I should probably mention right off the bat that I’m receiving no compensation for this review. (Although I’d be glad to get some, so hmu, Senza devs!) No recipe here–this one is about my favorite app for tracking macros. I know a lot of keto folks use Carb Manager, but not many have heard of Senza. Senza is basically MyFitnessPal or LoseIt, but specifically meant for the keto diet.
Just like those other apps, Senza starts out by getting your general information–age, gender, height, and current weight. It uses that to calculate your macros. It has me eating 25 grams of net carbs, 100 grams of protein, and 123 grams of fat. It calculates the net carbs of everything so you don’t have to.
There are two main parts of the app where you’ll spend the most time, your feed and your journal. In your feed there are links to articles about the keto diet, as well as links to fun recipes to try. It’ll also give you a daily report that scores your previous day’s intake from 1-99 based on how close you came to hitting all your macros for the day. The best I’ve ever done is a 98–I’m still searching for that elusive 99! Throw me a screenshot if you hit it.
The Senza feed, with my daily score and one of the suggested recipes.
The journal is what you use to actually track your food. They have a great database of foods, from restaurant meals to individual ingredients. You can choose the unit of measurement, too, so if you ate 26 grams of onions, just select “grams” after you search and it’ll filter your results to only entries that measure in grams. This is really cool when you’re cooking, which leads me to my favorite portion of the app.
My journal entry for breakfast and lunch today. Note the macros on the top.
Under the “My food” tab, you have the option of entering in either an individual product that isn’t on their list, or a recipe. For the product, it’ll have you take a picture of the label, then enter the information. Once they get it and see that you did it correctly, they’ll add it to the database, but until then, you can save it and track it on your own. For recipes, it’ll have you name it, select how many servings are in it, and then you enter in each ingredient individually and it will calculate the macros for you. I think a lot of people on keto have trouble tracking when they cook at home, because it’s so hard to figure out exactly what is in each serving. This makes it foolproof. My recipe macros are calculated using this feature.
Another interesting feature that I haven’t used all that much is “Keto Radar”. If you allow the app to see your location when you’re using it, it will show you nearby restaurants that may have keto options. I find it a little bit limited, especially with non-chain restaurants. For example, when I search around my workplace, I can see all the restaurants, but the only one that has low-carb menu options shown is Chipotle. It only shows restaurants within about a five-block radius, which is nice if you need to grab a quick lunch and you’re not sure what’s nearby. But overall, I don’t find this feature to be particularly useful. If I traveled a lot for work, it would probably be invaluable.
The app also has some cool coaching features that I haven’t tried. What I like about those is that you can earn points with the app by tracking foods or adding friends, and then use those points to get help. I have over 17,000 points earned since January, and to give an example, a one-day meal plan is 100 points and a macro review is 650. They also sell some products, which I think you can use points for discounts, but I’ve never tried so don’t quote me on that. You can add friends, track your weight or exercise, and link to Apple Health or Fitbit. You can also set up the app to change your macros if you exercise enough. For example, if I burn over 150 calories, I have it set up so I can eat up to an extra 100 calories, with an added 2 net carbs and up to 20 grams of extra protein. I try not to use it, but it’s nice to know that I can. It can also track IF, which I’ve never done because I like breakfast too much to skip it. And finally, they have an option for real-time chat with keto coaches if you have a question about something. I haven’t tried that one yet, but if you do, please comment with your experience so I can add it to the review!
All in all, Senza is the best app I’ve found to support a keto diet, and I highly recommend it.
It was a balmy 94 degrees outside when I made my meal plan for the week, so of course I decided that what I was currently craving was potato soup. I’m…kinda weird. The second most obvious issue here is, of course, that potato soup isn’t […]
Our garden has started producing cucumbers like nobody’s business, so expect some more cucumber recipes from me in the near future. My next attempt will be refrigerator pickles, because I need to find some way of using all this stuff. There are about 20 blossoms on that plant. I’ll probably have to give some away, but I’m going to do my best to not have to do that. I’m also pretty close to having a bumper crop of jalapeños, so be prepared for some Mexican recipes as well. And zucchini. And our tomatoes just started to turn. Yikes.
My goal here, since I was serving it alongside a Korean BBQ inspired chicken, was to make something resembling kimchi, just minus the fermentation and with a decent amount of added fat for the keto part. This one involves a couple hours of marinating, so don’t make it unless you have time for it to really soak in.
Start with two large English cucumbers. Those are the seedless variety. You can use the seeded ones, just scoop them out before proceeding. Keep the peels on, because you’ll need them to sort of hold things together. Slice them lengthwise down the middle, and then crosswise to make half-moon shaped chunks that are about 3/4 of an inch or so thick. Put them in a gallon-sized ziploc freezer bag.
Sliced cucumbers in the bag ready for you to take out your frustrations.
Now here’s the fun part. You get to hit them. Take the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin and hammer them. You don’t want to pulverize them, just break them apart a bit. That’s why you keep the skins on, because it keeps them from being a complete mess. They’ll look like this when they’re ready.
