Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Desserts, Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is upon us… the start of the winter holiday season where many challenges face those of us trying to maintain weight loss while still enjoying the season. I am thankful for many ways to do just that and I will be sharing a few of those over the next few weeks. For starters, I have up a few recipes on this site that will work well for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Typically, you’ll want to stuff a turkey or even a pork roast over the holidays, but normal stuffing is loaded with carbs. Make your own stuffing bread with low carb flours. Find the recipe for the one I use here.

Those mashed potatoes are also loaded with carbs but you can make a combination mash with turnips and cauliflower that will be just as tasty and not nearly as high carb’d. Try this recipe for Smashed Turnips with Leeks. Or as another alternative, try the Irish Style Celery and Kohlrabi. Or maybe you’d like a nice alternative for the sweet potatoes?  Butternut Turnip Mash is excellent.

One of my favorite desserts is Pumpkin Cheesecake and it’s really easy to make as a low carb option. I am so thankful for 0 calorie 0 carb sugars that taste good! I remember making a cheesecake many years ago with a sugar substitute before aspartame came in and it had a not really great flavor, but also had that awful after taste. This version is almost identical to a fully sugared version.

And while I’m being thankful, I am thankful for my friends and all of you who read and share my blog. This holiday is all about being thankful for what we have and have been blessed with and all of you are included in that definition. Thank you.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta Is Light

Sometimes a big holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas features a big meal that leaves you feeling as stuffed as the bird started the day. With several side dishes and stuffing, you may find yourself looking for a lighter dessert than pumpkin pie or cheesecake. That’s where this simple to make and very delicious Pumpkin Panna Cotta comes in. It’s low in calories and carbohydrates but still has the pumpkin pie taste without the heaviness. Serve it with a bit of whipped cream and a few nut sprinkles and you have a satisfying, delicious dessert that won’t overload your stomach.

While this on takes about 15 minutes to make, allow enough time for the panna cotta to set at least four hours. Or make it the night before the big meal.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons sugar free brown sugar
1/2 cup Canned Pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vanilla whey powder (optional)
1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
whipped cream (optional)
chopped pecans or walnuts(optional)

Sprinkle 1 envelope unflavored gelatin over 1 cup whipping cream in a medium bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. While it is softening, bring almond milk to a simmer just below boiling point. Slowly whisk the milk into the gelatin mixture with pumpkin puree and add sugars, vanilla whey powder (if you are adding), vanilla extract and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Pour into six dessert dishes, cover each with plastic film that is loose enough to touch the top of the mixture so that it doesn’t form a film. Refrigerate for at least four hours until firm.

Panna cotta in the ramekin, ready to chill.

To serve, lightly dust with pumpkin pie spice, then top with whipped cream and a few chopped nuts if you like.

You can also un-mold it by running a knife around the edge, then putting it in a shallow bowl of hot (not boiling) water for about 20 seconds to melt the gelatin a little, then flip it onto the dessert dish. Sprinkle with a little pumpkin pie spice and sugar free (or reduced sugar) brown sugar.

Nutrition Info (without topping):
Calories: 116.4 Fat: 10.6 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 2.8 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 11/27/2013

Desserts, Recipes

A Coffee Sweet Treat

Sometimes your after dinner coffee takes on a more solid form. This is a light, delicious espresso custard that will satisfy your dessert craving and not add much to your daily carb count, or calorie count for that matter. Add a bit of sugar free chocolate syrup – I use Walden Farm’s 0 carb, 0 calories chocolate sauce, and a punch of chopped hazelnuts, topped with a bit of whipped cream for a really special, and easy to make, treat.

Espresso Custard with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Based on a recipe from the South Beach Diet

1 1/2 cups almond milk or cream
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons sugar substitute
2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant decaffeinated coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar free chocolate syrup
Topping:
Sugar free chocolate topping
Chopped hazelnuts
Whipped cream

Prepare a 10″ skillet by filling it partially with water and placing four 6 ounce custard cups, ramekins or or small coffee cups in the water.

Whisk the milk, eggs, sugar substitute, espresso powder or coffee, chocolate syrup and vanilla extract together until well-blended. Use a measuring cup to pour into four prepared cups. Add enough water to bring the water level in the pan to 1/4″ below the top of the cups. Be careful not to splash water into the cups.

 

Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is set. Carefully remove the cups from the skillet using tongs or a glove, then cover eacjh cup with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding, and refrigerate for 3 hours, or until chilled.

