It has been about a month since my last post and that has been mostly because I have either been eating out or making a quick salad or sandwich at home. I was away for almost two weeks on a business trip and I found it very hard to resist all the temptations at the restaurants. Although I did give in on several occasions, I am ready to get back on the right track.
I stayed in Roanoke, Virginia, during my trip last month. It is a small city in a valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the southwestern part of the state. The weather was beautiful, except for one very intense thunderstorm the day after I arrived. For my last dinner there, I drove to a highly recommended country food restaurant that served family style Southern dishes. It was a large farmhouse nestled in the mountains that had been converted into a restaurant. They are well known for their fried chicken, but also serve roast beef, ham and BBQ pulled pork along with a variety of side dishes. The dessert is typically a fruit cobbler. I visited on a Thursday which is the only night they serve the BBQ pork and the dessert was a delicious cherry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. So, it is no surprise I set out to find a low carb alternative to this yummy cobbler now that I am back home. For those interested in checking out the restaurant, it’s called The Home Place and they have a Facebook page here. A bad storm hit the area the day after I left and it mentions that the restaurant lost power along with hundreds of thousands of other folks in the area.
Cherry Cobbler
TOPPING:
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup almond flour
¼ cup pecan halves
2 tablespoons oat fiber
2 Tablespoons granular sugar substitute (sucralose)
½ Teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
3 Tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces
⅓ cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sour cream
1 large eggs
FILLING:
3 cups fresh cherries, pitted(about 2 pounds)
8 packets sugar substitute
¼ Teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
For biscuit topping: In a food processor, pulse almond flour, coconut flour, walnuts, oat fiber, sugar substitute, and cinnamon until nuts are well ground. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal.
In separate bowl, whisk heavy cream, sour cream and egg. Pour into food processor and pulse just until combined. Remove dough, roll into a ball and pat flat on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours.
For filling: In a medium bowl, toss cherries with 1/3 cup sugar substitute, almond extract and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour filling into an 8-inch square or round baking dish. Divide dough into 8 pieces and pat into disks about 3 across.
Stagger biscuits over filling and bake cobbler in 400°F oven about 30 to 35 minutes, until topping is browned and cooked through. Serve with low carb ice cream if desired.
Makes 8 servings
Net carbs per serving: about 8 g
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Going through our big upright freezer, I noticed we have several large bags of blueberries from last year. Blueberries can be frozen for up to two years, but I like to use them up before then. I’m not sure how the blueberry season will be this year, but the strawberries came in early due to the warmer spring so blueberries are likely to be early as well.
To make this blueberry crisp, I combined my Blueberry Cobbler filling with the topping from my Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp recipe. There is about twice as much fruit in the cobbler recipe so this crisp can serve 8 instead of the 4 that the strawberry rhubard crisp serves. I also like the topping from the crisp recipe better than the one from the cobbler. This is a delicious treat served warm topped with low carb ice cream.
Low Carb Blueberry Crisp
FILLING:
4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon vanilla
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
12 packets low carb sweetener
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
TOPPINGS:
½ cup pecans, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oat fiber, or low carb flour substitute
3 packets low carb sweetener
dash nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Combine all the filling ingredients and pour into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.
Mix together pecans, oat fiber, sweetener, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter then sprinkle over blueberry mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Serve warm topped with ice cream or whipped cream.
Makes 8 servings
Net carbs per serving: about 5g
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Lately, I’ve been keeping convenient foods in the fridge for quick and easy snacking. I haven’t been wanting to eat large meals, just more small meals throughout the day. Because of this, I’ve been making salads and cutting up fruit to keep in the fridge for a quick bite. Chicken salad has been a staple for me lately. I like to have mine in half of a low carb pita pocket with cheese, lettuce and tomato. It’s a quick thing to put together when I’m feeling hungry that will fill me up for a couple hours. This is the basic recipe, I’ve added other things like onion, peppers, and pickles when I’m looking for extra crunch.
Basic Chicken Salad
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, without skin
3-4 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon salt
pepper , to taste
Poach chicken breasts in water or broth by covering for 30 minutes after liquid boils. Remove chicken and allow to cool. Shred chicken into small pieces. Mix chicken and celery. Stir together mayonnaise, salt and pepper until well blended. Spoon mayonnaise mixture over chicken mixture and stir to coat. Store in refrigerator. Serve chilled.
