Category Archives: Product Review

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Product Review

Product Review: DCC Carrot Snacking Cake

 

Dixie Carb Counters puts out a big assortment of low carb mixes and meals. Previously, I’ve tried and really like several of their breads. So, I picked up a package of their Carrot Snacking Cake and one of their Cinnamon Swirl Snacking Cake. Last week, I made the carrot one, but instead of making it a cake, I made cupcakes – mainly because I didn’t have the correct size cake pan. It calls for a 9×9 inch pan.

The cake goes together quickly and easily. You need to add water, eggs, melted butter, and oil. Once mixed, pour it into the cake pan and bake. Add their topping flavorings to the cream cheese and once the cake is cooled, spread the icing over it. Simple and it makes nine servings, each about 2 net carbs each. The instructions say that you can add nuts and/or crushed pineapple, water-packed with the liquid drained off, if you wish and it will add about one net carb to the count.

As I mentioned, I made cupcakes and got a dozen normal-sized cupcakes from the mix. Nice surprise for me. They looked great and so delicious. Then PK and I tasted them. They are not sweet, came out somewhat dry, and there is an aftertaste. I went back to look at the instructions thinking that I should have added sugar substitute to them, but it didn’t call for it. The added spices for the cream cheese also didn’t have much sweetener in it, so that didn’t help either. If you don’t like your carrot cake sweet, then you might enjoy this, but to be honest, the dried carrots in it didn’t seem to have much flavor and it didn’t have the moist rich texture that carrot cake usually has.

I took the last six of the cupcakes, broke them into bits and added more sugar substitute, eggs, cream, vanilla, and a little whiskey and made bread pudding out of them. I got six individual cups of bread pudding. It tastes much better, but the after taste still lingers. This uses soy flour, which I don’t care for, but I think the low glycemic mono-sacharide is the culprit producing the after taste and I suspect it is saccharine, from which I’ve always detected a bitter aftertaste.

I think if I was to try these again, I would add more oil, at least 1/2 cup sugar substitute, and pineapple to help increase the moisture. I would also add about 1/2 cup powdered sugar substitute to the cream cheese. Incidentally, I had at least half of the cream cheese left over, so it could be made with 4 ounces of cream cheese instead of the whole 8 ounce block.

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the top of the flavor profile, I would give this a 2 when prepared as stated on the package.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.

Product Review

Product Review: ParmCrisps

Product Review: Kitchen Table Bakers ParmCrisps

One of the coolest low carb snacks on the planet is the Parmesan cheese crisp and they are pretty simple to make. I’ve done it several times, but even though they are crisp and super tasty, they do not compare to the ones in this package that the roomie picked up at Sam’s Club this past weekend. These crisps are so good that it’s like eating potato chips — hard to stop!
They are a little over an inch in diameter and salted to perfection.

Patti picked up the Original flavor, but according to the company’s web site, they also come in Sesame and Jalapeno. We will have to be on the lookout for those. While Patti paid about $11 for a 9.5 ounce bag of them that has about 15 servings, the other outlets I’ve checked like Amazon and Netrition are about double that, but they do also have the smaller containers and single serving bags. However, even though they are pricey, the best value is in the larger bag.

Made with real Parmesan cheese and seasonings, the crisps are crunch and thicker than the ones I’ve made. They’re a great potato chip substitute and they go well with soups and salads as well as being dip-able. The biggest problem is the desire to keep eating. At only 100 calories and 0 net carbs in 15, they are a very sensible snack. The biggest drawback is probably that price tag, but I don’t know if I could buy the Parmesan and make an equivalent amount of snacks (about 225 little crackers) for the same price and have them come out as tasty.

So, give them a try if you get a chance and let me know what you think about this tasty snack.

Breads, Product Review

Product Review: DCC Orange Cranberry Muffins

I’ve tried several products from Dixie Carb Counters, but where the breads were excellent, I can’t say the same for these muffins.  They are simple to make as all of DCC’s mixes are.  You simply add eggs, sour cream and butter to the mix, stir it together well and bake.  It makes 12 muffins.

