The Essential Flax

When one begins a low carb journey, one comes face to face with words or terms that one never knew existed. "Ketosis". "Stevia". "Critical Carbohydrate Limit". "Induction". "Flax." If you mention any of these to someone who's not on a low carb diet, you might get a blank stare. I would have to admit that before doing Atkins I've never heard of any of these words including flax.

But the more I read about flax, about its benefits and how using it as in ingredient can make something akin to bread, the more I wanted it. So I did what anyone would do, Google it. I looked into buying it from the US but the shipping cost alone would be more than the price of the flax itself. Then I stumbled onto FlaxAsia where more benefits of flax are posted and most of all the company is based right here in the Philippines! It's more convenient and definitely cheaper to get flax from them.

Flax is not just for low carbers like myself but it also helps in lowering blood sugar and preventing heart disease. I strongly suggest you visit their site to read all about the numerous benefits from this highly nutritious plant. The good people at FlaxAsia sent me a sample of their product complete with reading material that would further educate me about The Essential Flax. I received the package yesterday and I have already made three different variations of a low carb recipe using flax. I will post these recipes in a little bit but because I am a tease, here are a couple pictures of what I've made so far.


Cheeseburger with Flax Seed Bun: Look ma! I can hold my burger now! No need for fork and knife!


Cinnamon Flax Seed Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Didn't those pictures make you drool just a little bit? The best thing about flax is it's okay for Induction and helps in "regularity". Now, I have a secret I want to share. For both those recipes, I did not use any flour. Not even a little bit!

But don't fret. I will have separate entries for both recipes but let me just reiterate how wonderful flax is and how I am so amazed by the taste and texture. This is the closest to "real bread" I've ever been. Thanks to the wonderful people at FlaxAsia and I will be ordering more soon as my bag is already half gone!

LC Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ever since I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa in which Ina Garten makes these luscious looking peanut butter and jelly bars, I've been wanting to give it a try. However, the price for jellies here in the Philippines is ludicrous! And since I didn't grow up on PB&J sandwiches, I didn't really know what jelly flavor goes well with peanut butter.

I remember asking my husband this question and he suggested grape jelly. He said it makes the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We were able to find Smucker's concord grape jelly but I still wasn't able to make the recipe. Then I decided to go low carb. It seemed as if all hope was lost.

Until my awesome mother-in-law sent sugar free Smucker's concord grape jelly (in addition to all sorts of low carb goodies) and I just knew I had to try to convert this recipe to low carb.

Using the cookie recipe I made a few weeks before, I managed to recreate my own low carb PB&J bars. Hubby prefers jelly to be spread on top of the cookie after baking but I find that the jelly when baked with the cookie made it chewier. So it's up to you, really, however you prefer it. I didn't make the cookie batter too sweet because I expected the jelly to make up for it. For me the sweetness was just right.



Low Carb Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients
2 cups peanuts, finely ground (you can roast this beforehand but I used raw)
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter
3/4 cup Splenda, granulated or whatever sweetener you prefer
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar free jelly

1. Mix the first six ingredients until well blended. Grease pan with butter. I used an 8"x8" pan.
2. Pour the cookie dough into the pan and press it down until evenly distributed.
3. Stir the jelly until spreadable and no longer gelatinous. Pour on top of peanut dough and spread evenly.
4. Bake at 350 degrees until the jelly bubbles up and the sides pull away. I would suggest baking it longer than that as the sides with its crispiness were my favorites. If you prefer chewier cookies, you can take it out as soon as the sides are brown.
5. Let cool and slice into squares. I sliced this into 16 squares but you can definitely make it smaller if you want.

No Bake ChocoNut Cheesecake

My hubby says this is the best cheesecake I've ever made. No pressure. It's not really my recipe as I just followed the no bake cheesecake on the Knox box. But I think the crust made this cheesecake even better.

No Bake Choconut Cheesecake

Ingredients
For Crust
1 1/2 cups of peanuts, if using raw roast first
1/2 cup Splenda, granulated
1/4 cup butter
2 oz dark chocolate
1 T butter

Directions
1. Grind peanuts until fine. Mix Splenda and butter. Pour onto prepared pie pan and gently push the crust mixture and until the bottom of the pan is covered. Place pan in freezer.
2. Chop dark chocolate and then put in microwave safe bowl with 1 T butter. Heat for 30 seconds, pausing every 10 seconds to swirl.
3. Take crust out of freezer. Pour the melted chocolate onto crust. Using a rubber spatula, spread the melted chocolate until the entire crust is covered thinly. Put back in freezer or fridge.

For Cheesecake Filling
2 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup Splenda, granulated
1 package Knox gelatin
1 cup boiling water

Directions
1. Beat cream cheese with vanilla until there are no lumps and cream cheese is smooth.
2. Mix Splenda and gelatin in a bowl and then add boiling water. Stir to dissolve gelatin.
3. While beating the cream cheese and vanilla, pour the gelatin mixture gradually. Mix for a few seconds.
4. Take crust out of the fridge and pour the filling in. Let set in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Since I had some sugar free toffee squares, I chopped them up and just sprinkled over the crust before pouring the filling. Although it gave a nice crunch, the cheesecake doesn't really need it since the crust is so good.

As you can probably tell this is not for an every day treat. Make it for a special occasion and invite people so you don't eat the whole thing by yourself.

Not Yet Perfect Cookies

I apologize for these cookies. First of all, I just threw stuff together based on a peanut butter cookie recipe that I've seen everywhere. Our peanut butter expired last month so I couldn't use it. Since I have two packs of toasted cashews, I decided to use that. This recipe is highly tweakable, hence the name, and I'm already thinking up ways to improve it.


Not Yet Perfect Cookies
Makes 10, net carb 3g each

100 g cashews (or any nut, I will try peanuts next time)
1 egg
1 T butter
6 packets Splenda
pinch of baking powder
vanilla extract
salt (because the cashews weren't salted)

Grind the cashews. Add the rest of the ingredients. Drop cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet. I used a teaspoon and got 10 cookies. Bake at 350 until the edges are brown. Cool.

Ideas for tweaks:
Don't grind all the nuts finely. Maybe add chopped nuts.
Chopped chocolate.
This wasn't sweet enough so maybe add a couple packets of Splenda.
Try other nuts

I Rise From Laziness

Hello to those who still drop by. I haven't updated my blog in so long. I apologize. As usual, real life has a way of derailing well... real life. I got a job, got tired of the job, quit the job and found another one. Went to Singapore and had an awesome time but also ate off plan. Went back to Induction but couldn't handle it. Now eating low carb and still hating my scale.

I hope to update this blog soon with more recipes and food porn pics :) Thanks and have a great day!