Apricot Trail Mix

I absolutely LOVE trail mix.  And such a healthy snack!  It has the added bonus of being very transportable, for hiking, biking, camping, or taking to the office in a little baggie.  This apricot-coconut mix was a Christmas favorite of a relative.  She always brought some to the holiday gatherings.  The pumpkin seeds are my addition to her recipe.  The stuff is so good I have to dip my ½ cup portion out and put the bag away, or I’ll just keep eating and eating it.  Wrapped prettily with a ribbon, this makes a lovely gift when going to parties or for the holidays.  Just place in a pretty clear glass container and affix a pretty bow on top!  This very nutritious dessert/snack is not suitable until the highest fruit rung of the Atkins OWL carb re-introduction ladder (pre-maintenance or maintenance).  This recipe is suitable for Paleo-Primal eaters.

VARIATION:  Substitute pieces of dried prunes (Delmonte has no added sugar) for the dried apricots. I also have a Cranberry Trail Mix recipe you might like.

INGREDIENTS:

5 oz. pumpkin seeds, hulled, roasted (unsalted)

5 oz. sunflower seeds, hulled, roasted (unsalted)

2 oz. walnuts (about 28 halves), coarsely chopped/broken up

6 oz. fresh coconut meat, slivered thinly

4 oz. sliced almonds

6 oz. dried apricots, no sugar added (I buy them at Sam’s)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 200º and spread thinly sliced coconut onto a sheet pan. Dry for about 1½-2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven before coconut begins to brown and cool.  You don’t really want to toast it for this recipe, just dry it out a bit.  In a large mixing bowl, toss all ingredients together.  Using kitchen shears, cut apricots into small pieces and add to the bowl.  Stir to mix well.  Store in a zipper plastic bag in your pantry.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes about 6 cups or twelve ½ cup servings.  Each ½ cup serving contains:

301.6 cals, 23.5g fat, 18g carbs, 5.3g fiber, 12.7g NET CARBS, 9.8g protein, 53.6 mg sodium

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Mayonado Dip

I usually keep the ingredients around the house for this favorite creation.  We call this one MAYONADO.  Nothing like coining your own words!  So I fixed this favorite to stand in as our salad to have with our Italian Bolognese Penne Bake tonight.   My husband brought home 6 avocados from the grocery store this afternoon that were discounted because they were already getting pretty ripe and one was past its prime.  I knew I needed to use that one tonight! 

I’ve combined mayonnaise with avocado for various purposes but never added Ranch® style flavoring to the mélange before this creation.  Man, is that ever good!  This dip is great on cucumber slices, but would be great for dipping cherry tomatoes, raw cauliflower, broccoli flowerets, sliced yellow squash, zucchini slices, carrot & celery sticks.  It would make a tasty dip for fried chicken strips or French fries, too.  The shawarma spice really adds something special and then the Ranch® seasoning………….well……takes it to a whole new level  This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly and suitable for all keto diets, Primal and Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small avocado, peeled and pitted

6 T. my homemade Shawarma mayonnaise

1 oz. yellow or white onion

Dash salt

few drops lemon or lime juice to prevent discoloring of the avocado

1 T. my Ranch Dressing Powder Blend

DIRECTIONS:  Peel and seed the avocado.  Place the flesh into a blender or processor with all the other ingredients.  Pulse until it it smooth.   Serve any of the above mentioned ways or get creative and think of new applications for this delightful concoction!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes about 10 T.  Each tablespoon contains:

90.4 cals, 9.2g fat, 4.29g carbs, 2.08g fiber, 2.21g NET CARBS, 0.62g protein, 19 mg sodium

Spicy Tuna Pâté

This is what got me through the first 2 weeks of my low-carb journey.  It’s very tasty and filling as well.  If you like things spicy, add even more spice than I indicate below.  A little Chipotle Tobasco® is also good in this spread.  This is very good on my Almond-Arrowroot Crackers or dipped up with celery or carrot sticks.  This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.

INGREDIENTS:

3   2-oz. foil pouches oil-pack tuna (or 5 oz. can tuna, drained)

1 stick butter, unsalted, softened (4 oz.)

½ c. chopped parsley

1 tsp. fresh lime juice

¼ tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (more if you’re adventurous) or ¼ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

20 drops Chipotle Tobasco®

DIRECTIONS:   Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until well mixed.  Garnish with a sprinkle more of the spice blend.  Serve with celery sticks or your favorite low-carb crackers.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings.  ¼ batch contains:

286 calories, 26.3g fat, 1g carbs, 0.25g fiber, 0.75g NET CARBS, 12g protein, 149 mg sodium

 

Jack Snacks

I’l bet you folks just starting your low-carb diet wonder what YOU can snack on when the rest of the family is enjoying verboten foods.  Well this recipe, if you can call it a recipe, is one solution.  It’s suitable for Atkins Induction Phase, Keto diets and even Primal followers that eat occasional cheese.  Takes just minutes to make and bake!  After 14+ years running this blog, this is now my #1 recipe in popularity, having garnered well over 30,000,000 Facebook fans in 2015 alone.  That blows even my Lebanese Baked Chicken right out of the water. 🙂

If you seed the jalapeno, like I did, these are not all that hot (I don’t like real hot/spicy) for the spicy-adverse members of your household.  Leave the seeds in if you like to spice things up!  These are delicious and so low-cal/low-carb you could eat the entire batch if you were so inclined!  The hubs and I split this batch equally and we both loved these!  Now, to be quite honest, I’ve also just melted plain old pepper-jack cheese before, but these really are better for some reason.  Maybe the cheese is better; maybe the fresh pepper is just better.  All I know is these are much better than just melting pepperjack cheese!  🙂  Some have asked, and if you try to save some and reheat, you better really watch them closely, as they are inclined to burn when reheated.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 medium fresh jalapeno, sliced real thin

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a metal cookie sheet.  DO NOT use a silicone/silpat sheet, waxed paper or foil (unless it’s the special non-stick foil) to bake these or they will not cook properly.  Using a tablespoon, scoop up 1 T. of cheese and make a small pile on the parchment.  Press it slightly flat.  Repeat 15 more times. Place a slice of jalapeno on top of each pile.  Pop into 350º oven for about 10-12 minutes.  I would recommend browning them a wee bit more than shown in the photo for a firmer snack to serve at parties.  These are somewhat pliable if under browned. Allow them to completely cool and fully firm up before removing from the pan for best results. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 16, each contains:

25.5 cals, 2.13 g fat, 0.10g carbs, 0.02g fiber, 0.08g NET CARBS, 1.63g protein, 60 mg sodium

Einkorn Sausage-Cheese Balls

As I have mentioned before, I’m not much of a snacks eater being on a one-meal-a-day regimen these days.  But when I do want a snack, it must be easily prepared with always-on-hand ingredients.  I’m not making a trip to the grocery store for my snacks, in other words.

This is an ever-popular party appetizer that never goes out of favor with your guests.  I have another Sausage Cheese Ball recipe on my website that rings in at only 1 net carb per ball but I like this one a bit better because it’s a little easier to put together.  It features my convenient homemade Einkorn Low-Carb Bake Mix (similar to Bisquick and Carbquik).  Even with the bake mix, these only have 1.76 net carbs per ball!  Not bad for the convenience of just 3 ingredients.   These are not suitable until the grains rung of the carb re-introduction ladder of Atkins Phase 2 OWL.  They are OK for Keto diets if you can fit them into your daily carb limits.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. breakfast sausage (I used my homemade breakfast sausage recipe)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 c. my Einkorn Bake Mix  (For gluten-free version, use Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix or another GF mix of your choice)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the above ingredients in a medium bowl with your hands as you would a meatloaf mixture.  When thoroughly blended, form into 30 1″ balls and place on non-stick baking sheet or one lined with parchment or silicone sheet for ease of clean-up. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to paper towels to drain off any excess grease (mine had none actually).  Serve warm and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 30  1″ balls, each sausage ball contains:

95 calories, 7.81 g  fat, 2.4 g  carbs, 0.64 g fiber, 1.76 g  NET CARBS, 4.82 g  protein, 81 mg sodium

Flax Crackers

My very first low-carb crackers.  Flax itself carries a sodium load and I rarely have to add salt to anything made with flax.  Texture on these is very good:  brittle, crunchy and crisp, especially the browner crackers that bake around the outer edges of the pan. But even those in the center of the pan were pretty crisp.

Each time I bake these, I try some new seasoning in them.  I think rosemary/onion may be my favorite.  Those are so good!  I’m very pleased these will stay crisp all week long just in a ziploc bag on the counter!  Re-toast them a bit in the oven if yours do not stay crisp.  

The ratio of flax and almond meal in these is JUST RIGHT!  This is my go-to cracker recipe when I’m really watching carbs tightly.  My non-low-carb husband likes these as well!  These crackers, excellent with cheese, butter, soup or whatever, are suitable most Keto plans, Paleo, Primal and of course, Atkins followers, once you reach the OWL (on-going Weight Loss) phase ‘nuts and seeds’ reintroduction level.

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

1 tsp. optional seasoning of your choice (see ideas below)

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, coarse black pepper, Everything Bagel spice, sliced toasted shallots, just onion powder, just garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne, onion powder and smoky chipotle powder, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Cajun seasoning.  Get creative!    

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 plastic bag at room temperature in your pantry.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 48 crackers, each cracker contains:

33.2 cals, 2.84 g fat, 1.37 g carbs, 0.93 g fiber, 0.44 g NET CARBS, 1.1 g protein, 15.2 mg sodium

Sesame Crackers

I have discovered I am so salt sensitive, I’m having to virtually eliminate the salt and greatly reduce the cheese and flax in my cracker recipes.  “Then along came my kidney stone in December and they told me to eliminate most of my salt intake and to stop using it when I cook.  Well, I cut way back on salt probably 30 years ago, so not really a problem for us.  These are not suitable for Atkins Induction Phase due to the sesame seeds.  Below is my lighter, blander version that I am going to use when I want sesame crackers from now on.   

Flax tends to burn (particularly around the edges) REAL FAST!!  So do watch these, as ovens vary.  I have to  remove the outer rows from the pan before baking time is up on these to avoid over-browning.  I used to crumble a chicken or beef bouillon cube into the dry ingredients of my crackers for a bit of a flavor twist, but I can’t do that anymore.  You might like to do so, however.  For a milder cracker, sometimes I reduce the flax meal 2-3 tablespoons and substitute in 2-3 T. almond meal, but only those on Phase 2 Atkins can do that and stay on program.  Both methods are good.  

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. flax meal (I use a mixture of dark and golden)

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1½ tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne or black pepper  (I like cayenne best; my husband likes black best)

¼ c. sesame seeds 

¼ tsp. salt

½ c. water

DIRECTIONS:    Preheat oven to 350º.  Line the bottom of a 12×17 cookie pan (with sides) with parchment paper and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients well with a wooden spoon.  Add water and stir to blend until all ingredients are moistened with the water.  Break up or crumble the dough onto the parchment paper evenly.  I use plastic gloves, but covering your hands with sandwich baggies will work.  Press the dough evenly over the paper to fill the pan.  I know it will seem like there’s not enough dough to reach the edges and it will seem very thin, this dough.  But trust me, it WILL reach the edges of the pan if you are patient and diligent with your pressing.  Smooth the dough until there are no holes or gaps in it throughout the entire sheet.  Check for places places where it may be thicker and smooth them out.  You  want this as even and thin throughout as possible.  If you want, you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and roll a smooth/straight-sided glass or rolling pin over it for a smoother surface, but I personally don’t bother with that.  Score the dough gently with a knife into 64 crackers (8×8).  This is done best by pressing the knife into the dough and gently lifting it straight up repeatedly.  I you drag the blade too fast through the dough, or back and forth, that will tear the dough up.

Bake at 350º for about 10 minutes.  Check often as flax burns easily.  The outside crackers will brown much faster, so I actually check at about 10 minutes and every 5 minutes thereafter to remove the outer ones to a platter as they brown.  Then I  put the pan back in the oven for the rest to finish browning.  I burned my first batch of flax crackers, so I learned my lesson.  Pop the remaining crackers back in the oven to finish browning.  When all crackers are done, turn the oven off, return all of the crackers to the the pan and set it back in the cooling down oven to “crisp up” to their ultimate crispness.  If you go to this extra step, they stay crisp for days and days in a ziploc bag.  When I don’t go to this trouble, they soften up on me and I have to go back and re-crisp them in the oven 2 or 3 days later.    Just my experience.   Store in a ziploc bag or airtight container.  DO NOT refrigerate or they will lose their crispness.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 64 crackers, each contains:

18.1 cals, 1.43g fat, 0.98g carbs, 0.84g fiber, 0.14g NET CARBS, 6.65 g protein, 11.5 mg sodium

Sunflower Cheddar Crackers

This was one of the first recipes I developed for crackers 14 years ago when I started this lifestyle.  The have that sunflower nutty taste and just a smidge of cheese to round them out.  I still make these when I remember to buy some shelled sunflower seeds at the Dollar Store.  These pack so much flavor I usually eat these as a snack by themselves.  

Because of the sunflower seeds, these crackers are not suitable until you reach the nuts and seeds level of Phase 2 Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. roasted and UNsalted sunflower seeds
1½ c. grated cheddar cheese
¼ c. water

Preheat oven to 325º. You need a 13 x 15 cookie sheet pan and parchment paper for these.

Process sunflower seeds to a fine meal. Add the cheese and process until smooth. Add water and process until it becomes a dough ball.

Cover bottom of sheet pan (cake roll pan 13″x15″) with parchment paper. Put dough in even globs on the parchment. Now the fun begins. Using plastic gloves (I keep them on hand for such things) or a plastic sandwich bag as a glove, press out evenly all the way to the edges of the pan. BE PATIENT! This takes a few minutes, but it WILL spread all the way out and be a very thin dough. If you get “holes” in the dough, press them out. With a knife tip, lightly (& carefully so as not to tear dough) score the sheet of dough into 92 crackers approximately 1″x1½” in size (7 crackers across the short side and 14 down the long side). If desired, sprinkle any of the following on the tops: cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, rosemary crushed fine, oregano, Indian Garam Masala, black pepper. I did one row of each and one row plain and we liked them ALL!

Bake exactly 30 minutes at 325º. Remove and WHILE STILL HOT, complete the scoring with a knife to separate the crackers. If you wait until they are cool, they’ll be too brittle and will break all to tiny pieces.

I can see using these for not-too-stiff sour cream or yogurt dips, as a soup/cheese compliment or just by themselves!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

Makes 92 crackers
Serving size = 3 crackers

Each serving has: 60 calories;
5.2g fat; 1.6g carbs, 0.69g fiber, 1g NET CARB and 0 2.7g protein, 1.0 g NET CARB

Barley Flour Crackers

Since my kidney stone ‘adventure’ in December, trying to accommodate the doctor’s request to follow a low-oxalate diet, has become a priority. One of the things I must avoid is most wheat product from my diet (this means even my lower carb beloved Einkorn flour). So now I’m starting to experiment with barley flour. Today, I tried a new cracker experiment that we both loved. My picky husband kept coming back to the kitchen for a couple more.

