"Keto" Pancakes

These were really good!

1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 cup Vanilla protein powder
3 tsp. Splenda
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 Tbsp oil

Mix all together well and cook over medium heat.

Makes about 4 pancakes.

Almond Crackers

1 cup almond meal
1 egg
seasonings of choice (sweet or savory!)

Combine meal and seasonings in a bowl using a fork. Break up any clumps in the almond meal. Crack egg directly into the bowl and mix well will fork. It will make a crumby dough.

Technique #1: Drop the ball of dough onto a foil lined sheet pan. (The foil is important!) Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and pat flat. Get it close to a quarter of an inch as possible. Use a rolling pin to roll it out even flatter. The flatter you can get them the crisper they will be. Use a pizza cutter to score squares or diamonds into the flattened dough.

Technique #2: Roll a teaspoons worth of dough into a ball. Place it on a foil lined sheet pan and cover with a small square of parchment. Use a can with a shallow lip and flatten the ball into a thin disk. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake at 325 until they begin to brown. Technique 1 took about 30 minutes and Technique 2 took about 15 minutes. #1 was definitely faster but #2 was prettier.

Baked Pumpkin Bars

8oz block of cream cheese, softened
5 eggs
1/2 cup vanilla soy protein powder (that is sweetened, as this is the only sweetener in the recipe)
15 oz can pumpkin
spices to taste (I used cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg)

Mix all ingredients well and bake in a 7X10 Pyrex dish at 350 for 50 minutes. Allow to cool completely and chill before cutting into 8 or 10 bars. I lined the Pyrex dish with parchment and it made getting them out of the pan very easy.

Personally I think it needs to be sweeter but based on the children's consumption of it, they are just fine. These would be great with some whipped cream on top!

Keto "Rice"

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil

Sauté the garlic and onions in the oil until soft. You can add any seasonings that you want. I used a little kosher salt.

Grate the head of cauliflower on the large side of a box grater or large cheese grater.

Add the cauliflower to the pan and sauté until tender. This doesn't really take long.

Hubby is a cauliflower hater but loved this and didn't even know it was cauliflower until I told him.

Low Carb Eggy Coconut Bread

Recipe by [unknown from Internet]
6 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 Tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder

Mix well, pour into buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

This is similar to cornbread, though not sweet. I can't vouch for the nutritional info so double check if you track things closely.

This was a bit dry but great with a little butter. Hubby had his with honey and really liked it. It doesn't taste a thing like coconut.

8 servings

Calories: 739 total, 93 per slice
Fat: 48 total, 6 per slice
Fiber: 54 total, 6.75 per slice
Carbs: 66 total, 8.25 per slice
Net carbs: 1.5g per slice
Protein: 61 total, 7.5 per slice

Peanut Butter Coconut Candies

1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Coconut Oil (room temp)
1 Tablespoon Dark Cocoa Powder
1 Tablespoon Splenda
2/3 cup Large Unsweentened Coconut Flakes
1/3 cup Slice Almonds
1/3 cup Hemp Seeds

Mix all together and spread into a small (7 X10ish, but any size should work) pyrex dish that has been buttered or sprayed with Pam.

Place in freezer until hardened and cut into blocks.

Notes:

1. First, they didn't come out of the pan in blocks. Of course I will admit to not letting them fully set up! A layer of parchment paper in the bottom would probably solve that problem.
   
2. Next time I will used a finer coconut. I really like the large flakes but they don't cut very pretty.
3. I will probably try spooning these into silicon muffin cups or silicone ice cube trays next time. Should be perfect for portion control and hopefully will release better.
4. I will either cut down on the cocoa powder or increase the Splenda. I didn't really want this to be a super sweet candy but the cocoa is a bit too bitter. I may leave the cocoa powder out entirely. Also a little vanilla might be nice.
5. If you keep your nuts in the freezer like I do, you will find that the coconut oil hardens up before you can finish mixing things up. So I popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds. It was perfect to soften the oil.
6. One last thought I had is that with the addition of some heavy cream these may be fudge like. I haven't tested that theory though.
   

Chocolatey Popsicles

2 cups heavy cream
squirt of vanilla (2 tsp probably)
1/2 cup-ish (I didn't measure) Walden Farms SF chocolate syrup

Whip it in the mixer.

