Gluten-Free Grain-Free Pizza Crust

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Finally a pizza crust I’m really proud of!  It’s tasty, sturdy enough to be eaten with your hands, and best of all, it has NO WHEAT FLOUR or GRAINS in it!  I no longer eat wheat, after reading Dr. William Davis’ Wheat Belly.  I used to include small amounts of Carbquick in some recipes, which has wheat ingredients that are specially-processed to lower their carb count.  But that product is OFF my shopping list now and no longer appears in any of my baked goods (my older recipes containing Carbquick will remain on site).  I’ve really missed some of those recipes and have struggled to find comparable baking results for pizza and breads since going wheat-free.  This recipe just crossed that barrier.  It is VERY close to my older Carbquick pizza crust recipe, but this one has an even better texture!    I’m most pleased with this crust and think you’ll like it!  This recipe is OK once you reach Phase 2 OWL of Atkins.   It would be OK for Primal folks that eat occasional dairy, but it is not suitable for Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

¼ c. unflavored, unsweetened whey protein powder

1 tsp. baking powder

3 T. cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs, beaten

1 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese

½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. cider vinegar

1 T. heavy cream

1 T. water

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese in medium mixing bowl in microwave.  Beat in the eggs, cream, water, vinegar and both cheeses.  Measure and add in all the dry ingredients and stir well with a rubber spatula. Line a sheet pan either with parchment paper or silicone sheet.  Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan, spreading it as evenly as possible with the spatula into a circle that is roughly 13½” in diameter. Batter will be about ¼” thick.  Pop crust into a 350º oven and bake for about 20 minutes and remove.  If your pizza pan has tiny holes in it, slide the parchment paper out from under the crust now so air will flow to the bottom of the crust for nicer browning.  Add sauce, cheeses and toppings.  Bake an additional 20 minutes or so.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Cutting into 8 slices, each contains: (does not include toppings)

168 calories

12.95 g  fat

3.29 g  carbs, 1.73 g  fiber, 1.73 g  NET CARBS

11.3 g  protein

214 mg sodium

70 mg potassium

13% RDA Vitamin B12, 11% calcium, 120% phosphorous, 11% selenium.

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Gluten-Free Grain-Free Focaccia Bread

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I no longer eat wheat flour, after reading Dr. William Davis’ Wheat Belly.  Carbquick, with its specially processed wheat ingredients, is off my shopping list and off my recipe ingredient lists.  I have a number of existing Carbquick recipes here on the site using Carbquick, and will leave them on site for those who still eat Carbquick.  This gluten-free, grain-free recipe I made today is VERY close to my older Carbquick Focaccia bread recipe, but this one has more chewy elasticity.  I’m most pleased with this bread!  It’s actually a reworked pizza crust recipe to which I added several ingredients and altered a couple others.  This one has a nice elasticity, top and bottom crust, is not crumbly and has a wonderful flavor.  I enjoyed a piece hot from the oven with butter and it was amazing!  Scarfed down a second piece!  It makes GREAT sandwiches, too! No strong flax taste to drown out the sandwich filling!  Very neutral in flavor.  I will definitely explore other uses, both savory and sweet and try adding some dissolved yeast in my next batch.  Found out it makes a wonderful pizza crust, too! http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/gluten-free-grain-free-pizza-crust/ . It can also be made up as sandwich buns:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/gluten-free-grain-free-sandwich-buns/   This recipe is OK once you reach Phase 2 OWL of Atkins.   It would be OK for Primal folks occasionally, but not suitable for Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

¼ c. unflavored, unsweetened whey protein powder

1 tsp. baking powder

3 T. cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs, beaten

1 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese

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½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. cider vinegar

1 T. heavy cream

1 T. water

Spices of your choosing sprinkled on top before baking.  I used this one:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/peggys-8-seed-spice-blend/

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese in medium mixing bowl in microwave.  Beat in the eggs, cream, water, vinegar and both cheeses.  Measure and add in all the dry ingredients and stir well with a rubber spatula. Line a sheet pan either with parchment paper or silicone sheet.  Scrap the batter onto the prepared pan, spreading it as evenly as possible with the spatula into a rectangle that is roughly 10″x13″.  Batter will be about ¼” thick.  Sprinkle on spices if using any.  Pop bread into 350º oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until done to the touch in the center and lightly browned around the edges.  Cool a few minutes and cut evenly into 9 “slices.  When totally cool, store in plastic bag in refrigerator.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 9 large slices, each contains:

149 calories

11.5 g  fat

3.5 g  carbs, 2.1 g  fiber, 1.4 g  NET CARBS

10.1 g  protein

204 mg sodium

65 mg potassium

12% RDA Vitamin B12, 10% calcium, 18% phosphorous, 10% selenium.

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Lupin Lemon Cookies

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This is my VERY FIRST experiment with lupin flour.  I only JUST learned that they MAKE flour from lupins.  I also discovered it is very low in carbs (12 g carbs and 11 g fiber or 1 net carb per ¼ cup!!).  Well, I’m here to tell ya this sure won’t be my LAST experiment with it! My husband is VERY picky about desserts and hasn’t liked all the cookies I’ve made in the last 4 years of low-carbing, but tonight, he sampled and said “Yeah, those are pretty good” and scarfed down several more (as did I)!

These cookies are DELICIOUS!  They’re soft in the center (but not crumbly) and slightly chewy on the edges and bottoms where they brown (even chewier on day 2!).  The chewiness is likely coming from the imitation honey.  These had no funny taste and had a very nice mouth feel.  Lupin flour makes a final product that is fairly yellow in color, but that’s not a problem for lemon cookies, lemon cakes, yellow cakes or cornbread.  I’m looking forward to further experimentation with this new-to-me flour to see if it has potential for making Cajun roux, low-carb cornbread or whether it is any good for dredging meats for frying.   This recipe would not be suitable until the legume level of the Atkins carb ladder.  It would not be suitable for Paleo-Primal.  For anyone interested, I obtained my lupin flour from Fooducopia, linked on the main Lopino website:  http://www.lopino.com/product/21 but it is also available at Netrition.com now.

NOTE:  People who are allergic to peanuts should proceed with caution with regards to lupin flour.  Read here for further information:  http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Lupin-flour-and-allergic-reactions-case-building-continues

INGREDIENTS:   

1 c. almond flour

1½ c. lupin flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 c. Splenda (equivalent liquid sucralose will lower carbs even more!)

