Low Carb Baking With Cacao Butter

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cacao butter

My cocoa butter arrived! Let the low carb baking and ice cream making commence!

Amazon’s delivery fairies left a little package at my doorstep today – cacao butter (a.k.a. cocoa butter)! This weekend I’m experimenting with a few chocolaty fat bomb and dessert recipes. Double yum.

I’ve wanted to try cocoa butter for a long time. It’s an awesomely healthy fat. However I couldn’t find any at Whole Foods, Wegmans or Trader Joe’s near me. So I started searching Amazon. And yes, there were plenty of vendors who sell it, but who do you trust when you’ve never heard of any of them? And the prices ranged from dirt-cheap to “are you kidding me.”

If you decide to pick up a block, there are a few things to consider besides price.

Consistency. Does the quality of the butter change from order to order? For a lot of sellers, that isn’t the case. Read More

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork & Low Carb Mustard BBQ Sauce

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I’ve tried to make a pulled pork dish a few times over the last couple of years and found some success using rubs rather than sugary sauces. But the leftovers never stayed tender or moist.

So about a week ago I embarked on creating a mustard-based BBQ sauce without any sweeteners. I don’t think what I came up with is considered an official “according to Hoyle” South Carolina mustard sauce, but I loved it and that’s what counts.

The recipe for the sauce makes a little more than 2 cups. I ended up using just 1 cup and used up the rest on burgers, salads and steaks. Hmmmm…

Now when I say this is slow cooked, it is…about 6-7 hours in my Dutch oven at 300 degrees. I always thought it was an art to transforming tough cuts of meat into tender bites of deliciousness. But there is also a science to slow cooking meat too. It’s important that the temperature is low enough to breakdown the collagen in the meat – that’s what turns tough meat into tender, falling off the bone awesomeness. If you cook the collagen too quickly the meat turns tough as heck. Too slow and it never breaks down.

This recipe worked best if you season the pork and make the sauce the night before cooking the pork. It’s important to let the ingredients meld together overnight. Your taste buds will thank me. Read More

Weekly Weigh-In: Down A Bit

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weekly weigh in May 7

Down 1/2 a pound this week. Just need to keep up the momentum. Exercising outdoors helps with that. Hopefully I’ll be able to run tomorrow with weeks of rain finally ending.

I’m down slightly this week. Or as I like to look at it, I dropped 2 sticks of butter from my thunder thighs. That’s half a pound baby. Not too bad considering I devoured a yummy strawberry short cake during mom’s birthday celebration.

Exercise Nil All Last Week
Hopefully the rain will finally stop so I can start running again. Or even go for a walk. We’ve had rain for nearly 2 weeks straight. So anything outside was a non-starter. Which means when the weather finally turns for the better I have to start my interval training from the beginning. Ugh!

Now I’ve run during sprinkles before. But this was cold, windy and sprinkles mixed in with heavy rain. Oh and puddles. Lots of big, deep puddles. Not fun if your shoes behave like a sponge.

Unfortunately I own gear for two particular seasons — freezing cold winters and hot humid summers.

I think it’s time to invest in running gear for the spring and fall rains.

Fearless In The Kitchen
This week I spent quality time working on some new recipes, including an awesomely tender pulled pork with homemade mustard sauce (with no sugars!). The husband went bonkers for it. Pictures and recipe coming later this week along with my sausage-egg bake. A casserole that the hubby enjoyed hot or cold.

I’m also working on some new recipes using my new Dutch oven as well as testing older recipes that my slow cooker ruined. With the Dutch oven I can control the cooking temperature. With my slow cooker, not so much as the “low” temperature is really “hot.” Unfortunately you can’t leave the house when cooking with a Dutch oven.

With summer around the corner I’m busy this week working on tasty, low carb breakfast smoothie ideas. I do miss smoothies. Unfortunately my favorites are loaded with carb-heavy fruits. So I’m noodling with ingredients like cacao and protein powders, avocado, coconut milk, coffee, green tea, cream, jalapenos, berries, cherries, leafy greens, flavor extracts, nuts and fresh herbs.

