These are the ramblings of a self-described wheat, grain and gluten-free “gourmet girl” that loves to cook and eat good food. I love creating and sharing recipes and photographing “beautiful food”. In July 2012, I eliminated wheat, grains and added sugar from my diet and rediscovered real, whole fresh foods again and effortlessly lost 65+ pounds. Join me in my wheat, grain and gluten-free journey. See how easy it is to enjoy grain free gourmet, one meal at a time! Welcome to my blog. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Grilled Steak & Salad - Simple, Quick and Low Carb
This evening we made a quick and easy dinner. We grilled a couple of the steaks we picked up at Costco yesterday. Since it was so humid and hot outside, we didn't want to heat the kitchen up so I just sauteed some mushrooms in a little Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Butter and put a baked potato into the microwave to cook for hubby. While the steaks were cooking, I made a big salad with just artisan romaine and grape tomatoes. It was quick, fresh and delicious. Our big brunch held us all day long until we had dinner around 7:30 p.m. I had a little cup of Fudgsicle Frozen Yogurt for dessert. I am so glad we can sleep in again tomorrow morning! I snapped a quick photo of our easy dinner below. Enjoy!
Sunday Brunch - Scrambled Pepper Jack Eggs, Sausage & Easy Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits
Happy Sunday! This morning we slept in late. We awoke to a bright and sunny morning, although there are clouds that float by on and off. Unfortunately, it is oppressively humid...almost sauna-like. I made a big Sunday brunch late this morning and we ate around lunch time. It has been a while since I've made my biscuits. I have several biscuit recipes and I was torn between making my Easy Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits and my Buttermilk Biscuits. I decided on the cheddar-black pepper version. They are SO easy to make. I usually make the dough and then roll scoops of dough in my hands to place on the baking sheet. I decided there must be a less messy way than getting dough on my hands so I rummaged through my gadget drawer and grabbed my 3-tablespoon size scoop. It worked like a dream. I proceeded to scoop out 12 beautiful balls of biscuit dough. The dough balls get baked without any flattening. They stay thicker that way. These are some of my absolute favorite biscuits...and that includes the regular kind as well as the grain free kind. They are buttery, cheesy, and I love the little burst of black pepper flavor. If you don't like black pepper, you can easily omit it.
While the biscuits were baking, I diced some Cabot pepper jack cheese to make scrambled pepper-jack eggs for brunch. It is some of the best pepper jack cheese I have ever eaten. I buy it in large blocks at Costco, but you can find it in smaller sizes at many regular grocery stores. I cracked the eggs and rinsed some fresh strawberries and blueberries. I started browning some Applegate chicken sausage links. I've used both their chicken apple and chicken maple flavor. They are nitrate and nitrite free and I really like them. As soon as the biscuits came out of the oven I scrambled the eggs and "Voila"...we were having a beautiful and delicious brunch in no time. When I went low carb and grain free over 2 years ago, I never ever thought that I would be eating a breakfast or brunch like this again...surely not one that included BISCUITS! Even my hubby, who is not grain free, enjoyed our brunch. He actually ate 2 biscuits with his meal. I snapped some photos below as well as included the recipe for my biscuits and some step-by-step photos of what the dough looks like at various stages. Enjoy!
Easy Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons "cold" butter, diced
1 large egg (or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)
1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking pan or line with non-stick foil or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, add almond flour, butter, egg, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, and baking powder. Cut in with a pastry cutter/dough blender until crumbly and all flour is slightly moistened and cheese is pulverized into the mixture.
Stir in cream and remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese; mix in lightly until dough forms. Use a 3-tablespoon retractable scoop to make 12 even sized biscuits or divide and roll dough into 10 to 12 balls and place on prepared baking pan. Do not flatten dough balls (this will result in a thicker biscuit).
Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown; careful not to overcook. Remove from oven; brush tops with melted butter, if desired. Cool about 5 minutes or so (they are fragile when hot out of the oven).
