All posts by RAverett

Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dish, Sandwiches, Seafood

Quick to Make & Delish Tuna Sandwich

Tuna, egg and cheese melt

It’s been a while since I last posted. A lot happened in my life in June, so it’s taken a while to get back in the rhythm. But I have a new and delicious recipe for you for a simple sandwich with enough enhancements to make it so delicious you’ll want more.

This is actually PK’s recipe, but it is outstanding. Loaded with tuna and eggs mixed into a salad, then topped with cheese and grilled. To finish it off, add fresh cut tomato and cucumber slices. These are optional, but they bring a whole new dimension to the grilled cheese sandwich.

The most difficult part may be getting the low carb bread. Luckily, many grocery stores are now stocking at least one option. OroWheat makes Keto bread that is 3 net carbs a slice, Franz Keto Bread is 1 carb per slice, Kiss My Keto makes 0 carbs a slice, and Timber Wolf Inked Bread makes a fantastic seed bread at 1 carb a slice. The latter is my preferred bread, and I find it at my local Sam’s Club for a reasonable price. You can buy any of these through Amazon, but it’s pricey with the shipping.  I found OroWheat Keto at Smith’s Food Stores (Kroger Foods) and sometimes at Wal-Mart. You can also find bread mixes on Amazon. Just search for Keto Bread. The picture uses the Timber Wolf Seed Bread.  The nutrition information is based on 1 carb per slice, so if you use OroWheat, add 4 more carbs for the bread.

Another bread alternative is to fold it up in a low carb tortilla. It will be about the same carb count.

Grilled Tuna Deluxe Sandwich

1 can white albacore Tuna, water-packed
2 hard boiled Eggs
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar-free Sweet Pickle Relish
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons Red Onion, chopped (optional)
8 slices Tomato, sliced thinly (optional)
16 thin slices Cucumber (optional)
4 slices Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 slices low carb Bread
Butter for grilling the sandwich (about 2 tablespoons per sandwich)

Mix the Filling:

Drain the tuna and put in a medium bowl. Cut the eggs into smaller pieces then use a fork to mash them and stir them into the tuna. Add pickle relish with juice, mayonnaise, and mustard and mix together. Stir in the onion if you are using it.

Assemble & Cook the Sandwich:

Put 1/4 of the mix on top of 1 slice of bread. Add a slice of cheddar cheese, then put the other slice of bread on top. Butter the outside of the top bread.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot enough for a drop of water to skittle across the surface, add one tablespoon butter and let it melt, then set the sandwich in the pan with the buttered side still on top. Cook a few minutes until the cheese begins to melt. Press down on the top with a spatula and flip the sandwich to the other side. The new top should be golden brown. Cook long enough for the side you just flipped to get lightly browned. Remove to a serving plate.

Lift the top and arrange two slices of tomato and four of the cucumber slices on top. Add extra mayo if you like. Put the top back on, cut in half, and serve.

If you don’t use the tomato and cucumber slices, you will save two grams of carbs. This will also apply if you don’t use the onion.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Nutrition Information

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Recipes

Yummy Berry Cream Cheese Biscuit Bake

Berry Cream Cheese Cake

This is my low carb adaptation of Pillsbury’s recipe for this lovely coffee cake. It works well for dessert also. To replace the biscuits, I adapted a low carb biscuit recipe. While I used Carbquik baking mix, you can substitute in Bakesquik or any other low carb biscuit recipe you have. I added the sugar substitute to make it a sweet biscuit.

one slice of cake
I made mine in a 9×9-inch square pan, so it isn’t as compact as it would be in the 8×8-inch pan.

Berry Cream Cheese Biscuit Bake

For the biscuits:
2 cups Low Carb Baking Mix
2 tablespoon Butter, softened or Butter-flavored Crisco
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Water

In a medium bowl, add the baking mix and sugar. Whisk together. Cut in the Butter or Crisco until it forms crumbles. Add whipping cream and water and stir until the dough comes together. If it isn’t all moistened and forming into a ball, add water a tablespoon at a time until it does. You want a firm batter. Form into 32 balls and set aside.

For the filling:

4 oz (from 8-oz package) Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup fresh chopped Strawberries or Raspberries
1/2 cup fresh Blueberries

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8-inch square glass baking dish with cooking spray. I prefer to use parchment paper on the bottom and spray it.