¼ c. erythritol

¼ c. sugar-free honey (I use Honey Tree brand from Walmart)

2 eggs, beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1/8 tsp. Boyajian Lemon Oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Prepare 2 cookie sheets with either parchment paper (or silicone sheets).  Preheat oven to 350º.  I couldn’t quite get all mine on two pans and had to bake the last 5-6 on a second go round.  Mix the almond meal, lupin flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  In a large mixing bowl, whip the softened butter with a rubber spatula until smooth (or use an electric mixer if you prefer).   Add the sweeteners of your choice and whip until well-blended.  Next add the beaten eggs and beat until smooth.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg-butter mixture, beating until smooth between each addition.  The batter will be too thick to roll into balls, so just spoon up in 1″ balls or with a small dough scoop.  They spread a little during cooking, but I only placed mine about 1½” apart.  Press the blobs of dough with your fingers to about ½” thick.  If desired, press a pecan in some of them; or sprinkle a few with unsweetened coconut pressed down.  Those flavor “extras” are NOT calculated below in stats, however.  Pop into preheated 350º oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned along edges and on tops.  Remove from oven and place on towel to cool.  Store totally cooled cookies in airtight containers or plastic zip bags.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 36   2″ cookies, each cookie contains: (not including pecans or coconut toppings)

60.7 calories

4.7 g  fat

3.63 g carbs, 2.24 g fiber, 1.47 g NET CARBS (.87 NC using liquid sucralose)

3.04 g  protein

43 mg sodium

45 mg potassium

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Strawberry Chocolate Torte

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I’m not a big sweets eater, as many of my readers and forum acquaintances know.  But my husband IS!  And since he’s Type 2 diabetic, I do try to fix him low-carb treats so he won’t go and buy the awful junk at the grocery store and bakery that is laden with flour and sugar.   This dessert I created for his Valentine’s Day treat.

The basic chocolate cake batter in this recipe is actually not my recipe.  My inspiration was a recipe posted by a wonderful cook on LowCarbFriends forums named The Chicken Lady.  This cake is a testimonial to her incredible cooking skills. I’m very pleased with this chocolate cake!  And I can’t say that about a lot of the low-carb chocolate cakes I’ve tried. This one’s not too sweet (which I really prefer) but sweet enough. Despite outward appearances, it came out VERY light and not too rich or heavy at all.   I want to give the author full credit, so the original recipe can be seen here: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lowcarb-recipe-help-suggestions/647939-almond-flour-fudge-cake-pic.html.

I did bake my cake in ONE 9″ round cake (wax-paper lined) cake pan that is unusually deep (2½”) and the cake rose nearly to the top!  It would bake OK in two standard shallow 9″ cake pans also, but reduce the cooking time if you make that pan change.  You’ll have more trouble slicing it into 4 layers, and might prefer to just do a two-layer final cake instead of three.  Or you could bake the cake in a wax-paper lined stew pot/dutch oven.  That has worked for me many a time.  This cake is not suitable until the berries rung of the Atkins OWL carb ladder.  Due to the artificial sweeteners and dairy, this dessert is not be suitable for Paleo-Primal followers without considerable modification.  This cake would be very good made with raspberries instead of strawberries, I suspect.

This cake is a fairly carb pricey, but if you can’t afford the carbs, you could cut it into 12 pieces, which drops the calories to 527, carbs to 16.88, fiber to 5.88 and net carbs to 11.1.  That’s a wee bit better.  This should be considered a very special occasion treat because it IS so carb pricey.  Be sure if substituting other than liquid sweeteners, to add in those carbs!

CAKE INGREDIENTS: 

4 c. almond flour, room temperature
liquid sweetener to equal 2 c. sugar (I used ½ tsp. EZSweets small bottle)
½ c. erythritol – granular
4 pkts. stevia (I use Sweet Leaf)
½ c. cup cocoa (I use Hershey’s)
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/3 c. oil of your choice or melted butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

2½ c. heavy cream, whipped

½ tsp. glucomannan powder (optional, but helps firm up whipped cream)

14 oz. frozen whole strawberries, thawed and drained of juice, chopped

1 c. fresh strawberries, chopped (or 1 c. more frozen berries, or use all fresh berries)

Sweetener of choice to taste

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º.   Mix and beat the wet cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.   If your almond flour isn’t room temperature, make it so and press out any lumps.  Measure and add in all dry ingredients to the bowl and stir well. Line your cake pan(s) with waxed paper or parchment.  Grease the sides of the pan(s) well.  Pour batter into pan spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Tap pan on counter to eliminate air pockets and pop into 350º oven for about 60 minutes.  If using two 1″x9″ round cake pans, they will cook much faster, say about 30 minutes or so.   Toothpick test the center.  It should come out clean and dry when the the cake is done.  Completely cool before attempting to tip cake out onto a board to cut it into layers.  This cake can also be made in a 9×13 pan, cut in half and each half then sliced into two layers.  All sorts of possibilities with that cake size.

While cake is in the oven, make the frosting:  Whip the cream until thick.  Run the berries through a food processor (or chop coarsely) for a few seconds, but leave them coarse.  Fold the berries into the whipped cream. Sprinkle the glucomannan powder over the mixture slowly, folding after each addition, until all of it has been incorporated.  Taste for sweetness and add your favorite sweetener until it is to your taste.  I can’t begin to tell you how much, because that depends on your berries’ sweet/tartness level.  Chill frosting until cake is totally cool and you have cut it into layers.

Next to cut the cake:  I sliced the completely cooled cake very carefully with a long-bladed knife, using a piece of cardboard covered with foil to gently slide each layer onto to set aside while I filled/frosted the final creation.  This cake has a firm texture and is not as crumbly as some almond flour cakes. This pleased me very much.  But you still need to be careful, as even firm cakes can break.

Place about 1¼ c. of the frosting on the bottom layer of the cake.  Spread evenly with a rubber spatula, going almost to the edges.  Place the second layer of cake gently on the top and press slightly.  Put another 1¼ c. frosting on this layer and spread it out evenly.  Place the top cake layer on the stack, press slightly and spread all remaining frosting on the top and sides. OPTIONAL GARNISH:  Decorate the top of your cake with fresh strawberry slices, a few strawberry leaves  or perhaps a sliced and “fanned out” single strawberry at the center.  Chill in the refrigerator with plastic wrap on top until ready to cut and serve.

This cake was simply DELICIOUS and I will definitely be making it again!   My thanks to The Chicken Lady for her wonderful chocolate cake recipe.  It truly made my Valentines treat a success!