I did not over whip it but if you wanted a thicker consistency then by all means. After verifying that it was edible I filled Popsicle molds with it and made "fudge"-sicles. This was not super sweet. You could add more chocolate syrup or some splenda if you wanted it sweeter. I also think that an orange version would ROCK!

Portabella Cap "Pizzas"

For dinner tonight I made portabella pizzas. They were awesome. We have a hard time getting nitrate free/uncured peperoni around here so we often use uncured bacon as a pizza topping.

Ingredients:
1 pizza crust, prepared for toppings
1 jar pizza sauce
1 lb uncured bacon (I think the packages are actually 12oz.)
1 lb mozzarella cheese
3 large portabella caps

Directions:
1. Cut bacon into small pieces with scissors and cook in skillet until crispy. Drain off all but 1 Tbsp bacon fat and move bacon bits to a bowl.

2. With a spoon, scrap the gills from the portabella caps. Fry the caps, top side down first, in the bacon fat for 2 - 3 minutes. Flip the caps over and fry for another 2 - 3 minutes. Turn burner off and flip caps one more time.

3. Spread pizza sauce on the pizza crust and on top of each cap.

4. Sprinkle bacon all over the pizza crust and on each mushroom cap.

5. Top everything with cheese and place in the oven to melt and brown cheese. (I left my mushrooms in the skillet and there was enough residual heat to melt the cheese sufficiently.)

So the boys got their pizza and so did I, but mine was virtually carb free!!

Pumpkin Hummus

I have been wanting hummus lately but the carbs were too high for me to fit it into my diet. So I came up with this version that is a little lighter on the carbs. (Sorry, I don't measure spices. Use whatever you want though!)

1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 can 100% pumpkin
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup olive oil

I seasoned with salt, cumin, chili powder, oregano and grains of paradise. Put all in food processor and process until smooth.

Total carbs are 32g with 13g fiber. Net carbs 19g. The recipe made 3 1/2 cups so if I am doing the math correctly that leaves a bit less than 1.5g net carbs per 1/4 cup serving. It is actually not much better than regular hummus which only had 2g net carbs per 1/4 cup serving. But the pumpkin has lots of nutrients and depending on how much hummus you eat that .5g could add up.

If you are wondering, there is a hint of pumpkin flavor but it isn't overwhelming.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

This is what I made for dinner last night. I have been craving chicken wings for a few weeks. Between the wings being insanely unhealthy and most of them containing butter, I have been unable to indulge my craving. So this is what I made last night for dinner. It was very good and I think it was fairly low in fat and high in protein.

Slice up 4 large chicken breasts and marinate them in 1/2 a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce for about an hour.

Saute a large onion, diced, in 2 Tbsp of olive oil and a healthy pinch of kosher salt until translucent. Add 5 or 6 cloves of minced garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the marinated chicken breasts to the pan, including all the marinade, and cook thoroughly. At this point there should be a very watery sauce in the pan. Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with an 8 oz can of tomato sauce (and a bit more pepper sauce if you want) until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour into the chicken mixture and stir. The sauce should thicken quickly. Remove from heat as soon as sauce begins to thicken.

Serve over whole wheat pasta.

Banana Split Bread

I made Banana Split Bread for the boys birthday and it was awesome. However, it was not entirely healthy. So here is my attempt to make it something that can be served for breakfast!

Wet Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup pineapple juice (from drained tidbits)

2 ripe bananas mashed

Dry Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Mix Ins:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans but anything will work)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
8 oz canned pineapple tidbits, in juice, drained

Combine wet ingredients in the mixer. When well combined add the mashed banana until combined.

Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the wet ingredients int he mixer. Mix until just combined.

Fold in the mix ins and bake at 325 for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I used a 9X9 stoneware pan. You could use a standard loaf pan but you will probably have to increase the cooking time.

Next time around I will use crushed pineapple. I prefer the big bits of pineapple but hubby does not. I also think a few other flavorings are in order, like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Almost Clean Baked Oatmeal

With the exception of the protein powder, this recipes is "clean". (I think) I was able to eliminate the Splenda by adding 3 very ripe bananas. I store over ripe bananas in the freezer for just this purpose. They keep almost indefinitely in there. Just pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes and the mushy thawed banana will slide right out of the peel. It looks gross but mixed in a recipe it adds a mild banana flavor and sweetness.