While the biscuits were baking, I diced some Cabot pepper jack cheese to make scrambled pepper-jack eggs for brunch. It is some of the best pepper jack cheese I have ever eaten. I buy it in large blocks at Costco, but you can find it in smaller sizes at many regular grocery stores. I cracked the eggs and rinsed some fresh strawberries and blueberries. I started browning some Applegate chicken sausage links. I've used both their chicken apple and chicken maple flavor. They are nitrate and nitrite free and I really like them. As soon as the biscuits came out of the oven I scrambled the eggs and "Voila"...we were having a beautiful and delicious brunch in no time. When I went low carb and grain free over 2 years ago, I never ever thought that I would be eating a breakfast or brunch like this again...surely not one that included BISCUITS! Even my hubby, who is not grain free, enjoyed our brunch. He actually ate 2 biscuits with his meal. I snapped some photos below as well as included the recipe for my biscuits and some step-by-step photos of what the dough looks like at various stages. Enjoy!
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| Flour, butter, egg, half of the cheese (salt, pepper & baking powder) cut in making a crumbly dough |
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| Cream and remaining cheese added; ready to stir in |
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| Final dough is ready to be scooped onto the baking sheet |
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| Scooped into dough balls and ready to bake |
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| Fresh out of the oven...cooling a bit on the rack |
Easy Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons "cold" butter, diced
1 large egg (or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)
1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking pan or line with non-stick foil or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, add almond flour, butter, egg, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, and baking powder. Cut in with a pastry cutter/dough blender until crumbly and all flour is slightly moistened and cheese is pulverized into the mixture.
Stir in cream and remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese; mix in lightly until dough forms. Use a 3-tablespoon retractable scoop to make 12 even sized biscuits or divide and roll dough into 10 to 12 balls and place on prepared baking pan. Do not flatten dough balls (this will result in a thicker biscuit).
Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown; careful not to overcook. Remove from oven; brush tops with melted butter, if desired. Cool about 5 minutes or so (they are fragile when hot out of the oven).
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Fudgsicles & Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt w/ Roasted Hazelnuts
When I got home last night, I wanted to kick off the long holiday weekend by making some special treats to enjoy. I've also been anxious to try out the new pop molds I picked up on clearance at Kohl's (for $5.00) not long ago. These molds are a little smaller than my other set and they are smooth and rounded instead of grooved like the other pop molds I have. I decided that the new molds looked like the perfect shape for making fudgsicles! So, I decided to go ahead and make them.
I made a big batch of beautiful chocolate Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt...and you are about to find out how to make "Greek Fudgsicles." I made the large batch because I had a "two ideas" for using it. I used two 17-ounce containers of full fat Fage Greek yogurt and mixed it with heavy cream, Swerve confectioners sweetener, unsweetened deep dark Valrhona cocoa powder, vanilla extract as well as pure chocolate extract. I added the pure chocolate extract to intensify the chocolate flavor without adding more dry cocoa powder to the mixture so it would stay nice and creamy. If you don't have any, you don't have to use it. I added 1/4 teaspoon of xanthum gum because it helps reduce ice crystals as well as gives frozen yogurt and ice cream a creamier texture; it's optional and you don't have to add it if you don't want to. This recipe can easily be halved if you like.
The first item I made with the Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt, was a batch of fudgsicles using my pop molds. It used about 1-1/2 cups of the fudgsicle mixture. With the remaining 3 cups of fudgsicle mixture, I made Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt w/ Roasted Hazelnuts by stirring in about 1/4 cup of chopped roasted hazelnuts (if you don't like or have hazelnuts, you can omit them OR substitute your favorite nut or chocolate chips, etc....I'm thinking chopped salted almonds would be great). This mixture is like the most decadent thick custard you can imagine before freezing. It would actually be great to simply eat it "as is" unfrozen. This recipe does not require an ice cream maker. I simply place it in a bowl in my freezer and stir it around several times at regular intervals and then stir in the nuts and let it complete freezing (I froze it overnight). To serve, I remove it from the freezer and let soften a bit for 15-20 minutes on the counter or a couple of minutes on 50% power in the microwave...then just scoop into a bowl.
