Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Breads, Recipes

Cinnamon Buns and Danish – yum!

From August 17, 2012 on my LJ Blog.

As a bread lover, one of the things that’s always made it hard for me to stay on a low calorie or low carb diet in the past has been the desire for pastries, pies, cookies, and bread in general. With so many low carb flour options and some out-of-the-box thinking, there are possible substitutes for these items I’ve craved.
Recently, I found the recipe for “Oopsie Rolls” from Your Lighter Side’s web site. This is a simple little flour-free bread based on the Atkins Revolution Roll that Jamie made an error when making and created a new version. It’s a sturdy enough bread to handle a hamburger. Go to her web site for the original recipe if you’d like to try this roll. (You’ll find it easy and amazing!)

But it started my brain to working and I immediately made a couple of changes to give it a little more of a bread flavor and substance, adding 2 tablespoons of low carb flour (CarbQuik) and more seasonings, such as onion powder and garlic powder. Taking it one step further, I thought it would make a great cinnamon roll and came up with a tasty pecan and brown sugar topped roll. Then thought why not try it as a Danish roll? Well, the result isn’t a flaky Danish, but it is sort of like a doughnut with a fruit jam topping.  I like them and hope you will also.


Cinnamon Bun Puffers

3 large Eggs
1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
3 oz. Cream Cheese
*3 teaspoons Splenda or preferred sugar substitute
*12 drops liquid Sucralose
2 tablespoons Almond Flour
1 tablespoon CarbQuick or other low carb flour
**1 tablespoon Whey Protein Powder Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cloves, ground
1 tablespoon Cinnamon, ground
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Topping
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
2 tablespoons Butter

Icing:
1 tablespoon Cream
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar from sugar alcohols

* You can use ½ cup of Splenda if you prefer. I use the liquid sucralose since it doesn’t have any carbs in it and Splenda has a little less than 1 per teaspoon.

** You can use another tablespoon of almond flour if you prefer. I like the added texture, protein and vanilla flavor I get from the protein powder.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Separate eggs and put egg whites in a clean bowl and put the yolks in a separate bowl. To the yolk bowl, add cream cheese, ricotta cheese, protein powder, flour, Splenda, liquid sucralose , cloves and cinnamon.

Beat egg whites until frothy, then add cream of tartar and beat until egg whites are stiff. Peaks will stand on their own.

Mix the ingredients in the egg yolk and cream cheese bowl together and add vanilla. Fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites carefully so it doesn’t break down the egg whites.

Spray large muffin pan or 3″ cake round pans with cooking spray and spoon the batter into each of six cavities until they are filled. If you don’t have the pans, batter is stiff enough that you can simply spread them into six mounds on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Be sure to spray the parchment with cooking spray so they will release easily. Use a spoon to make a shallow indent in the middle of each mound.

Cook in oven for 20 minutes. About 5 minutes before the time is up, combine pecans, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds to melt the butter and brown sugar.

Pull the buns out of the oven and spoon brown sugar mixture evenly over each bun. Return the buns to the oven and cook another 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Let buns cool. When they are cool, combine powdered sugar and whipping cream with enough water to make a drizzle icing. Drizzle over each bun. Store any leftovers in an air tight container.

Makes 6 buns

Nutrition Info: per bun
Calories: 225   Net carbs:  3.5 g

Danish Style Puffers

Follow recipe above for the basic cinnamon bun. Instead of putting the pecan and brown sugar topping on it, put a tablespoon of sugar free jam in the middle.

The carb count will vary depending on the brand and the type of jam. LC Foods has an excellent low carb jam that ranges from less than a carb to about 1.5 carbs, depending on the fruit. I used peach, which is 1.2 carbs, and blackberry, which is less than 1 carb, per 1 tablespoon. More easily available is Knott’s Berry Farm jams that are consistently about 3 carbs per tablespoon. The bun is about 1.5 carb less without the brown sugar and nut topping, so it evens out pretty much.