This recipe also made a bunch more muffins than the last time. I think it was because the steel cut oats didn't absorb as much moisture. Hopefully that won't affect the end product. It says that the severing size is one muffin but I usually have 2 at a time for breakfast and one for a snack.

1 cups rolled oats (300cal, 6g fat, 54g carb, 10g prot)

2 cup steel cut oats (1200cal, 16g fat, 208g carb, 32g prot)

2 cup plain soy milk (200cal, 8g fat, 16g carb, 14g prot)

2 cups water

4 scoops Soy Protein powder Vanilla (520cal, 6g fat, 12g carb, 100g prot)

1 cup blueberries (60cal, 0g fat, 18g carb, 0g prot)

1 cup eggbeaters (120cal, 0g fat, 4g carb, 24g prot)

3 Tbsp ground flax seeds (90cal, 7.5g fat, 6g carb, 4.5g prot)

3 very ripe bananas, mashed (215cal, 1g fat, 55.5g carb, 3g prot)

Cinnamon, nutmeg or other spices of choice

1 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350

In a large pan over medium heat, mix together all ingredient except blueberries. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until liquid begins to thicken, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and fold in blueberries.

Spoon into 30 silicone muffin cups. Fill to the top as this will not rise. (If you use more or less muffin cups then use the recipe totals at the bottom to calculate cal, fat, etc per serving based on the number of servings you get from your pans.)

Bake for 40 minutes or until firm to the touch. (Depending on your oven this can take longer. These are very hard to over cook so don't stress about the time.)

If you use a metal muffin tin you should line them with papers or they will not come out very easily. After they have cooled enough to handle, turn them out of the silicone cups and allow to finish cooling. Once cool, store in the fridge for up to a week.

Recipe totals: 2705 cal, 44.5g fat, 373.5g carb, 187.5g prot

Serving size 1 muffins: 90 cal, 1.5g fat, 12.5g carb, 6.25g prot

Note: You can use regular milk and whey powder if you want. That will change the final numbers but not by much.

Egg Wraps

Here is an alternative to wheat wraps. I have often used lettuce leaves as an alternative to wheat wraps when I am trying to cut back on carbs but they get old after a while. I have not tried making these egg wraps but they sound like an awesome alternative. If made with egg beaters, they would be a high protein, low fat, low carb wrap alternative. As soon as I find a plate that is the right shape AND will fit in my microwave I will give it a try and let you know how it works out!

Chocolate Bean Cake

I haven't made this yet but I have heard it ROCKS. I will post a comment when I make it.

15 oz (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs, seperated
1- 1 1/2 cups splenda (depending on how sweet you like it)
3 TBSP baking cocoa
2 TBSP strong coffee
1 Tsp baking powder
2 TBSP smart spread or canola oil (or you can use applesauce!)
1 Tsp vanilla extract
2 TBSP chopped walnuts or hazelnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F

Prepare a 8x8 baking pan by spraying with PAM butter spray
Blend the egg yolks, splenda, baking powder, smart balance (or oil) vanilla, coffee & cocoa in a blender or with a stick blender.
Add the rinsed beans, puree until smooth.

Transfer bean mixture to a bowl if using the mixer.

In a sep. bowl whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into the bean mixture to lighten the bean mix. Fold in the remaining egg whites in two portions. It's ok if some white streaks remain in the batter.

Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle top with chopped nuts if desired. Tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to release any air pockets.

Bake at 350 F for 35-40 min or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes 16 2"x2" servings

Per serving: 48 calories, Carbs 4.5g, Protein 2.9g, Fiber 1.0g, Fat 1.7g, sFat 0.5g (I have NOT verified the nutritional info!)

Variations:
Chocolate peanut butter: add 2 TBSP natty PB to the bean mixture.

Sprinkle with chopped peanuts if desired.

Chocolate hazelnut: Add 1 TBSP sf hazelnut syrup or 1/4 tsp hazelnut extract to the bean mix.

Note: Coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate and makes it more chocolately, you don't taste the coffee.