One little bit of advice to pass along after testing out my new pop molds. While these molds are cute and inexpensive, I quickly appreciated the difference between them and my other pop molds. These are all attached which makes it more challenging (also known as difficult) to remove one at a time. So, in the future, when purchasing pop molds, I will make sure they are separate to make removing them one at a time less challenging (also known as easy). I enjoyed one of my fudgsicles this afternoon as a snack instead of lunch and it was so good. I tried a couple spoonfuls of the Fudgsicle Hazelnut frozen yogurt, too. It is VERY good -- I look forward to have a little for dessert tonight. Since it was frozen solid this morning after freezing it overnight, I popped the container into the microwave on low for a minute or 2 (I actually have a "soften ice cream" button on my new microwave)...just enough to very slightly soften, but not melt. It made it easy to scoop out with my retractable scooper. Using the full fat yogurt as well as the heavy cream and a tiny bit of xanthum gum helped keep this frozen concoction super creamy and rich. I snapped a few photos below as well as the recipe. Enjoy!
I made a big batch of beautiful chocolate Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt...and you are about to find out how to make "Greek Fudgsicles." I made the large batch because I had a "two ideas" for using it. I used two 17-ounce containers of full fat Fage Greek yogurt and mixed it with heavy cream, Swerve confectioners sweetener, unsweetened deep dark Valrhona cocoa powder, vanilla extract as well as pure chocolate extract. I added the pure chocolate extract to intensify the chocolate flavor without adding more dry cocoa powder to the mixture so it would stay nice and creamy. If you don't have any, you don't have to use it. I added 1/4 teaspoon of xanthum gum because it helps reduce ice crystals as well as gives frozen yogurt and ice cream a creamier texture; it's optional and you don't have to add it if you don't want to. This recipe can easily be halved if you like.
The first item I made with the Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt, was a batch of fudgsicles using my pop molds. It used about 1-1/2 cups of the fudgsicle mixture. With the remaining 3 cups of fudgsicle mixture, I made Frozen Fudgsicle Yogurt w/ Roasted Hazelnuts by stirring in about 1/4 cup of chopped roasted hazelnuts (if you don't like or have hazelnuts, you can omit them OR substitute your favorite nut or chocolate chips, etc....I'm thinking chopped salted almonds would be great). This mixture is like the most decadent thick custard you can imagine before freezing. It would actually be great to simply eat it "as is" unfrozen. This recipe does not require an ice cream maker. I simply place it in a bowl in my freezer and stir it around several times at regular intervals and then stir in the nuts and let it complete freezing (I froze it overnight). To serve, I remove it from the freezer and let soften a bit for 15-20 minutes on the counter or a couple of minutes on 50% power in the microwave...then just scoop into a bowl.
One little bit of advice to pass along after testing out my new pop molds. While these molds are cute and inexpensive, I quickly appreciated the difference between them and my other pop molds. These are all attached which makes it more challenging (also known as difficult) to remove one at a time. So, in the future, when purchasing pop molds, I will make sure they are separate to make removing them one at a time less challenging (also known as easy). I enjoyed one of my fudgsicles this afternoon as a snack instead of lunch and it was so good. I tried a couple spoonfuls of the Fudgsicle Hazelnut frozen yogurt, too. It is VERY good -- I look forward to have a little for dessert tonight. Since it was frozen solid this morning after freezing it overnight, I popped the container into the microwave on low for a minute or 2 (I actually have a "soften ice cream" button on my new microwave)...just enough to very slightly soften, but not melt. It made it easy to scoop out with my retractable scooper. Using the full fat yogurt as well as the heavy cream and a tiny bit of xanthum gum helped keep this frozen concoction super creamy and rich. I snapped a few photos below as well as the recipe. Enjoy!
