Strawberry Shortcake

It is the middle of winter and snowing today, any sign of summer would be welcome at this point. However where I live I have at least two more months before signs of spring are going to show their heads let alone summer. A summer time treat will have to do in the meanwhile I decided to rework the chocolate one minute cake recipe I use to make a moist strawberry short cake.


Strawberry Shortcake
You will need:
4Tbsp butter
1/2 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp vanilla whey protein powder
1/8 Tsp baking powder
 2 Tbsp water of vanilla coffee flavoring
2 egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 Tsp Knox unflavored gelatin
2 Tsp sugar free sweetener of your choice such as Swerve or Splenda ( I used liquid Sucralose)
1tsp vanilla
 one box sugar free strawberry jello- made according to package direction, cooled on the counter but not set

To make the cake: Begin by melting your butter in the microwave in a small microwave dish. In a microwaveable 8x8  baking dish mix the almond flour, vanilla whey protein and baking powder. Add the butter and water or coffee flavoring and mix. Then mix in the eggs stirring until the batter is looks like a cake mix batter. Cover the asking dish with saran wrap with a few holes poked in it to vent. Microwave for 2 and half minutes then remove the saran wrap and microwave for another 2 minutes. Microwaves vary so what you are looking for is a cake that is baked through and not jiggly in the middle. Allow the cake to cool. 
To make stabilized whipped cream: Put the 4Tbsps of water in a small microwaveable dish and microwave for a minute or two until it is boiling. Add the 1/3 Tsp of unflavored gelatin stirring until the gelatin dissolves completely. In a large mixing bowl add the cream, vanilla and sweetener. Begin to beat the cream using an electric mixer. While mixing slowly pour in the gelatin and water mixture. Beat the cream mixture until stiff peaks and then spread it on top of the cake edge to edge. Carefully pour the cooled jello onto the whip cream. Do this slowly starting in the center and spread it gently towards the edges. Refrigerate the cake until the jello sets.

Serves 8. Each slice has 334 calories, 3.5g carbs and 1g of fiber for net carb count of 2.5

Blackened Steaks

I needed to defrost one of my freezers so I have been emptying stuff out and found two lovely boneless rib eyes hiding near the bottom. Yumm! Since I did not start defrosting them until mid day I decided to go for a dry seasoning versus a marinade. I love blackened seasoning but have to tone it down for my daughter. So this is my not too spicy blackened steaks.

Blackened Seasoning
You will need:
1 Tbsp paprika
4 Tsp dry thyme
2 Tsp onion powder
2 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Swerve
2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp black pepper
1/2 Tsp cayenne
1 Tsp oregano
1/2 Tsp cumin
 rib eye or other steak that can be broiled or grilled such as sirloin, or New York strip

Sprinkle your steaks with seasoning. There will e seasoning left over unless you are making quite a bit of steak. I store mine in generic seasoning shaker. Heat your grill or broiler. If using a broiler place your steaks on a broiler pans. Put the steaks on the grill or under the broiler and cook until done to your liking. the time for cooking will vary based on the size and thickness of your steaks.

Not So Italian Chicken

Have you ever had a simple recipe at a friend's home, then week later you try and make it and it's just not the same? My recipe foil is chicken marinaded in Italian dressing. Seriously! Supposedly you throw the chicken in some store bought dressing and several hours later cook it up and it's juicy and delicious. At least this is what both my mother and one of my friends claim. I have had this very recipe at both of their homes and it makes you want to run home and try it yourself. Somehow this never works out when I do it at home. At home chicken is always bland, but since I want you to stop back we won't make that today. So instead I decided to get creative with a package of chicken thighs.

I choose bone in chicken thighs with skin because I love the crunchy skin on a well baked piece of chicken. This chicken is simple and tasty.

Baked Chicken Thighs
You will need:
1 package of bone in chicken thighs ( about 4-5 thighs)
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp onion powder
1 Tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Line a baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. In a small bowl mix the garlic powder, onion powder and paprika together. Sprinkle it on the chicken pieces making sure to seasoning both sides of each piece. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste. Preheat your oven to 425, and place your chicken on the baking pan skin side up. Bake the chicken until the skin is crispy and the juice run clear about 45-60 minutes.