The crackers around the outer edge of the pan that typically brown too fast, at least did not taste burned as with all almond flour and flax meal crackers. I did not feel compelled to remove them early from the pan for the first time ever with low-carb crackers. These crackers are more crunchy/crisp than my other low-carb crackers, too! They suspect they will hold up nicely to dips or any toppings. I did encounter more difficulty pressing the base recipe’s dough out, finding barley flour drier, so it requires more water and a little more oil than my other cracker recipes. Even with those additions, I still wasn’t able to get the dough all the way to the edge of my 11×17 pan. I managed a sheet of cracker dough about 8×14 in each pan, which, after scoring, rendered 42 crackers in each pan (cut into 7 rows x 6 columns). I’m very pleased with this new cracker. I’ll start trying out different seasonings and additives in future batches.

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. barley flour

1 c. almond flour

½ c. golden flax meal

2 T. oat fiber

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese (I used Kraft)

2 tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. onion powder

1 1/3 c. warm water

3 T. extra light olive oil

VARIATIONS: Add 2 tsp. seasoning choice: my homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning, my Cajun seasoning, coarse black pepper, Everything Bagel blend , or my Ranch Blend.

DIRECTIONS:  Line two 11×17 sheet pans with parchment, cut to fit.  I use plastic food-service gloves to press dough into pans.  You can use a third sheet of parchment if you don’t have any or a plastic sandwich bag on your hands.  Preheat oven to 350º.

Stir warm water +olive oil together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, measure out all the dry ingredients. Stir well with a fork. Add the water and oil mixture and stir well with fork to moisten the dough.  It will be clumpy and crumbly.   Divide the dough roughly into two portions and using hands crumble half the dough over each pan.  Press or roll the dough to about 8″ x 14″. I use a small piece of parchment under my hands so it doesn’t stick to my fingers while working. With a knife blade, cut/straighten up the edges as best you can for straightest edge possible.

Place pans in your freezer for about 12-15 minutes to help with scoring. Remove and press knife scoring gently into dough to form rows of 6 x 7 crackers, for 42 crackers per pan).  Lift the knife blade slowly to avoid messing up the cracker shapes.  If using a top seasoning, add it now. Pop pans into 350º preheated oven for about 18-25 minutes. Ovens will vary.  You don’t want to brown them too much, but they are most brittle when nicely browned.  Remove pans from oven and cool.  Separate into crackers with a knife point.  These crisp crackers are best when 100% cool. Store in lidded cracker container or gallon zipper plastic bag.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 84 crackers. One serving of 4 crackers contains:

104 cals, 5g fat, 13g carbs, 3g fiber, 10g NET CARBS, 4g protein, 235 mg sodium

Black Pepper Crackers

Early on in my low-carb journey I came across a pizza crust by Brittany Angell on RealSustenance.com that intrigued me.   Her sight and domain appear to have since shut down.  After making her recipe, I decided it was more cracker like than pizza dough like.  It was too thin and brittle for my taste……….definitely more like a cracker.   I adapted the pizza crust recipe to create what has become the BEST cracker recipe for me in my 14+ years of low-carbing.  I’m making crackers today, so I thought I’d share it with my readers once again.

This cracker is so good, I’ve now made this recipe probably 50 times or more in 14 years.  Since the predominant flavor is black pepper, I’m going to change their name to Black Pepper Crackers now.   These are delicious by themselves, with butter, toppings, dips or cheese!  Even my non-low-carb husband likes these!  I think the crisping magic here are the arrowroot and oat fiber, so I don’t recommend omitting or substituting for those two ingredients lest you end up with a totally different textured cracker than mine.

Let me say up front, my method for making the crackers does not read at all like the original recipe, but it sure produces a crisp cracker that STAYS crisp for days and days!   I changed amounts of come ingredients, added a couple things and definitely spiced them up a bit!  Those changes and additions are noted below in blue, including the oven temperature.  I also added a bit of oat fiber for a flour-y flavor, crunch and fiber.

This recipe is not suitable for Induction due to the oat fiber and arrowroot flour.  It isn’t suitable for Primal-Paleo unless you omit the oat fiber and cheese.  This is a really BIG recipe that makes two full sheet pans of 48 crackers each.  Half the recipe if you do not want that many (tasting them will change your mind next time 🙂 ).  That said, they do keep well and stay crisp in a loose-lidded ceramic canister on my counter for 2 weeks or so.  That’s much better than any of my other cracker recipes keep for me.

You can also make round crackers that are slightly thicker but just as crisp (a bit more trouble & time consuming).  Using 1 level tsp. dough per round cracker, I only got 66 round crackers.  I show numbers below for the round version also.

Round version made in silicone muffin molds/liners

VARIATION:   Omit the black pepper and add 1-2 T. of my 8-Seed Spice blend instead.

INGREDIENTS:

3 c. lightly packed almond flour (weighed out it was 11 oz. (311.8 grams)

4 T. arrowroot flour/powder

2/3 c. flax meal (I use a 50:50 mix of dark & golden)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sea salt

1 T. onion powder

2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 T. oat fiber  (omit for gluten-free version)

¼ c. grated Parmesan Cheese

3/4 c. warm tap water

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Line two large sheet pans (mine are 11½ x 17) with parchment.  I use plastic gloves to press crackers into my pans, or sometimes I cut a third piece or parchment, lay it on top and roll out the dough that way, using my gloved fingers to finish off the edges evenly.  The key is to get the cracker dough thin and even in the pan.  Thicker areas  don’t cook well; thinner areas will burn quickly.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Stir the warm water and olive oil together in a small glass to mix well.  Measure out all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.   Stir well with a fork.  Add the water-oil mixture to the dry ingredients and blend with the fork to form a solid ball of dough.  I form the dough right in the bowl into in a log shape and cut in half to divide it equally.  Crumble half the mixture onto each parchment-lined pan.  Roll the dough or, wearing plastic gloves, press the dough in the first pan evenly and all the way to the edges.  It will be very thin, and I always think it isn’t going to make it, but half the dough WILL reach the edge of the pan.  I like to roll the surface with a straight-sided glass I own.  If rolling with a rolling pin or straight glass, cover crumbles with parchment and roll as evenly as possible all the way to the edges of the pan.  You’ll likely have to finish the edges with your fingers (use a piece of plastic wrap if need be).  With a large chef’s knife, score the rolled dough into rows of crackers 6 x 8 (48 crackers).  Repeat this process with the second pan of crackers.

Although a lot more trouble and time-consuming, to make round crackers for parties, I use silicone muffin pans or silicone cupcake liners.  You can also use paper liners in a metal muffin pan.  Measure 1 level teaspoon of dough into each mold and press down evenly with a your fingers (I use plastic glove to do this to avoid dough sticking to me). Set silicone muffin pans and/or molds onto metal sheet pans for support. Pop the pans into the preheated 350º oven and bake for for about 20-22 minutes.  Ovens vary, so start watching them at 18 minutes.  Do not over brown!  I recommend removing those around the edges as soon as they begin to brown and those on the outside are inclined to burn. When all have browned, remove, cool 1-2 minutes, re-score with the chef’s knife and then let them cool completely before eating.  These are not tasty hot in my opinion.  The flavor develops when they have cooled.

Break apart and enjoy plain, with butter, cheese spreads (I’m addicted to them with chive & onion cream cheese) or your favorite hard cheeses or salami!  Store remainders in a plastic zip bag or any canister of your choosing.  I just use a ceramic cookie jar on my counter.  These stay crisp for around 2 weeks.  Mine get eaten within 2 weeks, so I honestly don’t know if they would keep longer or not.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 96 square crackers, each cracker contains:

28.4 calories, 2.38 g  fat, 1.32 g  carbs, 0.68 g  fiber, 0.64 g  NET CARBS, 0.97 g  protein, 37 mg sodium

NOTE:  If you make round crackers pressed into silicone muffin molds/cups you will only get 66 crackers, using 1 level tsp. dough per cracker.  Each round crackers will contain 41.3 calories, 3.46 g  fat, 1.91 g  carbs, 0.98 g  fiber, 0.93 g  net carbs, 1.41 g protein and 54 mg sodium

Spicy Cheese Thins

We’ve covered the ground on soups, entrées, meat dishes, seafoods and vegetables.   Now let’s move on to the fun stuff:  snacks.  I actually actively avoid snacks to facilitate correcting insulin resistance.  With intermittent fasting, it’s just not allowed.  But with my eating window being 5-7pm, I am allowed a snack a little ahead of the meal if I’m struggling to make the full 23 hours of fasting.   So I’ll begin with an item that is often needed to consume certain snacks…….crackers.  I have a variety of cracker recipes now and would like to re-share them with my newest readers, as I’m pleased enough with them I no longer feel a need to create and post new ones.

This recipe, one of my very first cracker trials, is a variation of an Almond Thins cracker recipe posted on Low Carb Friends forum (no longer exists).  It allows itself to nicely be tweaked for a ton of wonderful savory and even sweet variations.

I took the basic almond flour thins recipe, doubled it, omitted the Splenda and then added cheese and one of my favorite seasoning combinations.  I was looking to achieve a cracker reminiscent of Cheez-its® or Pepperidge Farm Goldfish®.

My version is VERY crispy provided you allow them to brown a bit!  Less browning results in a not-so-crisp cracker………tasty, just not as crisp as I like.   They are good alone or they and delicious with soup! You can eat five of these crackers for under 2 net carbs, so definitely my kind of cracker!  These are not suitable until you get to the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) ladder.

VARIATION:  For an even cheesier taste, you can add 2 T. Nutritional Yeast to the dry ingredients when mixing the dough. 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

2 egg whites from large eggs

¼ tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional, use more if you like things hot)

1/8 tsp. chili powder

1 c. grated Cheddar cheese (½ c. more if you want them cheesier)

¼ tsp. salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 325º. Cut parchment paper to fit exactly the bottom of an 11″ x 16½” sheet pan.  Just set the paper on your kitchen counter for now.  Mix almond flour and seasonings in a bowl.  Add egg whites and stir with a fork.  Add cheese and continue stirring until it forms a moist dough.  Spoon (or crumble with your hands) the dough evenly onto parchment working from the center out. Cover the dough blobs with a sprayed/oiled sheet of waxed paper the same size.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a single, smooth rectangular sheet of dough the size of the parchment.  Be careful to not let the dough exceed the piece of parchment paper. If it does, put those bits back into the sheet and roll smooth again.  You definitely want this dough to go all the way to the edges of the parchment paper so the crackers will be thin enough to be crisp.

Slowly and carefully lift off the waxed paper.  Use the tip of a pointed knife to lift up two corners and with your hands, applying tension to keep the sheet stiff, carefully lift parchment, dough and all onto the baking sheet.  If you cut it the right size, it should sit right down on the bottom nicely.  Using your sharp knife, carefully (and gently since the dough is fragile) score the dough into cracker shapes (8 x 10, making 80 crackers total).  Pop into your preheated 325º oven and bake for about 10-11 minutes or until lightly browned.  The outer rows brown faster, so you will likely need to remove outer rows as soon as they are browned so those don’t get over-browned while  the center ones finish cooking.  Cool a few minutes and separate into separate crackers along your score lines.  Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag.  NOTE:  If these lose their crispness on day 2 or 3 (due to high oil content of cheddar cheese) re-crisp on a baking sheet in a 325º in the oven for about 10 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 80 crackers, each cracker contains: (using 1 c. cheese only)

23.5 cals, 1.98g fat, 0.64g carbs, 0.3g fiber, 0.34g NET CARBS, 1.12g protein, 20 mg sodium

Spicy Onion Rings

Taking that coating shown on my last post of Oven-Fried Summer Squash, I took this coating to a Nirvana level for my husband.  I am not as crazy about onion rings as my husband is.  He has always just LOVED them!  That’s all he keeps talking about this week, so I think I’m going to have to cook him a batch of these soon.  😉  These are actually oven-baked instead of fried, so there’s no greasy mess on the stove to deal with after preparing these.  Such deliciousness, so I hope you’ll try these soon.  I think you will like them!

I will admit up front they are not as easily hand-held as traditional batter-fried rings.  No surprise there with an overall thinner coating used….but that’s how I keep them low-carb.   On the up side, the coating does brown nicely and is very crunchy.  Only the smallest diameter rings cut from the ends of the onion can be picked up by hand easily.  You just have to place the larger ones onto your plate and use a fork to eat those.  For me, that beats adding coconut flour to the picture, which I am NOT fond of at all.  I’ll have to test adding some other lower carb flour or maybe a few bread crumbs to the coating to see if that improves the “holdability” of these rings.  So many ideas; so little time, I think is the saying.  These tasty rings are Atkins Induction friendly!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. onion cut into ½” rings

2 oz. plain pork rinds, crushed very fine

3/4 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

4 T. my homemade mayo

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 450º.  You will need a large, preferably non-stick baking sheet to bake these.  Slice onion and separate rings until you have 8 oz.  That’s about 16 medium ½” rings.  Parboil for 1 minute in boiling water and lift out onto paper towels to totally dry. Crush pork rinds very fine in processor, blender or by hand.  Remove any larger, hard bits that are invariably in pork rinds when you crush them.  Mix spice into crushed rinds in a small bowl.  In a shallow dish or pie plate, pour the 4T. mayo.    Slowly dip an onion ring into the mayo, coating the outside and the inside (with your finger if necessary.  Then drop them into the pork rinds and coat well outside and inside.  Lay each onto the baking sheet.     Repeat until all rings have been coated.  Pop into 450º oven for about 25 minutes.  They tend to brown more and faster on the bottom where they touch the pan, so you will want to turn them over at the 15 minute mark.  Not much grease so no draining is necessary.  Lift onto serving platter and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings of 2 0z. each.  Each serving contains:

196 cals., 15.6g fat, 5.1g carbs, 0.53g fiber, 4.57g  NET CARBS, 9.5 g  protein, 271 mg sodium

Ranch® Buttermilk Dressing (or dip)

I came up with a homemade version of Ranch® Dressing for my husband, who just loves it on salads.  I think my version tastes better than what is sold in the bottle (which I actually don’t like), so it’s clearly not exactly the same.  But it’s pretty good and has no unhealthy ingredients.  It’s lighter on salt, too, which I like.

I’m not too fond of dill, so I tend to reduce it in most recipes.  But my husband LOVES dill and likes more in recipes, thus the range of dill shown in the Ranch® Powder recipe linked below.  I basically used equal amounts of the herbs I selected except the dill and thyme.  A tablespoon of thyme would have been way too much!   This dressing is super yummy!  Try it and see if you don’t agree it’s even better than the famous bottled stuff!  As you well know, this also makes an excellent dip for raw vegetable party trays.  All you have to do for the dip is increase the sour cream to make it thicker.  You’ll have to recalculate carbs to add in the extra sour cream.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. homemade mayonnaise

3/4 c. sour cream (add ¼ c. more if using as a veggie dip)

¼ c. buttermilk (only 2 T. if using as a veggie dip)

1 T. my Ranch Dressing Powder Blend

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp. salt

OPTIONAL:  1/8 tsp. glucomannan powder if you like a thicker dressing

DIRECTIONS:  Measure the first 3 ingredients into a medium bowl.  Whisk well to blend to a smooth mixture.  Add my Ranch Dressing Powder Blend, vinegar and salt and whisk a couple minutes until the herb mixture is thoroughly blended in.  If using the glucomannan thickener, whisk it in last.  Transfer to a saved empty plastic dressing bottle (I always keep and wash them for homemade dressings) if you have one, or a lidded jar.  Close tightly and chill.  Serve on crisp green salads or as a dip for raw veggies.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes two cups or eight ¼ c. servings, each contains:

251 cals, 26.8g fat, 1.81g carbs, 0.1g fiber, 1.71g NET CARBS, 1.72g protein, 66 mg sodium

Beef Jerky

Jerky has been around for centuries and in all parts of the world.  It goes as far back as Egyptian times.  It was such an integral part of earliest America’s days, particularly frontier life.  I can’t imagine the Lewis and Clark Expedition surviving without it, can you?      I do think of it as American food, but it most assuredly not just American.  It is loved around the world.  Many like my husband are almost addicted to the stuff and replenishes the pantry supply the minute it is gone.  So I think it deserves a place in our American food ‘classics’ discussion.