CONFESSION TIME:  The reason I used both frozen and fresh berries in the topping is I only had one 14 oz. bag of the frozen diced unsweetened berries in my freezer.  I thought that would make enough frosting.  But 1½ c. cream and those berries didn’t make enough frosting to frost the sides of the cake!  So I had to whip up a little more frosting real quick with another cup of cream and berries.  And I had also bought a pint of fresh berries for other uses (thank goodness!) so I was able to whip up the extra topping without having to run to the grocery store).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 10 servings, each contains:  (you can cut carbs a bit cutting this into 12 servings)  Numbers below were calculated using EzSweets concentrated, small bottle sweetener for the 2 c. sugar equivalent (0 carbs).  If you use a sweetener with carbs, you’ll have to add that in below.

632 calories

57.8 g  fat

20.4 g  carbs, 7.05 g  fiber, 13.35 g  NET CARBS

15.2 g  protein

521 mg sodium

192 mg potassium

52% RDA Vitamin A, 18% B12, 35% C, 10% D, 21% calcium, 40% iron, 11% manganese, 28% phosphorous, 20% riboflavin and 14% selenium

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Pork Patties with Bacon

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I’m always trying to come up with new recipes for quick meat patties for lunch.  Today’s mélange came out particularly tasty so I thought I’d share it with my readers.  It was on the table in 15 minutes once the meat hit the skillet.  The sauce you see in the pic is optional, but Southern girl that I am, I like gravy on just about everything.    You can experiment with other spice blends in these patties if you have one you are fond of. This dish would be  suitable for all phases of Atkins and Primal-Paleo as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground pork

1 large egg. beaten

1½ oz. finely minced onion

1/3 c. finely chopped celery

4 oz. bacon, chopped fine

3/4 tsp. your favorite lemon-pepper (I use Victoria Gourmet No-Salt Lemon Pepper)

Dash poultry seasoning

3 T. finely chopped parsley

Dash black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Lightly brown chopped bacon in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and celery and saute until tender.  Remove and spoon the sauteed veggies into medium mixing bowl.  Add meat to the bowl along with all remaining listed ingredients.  With fork or hands, mix all together until well blended, much as you would a meatloaf.  Divide into 4 equal portions and form into four (roughly 4-oz.) patties.  Brown the patties in the same skillet you were using over medium-high heat until golden on each side and they are fully done (no longer oozing pink juices). These patties can either be served plain or you can make a little sauce of your choosing in the same skillet you browned the meat in.  The one pictured was simply ¼ c. heavy cream, 2 T. water and 2 T. white or rose wine added to that skillet and simmered on low, scraping up “brown bits” off the bottom of the skillet. This would also be good as a sandwich on your favorite low-carb sandwich bun.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 large patties, each contains (not including any sauce you might add):

452 calories

38 g  fat

1.5 g  carbs, .3 g fiber, 1.2 g  NET CARBS

28.2 g  protein

325 mg sodium

440 mg potassium

35 %  RDA Vitamin B6, 48%  B12, 10% copper, 18% iron, 9% magnesium, 43% niacin, 40% phosphorous, 33% riboflavin, 68% selenium, 84% thiamin, 37% zinc

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Dumplings

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This one’s for Dano.  Dano, you still out there low-carbing?  You always wanted a noodle or dumpling dough.  Well here ya go!  Only took me 4 years to come up with this for you!

When you can’t have flour, it’s hard to make dumplings.  I’ve been working hard for 4 years now using almond flour, coconut flour, you name it.  Low-carb dumplings are no easy feat.  I wanted them to have a similar taste and similar mouth feel as the dumplings I made before I was low-carbing.  All attempts thus far have been mediocre, at best.  Somewhere on the net a year or so ago, not sure where really, I wrote down someone’s simple dumpling recipe made with glucomannan powder.  Not being familiar with this product at all then, I bought some and began to experiment.  Its gel-like and fibrous qualities lend themselves to gravy/sauce thickening and making puddings.  I’ve even found a tad of this stuff enhances low-carb cake, cookie and bread recipes.  I’d love to give credit to my inspiration on this recipe, but I must admit on this particular occasion (which is rare for me), I did apparently fail to write down the name of the person who’s ingenious idea this was.

If you’re not familiar with glucomannan powder, it comes from the Konjac tuber, and is used to make shirataki noodles seen in Asian menus.   It can be used as a binding agent in some recipes.  It is virtually a zero carb food, in that the fiber content is so high, it totally negates the carbs it contains.  Fiber carbs are indigestible.   Glucomannan adds the elasticity stick-together quality needed for dumplings and noodles.  So I’ve really been experimenting a great deal with it over this past year.  Now that I’m more comfortable using this tricky ingredient, I decided I’d finally try the dumpling recipe I jotted down so long ago.  The inspirational recipe had no leavening and I found them way too dense on my first batch.  So I added some baking powder and VOILA, a fairly light dumpling that felt and tasted like my dumplings of old.  This will now be my go-to low-carb dumpling recipe.  As you can see in the pic above, they held together nicely during simmering (unlike most of my previous almond flour/coconut flour dumpling attempts that disintegrated in the broth), and the gluc powder still gave off enough thickening from the surfaces of them to slightly thicken the chicken broth!  NICE!

These were the best low-carb chicken and dumplings I’ve had in nearly 4 years!  My husband gave these dumplings two thumbs up today, and he’s pretty picky about my low-carb creations.  The low calorie/carb count for these is simply amazing, as well!  Guilt free dumplings at last!!  YAAAAAAY!

The recipe posted elsewhere on my site for chicken and dumplings is good, don’t get me wrong.  But you have to bake the rolls separately in advance of making the chicken and dumplings for that recipe.   With this dumpling recipe, I can stir the ingredients together when my broth is ready, in about 1-2 minutes, and the dumplings are simmering immediately!  Much easier!  And you regular readers know I’m really in to EASY, FAST cooking.

These would also be good (made much smaller) for vegetable soups and I plan to try my hand at gnocchi with this dough as well.  One might be able to make with this dough a VERY large German-style dumpling to have with Wiener Schnitzel, but I would have NO idea how long that would take to get done simmering in the broth.  Should I ever try the mega-dumpling, I’ll post my results here.  These are not suitable until the grains rung of the Atkins OWL ladder due to the oat fiber.

Some who have made my recipe are rolling the dough out between sheets of plastic wrap and cutting into wide Italian-style dumplings with success, and lasagna-style noodles, too.  I’ve seen the photos of these talented cooks’ results (I haven’t tried rolling the dough out myself yet) and they look VERY  impressive made that way.  So I’ll be trying that method soon, I think.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1½ T. glucomannan powder (Konjac powder, available on-line)

1½ T. oat fiber (NOT oat flour or oat bran, which are much higher in carbs)

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ c. +2 T. water

1 extra large or jumbo egg, beaten

OPTIONAL:  If you prefer a firmer dumpling, either reduce the baking powder to 1/2 tsp or add 1/2 tsp. coconut flour to the dry ingredients.  I cooked one batch using coconut flour and it did have this effect.  But I prefer softer dumplings so I make mine as written above.

