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Fat Burning Pesto

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Pesto

Testimony of the Day

Hi Maria! I lost 50+ lbs last year! I used the Secrets of a Healthy Metabolism like my Bible. Every day your book guided me to better health. I lowered my high cholesterol, got rid of allergies, balanced my hormones and got rid of daily headaches by changing my diet and exercising the right way. Thanks for writing this book!

What are you up to today? It takes (on average) 16 days in a row to change a habit. Why not make it Day 1 of your new eating habits?

Sign up HERE to get get well-formulated keto-adapted (fat burning) diet plans! You deserve it!

Pesto

MASTER CLEANSE 

Have you ever heard of the Master Cleanse or Maple Syrup cleanse? It is just water, lemon juice, cayenne, and maple syrup. I like the lemon and the cayenne part of the cleanse, but the maple syrup? NO NO NO, switch that out with coconut oil and you have a fat burning meal that won’t cause you to be “hangry” (hungry and angry).

As I thought about people actually doing the crazy maple syrup diet, I thought… hmmm, I can make a recipe that will really stimulate fat-burning. I made this pesto, which includes lime juice for cleansing, coconut oil for ketones, basil for phytonutrients (herbs have WAY more vitamins and minerals than any fruit or vegetable has) and cayenne pepper for calorie burning. Spicy peppers cause the body temperature to rise. When the body temperature rises it needs to be cooled, and you burn extra calories when the body is forced to go through a cooling process. The downside of this trick is when you become accustomed to spicy foods, it takes more spice to raise your body temperature. You basically build a “tolerance.”

Pesto

 

 

So if you like pesto sauce, you must try this great Pure Protein and Fat dinner I had last night with Kelp noodles. If you cook the Kelp noodles in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours with the pesto, the noodles get REALLY soft and suck up that pesto goodness! But do not buy pre-made Pesto, make your own! Store bought often has soybean oil! Even if it is made with olive oil, you can increase your fat burning if you make it with coconut oil or MCT oil! Olive oil is a long chained triglyceride, I always use liquid MCT oil in my recipes and salad dressings. Medium-Chained-Triglycerides (MCT) are different than Long-chained-triglycerides. MCT are absorbed more like carbohydrates and are used and burned quickly by the body and not stored in the fat cells and any extra are converted into ketones. Click HERE to find. 

(I had protein garlic bread with it to keep it Pure Protein and Fat). http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/garlic-bread/

Click HERE to find the kelp noodles.

 

Fun fact: to get the cancer-fighting benefits of garlic you must let it rest for about 10 minutes before heating. So crush or slice and let it rest.

 

MCT Pesto

Maria Emmerich
Servings 4
Calories

Ingredients
  

  • 2 pkg Kelp noodles
  • 2 cups basil {compacted/pushed down}
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/3 tsp Redmond Real salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil {can sub macadamia nut oil}
  • 4 TBS liquid MCT oil
  • 3 TBS fresh red chili more or less depending on desired heat
  • 2 TBS lime juice {optional}
  • If not dairy sensitive add in ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Rinse and drain the kelp noodles very well and place into a <g class="gr_ gr_110 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="110" data-gr-id="110">4 quart</g> slow cooker on low.
  • Place basil, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, oils <g class="gr_ gr_100 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="100" data-gr-id="100">and</g> chili (and optional lime juice) into a food processor and blend until smooth.
  • Place the pesto over the kelp noodles.
  • Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the kelp noodles are very soft.
  • Serve with Protein bread made into “garlic bread” (brush with macadamia nut oil and rub roasted garlic on the bread, toast in the oven at 400 degrees F for 3-6 minutes or until toasted).

Notes

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Pesto Noodles = 628 calories, 35.4g fat, 14g protein, 65.3g carbs, 1.3g fiber
"Healthified" Pesto Noodles = 300 calories, 32g fat, 2g protein, 3g carbs, 1.3g fiber (95% fat, 2% protein, 3% carbs)

 

Pesto

 

I remember as a child putting Buggles on my fingers like this. I’m so proud to have my boys play with olives instead!

For tons of “kid-friendly” snacks and meals, check out my book The Art of Healthy Eating Kids. Even if you have picky eaters that don’t like olives (I don’t either), there are tons of snacks like grain free Twinkies, Donuts and Cereal recipes that will entice your kids. Click HERE to get a copy.  Thank you so much for your love and support!

Pesto

 

Maria Emmerich

Maria is a wellness expert who has helped clients follow a Ketogenic lifestyle to heal and lose weight for over 20 years. She has helped thousands of clients get healthy, get off medications and heal their bodies; losing weight is just a bonus. She is the international best selling author of several books including "Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on the Ketogenic Diet.".

52 Comments

  • Beverly says:

    Excellent ideas, all of them! I’d never thought to put the kelp noodles in a slow cooker to soften them up but will certain try that (and a coco-lime-mint-basil pesto!) very soon!

  • karen says:

    Which picture above has the garlic bread? The first picture looks like the sub rolls or amazing bread not the whey protein egg white bread.

  • Beth says:

    That looks awesome! I’ll definitely have to try that. I love pesto.. And fat burning. It’s like a perfect food! 🙂 Just one question, having never used kelp noodles before, are they firmer than the miracle noodles? Could miracle noodles be subbed? (Okay, sorry, that was two questions)!

  • Monica says:

    Is MCT oil safe for high heat cooking? Monica

  • France says:

    your little bread cut in slices looks gorgeous!!! Is that the protein bread or the amazing bread in the photo?

  • Emily Stanek says:

    Does the oil go in the blender too?

  • Paige says:

    Could you use zucchini noodles instead of kelp?