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| Stirring in roasted hazelnuts to partially frozen yogurt |
Today's Costco Finds and a Sneak Peek at My NEW Dessert(s)
We awoke to a beautiful bright and sunny morning. We are supposed to get some rain this weekend...but for now, I'll just enjoy the sun being out. Last night, I baked a batch of my Power Bagels knowing that we would want to go to Einsteins for breakfast this weekend as we ran our errands. I got up early this morning and sliced one to place in a baggie to take along with us.
Last night, I created a new dessert...actually two by "killing 2 desserts with one spoon." Then, I did what every "normal" person does early in the morning before breakfast...ran outside and took a few photographs of my "new dessert" early this morning in the beautiful morning light. I'll post the recipe for it this evening after I get it written up...but it's GOOD...and did I mention it has chocolate?
After breakfast at Einsteins, we went to Costco, then came home and dumped our loot (well, refrigerated it). We're getting ready to run out now and do some other shopping...I don't want Sprouts to feel jilted so I'm heading there next. Before going, I'm going to post a few of my Costco finds as well as the sneak peek for my dessert! I must confess that I've already had a little of my dessert. I mean, I had to make sure it was good before sharing...LOL. Check out my photos below. Enjoy!
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| Look at that little pepita seed peeking out! |
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| The morning sun is streaming down on my Power Bagel |
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Cookies - A Decadent Little Cookie Loaded w/ Hazelnuts & Drenched in Dark Chocolate
As promised, today I'm sharing my new dessert recipe with you. Honeyville has graciously invited me back to do a guest post for them...and I enthusiastically said YES! I love their blanched almond flour and have been using it for over 2 years now. Now, I'm happy to share that there is a new love in my life...their hazelnut flour! I love hazelnuts and am looking forward to using them more in my fall baking this year. When I roasted a batch recently, as part of this recipe, I roasted some extra hazelnuts to use in some other things, too. I just used them a couple of nights ago when I made chicken salad...they were awesome in chicken salad.
As many of you that follow me know, most of the recipes I post are "regular meal" recipes. Part of the reason for that is after going low carb over 2 years ago (wheat and grain free with no added sugar), my sweet tooth became seriously blunted. However, it is definitely not dead! LOL The nice thing about it being blunted is that it doesn't take an endless stream of "treats" to satisfy it any more and when I do enjoy sweets and treats, they don't need to be sickening sweet like before. I can eat a cookie or two (okay, sometimes 3...LOL) and just naturally stop. Not because I'm trying to force myself not to eat the entire batch, but because I genuinely have had enough.
The dessert recipe I'm sharing today is for my Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Cookies. These little cookies are packed full of hazelnuts. I used Honeyville's Hazelnut Flour as the base for the cookies and then added roasted hazelnuts to the cookie batter. After baking and cooling them, I dunked those little devils into glossy smooth melted dark chocolate and then hit them with another "bam" of chopped roasted hazelnuts. Those little hazelnut pieces clung to the melted chocolate like glue. I love these cookies. You definitely know you are eating hazelnut cookies. So, if you are a hazelnut "nut" like I am, you will definitely enjoy these delicious cookies. They aren't just good, they look fancy, too, and with only minimal effort to make them look that way. I used granular Swerve as the sweetener for my cookie dough to help keep the carb and sugar count low. The only sugar you will find in these is from the type of dark chocolate you use to dip them in. I try and stick to somewhere between 70% and 90% cacao chocolate (most of the time I eat 88% dark chocolate). I used 70% chocolate for these. You can also find and use no sugar added chocolate bars (sweetened with stevia or erythritol) if you choose to.