Cream cheese frosting for the bean cake:
4 oz cream cheese (lf or ff)
3-4 TBSP splenda
2 Tbsp sf vanilla syrup
4 TBSP natty PB
-you can add or substract according to your taste!-

Mix all together in a cup until creamy. Store covered in fridge until ready to use. Spread on cake piece by piece.

Don't need no stinkin' smoothie maker!

I learned a new trick today. Why I never thought of this before is beyond me. Someone on JPFitness posted this link to a blog detailing how you can use a standard quart mason jar to turn a standard blender into a personal smoothie maker.

The blog shows a really old blender but I tried it with my new fangled blender and it works.

Lentil Pate

Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything. What I did ended up looking nothing like the recipe I was following! LOL

2 cups broth of choice (I used vegetarian "chicken" stock)
1 cup red lentils

Add to medium sauce pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes.

1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced fine (I used more)
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt

Add to lentil during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

1/2 cup almonds, coarsley chopped (If your food processor can handle almonds you can do this in there, mine can't!)

Add almonds to the food processor, along with the lentil mixture. Process to desired consistency. If you want it smooth process longer.

Scant 1/4 cup unbleached flour

Move lentil mixture to mixing bowl and mix in flour. Bake in a well oiled loaf pan lined with parchment paper. 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until firm.

Cold Soba Noodle Salad

This recipe was adapted from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook.

8 ounces soba noodles

Prepare noodles according to package directions.

2 large carrots, sliced VERY thin
1 cup snap peas, coarsely chopped
1/2 red onion, diced

Added veggies to the boiling water with the noodles during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain veggies and noodles and rinse with cold water until cool.

3 tbsp. sesame oil
4 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. Asian chili paste

Mix above together and pour over noodles and veggies. Toss to coat. Serve cold.

3 Bean, Turkey, Pumpkin Chili

20 oz ground Turkey breast (600 cal, 2.5g fat, 0g carb, 140g prot)

2 Alarm Chili Mix (60 cal, 1.5g fat, 10g carb, 2g prot)

15 oz can pumpkin puree (140 cal, 1.75g fat, 31.5g carb, 7g prot)

4 oz green chilis (20 cal, 0g fat, 4g carb, 0g prot)

15 oz can great northern beans (280 cal, 0g fat, 59.5g carb, 21g prot)

15 oz can black beans (420 cal, 0g fat, 73.5g carb, 28g prot)

16 oz can light red kidney beans (350 cal, 0g fat, 77g carb, 24.5g prot)

15 oz can tomato sauce plus one can of water (105 cal, 0g fat, 28g carb, 0g prot)

2 - 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (245 cal, 2g fat, 56g carb, 7g prot)

diced onion and garlic

2Tbsp olive oil (240 cal, 28g fat, 0g carb, 0g prot)\

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, brown turkey, dump in everything else, stir to combine and simmer for up to 4 hours.

Total 2460 cal, 35.75g fat, 339.5g carb, 229.5g protein

This makes a huge pot. I will estimate 12 servings.

205 cal, 3g fat, 28g carb, 19g protein

Turkey Breakfast Meatballs - My Version

Here are my version of breakfast meatballs.

20 oz ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
1 medium to large granny smith apple (1/4 inch dice)
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup egg beaters
1 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and shape into 34 - 1 inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Each meat ball has 39 calories, 3g fat, 2g carb and 4.5g protein

What I will do differently next time:
I will probably grate 1/2 the apple and dice 1/2 the apple. I like the contrast in texture of the diced apple but it makes the meatball a bit hard to hold together. I will also try replacing the pecans with 1/4 cup flax seeds. The pecans didn't add the texture I was hoping for and flax seeds are healthier. That will probably help them hold together a bit better as well. Lastly I will add more maple extract, 2 tsp probably. I really wanted that distinct breakfast flavor. Once they cool I will know for sure. It might come through better once they are cold.

Avocado Hummus

My almost over ripe avocado found a purpose today! This stuff is really good. I am going to have to be very careful not to eat too much at once!

Avocado Hummus

1 very ripe avocado
1 can Garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp tahini (I probably use closer to 3)
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (use more or less depending on how much kick you want)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup olive or avocado oil (I used some of each)

Dump all ingredients in the food processor except the oil. Process thoroughly, drizzle in oil until smooth and creamy. Chill thoroughly before eating (yeah right!).