A lot can go wrong, but that’s part of the fun of being fearless in the kitchen.

 

 

Attempting Homemade Broth Again

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broth 3

Success! After my first failed attempt at making broth, I finally succeeded. This lovely vegetable broth is destined for my tomato soup!

For the last few weeks I focused on getting back into the kitchen. We’ve been eating out way too much for my liking. The pounds I lost recently is a clear sign that good things happen when you control the ingredients.

So this week I was making a tomato soup and decided to try yellow heirloom tomatoes as they finally appeared at my grocery store. I was determined to make it from scratch but that meant making my own vegetable broth. Ugh!

My previous attempt at making my own broth didn’t go that well. I used my Thanksgiving turkey carcass. The actual cooking was just fine. It was the storage where I ran into problems. Once I let the broth cool, I ended up dumping it into freezer bags.

  • First problem – I’d have to thaw a whole bag rather than just what I need.
  • Second problem – When I did thaw a batch it tasted like it sat in a plastic bag in the freezer for about a month.

I ended up tossing the broth. Read More

Light Meal: Portabella Pizza

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pizza 3

My portabella pizza, just before going into the oven (and eventually into my belly). Now that’s how you make a pizza!

After rushing out the door to pick up one dog from the beauty parlor, coming home to find a mess left by my cat, and another dog demanding his walk, I decided to deviate from last night’s scheduled pulled pork fest. I opted for something off the cuff, quick and light. I saw the portabella mushroom caps next to my yellow tomato sauce and inspiration hit – portabella pizzas!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try my grocery store’s pepperoni.  Not the stuff that comes in the little red bag and loaded with chemicals. Nope, I’m talking real pepperoni sausage. I had to try it and I love it!

I used my homemade tomato sauce for this concoction! The recipe is below. However I’m sure something from the store is fine, but just watch those carbs.  Read More

Corned Beef & Cabbage with Horseradish Dressing

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corned beef

My first try at Corned Beef & Cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. My fears of all too tough brisket were unfounded. The dish is amazing and the hubby requested it become a regular menu item.

Well looks like my worrying about making corned beef and cabbage for the first time was all for naught. I generally don’t like boiling meat — it never gets tender enough. But this time it worked.

I did go full Irish with the meal too, adding carrots and potatoes to my pot of brisket and cabbage.  To keep it low carb for myself, I just stuck to the corned beef, cabbage and 2 small pieces of carrot. Yum!

The recipe couldn’t be any easier and it was all cooked in one pot (a big bonus).

At the last minute I decided to whip together some mayo, horseradish, sour cream and chives. I think I made this in case the corned beef wasn’t tender.  You know, something to help with the taste.

Well, not only was the meat tender, but the horseradish dressing was an awesome addition to the plate. The dressing is perfect for any beef or frankly a mixed green salad with an added kick.

Corned Beef & Cabbage with Horseradish Dressing
Net Carbs: 4.6g/serving (includes 1g for 1 tbsp of horseradish dressing; does not include carbs for potatoes)
Servings: 4-6

Corned Beef & Cabbage Ingredients

  • Corned beef brisket, about 2 pounds
  • 2 tsp black peppercorns
  • 4 whole allspice berries
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1/2 small head, green cabbage
  • 4 carrots
  • 4-6 small potatoes (about 2″ in diameter), washed & cleaned (optional)
  • Salt & pepper to taste (recommend only for vegetables)

Horseradish Dressing Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp mayo (home-made or made with olive oil)
  • 3 tbsp horseradish, prepared
  • 1-2 tbsp sour cream