These cookies turned out beautiful. I love looking at beautiful, elaborate desserts just like anyone else...you know the kind that are on magazine covers or the ones that look like they should be? Yeah...I like looking at them...I just don't care much for making them. If I'm going to dedicate hours of my life to a cause, it isn't going to be making a pretty dessert that takes hours of pampering and decorating. Not when I can make a delicious dessert that looks pretty and tastes good and not have it shave hours off of my life to make it look that way. If it looks like a magazine cover...that's where it will most likely stay at my house. It will never make it to my kitchen...and not because I "can't" do it, but because I "choose" not to. Trust me, I've been foolish enough to make PLENTY of those time wasting elaborate desserts in my lifetime. So, rather than ramble on and on about my philosophy on life....I'm going to point you to the recipe, which is why you came here in the first place! The recipe can be found here: Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Cookies.
P.S. -- Because I know you are going to ask, and even if you don't ask you will certainly wonder...each cookie has slightly less than 1 net carb before dipping in chocolate. You will need to calculate and add on the carbs based on the type of chocolate you use. Just divide your chocolate carbs by the number of cookies you make (I made 35 with this recipe) and add on the "1 net carb" per cookie...and BOOM...you've got your total carb count. If you melt and use a non-sugar chocolate bar (one sweetened with either erythritol or stevia), you can reduce the "per cookie carb" even further. I hope you like this low carb treat as much as I do. Enjoy!
As many of you that follow me know, most of the recipes I post are "regular meal" recipes. Part of the reason for that is after going low carb over 2 years ago (wheat and grain free with no added sugar), my sweet tooth became seriously blunted. However, it is definitely not dead! LOL The nice thing about it being blunted is that it doesn't take an endless stream of "treats" to satisfy it any more and when I do enjoy sweets and treats, they don't need to be sickening sweet like before. I can eat a cookie or two (okay, sometimes 3...LOL) and just naturally stop. Not because I'm trying to force myself not to eat the entire batch, but because I genuinely have had enough.
The dessert recipe I'm sharing today is for my Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Cookies. These little cookies are packed full of hazelnuts. I used Honeyville's Hazelnut Flour as the base for the cookies and then added roasted hazelnuts to the cookie batter. After baking and cooling them, I dunked those little devils into glossy smooth melted dark chocolate and then hit them with another "bam" of chopped roasted hazelnuts. Those little hazelnut pieces clung to the melted chocolate like glue. I love these cookies. You definitely know you are eating hazelnut cookies. So, if you are a hazelnut "nut" like I am, you will definitely enjoy these delicious cookies. They aren't just good, they look fancy, too, and with only minimal effort to make them look that way. I used granular Swerve as the sweetener for my cookie dough to help keep the carb and sugar count low. The only sugar you will find in these is from the type of dark chocolate you use to dip them in. I try and stick to somewhere between 70% and 90% cacao chocolate (most of the time I eat 88% dark chocolate). I used 70% chocolate for these. You can also find and use no sugar added chocolate bars (sweetened with stevia or erythritol) if you choose to.
These cookies turned out beautiful. I love looking at beautiful, elaborate desserts just like anyone else...you know the kind that are on magazine covers or the ones that look like they should be? Yeah...I like looking at them...I just don't care much for making them. If I'm going to dedicate hours of my life to a cause, it isn't going to be making a pretty dessert that takes hours of pampering and decorating. Not when I can make a delicious dessert that looks pretty and tastes good and not have it shave hours off of my life to make it look that way. If it looks like a magazine cover...that's where it will most likely stay at my house. It will never make it to my kitchen...and not because I "can't" do it, but because I "choose" not to. Trust me, I've been foolish enough to make PLENTY of those time wasting elaborate desserts in my lifetime. So, rather than ramble on and on about my philosophy on life....I'm going to point you to the recipe, which is why you came here in the first place! The recipe can be found here: Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Cookies.
P.S. -- Because I know you are going to ask, and even if you don't ask you will certainly wonder...each cookie has slightly less than 1 net carb before dipping in chocolate. You will need to calculate and add on the carbs based on the type of chocolate you use. Just divide your chocolate carbs by the number of cookies you make (I made 35 with this recipe) and add on the "1 net carb" per cookie...and BOOM...you've got your total carb count. If you melt and use a non-sugar chocolate bar (one sweetened with either erythritol or stevia), you can reduce the "per cookie carb" even further. I hope you like this low carb treat as much as I do. Enjoy!