I just love my 10-tray Guide Gear food dehydrator.  All metal parts so none crack from heat over time.  🙂  It cranks out the most beautiful, tasty batch of beef jerky in 4 hours flat!! I love beef jerky!!  This has always been my husband’s favorite snack as well.  And the perfect low-carb snack indeed!  At a range of $26-$29 per pound now (beef has skyrocketed recently), this is a very expensive little snack!  For years I made my own jerky on regular sheet pans in the oven at 155-170º for 5-6 hours, basting and turning the meat a couple times during the drying process.  A dehydrator allows the strips of meat to dry on open racks, with forced warm air circulation around all sides of the meat simultaneously, eliminating the need to turn the meat, as well as speeding up the time required.

This recipe can be done with other cuts of beef, but sirloin will be the lowest in calories and fat (except for skirt meat) and probably the best meat value for jerky, followed by lean round or rump roast.  I began with 4 nice pieces of sirloin (about 6# raw meat total) that when trimmed of all visible fat, sinew, and gristle, yielded exactly 5# of lean strips of raw beef.  That dried out to exactly 2# of finished jerky.  See why it’s so expensive now?  Since I can’t possibly know how much you will eat at a sitting, I’m giving you nutritional info for a 1 oz. serving, which is probably 2-3 pieces.

When slicing your meat, it is important to slice it uniformly thick (FYI, longer strips are best for dehydrator trays.  If oven cooking, the length of the strips is unimportant).  I aim for 3/16″-1/4″ thick slices.  HANDY TIP:  Slicing partially frozen meat is easiest, if you can take the time to partially freeze it.  Any thinner than 3/16″ will reduce your final jerky to crispy critters faster than the thicker pieces (must remove those from cooking sooner); thicker than 1/4″ will take a long time to fully dry out.

I like to marinate my meat for at least 6 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator in a covered plastic pan before dehydrating.  You will get better flavor results with longer marinating time. 🙂  For those that like a sweeter, teriyaki jerky, you can add 1 tsp. of maple extract and a dab of your favorite sweetening agent.

INGREDIENTS: 

6-6½ lbs. boneless sirloin (will yield about 5 lb. trimmed meat)

1 T. tomato paste (Walmart Great Value brand is pure tomato pulp, no added sugar)

3/4 c. red wine or water

1/3 c. soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. coarse black pepper

1 pkt. stevia, Splenda or other sweetener (optional)

DIRECTIONS:   Trim all fat, membrane, sinew and gristle off the meat.  Any left on will expedite spoilage during storage. Partially freeze meat to facilitate slicing.  Slice the partially frozen meat 3/16″ thick.  In large plastic/glass marinating pan,  blend tomato paste with soy sauce until smooth.  Add water and remaining ingredients and stir well.  Add meat to the marinade and using hands, toss meat several times to coat well.  Cover and marinate 6 hours or overnight, covered, in refrigerator.  You can also marinate the meat in gallon zipper plastic storage bags.  I recommend placing them into bowls/marinating pan, in case of leakage you won’t want to mess up the refrigerator 😉  Stir once or twice during marinating (or manipulate the bag with your hands to be sure all the meat is touching the marinade.

When ready to dehydrate, lift meat pieces out of marinade and lay on dehydrator trays or non-stick baking sheets, leaving a ¼” space between pieces.  You do not want them to touch each other as this will block air/heat circulation. Set dehydrator to meat setting (155º-160º) for 4-6 hours.  I check mine every hour, in case small/thin pieces are over drying. No matter how hard you try, some pieces will slice out thinner than others.  It just happens!

My jerky takes 4 hours in my dehydrator, but it used to take me 8 hours, for several reasons, mostly tray overcrowding in my old smaller dehydrator.  If oven cooking on pans, set oven between 160º-170º. Turn meat every hour (usually 1 or 2 times is enough).  Take pieces out of the dehydrator/oven as they appear to be fully dried.  It goes without saying, any thick pieces will take longer to fully dry out.  Discard any marinate remainders as it is contaminated with raw meat juices.  When jerky has cooled, ENJOY!!

To store jerky, wrap in small batches in foil and then place the foil packs into a large ziploc bag.  Though they can be stored on the counter for 1-2 months, if not 100% dried, it can mold/spoil quickly.  Refrigerating therefore, is always the safest way to store jerky that has not been done commercially.  I actually keep most of mine in the freezer and just thaw 1 foil pack as needed, keeping the open one in the fridge until that pack is fully consumed.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 32 oz. (2 lb) finished jerky, or 32 servings of 1 oz. each.  Each serving contains:

94.59 cals, 2.52g fat, 0.58g carbs, 0.09g fiber, 0.49g NET CARBS, 16g protein, 128 mg sodium

Asian Pork Riblets

I’m a Baby Boomer, raised in the 50’s and 60’s.  My first memories of Chinese food were of Chicken Chow Mein, with those fun curly noodles on top, and the Pu-Pu Platter all the Chinese restaurants offered as appetizers.  No discussion of Chinese food would be complete without mentioning the Pu-Pu appetizer platter.  Besides, it’s just fun to say the name, non?  🙂 

It was the little, slightly sweet ribs I remember off those appetizer platters that were my favorite.  I was never a fan of the crab toast or cheese stuffed fried noodles.  If you love those ribs half as much as I did, you will want to give this recipe a try.  They are not too sweet or sticky, but do have a slight sweet edge.  There’s just the right amount of Asian spice on them for a nice flavor addition to serve alongside your next stir-fry dinner!  Or have them as snacks or appetizers at your next party!  These are suitable once you get past the first 2-week Induction Phase of Atkins and are OK for most Keto diets if the numbers will fit into your daily macro limits.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lb. pork spareribs, cut apart into separate ribs/pieces 

10 drops liquid smoke

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ginger root, peeled & minced

2 T. low sodium soy sauce

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

1/8 tsp. dry mustard

1 T. molasses

1 T. my homemade Hoisin Sauce

¼-½ tsp. Sriracha sauce

1 T. dry sherry or white wine (tenderizes)

2 T. tap water

¼ tsp. Chinese 5-Spice Powder

DIRECTIONS:  Cut ribs along bones to separate.  If using the point end of a rack of ribs, that is almost totally boneless, cut any wider strips of boneless meat into strips about 3/4″ wide, or roughly the  size of the bone-in ribs.  Set them aside for a few minutes.  In a large mixing bowl, measures out all other ingredients.  Stir to blend well.  Add meat and toss well to coat.  Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400º.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place marinated meat strips onto pan making sure they are not touching.  With a brush baste lightly with marinade.  When oven is hot, place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes.  Turn and baste the other side of the meat pieces and cook another 15-20 minutes.  When browned nicely on both sides, remove meat to a platter and serve with whatever other Asian fare you like or enjoy these as an appetizer.  Be forewarned this is finger food and can be a wee bit sticky.  Have plenty of napkins on hand. 🙂

You can also grill these for even more flavor!  They would also cook up nicely in an air fryer cooking at 360º for about 15-20 min. turning at the 10 min. mark.  Fryers vary, so be sure to keep an eye on them the first time you try them in your air fryer.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

515 cals, 40g fat, 6.17g carbs, 0.27g fiber, 5.9g NET CARBS, 29.7g protein, 428mg sodium

Turkish Pide (pronounced pee-day)

Moving north out of Iraq, we end up in Turkey.   I spent a very long day in Turkey’s Istanbul airport once.  That part of my trip home to the States I would never willingly repeat.  but the day included a wonderful little food experience I’ll never forget.  I understand they make something similar to this ‘pizza-like’ dish in several Arab nations.   How it is constructed may change a bit from country to country (probably spices, too), but the concept remains the same.

We purchased it at a little eaterie near the airport in Istanbul.  Our flight was laid over due to an engine problem.  They said the  replacement engine had to be flown in from Paris, so the ‘short wait’ ended up spanning a period of about 16 hours in all.  They kept announcing over the loud speaker it would just be another hour, so we were afraid to leave the airport for a hotel room, meal or any tourist sight-seeing when it got light in the morning.   😦  Sixteen hours on those hard wooden benches in the airport didn’t afford much sleep for this 12 year old (at the time).

At one point my parents sent my older brother and I on a food obtaining mission around the airport.  We were all beginning to get pretty hungry.  One food vendor had something that intrigued us.  He called it (what sounded like) “pee day”  🙂 .  Of course, being children, we found the name funny and smiled at each other.   The item looked good, so we bought some and carried it back to where Mom and Dad were.  They had been sick our entire trip back home.  We loved the pide and gobbled it down!

We had no idea what we were eating, but could tell it was spiced ground lamb with a ‘pizza’ crust.  Years later, at a Barnes & Noble bookstore,  I found this dish mentioned in a book on Middle Eastern cuisine that was organized by country.   After gaining more knowledge of Middle Eastern spices over the years, I made a feeble attempt to reproduce the flavors of this food memory.  My recipe is close, but surely not quite the same.

I have also learned that Pide is typically served during the Moslem religious holiday known as Ramadan.  It is shared when the feasting begins after the long fast.  What we ate was clearly made with a whole wheat flat bread dough similar to Iranian noon/naan.  My version posted here is instead made with my Mozzy Dough to keep it relatively low in carbs.  My husband ranted about this the first time I made it for him, so I think you will like it as well!   

This recipe is not suitable for Atkins Induction as the dough has a small amount of flour product in it (it’s in the Carbquik).   Although this is a main entrée, it can be served in smaller slices as snack food.  It goes over well at parties but does requires a plate and fork if served in the traditional longboat shape.  For party serving, I have formed the dough into small mini muffin cups and filled with smaller portions of the toppings to make it more manageable as finger food.

INGREDIENTS:

½ recipe my Mozzy Dough

8 oz. lean ground beef (or lamb, to be authentic)

2 oz. onion, finely chopped

15 San Marzano mini tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), chopped

3/4 c. parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp. Baharat Spice

¼ tsp. each: dried mint

¼ tsp. crushed dried fenugreek leaves (optional, but a key flavor for me)

¼ tsp. each salt and coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Make the Mozzy Dough per that recipe’s instructions, reserving half the dough for another use.  It freezes well in a plastic bag.  Roll the dough into a fat canoe/longboat shape about 12″ x 7″ on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375º.  Brown the beef (or lamb) in a skillet with the onion.  Add the parsley and all seasonings listed above.  Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes to tenderize the onions.  Remove and spoon evenly into the “canoe” of dough, leaving a good inch of dough free of filling.  Sprinkle the chopped tomatoes on top.  Fold the uncovered dough up over the meat to create the sides of the “canoe”, pinching the pointed ends together with your fingers to help maintain the “canoe” shape.  Traditionally, they sprinkle sesame seeds on the sides of the “canoe” dough before baking but I did not, as the hubs isn’t fond of seeds on/in breads.    Pop into 375º oven for about 20-25 minutes or until begins to brown.  Remove from oven and cut into four equal portions.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    As a meal, makes 4 servings of pide (cut smaller into snack size for lower carbs), each contains:

316 calories, 23.5g fat, 12.17g carbs, 6.2g fiber, 5.97g NET CARBS, 24.424 g protein, 476mg sodium

Hummus

When I make Middle Eastern Tabouleh Salad I usually want some hummus to go along with it.  Being made from basically chickpeas, this is far from a low-carbers “safe” food to eat.  But I recently I saw where some make it with cauliflower for much lower carb count.   But when I tried it myself, I added just a few cooked chick peas for the flavor boost.  Very good that way.  Next trial, I used a little chickpea flour I keep in my pantry.   Much better than opening a whole can of chickpeas for just a few.

Man, if you’re craving hummus, this is really good.  I honestly couldn’t really tell it apart from the carb-laden variety made with all chickpeas!   This recipe is not suitable until the legumes rung of the OWL ladder.  The bread sticks pictured are made from 1 slice of my focaccia bread

NOTE:  This hummus is not so great leftover.  The cauliflower taste gets much stronger on day 2.  So only make up as much as you think will get consumed completely the day you make it.  I recommend making a half recipe the first time around to be sure you like and can eat it all.  

INGREDIENTS: 

16 oz. cauliflower

2 T. tahini paste (sesame seed butter)

2 T. chickpea flour (or ¼ c. cooked chickpeas. mashed up well)

1 T. fresh lemon juice

½ clove garlic, minced

dash salt

1 T. olive oil (for the hummus mixture)

¼ c. olive oil for top garnish

Dash paprika for garnish

parsley sprig to garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:   Steam cauliflower over boiling water until tender.  Lift out of pot and put into food processor.  Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the ¼ c. olive oil, paprika and parsley sprig.  Blend until smooth.  Scrape out onto serving dish.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Drizzle with ¼ c. olive oil, allowing some to pool around the edges.  Garnish with sprig of parsley (or chopped) and serve with your favorite low-carb breadsticks or crackers.  I personally love this stuff best when served with Tabouleh Salad and black or kalamata olives.  The flavors are wonderful together!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes about 2 cups or around five servings.  Each serving contains:

196 cals, 17.76 g fat, 8.04 g carbs, 3.16 g fiber, 4.88 g NET CARBS, 3.46 g protein, minimal sodium.  Check out the other nutrients:  70% RDA Vitamin C, 18% B6, 16% E, 20% copper, 16% iron, 18% manganese, 15% phosphorous, and 14% thiamin.  A veritable medicine bottle, this one.

San Marzano Focaccia

This is what I fixed for lunch today, with the addition of some sliced olives.  I’m noticing as I get older, I’m liking many fewer ingredients on what I think of as basically, um….  pizza.   Did I tell you?  I’m trying my hand at growing San Marzano tomatoes this year!   I hope that experiment proves to be successful.  I love their ultra sweet, fruity flavor over all other tomatoes.

This is yet another great new use for my Mozzy Dough.  I’m having so much fun trialing new applications for this dough.  TIP:  I make up 10 batches of the dry ingredients pre-measured on paper plates.  Then I fold and pour each into a sandwich bag and store the bags zipped up in a shoe box in my pantry.  Very convenient…..as then all I have to do is grab a bag, melt the butter, add the beaten egg, melt the cheese and make my dough ball.  So easy that way.  I store the paper plates and baggies and re-use for making each batch of 10. 