VARIATION:  Add 1-2 T. finely chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:   Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork.  Add the water and beat until well blended.  On a paper plate or in another bowl, mix the dry ingredients well.  Slowly sprinkle the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring with a fork.  Switching to a rubber spatula, fold the mixture over and over itself until the glucomannan has thickened the mixture into a smooth batter and eventually a thick, dryer dough.  Using a teaspoon, dip 3/4″-1″ dollops of the dough into your palm and roll them into a ball.  It has been my experience since making my first batch of these, that if you just drop them directly into the broth from the spoon without rolling, they tend to fall apart in the broth during cooking.

Drop the rolled balls gently into your boiling soup/chicken stock and cover.  Reduce heat to medium.  This is IMPORTANT, as you only want a medium simmer on your broth.  If they get “beat up” too much with hard boiling stock, they will break apart on you.  From the time you cover the pot, set timer for exactly 10 minutes (less if you chose to make very small dumplings).  I like to remove chicken, meat or large chunks of vegetables to a platter while the dumplings are cooking to prevent overcooking and to allow ample room for the dumplings to rise and swell up. DO NOT LIFT THE LID or disturb the pot during this 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, lift the lid and VOILA!!  They’re done!  You may have to thicken the stock further depending on your personal preference.  I usually do a bit and usually do so with xanthan gum dusted lightly over the stock, stirred until thick.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 medium-large 1¼” dumplings (after cooking), each contains:

7.17 calories

.49 g  fat

1.38 g  carbs, 1.29 g  fiber, .1 g  NET CARBS

.61 g  protein

55 mg sodium

6.5 mg potassium

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Jalapeno Cheese Bread

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I’ve been wanting to try my hand at a low-carb jalapeno cheese bread and finally got around to it.  Today’s first attempt turned into a delightfully tasty bread!  I find this bread is better on day 2 than right out of the oven.  Not sure why, but it just is!  This bread is not suitable until you reach the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL phase.   It is suitable for Primal diners, if you eat occasional cheese.   This will make up nicely as muffins, as the crust is very nice on this bread.  Leftovers make an outstanding cornbread stuffing, too!!  Muffins will only take about 15-20 minutes to cook.  I chose to use fresh jalapeno, but will try my next batch using pickled jalapenos to see which I like best.  Those that like their jalapeno bread “hotter” may want to use 2 jalapenos.  My husband and I don’t like it too hot.    The corn flavoring I buy is Superior Products brand, which I last bought direct from Superior Products.  I can vouch that this flavoring is outstanding!  But the only place I’m finding their products now is on this website.  Scroll down to “Fresh Corn” on this page :  http://www.selectflavors.com/individual-flavors/

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. almond flour

2 T. coconut flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

1 3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 c. grated cheese

1  jalapeno, seeded, finely chopped (fresh or pickled, your choice)

5 eggs, beaten

2 T. coconut oil, melted

2 T. olive oil

1 T. cider vinegar

1 T. corn flavoring (omit if Primal or Paleo)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside.  I use a non-standard size non-stick loaf pan that is 4½” wide, 2½” deep and 10″ long.

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Measure all dry ingredients and cheese into a medium measuring bowl, stir and set aside.  Seed and finely chop jalapeno and add. Add cheese and stir all dry ingredients together to blend.   Add all liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to blend.    Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into greased loaf pan and pop into preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Ovens vary, so check with toothpick test.   Remove and cool in pan a few minutes.  Run sharp knife around edges to loosen and gently tip out onto a cutting board. Slice into 10 servings and serve warm.

SPECIAL NOTE:  I took 1/2 of this loaf, crumbled it up, added my usual cornbread stuffing ingredients and some homemade chicken broth and made THE VERY BEST low-carb stuffing to date for my Christmas turkey dinner this year.  It was super good in my stuffing!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10 large slices, each contains: (calculated using 1 c. cheese only)

242 calories

21 g fat

6.2 g  carbs, 3.2 g  fiber, 3.0 g  NET CARBS

9.95 g  protein

386 mg sodium

85 mg potassium

18% RDA Vitamin B12, 11% calcium, 19% iron, 17% phosphorous, 16% riboflavin, 19% selenium

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Best Banana Bread

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To give credit where it is due, the basic sweet bread batter that inspired this creation was a  recipe at Sugar Free Low Carb Recipes seen here:  http://www.sugarfreelowcarbrecipes.com/?p=3044 .  I added vanilla, sweetener, baking powder and glucomannan powder (from the konjac tuber).  I believe the smooth texture is now the perfect foundation for my favorite sweet breads.  This morning, I added 2 mashed bananas for a lovely banana bread that (cut into 18 slices) only has 3.74 g. net carbs per slice!  The texture of this batter is amazingly smooth and moist.  No crumbling!  The basic batter only has 1.08 g. net carbs (cut into 18 slices), so conceivably you could add any variety of fruits, dried fruits, nuts and flavorings for an endless variety of breakfast/dessert sweet breads.  Be sure to add in the added carbs from any nuts to recalculate your new per-serving numbers, because the numbers below only reflect the basic batter and 2 mashed bananas.  This recipe is suitable for Atkins OWL or above and I believe for Paleo-Primal adherence as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 c. coconut flour

2/3 c. almond flour

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 T. glucomannan powder

Stevia equivalent for ½ c. sugar (I used ¼ c. Steviva, a blend of erithritol & stevia)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

3 T. coconut oil, liquified

½ tsp. vanilla

8 eggs, beaten

2 mashed bananas

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a loaf pan with a bit of coconut oil or butter.  I use an odd-size loaf pan 4″x 2½x 10″ that allows me to get 18 smaller slices from my loaf.  Using a standard loaf pan, you may only get 9 slices and have to cut them in half to get the carb values shown below for each of my 18 slices.  Mix dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. In a larger bowl, beat or whip all wet ingredients.  Add the dry items to the wet and whip with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Fold in your desired fruit, nuts or flavorings and stir well.    Spoon batter into greased pan, level with a spoon and bake at 350º for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into center comes out dry/clean.  Cool a bit, slice into 18 servings (or 9 cut in halves) and serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 18 servings, each contains: (2 bananas are calculated in below)

141 calories

12 g  fat

5.61 g  carbs, 1.87 g  fiber, 3.74 g  NET CARBS

4.24 g  protein

90 mg sodium

78 mg potassium

10% RDA Vitamin A, 12% B12, 11% iron, 10% phosphorous, 10% riboflavin and 13% selenium