Like some doughnuts, these are delicious when warmed in the microwave about 10 seconds.

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/8/2012 11:25 AM

Breads, Recipes

LC Irish Soda Bread

Whether it’s with stew or soup or just plain snacking, Irish Soda Bread is a nice, sturdy bread that drinks up liquid and makes you feel so warm and loved. So, I had to adapt this to a low carb version. Once again, I am relying on Carbquick, low carb flour from Tova Foods, although there are other brands that are low carb, such as Atkins and Bob’s Red Mill baking mixes, as well as LC Foods. Any of these will work in this recipe, although check the carb counts as some may be higher. Since these products are sometimes hard to find in local stores, I order mine from Netrition.com. Amazon also carries Atkins products.

Not worried about carbs or sugar in your food? Lucky you! Make the recipe using regular flour and sugar.

2 cups Carbquick or other low carb flour
3 tsp Splenda
6 drops Sucralose or use 2 more tsp Splenda
1/4 cup Butter
1 large Egg
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet. I usually use a silicone mat, but I still apply a cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1/2 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round or an oval for a traditional look or a loaf shape and place on prepared baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut an ‘X’ into the top of the loaf for a round or a long slash down the middle with two cross bars. These help the loaf to cook in the middle.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Calories per slice: 135 Net Carbs: 3.3 (8 slices per loaf)
Calories per slice : 108 Net Carbs: 2.1 (10 slices per loaf)
Calories per slice: 89 Net Carbs: 1.7 (12 slices per loaf)

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/17/2012 1:37 PM

Breads, Recipes

Savory Sandwich Rounds

This is the second move for this recipe since I am now moving all of my site to WordPress. This recipe was from May, 2012. I’ve updated the recipe a little to reflect a change in the proportions of flour that I am using.

About a year ago, I decided to try a change to a low carb lifestyle and it’s been great. I’d lost about 30 pounds the previous year (2010), but it was mostly from a month long bout with kidney stones rather than a real diet. I managed to keep that weight off, but I wanted to lose more. Since February 2011, I’ve dropped an additional 72 pounds and I did it with a low carb diet. It’s that miraculous diet that allows you to eat things that other diets forbid. One of the tough parts of it is that bread it just about right out, along with potatoes, and other starches. But I’ve found substitutes for most things. I’ve found low carb tortillas and there is a great recipe for a breakfast muffin called Muffin In A Minute on the Atkins web site. And there are low carb breads, but they are pricey.

Over the past few months, I’ve started making my own easy egg bread rolls for sandwiches. These are tasty and while they aren’t a yeast bread, they are an acceptable substitute when it comes to a sandwich. This particular recipe, which is based on the Muffin In A Minute, is for a savory roll, which is great for any meat sandwich, including a hamburger. You can also make these as a sweeter roll for breakfast to replace a muffin or to toast. I use a silicon 4″ cake mold that has three molds in the cake and these are a perfect size. I bought mine at Amazon, but they are probably available in stores that carry baking molds. You don’t have to use these and you can make the dough a little stiffer and shape them or cook them in a 4″ souffle dish. You can also spread them into a 8×8 inch pan, then cut them into 4″ squares for a square sandwich roll.

About the flours used:

This recipe uses CarbQuik low carb baking mix, which I order on-line from Netrition.com, but is available from other places and might actually be in a health food store. You do not need to use the baking mix and can use just flax meal flour or a combination of flax meal and almond flours. It will change the color and texture of the rolls, depending on if you use golden flax meal or regular flax meal and if you add almond meal. Generally, I use Bob’s Red Mill (available at most grocery stores) because it is the lowest net carb count I’ve found for the meal and also a good price. NOW foods also has a low carb almond flour that is lower than Bob’s Red Mill.

