Cheesecake Pancakes Lisa C. 2:21 PM

These tasted for all the world like cheesecake. The husband could not stop raving about them! They have a good texture for not having wheat flour in them, but as all pancakes not made with wheat flour, don't expect them to be identical to regular pancakes texture-wise.

Cheesecake Pancakes

1 -8 oz. brick Cream Cheese, full fat, softened
3 eggs, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 C Whey Protein Powder, plain
2 T coconut flour
1 packet Splenda, or other sweetener proportionally measured to equal 2 t sugar
1/2 t baking powder
Coconut oil for cooking (or other oil of your choosing)


Cream the softened cream cheese with an electric hand blender. Add eggs, one at a time, until each is incorporated into the cream cheese. Add vanilla, mix, then add dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. Ladle onto griddle or pan, heated to a medium temperature, by a scant 1/4 C each pancake, spreading the batter out a bit after pouring. Flip when the edges start looking less glossy. When done, serve with your choice of toppings. Makes 16 small to medium pancakes.

If using vanilla flavored whey protein powder, omit vanilla extract.

Here is the macro breakdown, for half the recipe, or eight pancakes:

Keto Chocolate Mousse Lisa C. 9:34 PM

Found somewhere on the Internetz. Looks good!

Keto Pancakes Lisa C. 10:54 AM

I actually created this recipe before I went Keto, but the macronutrient profile decidedly puts them into ketogenic diet territory. I made them again this morning and thought I would share. They are pretty yummy, and very filling. I like to make these cinnamon-y, but feel free to omit the cinnamon and sweetener from the recipe as it will not change the texture a bit.

Keto Pancakes

1 -8 oz. brick Cream Cheese, full fat, softened
4 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
2 T coconut flour
1 t Splenda, or other sweetener proportionally measured to equal 1 t sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
2 to 3 T coconut oil for cooking (or other oil of your choosing)

Directions

Cream the softened cream cheese with a hand blender. Add eggs, one at a time, until each is incorporated into the cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. Ladle onto griddle or pan when your oil is heated, set on medium-low to medium temperature, by 1/8 C or so each pancake, spreading the batter out a bit after pouring. Flip when the edges look cooked. When done serve with your choice of toppings (I used sugar free pancake syrup on the ones in the photo. I also topped them with butter for more fatty goodness!). Makes approximately 18 smallish pancakes.

I added the coconut oil (2 T) into the counts here as these pancakes absorb the oil you cook them in. Serves three people, six pancakes each.

World's Best Low Carb Cheesecake Lisa C. 5:34 PM

After reading a tirade some comments on my Facebook regarding the sweetener I used in this cheesecake, I feel the need to preface this post by telling you I occasionally use artificial sweeteners with no guilt and no perceivable adverse effects (no headaches, no weight gain, no second head growing from my shoulder). I have lost weight while occasionally eating something sweetened with Sucralose (Splenda). It doesn't affect my blood glucose at all (especially compared to sugar), and that's a great thing to me when I want something sweet, or I am baking for myself and my family for a special occasion. I personally despise the aftertaste of Stevia, and I have gastrointestinal issues if I ingest Erythritol, honey effects me like table sugar, but for ME Sucralose is benign. If you are sensitive to artificial sweeteners, or if you have issues with Sucralose, don't use it! And you find another sweetener works better for you (even sugar), use it! If you find even the thought of sugar or sweeteners or photos of sweet treats spike your blood sugar and make you gain ten pounds, turn back! If you feel the need to lecture me and everyone else on the use of sweeteners I suggest you do it on your own Facebook or start your own blog. Making blanket statements about *anything* is not wise, nor is it intellectually honest, regardless of where or whom you heard it from that sweeteners are the devil. As with anything about low carb eating, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). But for those of you who, like myself, can tolerate some sugar substitutes and low carb sweet treats every now and then, have I got something special for you...

The one piece I hid so I could have it for lunch at work yesterday. Yum!

I LOVE cheesecake! I had a recipe I had been using for a while, but after making it the last few times I decided I could probably find a better low carb recipe, or I could convert a good cheesecake recipe to low carb myself. After scouring the Internets and coming up empty on what I thought would be a good low carb recipe for cheesecake, I stumbled upon a full sugar version that sounded wonderful:  
Perfect Cheesecake on Simply Recipes.
I used this recipe to make a cheesecake for the holidays, substituting bulk Sucralose for the sugar and my own almond flour crust for the graham cracker crust. It got rave reviews from family and friends. It IS a perfect cheesecake, so creamy, rich and delicious! Its high fat content fits in nicely with my low carb, ketogenic way of living, too!

