#WhatsForDinner? Keto - Low Carb - Sugar Free and YUMMY

We'll be doing mussels in garlic and butter along with grilled bacon wrapped shrimp.  For a side, I prepared (earlier today) a salad with peppers, green onions, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, kalamata olives and some diced tomato; sprinkled with basil and chilling now.

#WhatsForDinner? - Tonight's dinner is..... Marinated Grilled Pork Chops with Jalapeno, Cream Cheese & Bacon

I'm sitting here in the office waiting for my husband to get home from work... dinner is made and I thought what the heck, I'd post a #WhatsForDinner?  post.  Tonight it's grilled pork chops!

I've posted this one before (just search for it in the search box to the right or at the top of the page) - it's pork chops that have been marinating in salsa, then grilled.  At the end of the grill time I top them with a scoop of spicy mixture that uses cream cheese, jalapenos, cheddar cheese and crumbled, cooked bacon.

Oh... so .... good....

My husband is not a fan of pork chops but he will gladly eat these!  We love them and so far, everyone we've made these for does too!

Creamy Sugar Free, Low Carb Cheesecake made with Sour Cream

You should chill your cheesecake overnight as it makes the texture creamy and wonderful. I cannot EVER wait and always have a piece warm...  so this photo is of it still warm.

This is a cheesecake very similar to the first cheesecake recipe I was given a copy of in the early 90's, by the wife of the Pastor I worked for in Tennessee.  She always made hers in a cake pan though.  I use the traditional springform pan. She used sugar of course, while I use a natural sweetener.  In this cake, I was using Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener - which I've been thrilled with so far in everything I've been making lately.

Basic Low Carb Crust:

2 c almond flour, other nut flour, ground pecans, fine sugar free cookie crumbs, a mixture of any/all
1/2 c natural sweetener, confectioner's style (like So Nourished, Just Like Sugar, etc.)
1/4 t salt
4 T butter

Mix or blend the almond flour, ground nuts, sweetener and salt in a small bowl.  Add the butter, and mash/mix with a fork, your fingers or a rubber scraper until it starts to come together, place in your pan (for pie or bars).  Press evenly all across the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for about 12 minutes at 350.  Remove and let cool while you make your cheesecake.

Basic Plain Cheesecake

5 packages cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 c sweetener of choice that is not liquid drops (adapt the amount for the brand/style you are using*)
1 c sour cream
lemon juice
vanilla

*I used a mixture of Lakanto and Swerve - the confectioner's or 'powdered sugar' style.  Sometimes I use the granular, but it can make a less creamy texture.  You can also just whirl your granular sweetener in a food processor or blender. 

Beat the cream cheese smooth, then add your sweetener, followed by the eggs, sour cream and lemon juice and vanilla to taste.  Start with about a tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of vanilla but if you want a more lemon flavor, don't add the vanilla.  And if you wish, just switch to 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and a tablespoon of vanilla.  (You can add other flavors, add fruits, mix about a cup of the batter with cocoa and swirl it in, add sugar free candy pieces like crumbled peanut butter cups, add swirls of sugar free jams or jellies, etc.  But I'm a weirdo I guess.  I like plain, vanilla cheesecake best of all).

Pour your batter into a well greased 9 or 10 inch springform pan (or a large cake pan like my bosses wife used to use).  Bake at 325 for about 1 1/2 hours for the springform pan. Remove and let it cool completely then cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.  This changes the texture.  Serve with a drizzle or dollop of whatever you wish.  Caramel, chocolate, fruit, whipped cream, peanut butter sauce, crushed candies, crumbled cookies - using all sugar free and low carb options of course!

*I sometimes use a water bath and sometimes half this and use a small sprinform pan to make this in my InstantPot pressure cooker.  I don't typically bother with the water bath though.  It makes cheesecakes a bit more of a pain to make.  I had my pizza stone heating in the oven this time and just put the springform pan on it and baked it that way.  Turned out great.  If you do get a cheesecake that develops a crack during baking or cooling, just add a nice topping!  Covered with a sugar free jam, lemon filling, crumbled sugar free cookies or candies or even just covered in sweetened whipped cream, it is beautiful and no one would ever know.

