Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Desserts, Main Dish, Recipes

Gearing up for Cinco de Mayo

Right about now, everyone is looking at their Mexican food recipes in anticipation of the coming celebration of Cinco de Mayo (5th of May for those who don’t know).  Originally a celebration of the Mexican-Americans in the west to celebrate freedom and democracy during the Civil War, the Mexican state of Puebla now celebrates the same day commemorating the Battle of Puebla.  However, there are other parts of the world where it is also celebrated because all you need is a small excuse to have a great party, right?

And really, you need no excuse in order to enjoy the great flavors of Mexican and Spanish food.  So here are my offerings for Cinco de Mayo, but feel free to enjoy them any time you have a craving for something with a bit of bite or a sweet that’s a little out of the ordinary.

If these don’t appeal, here are some more great recipes on my site:
Pollo Pequitos – Game Day Tostados – Cornmeal Pancakes and Eggs – Spicy Breakfast Eggs – Eggs with Asparagus – Green Chile Turkey Enchilada Casserole – Spaghetti Squash Tamale Pie – Mexican Style Asparagus Salad – Enchiladas with Chicken and Butternet Squash – Chicken Chile Rellano Casserole – Tasty Pork Carnitas – Tex-Mex Cauli-Rice – Orange Almond Cake

Red Chile Beef Enchiladas

1 pound Ground Beef
10 oz. Enchilada sauce (about 3 net carbs per 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 taco size Low Carb FlourTortillas (3 Net carbs each)
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/2 cup canned Green Chili Peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon Red Chile Powder
1  cup Zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick

In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat.  Add garlic and onions and cook until onion is just tender.  Remove to a bowl.  Add ground beef and cook, breaking into small pieces, until it is lightly browned.  Drain any liquid off.  Add 1/8 cup enchilada sauce and stir to mix.  Add onions back to the pan and add green chiles.

To make as a casserole:

Assemble the layers in a deep 9 inch round casserole dish beginning with 1/8 cup of enchilada sauce.  Place a tortilla on top, then spread another 1/4 cup of sauce on top, then 1/3 of the meat mixture over the top of that.  Arrange zucchini slices in a circle then top with 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.   Place another tortilla on top of that, then top with 1/4 cup sauce,  then meat mixture, remaining zucchini slices distributed evenly around the outer circle and top with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.  Place another tortilla on top and repeat with 1/4 cup sauce, the remaining meat and 1/2 cup cheese.  Top with tortilla, spread remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle cheese over it.

To make as individual enchiladas, as pictured:

Warm a low carb flour tortilla and place on a plate.  Spread two tablespoons of red enchilada sauce over the tortilla.  Spread 1/4 of the meat mixture on top, 1/4 of the zuchinni slices on top of that and sprinkle a tablespoon of cheddar cheese on top.  Roll the tortilla into a flute and placed into a lightly sprayed baking pan, seam side down.  Repeat with the remaining three tortillas.  Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.

Enchilada loaded and ready to roll up.

Bake in 350 degree (F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.  Cut into six slices.  Top each serving with a fried egg if you would like.  Serve with Mexican Style Cauli-Rice as a side dish or a nice green salad.

Nutrition Info: Per enchilada – 4 servings
Calories: 516 Fat: 39.8 g Net Carbs: 8 g Protein: 31.3

When made in a casserole, this can make 6 servings with each servings being:
Calories: 333 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 7 g Protein: 20.8 g

 

Light and Refreshing Orange Flan 

Flan is a light custard dessert that is very popular in Mexican restaurants.  It is also very easy to make.  The trickiest part in converting this to low carb is the caramel sauce that is made from burnt sugar.  Sugar substitutes don’t really melt the same way and I hesitated to get them too brown.  But with the light sugary sauce, this is a delicious orange flan (Flan de Naranjas).  It was inspired by a recipe that used orange zest in the custard and I thought the best orange flavor is in the pulp, so this one uses the orange pulp in it.