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| Roasted to perfection (skins rubbed off in a dishtowel after roasting) |
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| Honeyville's Hazelnut Flour |
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| The dough is mixed and ready to be chilled |
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| Baked, cooled and ready to be dipped into beautiful melted dark chocolate |
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| Who needs Pepperidge Farm anyway? ;-) |
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| Stacked and ready to be devoured! |
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| BOOM! |
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Easy Grilled Chipotle Chicken & New Dessert Alert Coming Tomorrow!
This evening I had planned to make a different kind of burger recipe for dinner. I had all my seasonings out and was ready to go...that is, until I opened my package of ground beef. I have 2 things to say about it. P...U!!! As in ewwww, stinky-poo. LOL Even though the date on the package said "okay"...the smell screamed no, no, noooooo. So, my ground beef got tossed and I switched to "plan B."
Fortunately, I had a couple packages of chicken in the fridge...I had boneless chicken breasts and boneless thighs. I decided to make something quick using the thighs. I just spritzed them with olive oil and seasoned them with McCormick's new Chipotle Seasoning w/ Roasted Garlic and tossed them onto the grill for about 10 to 12 minutes. While they were cooking, I steamed some fresh broccoli and placed a skillet on the grill with fresh sliced mushrooms along with some Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Butter to cook them in. I had hoped to pile those sliced mushrooms onto the burger I planned to make, but instead just served them alongside my grilled chicken and broccoli. I only snapped one photo this evening because I was finishing up my new dessert project that will be posted tomorrow.
So...stay tuned for tomorrow's dessert alert. It's a good one...trust me on this (there's chocolate involved). I actually impressed myself with this one, which I don't do too often...LOL. Be sure to check back tomorrow for my new dessert recipe. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Simple Chicken Salad w/ Roasted Hazelnuts
This evening we had a quick and simple dinner. I made chicken salad. I love lots of crunchy things in my chicken salad but hubby isn't wild about crunchy things (well, not in the form of crunchy vegetables like celery and onion). He typically just likes chicken, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. So, tonight we compromised a little. Yesterday I roasted and skinned some hazelnuts...so I decided to make chicken salad with roasted hazelnuts. I love them...they have such a deep and distinct flavor unlike any other nut. They were absolutely delicious added to the chicken salad. It simply consisted of diced chicken breast, mayonnaise, pink Himalayan sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and chopped roasted hazelnuts. I piled it into little artisan romaine lettuce leaves. It was simple and different because of the hazelnuts. I snapped a couple photos below. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 24, 2014
White Chicken Enchilada Casserole - Low Carb, Grain Free & Out of this World Good!
Today was a busy day. We started at Einsteins Bros Bagels for breakfast (I brought my own "power bagel"). Then we headed to Costco, Sprouts, Sam's Club and Publix...oh, we went to Kroger too! LOL By the time we got back home this afternoon I felt like I had been around the world and back! When I got everything put away, I immediately began working on a project that will be debuted later this week. Since I had dinner with one son Friday night, only one of them came for dinner this evening. I made one of his favorites, my Chicken Enchilada Casserole. I'm watching the VMA Awards with him until 11:30 tonight so I'm just posting one photo. If you haven't tried this casserole before...put this one on your list of things to try. It is awesome and I swear you will feel like you are cheating. Every time I eat this I can't believe there is no wheat. It couldn't be any better if there was! If you make it, don't fret because you think the sauce looks thin when you pour it over your enchiladas before popping it in the oven. It thickens up beautifully when you let it cool a little after pulling it out of the oven. My meals today consisted of a "power bagel" for breakfast, which lasted me until dinner this evening. I had this awesome Chicken Enchilada Casserole for dinner with a side of steamed, buttered fresh broccoli and I'm about to have a little bowl of my Brownie, Chocolate Chip & Fudge Ball Frozen Yogurt. How does THAT sound for a low carb kind of day? Just so you know..."this chick doesn't want for anything!" ;-) Here' the link for the recipe: Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Enjoy!