This time I used a mixture of almond flour and ground pecans leftover from Christmas baking for the crust

Pressed into the bottom of the pan (and just a tiny lip up the side)

Baked for 12 minutes in my oven, until starting to turn golden on the edges

A yummy smooth cheesecake batter

In the pan and now... into the oven!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce - No Sugar Added

Serve your favorite spaghetti sauce over spiral zucchini 'noodles' for a low carb, pasta free option

This is a sauce I keep on hand at all times (as well as homemade pizza sauce) in my freezer.  I typically triple or quadruple the recipe and use a large #10 can of diced tomatoes I buy from our local membership warehouse.  If I'm out and I'm in a hurry I'll make a single or double batch quickly using regular sized cans.

I love the flavor of this sauce the best out of all the spaghetti sauces I've made over the years.  I really love when I use the canned tomato puree in it, but I don't often have that on hand as much as I do diced tomatoes.  Easily remedied by whirling them in a blender or food processor!  Use fresh tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato puree or whole tomatoes you've pulsed a few times in the blender/processor.  Use what you have.  And be ok with not being precise on amounts either.  If you are off on the tomato puree by a half cup or something, don't sweat it!  Plus, you can always add a can of tomato sauce if you don't have enough puree.  Just play with the recipe and make it your own!  
  


Spaghetti Sauce

2 - 10 3/4 oz. tomato puree (I usually use diced tomatoes and puree it in the processor)
1 c water
1/2 t dried minced garlic or garlic powder (yep you can use fresh)
1 t dried, minced onion  (yep you can use fresh instead)
4-5 t sweetener of your choice (taste test for sweetness. I like to only use about 3 teaspoons myself)
1/2 t salt
1 T lemon juice
1/4 c dried parsley flakes
1/8 t thyme
1/4 t basil
1/4 t oregano
dash pepper
*optional meat


If you are using meat, brown about a pound of ground beef, turkey, pork, Italian sausage, chicken sausage or a mixture of whatever you wish.  When it's browned, continue by adding the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer slowly for about 1 hour.  I either Food Seal mine for the freezer or if I want it fairly soon, store in Mason jars in the refrigerator.

Serve over pasta or for a low carb option, serve over spiralized zucchini or even the Palmini canned version.


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Low Carb Stir Fried Rice - (Faux Rice of course)

A photo literally 'in action' as I was stirring the dish with one hand, taking a picture on my cellphone with the other.  And the second I was finished taking the photo I scooped a huge bowl of this yummy faux stir-fried rice, added a bit of Bragg liquid aminos (an alternative to soy sauce that tastes the same) and enjoyed every. last. bite.  And then went back for seconds.  #Truth

Although I would previously make this with chicken or shrimp, I've found I'm really loving it right now with ground pork.  (Which is odd because I've never been a huge fan of pork!)  But oh how I crave this over the past couple months.

Use 1 Sun-Bird seasoning mix
1 pound ground pork, diced or ground chicken, shrimp or whatever you wish
3 c riced cauliflower (either whirl it in a food processor with the S-blade or use store bought)
1/2 - 3/4 cup veggies of choice (I use green beans, as peas have a higher sugar content) and green onions
2 eggs
oil
soy sauce or liquid aminos

I currently am using store bought frozen "riced cauliflower" since it's readily available, affordable (I buy mine at a large membership warehouse store).  This makes it so easy!  I grab one or two bags, pop them into the microwave to 'cook' for about 3-4 minutes while I put a little oil in a pan on the stove and cook/brown the pork or chicken.  As the pork is browning, I get about 3/4 cup of frozen green beans out and pulse them in my food processor until they are about the size of peas.

When the chicken or pork is done, remove it to a plate and pour the 'rice' (cauliflower) into the hot pan.  Stir fry briefly to warm, add the seasoning packet and about 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce or liquid aminos.  Stir, make an empty spot in the center and add the 2 eggs, scrambling as they cook.  Add the green beans/peas, green onions if you use them, and the pork or chicken (or add small shrimp at this point) and stir-fry until heated through.

I have started to add a can of bean sprouts to this, which I really love.  But I've found you have to be careful as different brands have different nutrient values;  there are a couple brands out there with higher carbs and sugar grams.  I currently keep a can of La Choy on hand.  It has 2 carbs and less than a gram of sugar in 2/3 cup (label) but because these are mixed into the whole dish, you are only having about 1/4 of a cup, so it's basically less than 1 carb.

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