Boy, is this focaccia ever simple to make and yummy good!  I make mine fairly thin.  If you like focaccia thicker, make a smaller sheet than shown right (using fewer tomatoes, of course) and being sure you cut it into 12 slices so the nutritional info will be accurate.  This recipe is not suitable until you get to Phase 2 grains re-introduction level of Atkins as the Carbquik does have some flour in it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

25-27 San Marzano mini tomatoes (10 oz. bag)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

½ tsp. dried basil (or 1 T. fresh basil chopped)

¼ tsp. dried oregano (or 1/2 tsp. fresh)

VARIATION:   Add a few sliced black olives

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Make the Mozzy Dough per that recipe’s instructions.  Line a 13″x15″ baking sheet with parchment and using your fingers, press the ball of dough out to a 9″x12″ rectangle (smaller if you like it thicker.  With a brush baste the dough with half the olive oil.  Sprinkle the chopped garlic evenly over the top and press it down a bit.  Now sprinkle 1/2 c. mozzarella over the crust evenly.  Slice the tomatoes lengthwise into halves and place skin-side down evenly over the top of the focaccia sheet.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on next and then the shredded Parmesan.  Sprinkle on the basil and oregano last.  Add olive slices, pressing them into the dough (if using).  Pop into oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is browning on the edges and the tomatoes are looking cooked on top.  Serve with a nice green salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 12 3″x3″ squares of focaccia, each square contains.

190 calories, 15 g fat, 6.88 g carbs, 3.61 g fiber, 3.27 g NET CARBS, 12.6 g protein, 276 mg sodium

Mini Bean “Soft Tacos”

Although not an authentic Mexican dish, these have become quite popular at my house!  Therefore I thought I’d include them in my Mexican Food celebration.  Doesn’t get more Mexican than beans, cheese and jalapenos!  These finger treats are just a new way to enjoy those key ingredients!

This “wrap” is soft yet substantial enough to pick up and eat with your hands.  These are not at all crisp.  These are great for snacks or to serve at parties.  If you don’t eat pork rinds, you could substitute in some low-carb bake mix instead, but carb count would go up and wrapper texture as well.  The only way I can afford the carbs in beans and keep these pliable to fold is by using 0-carb pork rinds in these. 

Boy, oh, boy, were these ever good!  Ended up the jalapeno pepper I used was too hot for me and I had to pull some of it off mine, but this was a nice snack served warm.  You should be able to reheat these quite nicely, too.  This recipe is not suitable until you reach Atkins Phase 2 and are at the starchy vegetable rung of the carb-reintroduction ladder in that phase.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. shredded Cheddar cheese

2 T. cream cheese

½ tsp. chili powder or Taco seasoning

1 egg, beaten

1½ c. pork rind flour

2/3 c. canned refried pinto beans

¼ c. Monterey Jack Cheese

1 medium jalapeno, seeded and sliced into very thin rounds

VARIATION:  Add 1 T. taco-seasoned browned ground beef atop the beans before finishing construction.

DIRECTIONS:   Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.  Preheat oven to 375º.  In your microwave, melt the Cheddar cheese, cream cheese and chili powder in a glass bowl for about 1 minute on HI.  When fully melted, remove and stir once.  Add the beaten egg and pork rind flour.  Quickly stir together vigorously with a fork until ingredients appear to be uniformly distributed and it forms a uniform ball of dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Divide into 10 equal portions, slightly roll into a ball and with fingers, press onto parchment in 2″ circles that should be slightly thinner than 1/4″. If sticky to work with, dampen your fingers with a bit of water.

Pop into 375º oven for about 7 minutes or until dry in the center to your finger touch.  Remove from oven and spoon 1 T. beans onto each dough round.  Spread beans out a bit but not all the way to the edges of the dough circles.  Carefully do this as the dough is still very soft and not fully cooked.  Place 2 slices of jalapeno on each one (or 1 if you don’t like things spicy).  Garnish each dough round with about 1 tsp. Jack cheese.  Pop pan back into oven and bake these for about 10 minutes more or until beans have had a chance to warm up and the Jack cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and fold them in half.  Press slightly in middle so they will stay folded.  Serve warm.  I suspect these would reheat nicely in your oven set at 350º.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10.  Each mini taco contains:

126 calories, 10.96 g fat, 3.85 g carbs, 0.99 g fiber, 2.86 g NET CARBS, 8.95 g protein, 353 mg sodium

Hummus

When I make Middle Eastern Tabouleh Salad I usually want some hummus to go along with it.  Being made from basically chickpeas, this is far from a low-carbers “safe” food to eat.  But I recently I saw where some make it with cauliflower for much lower carb count.   But when I tried it myself, I added just a few cooked chick peas for the flavor boost.  Very good that way.  Next trial, I used a little chickpea flour I keep in my pantry.   Much better than opening a whole can of chickpeas for just a few.

Man, if you’re craving hummus, this is really good.  I honestly couldn’t really tell it apart from the carb-laden variety made with all chickpeas!   This recipe is not suitable until the legumes rung of the OWL ladder.  The bread sticks pictured are made from 1 slice of my focaccia bread

NOTE:  This hummus is not so great leftover.  The cauliflower taste gets much stronger on day 2.  So only make up as much as you think will get consumed completely the day you make it.  I recommend making a half recipe the first time around to be sure you like and can eat it all.  

INGREDIENTS: 

16 oz. cauliflower

2 T. tahini paste (sesame seed butter)

2 T. chickpea flour (or ¼ c. cooked chickpeas. mashed up well)

1 T. fresh lemon juice

½ clove garlic, minced

dash salt

1 T. olive oil (for the hummus mixture)

¼ c. olive oil for top garnish

Dash paprika for garnish

parsley sprig to garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:   Steam cauliflower over boiling water until tender.  Lift out of pot and put into food processor.  Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the ¼ c. olive oil, paprika and parsley sprig.  Blend until smooth.  Scrape out onto serving dish.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Drizzle with ¼ c. olive oil, allowing some to pool around the edges.  Garnish with sprig of parsley (or chopped) and serve with your favorite low-carb breadsticks or crackers.  I personally love this stuff best when served with Tabouleh Salad and black or kalamata olives.  The flavors are wonderful together!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes about 2 cups or around five servings.  Each serving contains:

196 cals, 17.76 g fat, 8.04 g carbs, 3.16 g fiber, 4.88 g NET CARBS, 3.46 g protein, minimal sodium.  Check out the other nutrients:  70% RDA Vitamin C, 18% B6, 16% E, 20% copper, 16% iron, 18% manganese, 15% phosphorous, and 14% thiamin.  A veritable medicine bottle, this one.

Tzatziki

A Greek condiment for many of their meat dishes.

This well-known Greek sauce is one of those recipes I’ve been meaning to put up on my site for ages and ages and just kept forgetting to do it.  This year I’m really trying to get to posting all those recipes I make often but are the meal “extras” and not the “main attraction”.   This is the typical condiment with Greek food and  Middle Eastern/Mediterranean grilled beef or lamb kebabs or ground beef/lamb koftas.  It’s also great on tuna, salmon or crab cakes or on gyros-type sandwich wraps.  I’ve even used this sauce on some salads as a dressing!  It’s ever so simple to make, too!

Be sure to squeeze out (in toweling) as much water from your grated cucumber as you can before combining all the ingredients or else it will bleed out its water into the sauce and really weaken the flavor and spoil the appearance.  This recipe is not suitable for Induction due to the yogurt, but you could make it with all sour cream and enjoy 2-3 Tbsp.  This sauce is suitable for other Keto diets and Primal Blueprint (occasionally), but not at all Paleo approved.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large 8-9″ cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated

1 c. drained or Greek yogurt, or half yogurt and half sour cream (my personal preference), or all sour cream (for lower carbs)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. yellow onion, minced finely

½ tsp. dried dill weed (or 2 sprigs fresh, chopped)

½ tsp. dried mint (or 1 T. fresh, chopped fine)

Dash each salt and black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  At least 1 hour before serving, peel the cucumber.  Cut in half and seed with a spoon.  Grate the cucumber onto paper toweling double thick or even better, place it in a clean cotton woven kitchen towel (not terry cloth, please).  Blot the water away with paper towels or wrap, twist and squeeze it in the kitchen towel to remove all water.  You want to get as much water out as you can.  Add the cucumber to a medium bowl.  Add all remaining ingredients and stir well.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  If it bleeds out more water, blot it from around the edges with a paper towel, stir and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes about 2 cups or 4 servings (perhaps more depending on how much people eat).  1/4 of the batch contains:

102 cals, 8.1 g fat, 4.6 g carbs, 0.8 g fiber, 3.8 g  NET CARBS, 3.2 g protein, 110 mg sodium

Indian Samosas (with meat)

I made Indian food for dinner tonight, which consisted of my Indian Creamed Spinach (Saag Paneer), Indian Baked Chicken (done in my air fryer) and I tried my hand at samosas.  My husband just loves samosas, so I put my thinking hat on.  Traditionally they are made with vegetable mixtures, but I decided to use some leftover Kheema Matar for mine today.  Thought I could use my Mozzy Dough as it’s pretty flexible to be manipulated.  For the filling, my Kheema Matar meat mixture will do nicely, as it has veggies and meat.

These came out wonderful!  I used a little of my Sofrito mixed with a little chopped mint in olive oil for a dipping sauce.  They are traditionally dipped into a tamarind sauce.  I have tamarind on hand, but haven’t picked a recipe for that sauce yet.   Here is a link to a Youtube video on how to make a tamarind dipping sauce.  Samosas to me, don’t really need a sauce at all, really, if the filling is a good one.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

1 recipe my ground meat Kheema Matar

DIRECTIONS:  Make the Kheema Matar meat mixture by that recipe’s instructions and set by your work area.  Make the dough by that recipe’s instructions.  After final kneading, roll into a log and divide into 12 equal parts.  For easier construction, you may prefer to make just 6 larger samosas.  But I wanted small ones tonight as I’m eating a lot less these days.

Roll each of the 12 (or 6) portions of dough into a ball and set on a silicone sheet or plastic wrap.  Press the dough into a 4″ round with your fingers and the but of your palm.  Fill each round of dough with 2 T. meat filling and press it firmly into a mound.  Gently lift opposite sides up over the filling (all four) and to the center to cover the meat completely, pinching the dough at the top to seal well.  If dough tears, dump the meat back into the skillet, roll and press the round of dough out again and refill.  Heck, the dough is a little delicate.  Even I had to redo one myself.  Place the samosas onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Continue until all 12 (or 6) samosas are made.  Preheat oven to 350º and pop pan into oven.  Bake for about 15 minutes until just browning on the tops.  Remove and serve as a snack, appetizer or with a full Indian meal as a first course.  If you want a little dipping sauce, mix 2 T. of my Sofrito (and 2 T.fresh mint, if you have some) in 2 T. olive oil.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 small or 6 large samosas.  A serving, 1/6 recipe) consists of 2 small samosas (1 if making just 6 larges ones) and has:

258 cals, 23.8g fat, 13.8g carbs, 7.7g fiber, 6.1 NET CARBS, 27.1g protein, 808 mg sodium (mostly from the cheese in the dough)

Pumpkin Granola

My husband was asking for an easy breakfast cereal recently, because occasionally I just don’t want any breakfast and he doesn’t want me to cook when it’s just him eating.  So…… I created a very tasty cereal for such occasions.   I like to just snack on this stuff, no milk required!  The hint of pumpkin taste is delightful and so is the bit of coconut.  Mostly I taste the spices, nuts and fruit in this.   🙂  This recipe is not suitable until Atkins Phase 2 OWL when nuts are re-introduced.  This keeps AMAZINGLY well over time and stays quite crunchy, but you can reheat in the oven if it seems to get soft over time.  Mine has not, quite honestly, just storing in a Tupperware canister in my pantry.  

INGREDIENTS: 

½ c. roasted sunflower seeds, unsalted

½ c. roasted pumpkin seeds, unsalted

2 T. chia seeds

1½ c. large flake coconut, unsweetened

1 c. walnuts, coarsely cut

1 c. pecans, coarsely cut

1½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. sea salt

2 T. erythritol

5 dried prunes, chopped fine like tiny raisins (Del Monte has no added sugar)

1/3 c. liquified coconut oil

¼ c. sugar-free maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. canned pumpkin puree (do not use the pie filling!)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 300º.  Line two large baking sheets  with parchment paper and set aside.  Measure the first 12 (dry) ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir well.  In a small bowl, stir the last 4 (wet) ingredients well.  Using a rubber spatula, pour the wet ingredients evenly over the dry and with the spatula, stir and toss to coat all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.  When well-blended, pour half the mixture onto each paper-lined pan.  Spread evenly.  You will need to bake until it is dry and somewhat crisp to the touch, or about 1½ hours (longer for some ovens).  Stir ever 15-20 minutes to be sure it is cooking evenly.  Do not allow to overly brown or the nuts will taste burned.   Turn off oven and let the granola dry in the oven as it cools.  Break it apart into smaller clusters if you like.  I like mine in larger clusters, as I eat it more as a snack than a cereal.  Transfer to an airtight container or zip-loc gallon bag.  BE ABSOLUTELY SURE IT IS FULLY COOLED BEFORE STORING.  Otherwise it will “sweat” and get soft (just re-bake for 15-20 minutes to crisp it up again).  This stuff is delicious, so do ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 9 cups total or eighteen ½ cup servings.  Each ½-cup serving contains:

214 cals, 19.6g fat, 7.5g carbs, 3.21g fiber, 4.29g NET CARBS, 4.9g protein, 42 mg sodium

Greek Olive Tapenade

This is my take on the olive spread often served with the bread and salad course at Greek Restaurants.  We just love this stuff and it disappears sooooo fast at my house.   I am absolutely in love with spreading it on my Almond-Flax Crackers or my Almond-Arrowroot Crackers for a delicious snack.  Just made a fresh batch this afternoon!  🙂  Other ways to use this tasty spread:   stuffed inside slit chicken breasts before baking along with a dab of Boursin or cream cheese, spread on top of broiled fish filets when serving, atop tomato slices for a unique salad, or with a little more oil and balsamic vinegar, it’s great as a Greek salad dressing!  This recipe is Induction friendly and the flavor is totally addictive if you like kalamata olives.  

INGREDIENTS:

6 oz. pitted black olives (I use a mixture of canned black olives & kalamata olives)

1 small clove minced garlic

¼ c. olive oil

2 T. chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:  Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until uniformly coarse texture, smooth but not reduced to a paste.  You want it very finely chopped.  You can pulse in a blender if you do not have a food processor.  Serve with your favorite low-carb crackers or Greek bread (for those not on Atkins).

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes about 3/4 cup or serves 6, each 2 T. serving contains:

111.5 cals, 11.7g fat, 2.2g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.2g NET CARBS, 0.4g protein, 200 mg sodium

Sausage-Mushroom Pizza

I made an absolutely scrumptious pizza this week with my new nut-free pizza crust. I have been craving pizza ever since I was reminded of my favorite pizza place back in Denton, TX when I was a freshman in college. Their sausage-mushroom pizzas were so good, I would order one of these to be delivered to the dorm every other week. Back then, I could eat whatever I wanted without gaining weight. Sigh, those times are past. The place has since gone out of business, I recently learned, which saddened me greatly. Decided I’d try to duplicate the flavor I remember and the result was quite close!