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Peppered Bacon Cheese Bread

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I’ve been wanting to try out the Paleo Bread recipe on Elana’s Pantry blog and finally got around to it.  But of course, I tweaked it up front, as I always do bread recipes, adding 3 flavor ingredients that turned it into a delightfully tasty breakfast!  Hubby and I both liked this new morning treat.  I did eliminate the honey in the original recipe, as I didn’t want any sweetness to the bread at all.  I also increased the baking soda slightly and eliminated the salt, as cheese and bacon have enough in them I felt.  Otherwise, the basic batter was the same as her version.  Adding the peppered bacon and cheese makes this so delicious.  This bread is not suitable until you reach the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL phase.   It is suitable for Primal diners, if you eat occasional cheese.   This will make up nicely as biscuits or muffins, as the crust is very nice on this bread.  Muffins or biscuits will only take about 15-20 minutes to cook.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. almond flour

2 T. coconut flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

1 3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 c. grated cheese

4 oz. lean bacon, chopped

Coarse black pepper

5 eggs, beaten

2 T. coconut oil, melted

2 T. olive oil

1 T. cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.  I use a non-standard size non-stick loaf pan that is 4½” wide, 2½” deep and 10″ long.

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Measure all dry ingredients and cheese into a medium measuring bowl, stir and set aside.  Chop bacon and brown in skillet with black pepper shaken all over it (I didn’t measure the pepper, but I’d guess about ¼ tsp. total).  When bacon is done, set aside to cool a few minutes.  While it cools, add all liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to blend.  Add cooked bacon and stir one last time to blend bacon evenly throughout batter.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into greased loaf pan and pop into preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Ovens vary, so check with toothpick test.   Mine took an additional 5 minutes to get done in the center.  Remove and cool in pan a few minutes.  Run sharp knife around edges to loosen and tip out onto a cutting board. Slice into 10 servings and serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10 large slices, each contains:

293.6 calories

26.0 fat

6.16 g  carbs, 3.18 g  fiber, 2.88 g  NET CARBS

11.24 g  protein

481 mg sodium

106 mg potassium

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Almond-Flax Crackers

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I came across a cracker recipe on Food Lover’s Kitchen website recently that I wanted to try:  http://beta.primal-palate.com/recipe/herb-crackers/.    I baked them first as written and didn’t care for the oregano or the cumin in them.  They were also way, way too salty for us.  Flax itself carries a sodium load and I rarely have to add salt to anything made with flax.  Texture was overall very good for these crackers.  Brittle and crisp, especially the browner crackers that were around the outer edges of the pan. But even those in the center of the pan were pretty crisp.

I decided to bake a second batch, majorly reducing the salt and substituting finely chopped dried rosemary for the oregano and cumin.  VOILA! Those were magical for MY palate.  Not too salty either.  I’m very pleased these will stay crisp all week long just in a ziploc bag on the counter!

Today, I baked them a third time, again leaving out the herbs and spices, just using the onion powder and less garlic powder, allowing the black pepper flavor to really come through.  I REALLY think this will be a more versatile, more neutral low-carb cracker for me, that will not “conflict” with spices in soups and entrees I might be having them with.  I’ve baked so many different cracker recipes that mix almond flour and flax meal, but this ratio on those two key ingredients is JUST RIGHT!  I can see this recipe is going to be one I have again and again (I’ve already baked it 3 times in two weeks!!).   I’m so glad my non-low-carb, non-paleo husband likes these also!  So my sincere thanks to Primal Palate for sharing this basic recipe.  These crackers, excellent with cheese, butter, soup or whatever, are suitable for Paleo, Primal and are suitable for Atkins diners once you reach the OWL (on-going Weight Loss) phase.

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

1 c. flax meal (I use a 50:50 mixture of dark and golden)

2 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

2 tsp. coarse black pepper

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 eggs, beaten (or 3 egg whites if you prefer a crisper cracker)

VARIATIONS:  Any herb(s) you like along with onion and garlic powder, any combination of grated cheeses with or without onion/garlic powders, rosemary and onion powder, just onion powder, just garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne, onion powder and smoky chipotle powder and any combination of these things that suits your fancy.  I’m looking forward to trying out all these possibilities over time.  

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a sided sheet pan with parchment.  Mine is 11½ x 17″.  Measure all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  With a fork, beat in the two eggs and olive oil until the mixture is moist throughout.  Crumble the dough evenly over the parchment lined pan.  Then, using plastic gloves or baggies on your hands press the dough evenly into the pan, trying to achieve the same thickness throughout.  If you have a straight sided glass, you can even roll the dough out for a smoother surface, but this isn’t really necessary.  This will take you a few minutes. Score into 48 crackers (8 x 6) with a straight edge knife.  Pop into preheated oven and bake for 15-16 minutes.  They will brown around the edges of the pan faster and you may have to remove outer crackers as they bake.  Don’t over brown as flax products can get a burned taste real fast if over-browned.    Cool and break apart along score lines.  When thoroughly cool, store in ziploc bag at room temperature.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 48 crackers, each cracker contains:

33.2 calories

2.84 g  fat

1.37 g  carbs, .93 g  fiber, .44 g  NET CARBS

1.1 g  protein

15.2 mg sodium

23.3 mg potassium

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Paleo Pot Pie

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I was wanting to use some leftover baked chicken breast meat for dinner tonight and my husband voted for chicken pot pie.  I have a pot pie recipe on my site already that is Atkins suitable, but it has Carbquick in it and therefore I can no longer eat that one.  I told hubby “I don’t think I can do that and stay true to my new Paleo way of eating.”   Then I thought about it a few minutes and realized I just might be able to pull it off so that it would be tasty, satisfy his desire for one of his comfort foods and meet all Paleo recommendations.  AND I DID!  MIKEY LIKED IT!!!!  

This dish is suitable for anyone who is at the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL ladder or who follows a Paleo-Primal program.  The nutritional stats below are very impressive, making it a most nutritious dinner! This would also be good made with turkey or rabbit.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

2 c. homemade chicken stock

1 1/3 c. carrot, diced

1 1/3 c. red radishes, diced

½ c. red bell pepper, diced

1½ c. green beans, cooked and chopped a bit

½ tsp. red palm oil (for yellow color)

2 c. chicken breast, cooked, diced

½ tsp. glucomannan (Konjac) powder (or your favorite thickener)

Dash black pepper

3 T. coconut cream

3 T. homemade mayo

Dash olive oil to grease baking dish

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

1 c. almond flour

2 T. butter or ghee, softened

1 whole egg

1 T. coconut cream or coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:  Pour chicken stock into 4 qt. saucepan.  Add diced carrot and radish.  Bring to boil and simmer until almost tender.  Add bell pepper and cook until it is just softened a bit.  Turn off fire and add chopped green beans.  Stir in coconut cream and mayo.  Dust the glucomannan powder (or whatever thickener you prefer) evenly over the broth and stir quickly to disperse into the sauce.  Sauce should begin to thicken right up.  Add black pepper and stir to blend all ingredients.  Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8×11 baking dish with a bit of olive oil and pour chicken filling into the dish.  Set aside while you make the topping.