If you've ever been intimidated by the prospect of making your own cheesecake from scratch, fear not. As long as you follow the directions it's really pretty easy, and no more time consuming than anything else from scratch. You can do it! I know you can! And the payoff is delicious.

My pointers after having made this are these:

1. After reading a comment in the recipe post someone mentioned using a crock pot liner instead of foil to keep the water out of the springform pan. I happened to have some, so I tried it and it worked like a charm!

2. I made the sour cream icing from the recipe (with Sucralose instead of powdered sugar) and didn't like it. I ended up scraping it off the piece(s) I had, as did all but one other person who had some. I intend to leave it off entirely the next time I make this.

3. I didn't have a pan big enough to do a water bath, so I picked up an aluminum roast pan at the grocery. That also worked great!

4. I do have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, but opted not to drag it out of the pantry and used a hand mixer instead. It worked just fine.

My crust recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

1 ½ C blanched almond flour

4 T butter, melted

4 t Sucralose (or other preferred sweetener)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Combine almond flour and sweetener.
3. Mix in melted butter and press into bottom of springform pan.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Proceed with the recipe for the cheesecake batter from the linked site, substituting the sweetener of your choice for sugar.

Enjoy!

 

Recipe: Spicy Pigs and Cabbage Soup Anonymous 3:24 PM

This delicious, spicy soup is adapted from a recipe that has been made for decades in my family. I've never found it anywhere else, so I'm pretty sure my grandmother concocted it when she was doing Atkins in the 70s. She used to call it "Pigs In A Blanket," but for so many other people that means a hot dog wrapped in a doughy covering. So, I've changed the name, although in my family it is usually simply referred to as "Pigs."

It is a hearty low carb soup, very filling, and extremely quick and easy. You don't like things too spicy or hot? That's okay, this recipe can be altered without losing any of its goodness by just substituting mild sausage for the hot sausage. I hope you love this as much as we do!

Spicy Pigs and Cabbage Soup

Ingredients

2 lbs. spicy bulk sausage
1 small head of cabbage
1 small 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 C vinegar
1/4 C sweetener that measures cup for cup with sugar
2 C water, plus water to cover sausage when cooking
1 T minced garlic
1 T Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Roll sausage into balls, just slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball. Place in bottom of soup pot.
2. Cover sausage with water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.
4. Add cabbage, separating the chunks as you go, that has been cut into pieces just a bit larger than bite size.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, vinegar and 2 cups of water. Stir well to combine.
6. Bring to a boil once again.
7. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for approximately 45 minutes, or until cabbage is soft, stirring occasionally.
8. Add sweetener and stir.

Serve in a deep bowl, and enjoy!

Coconut Flour Pancakes Anonymous 12:41 PM

Until today I have never made anything with coconut flour; I have wanted to, but my husband loathes coconut, and I hesitate to make anything that we can't all enjoy. Last weekend I took a trip to the health food store and picked up a bag of coconut flour anyway, just to do some experimenting, figuring if I am the only one who eats what I make with it, well, more for me...although I was pretty sure my two children still at home wouldn't mind some coconut flour treats. I wasn't counting on them both being gone this weekend, however, so whatever I came up with was going to be all mine if my husband wouldn't eat it, or I'd have to freeze some of it for later. No big deal and worth a gamble, especially since a little bit of coconut flour goes a long way.

Today was the first opportunity I had to make something with it, and I wanted to try to make coconut flour pancakes as the almond flour pancakes I made several months ago were disappointing, and occasionally I want a pancake, darn it, but not enough to cave in and eat wheat flour.

I looked up several recipes online for coconut flour pancakes. Most of them called for raw milk (which I don't have access to), or coconut milk, which I did have. I had discussed with my husband that I was making these and that I wanted him to try them, and knowing how much he detests coconut it just seemed like I'd be adding insult to injury by adding coconut milk. What to do? As absorbent of liquids that I'd read coconut flour was I couldn't just leave out the liquid and add more egg (that might have been a rubbery, nasty mess), so I used water. It worked out fine.

