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9/14/19

Low Carb, Sugar Free "Potato Salad" - Cauliflower based potato salad




Maybe it's the hot days that are hanging on from summer but last week I was seriously craving potato salad!  I don't often crave it, and I rarely eat it, but after putting it 'off' for almost a week and still craving it, I whipped up a half batch for dinner that night.  Surprisingly, my husband seemed even more excited about seeing it with our dinner that night than I was.  I guess he's been missing potato salad as well!

Of course we are trying to be really good at keeping low carb and sugar free so I did not make the real potato version.  All I really am doing when I make this version is making my favorite potato salad with some substitute ingredients (like the cauliflower) to make it lower carb.    

Normally this is best if you use fresh cauliflower and cut it up into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces so it seems even more like potatoes but I wanted REALLY quick and easy the other night so I used riced cauliflower instead, which I don't think I've done in the past.  And?  I was happy with it.  Mostly because it saved time and made this even easier to make.



Low Carb "Potato" Salad using Cauliflower

2 or 3 bags riced cauliflower, a head of fresh riced cauliflower or chopped fresh cauliflower
2 green onions, chopped
3/4 c celery, diced
1 t salt and some pepper to taste
6 hard boiled eggs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c natural sweetener of your choice
1 t thickener of choice (corn starch, 1/4 t xanthan gum, etc.)
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c half and half or cream (can use milk but it has natural sugar grams)
1 t yellow mustard
1 c mayonnaise
1/2 c bacon, cooked and crumbled

To easily hard-boil eggs, use your instant pot if you have one!  Manually cook for 5 minutes, quick release, cool and peel.   Other wise, cook your eggs you normally do on the stove and cool, peel.  While they are cooking, cook your cauliflower briefly to soften but still firm.  This is about 3 minutes.  Drain your cauliflower well and gently press a bit to get out the excess water it holds.  In a large bowl place the cauliflower, chop the hard boiled eggs, the celery, bacon and green onions.

In a saucepan on the stove, whisk together the 2 eggs, natural sweetener(s) and the thickener.  Stir in the vinegars, cream and mustard; cook over medium heat, stirring until it is slightly thickened.  This is about 7-8 minutes usually.  Remove from heat and let cool or place the bowl in ice water to cool down quicker.  Add the mayonnaise.  Stir into the cauliflower/celery mixture.  Chill and serve.  Note:  We had some leftover that night and when I wanted to use it the next day, it had soaked up the dressing and was drier.  It was 'fine' but I like my potato salad creamy and moist so I had to mix up another batch of the dressing and stir it in.  So, I'd say this is best the day you make it. 


*as usual, I like to mix 2-3 natural sweeteners for the best flavor



The only way I ever make hard boiled eggs anymore!
Perfect every time.


Normally I'd use fresh cauliflower but I have a lot of riced cauliflower
on hand right now so I tried that and... loved it! So fast and easy.









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9/13/19

Repost: Homemade Low Carb, Sugar Free Pecan Pie






For a traditional version that uses flour in the crust and sugar/sweetener you can find an older post here:  Pecan Pie (and Blueberry Pie too!)


The low carb and sugar free version has been posted a couple times already, but I made it again this week and since I've new people popping into the website all the time, I thought I'd post it again.

The thing about this crust is that you can play with it a bit.  Yes the flavor and texture will change by doing so, but if you don't have xanthan gum and don't want to order it, then leave it out.  The crust might be a little more crumbly, but I don't think anyone will judge you for it.  Use a different brand almond flour if you have a favorite - and although I use Isopure whey protein powder with my almond flour, a lot of people prefer to use a tablespoon or two of coconut flour instead.  




Sugar Free and Lower Carb Pecan Pie

Crust

1 c Blanched Almond Flour
4 T Hodgson Mill Vital Wheat Gluten
2 t xanthan gum
2 T Nature's Best Isopure Unflavored Whey Protein Powder
1 t baking powder
dash of salt
4 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 egg yolks
2 T cold water

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.  Cut in the butter with your fingers and work it in until it's coarse.  Beat the egg yolks with cold water and blend it into the dry ingredients.  When it forms a ball, remove, place on plastic wrap, form a disk, wrap and chill.  Roll out the pie crust (between two pieces of parchment because it's sticky) and place in a large, deep dish pan pan.  Mine wouldn't transfer easily so I pieced it together in the pan and pressed it all into place.  Bake at 350 until golden brown and firm in the center.

Filling

3 large eggs
1/4 c brown sugar style sweetener like Swerve Brown
 3/4 c white granular sweetener or equivalent
1 c sugar free syrup like pancake/waffle syrup (homemade or store bought - recipes in right side bar 'search' feature. I've also used half sugar free 'honey' and half syrup.)
2 T butter
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 c pecans

Beat the eggs and sweetener.  Add everything else but the pecans.  When beaten well add about a cup of pecans and pour into your baked crust.  Top with another 1/2 - 1 cup pecans.  You can sprinkle them on or place them in a design.  Bake at 350 until dark golden brown and the edges are set and the center is mostly set - a little jiggly is ok.  This takes about 50 minutes.  I baked 45, turned the oven off, opened the door for a minute, closed it, and let it set in the turned off but still hot oven about 10 minutes more before taking out and cooling on the counter.  It will set up as it cools completely. 





