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Showing posts from January, 2014

Lemon Meringue Pie

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This is the story of a great neighbor. With a lemon tree. Who brings you so many lemons you don't know what to do, and lemonade is NOT on the menu. But looking at them, you start to think. And that's when things get dangerous. Lemon meringue. Oh yum. I don't know how to make it. Never did. And I have to make it low carb. Ugh. But it's that can do spirit in me that screamed... nah. I'm a procrastinator. It was my inner foodie screaming. So I obeyed. Ingredients: Pie Crust: 1 cup almond flour 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon swerve 4 oz. cream cheese Lemon Filling: 6 eggs, separated (use only the yolks for filling and reserve whites) 1 cup swerve 1/2 cup Cream 1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice 1 or 2 teaspoons lemon zest 1 Tablespoon Butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup water 1 packet unflavored gelatin Meringue: 1/4 Cup Swerve 6 Egg Whites 1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar Prepare the crust first. Preheat oven to

Frosting always makes it better

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I love my muffins . But they needed more. Something to make them sing in your mouth. I'll keep this brief. Frosting. 4 oz Cream Cheese, softened 4 oz Butter, softened 2 oz heavy cream 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup confectioners swerve Beat all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Frost the muffins. Sprinkle some dark chocolate bits on top. And enjoy.

Oh Betty. I believe you've met your match.

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So we decided to take those incredible chocolate pecan pie muffins and make a small cake. A celebration if you will. Hubby had undergone a little ACL repair on his knee, and we wanted to give him something special. I haven't mastered cake 101 for the grain free yet. So I thought I could transform the muffins into a cake like "thing" and of course, frost it. Problem. I have yet to find a frosting that is exactly the right texture, flavor and most of all appearance, to meet my standards. I wanted something resembling the chemical compound found in the canned stuff. Just without the chemicals and the can. So with a little haphazard ingredient selection, and some really wishful thinking, we forged ahead, my daughter and I. And it most definitely tastes as good as it looks. Melt in your mouth delicious chocolate frosting. Ingredients: 1/3 cup cream 4 tablespoons butter 2 oz unsweetened chocolate 3 tablespoons swerve 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Whip the cream a

My Inner Cookie Monster.

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We all have them. Cravings. Some are worthy and deserve our attention, others not so much. Cookies are always worthy. But a good gluten, grain and guilt free cookie? Hard to find. But the simplicity of this one is just amazing. I don't know whose recipe it is. It came on a box of Swerve purchased through Amazon. The retailer was Vitacost. The box had a recipe. And what a recipe it was. In fact I was startled to realize it was really similar to the Blondie recipe. In a cookie. A few differences, one of which is a significantly larger quantity of sugar (swerve) which I think is key for the texture on these. Choco Almond Drop Cookies 1 cup almond butter or peanut butter. Your choice. 3/4 cup Swerve 1 egg 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1/4 tsp Salt 3 oz. chopped Dark Chocolate (use 70% or more to keep sugar down) Mix all ingredients except the chocolate. Now I cream the sugar, baking soda and salt with the Almond Butter before adding the egg. And I like to whisk the egg up before ad

The best mistake I ever made

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So I was aiming for corndogs. And as good as these look, let's be honest. Corn dogs without corn meal? Nope. Tasty yes. In fact after a few minutes I realized why. That one fabulous recipe that had eluded me for sooooo long? Right in front of me. What we were eating was a wonderfully light, slightly sweet and utterly delicous tempura batter. Quite by accident, I discovered an amazing recipe.  And I'm sharing. Now to be honest, I haven't used it on Shrimp or veggies or anything else. But I will tell you right now, this is my go to batter recipe for frying anything. From here on. It was the first gluten free, grain free batter that didn't end up mushy or soft in the fryer. It was crispy and yummy. We weren't following any particular corn dog recipe, since all of them used Corn Meal. Instead, we looked at about 15 recipes, and looked for commonalities in them. Eggs. Buttermilk. A little sugar. Some seasonings, etc. And then there are the flours. They all

Low carb decadent Chocolate Pecan Pie muffins

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So I was looking for an easy fudge recipe when instead I happened upon a recipe that sounded equally fabulous. Chocolate Pecan Pie Muffins. Really, huh. I thought could they be as good as as my favorite recipe blogger makes them sound? Yep. They could. But not without a hitch or two. Totally my fault. First, I was impatient. So where she said, very clearly, eggs at room temperature, I figured, not important. Guess what, it is. Because when I tried to cream the butter and eggs, it looked like a bad accident. Curdled beyond belief. Had to toss it out. So, if you try this recipe, follow the directions. Carolyn, who writes the fabulous blog I found these at, and who creates unbelievable recipes, is quite good at providing accurate instructions. Follow them.  Here's my take (pretty much the same as the original) Ingredients: 2 eggs at room temperature. Don't use cold eggs. Please. 1 stick (1/2 cup) organic butter, softened 1 Cup Almond Flour, sifted 3/4 c

Low Carb Cheddar Biscuits

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So after a day of experiments, not the least of which was dinner, I suddenly realized we needed something to go with the crazy casserole... something like, say, biscuits? And not willing to just have biscuits, I figured I'd go whole hog on this one. The casserole was just a simple simmering beef and bean type but when you don't do potato, and I'm not willing to pretend that cauliflower is potato, you need some comfort food on the side. Cheddar biscuits. I know what you're thinking. That this is a photo of real cheddar biscuits, and you want to see what I really ended up with. Seriously, this is what I ended up with. I started with a recipe I found online.  http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/coconut-flour-cheddar-drop-biscuits  and believe I appreciate it more than you'll know that these kindhearted souls share their recipes. That they usually had to beg borrow and steal from others and so on.  Then of course there were the usual accidents. Like t