I also used my own proportions and didn't follow a recipe online, just to see what I could come up with myself. Longer story a little shorter, my husband thought they were great and didn't think they tasted like coconut. I know he's telling me the truth because there were no dry heaves after he took a bite. He ate the whole plate I served him, three pancakes total*. And me? I thought they were delicious and ate the rest of them. =) There was nothing left over to freeze for later, ha!

Lisa's Coconut Haters Coconut Flour Pancakes

Ingredients:

4 Large eggs

1 1/4 C water

1 t organic vanilla extract

1 t baking soda

1/2 C organic coconut flour

1 t sweetener of choice (I used Xylitol), or omit

1 pinch salt (omit if not using sweetener)

Instructions:

Combine wet ingredients and beat well with a whisk. Whisk in dry ingredients until well combined. Drop 1/4 C dollops (or a little less) on a pre-heated, well greased griddle or in frying pan using a healthy fat (butter, ghee, coconut oil, etc.). Keep the pancakes small for ease of flipping. Flip pancakes when edges look sort of cooked. Cook second side, then serve with your choice of toppings.

Makes approximately 14 smallish pancakes.

Nutritional Information

Entire recipe:

Per Pancake:

Calories: 38

Fat: 2

Carbohydrates: 2.42

Fiber: 1.4

Protein: 2.4

(The alcohol is the vanilla extract)

*I had also made him eggs, just in case he wouldn't eat the pancakes, so he had both. I only had pancakes...I'm not really a selfish pig, but I may have to make a double or triple batch of these next time, especially if the kids are home! ;-)

Egg, Ham and Cheese Take-a-Longs Anonymous 11:00 AM

I am always looking for new things to make that are portable and low carb. Sunday morning I woke up thinking about making eggs in the oven in cupcake cups or a muffin tin with some low carb throw-ins. They turned out nicely and they are approved by my youngest, Jaden, as being extremely yummy!

I am planning on taking some of these to work with me this week for breakfast, if they last that long. *wink*

I also think this will be an ideal recipe for my daughter, Cat, to try...and anyone else who wants to keep some grab-and-go food on hand!

Egg, Ham and Cheese Take-a-Longs

Ingredients
1 C diced ham
1 dozen large eggs
1 C shredded cheese
salt
pepper
garlic

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners, or grease the tins liberally with bacon grease, lard, or tallow if you do not wish to use the liners.

Instructions:

Place enough diced ham in each liner to cover the bottom.

Break one egg into each cup over the ham.

Season the tops of the eggs with salt, pepper, and garlic.

Top with shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350° F oven for 15 minutes for a less done yolk, 20 minutes for a more solid yolk.

Allow to rest for 3-5 minutes.

These were baked for 20 minutes. Serve warm,
or place in storage bags or containers
to refrigerate or freeze for later !

Change the recipe up a bit by using bacon, sausage, prosciutto, or corned beef instead of ham. Substitute or add seasonings to please your own tastebuds. Most of all, enjoy!

Cold Weather Low Carb Comfort Anonymous 4:43 PM

It is cold and snowy here in the Midwest, and only due to get colder, and snowier. When I awoke this morning I was chilled and craving fat and chocolate. What better way to sate the craving, and warm ones bones, than with some low carb hot cocoa!

It's so rich and creamy. Very satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, it was breakfast for me today. It filled me for hours!

Lisa's Low Carb Hot Cocoa

1 T Powdered Cocoa (not Dutch processed)

2 T Sweetener of your choice, equal to 2 T of sugar (I use 4 packets Truvia)

4 oz. Heavy Cream

2 oz. Water

Mix the cocoa and sweetener with a couple Tablespoons of heavy cream in a mug (there will be lumps of cocoa still. These will dissolve when heated) When mixed add the rest of the cream and water. Heat for approximately 2 minutes in microwave. Stir, and enjoy! For those of you who would rather not use a microwave you may heat on low to medium low heat on the stove in a saucepan.

Last night I made some awesome Pulled Chicken Barbecue (another recipe for another post), and saved the broth to make some Egg Drop Soup.

The broth seems to be very rich in protein and other good for you stuff as evidenced by how gelatinous it was out of the container. I also left some good chicken fat in the broth.

I'm not sure how much broth was there, as I didn't measure it, but made everything by sight. I added some green onion and ginger as the broth warmed:

Next, I beat a couple of eggs, and when the broth started just to boil I slowly poured the eggs into the broth while stirring. I also added some salt at this point. Some like to add soy sauce, but personally I avoid soy products, so I left that out.

And voilà! Nice, warm, low carb Egg Drop Soup!