1/3 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon butter

3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange rind

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F.)

If using Splenda or Equal, these sugar substitutes don’t melt well, so add 1 tablespoon water to a small sauce pan or skillet with the 1/3 cup of Splenda or Equal. Sugar alcohol will melt without water added. It gets gummy, then melts. Be sure to do this over low heat. Bring the melted sugar sauce to a light golden brown rather than a dark caramel. Remove from heat and stir butter into the sauce.

Divide into five1/2 cup ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking dish large enough to allow 1 inch of water up the sides.  You can also make this as a large flan in a 2 1/2 cup flan dish or casserole dish.

Separate the orange segments in 1/4 of a large orange, remove any membrane and chop the orange into small pieces or process in a food processor to get a nicely chopped pulp.  Should make about 1/4 cup of orange bits.

Stir cream, coconut milk, water, eggs, sugar substitute, orange extract and chopped oranges together and measure 1/2 cup into each ramekin.  Or pour all of it into a flan mold.  If you use a mold, stir to make sure the orange pieces are distributed in the dish.

Sugar sauce in the ramekins. I used one two serving ramekin so just doubled the sauce and the custard mix in that one.

Carefully, to avoid getting water in the dishes, add warm water to the pan to come up to 1 inch.

Bake for about 1 hour until a thin knife (I use a citrus knife) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the ramekins or mold from the pan and cover the top with plastic wrap, allowing the wrap to touch the surface of the flan. Chill 3 1/2 to 4 hours before serving.

To un-mold, loosen the edges with a thin bladed knife and lift up the bottom a little. Put the serving plate on top of the ramekin or mold and flip.  The flan should drop right out.  If  it doesn’t, put hot water in a bowl and set the ramekin or mold in it for about 10 seconds and try again to un-mold it.

Deliciously topped with Cool Whip and orange pieces.

Spoon any melted caramel over the top of the flan. Serve with dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip on top, if you wish, and top with an orange segment or pieces of orange.

Makes 5 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 196.6 Fat: 10 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g. Protein: 5.6 g

 

 

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

An Easy Breakfast for Easter or Cinco de Mayo

Yum! Cornmeal pancake with egg, pico de gallo and sour cream! This breakfast is so tasty I wanted to get it out in time for Easter although its Mexican flavors certainly fit with the Cinco de Mayo theme. The initial recipe came from my local grocery store, Raleys, but I adjusted it to low carb and made a couple of tweaks in it. Add a little ground beef flavored with taco seasonings and you have a great brunch meal.

To get a little of the cornmeal taste into the corn cake, I used one tablespoon of corn flour instead of two and used one tablespoon of golden flax meal that has a similar texture and compliments the taste. I hope you’ll give these a try because they are really good.

I do have to add that with the cornmeal in them, they are not technically legal on Phase 2 and 3 Atkins, but the carb count is low and it should be a fairly safe “cheat”. I am on maintenance and still stay within my body’s carb limit, which is low, so I want my food to be as low carb’d as possible. If you prefer to make it without the cornmeal and use two tablespoons of golden flax instead, it will save you a little in the carbs, but you will lose the cornmeal flavor.

Fiesta Cornmeal Pancakes & Eggs

 

For the pancakes:
1/4 cup Carbquick or New Hope Mills Pancake Mix*
2 tablespoons heavy cream plus 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon golden flaxmeal
2 tablespoons shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon Mexican Blend Seasoning
1 tablespoon beaten egg
1 teaspoon olive oil
butter for skillet

For the toppings:
2 fried eggs
2 tablespoons Fresh Pico de Gallo
2 tsp. sour cream

* You can make your own pancake mix using 4 tablespoons almond flour or 2 tablespoon coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (with the almond flour) or 1 extra egg white (with the coconut flour).

In a small bowl, mix together the pancake ingredients, except cheese, until well mixed. Add the cheddar cheese last. If batter is too thick, add a little water until it is easy to spoon out.

