Zero Carb Keto
Rillettes and Plastic-Free Meat Options
Since starting a plastic-free mission in February, I have been exploring the plastic-free meat options out there since I still want to maintain my carnivore lifestyle!
I found some delicious 100% grassfed beef packed in easily recyclable steel cans from a farm in a neighboring state. It just contains beef, fat, and salt and actually contains vitamin C naturally (which I confirmed by testing with vitamin C testing strips).
I have been just simply heating it in its own fat and creating beef rillettes. A rillette is kind of like a pate', but with shredded meat instead of smooth, and cooked in its own fat. Originally this was covered with more fat and would then be shelf-stable in the era before refrigeration. You can even make them out of fish, too.
Carb-eaters often spread rillette on bread (often baguette), but we carnivores can enjoy it in various ways.
Different Ways to Enjoy Rillette
1) cold or room temperature slices like meatloaf (of course without the bread!):
2) right out of the container with a spoon:
3) reheated in a bowl like a stew (but no carby crackers of course!):
Other Plastic-Free Meat Options
I have also found some other canned meat options, but just note that they do have other additives. I found canned corned beef and mutton, which contain just meat, salt, and sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is the salt used to "corn" meats, which gives them a pink color. It is a naturally occurring salt that is prevalent in Chile, and is also known as Chile saltpeter. It may have carcinogenic properties, but I am not sure if that is true in the context of a zero carb lifestyle. I am not concerned as long as it is not eaten too regularly. Be aware that some brands of corned beef contain sugar though.
Another option that I found is tushonka beef and mutton. Tushonka is a Russian recipe that preserves meats with salt and just one or two black peppercorns and a bay leaf. It is available canned and is really delicious! But if you have any issues with spices, you might want to be careful. The nice thing is that you can see the black peppercorns and bay leaf and remove them to be safe. The tushonka lamb makes a fantastic rillette!
Mutton and lamb have a perfect ketogenic ratio just naturally, too, of 65% fat to 35% protein and full nutrition, including vitamin C (again, I tested the Tushonka lamb with vitamin C strips, and sure enough, it does have vitamin C!), and have an excellent omega 6:3 profile.
There are also many varieties of canned fish. I avoid the ones packed in oil, because they always bother my gut. But canned fish can be OK if packed in water only. You have to be very careful, though, because sometimes when it says packed in water, they still add seasonings or spices. Crab meat especially often has sugar added! So definitely read the labels carefully.
One other option, which does not always work for me, is to bring your own container to the fresh fish or meat counter at the store, and ask them to put it in there. I have only had partial success with this.
But it is quite possible to have a wholly nutritious and delicious variety with just canned meats, as long as they include good fats, such as with grassfed beef or lamb/mutton!
The nice thing about canned meats is that they are shelf-stable as long as they are unopened, which makes them great for traveling or camping! And they can last for years and years. Really good to have on hand for emergencies such as when the power goes out! Canned meats are fully cooked too, so that is great for speed. And there's no waste! And of course, no plastic garbage produced, just a steel can and paper label, both of which can be easily and truly recycled, unlike plastic!
Comments
Post a Comment