Makes 6-8 servings
Net carbs per serving: < 1g
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Macaroni salad is a usual staple at Memorial Day potluck picnics. Because of the carbs in pasta, I typically stay away from macaroni salad. However, I do miss it and it seems to go well with hotdogs and hamburgers. I found an old recipe for a macaroni salad with ham and cheese. I thought this would be a great addition to the family Memorial Day barbecue. Since I’m usually the one eating the bun-less meats with salads and fruits, having a little pasta with my meal will be a treat.
Dreamfields Ham and Cheese Macaroni Salad
1 13.25 ounce box Dreamfields Elbows, cooked and drained
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cup cooked ham, cubed
1 cup dill pickles, chopped
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Mix together first five ingredients. Blend together mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Stir mayonnaise mixture into pasta mixture until well combined. Store in refrigerator. Serve chilled.
Makes 16 servings
Digestible carbs: 6g
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Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer in New England, is finally here. This is a weekend of traditional outdoor potluck parties and cookouts. To celebrate the holiday and the warmer weather, I was looking for an easy vegetable salad that could be kept in the refrigerator for a quick snack. To make it easy, I just used a bottle of low carb Italian style dressing. This is a real flexible recipe. If there is something you don’t like, it can be left out. You can also make additions to the salad, like shredded cheese, if desired. The soy beans add some protein, if you don’t like them, you can always substitute with something like pepperoni.
Colorful Broccoli Salad
1 pound fresh broccoli, chopped
1 15 oz can black soy beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium cucumber, sliced and quartered
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 6 oz can pitted black olives, chopped
1 16 oz bottle Italian salad dressing (I used Newman’s Own Olive Oil & Vinegar)
In a large bowl, toss together the first six ingredients. Mix in the dressing. May be served immediately. If saving for later, store in the refrigerator.
Makes about 12 servings
Net carbs per serving: 6 g
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Nothing is more enjoyable for me on a Sunday morning than a nice warm pancake breakfast. Although I’ve tried variations of the traditional pancake, this morning I wanted some that were simple and almond flour based. This is an adaptation of Laura Dolson’s Low Carb Almond Meal pancakes. Her version does not bubble and tends to be a little flat. I added some baking soda to the recipe so the batter will bubble when cooked. This makes them puff on the griddle and results in a fluffier pancake. It also helps to let the batter sit for about 15 minutes before cooking so the baking soda has some time to react. I served mine with some butter and low carb syrup and they were perfect.
Fluffy Almond Meal Pancakes
2 cups almond meal
4 eggs
½ cup water (for puffier pancakes, you can use sparkling water)
¼ cup oil
1 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3-4 packets low carb sweetener
Mix ingredients together in a blender. Let batter sit for about 15 minutes. Pour onto hot griddle or pan over medium high heat (about 325-350 degree F). Flip them when the edges start to dry.
Makes about 24 small silver dollar pancakes
Net carbs per pancake: about 0.5 g
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My birthday was a couple weeks ago and since I love ice cream cakes, my family got me a Cold Stone birthday cake which is a combination of red velvet cake and birthday cake ice cream. It was not low carb, but I’ve been in maintenance so long, I don’t think twice about splurging to celebrate special occasions.
To get back on track after a couple weeks of higher carb eating, I wanted to try baking a low carb red velvet cake. A lot of eggs are required when using all coconut flour, so I chose to use a blend of half Carbquik and half coconut flour. That way, I could reduce the amount of eggs by half.
The result was a cake that tasted very close to a regular high carb one. Next time, I may double the recipe to make a regular two layer cake. Chopped pecans would also be a nice addition to sprinkle on top. This time I kept it simple because I wasn’t sure how it was going to come out.
Red Velvet Cake
¼ cup butter, softened
¾ cup granular erythritol
¼ teaspoon stevia extract powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup Carbquik
⅓ cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup plain yogurt
red food coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
¾ cup powdered erythritol
¼ teaspoon stevia extract powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Grease 9-inch round cake pan with shortening and dust with cocoa.
