Photos from Meals for Two: Low Carb Recipe Magic
Breakfast
Meals for Two Photos/Breakfast
All posts by Rene Averett
Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars
What could be better than a peanut butter bar? How about a peanut butter bar with roasted peanuts and made with peanut flour? Triple peanuts! And low carb to boot? Yes, if you can believe it. It is all that and more. It also has sugar free chocolate chips, which you can probably purchase at your local Wal-Mart if your regular grocery store doesn’t carry them.
Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars
1/4 cup Low Carb Flour or Almond Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Sugar Free Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.) Prepare an 8×8 baking pan with a layer of parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar substitutes, syrup, vanilla extract and heavy cream together until well blended. In another bowl, mix the flours, a pinch of salt and baking powder together. Add the flour to the peanut butter mixture a little at a time, mixing in well before adding more. If dough is too stiff, add water a tablespoon at a time until it is easy to mix.
Stir in the roasted peanuts and chocolate chips until mixed evenly through the dough. Spoon into the prepared baking pan and smooth into the corners, making the thickness as even as possible.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into sixteen pieces. Use a flat spatula to carefully lift each piece and put on a wire rack to completely cool, unless it is eaten before it gets there. The cookies may be delicate, so store in a container with a layer of waxed paper between each layer if you stack them.
Nutrition Info per cookie
Calories: 100.3 Fat: 8.1 g Net Carbs: 3.3 g Protein: 3.9 g
Popular Cauliflower Casserole, My Version
Just about everybody who does low carb blogs, and then some, has a version of this wonderful cauliflower cheese casserole. I’ve made this numerous times and in various ways. My version has a few added ingredients. At this time of year, I like to take advantage of the asparagus that’s reasonably priced at the market. You can also use broccoli or Brussels sprouts in it. No matter how you make it, this is an incredibly delicious alternative to Macaroni and Cheese.
While this is a smaller version than some of the ones I’ve seen, it serves 4 with a nice-sized portion or 2 really hungry people and still give you a small net carb amount.
Cauliflower, Bacon, Asparagus and Cheese Casserole
1/4 head Cauliflower
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup Asparagus or 1/2 cup Broccoli, chopped
4 slices Thick Bacon
1/2 cup diced Ham
2 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Steam cauliflower until tender. (Microwave in a glass bowl about three minutes.) Cut the asparagus into bite sized pieces.
Cream together 1/2 of the shredded cheese, ricotta cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, onions and seasonings in a small bowl. Add cauliflower, asparagus pieces, bacon and ham to a casserole dish and mix in the cheese mixture until it is evenly distributed.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.
Makes 4 servings
Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 260 Fat: 20.4 g Net Carbs: 3.1 g Protein: 14.4 g
Hints of Spring with Ham & Asparagus Egg Muffins
Lovely spears of asparagus are on sale at the grocery store, which is a sure sign that spring is on the way. Of course, we are all hoping for a big thaw in some parts of the country and in my area, we are expecting the usual spring snow or two. In fact, weather may be coming in this weekend, but for now, I am enjoying the sunny, but cold, days and the sight of asparagus in the grocery store.
So that’s the inspiration for this simple, very low carb recipe for ham and asparagus egg muffins. They’re muffins only in the sense that they’re baked in muffin cups. They make a wonderful breakfast-on-the-run — just grab one or two, pop ’em in the microwave and take them out the door with you. One thing I wouldn’t recommend on this, and I tried it, is to use muffin papers with it. The paper just sticks to the egg or vice-versa and it’s a bit of a mess. Grease the muffin wells with butter or baking spray to get the entire cavity covered and they should come out fairly cleanly.
Ham & Asparagus Egg Muffins
8 Eggs
1/2 cup Ham, cubed
4 to 6 speaks Asparagus, chopped
1/4 cup Mini Peppers, chopped
3 tablespoons Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
Preheat the oven to 355 degrees (F). Prepare a 12-well or two 6-well muffins tins by spraying with cooking spray or coating with butter or oil. Make sure to come all the way up the sides.
In a large bowl, break the eggs and add the cream, salt and pepper and ricotta cheese and mix well with a whisk. Add the ham, asparagus and peppers, then stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese.
Use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop and fill each of the muffin cups to about 3/4 full with the egg batter.
Bake for 25 minutes, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of each muffin and cook an additional 10 minutes.
Let cool before serving or putting into storage bags to put in the refrigerator. Heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds or eat at room temperature, if preferred.
Makes 12 egg muffins
Nutrition Info per muffin:
Calories: 129 Fat: 9.6 g Net Carbs: 1.3 g Protein: 8.9 g
Book Project Underway
Posted September 2014 and moved here to allow the main page to be an index.
Very optimistically, I am starting a books page. I have the beginning and a plan for a low carb cookbook to come out in 2015. I am currently aiming for a Kindle e-book although there is a possiblity of a soft cover print. Because I am including photos, the cost of printing may be high, so that remains to be seen.
But I am excited about putting out a book with my recipes for two people. It will be called “Low Carb Meals for Two” and will include recipes scaled down for mostly two servings. A few make small batches, but may leave leftovers. Like those are a bad thing.
The header image is my announcement card for the book. I’ve been spreading it around everywhere I go, so I am hoping to generate some interest in it. For me, it’s a great way to share my recipes and happy experience with low carb living. I say that it doesn’t have to be boring and I hope these recipes prove that you can still enjoy foods you love done the low carb way.
As of now I’ve selected all the recipes for the chapters and it’s about 105 recipes. I still have some recipes to make and photograph, so that is progressing. I have started the layout and I think this is going to be a fantastic project.
As I make progress on this, I’ll be adding more information here, so please check back for the status.