In medium microwavable bowl, microwave cream cheese about 20 seconds, stir in powdered sugar and microwave another 20 seconds. Stir until smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of each of the berries.

Stir dough dough balls into the cream cheese and berry mixture. Using a spoon, transfer the mixture to the baking dish and distribute as evenly as possible.

Bake 25 to 28 minutes. Mixture will bubble around edges and dough should be lightly browned.

Set on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Make your icing using 1/4 cup powdered sugar substitute, a splash of sugar-free Strawberry syrup, and 1 tablespoon of cream. Garnish with the rest of the berries, then use a spoon to drizzle icing over the coffee cake.

Makes 8 servings.

Serve warm or at room temperature. May be stored in the refrigerator or frozen.

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Recipes

Refreshing Strawberry Coffee Cake

Strawberry coffee cake photo

I found this recipe while looking for something to do with the leftover strawberries aging in the ‘fridge. Although it calls for fresh strawberries, I had some I’d enhanced with sugar substitute to get juice, so I gave it a try. Since it was very moist, it needed to cook a little longer than 25 minutes.

The flavor is delicious; one of the best coffee cakes I’ve made. Adding a single serving pack of lemonade adds a refreshing tartness to the batter that goes well with the berries. It is tender and browns beautifully. I plan to try it with other fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries. I think it would also work well with apples and peaches, but these are higher-carb’d fruits, so you might want to reduce the fruit to 1/2 cup for the cake.

Strawberry Coffee Cake

1/4 cup oil
1 Egg
1/3 cup Almond Milk
1 packet Sugar-free Lemonade Mix (Crystal Light or Wylers)
2 tablespoons Sour Cream
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Vanilla Protein Powder
1/4 cup DCV All-Purpose Flour or 2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
3/4 cups Sugar Substitute
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped Strawberries

Topping
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Almond Flour
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 tablespoons Butter, melted

Icing Drizzle
3/4 cup Swerve Powdered Sugar
1 tablespoon Unsweetened Almond Milk or Cream
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or Lemon Extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease, or line with parchment paper, a 9″ circular cake pan, or an 8×8 square baking pan.

Mix together flour, sugar, lemonade, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Using a separate bowl, add oil, egg, vanilla extract, and milk and whisk together.

Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir the wet into the dry, being careful not to over stir. Add the sour cream, and stir until combined.

Fold in the strawberries, and pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Set it aside.

Prepare Topping
Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Dot over the top of the batter in the pan. Use a rubber spatula to swirl the topping.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on how moist the strawberries are. Test with a toothpick in the center to ensure the cake is done. Set aside to cool.

Make the icing by stirring the powdered sugar, almond milk, or cream, and vanilla together. Drizzle over the coffee cake.

Makes 8 servings. Serve warm or cool.

Nutrition Info for Strawberry Coffee Cake

By the way, Cinco de Mayo is coming up next week. Looking for some delicious Mexican dishes to celebrate? Check out my Mexican Food Cookbook in the sidebar. It has some great low carb recipes in it.

Appetizers

St. Pat’s Appetizer

Photo - cheeseballs

This is a quick to mix recipe for a tasty appetizer cheese ball. PK pulled it out of her mother’s recipe book that we put together about two decades ago. It goes well with carrot or celery sticks, cauliflower and broccoli flowerets, or oven crisped low carb tortillas broken into chips.

However you serve it, this ball of goodness makes a great way to start your St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.

Grandma Tony’s Guinness Golf Balls

1 package Cream Cheese
1 tablespoon Onion Flakes
1 tablespoon garlic juice
1 tablespoon Seasoned Salt
1 cup chopped Pecans
2 tablespoons Guinness Gold

Combine all ingredients. Pinch out pieces of mixture. Carefully cover each pecan with enough mixture to form a ball. Use the rounded back of a spoon to press dimples into balls to create golf balls.

Chill for about 1 hour before serving.

Variation: Grind pecan pieces and add to all ingredients. Form into a large cheese ball

Makes 14 walnut-sized cheese balls.

To toast low carb tortillas, heat the oven to 350 degrees, put tortilla on a foil-covered pan and bake for three to four minutes until browned and crispy. Break into pieces to use as dipper.