Makes 3 rolls – about 1.5 carbs each

Savory Sandwich Rounds (Low Carb)

1/2 cup CarbQuik low carb baking mix
1/4 cup ground Flax meal flour
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dried onion flakes, re-hydrated in about 1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic and herb seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (or regular sea salt)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 drop liquid sucralose or 1 packet of Splenda or equivalent product

Heat oven to 365 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the egg, oil and liquid sweetner. Mix well making a thick, but spreadable dough. Spray 4″ round cake molds or pans (or use 4 inch souffle dishes) with cooking spray. If you don’t have the round, you can make the dough thicker by adding another tablespoon of flax meal and shaping them by hand, flattening the top by placing parchment or waxed paper over them and smoothing with the back of a knife or a rolling pin. Spoon 1/3 of the mixture into each of the cavities in the pan. Use a spoon back to spread the dough in the mold and smooth it to even thickness.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the roll is lightly brown and springs back when pressed. Let cool, then remove from pan and slice through the middle.

The roll can be sliced and toasted or warmed in the microwave.

 

Tips

E-Z Bake Bacon Tip

In case you’ve never heard of doing this, baking bacon is a great way to cook it.  I just wish I’d learned this trick earlier in my life.  You don’t need one of the fancy bacon stands either.  Here’s how I do it.

I use an old jelly roll pan (look at thrift stores for one of these) and a metal cookie rack.   (I use one from the dollar store).  The rack fits in the jelly roll pan easily.

Preheat the oven to 385 degrees F.

Arrange the slices of bacon across the cookie rack as shown.  Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven.

The bacon comes out crisp, flat and not greasy.

The bacon grease is on the bottom of the pan.  Remove the bacon when it cools, then let the pan cool down.  Put a coffee filter or a strainer over a can or jar and strain the grease through to save your bacon grease for cooking.  Easy.

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/25/2013 6:52 PM

 

Recipes, Tips, Vegetables & Salads

Celeraic: Bargain Shopping & Root Fries

I only discovered the marvelous taste of Celery Root (Celeraic) in the past year and I wish I had known about it longer. It looks sort of like Pigpen in the Charlie Brown comic strip and like Pigpen, it does clean up nicely. Like many, I just looked at this dirty, gnarly vegetable at the market and moved on until one fateful day I decided to experiment. My first taste test was to fry a little piece and to my surprise and delight, it had a wonderful taste, a little of the celery taste to it, but a similar taste to potatoes and the texture was like a potato french fry! This is a rare thing when making root fries. The texture varies quite a bit from turnip to daikon to jicama with each making a serviceable fry, but not having that creaminess of a potato fry. Let me say here that if you don’t like the taste of celery, then stop reading now.

Of course, the celery root is also a versatile root and can be used raw or cooked in many ways, so it’s a good thing to have in the pantry, or the root cellar. And speaking of that, I need to figure out a way to do a root cellar. I may have to designate a section of my storage unit or possibly under the house for a tub of dirt that root vegetables can snuggle in. But that’s another story. What I’m talking about now is bargain shopping for some vegetables. I noticed that the price of celery root didn’t vary throughout the months at my local grocery stores, which may sound like a good thing, except they sell the vegetable by the unit, not the weight. In the early winter and fall, the celery roots are big and heavy. In the spring and summer, they are small so it is quite a bit higher to get enough celery root for a whole dish. What would cost $2.69 in the winter to make can cost over $10 in the summer.

I was excited when I saw the bigger celery roots in the store and immediately snatched up a couple. Then the roots were even bigger, so I snatched up two more. And so on. Now I have about six celery roots in the kitchen that are really big. These bad boys are about 6 to 8 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide. My ‘fridge doesn’t hold ’em. So what to do? Something that I needed to address as the tops of the roots were starting to get a bit soft. I decided to freeze them. My first stop was to search the Internet for freezing information and then it was to work.

Celery root does freeze well so long as you prepare them properly or cook them into the dish of choice and freeze that. Preparing them for future use seemed the best route. The biggest celery root in the photo at the top is just under 2 pounds and yielded three bags of frozen cubes.