Directions

  • Place corned beef brisket in a dutch oven and cover with water. Add seasonings (my brisket came with its own seasoning packet, which I used instead of the seasonings listed above). Bring water to a boil then turn down heat to a simmer and cover. Cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
  • Chop cabbage into 8 pieces. Rinse off and set aside. Clean carrots and chop into 2-inch size pieces. About 20-30 minutes before taking out the brisket add in the cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Depending on size of the potatoes, you may want to add them 10 minutes earlier than the cabbage and carrots.
  • While everything is cooking, mix mayo, horseradish and sour cream into a small bowl. You can add fresh herbs like chives, cilantro or parsley for added flavor if you like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • When brisket is done, take it out of the pot and wrap in tin foil and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Recover the pot and continue cooking vegetables.
  • Unwrap brisket and slice thin and plate. Add horseradish sauce on top of slices. Serve with vegetables.

 

 

Chorizo & Cabbage Recipe

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sausage 3

Smoked chorizo sausage and green cabbage go well together in this filling yummy dish!

I’m starting to become a fan of cooking with cabbage. Oh sure I like coleslaw, but no cooking is needed. I remember when I was young my dad would make sauerkraut. I hated the smell. Ugh! It just completely turned me off the stuff.

Well now that I’m eating LCHF, I’m much more open to foods I never let my lips touch – fish, cooked cabbage, liver (chicken, duck and beef), eggplant, mushrooms. I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on.

Last summer I experimented with trying a new vegetable each week. Mostly I played with an assortment of mushrooms and some funky looking Asian veggies. Well it seems like cabbage is my new toy. Read More

DYI Strawberry Ice Cream

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ice cream done

My quickie strawberry ice cream took about 5 minutes to make using just 3 ingredients. It taste better than the real thing (which is loaded with sugar).

For a nice, New Year’s Eve treat I decided to “whip” up some homemade ice cream. While I really want to play with the husband’s ice cream maker (wow, that sounds inappropriate!), I wanted something quick. Like under 10 minutes.

I had frozen strawberries and asked The Google for help. But every recipe I found for strawberry ice cream was loaded with sugar or a low carb alternative. I’m not opposed to sweeteners, but strawberries are already sweet, why do I need to add anything?

So that got me thinking (a very dangerous thing!). What if I just add whipped heavy cream? No sugar. No honey. No Swerve.

It took a total of 5 minutes of prep time and 3 ingredients. The result? Awesomely creamy strawberry ice cream that mom and the husband devoured. Read More

The Best Soups of 2015!

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Soup

Easy to make, soups are a great way to eat healthy and stay warm during winter. Low carb recipe blogger All Day I Dream About Food put together a list of the 21 top recipes of 2015. Enjoy! Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and rakratchada torsap.

What better way to officially welcome winter than with soup recipes. But not just any recipes — 2015’s best low carb and ketogenic soup dishes.

Courtesy of All Day I Dream About Food (an awesome low carb food blog if there was one!), here you’ll find recipes for:

The recipes were pulled from great low carb, paleo and keto recipe sites.

As a soup lover, I can’t wait to start whipping these recipes up. I think I’m going to start with the Chicken & Chorizo Stew.

 

 

Bacon & Turkey Soup

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bacon turkey soup 1

My version of Bacon and Turkey soup. To lower the carb count I used an orange bell pepper instead of a sweet potato. Still got my splash of orange and comfort out of the soup on a very cold Virginia day.

My 15-pound bird yielded a lot of meat. I wanted to do something different with the leftovers than the standard turkey sandwiches (on oopsie bread of course!). So I thought of making a soup. I found a lovely recipe on I Breath. I’m Hungry – Smokey Bacon and Turkey Chowder.

I just made a few minor changes to the recipe, based on what I had in my house. My goal was not to run out to the grocery store for leftover soup.

My Changes
I used Applegate Naturals Uncured Sunday Bacon* rather than the cherry hardwood smoked bacon. While I love the idea of cherry hardwood smoked bacon, I can’t find any in my neck of the woods that is uncured with sugar. So I just remedied the lack of smoky flavor by adding a bit more liquid smoke. Read More