In a small bowl, measure the almond flour.  With a fork, beat in the soft butter, then the egg and finally the coconut cream or coconut milk.    It will form a medium thick dough.  With the fork and a spoon, drop small dots of the dough evenly all over the top of the chicken filling.  Pop into the preheated 350º oven for about 40 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.  This is nice served with a green salad.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 nice 1¼ cup servings, each containing:

426 calories

33 g fat

12.5 g  carbs, 5.56 g  fiber, 6.94 g  NET CARBS

24.3 g   protein

382 mg sodium (less if there is no salt in your broth)

475 mg potassium

58% RDA Vitamin A, 33% B6, 31% B12, 45% C, 15% E, 16% copper, 37% iron, 11% magnesium, 13% manganese, 48% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 30% riboflavin, 48% selenium, 17% zinc

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Peggy’s Fluffy Pancakes

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This is basically my Blueberry Pancake recipe minus the blueberries.  I can clearly see that this will now be my go to low-carb pancake recipe.  Even my husband says this tastes just like the real deal.  I might add this is my lowest CALORIE pancake recipe, for those watching caloric intake closely like I do now to get my last 18# off.   These rise nicely and come out light and fluffy, hence their name.  This recipe is not suitable until you reach the grains rung of Atkins OWL phase.

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs, beaten

¼ c. cream

¼ c. water

¼ tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

6 drops EzSweets (small bottle) liquid sucralose

½ c. Carbquick bake mix

½ c. Jennifer Eloff’s Splendid Gluten-Free Bake mix:  http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-very-excited-to-unveil-my-splendid.html

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. oat fiber

1 T. flax meal

DIRECTIONS:   Measure and mix well all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs and other liquid ingredients.   Dip by ¼ c. scoops onto heated, oiled hot griddle or skillet.  When bubbles form on top, flip and brown second side. I get seven 3-4″ pancakes out of this batter.  Serve with your favorite sugar-free maple syrup (I use Cary’s).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 7 pancakes, each contains:

95 calories

7.24 g  fat

9.44 g  carbs, 6.73 g  fiber, 2.71 NET CARBS

7.74 g  protein

174 mg sodium

484 mg potassium

26% RDA phosphorous

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Sock-it-to-me Cake

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This is my mother-in-law’s favorite cake.  While still living in her own home, she made it every year at Christmastime.  What didn’t get eaten at Christmas dinner, was finished off with breakfast coffee the next morning.  She always made hers  with 1 c. chopped pecans, but I leave them out as my husband isn’t so fond of nuts.  To be more authentic, you could substitute sour cream in for the heavy cream, but carbs will be  a tad higher if you do. This recipe is not suitable until the grains rung of OWL due to the bake mixes.  I order my food-grade glycerine at Netrition.com, but you might be able to buy it at your local health food store.

Update:  Upon second baking, I’ve decided to reduce the coconut flour from 2T. to 1T. for added moistness, change to 3 eggs,  increase butter in the batter to 4 T and increase cinnamon slightly.  These changes improved this cake’s moisture and flavor greatly!  Even the picture of the second cake tonight is much lovelier!  

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. granular Splenda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1½ c. CarbQuick bake mix

1 c. Jennifer Eloff’s Splendid Low Carb Bake Mix:  http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/bake-mix-substitutions-to-customize-to.html

½ c. plain whey protein

2 T. golden flax meal

1 T. coconut flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ erythritol

3 large eggs, beaten

3 T. sugar-free maple syrup

1/4 tsp. maple extract

4 T. melted butter, unsalted (for batter)

2 T. melted butter, unsalted (to drizzle on cake)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 T. food grade vegetable glycerine, (or 2 T. more erythritol)

liquid Splenda to equal 1/3 c. sugar (about 20 drops)

2 T. water

¼ c. + 1 T. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease an 8″ round, deep cake pan or round ceramic baking dish (the Corning “French” vegetable dish I used is 8″ in diameter, 3″ deep and the cake rose all the way to the top without overflowing).   Mix 2 T. granular Splenda with cinnamon (and nuts, if using) on paper plate and set aside for now.  In a large mixing bowl,  measure and mix all the dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, microwave melt the 4 T. butter.  Beat in egg and add all other wet ingredients and whisk until fairly smooth.  Stir wet ingredients into dry.     Blend well.   Drop approximately 1/3 of the batter onto bottom of baking dish by tablespoons sort of randomly.  Sprinkle with about 1 T. of the cinnamon topping.  Drop another layer of 1T. blobs of batter on top.  Again sprinkle with about 1 T. cinnamon topping.  Drop the final 1/3 of the batter on top in 1T. blobs and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon topping.  Drizzle 2 T. melted butter across top of cake evenly.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for about 30 minutes.  Gently remove from oven and check for doneness with toothpick stuck in center.  Mine took exactly 40 minutes.  It is done when toothpick stuck in center comes out completely dry.  Cool 5-8 minutes before tipping out onto serving platter.  Can be enjoyed either warm or cooled.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 8 slices, each contains:

250 calories

20.7 g  fat

14.23 g  carbs, 9.96 g  fiber, 4.27 NET CARBS  (4.6 NC if you add 2 oz. chopped pecans)

18.49 g  protein

218 mg sodium

78.4 mg potassium

16.5% RDA Vitamin A, 13.5% iron, 12.4% calcium

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Fluffy Cheddar Biscuits

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These are incredibly light and fluffy and just melt in your mouth.  Rich enough they don’t NEED butter!  These are not the slightest bit dense or hard like many low-carb biscuits.  And they are just cheesy enough!  These are not suitable until the grains rung of OWL due to the bake mixes.  These kept just fine in plastic in the fridge for a couple days and rewarmed at 300º sliced with sausage sandwiched in them for wonderful Sausage Cheese Biscuits! 