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| My breakfast "before schmear" |
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| "After schmear" |
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Grain-Free Power Bagels - Chocked Full of Seeds, Nuts & Fruits
This morning I slept in for a change. When I opened my eyes, I immediately started thinking about one of my old weekend favorites...Einstein Bros "Power Bagels." Hubby and I used to go once a week (on either Saturday or Sunday) for breakfast to Einsteins. I always got the exact same thing...a "power bagel" with cream cheese and coffee. For those of you that have never had one or don't know what they are...they are supposed to be a "healthier" bagel. They are very lightly sweetened with the addition of dried fruit, seeds and nuts and rather than being shaped like a traditional round bagel with a hole in the middle, they are shaped like tiny little loaves of bread and have a heartier texture. I felt so sad when I actually looked recently at the ingredients and wondered how I once thought these were actually healthy! I guess it's all relative though. Maybe they are healthier compared to a worse choice? LOL
Check out "their healthy ingredients"...
Einstein Bros Power Bagel: Enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, malt barley flour, niacin, reduced thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, raisins, rye flakes, dried cranberries (sugar, cranberries, sunflower oil), sunflower seeds, honey, high fructose corn syrup, walnuts, yeast, wheat gluten, whole wheat flour, rye meal, salt, rye flour, cinnamon, sesame seeds, oatmeal, corn meal, barley flakes, millet, molasses, malt, sugar, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono and diglycerides (DATEM), ascorbic acid, soy oil, mono and diglycerides, lactic acid, acetic acid, enzyme, malt barley flour, L. Systeine (an amino acid), Egg wash (eggs, water), Allergens: Wheat, Tree Nuts, Soy, Egg.
Lord have mercy...I got exhausted just TYPING those ingredients...and to think THAT is supposed to be healthy? Seriously...to sweeten them they add honey AND HFCS...WHY??? Nothing that has HFCS in it could ever be considered healthy. Wow...we have been SO lied to for far too long! I don't even know what half of those ingredients are, nor can I pronounce them. If I were to say them out loud, people would think I was speaking a different language.
Well, no worries...I took care of that by recreating my own "Power Bagels". Mine are round instead of rectangular, and like theirs, are without holes (leaving more bread to spread).
Take a look at the list of ingredients in MY power bagels...
Blanched almond flour, organic coconut flour, ground chia seeds, baking powder (no aluminum), baking soda, organic non GMO dried and unsulfured fruit and seeds (tart cherries, blueberries, goji berries, cranberries, raisins, pepita seeds, apple juice), walnuts, cinnamon, sea salt, Swerve natural sweetener, organic eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, organic coconut oil, apple cider vinegar.
These power bagels turned out great and contain just a subtle hint of sweetness, mostly from the dried fruit. There is only 1/4 cup of dried fruit in 6 large bagels. If you want to make them a bit sweeter, you can increase the sweetness a bit with some stevia so it doesn't affect the volume or texture. I enjoyed my first bagel warm out of the oven with a schmear of cream cheese. I look forward to slipping one into my purse and taking it with me to Einsteins soon where I can finally eat a true "healthy power bagel" for a change!
I snapped a few photos below as well as my easy recipe. I found the "antioxidant fusion" blend of dried fruit and pepita seeds at Costco (made by "Made in Nature"). It's also available on Amazon and probably at other stores like Whole Foods, etc. If you can't find it or don't have this particular fruit mixture available, you can substitute other dried fruits and seeds in their place. Dried fruits are higher in sugar and carbohydrates because they are concentrated, so if you are watching your carb and sugar intake, like I am, they should be eaten and used sparingly. I only used 1/4 cup of them for the entire recipe (6 generous servings). If you wanted to, you could easily make smaller bagels. If you make 6 large Power Bagels like I did, the carb count is approximately 10 net carbs each (slightly less). Depending on what you spread your bagel with will add an additional 0 carbs if you use butter, or less than 1 carb if you add 2 ounces cream cheese. This is well within my 15 net carb allowance per meal. When I eat one of these, it IS my meal and actually holds me through the second meal (lunch) which I usually skip on weekends. This recipe would also make 8 nice sized bagels, too, if you were looking to reduce the carbs even further. Check out the recipe and photos below. Enjoy!