However, the muffins didn’t rise very much, so they are about 2 inches high.  I overcooked mine a little and they came out a little tougher than they would normally be, but the real disappointment was in the taste.  They had little bits of cranberry in them and the taste of oranges, but it wasn’t very strong and the it lacked any sweetness.

The addition of sugar substitute might help these as would another egg white to get more rise in them, but overall, these are not as good as the muffins from New Hope Mills.  I can make a better flavored muffin from scratch using CarbQuick.

Although low carb, the muffins still have 4 net carbs in each one.  They are low calories at 31 calories per muffin, with no fat and 2 grams of protein.  Given the small size and the flavor of the muffins, they aren’t worth it.

On a scale of one to five, I give them three spoons, edible, but not the tastiest.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.

Breads, Product Review, Recipes

Low Carb Bagels Are Great!

1 Comment

First off, happy St. David’s Day! St. David is the patron saint of Wales and is honored by wearing a leek on March 1st. Personally, I prefer to eat my leeks, but the tradition of wearing the leek goes back to a troop of Welsh wearing them as a way to identify themselves to other Welsh during a battle. If you’d like to celebrate with a leek enhanced dish, try one of these tried and truly delicious recipes:

Chicken Leek Pot Pie
Creamy Cock-a-Leekie Soup
Asparagus Leek Cauli-Risotto
Leeks with Tomatoes and Bacon

Last week, I promised I would publish a recipe for honest-to-goodness yeast bagels that are made with LC Foods Pizza and Bagel Flour. The product review for the pizza I made with it is here. This flour honestly does rise and makes very good tasting pizza and bagels. The best part is not only do they taste delicious, but they are low carb! How cool is that? The only drawback with this recipe is that it makes six small bagels, not the size you might find at the grocery store where they have the double-sized versions. If you want a larger bagel, then make four bagels from the recipe and they are a very nice size.

If you’ve ever made bagels before, you know this is a two-step cooking process. First, you let the bagels rise after they are shaped, then you put them in boiling hot water for a short time to stop the rise and give them the chewiness that is so typical of a bagel. Second, you bake them until lightly browned. And to be thorough, you actually cook them a third time when you toast them to eat.

The LC Flour is higher priced than standard flour, but it is great for making these and worth the cost. You can purchase it from LC Foods or from Netrition.com. It is less expensive from Netrition, especially if you are ordering other low carb products at the same time since you will save on flat rate shipping.

LC Plain Bagels

3/4 cups Water, warm
1 package Quick Rising Yeast
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Salt
1 3/4 cups LC Foods Pizza & Bagel Flour
1/4 cup Low Carb Flour for bread board
1 Egg, beaten
2 quarts Water
1 Egg White (boxed are ok)

In a small glass bowl or cup, mix yeast, sugar substitute and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes. The yeast will soften and foam.

In a larger bowl, mix 1 cup of flour with the salt. Add the yeast mixture and beaten egg and stir until combined. Mix in the rest of the flour gradually until it is pulling together into a ball. If you want any add-ins in the bagels, such as cinnamon, raisins, craisins, or blueberries, add them before you add the second round of flour. (Remember to adjust the carbs for the add-ins.)

Put two tablespoons of low carb flour on a bread board or other surface and knead for about five minutes, adding additional low carb flour if needed until the dough is firm and elastic.

Wash out the mixing bowl, then use a paper towel or your fingers to spread about a teaspoon of olive oil around the bowl. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double, about an hour.

Blueberry Bagels shaped and rising prior to dipping in the simmering hot water.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 evenly-sized balls. Allow the dough balls to rest while you bring the 2 quarts of water to boil.

Using your thumb, press through the middle of each ball of dough and pull it open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes. Lower heat under water to a hot simmer. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the water for about 45 seconds, turn and cook 45 seconds more. Drain on a paper towel and place on a greased baking sheet.

Brush tops with beaten egg white. Bake for 35 minutes, turning once for even browning. Bagels are done when they are golden brown and shiny.