Cleaning and peeling. First, you need to wash the celery root off, using a scrub brush or plastic scrubber to get as much of the dirt off the root as possible. Then cut the top and bottom off. If you’re root is huge, you might want to try to work around the knobs of root to clean them out on the bottom. Otherwise, just slice them off. Cut off the skin and put all the cuttings in your compost tub if you have one. I usually just bag mine and take them out to the compost bin.

When you’re done, you have a large, creamy white vegetable that just needs to be cut into smaller sections, cubes, planks or shreds, depending on how you want to use them. I cut most of my first one into cubes. Meanwhile put a pot of water on to boil. When you’ve got your cubes, drop them in the boiling water for four minutes to parboil. Remove them to a colander after four minutes and let them drain well and cool down a bit. Then spread them on a double layer of paper towels to dry.

   

Cubed celery root draining in a small colander and spread on a paper towel.

When they are completely dry, put them in plastic freezer bags in recipe sizes, pushing out as much of the air as possible. One suggestion was to put plastic wrap over the top of the vegetable, then roll the bag to get the air out and quickly seal. If you have one of the sealing units, it’s easy to do this and gives you an airtight seal.

Next, just pop them in the freezer to let them freeze, then label with item and date. Defrost when you’re wanting to use them.   You can take advantage of the bargain price when the roots are big and still have some come summer. They will keep about six months, so do the roots for late spring and summer in February or March. I think this technique will work with any root vegetables as well as the winter squash, although I can get those fresh at the market pretty much year round at reasonable prices.

Root Vegetable Fries


If you look at this plate of French fries, you wouldn’t know that they weren’t made from potatoes. In fact this combination fry plate is celery root, daikon radish and jicama. The jicama is shorter and darker when cooked and also stays crisper. The jicama is very neutral in flavor, so it will taste most like the seasonings. Daikon has a slight peppery taste and is a dry texture when cooked. The celery root has a celery flavor, tasting like fries with celery salt on them, and the creamy, potato-like texture.

1 1/2 cups Celery Root, cleaned and peeled
1 cup Jicama
3 1/2 inches Daikon
1/2 cup Canola Oil for frying
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt

Prepare root vegetables by cleaning and peeling. Cut into 1/2″ wide x 1/4 inch thick planks. The length will vary by the size of the vegetables. Put a pan of water on the stove to boil while you are cutting the vegetables. Add the vegetables to the boiling water and let boil for 5 minutes. Remove vegetables to a colander to drain. Let them dry for about 10 minutes, then spread on a paper towel and dry as much as possible.

In a heavy 8″ skillet, pour the oil in and heat it to a fry point. (A small piece of vegetable will sizzle when you add it.) Use a smaller skillet so you don’t need to put in as much oil as you would with a larger one. You need about 1/2 inch of oil in the skillet. Only a tablespoon or two actually remains on the food when you drain it. Add the vegetables to the oil and cook about 3 to 4 minutes per side until they are just golden fries. Remove to a double layer of paper towels on a plate to drain and dry out. Cook the next batch and do the same thing.

Storing the fries for later:

Let the fries cool down for a few minutes. When the fries are cool to the touch, you can pop them into a baggie and put that in the ‘fridge or the freezer, squeezing the excess air out, for use later.

Final cooking phase:

When the fries have cooled and dried a bit or when you’ve gotten them out of the freezer or ‘fridge to finish, then reheat the oil to the fry point, add the fries, a group at a time, back to the oil and cook for a few more minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with seasoning salt. Repeat with the next group, until all are done.

This will give you nice, crisp fries that are absolutely delicious and fairly low in carbs. Each serving is about 6.7 net carbs as opposed to about 14 net carbs for potato fries. Makes four servings.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 103.4 Fat: 7 g Net Carbs: 6.7 g Protein: 1.2 g
POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/23/2013 1:07 PM