It’s a New Year and I am determined to get things started off right. Although I could have celebrated New Year’s Day eating badly, I found some time to cook a low carb meal. The weather is cold and some comfort food was in order. This meatloaf would have been better with a little mashed cauliflower, but to keep things simple I just served it with a mix of steamed vegetables.
This is a basic meatloaf recipe that can be adjusted to suit different tastes. Some may want to add some low carb vegetables or cheese like parmesan. Additional spices can also be added to enhance the flavor. The tomato paste, sweetener and vinegar can be omitted to lower the carbs, but I wanted to have the tangy taste of catsup mixed in so I added these.
Basic Meatloaf
2 lb. lean ground beef
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
¾ cup crushed pork rinds
1 6 oz can tomato paste
¼ cup Splenda or equivalent sweetener, I used liquid sucralose
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon dried basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Lightly spray a 5×9 inch loaf pan with oil or line with foil. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix until blended. Pat into loaf shape and place in pan. Bake at 350 degrees F until meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F (about 1 hr to 1 hr 15 min). When meat is done, juices will be clear. Drain any fat and let sit about 10 minutes before slicing.
Makes 8 servings
Net carbs per serving: 4g
It has been a while since my last post. As some of you may know from my recent Facebook post, I was blessed with a healthy baby girl several days before Christmas. I decided to take a break from the blog due to long hours at work late in pregnancy which left me fatigued and with little free time. Now, I am busy caring for a newborn baby so finding the time to prepare meals and snacks in the kitchen doesn’t come easy. During my pregnancy, I did up my carbs and even enjoyed some sweets I never would have touched before. Once the holidays are over, I intend to get back to my regular low carb diet. I gained about 30-35 pounds during pregnancy. As of this morning, I have about 15-20 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy size.
I wanted to do a quick review on one of the cereal products I recently discovered. The brand is Hi-Lo by Nutritious Living. I found and purchased the product at Netrition.com where it got very good reviews. It is my new fix for morning hunger as I don’t always have the time or energy to make eggs. The cereal is sweetened with Splenda and comes in two flavors, Vanilla Almond and Maple Pecan. I love both flavors, but do like the Maple Pecan a bit more. This cereal is great paired with Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk. It makes a great quick and easy Hi Protein, low carb breakfast. Net carbs are about 6g for each 1/2 cup serving. The protein for one serving is 12g so it will fill you up for several hours.
It was time to dust off my donut pan and make some Sunday morning donuts. With all the summer outings and parties, I have veered a bit off my normal low carb diet. Now that the kids are back in school and the summer has reached an end, I need to get back on track before falling into the temptation of the holidays.
These are a lightly spiced cake doughnut. I didn’t want the spice to be too strong, so I only added about half a teaspoon spice for nine donuts. They aren’t overly sweet either so if not adding a sweet frosting on top, some may want additional sweetener in the batter. Overall, these are a good distraction to prevent going for the real thing when getting back on track with a low carb diet.
Frosted Baked Cake Donuts
1 ⅓ cups almond flour
⅔ cup coconut flour
¾ cup sugar substitute equivalent (18 packets)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
¾ tsp. xanthan gum
1 tbsp. butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cinnamon
Frosting:
2 tbsp. almond milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup powdered erythritol
4 drops stevia glycerite
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray donut pan with cooking oil.
In bowl, mix together flours, sweetener, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Add butter, eggs, almond milk, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Beat until well blended. Fill each donut mold about 2/3 full.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans about 15 minutes then remove from pans to finish cooling on racks.
Spread frosting on top of each donut. Donuts may also be dipped into a mix of cinnamon and sweetener instead of the frosting.
Makes 9 donuts
Net carbs per donut: 4g
Categories:
Breads, Cakes, Desserts Tags:
almond flour, cake, coconut flour, donut, doughnut, frosted, low carb, recipe, spice
Although it hasn’t been a good year for zucchini, we got another large one from our garden this week. I was tempted to bake another bread, but decided to try a new recipe using chocolate. I’ve had some really good chocolate zucchini breads, but wanted something that I could quickly grab to snack on at work so I opted to bake muffins. These came out better than expected. Maybe next time I will add nuts and/or chocolate chips.
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
5 eggs
1 cup sugar substitute, I used 12 packets & 1/2 tsp stevia extract powder
½ cup butter
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup zucchini, grated
1 cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Lightly grease or use non-stick spray in a 12 cup muffin baking mold. Beat eggs in large bowl with sweetener and oil. Stir in the cocoa, vanilla, and zucchini. In separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Add dry mix into wet mix until moist. Evenly distribute batter between the 12 muffin molds. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from molds and let cool on wire rack. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes 12 muffins
Net carbs per muffin: 3.5 g
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My search for a good low carb zucchini bread is over. Although I love to eat plain steamed zucchini, I’ve tried a few low carb zucchini bread recipes that just didn’t make a good replacement for the real thing. Using the basic quick bread recipe as a guide, I came up with a recipe for zucchini bread. I only had five eggs so that is all I put in. I’m not sure if adding additional eggs would have made a difference. This bread did have a good texture and cooked well throughout. In the past, I’ve had trouble getting the bread to cook in middle, but this one did not have that problem. I will be making another loaf very soon.