Check out "their healthy ingredients"...
Einstein Bros Power Bagel: Enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, malt barley flour, niacin, reduced thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, raisins, rye flakes, dried cranberries (sugar, cranberries, sunflower oil), sunflower seeds, honey, high fructose corn syrup, walnuts, yeast, wheat gluten, whole wheat flour, rye meal, salt, rye flour, cinnamon, sesame seeds, oatmeal, corn meal, barley flakes, millet, molasses, malt, sugar, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono and diglycerides (DATEM), ascorbic acid, soy oil, mono and diglycerides, lactic acid, acetic acid, enzyme, malt barley flour, L. Systeine (an amino acid), Egg wash (eggs, water), Allergens: Wheat, Tree Nuts, Soy, Egg.
Lord have mercy...I got exhausted just TYPING those ingredients...and to think THAT is supposed to be healthy? Seriously...to sweeten them they add honey AND HFCS...WHY??? Nothing that has HFCS in it could ever be considered healthy. Wow...we have been SO lied to for far too long! I don't even know what half of those ingredients are, nor can I pronounce them. If I were to say them out loud, people would think I was speaking a different language.
Well, no worries...I took care of that by recreating my own "Power Bagels". Mine are round instead of rectangular, and like theirs, are without holes (leaving more bread to spread).
Take a look at the list of ingredients in MY power bagels...
Blanched almond flour, organic coconut flour, ground chia seeds, baking powder (no aluminum), baking soda, organic non GMO dried and unsulfured fruit and seeds (tart cherries, blueberries, goji berries, cranberries, raisins, pepita seeds, apple juice), walnuts, cinnamon, sea salt, Swerve natural sweetener, organic eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, organic coconut oil, apple cider vinegar.
These power bagels turned out great and contain just a subtle hint of sweetness, mostly from the dried fruit. There is only 1/4 cup of dried fruit in 6 large bagels. If you want to make them a bit sweeter, you can increase the sweetness a bit with some stevia so it doesn't affect the volume or texture. I enjoyed my first bagel warm out of the oven with a schmear of cream cheese. I look forward to slipping one into my purse and taking it with me to Einsteins soon where I can finally eat a true "healthy power bagel" for a change!
I snapped a few photos below as well as my easy recipe. I found the "antioxidant fusion" blend of dried fruit and pepita seeds at Costco (made by "Made in Nature"). It's also available on Amazon and probably at other stores like Whole Foods, etc. If you can't find it or don't have this particular fruit mixture available, you can substitute other dried fruits and seeds in their place. Dried fruits are higher in sugar and carbohydrates because they are concentrated, so if you are watching your carb and sugar intake, like I am, they should be eaten and used sparingly. I only used 1/4 cup of them for the entire recipe (6 generous servings). If you wanted to, you could easily make smaller bagels. If you make 6 large Power Bagels like I did, the carb count is approximately 10 net carbs each (slightly less). Depending on what you spread your bagel with will add an additional 0 carbs if you use butter, or less than 1 carb if you add 2 ounces cream cheese. This is well within my 15 net carb allowance per meal. When I eat one of these, it IS my meal and actually holds me through the second meal (lunch) which I usually skip on weekends. This recipe would also make 8 nice sized bagels, too, if you were looking to reduce the carbs even further. Check out the recipe and photos below. Enjoy!
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| Dough is divided and scooped into wells |
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| Dough is smoothed with moistened fingertips before baking |
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| Fresh out of the oven |
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| Cooling on a rack |
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| This is the pan I use for these |
