Mock "Goldfish" Crackers

Looking for a good crunchy snack? The Food Network's George Stella had posted this recipe, and I took it and made it more my style. I plan to take these to the movie theater next time I go, so that I won't be tempted to buy popcorn! 


Mock "Goldfish" Crackers

Ingredients

·         2 slices American cheese, Gouda, Colby-Jack or any other cheese you happen to enjoy 

·         1/2 teaspoon onion salt

·         1/8 teaspoon chili powder

·         1/8 teaspoon Garli Garni

·         Low-carb salsa, as needed

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Stack the slices of cheese and cut it into 16 small squares. Separate the pieces, and transfer them to a zip lock. Reserve some cheese. Add the onion salt, chili powder, and garli garni toss to combine. Arrange the 32 cheese pieces in 4 rows of 8, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving as much space in between each as possible. (I often do not use any parchment paper, and just put the cheese on an un-greased pan, and they turn out just fine.)

Also put out the reserved spice-less cheese onto parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake both until well-browned and crispy, about 7 and 7 1/2 minutes. If they are soggy, put them back in the oven for a few minutes. (I find that my oven needs more like 10 minutes)

Cool the crisps and crackers completely before serving—as they cool, they'll crisp up. Store on the counter in an airtight container. 

Products used:

Garlic Festival Garli Garni 25 Oz. All Purpose Shake

Almond Thins

I was browsing the Low Carb Friends message boards looking for recipes and came across this one. This is one that I had to make because it sounded good... and besides I had just about 1 cup of almond flour left that needed to be used up! :) 


Almond Thins

1 cup almond flour
1 packet of Splenda
1 egg white
pinch of salt, garlic powder, & onion powder

Preheat oven 325. Mix ingredients well. Place mixture onto a well greased piece of tin foil. Spray a piece of wax paper with cooking spray and lay over top of mixture. Use a rolling pin to roll out to a cracker thickness. Gently remove wax paper. Sprinkle more salt on top if desired and press lightly into dough. Score with knife or pizza cutter into squares.  ( I cut 8 strips by 6 strips) Lay tin foil on rack in oven. Bake until golden brown about 10 minutes. Makes around 50 crackers.

There are about 10 net carbs for the whole batch. You can also vary the flavor-use ranch powder, ground bacon bits, season salt...


Overall, I liked them, but I think I need to add a bit more salt then I did. I put around 1/4 tsp... needs more then that. 


Products used:
Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, 16-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)
Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, 1.2-Pound Bag

Pork Capri

What to do with Ricotta Cheese when you don't want to make lasagna? This is the question that I pondered as I searched the web. I finally stumbled upon a recipe for Chicken Capri from Fatsecret.com. I thought, hmmmm.... sounds good. But, you know me-- time to tweak it to fit my ingredients at hand. Armed with ricotta cheese, and pork chops I created my own version of this recipe:


Pork Capri


1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup ricotta, whole milk
• 1/2 tsp Garli garni (could use garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp ground oregano
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• 2 tbsps virgin olive oil
• 4 pork chops (bone removed would be easiest.... but I was lazy)
• 1 cup fire roasted tomatoes, canned
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the ricotta with the oregano, onion salt, and pepper. Process to blend.
2. Rub the pork with the Garli  Garni . Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook for 1-2 minutes per side.
3. Place the pork chops, side by side, in a large baking dish and allow to cool. (I didn't really let them cool too long... we were hungry)
4. Preheat the oven to 350° F .
5. Spoon 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture and 1/4 cup tomatoes onto each pork chop. Top each pork chop with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of a pork chop registers 160 °F° F (75° C) and the juices run clear.

This recipe serves 4, and has about 6 net carbs.

 This recipe is Induction friendly! 

We loved this recipe and will definitely make it again.

Products used:

Garlic Festival Garli Garni - All Purpose Garlic Seasoning 2.8 Ounce

Cannoli Cream with Blueberries

I have had some Ricotta Cheese sitting in my refrigerator for about 2 weeks... I know, I know... but I couldn't come up with anything to make with it. At first I planned to make those "pancakes" that I see the recipe for everywhere. But just never came up with the desire to make them. So after searching a bit online I found this recipe for Low Carb Cannoli Parfaits by George Stella from the Food Network's "Low Carb and Lovin' It" series (which is sadly off the air). But being me-- I had to tweak it... cause number one-- I didn't want the chocolate chips... and number 2: I had some blueberries to use up. Although, I imagine one day I will try it the way that George Stella suggested!

Cannoli Cream with blueberries:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
• 1/4 teaspoon real almond extract
• 1 teaspoon no sugar added vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh

Directions

 1. With an electric mixer on high, whip heavy cream just until frothy, and then add sugar substitute and almond and vanilla extracts. Continue to whip on high until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-whip, or cream will break.

2. Gently fold in the ricotta cheese and almost all of the blueberries, saving a few  for garnish. Spoon cannoli cream into parfait glasses, top with remaining blueberries, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Serves 4.
8.9 net carbs/serving

Pizza Pita Pockets

So, I blame this recipe on too many pizza commercials on TV! :) But, every now and then I get a craving for pizza, and my husband would eat it nearly every day if I let him! Last night was one of those nights, besides I had just received our order from netrition.com with Joseph's Middle East Bakery Low Carb Pita Pockets.... and so I went online to find a recipe. I found one from Cooks.com (here), and tweaked it to make it more "our style".

Pizza Pita Pockets

1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

2-3 Tbs. Garli Garni
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 c. commercially prepared pizza sauce (lowest carb you can find, ours had 3 net carbs)
1/2-1 tsp. Italian seasoning (dried herbs)

1 Tbs. dried onions
1/2 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt (I used onion salt)
1/8 tsp. pepper

2 mushrooms, sliced

1/3 c. diced Mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
2 (7") pita bread (Joseph's Middle East Bakery Low Carb Pita Pockets)

In a skillet heat oil over moderate heat.  Add meat, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Spoon off and discard any fat. Add pizza sauce, garli garni, onions, italian seasoning, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Simmer 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses; cook a few seconds, stirring constantly, until Mozzarella begins to melt; remove from heat. Cut about a 1" slice off one edge of each bread, and open the pockets. Spoon meat mixture into pita breads. Heat a nonstick skillet over moderate high heat. When hot, add stuffed pitas. Cover and heat 30 seconds longer. Serve hot. Makes 2 servings.

Served with a salad, it was a great dinner! :) I will definitely make this again!

Joseph's Middle East Bakery Low Carb Pita Bread

Had these for dinner last night! (Made Pizza pockets out of them -- see recipes). They were excellent! We bought them at Netrition.com (http://www6.netrition.com/josephs_bakery_pita_bread.html). They have 4 net carbs per pita bread. Loved it!

Carbquick and Carbalose Flour

We recently discovered Carbquick, which we purchased at CarbSmart.com. So far, I have made pancakes and cheese biscuits, but both were great (as far as low carb pancakes and biscuits are concerned)! I have high hopes in terms of making other meals with this product. I will let you know how it goes.

In learning about Carbquick, I discovered that Carbalose flour is the main ingredient and that it could be purchased online.So, I ordered some. I just got my order yesterday from netrition.com. I can't wait to try it out. It is supposed to be used like flour, but you have to possibly double the yeast in yeast breads and tweak the amount of water/liquids used in the recipe. This may take more getting used to, but I have found a good forum where people have described how they have been able to use it. I plan to use that as my reference. I will update the blog as I go along and experiment with these 2 products.