I baked mine in our solar oven, but obviously most people will bake theirs in their kitchen oven.  :)





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9/12/19

Easy Homemade Yogurt! Low Carb? Sugar Free? - No added sugar and make it any flavor you wish (I made Homemade Peach Yogurt)





Homemade Plain Yogurt

1-2 T plain yogurt, either store bought or from an earlier batch
1 quart water
1 1/2 cups - 2 cups dry milk powder

Use a 1 quart container of whatever style you wish but it's easiest if it has some sort of lid.
Fill it about half way with water, add the plain yogurt 'starter' and whisk or mix briefly, then add the powdered milk.  1 1/2 cups gives a thinner yogurt and the full 2 cups of dry milk powder will give you a thicker yogurt.  Shake, whisk or blend until smooth.  Fill the rest of the container up to the 1 quart line.  Put the top on or cover it well, and let it set for 12 hours someplace fairly warm.  I put mine on a heating pad set to 'low' and cover with a dish towel.

Around the 12 hour mark, check it.  It might need a couple more hours if it wasn't quite warm enough.  When it's thick and creamy, place it into the refrigerator.  It's now just like store bought plain yogurt.  

If you want to flavor it, use flavored water drops, lemon or vanilla extract, Torani or Davinci flavored syrups, etc. and/or a liquid drop natural sweetener or fine powdered confectioners style sweetener.  You can add berries/fruit of your choice but remember whatever fruit you use will add to your carb and sugar counts.  




My container of choice is a 1 quart container with a lid and a blender ball inside.  All I have to do is shake it to mix!  It doesn't get easier than this.  And you can see my super fancy dancy heating pad.  Ha ha.  Yeah, just a plain old cheap heating pad - set on low for my heat source.


After 12 hours it's thick and creamy and 'done'.
Now I like to add my flavor - remember, the only kind of yogurt I like is a tangy peach with pieces of fruit.  I use freeze dried fruit.  I love the texture once it's rehydrated in the yogurt, and it keeps my yogurt nice and thick.  I don't like thin yogurt.


It's hard to find just "peach" flavored water/liquid drops but that's ok because I love mango and it's easier to find peach mango mixtures.  This one is by SweetLeaf and is made with stevia.


Just flavor your yogurt to your own taste-testing.  Add more of the flavor, fruit or sweeteners you wish.


Because I'm a picky yogurt eater, I won't eat it if it's a 'big' container in the fridge, but I crave it when it's ready to go in small glass jars.  I don't know why... I'm weird.  I know.


I use small canning jars for our yogurt.  Keep in the refrigerator and eat as you like!  Be sure to save out 1 or 2 tablespoons of the plain yogurt to use as a starter for your next batch!



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9/6/19

White Lasagna with Chicken Sausage







Last week I made another batch of our homemade chicken sausage. I typically use spinach, feta and garlic in it, which I did this time but i didn't form it into patties or links, but instead packaged it up and food sealed them.

Yesterday I was craving a simple white lasagna style dinner and grabbed out a package to use. Lasagna is such an easy 'throw together' meal, which is probably why so many people use it as their 'go to' for dinner guests or crowds.  Especially now that most people use bottled sauce - be it a traditional red lasagna or white.

IF you buy and use store bought alfredo sauce, this is even EASIER and QUICKER for you to make.  But if you want to make your own sauce, just put a stick of butter into a pan, melt it, add minced garlic to your own taste preferences, some salt and pepper, 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 cups (or so) of cream and about 1/2 cup Parmesan...  stir until thick and melted smooth. You can halve this if you wish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHITE LASAGNA

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken or chicken sausage
2 cups alfredo sauce
2 c ricotta cheese
1 egg
salt - if you are using ground chicken, but if you are using sausage, use less or none (taste test)
1 t onion powder
Zucchini - optional - but makes a great layer in lieu of pasta
Spinach - either  fresh (a big handful) or a 10-12 oz. package frozen - thawed and drained
1 c mozzarella, shredded

Preheat oven to 350.
Brown the chicken in a pan on the stove over medium high heat, breaking apart.  When done, add the alfredo sauce.  Salt it if it needs it.
In a bowl, mix the ricotta with the egg and onion powder.
In a baking pan, layer the meat, then half the alfredo sauce, half the ricotta filling, a layer of spinach, a layer of thin sliced zucchini (lengthwise) if you are using it, then repeat the layers and end with mozzarella on top.
Bake for about 35-50 minutes depending on what size pan you are using.  A larger pan with thinner layers bakes in about 35 minutes and a smaller pan with thick layers will need about 45-50.  If it starts to get too brown on top just cover it loosely with aluminum foil and let it bake.  When it's heated all the way through and golden brown on top, take it out and let it set on the counter for 10-15 so it 'sets up' for easier cutting.