*I season my chicken before pre-heating the oven because this give the seasonings a chance to rehydrate a bbit as they sit on the chicken.

German Chocolate Cheesecake

One tough part of the low carb lifestyle is what is referred to as "food porn." Beautiful images of food found all over the internet, television and magazines. More often than not even the most straight forward looking recipe attached to these lovely images has a hidden scoop of brown sugar or flour. In the past I would  just move on. However  last week the most recent issue of Food Network Magazine arrived and as I perused the pages I found a recipe I just had to tackle, German Chocolate Cheesecake. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/german-chocolate-cheesecake.html#!

I can't explain my fascination. As a rule I don't like chocolate cheesecake. I don't dislike German Chocolate Cake but it's not usually my first pick. Somehow when I saw this cheesecake in the magazine I became a woman on a mission. I hit the grocery store with my lists I had a plan for making a low(ish) carb evaporated milk substitute, I found the most large flaked unsweetened coconut that promised to hold up to what I had planned for it. I was ready! Ummmm... did someone say cream cheese? Back to the store I went.

I'm not going to lie, after waiting for the cheesecake to chill overnight, I had cheesecake for breakfast. Really what else would you expect? This cheesecake was worth the effort. It turns out I like chocolate cheesecake after all!

Disclaimer: There are plenty of sources of hidden carbs in this recipe because of this I decided to go crust free. the original had a chocolate graham cracker based crust. If you just have to have a crust on your cheesecake a simple chocolate almond flour crust would work here.

German Chocolate Cheesecake
For the filling you will need:
12 ounces of heavy cream
1 cup of chopped pecans
1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup sugar free caramel ice cream topping
1 stick of butter
3 egg yolks
1 and 1/2 Tsp vanilla

For the cheesecake you will need:
24 ounces of cream cheese
3 ounces sf dark chocolate ( I used a simply lite bar)
7 drops liquid sucralose or 1/4 cup powdered Splenda
1 cup granular Swerve
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 Tsp vanilla
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray the foil with non stick spray. Lay the coconut on one tray and the pecans on the other, roast each for about 10 minutes watching carefully to avoid burning. Set coconut and pecans aside to cool. Meanwhile pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan and cook it over  low heat for about one hour, do not allow the cream to boil, you just want to reduce it a bit. Allow the cream to cool. Once the cream is cool add the caramel sauce, egg yolks,vanilla and butter to the saucepan. Return the saucepan to the stove and cooking for 10 minutes over medium heat stirring at all times. The sauce will appear thin but towards the end of the cooking time it will begin to bubble and thickening up a bit. Stir in the coconut and pecans and set aside to cool.

To make the cheesecake layers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch spring form pan with non stick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the pan in foil. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a small microwave safe dish. Melt the chocolate by microwaving it for 30 seconds at a time stirring after each 30 seconds until it is melted. Set it a side to cool off a bit but do not let it set. In a food processor Mix the cream cheese, cocoa powder, sucralose, Swerve and eggs until just combined. Add the sour cream vanilla and melted dark chocolate tot the food processor. Again mix until combined.

Putting the cake together and baking: Pour half the cheesecake mixture into the spring form pan. Top this carefully with 2/3rds of the filling mixture spreading it lightly with your spoon. Top with remaining cheesecake mixture. Take a large baking dish and fill it 2/3rds full with water. Place the pan of water on the bottom rack of your oven. Place the cheesecake on the middle rack just above the water. Bake the cheesecake for between 1 hour and 1 hour 15 minutes. The cheesecake will still be jiggly at this point. Place the cake on a cooling rack for an hour or two then place in the refrigerator for at least eight hours to chill. Put remaining filling in a storage container and refrigerate. Before serving warm the remaining filling for 30 seconds in the microwave to loosen up. Run a knife around the outside edge of the cheesecake and then release the pan. Spread the remaining filling on top to the cheesecake and serve.