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Here’s what they’ll look like made in a 3″ hole muffin-top type pan:

INGREDIENTS: 

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff Gluten-Free bake mix:  http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-very-excited-to-unveil-my-splendid.html

¼ c.+2T. CarbQuick bake mix

1 T. Parmesan cheese

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

pinch garlic or onion powder (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.   Soften cream cheese.  Beat in dry ingredients.  Add beaten eggs and stir well.  Add grated cheeses.  Stir again to blend.  Spoon out onto greased or non-stick pans into 10 equal mounds.  I don’t flatten mine at all and they will spread a bit during cooking, so I find it takes a large sheet pan to do these.  Bake at 350º for about 13-14 minutes or until browned to your liking.  Do not over brown or they will dry out.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10, each containing:

142.5 calories

12.6 g  fat

4.56 g  carbs, 2.40 g  fiber, 2.16 g  NET CARBS

8.2 g  protein

306 mg sodium

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Strawberry German Pancake

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When I opened the refrigerator this morning, two things called to me: a cut spaghetti squash half and a few remaining red strawberries in the carton.  It immediately brought to mind two very old recipes:  mock coconut pie I learned how to make doing Weight Watchers that uses spaghetti squash, and a German Pancake I did around the same time.   The culinary cogs started clicking and this is my version of a German Pancake. This is extremely good and my husband, who dislikes all things spaghetti squash, could NOT tell it was in this!  Don’t ya just love when you fool someone’s taste buds that way? 

No longer having these old recipes, I just started without one. I first cooked the squash and forked out 1 c. of the threads for this recipe, storing the rest in the freezer for another use.   Then I started throwing things on top of that into the bowl.   Sometimes the ingredients just click!    This is not suitable until the berries rung of the OWL ladder.

INGREDIENTS FOR PANCAKE: 

1 c. cooked spaghetti squash threads

1 oz. cream cheese

2 T. butter, unsalted

2 beaten eggs

1½ pkt. Truvia sweetener, or equivalent sweetener of your choice

2 tsp. DaVinci Vanilla sugar-free syrup (or ¼ tsp. vanilla extract)

2 T. golden flax meal  (or 2 T. almond flour, or 1 T. coconut flour)

1 T. sugar-free strawberry preserves

3 oz. sliced strawberries

WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING:  1/3 c. cream, whipped.  Add 1/8 tsp. vanilla & 3 drops liquid sweetener. Stir.

DIRECTIONS:  Microwave on HI a seeded spaghetti squash half cut-side down in ½” water for 13-15 minutes.  Fork out 1 c. of the threads into a mixing bowl.  Store the rest in your fridge or freezer for another use.  Preheat oven to 350º.  While still hot, mix in the cream cheese and butter to melt.  Stir well.    Add eggs, sweetener, DaVinci, flax meal and sliced strawberries.  Stir well and pour into buttered pie plate or quiche dish.  Bake at 350º for about 20-25 minutes or until center is set.  Remove and cool almost completely (top layer cannot be even warm really, but bottom one will still be) or the whipped cream topping will melt and be a runny mess, spoiling visual appearance greatly.  Cut into quarters and carefully lift 1 quarter out onto each of 2 serving plates.  Spread half the strawberry preserves on each in a thin layer.  Place another quarter of the pancake nicely on top and top with half the whipped cream topping.  Serve at once and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 2 servings each containing:  (calculated using flax meal):

356 calories

29 g  fat

12.5 g  carbs, 4.85 g  fiber, 7.65 g  NET CARBS

10.5 g  protein

217 mg sodium

314 mg potassium

37% RDA Vitamin A, 12% B6, 36% B12, 39% C, 10% calcium, 20% copper, 23% iron, 15% magnesium, 24% manganese, 30% phosphorous, 32% riboflavin, 35% selenium, 18% thiamin and 16% zinc

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Clam Sauce on “Pasta”

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I have always loved clam sauce on pasta.  Though you can serve this on real pasta for your guests, it goes nicely with sauteed zucchini “noodles”, as shown above, for the low carbers at the table.  Allow 5-6 oz. zucchini noodles per person.  The zucchini noodles soak up the sauce’s wonderful flavor.   This dish is OK for Induction if served on zucchini noodles.  Personally, I do NOT think this would be good atop spaghetti squash threads as I think the squash taste will negatively impact the overall flavor of the dish.  If you are already to the OWL phase of Atkins, ¼ c. dry white wine is good added to this before thickening.  You want to talk healthy?  Get a load of the nutritional info below!!  I think clams may just be the highest source of vitamin B12 in the food kingdom!  And it’s mostly in the juice!  Moral of the story:  EAT MORE CLAM LINGUINE!! 

INGREDIENTS:

2  6-oz. cans clams with juice (do not drain)

4 slices bacon, cut into ½” pieces

2 T. butter, unsalted

2 oz. onion, chopped

6 medium mushrooms, sliced

2 oz. red bell pepper, chopped coarsely

¼ c. parsley, chopped fine

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Dash black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Chop bacon and brown over med-high heat.  Add butter to melt in with the bacon drippings.  Add onion, mushrooms and garlic.  Saute until onion and mushrooms are both tender.  Add red pepper, parsley and seasonings.  Add clams with their juice and simmer 2-3 minutes to blend flavors.   Thicken slightly with your favorite thickener and serve atop zucchini noodles. Garnish plates with a few sprinkles of parsley if desired.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each containing:

253 calories

13.8 g  fat

8.27 g  carbs,  1.75 g  fiber, 6.52 g  NET CARBS

23.8 g  protein

330 mg sodium

669 mg potassium

33% RDA Vitamin A, 2950% B12, 63% C, 60% copper, 233% iron, 44% manganese, 36% niacin, 40% phosphorous, 81% selenium, 18% thiamin, 33% zinc

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Eggplant al Pesto

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We had pork chops for dinner tonight and I wanted something nice to have with them besides the fresh steamed broccoli I was planning.  I grabbed a Japanese eggplant in the refrigerator.  Sitting right beside it was my jar of freshly made pesto sauce and thawed spaghetti sauce for tomorrow night.  Voila!  This delightful dish emerged in my head!  I wasn’t sure how the pesto would be and whether I would like it, because fresh basil often doesn’t agree with my stomach.  But I’m here to tell you this was one of the very best eggplant dishes I’ve done in a LONG time!  I used just a hint of the pesto sauce.  This recipe is suitable for Induction and it freezes well, too!  It is a fairly small side dish recipe, so double for a large family.  This serves 4 as a veggie side. With the addition of a layer of pre-browned ground beef or ground Italian Sausage, this would make a delightful entree for 2 people.

NOTE:  Most of the oil you saute the eggplant in will bleed out onto the bottom of the casserole dish.  Just don’t know how to avoid that really. As an alternative to limit fat intake, you can lightly grease a baking sheet and pre-bake the eggplant before assembling this dish. 

