Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Appetizers, Recipes

Savory Stuffed BCT Mushrooms

BCT? What’s that, you may ask? Well, picking up from BLT for Bacon, lettuce and tomato, it’s what I call my Bacon, Cheese and Tomato stuffed mushrooms. These are delicious little snacks that can liven up a party or make a dinner when you stuff portobello mushrooms. The cheese in it is a combination of cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Or you can substitute in mozarella or an Italian mix cheese for the cheddar. The recipe is flexible.

Bacon, Cheese and Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms

24 whole Mushroom caps, stems removed (about 1 pound)
4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Fresh Chives
4 tablespoons Bacon Bits
1/4 cup chopped fresh Spinach
1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a baking pan with olive oil cooking spray. Place mushroom caps open side down and spray the tops. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool a little before stuffing.

Beat cream cheese with a spoon until it is smooth, then stir in the other ingredients, except the mushrooms. Scoop a teaspoonful of the mixture and fill the a mushroom cap. Place in the baking pan and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms. If you have more mix than mushrooms, distribute the remainder as evenly as possible over the mushrooms or eat the evidence.

Bake in the oven or a toaster oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Just before serving, you can add a festive touch with a craisin and a sprig of parsley on the top of each mushroom or sprinkle chopped parsley over the tops.

Nutrition Info per mushroom: Calories: 33.5 Net Carbs: .6 g Protein: 1.8 g

Dinner version:

This Portobello mushroom was stuffed with an Italian 4 cheese mix.

 

Use 6 baby Portobello mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed
All other ingredients are the same as above.

Roast mushrooms In 350 degree F oven, hollow side down and lightly oiled with olive oil for about 15 minutes.

Beat cream cheese with a spoon until it is smooth, then stir in the other ingredients, except the mushrooms. Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture and fill the a mushroom cap. Place in the baking pan and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms. If you have more mix than mushrooms, distribute the remainder as evenly as possible over the mushrooms.

Makes 3 servings, 2 mushrooms per serving.

Calories: 211  Net carbs: 6.8 g   Protein: 11.2 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 12/10/2012 1:50 PM

Appetizers, Recipes

Not Your Mama’s Nachos


When you’ve grown up with nachos as a frequent snack, it’s not easy to forego them when those darn corn chips are just loaded with carbohydrates. Finding a good substitute for corn in recipes isn’t easy, no matter what you do. But I have found a work around when it comes to corn chips and nachos. This isn’t a recipe, but really just a quick substitution… use chicarrones (pork rinds or bacon curls) in place of the corn chips. I know I’m not the first person to stumble on this but I wanted to share it with anyone else who might be looking for a way to have your gooey cheese and salsa without blowing the carbs!

I tried it with melting the cheese over the pork rinds, then putting the salsa on top and that works if you eat quickly otherwise the rinds get mushy. My preferred method, as pictured above, it to put the salsa and a dollop of guacamole in a separate container and dip the rinds. I still melted the cheese on the rinds by covering them with cheese and popping them in the microwave for about 25 seconds, give or take a few. Just watch until you see the cheese melting, then take them out.

I used Lowry’s Microwave Pork Rinds (hot & spicy) for this batch and they worked wonderfully. Just cook them as directed, then pour the hot rinds onto a plate, cover with cheese and zap them back in the microwave until the cheese melts. One tip if you are not familiar with the microwave rinds, they look hard as a brick if you under-cook them, small hard pieces of pork that you think you’ve ruined. It takes up to two minutes to puff them up and those little bricks have not reached the puffed stage yet. I threw away three or four packets thinking they were bad.

If you don’t want to use the microwave variety, there are several brands of chicaronnes on the market, including Bacon-ets, Guerrero and Kroger. I think Kroger has one of the best ones I’ve tasted, but the Guerrero are right behind. They are crunchier and may hold up to salsa being splashed on the top better.

So, try a plate and even if it isn’t corn chips, it’s still a tasty nacho treat and – the best part – it’s really low carb’d at less than 1 carb for the pork rinds, less than 1 carb for cheese and around 2 carbs for the salsa. Happy snacking!

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 11/14/2012 5:19 PM

Appetizers, Recipes

Tomato Spinach Cheese Puffs Are So Tasty!

It started with a challenge from the roomie — a recipe for Sun Dried Tomato Spinach Cheese Puff, in the October 1 issue of First for Women Magazine — can you make it low carb?

To be honest, it was pretty straight forward on some points, but the main one was the puffs are made with refrigerated crescent rolls, so I would have to find a substitute for those. As it turned out, I tried two variations that both tasted wonderful, but also different. Version #1 uses a biscuit dough made from CarbQuick and makes a light, flakey biscuit topped with spinach, tomatoes, green onions and cheddar cheese. Version #2 is based on the Oopsie roll from from Your Lighter Side’s web site and is topped with the same ingredients, but it has more of a quiche flavor. So, here they are — two delightful appetizers to start your next party or to just have around for a low carb, low calorie snack!