Small Batch Meatballs

Typically when I make meat balls I make a huge batch and a huge mess. Then I pack them up and freeze them so I can easily make spaghetti (or zucchini noodles) and meatballs on a moments notice. Meatball subs are also popular with my daughter. Right now I am trying to clean out the freezer and reorganize so making more frozen items is not on the agenda. So I have set out with the goal of making a small batch and only a small mess.

Small Batch Meatball
You will need:
1 pound ground beef
2 clove of garlic minced
3 Tbs Parmesan cheese
2 Tsp dried minced onion
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 Tbsp olive oil or oil of your choice
1 jar of low carb pasta sauce ( I used simply Enjoy Marinara from GIANT Food Stores)

In a medium size bowl mix your ground beef with the garlic, Parmesan cheese, onion and egg until the seasonings are well distributed and the egg is fully incorporated.  Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Roll the meat mixture into 12 meatballs using clean hands. Carefully place the meatballs into the hot oil. Allow them to brown  rolling them around to ensure they are browned on much of the outside surface but not cooked through. In a medium saucepan heat the sauce over medium low heat add the meatballs being careful to drain as much grease from the frying to avoid thinning the sauce. Cover the saucepan and allow to meatballs to cook for about 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally to ensure the sauce and meatballs are not sticking to your saucepan. Enjoy!

Apricot Spiced Pork Steaks

My daughter and I did the what's for dinner dance again today. When I told her we were having pork steaks she said "We're eating a lot of meat recently." Uh kid you don't eat vegetables, pasta, rice, potatoes, most lunch meats, soup and about one million other things but you do eat meat. If I make something else you won't eat. I love that kid to death but I am not always able to keep up with her thought process. I decided not to go there and just told her it worked with my diet and she said "ok" and wandered off. Works for me!

If you have never seen a pork steak, this is what you are looking for.

Pork steaks were completely unfamiliar to me until just a year or so ago. I found them in the store and they were inexpensive so I thought "Why Not?".  why not indeed! They quickly became a family favorite. They can be cooked up quickly, and can seasoned a million different ways.  I like that they stay moist and often are large enough to split one steak among a few people. I often serve these with some steamed veggies and a fruit salad for my daughter.

Spiced Pork Steaks
You will need:
1-2 pounds of pork steaks
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp cinnamon
1/2 Tsp ground black pepper
1Tsp Splenda
2 Tbsp sugar free apricot preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking ban with foil and grease it with cooking spray. Mix the Garlic, Cinnamon, Black Pepper and Splenda together. Sprinkle the spice mixture on both sides of the pork steak. Lay the pork steaks in the pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Melt the apricot preserves. I do this in a small Pyrex custard cup in the microwave. Brush the half preserves on the pork steak and return to the oven for ten minutes. Flip the steaks over and brush with the remaining preserves. Return to the oven for 10 additional minutes. Enjoy!

 

Crispy Teriyaki Wings

 I think I might be a "foodie". Each time I sit down to share a recipe here my mind goes to how I just "love" whatever it is coffee drinks, wings, steak and on and on. If I wrote the way I think it would be super easy as all I would have to do each day is change pictures and insert a few words about whichever recipe I prepared that time. Probably be pretty boring pretty quick for everyone involved. So I will try to refrain from declaring each food my "favorite".

Nine times out of ten when I make chicken wings I make buffalo wings but today I wanted something a bit different. I decided to marinade a few wings in a homemade teriyaki sauce then bake them until they were crispy and begging for me to eat them. A side benefit of this recipe is the wings are marinaded so when you serve them there is no sauce to make your fingers messy. 

Crispy Teriyaki Wings

You Will Need:

12 chicken wings pieces

1Tbs soy sauce

1Tbs pineapple flavor coffee syrup , I use DaVinci's

1Tsp garlic powder

2 1Tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all of your ingredients in a gallon size zip lock bag. Seal the bag and shake to coat all of the chicken. Place the bag of chicken in the refrigerator to marinade for at least two hours. I tend to let it marinade closer to 8 hours. Preheat the oven to 425 and line a baking pan with foil. Grease your pan with oil or cooking spray. Lay the chicken wing pieces on the baking pan skin side up. Bake the chicken wings for about 45 minutes until the skin is nicely colored and crispy. Enjoy!