make a chocolate crust.