My resurrection was very good. My husband is a pizza ‘Supreme’ or bust kind of guy, but even he admitted this one with just the two toppings was really different and quite tasty. I’ll definitely be making this one again! It’s so nice when you can nearly duplicate a taste memory. This pizza is not suitable until you reach the ‘grains’ rung of the Atkins carb reintroduction ladder.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Einkorn Nut-Free Pizza Crust (or favorite low-carb crust)

½ c. your favorite low-carb pizza sauce

1½ c. mozzarella cheese shreds

6 oz. breakfast pork sausage

4 large mushrooms, sliced thin

¼ tsp. oregano

½ tsp. fennel seed, crushed

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS: Make your crust per that recipe’s instruction, up to the pre-cooked, ready to top stage. Set pan aside. Brown the sausage just to ‘no-longer-pink’ stage in a skillet over low heat. Add spices, garlic and cook 1-2 minutes longer for flavors to blend. Remove sausage to paper plate. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté on low heat until they are no longer opaque. Don’t overcook them! Preheat oven to 350º.

Spread pizza sauce in a very thin layer over the crust. You want the sausage and mushrooms to shine on this particular pizza, not the sauce. Evenly spread the mozzarella shreds over the sauced crust. Next sprinkle the meat mixture evenly on top. Lay mushrooms slices as evenly as possible on top next. Finish off with a sprinkling of the 2 T. Parmesan cheese. Pop your pizza into a 350º oven and bake around 15-20 minutes, being careful to check once to avoid over-browning of toppings and crust edges. Serve with a nice green salad and you’re ready for a real treat!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

327 Cals, 21g fat, 11g carbs, 2g fiber, 9g NET CARBS, 24g. protein, 642 mg sodium

Tuna Cheesies

I’ve been making these creamy, cheesie goodies for probably 20 years or more.  My husband just LOVES these things so I’m making a pan of them for our lunch today.  Mmmm, I forget how good these are.  The inspirational recipe I found years ago in a newspaper used saltine crackers.  My low-carb version here uses my Almond-Flax crackers.   You could alternately use baked low-carb flour tortilla wedges or baked, low-carb pita bread wedges.   This time I cut my almond cracker recipe into 12 oblong larger rectangles as shown above (instead of my usual 48 small square crackers for the cracker recipe).  These tasty treats are suitable once you get to Atkins Phase 2.  They are OK for Keto dieters if they fit your daily macro limits.

INGREDIENTS:

½ recipe my Almond Flax Crackers  (or 24 pre-baked low-carb crackers/chips of choice)

1   6-oz foil pouch tuna (or a 5 oz. can, drained)

1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

2 slices Kraft American Deluxe cheese, shredded

3 T. homemade mayo (or soft butter)

2-3 shakes cayenne pepper (more if you like things “hot”)

4-5 drops Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. onion powder

VARIATION:  Add a bit of chopped green onion.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  As to making the cracker base for these, I tend to mix up a whole recipe of the cracker dough and shape it on the baking sheet into two rectangles, one on each end, not quite all the way to the edges of the pan, with a slight separation between them.  I use half the cracker recipe for these Tuna Cheesies and save the other rectangle to cut into plain crackers to have on hand for other uses.  Or if you’re having a party, you could double the topping ingredients and use the entire recipe of crackers for a total of 48 Tuna Cheesies.  They disappear fast, so make the batch of 48 for a party! 🙂

Prepare and bake the crackers by that recipe’s instructions at 350º.  Cool slightly on the pan.  If you made the full recipe of crackers, but only want 12 or 24 portions, store the rest of the crackers in a lidded container on your kitchen counter for up to 2 weeks.

While the crackers are baking, mix the tuna-cheese topping in a bowl.  When crackers are cooled and cut into the number you want, spread tuna-cheese mixture on top.  Pop back into the oven for about 5-10 minutes longer to melt the cheesy topping nicely.  Remove from the oven and enjoy!  Serve warm.  Often for parties, I’ll make two pans of 24 each, waiting untilt he first pan has been wolfed down by guests before popping the second pan in the oven.  They are definitely better hot so the cheese is gooey.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 rectangular Tuna Cheesies, each contains:

147 calories, 11.83 g  fat, 3.5 g  carbs, 2.01 g  fiber, 1.49 g  NET CARBS, 7.9 g  protein, 203 mg sodium

NOTE:  If crackers cut into 48 squares and you use 24 for this recipe, divide the nutritional numbers above for by 2 to get the per serving numbers for each smaller square.

Einkorn Sausage-Cheese Balls

This is an ever-popular party appetizer that never goes out of favor with your guests.  When I’m hosting the appetizers phase of our neighborhood annual Christmas round-robin dinner, this easy treat is easy to make ahead, heat and serve.  I have another Sausage Cheese Ball recipe on my website that rings in at only 1 net carb per ball but I like this one a bit better because it’s a little easier to put together.  It features my convenient homemade Einkorn Low-Carb Bake Mix (similar to Bisquick and Carbquik).  Even with the bake mix, these only have 1.76 net carbs per ball!  Not bad for the convenience of just 3 ingredients.   These are not suitable until the grains rung of the carb re-introduction ladder of Atkins Phase 2 OWL.  They are OK for Keto diets if you can fit them into your daily carb limits.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. breakfast sausage (I used my homemade breakfast sausage recipe)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 c. my Einkorn Bake Mix  (For gluten-free version, use Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix or another GF mix of your choice)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the above ingredients in a medium bowl with your hands as you would a meatloaf mixture.  When thoroughly blended, form into 30 1″ balls and place on non-stick baking sheet or one lined with parchment or silicone sheet for ease of clean-up. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to paper towels to drain off any excess grease (mine had none actually).  Serve warm and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 30  1″ balls, each sausage ball contains:

95 calories, 7.81 g  fat, 2.4 g  carbs, 0.64 g fiber, 1.76 g  NET CARBS, 4.82 g  protein, 81 mg sodium

Spicy Cheese Thins

This recipe is a variation of an Almond Thins cracker recipe posted on Low Carb Friends forums.  It was originally posted there by a member known as Miredkitty, but am not sure if it is in fact Miredkitty’s own recipe.   It has been tweaked by so many good cooks they have come up with a ton of wonderful savory and sweet variations.

I took the basic almond flour thins recipe, doubled it, omitted the Splenda and then added cheese and one of my favorite seasoning combinations to come up with a spicy little snack cracker reminiscent of Cheez-its or Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.  These are very thin and VERY crispy if you allow them to brown a bit!  They are good alone or they are delicious with soup! You can eat five of these crackers for under 2 net carbs!!   My kind of cracker!  These are not suitable until you get to the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL ladder.

VARIATION:  For an even cheesier taste, you can add 2 T. Nutritional Yeast to the dry ingredients when mixing the dough. 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

2 egg whites from large eggs

¼ tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional, use more if you like things hot)

1/8 tsp. chili powder

1 c. grated Cheddar cheese (½ more if you want them cheesier)

¼ tsp. salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 325º. Cut parchment paper to fit exactly the bottom of an 11″ x 16½” sheet pan.  Just set the paper on your kitchen counter for now.  Mix almond flour and seasonings in a bowl.  Add egg whites and stir with a fork.  Add cheese and continue stirring until it forms a moist dough.  Spoon (or crumble with your hands) the dough evenly onto parchment working from the center out. Cover the dough blobs with a sprayed/oiled sheet of waxed paper the same size.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a single, smooth rectangular sheet of dough the size of the parchment.  Be careful to not let the dough exceed the piece of parchment paper. If it does, put those bits back into the sheet and roll smooth again.  You definitely want this dough to go all the way to the edges of the parchment paper so the crackers will be thin enough to be crisp.

Slowly and carefully lift off the waxed paper.  Use the tip of a pointed knife to lift up two corners and with your hands, applying tension to keep the sheet stiff, carefully lift parchment, dough and all onto the baking sheet.  If you cut it the right size, it should sit right down on the bottom nicely.  Using your sharp knife, carefully (and gently since the dough is fragile) score the dough into cracker shapes (8 x 10, making 80 crackers total).  Pop into your preheated 325º oven and bake for about 10-11 minutes or until lightly browned.  The outer rows brown faster, so you will likely need to remove outer rows as soon as they are browned so those don’t get over-browned while  the center ones finish cooking.  Cool a few minutes and separate into separate crackers along your score lines.  Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag.  NOTE:  If these lose their crispness on day 2 or 3 (due to high oil content of cheddar cheese) re-crisp on a baking sheet in a 325º in the oven for about 10 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 80 crackers, each cracker contains: (using 1 c. cheese only)

23.5 cals, 1.98g fat, 0.64g carbs, 0.3g fiber, 0.34g NET CARBS, 1.12g protein, 20 mg sodium

Jack Snacks

Starting a low-carb diet?  Bet you’re wondering what YOU can snack on when the rest of the family is enjoying verboten foods.  Well this recipe, if you can call it a recipe, is one solution.  It’s suitable for Atkins Induction Phase, Keto diets and even Primal followers that eat occasional cheese.  Takes just minutes to make and bake!  This is now my #1 recipe in popularity, having garnered well over 30,000,000 fans in 2015 alone on Facebook, blowing my Lebanese Baked Chicken (my former #1 recipe) right out of the water. 🙂

And if you seed the jalapeno, like I did, these were not even all that hot (I don’t like real hot/spicy foods).  Leave the seeds in if you like to spice things up!  These are delicious and so low-cal/low-carb you could eat the entire batch if you were so inclined!  The hubs and I split this batch equally and we both loved these!  Now, to be quite honest, I’ve also just melted plain old pepper-jack cheese before, but these really are better for some reason.  Maybe the cheese is better; maybe the fresh pepper is just better.  All I know is these are much better than just melting pepperjack cheese!  🙂  Some have asked, and if you try to save some and reheat, you better really watch them closely, as they are inclined to burn when reheated.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 medium fresh jalapeno, sliced real thin

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a metal cookie sheet.  DO NOT use a silicone/silpat sheet, waxed paper or foil (unless it’s the special non-stick foil) to bake these or they will not cook properly.  Using a tablespoon, scoop up 1 T. of cheese and make a small pile on the parchment.  Press it slightly flat.  Repeat 15 more times. Place a slice of jalapeno on top of each pile.  Pop into 350º oven for about 10-12 minutes.  I would recommend browning them a wee bit more than shown in the photo for a firmer snack to serve at parties.  These are somewhat pliable if under browned. Allow them to completely cool and fully firm up before removing from the pan for best results. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 16, each contains:

25.5 cals, 2.13 g fat, 0.10g carbs, 0.02g fiber, 0.08g NET CARBS, 1.63g protein, 60 mg sodium

Black Pepper Crackers

Early on in my low-carb journey I came across a pizza crust by Brittany Angell on RealSustenance.com that intrigued me.   Her sight and domain appear to have since shut down.  After making her recipe, I decided it was more cracker like than pizza dough like.  It was too thin and brittle for my taste……….definitely more like a cracker.   I adapted the pizza crust recipe to create what has become the BEST cracker recipe for me in my 14+ years of low-carbing.  I’m making crackers today, so I thought I’d share it with my readers once again.

This cracker is so good, I’ve now made this recipe probably 50 times or more in 14 years.  Since the predominant flavor is black pepper, I’m going to change their name to Black Pepper Crackers now.   These are delicious by themselves, with butter, toppings, dips or cheese!  Even my non-low-carb husband likes these!  I think the crisping magic here are the arrowroot and oat fiber, so I don’t recommend omitting or substituting for those two ingredients lest you end up with a totally different textured cracker than mine.

Let me say up front, my method for making the crackers does not read at all like the original recipe, but it sure produces a crisp cracker that STAYS crisp for days and days!   I changed amounts of come ingredients, added a couple things and definitely spiced them up a bit!  Those changes and additions are noted below in blue, including the oven temperature.  I also added a bit of oat fiber for a flour-y flavor, crunch and fiber.

This recipe is not suitable for Induction due to the oat fiber and arrowroot flour.  It isn’t suitable for Primal-Paleo unless you omit the oat fiber and cheese.  This is a really BIG recipe that makes two full sheet pans of 48 crackers each.  Half the recipe if you do not want that many (tasting them will change your mind next time 🙂 ).  That said, they do keep well and stay crisp in a loose-lidded ceramic canister on my counter for 2 weeks or so.  That’s much better than any of my other cracker recipes keep for me.

You can also make round crackers that are slightly thicker but just as crisp (a bit more trouble & time consuming).  Using 1 level tsp. dough per round cracker, I only got 66 round crackers.  I show numbers below for the round version also.

Round version made in silicone muffin molds/liners

VARIATION:   Omit the black pepper and add 1-2 T. of my 8-Seed Spice blend instead.

INGREDIENTS:

3 c. lightly packed almond flour (weighed out it was 11 oz. (311.8 grams)

4 T. arrowroot flour/powder

2/3 c. flax meal (I use a 50:50 mix of dark & golden)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sea salt

1 T. onion powder

2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 T. oat fiber  (omit for gluten-free version)

¼ c. grated Parmesan Cheese

3/4 c. warm tap water

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Line two large sheet pans (mine are 11½ x 17) with parchment.  I use plastic gloves to press crackers into my pans, or sometimes I cut a third piece or parchment, lay it on top and roll out the dough that way, using my gloved fingers to finish off the edges evenly.  The key is to get the cracker dough thin and even in the pan.  Thicker areas  don’t cook well; thinner areas will burn quickly.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Stir the warm water and olive oil together in a small glass to mix well.  Measure out all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.   Stir well with a fork.  Add the water-oil mixture to the dry ingredients and blend with the fork to form a solid ball of dough.  I form the dough right in the bowl into in a log shape and cut in half to divide it equally.  Crumble half the mixture onto each parchment-lined pan.  Roll the dough or, wearing plastic gloves, press the dough in the first pan evenly and all the way to the edges.  It will be very thin, and I always think it isn’t going to make it, but half the dough WILL reach the edge of the pan.  I like to roll the surface with a straight-sided glass I own.  If rolling with a rolling pin or straight glass, cover crumbles with parchment and roll as evenly as possible all the way to the edges of the pan.  You’ll likely have to finish the edges with your fingers (use a piece of plastic wrap if need be).  With a large chef’s knife, score the rolled dough into rows of crackers 6 x 8 (48 crackers).  Repeat this process with the second pan of crackers.

Although a lot more trouble and time-consuming, to make round crackers for parties, I use silicone muffin pans or silicone cupcake liners.  You can also use paper liners in a metal muffin pan.  Measure 1 level teaspoon of dough into each mold and press down evenly with a your fingers (I use plastic glove to do this to avoid dough sticking to me). Set silicone muffin pans and/or molds onto metal sheet pans for support. Pop the pans into the preheated 350º oven and bake for for about 20-22 minutes.  Ovens vary, so start watching them at 18 minutes.  Do not over brown!  I recommend removing those around the edges as soon as they begin to brown and those on the outside are inclined to burn. When all have browned, remove, cool 1-2 minutes, re-score with the chef’s knife and then let them cool completely before eating.  These are not tasty hot in my opinion.  The flavor develops when they have cooled.