Beat erythritol and stevia into butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (Carbquik, coconut flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt). Beat in half the dry mixture into wet mixture. Then beat in half the yogurt, then the rest of the dry mixture, and then the rest of the yogurt. Mix in red food coloring (I used about 1/4 teaspoon of gel). Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25-30 min. Remove from pan and allow to cool.
To make frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter until well combined. Beat in sweeteners until fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract.
Makes 1 single layer cake (about 10-12 slices)
Net carbs per slice: 2g
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Lately, I have been taking a bit of a break from cooking and baking. I’ve just been feeling hungry all the time and getting by on small snacks. However, I noticed we have a lot of frozen blueberries left in our freezer from last summer’s crop so I need to start making room as blueberry season is only a couple months away. I’ll probably make some regular blueberry muffins for my husband and son today. For me, I made these low carb scones. They aren’t very sweet so others may want to drizzle some sweet glaze on top or sprinkle a little sweetener on each scone before baking.
Blueberry Scones
1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
¼ cup sugar alternative, I used Swerve
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, chilled
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ teaspoon blackstrap molasses
⅓ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup almond milk
2 eggs
Mix flours, sweetener, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into dry mix. Add blueberries and stir to coat berries. In separate bowl, whip together molasses, cream, almond milk and eggs. Slowly pour wet mix into dry mix and stir just until dough forms. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a ball and flatten into a circle. Cut each dough circle into 6 triangles. Bake triangles for about 15-20 minutes at 375 degree F.
Makes 12 servings
Net carbs per serving: 5g
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Mousse is a great dessert because it satisfies a sweet tooth without being too heavy after dinner. Last year, I made a couple different key lime pies. Both were good, but I don’t always feel like making a pie crust. I thought about just whipping up some of the filling and pouring it into a pie plate. However, since it has been a while since my last blog post, I decided to try a new recipe. This time, I modified a chocolate mousse recipe to use key lime instead of cocoa. I wasn’t sure if using juice in place of cocoa was going to thin out the mousse, so I added three tablespoons of ground lecithin granules to help thicken it. I know that lecithin is often used as a substitute for egg yolks and yolks are used to help thick things like pudding so I gave it a try. The mousse came out light and airy with a great key lime flavor.
Key Lime Mousse
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
¼ cup cold water
⅓ cup boiling water
1 cup low carb sugar substitute (I used liquid sucralose)
1 tablespoon lime zest
3 tablespoons lecithin granules, ground fine
2 cups cold whipping cream
⅔ cup key lime juice
Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl; let stand 2 minutes to soften. Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool slightly.
Combine sweetener, ground lecithin granules, and sweetener in large bowl; add whipping cream. Beat with electric mixer until mixture is stiff. Pour in gelatin mixture and key lime juice. Beat again until well blended.
Refrigerate at least one hour. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes 8 servings
Net carbs per serving: < 2g
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Although I have an ice cream maker, I don’t use this machine as often as I should. It’s just too easy to buy low carb ice cream at a local store. However, the flavors available are very limited and I usually settle for plain vanilla as the chocolate typically tastes bad with the added splenda. There are a few gourmet ice cream shops that sell low carb ice cream, but these are seasonal places that are only open during the warmer weather and they are very expensive. Still, the sugar free flavors they offer are typically just vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
Making homemade ice cream is really easy when using a machine. The only thing is that you have to prepare for it by placing the freezer bowl in the freezer a few days prior so that the gel inside is frozen. Getting bored of the regular vanilla ice cream, I got the machine out of storage and thought of a good flavor to try. Coconut ice cream is something that is hard to find. Locally, I’ve only seen it served in a Chinese restaurant. I still had some homemade hot fudge sauce left over, so this is going to make a great ice cream sundae. Maybe I’ll add some chopped almonds for an Almond Joy sundae.
Coconut Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk, or almond milk
3 tablespoons granular lecithin, ground to fine powder
¾ cup sweetener, I used Ideal (xylitol/sucralose mix)
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon coconut extract
1 ¼ c. unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons glycerin
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
Blend all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze per manufacturer directions. Store in a covered container in freezer.
Makes 8 servings
Net carbs per serving: 3.5g
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