*If you are using plain, ground chicken and not a flavored chicken sausage (of any kind) then add a few more spices and herbs; garlic and little more onion powder, maybe even a little Italian seasoning blend.  Play with it.  





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9/3/19

My Go-To Low Carb, Keto Biscuit - (Think; Red Lobster style or even a breakfast biscuit for ham/egg/cheese sandwiches)




As I mentioned in a previous post, I have oodles of photos and recipes in my draft files and I just don't have the time to update An American Housewife so, there they sit.  As a matter of fact, I took these photos of my favorite 'go to' low carb, keto biscuit the first week of May.  I also took photos of the yummy casserole in the background although I can't post those yet (nor the recipe that goes with it) because I cannot recall what it was that I made!

So this morning I'm reposting the biscuit recipe but holding off on the casserole until I go back and deduce what it was I made that night, 4 months ago.

But the biscuits?  I make these ALL THE TIME.  Sometimes to go with dinner, other times to use as a breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, ham or cheese



My "make all the time, go to biscuit" - sometimes with cheddar or Asiago cheese, sometimes with more or less garlic.  Sometimes brushing garlic butter over them. Sometimes I add some wheat protein isolate but other times I don't... or I may add just a small scoop of whey protein powder.  Etc.  In other words, play with your food.  Make it your own.

Low Carb, Keto Cheddar Biscuit

1 c almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
3 T wheat protein isolate 5000 (optional - leave out if you don't have)
1 T baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
3 T real butter, cold from the refrigerator; grated if you have one or just dice up small
1/2 cheddar cheese, grated or shredded
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
optional: 1/2 - 1 t fresh minced garlic

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and whisk it in, use a fork, or use your fingers, to cut it in until its incorporated into the dry ingredients and is crumb like. Add the garlic and the egg whites and fold gently and slowly so you don't break down the whites too much. Lastly, fold in the cheese.

Use a spoon or small 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop to form mounds on a greased, foil lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-14 minutes.  Remove and serve in a plethora of ways.






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Low Carb Spinach and Cheese Calizza - Pizza Pockets - Something Or Others!

Updated 9/5/19



These were good, but I ended up using them in three different ways (three different meals) trying to decide what to tweak or what to serve to make them my favorite.  I used them for 2 different dinners and then as lunch the next day.   For lunch I ate them as is; with my hand.  Like a savory pop-tart of sorts.  Then served them as dinner with a pizza dipping sauce and with a garlic butter sauce.

Use your favorite or typical mozzarella cheese based dough for the 'pastry'.  There are all sorts of versions of this and admittedly, I make it different each time just based on whether or not I feel like adding baking powder, a little xanthan or whey protein powder to it.  But it's a great, versatile dough obviously and it's what I used for these.

Dough

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 stick real butter (about 4 T)
2/3 c almond flour
1/3 c whey protein powder (0 carb and 0 sugar only or use about 2 T coconut flour instead)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t salt

In a bowl, microwave the cheeses for a minute or so, stir, and microwave again until smooth and 'melty' and gloppy.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir quickly with a wooden spoon or stiff rubber spatula; kneading and stiring until it is uniform in color and a nice 'dough'.

Roll the dough out between pieces of parchment paper.  Use a little sprinkle of almond flour dusted if it's too sticky.  (Almond flour dough is sticky compared to a traditional wheat version.)

In a bowl mix the filling:

Spinach (either a small frozen box 6-10 oz.), thawed or a couple big handfuls of fresh
CHEESES:  whatever you like; Parmesan, feta cheese, ricotta cheese, cream cheese
1 egg
onion powder or finely chopped green onion
garlic, minced
salt and pepper

This is just a regular spinach/cheese filling like you use in oodles of recipes and you can make it to your personal taste preference or use what you have on hand.  I had ricotta I wanted to use up (check your sugar/carb counts for the brands you are buying!).  Use about a cup or two of ricotta with 1/2 cup or so of Parmsan, maybe some feta.  You might want an ounce of cream cheese to hold it together.  You could leave it out if you only use ricotta as it already has moisture in it.  Mix it well; add your spices/onion to your personal taste.  Using fresh spinach, you can either chop it a little bit or microwave it for a bit to 'wilt' it to make it easy to mix into your filling.  Obviously, frozen, thawed and drained-well spinach won't need that.

Cut your dough into squares.  I got 16 of them.  Mound a heaping tablespoon or two of filling in the center, top with another square and seal the edges to get 8 good sized pastry pockets.  Or if you prefer, top each of the 16 squares with the filling and fold them over into triangles and seal the edges with your fingers or with a fork.  Bake on parchment at 350 until the pastry is done - approximately 20-30 minutes.

Serve as is, or try them different ways as I described at the top of the post.


The dough... ready to roll


Try to make a square or rectangle with even edges to make it easier to cut your shapes


I was using up fresh spinach and ricotta this time; but use frozen and thawed spinach or feta, cream cheese, etc. 


I like heavy garlic and onions but if you have to count your carbs carefully you may need to go lighter.




I ate them plain like this for lunch.  Nice little hot pocket.


I served them with garlic butter and pizza sauce (homemade, sugar free) for one meal. 






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