Heat an omelette pan or small griddle on the burner until it is hot enough that water sizzles when dropped on the pan. Lower the heat a little to a medium high. Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the pan and pour half the batter onto the griddle and spread to make a 4 inch pancake. Put a lid over the skillet or tent aluminum foil over the pan to hold the heat and begin cooking the top. This will help to cook the pancake through without burning it. After 2 or 3 minutes, remove the lid and turn the pancake. Cook about 4 minutes on the back side until golden brown. Remove to a warm plate and place in an oven or cover with foil to hold the heat. Repeat with the second pancake.

Corn cake off the griddle.

Melt the rest of the butter in an egg pan and when it bubbles, carefully break an egg into the pan. Use the spatula to keep the egg white around the egg. To cook a sunny side up egg, cover the pan with a lid for about 3 minutes, then check the egg white to see if it is solid. If so, remove the egg, place on top of the corn cake and top with a tablespoon of pico de gallo and a teaspoon of sour cream. Repeat with second egg. You can cook the eggs any way you prefer. The one at the top of the page is over easy, but you can also scramble them if you wish.

Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 301 Fat: 24.4 Net Carbs: 5.4 g Protein: 13.4 g

Fiesta Taco and Egg Corn Cake

Same ingredients plus:
1/4 lb ground beef
1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning

Cook the ground beef in a small skillet until lightly browned. Add taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water or beef broth. Stir the seasonings into the meat. Drain and set aside.

Follow the instructions above, but add pre-cooked ground beef to the toppers and about 2 tablespoons cheddar jack cheese per serving.

I also added a tablespoon of guacamole to my brunch taco corn cake, so that’s an option also.

Nutrition Info: (without the guacamole)
Calories: 481  Fat: 39.1  Net Carbs: 5.9 g  Protein: 23.2 g

Originally Published 04/18/2014 on my previous blog.

Breads, Recipes

Easy Flourless Muffins

How about a little muffin magic? These delicious muffins are sweet, flourless and low carb.

This may have been tried by someone else, but to my knowledge, this is my recipe. At least, I haven’t seen it anywhere else. It takes the Atkins roll another step further to make a sweet muffin that has the texture of a sponge cake. Although the basic recipe is vanilla, it can easily be an almond, strawberry or chocolate muffin, or any other flavor you’d like to try. You could also add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to add a bit of spice.

Although the recipe says flourless, it actually uses coconut flour in place of wheat flour. This still makes it low carb and gluten free. Win-win!

Flourless Sweet Muffins

2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Eggs, separated
1 tablespoon Butter
1/4 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tarter
2 tablespoon Water

Preheat oven to 315 degrees (F). Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray or use 5 individual silicone muffin molds and spray them with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tarter. Beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, add cream cheese, butter and sugar and cream together. Add egg yolks, vanilla, water and coconut flour. Mix together until completely combined. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites as carefully as possible so that it doesn’t break down the whites. Continue to lift and fold the mixture until the egg yolk mixture is blended into the whites.

Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each muffin mold. It will make 5 muffins. Bake for 18 minutes until just lightly browned. Remove and cool.

Nutrition Info: Per muffin
Calories: 116   Fat: 4.1 g   Net Carbs: 2.0 g   Protein: 3.4 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 4/12/2014 7:20 PM

Breads, Recipes

Peanut Butter Muffin Is Smooth & Yummy

I haven’t had a sweet muffin in a while so I decided to try something a little different by adding peanut butter instead of regular butter to my favorite muffin recipe. The result is wonderfully delicious without being overwhelmingly peanut butter. For those who want more, just spread a little on the muffin after it’s cooked. As usual, I use my 3″ round cake silicone baking mold to make these so they are nicely round with lots of space for butter and/or jam. You can put them in muffin top pans but they may a bit larger so the muffin won’t be as tall. This recipe makes three muffins. If your pan makes six, then just double it. You can make this using either CarbQuick Baking Mix or Almond flour or any other low carb flour you prefer, but texture and taste may change.

