Tag Archives: muffins

Desserts, Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving and a Dessert Recipe

As those of us in the U.S. sit down on Thursday to give thanks for the blessings of the past year, we expect to enjoy a wonderful feast with family and friends. Sadly, there are many people who won’t be in the same position. With the disasters, fighting, and other acts of violence around the world, some people are not so fortunate as others. Please remember them in your prayers and thoughts this holiday.

From a low carb stand point, you can have a lovely holiday dinner without exceeding your carb max too much. This blog has many suggestions for side dishes, main course, soups, and, of course dessert.

For starters, try these dessert options:

Traditional Pumpkin PIe

 

 

  Traditional Pumpkin Pie

 

 

Pumpkin and Cranberry Nut Muffins

 

Pumpkin and Cranberry Muffins

 

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake – makes about 12 servings.

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

 

 

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

 

 Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

 

 

 

And here’s one I just whipped together yesterday that is light, delicious, and just hits the spot after a heavy meal. You can make the crumble with almond flour or with the even lower carb’d mix from LC Foods for their Granola & Cookie Bites. Either way, it’s a winner!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait

1/4 cup Almond Flour or 1/4 cup LC Foods Granola & Cookie Mix
2 tablespoons Butter, melted
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute *
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 teaspoon Crystallized Ginger, chopped or sliced into small pieces (optional)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream, whipped
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar Substitute

• If using Granola mix, this isn’t needed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.)

In a small bowl, mix the almond flour or granola mix with butter. If you’re using almond flour, add 1 tablespoon sugar substitute. Mix together well and press out onto a pie tin or other small baking sheet. It should be about 3/8ths inch thick. Bake for about 10 minutes, check at 7 minutes, until lightly toasted. Let cool and break apart with a wooden spoon or spatula into small crumbs. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add the heavy cream and beat with electric mixer until it thickens. Add 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract and 1/4 cup powdered sugar substitute, then continue mixing until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate.

In a larger bowl, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup powdered sugar substitute, vanilla, and spices. Beat until completely mixed together, then mix in three-fourths of the whipped cream. Put the rest back in the refrigerator for the topping.

Cover the bowl of pumpkin cream mixture and refrigerate at least two hours.

To serve, put about 1-1/2 tablespoons in the bottom of four to six small serving glasses or juice glasses. Press the almond or granola crumbs into the bottom to form a shallow crust. Spoon in the pumpkin mixture, about 4 tablespoons in each glass, until it is almost full. Top with a sprinkling of the crumb mix, a dollop of whipped cream then a few more sprinkles of the crumbs and a little chopped ginger.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Made with LC-Granola & Cookie Mix
Nutrition Information per serving (4 servings):
Calories: 311.5 Fat: 28.3g Net Carbs: 5.7 g Protein: 4.4 g

Nutrition Information per serving (6 servings):
Calories: 207.7 Fat: 18.9 g Net Carbs: 3.9 g Protein: 0.9 g

Made with Almond Flour
Nutrition Information per serving (4 servings):
Calories: 317 Fat: 30.3 g Net Carbs: 6.3 g Protein: 5.1 g

Nutrition Information per serving (6 servings):
Calories: 211.3 Fat: 20.2 g Net Carbs: 4.2 g Protein: 3.4 g

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Beef, Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

A Bit of Luck with an Irish Benedict Brunch

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St. Patrick’s Day is past, but the Sunday after is always a good time for an Irish Benedict breakfast or brunch. Who am I kidding? Any time is a good time for Irish Eggs Benedict. It’s often on the menu at our favorite breakfast spots in Reno, along with Corned Beef Hash and Eggs. When you’re watching the carbs, the big drawback in ordering it is the English Muffin.

This make-at-home recipe uses the fabulous Muffin in a Minute recipe as the base muffin. Actually, I have a recipe that enhances that one, but is just as easy to make, but you can use either one. Did you know that when you can take the microwaved muffin, slice in half across the middle and pop it into the toaster and it tastes fabulous? It changes the taste and the texture so it is more like toast. It also has a lot of little holes in for butter melt into so it’s a little like an English muffin! Yep, it’s the perfect base for this Irish Benedict.

Irish Eggs Benedict

For the complete dish, you will need:

2 Super Minute Muffins or Muffin in a Minutes, toasted
2 tablespoons Butter
4 eggs, poached or over-easy
1 cup shredded or diced Corned Beef
4 slices tomato
1 cup fresh Spinach
Hollandaise sauce recipe(see below)

Prepare Muffins by using my recipe or by using Atkins recipe for Muffin in a Minute in a 3″ in diameter bowl or ramekin. Cook them, cut in half and set aside or now. TIP:  Leave out the sugar substitute and add a little seasoning salt.  You can also make them with almond flour in place of flax meal.

Prepare the corned beef by slicing and either chopping or shredding it into bite-sized pieces. You should have about 1 cup of meat. Slice the tomatoes and set aside for now.

Prepare the hollandaise Sauce. You can make your favorite one or use this recipe.

Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (1/2 stick)
Pinch cayenne or white pepper
Pinch salt

Put about two cups of water in a pan and put on the stove to boil. Separate eggs, putting the yolks into the top of a double boiler or other metal pan that can fit inside a pot without touching the water. Put the whites away to use in a different recipe. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 20 to 30 seconds. Add lemon juice to the eggs. Reduce the heat on the boiling water to a simmer, then put the egg pan over the hot water and begin whisking. Make sure the water doesn’t boil or it will scramble the eggs instead of making them creamy. When they thicken, stir in the butter, salt and pepper. Remove from heat but keep in a warm place.

Assemble the dish:

Put the muffin halves into a toaster or toast in the boiler. Cook the eggs by either poaching or frying, two at a time. (This will also be tasty with scrambled eggs.) When the eggs and toast are done, then put the spinach into a pan and cook over low heat for about 30 seconds until they begin to wilt.

Assemble the dish: Put the muffin halves on a plate, then put a tomato slice on each half. Put the 1/4 of the wilted spinach leaves on top of the tomato, then add 1/4 cup of corned beef on top of each one and top each with a poached egg. Spoon 1/4 of the Hollandaise sauce over the top.

Serve or put in an oven on low to keep warm, then prepare the second plate the same way.

Makes 2 servings. For a lighter breakfast, you can serve 1/2 a serving along with Smashed Turnip Fritters or Zucchini Fritters or 1/2 cup of berries.

Nutrition Info per full serving:
Calories: 1061 Fat: 88.2 g Net Carbs: 6.1 g Protein: 55.0 g
Per 1/2 servings (one muffin with toppings)
Calories:530.5 Fat:44.1 g Net Carbs: 3.1 g Protein: 27.5 g

NOTE: These carb counts are for the full Irish Benedict, including the muffins and the Hollandaise.

Confession time,as you may conclude by the photos, I didn’t put the eggs on the Irish Benedict when I made it this morning. It was an oversight, or maybe subconciously I was thinking that I didn’t need any more eggs in my meal. However, it does great without it and I didn’t miss the eggs until I started working on this page. So feel free to make those poached or fried eggs optional.