Makes 6 bagels

Nutrition Info per bagel
Calories: 107 Fat:6.9 g Net Carbs: 2.3 g Protein: 7.7 g

Breads, Italian Inspired Recipes, Pork, Product Review

Product Review & Pizza Recipe

2 Comments

LC-Pizza & Bagel Flour

I’ve been meaning to try LC Foods flour for making pizza, calzones, bagels, and English muffins for quite some time now. The only recipe actually included on the package is for pizza. I found a bagel recipe that sounded good and I tried that one before I tried to make a pizza. I can say that it works very well for the bagels. So this week, I mixed up the pizza dough and had a go of it.

First, this is a fine-textured flour that is excellent for baking these types of breads. LC Foods has severl milled flours in their online store that can be used for a variety of baking including pasta, cake, and bread, as well as the one for pizza. The flour is not as low priced as regular wheat flour, but it is a low carb flour and it’s worth the difference for a flour that is low in carbs and still produces a product that rises with yeast, tastes like bread, although not entirely like its wheat counterpart, but close enough that you can enjoy it. It’s also a sturdy pizza bread.

Note, this pizza flour is not gluten-free. It is made from a blend of wheat protein isolates, resistant wheat starches, flax seed meal and vital wheat gluten. You will need to add fast rising yeast, a bit of salt, a little sugar substitute, and olive oil to the mixture. The personal-sized pizza crust makes a 7 to 8 inch pizza round that will

For those who don’t want to make a pizza crust from scratch, LC Foods also sells a pre-made, partially cooked large pizza crust. You can add your favorite toppings and bake right at home and have a great pizza in no time.

So, on to the pizza dough and the toppings I used for this personal-sized pizza. For reference, each 1/4 cup of the flour is 2 net carbs and the whole small pizza used 3/4 cup of the flour. You can also shape the pizza dough into bread sticks, calzones, and strombolis. To make bagels or English muffins, you need to refer to a recipe for those breads as they have other ingredients and measurements. I will be putting up the basic bagel recipe next week.

I do have to say that of all the low carb flours I’ve used to try to make yeast breads, this flour has done the best job of rising, browning, and tasting very good. I give this flour my five cooking spoons of approval.

5-spoons

LC Pizza with Meatballs

This is made with LC Foods pizza and bagel flour. I bought pre-made poerk meatballs from Wal-Mart that are about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Use a low carb pasta sauce. I used Mario Batalli’s Vodka sauce, which is one of the lowest I have found.

3/4 cup LC Pizza and Bagel Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon rapid rise Yeast
1/2 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup warm Water
1 1/2 teaspoons Olive Oil

Toppings:
1/ cup Onions, chopped
3 mini Sweet Peppers
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
1/4 cup Pasta Sauce
6 medium-sized Pork Meatballs
1/2 cup Mozarella Cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan Romano Cheese

In a medium bowl, add pizza flour, salt, yeast and sugar substitute and mix together. Add the water and olive oil and stir it together until combined and it begins to form a ball. Use your hands to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Clean the bowl, dry and lightly oil. Put the dough in the bowl and put in a warm place to rise. Cover with a plate. Allow it rise 30 to 40 minutes until the dough doubles.

Lightly oil a pizza pan or pizza stone. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Pull and stretch the dough into a circle and shape with your fingers until you have about a 7 to 8 inch round. Put on the pizza pan and bake for 5 minutes to get a partial bake on it.

Meanwhile, put a teaspoon of oil into a skillet and sauté the onions and peppers until just tender, then add garlic to the mix. Remove to a bowl. Cut the meatballs in half and if not already cooked, brown them in the skillet until they are almost done.

Spread the pizza sauce on the crust, then spread the vegetables evenly. Put the meatball halves even around the pizza and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top, then the Parmesan Romano cheese over the top of that.

Bake for 10 more minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes to set, then cut into pieces and serve.

Makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on how hungry you are.

Nutrition Information per one-half pizza:
Calories: 404 Fat: 21.3 g Net Carbs: 10.4 g Protein: 14.7 g