To serve, you can un-mold or leave the custard in the cup. Put a heaping teaspoon of whipped cream on top, then drip about a spoonful of chocolate sauce over that and sprinkle on hazelnuts.

 

Nutrition Information: (using liquid sucralose or Ideal sugar & Almond milk)
Calories: 77.8 Fat: 5.9 g Net Carbs: 0.9 g Protein: 4.1 g

(using Splenda & Almond milk)
Calories: 81.1 Fat: 6.2 g Net Carbs: 2.2 g Protein: 4.1 g

(using liquid sucralose or Ideal sugar & heavy cream)
Calories: 77.8 Fat: 21.9 g Net Carbs: 2.2 g Protein: 4.7 g

(using Splenda & heavy cream)
Calories: 224.5 Fat:21.9 g Net Carbs: 3.5 g Protein: 4.7 g

Desserts, Recipes

Persimmon Cookies for Halloween

Baby pumpkins? No Persimmons! Everyone thinks of pumpkin cookies at Halloween and there’s not a thing wrong with that. I love pumpkin cookies, but these lovely, luscious persimmons were sitting there begging to be taken home with me and I recalled PK’s mom’s wonderful persimmon bread. So I grabbed a few, then grabbed a few more at a different store because they were on sale.

Then I began searching for the basic persimmon recipes and I learned something right off. I had purchased Fuyu persimmons, which are normally an eating variety. What you want for cooking is the Hachiya variety, which “they” say is the more common one. So why didn’t I see any of those in the grocery? The Hachiya are the more astringent one and needs to ripen until it feels like a water balloon before you use the pulp inside. It’s got kind of a pear shape in that it is longer than it is wide. The Fuyu are more squat and can be eaten when they are barely softened. You can just peel and eat them like an apple and they are sweet and tasty. So like an apple, I decided to use my Fuyu’s in a cookie recipe, just as I would a golden delicious instead of a Granny Smith in a pinch.

The result is one delicious cookie and although it is low carb, I have to say that it is not an approved fruit on the Atkins Phase I, II or III sections, although I think they are like a mango in sugar and you’ll need to see how your body reacts to it.  Like  peaches and pears, it is high in natural sugars. I’ve used a lower quantity in the cookie recipe to keep the carbs per cookie down to under 2 carbs a cookie. The trick is to keep from eating more than one cookie at a time.

You only really see fresh persimmons in the fall, so grab them now. For this recipe, I used three small persimmons that were feeling pretty soft, peeled them and then put the pulp in the food processor to make a puree. They made almost exactly one cup of puree. The purees can be frozen for later use. For a bread recipe, dice the persimmon, par boil and put in a freezer bag with as little air in it as possible.

Spiced Persimmon Cookies

1 cup Persimmon, Fuyu
3/4 cup Shortening,  – I use butter flavored
1 large Egg
1 1/2 cups Low Carb Flour
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Protein whey powder* (optional)
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon Clove, ground
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped
1 teaspoon Cardamom spice

* If you don’t use the whey protein powder, then increase one of the other flours by 1/4 cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Prepare two cookie sheets by either spraying with cooking spray or putting a sheet of parchment paper over each and spraying that. One advantage of parchment paper is that you can slide the paper, with the cookies on it, off the pan and use the pan again for another batch without having to wait for the cookies to completely cool.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, sugar substitutes, persimmon puree and egg together. Add the seasonings and mix well.

In a smaller bowl, mix the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Gradually add to the creamed shortening mixture until all the flour is mixed in. Add the chopped nuts and mix them in to distribute well.

Drop dough by the spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool completely before moving them. Low carb flours are delicate and break apart easily when they are warm.

Makes 36 cookies

Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 70.6 Fat: 6.5 g Net Carbs: 1.4 g Protein: 1.3 g

For those who don’t care about the calories or carbs in the cookies, you can make the recipe with regular all purpose flour and sugar. The rest of the recipe is the same.

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/25/2013 8:29 PM

Desserts, Recipes

October Chills With No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

It’s October and that’s the signal for all things that are great in the Fall. Cooler weather (although September was downright cold last week), multi-colored leaves, the garden finishing the last bits of vegetables it can muster. I have a ton of cherry tomatoes that are making a bid to get fully grown and possibly pink before they have to be picked as well as several crook neck squash and a Japanese eggplant that is trying to mature. Silly plant also has another bloom on it. I think my late summer planting of turnips and kohlrabi will never see fruition. The last of the Farmer’s Markets in town was this past weekend, but the grocery stores have a lovely selection of fruits and vegetables.

