Some (many?) weeks when you’re putting together the grocery list you struggle for inspiration. My family could probably tell you the precise number of weeks in the past few years we’ve defaulted to the ground beef tacos-pasta-burgers line-up. That’s not a bad thing – I make great ground beef tacos and pasta and burgers, each of which I can quickly adapt for myself to keep it keto, so to speak. But when the groans from my family became audible on announcing the week’s menu, I knew it was time to think outside of my very tiny box for ideas.

According to the Disney website, WDW has 385 restaurants. Some of those are bars with limited or no food, some are “experiences” rather than restaurants, and some are (mostly) useless (see, e.g., Beaches & Cream Soda Shop – short of some miracle of science, the Kitchen Sink will never be keto-friendly).

That leaves us with hundreds of restaurants with thousands of menu items. But where to start…

How about a trip around the world? No, not for drinking around the world, although I have done that – for eating around the world! We’re going to try to go 11 for 11. And like any sane person, when we leave the UK, we head to Canada.

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Ingredients:

4 Ribeyes

Steak marinade

1 package frozen creamed spinach

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 lb brussels sprouts

4 strips thick cut bacon

½ cup salted pecans

1 tsp ground mustard

3 oz Canadian whiskey

¼ cup sugar free pancake syrup

Kosher salt and pepper

Canola oil spray

Instructions:

I’m going to go lean on the instructions since the point here is to find sources of inspiration for your meals, not layout precise instructions for cooking.

This isn’t really about the steak. I like to marinate mine for at least four hours in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator using Allegro Hot & Spicy Marinade. Sometimes I sprinkle with Montreal steak seasoning just before grilling…sometimes I don’t. Whatever way you like to cook steak is the way you should cook it. Now to the sides!

Prepare the frozen creamed spinach according to the instructions (I microwaved it in the bag). Transfer the creamed spinach to a microwave safe serving bowl, sprinkle the cheddar on top, and microwave for a minute (or long enough to melt the cheese on top).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the brussels sprouts in half lengthwise and salt and pepper to taste. Spray a baking sheet with canola oil spray and spread the brussels sprouts on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until they start to brown and get tender.

Cook the bacon in your favorite way. Using a skillet is ideal since we’ll need the skillet later and the bacon fat will add flavor, but I used leftover bacon I had previously cooked in the oven. When the brussels sprouts are done, add them to a skillet (preferably the one you used to cook the bacon) with the pecans. Sprinkle the mustard over the top and cook on high for about 8 minutes. The brussels sprouts will already be warm, so you’re really just mixing ingredients over heat. Add the whiskey and scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it. Stir in the syrup and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Plate the steak, creamed spinach, and brussels sprouts, and serve it up to your hungry lumberjacks.

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KTK Pro Tip: Oven roasted vegetables are the way to go. Sheet pan, canola oil spray, veggies, salt and pepper (or other dry seasoning if you’re feeling adventurous)…done. So much flavor that your kids won’t turn up their noses like you probably did with Grandma’s flavorless boiled brussels sprouts. And yeah, you could make creamed spinach from scratch, but Birds Eye and the Green Giant do it a heck of a lot better than I can, and in a tenth of the time.

Fire up an episode of that Johnny and Moira show – you know the one – and pretend it’s Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360. Keep Ketoing The Kingdom, Kids!