  • Cindy says:

    Maria – I love the testimonials they keep me inspired. I’m making a pot of your chili right now. Boy we sure do love it!

    Cindy from Canada

  • Denise says:

    Maria,

    Thanks for all the great info. I have two of your books and have tried some of your recipes. I finally made the fudge cookies correctly and they turned out great. I have two questions for you.

    1. When fasting should I take any supplements or skip until the following day?

    2. What is the dose for taking Resveratrol?

    Thank you for your help.
    🙂

  • Beth says:

    Hi Maria!
    Couple of questions. Is the Dutch ‘baby’ pancake an update on the recipe in Nutritious & Delicious? Second question, is the ‘Homemade Syrup’ cooked like the Carmel sauce? They seem like almost the same recipe. Thanks for everything! On to week two! Okay, one more 🙂 Can I use the recipe in N&D for week two? (I like having directions!)

  • Beth says:

    Thank you!

  • Beth says:

    Heya Maria!
    Just had to let you know what a great kid I have. Chrissy took the leftover cheesecake ‘scraps’ (vanilla bean cheesecake) to work. I told her to put a sign on it that it was sugar free, gluten free, but NOT nut free. I swear if they could have licked the pan I think they would have! They LOVED it! A lot of them said they couldn’t believe it was sugar free. And, the best part, a couple of the ladies wanted the recipe so Chrissy gave them the link to you and told them about what we are doing and how good everything is. She is especially in love with the angel food cake and popovers.
    She asked if we could make a triple batch of each this weekend. I told her ‘ahh Little Grasshopper, I need to teach you to fish!” : ) She can cook, but she may have to try these at home too… But we will be making more this weekend… Anyway, just wanted to let you know I am talking to everybody we know about you and your site. That’s how impressed I am! 😀
    I suggested we make a batch of something for her to take to work with a sign on it, ‘for more great recipes like this, go to this website. I think it would be a hit!
    Oh, not to make this a book or anything, but Chrissy’s down three pounds and I’m down five! And it seems so effortless. Well, except the cooking, but you know what? I find I really don’t mind! That’s different let me tell you… Also, just got the first part of my amazon order. I can’t wait to get the rest.. Umm, would it be wierd to say we love you?! : )

  • Monica says:

    Hi, I was wondering if avocado and nut butters (peanut and almond) are also MCT’s?

    Thanks

  • Karen says:

    Is this recipe OK for KETO because it uses Walnuts?

  • Karen says:

    Could you substitute Walnut Oil?

  • juliendbq says:

    Hi Maria – I know there are no dumb questions, but this might be borderline. I would love to make this MCT pesto, but fresh basil is soooo expensive this time of year. Is there anything that can be used to replace the basil? Thanks for all the great recipes, Maria!

    • cemmerich says:

      Sorry, there wouldn’t be. 🙁

      • Liz says:

        “Hi Maria – I know there are no dumb questions, but this might be borderline. I would love to make this MCT pesto, but fresh basil is soooo expensive this time of year. Is there anything that can be used to replace the basil? Thanks for all the great recipes, Maria!”
        How about half parsley and half basil? Some of the best pesto I’ve had was mostly parsley. It mellows out the strong basil flavor. Also cilantro pesto is popular. Just a thought. This is a good recipe to make in the summer and freeze for the winter.

  • Olya says:

    Maria, I love it when the recipes have a printer version. I hope it’s not too difficult to do for you:)

  • k says:

    Do the miracle noodles get soft in the slow cooker like the kelp noodles?

    • cemmerich says:

      I would add the warm sauce to the miracle noodles. They can shrink and stiffen a fit if cooked long. 🙂

  • Stephanie says:

    Maria, is there an issue using the MCT oil and/or the Macadamia nut oil in this recipe since it gets heated in the slow cooker? I was going to use this recipe to make a pesto sauce with to go over chicken and broccoli but was concerned about re-heating the pesto sauce for future meals with these oils in it. Thanks!

  • Cristina says:

    Hi Maria, instead of kelp noodles, could I use zoodles (zucchini noodles) for the pesto? Will the carbs in the zucchini slow down weight loss?

    • cemmerich says:

      The carbs will add to your totals, but it depends on where you are the rest of the day and how much zucchini you use. 🙂

  • HeatherB says:

    I remember Maria posting in the comments about an alternative way to soften kelp noodles. Soaking in vinegar and something else perhaps? It was a tip from one of us she was passing along – anyone? Bueller? Bueller? (that was for you, Maria!)

  • Heather says:

    Can I use cabbage noodles with this instead of kelp noodles?
    Would that still be OK for the advanced keto meal plan?

    Thanks!

  • Melinda says:

    Maria, how would you recommend a cleanse?

    • cemmerich says:

      This lifestyle removes toxins from the diet. When you do that, that body is great at detoxing itself. 😉

  • Dr. Emily says:

    Just thought you’d like to know that the links here for kelp noodles and MCT oil don’t go to those products!
    I love your site, and read all your posts.

    • Maria Emmerich says:

      Hi, I fixed the kelp link and the MCT link is the right site. They have a Skinny Fat MCT oil that is great. 🙂

  • Kathya says:

    Maria,
    Any advice with being able to get the fishy taste out of the kelp noodles? I don’t really like the texture being so slimy, either. Have you ever considered making a pasta with your almond four concoctions? I’d love to try that!!! In the meantime, I’m happy with my zucchini noodles.

  • Kristin says:

    I read somewhere online to rinse the noodles really well, and then fry them in a pan without oil until all the water is removed. No more fishy smell! I do it every time now, and it really helps.

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