I love Fall. It’s actually my favorite time of the year, although I also like early Spring quite a lot. But the light in Fall is so unique and looks so warming and beautiful on the plants and trees, whichever ones still have leaves after the winds this past Sunday and Monday. Most days are that perfect temperature — not too hot and not too cold. Fall is also the season of the pumpkin, which is one of my favorites. There are so many ways to use pumpkin. My Pumpkin Chile recipe is already on here and it is delicious. I also have a couple of pumpkin cheesecake items up, my regular Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars.

This recipe is a little different in that it is one of the No-Bake pies that is made with unflavored gelatin. I admit I got the base idea off a Knox Gelatin box, but then it branched out from a regular cheesecake to a pumpkin cheesecake. And the best part of this recipe is that it can be eaten while you are just starting your new lifestyle! It’s an induction recipe with nothing that will interfere in your Phase I of Atkins or any other program you might be trying. It’s low carb, gluten free and really good!

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 envelope unflavored Gelatin
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 cup Pumpkin, canned
1/2 cup Almond Milk, Unsweetened Vanilla
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie spice
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon Cloves, ground
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix sugar substitute and gelatin in a small bowl. Add one cup of boiling water and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, placed the softened cream cheese and break it into smaller pieces, then mix with an egg beater on low speed. Add milk, pumpkin, vanilla and spices to the cream cheese and mix well. Add the gelatin mixture and continue to mix well on low.

Spray a pie pan with cooking spray and pour the pie mixture into it. Cover with plastic wrap, pulling it tight to keep it off the top of the pie.

Refrigerate for three to four hours to allow the pie to completely set. Cut into 8 or 12 slices (depending on how large a slice you want) and serve with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

If you are not on phase 1 of Atkins or can have nuts on your plan, top each slice off with a teaspoon of optional ground almonds.

Nutrition Info:
1/8 of pie: Calories: 115.8 Fat: 10.1 g Net Carbs: 3 g Protein 2.5 g
1/12 of pie: Calories:77.2 Fat: 6.7 g Net Carbs: 2 g Protein 1.7 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/1/2013 5:14 PM

Desserts, Recipes

Magnificent Mocha Hazelnut Pie

This is absolutely, deliciously decadent! If you love coffee, hazelnut, chocolate and cheesecake, this is a dessert for you.

Another take on the freezer pie using cocoa, espresso coffee powder, hazelnuts and cream cheese. How could you go wrong?

Filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar substitute
1/4 cup instant Expresso coffee
1/4 cup Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened
6 oz container *Kroger CARBmaster Cinnamon Bun or Vanilla yogurt
1 cup Cool Whip whipped topping or your own whipped cream

Crust:
1/2 cup Hazelnut Flour
2 tablespoons Butter, softened
1 tablespoon Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened
2 tablespoons brown sugar substitute

Toppings
1/4 cup Hazelnuts, chopped
8 tablespoons sugar free, zero carb chocolate syrup

Mix the crust ingredients in a bowl until the flour and cocoa are completely moistened. Spray a pin plate or 8″ cake pan with butter cooking spray. Spread the crust ingredients into the pan and press into a thin layer. Try to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Put into the freezer to set while you mix the filling.

In a medium bowl, user a mixer to cream the cream cheese and sugar together. Add cocoa and coffee powder and mix on low speed. Then add the yogurt and mix well. Add the Cool Whip (or you can whip heavy cream) and mix together well.

Spoon the filling into the prepared crust pan and spread around to form an even layer. Put in the freezer for at least two hours, prefer 4 hours. Cover with plastic wrap if you leave it longer.

About 30 minutes before serving, remove from the freezer and cut into pieces. Even if you are not serving it all at this time, cutting it will give you pre-sliced pieces that you don’t have to remove the whole pie from the freezer each time to serve. Let pieces sit about 20 minutes before serving to soften. Top each with a tablespoon of chocolate swirls and a few chopped hazelnuts.

** If you don’t have a Kroger Food store near you, then use the lowest carb yogurt that you can find.  Kroger’s is 4 net carbs per container, so look for something around that number.

Makes 8 servings

Calories: 232.4 Fat: 21.5 g Net Carbs: 5.2 g Protein: 5.9 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 8/17/2013 1:02 AM

17/2013 1:02 AM