Version 1 – Biscuit base

When I made these, I rolled out the biscuit dough into a rectangle, sprinkled the topping ingredients on top, then rolled it up and cut it. I believe you get the same effect and flavor by mixing the ingredients into the dough or just putting them on top. It’s certainly easier and quicker to make dropped biscuits than rolled biscuits, so that’s what I’m going with.

Makes 24 mini muffin puffs

1 1/2 cup Spinach, fresh
1/4 cup Scallions or green onions
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/4 cup bacon bits

Biscuit mix
2 cups Carbquick
4 tablespoons Shortening or butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning or other seasonings of choice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Using cooking spray, grease a 24 slot or 2 12 slot mini-muffin pans or insert mini-muffin cups.

Mix Carbquick, baking powder, seasonings and salt, then cut in the shortening or butter. Mix until the dough pieces form pebbles. Add whipping cream and water. Dough should be firm, but easy to drop from a teaspoon. If not, add a little more water. Set aside.

Sauté spinach and scallions (or green onions) in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for a minute or two until spinach is limp. Remove from burner and add chopped dried tomatoes and bacon bits.
Drop the biscuit dough by teaspoonfuls into the mini-muffin wells to about 2/3 full. Drop about a half a teaspoon of the spinach mixture on top. Distribute as evenly as possible. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the tomatoes and bacon bits.

Dough puffs ready for the oven.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes until puffs are done and lightly browned.

Makes 24 puffs, each is about 60 calories, less than 1 g net carb and 2.5 g of protein.

Version 2 – Cream Cheese Roll Base

 

Cream cheese puffs ready to bake.

 

1 1/2 cups fresh Spinach, packed
1/4 cup Scallions, chopped
1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, minced
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/4 cup bacon bits

Cream Cheese Puff Dough:
2 large Eggs, separated
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 oz Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons Carbquick or any low carb flour
1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Using cooking spray, grease a 24 slot or 2 12 slot mini-muffin pans or insert mini-muffin cups.

Sauté spinach and scallions (or green onions) in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for a minute or two until spinach is limp. Stir in minced tomatoes and bacon bits. Set aside.

In a clean bowl, beat 2 egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff.

In another bowl, mix together egg yolks, cream cheese and Carbquick. Fold mixture into the egg whites being careful to not beat them down.

Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups to about 2/3 full. Bake for five minutes until the batter is just set. Pull out and spoon spinach topping on top of each puff. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the spinach.

Return to oven and bake another 10 minutes. Cheese should be melted and lightly toasted.

Each puff is about 22 calories and .4 g carbs with about 3 g of protein.

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/12/2012 5:45 PM

Appetizers, Recipes

Simple Rollups Make Great Game Snacks!

Here it is January again and that means the “big game”.  I have to be honest – the game doesn’t hold much sway around our house, but coming up really soon are the Olympics and we will be glued to the television for some of those events.  So while becoming couch potatoes, snack foods are the easy way to munch without losing too much game time.  I’ve already got a few snack options up on the blog, so check out those in the Appetizers section where there are things like Pollo Pequitos, Stuffed Mushroom, alternate chips and nachos.

Here are a couple of additional ideas for easy to do snacks that are low carb, guilt free munchies.  They’re good for at home or taking to a viewing party where you may not have many low carb options.  They are easily doubled or tripled for more people.

Turkey Rollups With Cream Cheese

4 slices of thinly sliced turkey

1 oz of cream cheese
1 teaspoon heavy cream or sour cream
Mrs. Dash Garlic Pepper seasoning or seasoning of your choice
4 teaspoons of guacamole or 8 thin slices of avocado
1 ounce of Queso Fresca or other crumbly cheese

Makes 8 roll-ups.

Let cream cheese soften, then mix with heavy cream or sour cream and seasoning until well blended.

Put a slice of turkey on a plate, spread 1/4 of the cream cheese mix onto the slice near the middle.  Spread 1 teaspoon of guacamole or place two slices of avocado along the cream cheese.  Sprinkle with crumbled queso fresca.  Fold one edge of the turkey in and roll it over the filling into a tube.  Cut the tube across the middle diagonally.  Repeat with the other turkey slices.  Makes 8 small appetizers, which is one serving for a solo snack.

To increase the recipe, just double or triple the amounts used.

For  24 small snacks, use:

12 slices of turkey
3 oz. of cream cheese
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash or more to your taste
4 tablespoon of guacamole or 24 slices of avocado
3 ounces of Queso Fresca

Nutrition Info per recipe:

Calories: 223.7  Fat: 7.5 g  Net Carbs: 4.7 g  Protein: 13.2 g

Per each small piece

Calories: 28     Fat: 2 g        Net Carbs: 0.6 g  Protein: 1.7 g

Ham and Pickle Rollups

Among our Irish friends, there’s a saying that any true Irish meal has two kind of potatoes.  Given our fondness for bacon, I think it could also be said that any true Irish meal around our house includes two kinds of pork.

