Best Laid Plans

I injured my foot yesterday. Or maybe I should say my foot just decided to be injured since nothing actually happened. I didn't fall, drop anything on it, walk into something. It was fine and then it wasn't. Out of no where it was badly bruised and swollen. Its not clear whats wrong but I am having difficulty standing and walking so needless to say I am having trouble cooking. I hope to be back soon.

Turtle Thumb Print Cookies

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What's a Super Bowl party without a sweet or two? This recipe has an added benefit of using some of the caramel sauce I bought for my German Chocolate Cheesecake. These cookies are delicious and even got a thumbs up from my super picky daughter. These cookies are a recipe redo in order to make them sugar and grain free. the original recipe can be found here.

Turtle Thumb Print Cookies
You will need: 
1 cup fine almond flour 
1/3 cup cocoa powder 
1/4 tsp salt 
1 stick  butter at room temperature 
2/3 cup Swerve 
1 large egg, separated 
2 Tbsp heavy cream 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4- 1/3 cup sugar free caramel sauce ( found with the ice cream toppings at the market)


Combine almond  flour, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl cream together the butter and Swerve until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolk, cream and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients, just until combined. Chill dough in the refrigerator for one hour.

Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy.  Place chopped pecans in another shallow bowl. Remove dough from fridge and roll into small balls (however many cookies you want–I made 18).

Roll each dough ball in the frothy egg whites, and then roll and press in the chopped pecans. Place on a greased baking sheet. Use the back of a small measuring spoon to make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake at 350 Degrees for about 15 minutes, or until set ( the cookie will still e very soft). As the cookies come out of the oven, gently re-press the indentations with a small spoon.

Very Carefully slide your cookies onto a spatula and move to a cooling rack. The cookies will be fragile at this point but with firm up as they cool. Once cool pour or spoon caramel sauce into the indentation on each cookie. Enjoy!

**If you don't love caramel don't pass this cookie up. Consider using a sugar free chocolate sauce instead or skip the sauce and just flatten the cookies slightly when you put them on the cookie sheet  and enjoy a chocolate pecan cookie instead. 

I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl Snack recipes. Enjoy the game or the commercials as the case may be!

Garlic Bread Balls

If you are like me the the best bite on a piece of garlic bread is a toss up between the crunchy edge and the warm buttery center. These Garlic Bread Balls have both without the bread! I seriously think I am in love with these. I got the idea while perusing Pinterest and decided to de-carb it and spice it up. The original recipe can be found here.

I bit on in half so you could see the inside.

Its a tough job but someone had to do it.

Garlic Bread Balls

You will need:

2 1/2 cups of shredded Italian cheese blend

3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese ( I used the kind in the green canister)

1 Tsp baking powder

2 Tsp garlic powder (less if you are not a garlic lover)

1/2 Tsp oregano

4 Tbsp finely ground almond flour

2 Eggs

Oil for frying

In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients except for the oil in a large bowl, it will look chunky not smooth. Roll small 1/2 Tbsp size balls between your hands.  The dough will have a smooth texture once the are rolled. This made about 40 for me. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a frying pan. Carefully add the cheese balls  to the oil a few at a time leaving room to roll them around. Fry the Garlic Bread Balls until they are golden brown on the bottom then roll them gently over to brown the other side. they will puff up in the process. Drain them on a paper towel and serve warm.

Serves 15: 77 calories a serving and 1 useable carb

Potsticker Stuffed Mushrooms

As a child I remember my parents having guests over. They would put out all these tasty little appetizers and allow my brother and I to fill our plates before we were sent off to watch TV upstairs. My favorite among my mother's delicacies were the stuffed mushrooms.  As an adult I figured out stuffed mushrooms can be a good bit of work and often have bread crumbs or crackers in them, making them tasty but not not low carb.  Well as I thought about the snacks for Super Bowl 2015 I knew there had to be stuffed mushrooms in the mix, I wanted them to be easy and low carb. Voila! Potsticker Stuffed Mushrooms were born.