Smashed cucumbers. Some more smashed than others.
Make the marinade next. For this you’ll want 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (tamari or coconut aminos will work depending on how clean your keto is), and a tablespoon each of chili oil and sriracha. Whisk those together, and then pour it over the cucumbers. Be careful, because you may have punctured the bag they’re in. Either transfer them to a new bag or double bag it to avoid a leaky mess. Leave them outside of the fridge for two hours with the bag laying flat on the counter, flipping once. If you make this with my Korean BBQ chicken, you can put the bag back in the fridge when you start the chicken, so the cucumbers can cool a little bit. Just before serving, drain the marinade from the bag. If you’d like, sprinkle it with sesame seeds before serving.
Slice the cucumbers lengthwise, then into half-moon slices that are approximately 3/4 inch thick. Put them in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Smash them with the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin until they're all cracked down the middle.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, chili oil, and sriracha, and whisk until emulsified. Pour over the cucumbers, being careful to either double bag them or transfer them to another bag to avoid any leaks that may have been caused by the smashing,
Seal the bag and put it on a countertop, keeping the cucumbers in a single layer, for two hours, flipping the bag after an hour. They can be served at room temperature or refrigerated for about 20-30 minutes before serving. Drain the bag immediately prior to serving. Sprinkle each serving with sesame seeds right before serving, if desired.
Macros are difficult to calculate due to the fact that most of the marinade ends up being discarded. Assuming that each serving has 1 tablespoon of marinade clinging to it (which is probably an overestimate), macros are as follows: 73 calories, 5 grams net carbs, 1 gram protein, 5 grams fat. This does not count the sesame seeds.
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Ever have one of those days where you just need some comfort food, stat? I had a really rough week last week, for various reasons, so last Thursday when I was meal-planning for the upcoming week, I ended up with a fairly comfort food-heavy menu rotation. As you know if you have been following this blog, I do my meal-prep work on Sundays, so I have breakfasts and lunches to last me through the week, and I only have to worry about cooking dinners. This recipe became my lunches for the week, and so far so good on the comfort front, because I just ate it and I’m feeling pretty good today. I apologize in advance, though, for how ugly it is. Is there a word that means the opposite of photogenic? Because if so, this recipe is that. But it’s also pretty dang tasty, so you’re just gonna have to deal.
Start by melting 2 tablespoons of butter into a Dutch oven or other large, deep saucepan over medium heat. While the butter melts, chop 3 large chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds) into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle them with a teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste. This would work great with thighs, too, if that’s what you have. Slice a small onion, French style, yielding about 3/4 cup of onion total. Look at the image below for an example of what the onion slices should look like. Put both the chicken and the onion in the stock pot with the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and onions brown.
The browned chicken and onions.
Add 2 tablespoons of paprika, a teaspoon of garlic powder, and a cup of chicken stock to the pot and begin to boil. Eventually, the broth will reduce and get thick and slightly syrupy. You’ll want it to reduce by about 1/2, so there will be about a half-cup of red broth in the pan with the chicken. At this point, add a half-cup of sour cream, stir, and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Continue to cook until the sauce is as thick as you’d like it, then taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if you’d like.
The chicken with reduced broth, ready for the sour cream to be added.
For a side, I served it over cabbage noodles. These are super easy. Core a head of cabbage and slice it into ribbons that are about a half-inch thick and 3-4 inches long. You’re going for wide egg noodle size. Heat up 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large pan big enough to fit the entire head of cabbage. Add it in batches by covering the bottom of the pan first, then sprinkling with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper, then adding more cabbage, salt, and pepper until it’s all in there, stirring in between each addition. Mine took 3 layers to get it all in there, but yours may take more depending on the surface area of your pan. Don’t use more than a teaspoon and a half of salt to start. You can always add more, but you can never take it out. Cook the cabbage, stirring frequently to make sure that all the cabbage is on the bottom of the pan at some point in time, until the thickest pieces have softened and some of the cabbage begins to brown, about 15-20 minutes. Serve with the stew on top of the cabbage, and be comforted.
Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Cut the chicken and coat it with salt and pepper. Slice the onion. Add the chicken and onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until both begin to turn golden brown.
Add the paprika, garlic powder, and stock to the pan with the chicken, and bring to a low boil. Continue to boil until the sauce has reduced by half and begins to thicken. Add the sour cream, turn the heat to low, and simmer until the sauce thickens to your liking. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
For the Buttered Cabbage Noodles
Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a layer of cabbage to coat the bottom of the pot, then sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage, salt, and pepper, stirring after every addition. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage wilts and begins to brown. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Macros for the entire meal (both chicken and cabbage): 323 calories, 9 grams net carbs, 35 grams protein, 14 grams fat.
Keyword cabbage, chicken, keto, low carb, low-calorie, main dish, make ahead, side dish, stew
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