Break apart and enjoy plain, with butter, cheese spreads (I’m addicted to them with chive & onion cream cheese) or your favorite hard cheeses or salami!  Store remainders in a plastic zip bag or any canister of your choosing.  I just use a ceramic cookie jar on my counter.  These stay crisp for around 2 weeks.  Mine get eaten within 2 weeks, so I honestly don’t know if they would keep longer or not.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 96 square crackers, each cracker contains:

28.4 calories, 2.38 g  fat, 1.32 g  carbs, 0.68 g  fiber, 0.64 g  NET CARBS, 0.97 g  protein, 37 mg sodium

NOTE:  If you make round crackers pressed into silicone muffin molds/cups you will only get 66 crackers, using 1 level tsp. dough per cracker.  Each round crackers will contain 41.3 calories, 3.46 g  fat, 1.91 g  carbs, 0.98 g  fiber, 0.93 g  net carbs, 1.41 g protein and 54 mg sodium

Smoked Steelhead Trout Spread

With holiday socializing and friends popping in, you always want some munchies to serve.  We often cook Grilled fish which is delicious so many other ways.  Recently we had nearly 6 oz. leftover from a huge steelhead trout, so I got creative and made a fantastic spread for low-carb crackers or veggie dipping.  This was one of the yummiest dips/spreads I’ve ever created, so I do hope you’ll try it sometime!  Plan for it to disappear fast, as it it THAT good!   You can substitute grilled salmon if that is more readily available, but be aware that commercially smoked salmon will be considerably stronger in fish/smoke flavor and much higher in sodium than a fish you grill at home yourself.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. (8 oz) cream cheese

1/3 c. sour cream

1/3 c. my homemade Shawarma Mayo (or regular mayo)

4 T. green onion, finely chopped

½ tsp. Tobasco “Chipotle” Hot Sauce

Dash cayenne pepper

Dash sea salt

5-6 oz. smoked Steelhead Trout (or Salmon)

DIRECTIONS:  Place all ingredients but the fish into a food processor or blender.  Pulse until well blended.  Scrape out into a medium mixing bowl.  On a paper plate, flake the fish well with a fork.  Scrap into the bowl and stir just to blend the spread well.  Serve with you preferred dippers:  low-carb crackers, celery or carrot sticks, other raw veggies of choice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 2½ cups or 40 Tbsp. Each tablespoon contains: (does not include dippers)

42 cals, 4.32g fat, 0.30g carbs, 0.02g fiber, 0.28g NET CARBS, 1.3g protein, 29 mg sodium (sodium will be much higher if you use commercially smoked salmon)

San Marzano Focaccia

This is what I think I’ll fix for lunch today, with the addition of some sliced olives.  I’m noticing in my old age I’m liking many fewer ingredients on what I think of as basically, um….  pizza.   I’m trying my hand at growing San Marzano tomatoes this year!   

This is yet another great new use for my Mozzy Dough.  I’m having so much fun trialing new applications for this dough.  TIP:  I make up 10 batches of the dry ingredients pre-measured on paper plates.  Then I fold and pour each into a sandwich bag and store the bags zipped up in a shoe box in my pantry.  Very convenient…..as then all I have to do is grab a bag, melt the butter, add the beaten egg, melt the cheese and make my dough ball.  So easy that way.  I store the paper plates and baggies and re-use for making each batch of 10. 

Boy, is this focaccia ever simple to make and yummy good!  I make mine fairly thin.  If you like focaccia thicker, make a smaller sheet than shown right (using fewer tomatoes, of course) and being sure you cut it into 12 slices so the nutritional info will be accurate.  This recipe is not suitable until you get to Phase 2 grains re-introduction level of Atkins as the Carbquik does have some flour in it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

25-27 San Marzano mini tomatoes (10 oz. bag)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

½ tsp. dried basil (or 1 T. fresh basil chopped)

¼ tsp. dried oregano (or 1/2 tsp. fresh)

VARIATION:   Add a few sliced black olives

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Make the Mozzy Dough per that recipe’s instructions.  Line a 13″x15″ baking sheet with parchment and using your fingers, press the ball of dough out to a 9″x12″ rectangle (smaller if you like it thicker.  With a brush baste the dough with half the olive oil.  Sprinkle the chopped garlic evenly over the top and press it down a bit.  Now sprinkle 1/2 c. mozzarella over the crust evenly.  Slice the tomatoes lengthwise into halves and place skin-side down evenly over the top of the focaccia sheet.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on next and then the shredded Parmesan.  Sprinkle on the basil and oregano last.  Add olive slices, pressing them into the dough (if using).  Pop into oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is browning on the edges and the tomatoes are looking cooked on top.  Serve with a nice green salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 12 3″x3″ squares of focaccia, each square contains.

190 calories, 15 g fat, 6.88 g carbs, 3.61 g fiber, 3.27 g NET CARBS, 12.6 g protein, 276 mg sodium

Boursin-Herb Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve done shrimp-stuffed mushrooms, herb-stuffed mushrooms, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, but last night I decided to do just a simple, rich herb-Boursin cheese filling.  Yummers!  These so “dressed up” a simple beef pattie dinner.  A side of fresh green beans was the perfect complement.  These would make great party snacks, using smaller mushrooms, of course.  This recipe is certainly a keeper for us as we love Boursin cheese!  And these gems have 30%-55% RDA of 11+ vital vitamins and minerals, so they are very nutritious for your family!  Best of all, they’re suitable for all you folks still on Atkins Induction!

INGREDIENTS:

6 large button mushrooms

2 T. olive oil + 2 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. chopped parsley

1 large green onion, chopped fine

1/8 tsp. each black and cayenne pepper

4 T. Boursin or Alouette “Garlic & Herb” soft cheese

1 slice low-carb bread or roll (I used this focaccia), crumbled

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Wipe clean and stem the mushrooms.  I saved the stems for some other use.  You can, of course, chop them up, saute and add to the filling mixture, but in doing so, you may not get all the filling into the mushroom cavities when stuffing.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  With a brush, coat the outsides and insides of the mushrooms and set on baking pan.  To the remaining oil in the skillet, add the parsley, green onion, black and cayenne pepper.  Saute for a couple minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in the cheese to melt and blend.  Fold the bread crumbles into the mixture last and blend well.  Using a spoon, fill each mushroom cavity with 1/6 the filling, forcing it down well in the hole and allowing it to mound slightly.  If you have leftover filling, grab a 7th mushroom and fill it!  That will lower the numbers below a bit.  Pop pan into 350º oven and back around 25 minutes until mushrooms appear done and topping is slightly brown on top as shown above.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 stuffed mushrooms, each one contains:

128 cals, 12.4g fat, 2.2g carbs, 0.7g fiber, 1.5g NET CARBS, 3g protein, 78 mg sodium

 

Garlic Dinner Rolls

I’m making my Garlic Dinner Rolls again to have with our Swiss Steak tonight.  They are made with my Mozzy Dough, Which in flavor and texture lies somewhere between the Flathead Pizza Crust recipe on the Diet Doctor’s website and Jennifer Eloff’s Miracle Dough recipe.  It makes excellent dinner rolls!  Delicious hot with butter!  They are also good split, toasted with melted butter brushed on the tops and a sprinkle of Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Or they will make an excellent toasted garlic bread!  This dough has good elasticity, flavor and is so versatile in a variety of applications.  This recipe is not suitable until you get closer to goal weight on Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T. cream cheese

1½ T. melted butter

1 egg, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix

½ c. Carbquik (or another ½ c. gluten-free mix)

1 T. oat fiber

1/4 tsp. psyllium husk powder

Dash oregano

1 T. dry grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone sheet.  Measure out all dry ingredients in small bowl, stir well and set aside.  Place mozzarella cheese shreds, minced garlic and cream cheese in glass or ceramic bowl and microwave on HI for about 1-1½ minutes to melt it.  Remove and stir quickly with a fork.  Add the egg and melted butter and stir again.  Quickly pour in the dry ingredients and stir quickly with a fork to form a single ball of dough, scraping it down off the sides of the bowl.  Knead or stir a few minutes to be sure all is uniformly mixed.  Divide into 6 equal portions and roll smooth into a ball.  Place them spaced out on parchment-lined pan.  Press slightly flat if you like, but not really necessary.  Sprinkle tops with oregano and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350º for about 18 minutes until dry to touch and lightly browned as shown.  Remove and serve hot with butter.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes enough dough for a 9″-10″ pie-crust with lovely fluted edge, 4 hand pies, or a 12″ pizza crust or in this recipe, 6 dinner rolls which have 6.26 net carbs each.

ENTIRE RECIPE CONTAINS:  1140 calories, 95.8 g fat, 58.6 g carbs, 37.6 g fiber, 21 g NET CARBS, 81.2 g protein, 1542 mg sodium (divide by number of servings/pieces for the specific application you use this dough for)

Einkorn Tuna Pimiento Cheese Muffins

Tuna is always in my pantry, so I reached for some to make lunch today.   These two-bite mini-muffins I created today, honestly……..my husband had trouble stopping at SIX of them!  But he’s a big eater.  I stopped at four. 🙂  These go together fast and only took 13 minutes to bake.  I highly recommend slightly cooling before attempting to loosen them from even a non-stick pan, as baked egg tends to stick to whatever pan you use.   I’ve not had good luck baking tuna items in silicone pans.  Tuna likes browning.  I used a 24 ct. metal pan to bake these.  This recipe is not suitable until Phase 2 Atkins  when you are nearing maintenance, due to the Einkorn Bake Mix.   You can lower the carb count per muffin even more using a lower carb bake mix than mine, which has Einkorn Flour in it.  But the count is already pretty darn low in my opinion.  Those still in the initial 2-week Induction Phase of Atkins need to eliminate the bake mix entirely and increase the eggs to about 6.  The muffins will naturally have a different, and somewhat eggier texture than mine here, but should taste about the same.  These should freeze nicely for about a month.  If you do the Induction version, adding 1-2 T. flax meal to that variation would add a little firmer structure to them.

Many delicious low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and low-carb friends (me included).  Chef George Stella also brings to the table a wealth of delicious recipes added to the collection!  You’ll LOVE these recipes!  Order your copy today from Amazon  or our direct order site: amongfriends.us/order.php.

INGREDIENTS:

4 beaten eggs

3 small pouches (7.8 oz. total) water-pack tuna

1½ c. my Einkorn Bake Mix

3/4 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 lg. 4-0z. jar chopped pimiento, drained

1 lg. green onion, chopped fine

2 2/3 slices American Deluxe or Cheddar cheese, 2 cut into 9 squares, 1 cut into 6 squares

VARIATION:   Add a few drops of Tobasco or a few shakes of cayenne pepper to the batter for a spicier muffin.

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Beat the eggs in a medium bowl.  Add all other ingredients but the cheese.  Oil 24 slots of a mini-muffin pan.  Using a 2 T. scoop, add one level scoop to each slot.  They will be nearly full and there should be just enough batter for 24.  Place 1 square of cheese atop each and push it down slightly into the batter.  Pop into hot 350º oven.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until they puff up and the cheese just begins to brown on top.  Remove and cool slightly.  If you try to remove while too hot, they will tear up on you.  Gently loosen with a knife tip or fork and enjoy.  A modest serving would be 4 mini-muffins.  A big eater will want 6 of these minis.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 24 muffins, each contains:

22 calories, 0.9 g fat, 0.35 g carbs, 0.08 g fiber, 0.27 g NET CARBS, 3.22 g protein, 74 mg sodium

Garlic Dinner Rolls

My Mozzy Dough, somewhere between the Flathead Pizza Crust recipe on the Diet Doctor’s website and Jennifer Eloff’s Miracle Dough recipe, makes excellent dinner rolls.  Delicious hot with butter!  Also good split, toasted with melted butter brushed on the tops and a sprinkle of Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Makes delicious toasted garlic bread!  This dough has good elasticity, flavor and is so versatile.  This recipe is not suitable until you get closer to goal weight on Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T. cream cheese

1½ T. melted butter

1 egg, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix

½ c. Carbquik (or another ½ c. gluten-free mix)

1 T. oat fiber

1/4 tsp. psyllium husk powder

1 small clove garlic, minced

Dash oregano

1 T. dry grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone sheet.  Measure out all dry ingredients in small bowl, stir well and set aside.  Place mozzarella cheese shreds, minced garlic and cream cheese in glass or ceramic bowl and microwave on HI for about 1-1½ minutes to melt it.  Remove and stir quickly with a fork.  Add the egg and melted butter and stir again.  Quickly pour in the dry ingredients and stir quickly with a fork to form a single ball of dough, scraping it down off the sides of the bowl.  Knead or stir a few minutes to be sure all is uniformly mixed.  Divide into 6 equal portions and roll smooth into a ball.  Place them spaced out on parchment-lined pan.  Press slightly flat if you like, but not really necessary.  Sprinkle tops with oregano and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350º for about 18 minutes until dry to touch and lightly browned as shown.  Remove and serve hot with butter.

CORRECTED NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes enough for a 9″-10″ pie-crust with lovely fluted edge, 4 hand pies, 12″ pizza crust or 6 dinner rolls which have 6.26 net carbs each if made/cut into 6 portions.

ENTIRE RECIPE CONTAINS:  1140 calories, 95.8 g fat, 58.6 g carbs, 37.6 g fiber, 21 g NET CARBS, 81.2 g protein, 1542 mg sodium (divide by number of servings/pieces for the specific application you use this dough for)

 

Boursin-Herb Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve done shrimp-stuffed mushrooms, herb-stuffed mushrooms, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, but last night I decided to do just a simple, rich herb-Boursin cheese filling.  Yummers!  These so “dressed up” a simple beef pattie dinner.  A side of fresh green beans was the perfect complement.  These would make great party snacks, using smaller mushrooms, of course.  This recipe is certainly a keeper for us as we love Boursin cheese!  And these gems have 30%-55% RDA of 11+ vital vitamins and minerals, so they are very nutritious for your family!  Best of all, they’re suitable for all you folks still on Atkins Induction!