INGREDIENTS:  

8 oz. eggplant, peeled, sliced ¼” thick and then cut into smaller pieces about 1″ in size

3 T. olive oil

1 T. any good pesto sauce:  I use my recipe:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/pesto-sauce/

½ c. low carb spaghetti sauce: I use my recipe:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/peggys-spaghetti-sauce/

1 T. Parmesan cheese, grated

1/3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º. Heat oil in non-stick skillet and saute the eggplant, turning often with a spoon, until it is completely translucent (will be nearly done at this point).  You can also oil a pan and bake/broil it in the oven about 10-20 minutes if you want to use less oil.  When nearly done, place the eggplant in a small casserole-type baking dish (no need to grease the pan).  Dot evenly with the spaghetti sauce first.  Then dot evenly with the pesto sauce.  Sprinkle on the Parmesan and finally spread the mozzarella evenly on top.  Pop into a 350º oven for about 30 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   As a vegetable dish, this serves 4, each serving provides:    (will only serve 2 as an entree)

214.5 calories

18.5 g  fat

6.3 g  carbs, 2.63 g  fiber, 3.67 g NET CARBS

7.08 g protein

71 mg sodium

141 mg potassium

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Peggy’s “Flour” Pie crust

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This  pie crust is great for baked meat pies, Mexican empanadas and pretty much any dessert pie.   It is somewhere between a “short” crust” and a “flaky” crust.  There is absolutely no “Carbquick taste” in this crust, either, thanks to the oat fiber.   This recipe is not suitable until the grains rung of the OWL ladder.   The funny dimples on the bottom seen in the pic are caused by ceramic pastry weights I use for baking all my pie crusts.  Keeps them from creating air pockets and forming a big hump in the middle.    Here’s what they look like if you’re not familiar with them:

Ceramic Pastry Weights

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 c. CarbQuick bake mix

1/3 c. golden flax meal

1/3 c. oat fiber (do not use oat bran, which is much higher in carbs)

Pinch salt

2 T. cold butter

1 egg

3 T. cream

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º.   In a medium mixing bowl, mix all dry crust ingredients together.  Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Add beaten egg and cream and mix well.  Using hand, knead into a ball of dough and place on plastic wrap.  Place another piece of plastic on top and with a rolling pin, roll dough to slightly larger than the size of pan you are using.  Now pull the top plastic off the rolled crust.  Grabbing the bottom plastic, pick up the crust at the midpoint (plastic and all), let it fold gently in the middle and place the fold at the midpoint of your pie/pie plate.  Gently lift the other half of the dough over onto the pie/pie plate and remove the plastic carefully.  Finish crust by folding the excess crust edges inward and crimp decoratively if you wish.  Poke 3-4 holes in the crust with a fork and bake in a 350º oven for about 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 8 servings/slices of pie crust, each serving contains:

76.5 calories

7.53 g  fat

8.83 g  carbs

7.98 g  fiber

.85 g  NET CARBS

3.3 g  protein

81 mg sodium

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Individual Pumpkin Bread

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By tinkering around with the MIM (Muffin in a Minute) or OMM (One Minute Muffin) recipe that is so well-known to low carbers, I have come up with a mini pumpkin bread  that is much improved in texture, flavor and moistness over my previous pumpkin bread experiments with this basic muffin recipe.  Smearing it with my Lime Frosting is fantastic!   http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/lime-frosting/ .  I keep this frosting made up and in the freezer in a ziploc bag all the time so I can defrost and smear it on these, sugar cookies,  cake or fresh strawberries without having to go to the trouble of making it from scratch each time I want some.  Then I just break off a chunk and let is soften a few minutes.  It also keeps a long time just in the fridge.

A serving of this pumpkin bread provides many of your required nutrients.  So all in all, a very nutritious treat!  Probably OK for Induction, even with the oat fiber, as the deducted fiber zeros out the carbs.

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

4 drops liquid Splenda

1 pkt. stevia sweetener

2 T. canned pumpkin puree (be sure it’s not pie filling)

2 T. golden flaxmeal

2 T. brown flaxmeal

½ tsp. baking powder

1 T. oat fiber

½ tsp. cinnamon

Pinch each of cloves and nutmeg

1 T. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS: Melt butter in microwave in a small bowl or mid-size ramekin.  Add egg, pumpkin, cream and liquid Splenda and beat until smooth.  Add flax meals, spices, baking powder and stevia and stir to blend well.     Microwave on HI for about 1 min 20 seconds.  If dry to the touch in the center, it’s done.  Remove, cool a minute and using knife tip, gently tip it out of the ramekin/bowl.  Can be eaten as is or you can ice with my Lime Frosting or any favorite topping.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 1 serving which contains:  (not including frosting)

361 calories

30.4 g  fat

20.1 g  carbs, 15.8 g  fiber, 4.3 NET CARBS

12.4 g  protein

274 mg sodium

57% RDA vitamin A, 30% vitamin B12, 50% copper, 56%, manganese, 43% selenium, 48% thiamin and 76% phosphorous

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Jicama “Fries”

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Man, I tried these on a whim and they were FANTASTIC!  The spice in the coating took away the sweet edge jicama has, so don’t side-step this part of the recipe.  It’s essential for the best results.  And the coating really browned nicely and stayed crispy even as the fries cooled off.  Even picky hubby gave these a thumbs up, and at first, he wasn’t even going to taste them!  These are Induction friendly, too!  Some have mentioned using the spicy/BBQ pork rinds and omitting the seasoning mix in the recipe.  Please bear in mind the flavored pork rinds are laden with sugar and sometimes modififed food starch as well……not such acceptable ingredients for a low-carber.  Be sure you always check ALL the ingredients listed before making such substitutions.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. jicama, peeled and cut into fries

2 T. homemade mayo:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/homemade-mayonnaise/

2 oz. plain pork rinds, crushed

1/2 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/my-seafood-spice-blend/

Oil to coat baking pan if not using non-stick sheet pan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450º.  Cut jicama and place in bowl.  Brush well with mayonnaise.  Crush pork rinds in processor/blender.  Add spice blend to crushed pork rinds in a small bowl.  Now drop mayo-coated jicama (a few at a time) into the seasoned rinds and shake to coat well.   Place on oiled or non-stick baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes until tops are nicely browned.  No need to turn.  Bottoms will be even browner than the tops!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings each with

165 Calories

11.4 g  fat

5.50 g  carbs

2.78 g  fiber

2.22 NET CARBS

11.2 g  protein

276 g  sodium

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