Cheese spread on chips

Nutrition Information

Here’s some other delicious Irish recipes to try. For more, type in Irish in the search box.

LC Irish Soda Bread

Photo Broccoli Cheese Soup

Warming Broccoli with Irish Cheddar Soup

A Bit of Luck with an Irish Benedict Brunch

Not-Quite-Traditional Corned Beef Hash

One more Irish cake recipe

West of Ireland shrimp picture.

Enjoy Buttery Shrimp for St. Patrick’s Day

 

Desserts, Italian Inspired Recipes, Recipes

Elegant LC Tiramisu

With an Italian dinner planned for family and friends next week, I wanted to come up with a low carb version of Tiramisu, that delightfully rich, but light tasting, Italian dessert that caps off a heavy pasta dinner. Traditionally made with ladyfingers, I needed to create a sponge cake similar to them. I found several recipes on line and eventually created one that I thought would be fairly simple to make and still be true to the original. This one uses a sponge cake made from a recipe that evolved from the Oopsie Roll from Your Lighter Side. Mine has additional ingredients, including coconut flour and granulated sugar alcohol, as well as almond extract for a light almond flavor. The filling simply uses coconut milk instead of regular milk and a few drops of liquid Sucralose in the whipped cream. My recipe called for rum, but if you want more of a coffee flavor, use a sugar free Amaretto syrup instead.

I think that Sponge Cake recipe will be very useful for other desserts, like a strawberry cake with fresh whipped cream and possibly a Boston creme pie, so I am going to repeat it on its own page to make it easier to find.

Sponge Cake:
4 Eggs, large
4 oz. Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
1 tablespoon Vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 teaspoon Cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon Splenda
3 tablespoon sugar alcohol substitute (I use Ideal)

Filling:
3 Egg Yolks
1/3 cup Almond Breeze Coconut Milk, unsweetened
1 tablespoon liquid sucralose or Splenda
8 oz. Mascarpone Cheese

Topping:
2/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, whipped
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Other:
1 cup strong Coffee
1 1/2 tablespoons rum
1 1/2 tablespoons Cocoa powder, unsweetened

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 300 F. Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray. Be sure to go up the sides.

Separate the eggs and put whites into a grease free glass or metal bowl. Put the yolks in a separate bowl and set aside. Beat the egg whites until they are foamy, then add cream of tartar and continue to beat until they form stiff peaks.

To the egg yolks, add cream cheese and mix together. Add coconut flour, whey powder, sugar substitutes and almond extract. Mix well until smooth.

Fold the egg yolk mixture, one third at a time, into the whites, being careful to not break down the air in the whites. With a soft (rubber or silicone) spatula, fold just until blended, then spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the top of the cake.

 

 

 

Before and after cooking.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a golden brown. Cool, then turn out onto a bread board. Cut the cake in half through the middle to form two layers. Use a long serrated knife or a thread the width of the cake that you can just pull carefully through the middle. Try to get these are even as possible so the cake layers are equal. Set aside.

For the zabaglione:
Separate three eggs. Put the whites away to use for something else. (Meringue cookies are a good option.) Put the egg yolks in a sauce pan. Add the coconut milk (you can also use regular milk or almond milk. Regular milk will raise the carbs a little.) Add a tablespoon sweetener. Mix together and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a gentle boil and cook for one minute. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Get out the mascarpone cheese to soften while the yolk mixture chills. Make a strong coffee by using just two cups (or less) of water to your normal grounds or making Espresso. Turn off to come to room temperature.

When yolk mixture is chilled, add the mascarpone and mix until smooth.

Topping and Assembly:
In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream and vanilla extract until the cream forms stiff peaks.

Mix rum with 1 cup of coffee. Place the bottom sponge cake in an 8x8x2″ inch dish and generously sprinkle with half the cookie mixture. It will absorb it. Spread one half the zabaglione mixture over the cake and smooth, then spread one half the whipped cream on top of that and smooth. Place the top sponge cake on top and repeat the procedure using the rest of the coffee mixture, filling and whipped cream. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the top, cover with plastic wrap (keeping it off the whipped cream) and chill for at least two hours before serving.

…as incredibly delicious as it looks.

Makes 8 generous servings.

Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 280  Net Carbs: 2.7g   Protein: 8.6g