Potsticker Stuffed Mushrooms
You will need:
1 8oz package of whole mushrooms ( cleaned and stems removed)
1/2 pound ground pork
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 Tsp ground ginger (not dried)
1 green onion (sliced thinly)
1 Tsp sesame oil
1 Tsp soy sauce

Heat the oven to 350 degree spray a baking dish with cooking spray and lay your mushrooms on it stem side up.  Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Careful scoop your meat mixture into the mushroom caps so that they are stuffed generously. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

I served this with a simple dipping sauce which I of course did not remember to take a picture of. Sorry! You can serve this without the sauce but the sauce really gives you the potsticker experience without the carbs.

Dipping Sauce
You will need:
1 Tbsp sodium soy sauce
1/2 Tsp sesame oil
1 Tsp Splenda or sweetener of your choice
garlic powder and red pepper flake to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small ramekin. I encourage you to taste this as some people may find the soy sauce strong if that occurs try adding 1Tsp  of water or consider using a low sodium soy sauce.

Makes 8 servings: 87calories and about 1carb each (I rounded up)

Stop back later today for my Super Bowl ready garlic bread balls!

Chicken Wings with Peanut Sauce

Ok, Ok anyone who knows me will laugh at my excitement over the Super Bowl! I don't watch football, I don't have a favorite team, I don't have any clothes I can show team pride in. I'm in it for the snacks and the commercials...I mean we all need to know what happened to the Budweiser puppy right? So here's the first of my snack line up, check back for over the next few days for more Super Bowl Finger Food.

Chicken Wings with Peanut Sauce
You will need:
24 chicken wing pieces
1 Tbsp smooth peanut butter ( make sure there is no added sugar)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tsp Splenda or sweetener of your choice
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp hot water

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking pan with foil. Spray foil with non stick spray and lay chicken wings on pan skin side up. Roast chicken wings in the oven for 45-60 minutes until the skin is crispy. Meanwhile combine all of the other ingredients in a small bowl and stir, make sure your water is hot as it goes into the mixing bowl because that helps smooth the sauce out. In a large bowl combine the chicken wings and sauce. Enjoy!

Serves 4 with each serving having about 2 carbs

Check back tomorrow for two more Super Bowl snack recipes...

Crispy Green Beans

Green beans lend themselves to so many methods of preparation. If you have never moved beyond steaming them I encourage you to play around with some different recipes. This recipe was inspired by a meal I had at a friend's home years ago. I was raised on frozen and fresh vegetables so the idea of canned green beans had me awfully nervous when she started cooking, but the end result was delicious. At home I changed things up a bit to match what I had in my home and a hit was born. When I serve these there are never any leftovers. This dish is so popular in my home that when some of my past foster children visit for dinner they request "the green beans".

Crispy Green Beans
You will need:
2 cans of green beans drained
2-4 Tbsp Butter
1/2-1 Tsp Mrs. Dash table blend
salt-if your butter and green beans are low salt

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter over medium low heat in a large frying pan. Add the green beans to the pan and stir to coat with butter. Add half of the Mrs. Dash to the green beans. Cook stirring occasionally for about 40 minutes. If your pan becomes dry add more butter. Add additional Mrs. Dash and salt to taste. If your green beans begin to brown quickly after adding to the pan turn the heat down to prevent burning. Cook until the beans until most of them have browned and serve.

Serves 4 Assuming 2Tbsp of butter each serving has 76 calories and trace carbohydrates ( my app actually says 0 but we all know green beans have a few)

Tune in later today for the first of three Super Bowl snack posts!!

Mediterranean Chicken Drumsticks

The weather here has been icky to say the least. My daughter is enjoying a snow day today and there is a group of neighborhood boys who have figured out I hate to shovel and have been getting rich off me this week. I have been pretending it's summer by eating strawberry shortcake and making Mediterranean chicken drumsticks. One can imagine right?

Ready for the oven

Mediterranean Chicken Drumsticks
You will need:
6-8 chicken drumsticks
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tsp Oregano
paprika, salt and pepper to taste

In a gallon size zip lock bag mix the red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic powder and oregano. Add the chicken and marinade turning the bag occasionally for 8-12 hours. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the chicken on the baking sheet skin side up and sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper. These are optional but the paprika really adds a nice color to the chicken. Bake for 45 minutes until the skin is crispy and the juices run clear. Enjoy!

Serves 6, assuming one drumstick per serving: 256 calories and only a trace of carbohydrates