INGREDIENTS:

6 large button mushrooms

2 T. olive oil + 2 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. chopped parsley

1 large green onion, chopped fine

1/8 tsp. each black and cayenne pepper

4 T. Boursin or Alouette “Garlic & Herb” soft cheese

1 slice low-carb bread or roll (I used this focaccia), crumbled

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Wipe clean and stem the mushrooms.  I saved the stems for some other use.  You can, of course, chop them up, saute and add to the filling mixture, but in doing so, you may not get all the filling into the mushroom cavities when stuffing.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  With a brush, coat the outsides and insides of the mushrooms and set on baking pan.  To the remaining oil in the skillet, add the parsley, green onion, black and cayenne pepper.  Saute for a couple minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in the cheese to melt and blend.  Fold the bread crumbles into the mixture last and blend well.  Using a spoon, fill each mushroom cavity with 1/6 the filling, forcing it down well in the hole and allowing it to mound slightly.  If you have leftover filling, grab a 7th mushroom and fill it!  That will lower the numbers below a bit.  Pop pan into 350º oven and back around 25 minutes until mushrooms appear done and topping is slightly brown on top as shown above.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 stuffed mushrooms, each one contains:

128 cals, 12.4g fat, 2.2g carbs, 0.7g fiber, 1.5g NET CARBS, 3g protein, 78 mg sodium

 

Asian Pork Riblets

I’m a Baby Boomer, raised in the 50’s and 60’s.  My first memories of Chinese food were of Chicken Chow Mein, with those fun curly noodles on top, and the Pu-Pu Platter all the Chinese restaurants offered.  But it was the little, slightly sweet ribs I remember off those appetizer platters.  If you love those ribs half as much as I did, you will want to give these a try.  They are not too sweet but have a slight sweet edge.  There’s just the right amount of Asian spice on them for a nice flavor addition to serve alongside your next stir-fry dinner!  Or have them as snacks or appetizers at your next party!  These are suitable once you get past the first 2-week Induction Phase of Atkins and are OK for most Keto diets if the numbers will fit into your daily macro limits.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lb. pork spareribs, cut apart into separate ribs/pieces 

10 drops liquid smoke

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ginger root, peeled & minced

2 T. low sodium soy sauce

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

1/8 tsp. dry mustard

1 T. molasses

1 T. my homemade Hoisin Sauce

¼-½ tsp. Sriracha sauce

1 T. dry sherry or white wine (tenderizes)

2 T. tap water

DIRECTIONS:  Cut ribs along bones to separate.  If using the point end of a rack of ribs, that is almost totally boneless, cut any wider strips of boneless meat into strips about 3/4″ wide, or roughly the  size of the bone-in ribs.  Set them aside for a few minutes.  In a large mixing bowl, measures out all other ingredients.  Stir to blend well.  Add meat and toss well to coat.  Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400º.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place marinated meat strips onto pan making sure they are not touching.  With a brush baste lightly with marinade.  When oven is hot, place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes.  Turn and baste the other side of the meat pieces and cook another 15-20 minutes.  When browned nicely on both sides, remove meat to a platter and serve with whatever other Asian fare you like or enjoy these as an appetizer.  Be forewarned this is finger food and can be a wee bit sticky.  Have plenty of napkins on hand. 🙂

You can also grill these for even more flavor!  They would also cook up nicely in an air fryer cooking at 360º for about 15-20 min. turning at the 10 min. mark.  Fryers vary, so be sure to keep an eye on them the first time you try them in your air fryer.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

515 cals, 40g fat, 6.17g carbs, 0.27g fiber, 5.9g NET CARBS, 29.7g protein, 428mg sodium

Air Fryer Croutons (low-carb)

I just discovered I can make low-carb croutons in my air fryer (Power XL 7 qt 1700 watt basket style).  Using my familiar Einkorn English Muffin as the base, it was a piece or cake, or perhaps I should say a piece of “toast”. 🙂  This time I coated them with my spice mixture, but next time I’m going to put it right into the batter when making the muffin just for ease.  Doubt it will make a bit of difference in the end result.  We both thought these a tasty substitute for high-carb commercial croutons.  To lower carbs, you could use some other low-carb bread or merely eat less of them on your salad.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 recipe my Einkorn English Muffin

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

¼ tsp. each onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper

Dash sea salt

VARIATION:  Use other seasoning blends to change things up a bit

DIRECTIONS:  Make the English muffin by that recipe’s instructions (linked above).  DO NOT slice the muffin laterally but rather into 1/2 cubes.  The croutons will toast better if not larger than ½” size.  Let cubes rest on cutting board for 1 hour to totally dry out.  Turn them over once to try to get them dry to the touch on all surfaces.

When about ready to get meal together, toss them into a medium bowl with 1 T. olive oil.  If adding spices to surface, mix it into the olive oil in the bowl and then toss in your cubes.  Stir well to coat.  Place them in the basket of your air fryer (or in a pan if you have the shelf type.  I place a small round cake cooling wire rack on mine to be sure they didn’t fly around during cooking.  Cook at 375º for about 6 minutes, checking often and shaking to get all sides brown and toasty.  Add more time if needed to get them to a firm and toasty state without them burning.  All fryers are different and the time is variable with each brand/model.  Cool completely before serving.  If you don’t have an air fryer, you can toast these in a 375º conventional oven on a sheet pan.  Will take about 13-15 minutes on the middle shelf, turning and tossing with a spatula a couple times during cooking to achieve even browning.  Remove and cool, serving fairly quickly while they are still crisp.

Low carb breads do not keep their crunchy quality for long, but if you have some leftover (I did) put remainders in a ziplock bag and reheat in the air fryer at 375º for 2-3 minutes to toast them right up again.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes enough to garnish 4 salads.  Each of the 4 servings will contain:

114 cals, 10.4g fat, 4.6g carbs, 2.25g fiber, 2.35g NET CARBS, 3.33g protein, 94 mg sodium

Indian Samosas (with meat)

I made Indian food for dinner tonight, which consisted of my Indian Creamed Spinach (Saag Paneer), Indian Baked Chicken (done in my air fryer) and I tried my hand at samosas.  My husband just loves samosas, so I put my thinking hat on.  Traditionally they are made with vegetable mixtures, but I decided to use some leftover Kheema Matar for mine today.  Thought I could use my Mozzy Dough as it’s pretty flexible to be manipulated.  For the filling, my Kheema Matar meat mixture will do nicely, has it has veggies and meat.

These came out wonderful!  I used a little of my Sofrito mixed with a little chopped mint in olive oil for a dipping sauce.  They are traditionally dipped into a tamarind sauce.  I have tamarind on hand, but haven’t picked a recipe for that sauce yet.   Here is a link to a Youtube video on how to make a tamarind dipping sauce.  Samosas to me, don’t really need a sauce at all, really, if the filling is a good one.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

1 recipe my ground meat Kheema Matar

DIRECTIONS:  Make the Kheema Matar meat mixture by that recipe’s instructions and set by your work area.  Make the dough by that recipe’s instructions.  After final kneading, roll into a log and divide into 12 equal parts.  For easier construction, you may prefer to make just 6 larger samosas.  But I wanted small ones tonight as I’m eating a lot less these days.

Roll each of the 12 (or 6) portions of dough into a ball and set on a silicone sheet or plastic wrap.  Press the dough into a 4″ round with your fingers and the but of your palm.  Fill each round of dough with 2 T. meat filling and press it firmly into a mound.  Gently lift opposite sides up over the filling (all four) and to the center to cover the meat completely, pinching the dough at the top to seal well.  If dough tears, dump the meat back into the skillet, roll and press the round of dough out again and refill.  Heck, the dough is a little delicate.  Even I had to redo one myself.  Place the samosas onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Continue until all 12 (or 6) samosas are made.  Preheat oven to 350º and pop pan into oven.  Bake for about 15 minutes until just browning on the tops.  Remove and serve as a snack, appetizer or with a full Indian meal as a first course.  If you want a little dipping sauce, mix 2 T. of my Sofrito (and 2 T.fresh mint, if you have some) in 2 T. olive oil.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 small or 6 large samosas.  A serving, 1/6 recipe) consists of 2 small samosas (1 if making just 6 larges ones) and has:

258 cals, 23.8g fat, 13.8g carbs, 7.7g fiber, 6.1 NET CARBS, 27.1g protein, 808 mg sodium (mostly from the cheese in the dough)

Shrimp-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Next time you’re having grilled, baked or fried fish, you are going to want to try these delicious stuffed mushrooms I cooked tonight to accompany our salmon.  The cheeses and spices made these so yummy.  They are simple to make as well, so what more could you ask for to serve such deliciousness?!  These are suitable once you reach Phase 2 of Atkins and will fit into most ketogenic diets.

INGREDIENTS:

18 oz. medium Portobello mushrooms (about 2¼” diameter)

¼ c. olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter

2 medium green onions, chopped

8 large raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped

2 oz. cream cheese

1/3 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Dash each salt & pepper

½ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

1 low-carb roll or slice low-carb bread (I used this one)

1 T. more butter

DIRECTIONS:  Wipe mushrooms of any dirt.  Remove stems with small knife without destroying the mushroom caps.  Pour the olive oil into a medium bowl and drizzle the olive oil over them.  Toss to coat them well.  Place mushroom caps onto a baking pan and set aside while you make the filling.

Melt 1 T. butter in small non-stick skillet.  Chop the mushroom stems and add to the pan.  Chop green onion and also add to pan.  Add chopped shrimp.  Saute until they are all done.  Sprinkle a dash of salt, pepper and the seafood spice blend over the mixture.  Now add the cream cheese and mash/stir until melted and blended well.  Add cheddar shreds and stir/fold the mixture well allowing it all to heat, melt and bind together.   Turn off heat.  Now preheat your oven to 375º.

Stuff each mushroom cap with about 1 T. of the mixture to fill them to capacity using up all your filling with as even a distribution as your can.

Crumb the low-carb bread/roll with the remaining 1T. butter in a food processor, blender or crumb by hand & melt/stir them into the melted butter in a skillet.  Sprinkle the crumb topping over the 10 mushrooms.  Pop the pan into a hot 375º oven for about 20-25 minutes (watch then as ovens vary).  Larger mushrooms will take up to 30-35 minutes to get fully heated and golden on top.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 10 pieces, each contains:

151 calories, 12.9g fat, 4.15g carbs, 1.26g fiber, 2.89g NET CARBS, 6.29g protein, 142mg sodium

If making appetizers, use 20 smaller mushrooms.  Just divide the above numbers by to to calculate the values for the smaller ones.

 

Einkorn Sausage-Cheese Balls

This is an ever-popular party appetizer that never goes out of favor with your guests.  When I’m hosting the appetizers phase of our neighborhood annual Christmas round-robin dinner, this easy treat is easy to make ahead, heat and serve.  I have another Sausage Cheese Ball recipe on my website that rings in at only 1 net carb per ball but I like this one a bit better because it’s a little easier to put together.  It features my convenient homemade Einkorn Low-Carb Bake Mix (similar to Bisquick and Carbquik).  Even with the bake mix, these only have 1.76 net carbs per ball!  Not bad for the convenience of just 3 ingredients.   These are not suitable until the grains rung of the carb re-introduction ladder of Atkins Phase 2 OWL.  They are OK for Keto diets if you can fit them into your daily carb limits.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. breakfast sausage (I used my homemade breakfast sausage recipe)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 c. my Einkorn Bake Mix  (For gluten-free version, use Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix or another GF mix of your choice)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the above ingredients in a medium bowl with your hands as you would a meatloaf mixture.  When thoroughly blended, form into 30 1″ balls and place on non-stick baking sheet or one lined with parchment or silicone sheet for ease of clean-up. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to paper towels to drain off any excess grease (mine had none actually).  Serve warm and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 30  1″ balls, each sausage ball contains:

95 calories, 7.81 g  fat, 2.4 g  carbs, 0.64 g fiber, 1.76 g  NET CARBS, 4.82 g  protein, 81 mg sodium

Cheese Puffs

I decided to modify my Cheese Thin Buns recipe by adding some Carbquik to the ingredient line-up.   What a marvelous change that makes!  These tasty little bite-size snacks are less than 1 net carb per puff!  We both love snacking on cheese bread, but that isn’t exactly on a low-carb diet.  This is my answer to a late night snack that is suitable on a very low-carb diet.  These are easy to make and I’m certain they’ll be a hit with your family.  If you don’t like things spicy, omit the cayenne; if you do like things spicy, you may even want to increase the amount of cayenne!  🙂  These are suitable once you get to the end of Phase 2 Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs, beaten

½ c. water

2 T. olive oil

2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

1 T. + 1 tsp. glucomannan powder (there is no substitute for this)

¼ c. whey protein powder (plain, unsweetened)

1 T. (3 tsp) baking powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional but greatly enhanced the flavor layers)

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 c. Carbquik (use gluten-free bake mix for a gluten-free version)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Measure out the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir well to evenly mix.  In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients with an electric mixer or whisk.  While you are whisking the egg mixture, slowly add in the dry ingredients until all is well blended into a batter resembling pancake batter.  Stir in the cheese and mix it well.  Let the dough stand a few minutes as it will thicken/stiffen up a bit.

I used a non-stick mini-muffin pan.  The cheese will bleed out some oil, so you shouldn’t have to oil a non-stick pan.  But if yours is NOT non-stick, oil the cups of your mini-muffin pan lightly with a brush.  Using a measuring spoon, put 1 level tablespoon of batter into each cup raking it out with a finger to get it all.  Will make exactly 34 muffins, so a second baking will be necessary unless you own two mini-muffin pans.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 17 minutes or until browning on top.  We found browning enhances flavor, so you may want to even bake yours a bit longer.  Remove from oven and cool a couple minutes.  If cooled a bit, they will come out of the pans with a knife tip’s help without tearing apart.  If removed too hot, you are going to tear them up.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 34 Cheese Puffs, each contains:

50.6 cals., 4.52 g fat, 2.13 g carbs, 1.43 g fiber, 0.70 g NET CARBS, 3.06 g protein, 138 mg sodium

Turkish Pide (pronounced pee-day)

Moving through syria on our food journey, we end up in Turkey.  Turkey is so close to Greece,  I can see how many of their foods are somewhat similar.  This recipe I tasted in Turkey, I understand they make something similar to this meat-filled ‘pizza-like’ flatbread dish in several Arab nations.  How it is constructed may change (probably spices, too), but the concept is similar.  I tasted this dish when we purchased it in a little eaterie near the airport in Istanbul.  Our plane was stopped due to engine problem.  The replacement engine had to be flown in from Paris, so the ‘short wait’ ended up spanning a period of about 16 hours.  They kept announcing over the loud speaker it would just be another hour, so we were afraid to leave the airport for a hotel………..but that hour stretched into many announcements all night long and totaled 16 long hours on those long, hard, wooden benches in the waiting lobby.

My brother and I went for a walk around the airport at one point in hopes of finding a snack of some sort.  A nearby street food vendor had something that intrigued us.  He called it what sounded like “pee day”  (pide).  It looked good, so we bought some, took it back to Mom and Dad (who had sick our entire trip back to the States).  We all loved it and gobbled it down!  We had no idea what we were eating, but could telll it was spiced ground lamb.  It sure was good!  Years later I read about this dish in a book on Middle Eastern cuisine organized by country.   After gaining more knowledge of their common meat spices, I made this feeble attempt to reproduce the flavors of lamb and fenugreek in the pide I remeber.

I have also read Pide is typically served during the Moslem religious holiday known as Ramadan.  It is shared when the feast begins after the long fast.  What we ate was clearly made with a whole wheat flat bread dough similar to Iranian noon/naan but mine posted here is instead made with my Mozzy Dough to keep it relatively low in carbs.  My husband ranted about this the first time I made it for him, so I think you will like it as well!   

This recipe is not suitable for Atkins Induction as the dough has a small amount of flour product in it (it’s in the Carbquik).   Although this is a main entrée, it can be served in smaller slices as snack food.  It goes over well at parties but does requires a plate and fork if served in the traditional longboat shape.  For party serving, I have formed the dough into small mini muffin cups and filled with smaller portions of the toppings to make it more manageable as finger food.