Peanut Butter Muffins

1/2 cup CarbQuick or Almond flour
1/4 cup Flaxmeal
1/4 cup Sugar Substitute
2 tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs, large
1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Cinnamon, ground

Preheat oven to 360 degrees (F). Spray a 3″ (3 wells) cake tin or muffin top tin with cooking spray.

Mix flours, sugar substitute and baking soda together. Add eggs, peanut butter, oil and cinnamon and mix well. Make sure the eggs get thoroughly mixed in so you don’t have strings of egg in the muffins. Spoon equally into the three prepared wells and smooth.

You can also use regular muffin tins, filling each well to at least two-thirds. You may get four to six muffins and the carb count will be lower.

Bake for about 20 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool a few minutes, then remove from the pans and serve or let cool completely and store in a plastic baggie.

Peanut Butter Muffin with low carb pomegranate jelly. Awesome!

Nutrition Info for 1 muffin:
Carbquick:
Calories: 215.7 Fat: 16.1 g Net Carbs: 3.5 g Protein: 11.7 g
Almond flour:
Calories: 250.3 Fat: 20.19 g Net Carbs: 4.4 g Protein: 11.6 g

NOTE: Different brands and qualities of almond flour have different carb counts. For this calculation, the net carbs for 1/2 cup came to 4.5 g. Check it against yours and adjust accordingly, but the count should be close.

Peanut Butter Muffin with low carb pomegranate jelly. Awesome!

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 1/15/2014 11:38 PM

Breads, Recipes

Rene’s Egg Bread Roll: A Variation of the Atkins Roll

Egg roll bread used to make yummy French toast.

 

‘Tis said that the Oopsie Roll came about by accident while Jaime from YourLighterSide was making the Atkins Revolution Roll. Well, this one also came about by accident while I was making my version of the Oopsie Roll. I inadvertently forgot to add the cream cheese. There it was, sitting on my counter, ready to be added to the egg yolks in the bowl and I completely spaced it! That’s what happens when your brain is busy doing other things. So I call this an egg bread, because it is primarily egg. I even added an extra egg to it because it seemed too thick. The flavor is very good and it is a sturdy bread. It uses Carbquick or Almond Flour (or possibly Coconut flour, although I haven’t tried that in it), so it isn’t suitable for Induction on Atkins, nor probably South Beach. It is good for the other phases of the plan though.

Rene’s Egg Bread Roll

An accidental version of my version of Oopsie rolls with Carbquick.

4 eggs
2 tablespoons Carbquick or other baking mix or almond flour
1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon Oat Fiber (optional)
dash of Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar Substitute

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare 3″ cake molds or a baking sheet with parchment paper by spraying with cooking spray. Recipe makes 6 buns.

Separate three eggs, one at a time, putting egg yolks in a medium bowl and egg whites in a deeper bowl. Beat the egg whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until egg whites are stiff.

Add Carquick and oat fiber to the egg yolks and beat until well blended. Add a couple of drops of liquid sucralose or a teaspoon of sugar substitute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix into the egg yolks.

Carefully fold the yolk mixture into the stiff egg whites until blended. Don’t stir as that will break down the egg whites. Spoon the mixture into the molds evenly or into six equal rounds about 3 inches across on the parchment paper.

Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. If you are using pans on two rack levels, swap them mid-way through cooking to ensure they brown evenly.

Remove the pans and let cool 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from pans and place on rack to finish cooling.

These make good sandwich buns or can be torn and used for Baked French toast, bread pudding or other bread based dishes.

Makes 6 rolls. Use two rolls for a sandwich.

Nutrition Info: (per roll)
Calories: 56.4   Fat: 3.8 g   Net Carbs: 0.6 g   Protein: 4.7 g

Original POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 1/9/2014 2:10 PM