4 slices of Deli ham,  or 8 1/4 inch ( or less) thick slices about 3″ x 2″
2 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup cheddar jack cheese or other cheese of your choice, grated
4 small sweet pickles, sugar free
2 slices of bacon, broken into pieces (optional)

Cut the ham slices in half so they are about 2″ by 3″.  Soften cream cheese by putting in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that it’s easily spreadable.  Spread cream cheese thinly on ham slices across the shorter side.  Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of grated cheese.  Cut pickles in half lengthwise and put in the middle of the cream cheese.  Put two or three small pieces of bacon against the pickle.  Roll up from one to the other and secure with a toothpick.

For the photos, I secured the rolls in two sections with a toothpick and cut them through the middle.  It makes a pretty display of the filling but isn’t necessary if you prefer to leave them as longer rolls.

I also made these using sliced spiral ham left over the New Year’s dinner.  The slices were more triangular and thicker so it is a more open roll.  These didn’t include bacon.  ou can also see that I tried a whole pickle, but it was a bit too much, both in fitting it into the roll and in flavor.

Makes 8 rolls or 16 half rolls.

Per each roll (with bacon):

Calories: 51     Fat: 4.2 g     Net Carbs: 0.5 g  Protein: 3 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 1/18/2014 2:38 PM

 

Desserts, Recipes

Pistachio Cream Cheese Pudding Dish is a Delight

I was recently reminded of a wonderful dessert that Toni Kelly, PK’s mom, used to make using a cookie base, a layer of cream cheese and a layer of chocolate pudding covered with whipped cream.  PK and I used to make it with several different puddings, including pistachio, which is the recipe that recently made its way through Facebook.  Recalling the absolutely heavenly taste of this dessert, I decided to convert it to a low carb version. The taste is still heavenly although the portions are a little smaller, but it’s a wonderful treat.

This can also be made into little tarts by making them in flexible silicone molds and I’ve included the instructions for those as well.  The 1/2 cup servings help control the portions and you’re not as tempted to sneak another spoonful as you would be from a whole pan of it.

Mom Kelly’s Pistachio Cream Cheese Delight

For the Pie crust:
3 tablespoons Butter, softened
1/3 cup Carbquick or Almond Flour
1/3 cup chopped Pecans
3 tablespoons Granulated Sugar Substitute

For the Cream Cheese layer:
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar Substitute
4 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Cool Whip or Whipped Cream

For the pudding layer:
1 regular sized pkg Sugar Free Instant Pistachio Pudding mix
1 1/2 cups cold Unsweetened Almond Milk or Unsweetened Coconut Milk or
6 oz. Heavy Cream and 6 oz. cold Water

Topping:
1/2 cup Cool Whip or Whipped Cream
1/4 cup chopped Pistachios

Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.  Preheat your oven to 350 degress (F).

In a small bowl, mix butter, flour, sugar substitute and nuts together to make a crumbly dough; press into 8×8 inch pan.

Bake for 15 to 20 min.  Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, mix powdered sugar substitute*, cream cheese and cool whip and spread on cooled crust.

Using a whisk or an electric mixer. beat pudding mix and cold milk until thick.   Cover the pudding with plastic and place in the refrigerator and let set for 5 to 10 minutes until it thickens.  Spread on cream cheese layer and top with a layer of cool whip and chopped nuts.  Refrigerate for two to three hours before serving.

* If you can’t find powdered sugar substitute, you can make it by putting granulated sugar substitute, like Splenda or Ideal Sugar Substitute, into a food processor and pulsing until it turns into a fine powder.  Failing that, just use the granulated sugar and mix it in well.

To make as individual tarts:

Mix the crust as above. Prepare 12 tart pans (silicone ones are easier to peel the dessert out) and lightly spray with a cooking spray.

Put 1 tablespoon of crust mix into each tart pan and press it down to cover the bottom. Put all the molds on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

Molds filled with baked cookie crust and cream cheese mix.

Mix the cream cheese as above, then put about 1 1/2 teaspoons of mixture into each mold. Spread with the back of the spoon. If it doesn’t spread easily or sticks to the spoon, wet the back of the teaspoon and do about three before wetting it again.

Mix the pudding as above and let set until partially firm. Spoon 2 tablespoons of pudding into each mold. Put pan in the refrigerator to cool and set up more.

Once they are set pretty firmly, put the tarts, still in the molds, into the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour to get mostly solid.  Remove from the mold (silicone ones will peel back) and wrap in plastic wrap.

About 30 minutes before serving, remove the tart from the plastic wrap and set on serving plate to thaw.  Spread Cool Whip or whipped cream on top of each tart and sprinkle nuts on top.

Frozen tarts will keep for several days.

Makes 12 servings
Nutrition Info per serving
Calories: 129.4 Fat: 11.4 g Net Carbs: 4.5 g Protein: 2.1 g