INGREDIENTS:

½ recipe my Mozzy Dough

8 oz. lean ground beef (or lamb, to be authentic)

2 oz. onion, finely chopped

15 San Marzano mini tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), chopped

3/4 c. parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp. Baharat Spice

¼ tsp. each: dried mint

¼ tsp. crushed dried fenugreek leaves (key flavor here)

¼ tsp. each salt and coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Make the Mozzy Dough per that recipe’s instructions, reserving half the dough for another use.  It freezes well in a plastic baggie.  Roll the dough into a fat canoe shape about 12″ x 7″ on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375º.  Brown the beef (or lamb) in a skillet with the onion.  Add the parsley and all seasonings listed above.  Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes to tenderize the onions.  Remove and spoon evenly into the “canoe” of dough, leaving a good inch of dough free of filling.  Sprinkle the chopped tomatoes on top.  Fold the uncovered dough up over the meat to create the sides of the “canoe”, pinching the pointed ends together with your fingers to help maintain the “canoe” shape.  Traditionally, they sprinkle sesame seeds on the sides of the “canoe” dough before baking but I did not, as the hubs isn’t fond of seeds on/in breads.    Pop into 375º oven for about 20-25 minutes or until begins to brown.  Remove from oven and cut into four equal portions.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    As a meal, makes 4 servings of pide (cut smaller into snack size for lower carbs), each contains:

316 calories, 23.5g fat, 12.17g carbs, 6.2g fiber, 5.97g NET CARBS, 24.424 g protein, 476mg sodium

Garlic Dinner Rolls

My Mozzy Dough, somewhere between the Flathead Pizza Crust recipe on the Diet Doctor’s website and Jennifer Eloff’s Miracle Dough recipe, makes excellent dinner rolls.  Delicious hot with butter!  Also good split, toasted with melted butter brushed on the tops and a sprinkle of Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Makes delicious toasted garlic bread!  This dough has good elasticity, flavor and is so versatile.  This recipe is not suitable until you get closer to goal weight on Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T. cream cheese

1½ T. melted butter

1 egg, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix

½ c. Carbquik (or another ½ c. gluten-free mix)

1 T. oat fiber

1/4 tsp. psyllium husk powder

1 small clove garlic, minced

Dash oregano

1 T. dry grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone sheet.  Measure out all dry ingredients in small bowl, stir well and set aside.  Place mozzarella cheese shreds, minced garlic and cream cheese in glass or ceramic bowl and microwave on HI for about 1-1½ minutes to melt it.  Remove and stir quickly with a fork.  Add the egg and melted butter and stir again.  Quickly pour in the dry ingredients and stir quickly with a fork to form a single ball of dough, scraping it down off the sides of the bowl.  Knead or stir a few minutes to be sure all is uniformly mixed.  Divide into 6 equal portions and roll smooth into a ball.  Place them spaced out on parchment-lined pan.  Press slightly flat if you like, but not really necessary.  Sprinkle tops with oregano and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350º for about 18 minutes until dry to touch and lightly browned as shown.  Remove and serve hot with butter.

CORRECTED NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes enough for a 9″-10″ pie-crust with lovely fluted edge, 4 hand pies, 12″ pizza crust or 6 dinner rolls which have 6.26 net carbs each if made/cut into 6 portions.

ENTIRE RECIPE CONTAINS:  1140 calories, 95.8 g fat, 58.6 g carbs, 37.6 g fiber, 21 g NET CARBS, 81.2 g protein, 1542 mg sodium (divide by number of servings/pieces for the specific application you use this dough for)

 

Chicken Spread Crunchies

 

This quick appetizer for parties made a delicious lunch today.   Had a small amount of cream cheese to use up and decided to onion it up a bit and make a spread for serving with crunchy pork rinds.  I don’t usually like dips and such on pork rinds, but THIS onion-y combo with chicken really did it for me!  The crunch came though without so much pork rind taste.  This recipe is a keeper for us.  I will definitely make this again.  For parties, just triple the recipe (using the entire can of chicken meat) to make approximately 60 taste bites for your guests.

Our latest three volumes of LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you. Volume 8 and Volume 9 are almost exclusively comprised of my recipes! Included in both editions are a few tasty new creations of my dear friends George Stella and Jennifer Eloff.   Volume 10 is hot off the press with more delectable goodies. Special discount prices being offered right now on the set! Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe or two, we hope you’ll stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ c. sour cream

1/3  can (13 oz.) chicken breast (water + salt pack only, I use Sam’s brand)

1 T. dehydrated minced onion flakes, toasted

¼ tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. each: turmeric, paprika, and garlic powder

½ tsp. granular Splenda or other sweetener (optional)

20 small bite-size pork rinds

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place onion flakes on baking pan and bake about 8 minutes just long enough to lightly toast.   Remove from oven and add the flakes to a medium mixing bowl.  Drain chicken broth off the meat into a dish for another use.  I like to drizzle it on my dog’s kibble, which she just loves!  Spoon out 1/3 of the chicken meat into your mixing bowl (reserve rest for another use).   Flake meat a bit with a fork.  Add softened cream cheese and sour cream.  Add all spices and sweetener (if using).  Stir mixture well and let sit 5-10 minutes to allow onion flakes to soften a bit and flavors to blend.  Spoon about 1 tsp. of the mixture onto the cupped “bowl” side of the 20 pork rinds, placing the tasty treats on your serving platter.  Enjoy!

CAUTION:  Do not try to be efficient and fill these ahead of time or the pork rinds will get soggy! 

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 20 chicken appetizers, each contains:

26 cals, 1.98g fat, 0.50g carbs, 0.04g fiber, 0.45g NET CARBS, 1.55g protein, 41 mg sodium

Grilled Steelhead Trout-Spinach Pizza

I know this recipe may sound a little bizarre, but trust me, it is really, really tasty!  If you like things made with tuna or salmon, you will LOVE this interesting twist on a “pizza”.  The smoke on the fish combines so heavenly with cream cheese and green onion.   I created this for our lunch today and even my picky husband, a non-fish lover, said it was good!  And it was quite simple to put together.  I had a small piece of grilled Steelhead Trout leftover from our last grilling adventure and froze this piece.  I defrosted it and got this incredible idea as I blended it into some cream cheese.  Yummy, is all I can say.  I used my Mozzy Dough dough for the crust, but you can use whatever low-carb pizza crust you prefer.  I am providing nutritional stats for the entire recipe in case you decide to make this up as bite-size party food using a mini-muffin pan.  Just divide the “entire recipe” numbers below by the number of mini-bites you make.

This recipe is suitable once you get to phase 2 Atkins and is OK for most Keto diets provided you use a plan-suitable crust.

Our latest three volumes of LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you. Volume 8 and Volume 9 are almost exclusively comprised of my recipes! Included in both editions are a few tasty new creations of my dear friends George Stella and Jennifer Eloff.   Volume 10 is hot off the press with more delectable goodies. Special prices offered right now! Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe, do stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

4-5 oz. grilled Steelhead Trout, salmon or other fish

25 small spinach leaves, stemmed

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ c. green onion, chopped

2/3 c. mozzarella shreds

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Line a pizza pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make the crust by that recipe’s instructions.  Press the dough out evenly in your pan to a 14″ diameter circle.  Pop into 350º oven for 8-9 minutes or until just beginning to brown a tiny bit.  Remove and cool 5 minutes.  Slide parchment out from under the crust so it will crisp up on the bottom for the next phase of cooking.

While crust is baking, soften the cream cheese in a bowl in your microwave set to defrost.  Remove, add green onion and trout flakes (discard skin).  Blend well with a fork.  With a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, spread half the fish mixture evenly onto the crust to within 1/4″ of the edge.  Place the spinach leaves in a single layer evenly on top.  Carefully spread the remaining fish-cream-cheese mixture on top.  Sprinkle the mozzarella shreds on top and pop into 350º for about 10 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned and the cheese is melted.   Remove from oven and slice into 8 slices.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Entire recipe contains 2215 cals, 177.7g fat, 77g carbs, 44.7g fiber, 32.30g NET CARBS, 151.4g protein, 2812 mg sodium 

For 8 slices, each contains:  277 cals, 22g fat, 9.62g carbs, 5.58g fiber, 4.04g NET CARBS, 19g protein, 352 mg sodium

For 6 slices, each contains:  369 cals, 30g fat, 12.83g carbs, 7.45g fiber, 5.38g NET CARBS, 25g protein, 469 mg sodium

Crustless Skillet Pizza

Skillet Pizza (for 1)

I’m currently revisiting Atkins Induction for a “reset” and remembered this delicious recipe that literally got me through Atkins Induction 10 years ago.  I’ve tried so many of the popular low-carb pizza crust recipes and just don’t like but a few that I have developed or tried in the interim.  A lot of sodium in pizza toppings.  Even this amount of sausage and cheese packs a whopping amount of sodium, as seen in the nutritional stats below!  But hey, when you’re still on Induction and craving pizza, this’ll do occasionally.  Best of all, it can be ready in 10-15 minutes!  Moreover, I don’t end up with “sausage fingers” and swollen ankles the next day from water retention due to the sodium in most low-carb crust recipes.  I’m so sodium sensitive, I leave off pepperoni from my pizzas as a rule.  Just increase ingredients accordingly if you need more servings.

Now this “pizza” isn’t one you can pick up and eat with your hands.  Even as it cools a bit and the cheese firms up, you’ll still have to eat with a fork.  So I don’t do this recipe for company.  🙂  But I find not being able to pick it up and eat by hand doesn’t bother me one bit.  This tastes just like the best sausage, mushroom, bell pepper pizza I ever had in any Italian restaurant or pizza parlor!  You may prefer to use all sausage or all beef, your call, but nutritional info is for the recipe as written.  If watching your sodium intake on doctor’s orders, using all ground beef and also lowering the cheese to 2 oz. would be wise choices.

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INGREDIENTS:

Ready to dig in!

2 oz. pork sausage (breakfast or Italian)

1 oz. ground beef (or more pork sausage)

¼ tsp. fennel seed

Dash oregano

Sprinkle of garlic and onion powder

1/3 can drained, canned mushrooms (or 2 fresh, sliced)

2 oz. bell pepper

3 T. low carb spaghetti sauce (I use Bello Vita)

2 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS: Brown meat in no-stick skillet on medium heat.  Add veggies and continue to cook until pretty tender, about 5 minutes.  Add spices and stir.  Using spoon or spatula, neatly push ingredients away from the edges of the skillet as shown in picture.  Dot the surface with the tomato sauce but no need to stir.  Top with the cheese, trying to keep it pretty much on the ingredients.  Cover and lower heat to lowest setting and heat long enough to melt cheese.   Should be ready in just a few minutes.  Allow to cool a couple minutes so cheese will firm up a tad before attempting to “slice” into two slices.  Using a broad spatula, slide a portion out of the skillet onto the serving plate (or toasted French bread, for non-Atkins eaters). Enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 1 and contains:

531 cals, 39.3g fat, 11.2g carbs, 2.9g fiber, 8.1g NET CARBS, 34 g  protein, 1312 mg sodium

Chile Con Queso Bites

 

This very old recipe of mine has made an appearance at many a party throughout my life.  They are tasty and disappear so fast!  This recipe is Induction friendly with no modifications!   They’re great for any group celebrations!

Our latest three volumes of LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you.  Volume 8 and Volume 9 are almost exclusively comprised of my recipes!  Included in both editions are a few tasty new creations of my dear friends George Stella and Jennifer Eloff.   Volume 10 is hot off the press with more delectable goodies.  Special prices right now.  Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon.  After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe, do stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. finely chopped tomato

¼ c. finely chopped green onion

1 clove minced garlic or ¼ tsp. garlic powder

4 eggs, beaten

2 oz. shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 oz. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 4 oz. can mild, drained chopped green chiles

1 seeded, very thinly sliced jalapeno (optional garnish)

DIRECTIONS:  Lightly oil a non-stick skillet with olive oil and lightly saute tomato, green onion and garlic a couple of minutes.  Set aside while you prepare the rest of the mixture.

In a medium bowl, beat the 4 eggs, add the cheeses and green chiles.  Now stir in the tomato mixture.  Add spices and stir well to incorporate.

Either line with paper cups (best method) or oil mini muffin pans with olive oil.  Spoon 1T. of the mixture into each muffin cup.   There should be enough mixture for 24.   Bake at 350º for 10-13 minutes or until centers are set.  Let cool in pans 1-2 minutes if you did not use paper liners.  Loosen edges carefully with a knife and gently lift from the pan.  Serve garnished with a slice of jalapeno on top if desired.  If you prefer, you can put the jalapeno on these before baking.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 24, each contains:

25.9 cals, 1.84 g fat, 0.67g carbs, 0.17g fiber, 0.5g NET CARBS, 0.17g protein, 45 mg sodium

Chicken-Pizza Logs

I created a delicious lunch today with half a baked chicken breast that was leftover from dinner last night.  Man, did these come out ever so good!  I basically took my Cheese Thin Buns recipe, subbed in mozzarella cheese for the Cheddar and added just a pinch of crushed oregano to the batter.  Added my flavorings and baked 12 minutes!  These are so filling with glucomannan (pure fiber) just 2 will be an ample serving for most people.  Men might be able to eat 3, but I could not.  All I can say is lunch tasty, filling and not as heavy as regular pizza can be to me.  You could also make these as bite-size  treats using a mini-muffin pan.  Just spread out into 24 slots and using ½ slice pepperoni atop each mini.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto and gluten-free diets.  Clearly it is not suitable for Paleo due to the cheese.

INGREDIENTS: 

4 T.  plain whey protein powder (I use isolate)

1 T.+1 tsp. glucomannan powder

1 T. baking powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3 eggs, beaten

1 T. olive oil

1/4 c. tap water

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheddar cheese for the batter

4 oz. cooked chicken meat, cut into 12 strips (or 24 bits for minis)

12 slices pepperoni

1/3 c. shredded mozzarella to top (more if you add carbs to numbers below)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Oil a Twinkie® or baking log pan with your preferred oil (or line large baking sheet with parchment paper).   If you don’t have a Twinkie® pan, but you still want to try this, just make round ones using a regular muffin pan.   They just won’t be “logs”. 😉

On a paper plate, measure out dry ingredients and stir.  Set aside a moment.  Break eggs into medium bowl and add oil and water.  Beat with whisk to blend well.  Using a rubber spatula next, slowly dust in or sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top and stir rapidly to blend.  Add the 1 cup mozzarella shreds, stirring and folding batter over and over to allow the glucomannan to thicken up.  It will be a pretty thick like bread batter in just a couple minutes.  When all nice and thick, spoon about 1½ T. batter into each of 12 oiled Twinkie® pan slots.

If batter seems a bit thin, let it set up a couple minutes longer.  Stir several times more.   If still too thin, I fear you’ve added too much water and need to add a teensy bit more glucomannan powder.   When batter is fairly thick, use the side of your rubber spatula to dip into the Twinkie® slots of your pan, or into your muffin cups.  Or you can spoon batter into 24 oiled mini-muffin cup slots for a bite-sized version of these that would be nice for entertaining.   Top each “log” with a small strip of the chicken meat (around 2″x½” strip or equivalent morsels of meat) until all meat is used up.  Then top with a slice of pepperoni (I sliced mine in half to spread it out).  If not sodium sensitive like we are, you may want to increase pepperoni to 2 slices per log, but alter numbers below accordingly.  Last, sprinkle a few of the extra mozzy shreds atop each log.  Pop pan into hot oven and bake for 9-12 minutes or until lightly browned on top.  Keep an eye out so you don’t over brown these or they may dry out.  To avoid tearing them up, slightly cool before removing from pans to a serving plate.  I used a mini rubber spatula to help lift mine out of the pans.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 pizza logs, each log will contain:

137.25 cals, 10.6g fat, 1.75g carbs, 0.71g fiber, 1.04g NET CARBS, 9.93g protein, 397mg sodium

(Divide numbers by 2 if you make the mini-muffin version)