Zucchini Bread
1 cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 eggs
½ cup butter
3 tablespoons coconut oil, liquified
1 cup equivalent sugar substitute, I used liquid sucralose
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup zucchini, grated
½ cup walnuts
Grease 9×5 bread pan. In small bowl, mix together almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, baking powder, and cinnamon. In large bowl, beat eggs, butter, coconut oil, sweetener, and extract. Beat in flour mixture until well combined. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Pour into greased pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 325 degrees F. Cool for about 15 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool completely. Store in refrigerator.
Makes 12 servings
Net carbs per serving: about 4g
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Here’s an easy way to use up some summer squash if you are getting a bumper crop this year. After picking, I usually cut up the squash, slice it then steam it and keep it in the refrigerator for a quick snack or side dish. I have tried freezing squash for later, but I don’t think it tastes as good as it does when it is fresh. These quesadillas make an easy lunch or appetizer for dinner. They can be served with sour cream and or salsa if desired, but I usually just eat them plain.
Squash Quesadilla
1 low carb tortilla
sliced & steamed squash
shredded cheddar cheese
Spray or lightly oil frying pan over medium high heat. Place tortilla in center of pan. Sprinkle cheese on one half of tortilla staying about a half inch or so from edge. Layer squash over cheese. Sprinkle a bit more cheese over squash. Fold tortilla over. When bottom is lightly brown, turn over to brown other side if desired. Remove from pan, cool slightly and slice.
Makes 1 serving
Net carbs per serving: about 5-7 g depending on tortilla brand
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Although I have made a mock coconut pie before with summer squash, that recipe here did not have any real coconut in it. I thought the pie would be better with some unsweetened coconut added instead of relying only on the extract for flavor. The summer squash always grows well for us in our garden so I’m always trying to use it for more than just a steamed vegetable side dish for dinner. I like this recipe a little better than the one I posted last year because this one adds coconut.
Coconut Summer Squash Pie
3 cups summer squash, grated
1 ⅓ cups equivalent sugar substitute (I used liquid sucralose)
3 eggs
½ cup melted butter
1 tbsp coconut extract
1 tbsp coconut flour
¾ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
Reserve 1/4 cup coconut for topping, Place the remaining ingredients in a blender until well mixed. Pour into pie pan or prepared unbaked low carb crust. Sprinkle reserved coconut on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until custard is set and coconut topping is browned.
Makes 6 servings
Net carbs per servings: 3.5g
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My husband and kids picked nine pounds of blueberries while I was at work last week. A friend has a large area of blueberry bushes and was having trouble keeping the birds out of the nets. So, he invited my family over to pick as many berries as possible. Although I froze a bunch, I still had a lot of fresh blueberries to use up. This is a real simple recipe that doesn’t take much time or effort. It’s my favorite low carb cobbler recipe of all that I’ve tried. It tastes great and I doubt others who try it would guess it was sugar and gluten free.
Easy Blueberry Cobbler
3 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
⅔ cup almond flour
⅓ cup coconut flour
1 cup granular sugar alternative (I used 24 packets)
1 egg, beaten
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Pour berries into greased 9″x9″ pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice and xanthan gum. Stir almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener and egg until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle dry mixture over berries. Drizzle melted butter over topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until top is browned.
Makes 9 servings
Net carbs per serving: 8g
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Although I like different flavors of protein shakes, I only buy the vanilla powder because it can be used as a base to make other flavors. The brand I prefer is Designer Whey because it is sweetened with stevia and naturally flavored. I used frozen strawberries for this shake, but any other frozen or fresh fruits can be used.
Strawberry Almond Milk Shake
6 whole frozen strawberries
2 scoops sugar-free vanilla protein shake mix (about 1/2 cup)
2½ cups almond milk
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packets sugar substitute
Place strawberries, protein mix, almond milk, vanilla, and sugar substitute in a blender and blend at high speed until smooth and well combined. Add some ice if you like it extra cold.
Net carbs: about 8 g total
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We picked our first ripe green beans from the garden this week. We got things started a little late this year despite the warmer than normal spring weather. Although I usually just steam the fresh vegetables, I made something a bit more on the gourmet side. The white wine gives a nice flavor and the sun-dried tomatoes provide a contrasting color. I threw in a can of mushrooms just because I had it. This is something that I will most likely make again.
Green Beans with Mushrooms and Sun-dried Tomatoes
1 Pound fresh green beans, in 1-inch pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ Teaspoons minced garlic
½ cup dry white wine
1 can mushrooms, drained
2 Tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1-2 Teaspoons fresh or dried thyme
Cook green beans in salted boiling water about 4 minutes. Drain and cool.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add wine, mushrooms, tomatoes and thyme. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil for 2 minutes until most of the wine evaporates. Remove from heat and mix in green beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.
Makes about 6 servings
Net Carbs: 7 g
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