The Slippery Slope

Happy December everyone! It's the first day of the last month of the year. Three months from now will mark the one year anniversary of my decision to go low carb. I am ashamed to admit that I have not been good at all. October was a complete disaster and November was full of conscious off plan eating. I indulged myself a lot and no matter how hard I tried to go back on plan I couldn't because the cravings would set in and that will be that.

So today I am going to try to go back in ketosis. I haven't been feeling well and I blamed it all to the sleepless nights but in reality my day to day health has gone back to before LC when I would be tired most of the day, be a little fuzzy and distracted. Not to mention short tempered and depressed.

It would be typical to start anew in the New Year but I don't want to see pictures of me this Christmas looking and feeling exactly like last Christmas. Earlier this year I wanted to change and I was successful for the most part. I'm gonna make December the month where I go back on track.

It's never too late.

Lemon Coconut Cookies

I've been trying to find ways to incorporate lemon into the cashew cookie recipe I've been experimenting with. So one day I just Googled Lemon Cashew Cookies. There were many results but my interest was piqued by the one from joyfulabode.com. The problem was it was a raw recipe and I do not have the patience to wait eight hours to have my cookie. I can barely wait for it to cool before tasting.

So I had to adapt it to my cashew cookie template. It took awhile before I had all the ingredients and since I'm doing NaNoWriMo (to find out more check out my blog, Excuse To Be Crazy For 30 Days) I told myself that if I reached 20 thousand words by tonight, I would make the cookies. I did so I did.

First of all, these cookies smelled really really good. Like macaroons. And they tasted really really REALLY good. I'm pretty proud of them. They might not be as low carb (I didn't do the carb count, sorry!) but it has no flour and sugar and it tastes like a real cookie and that's good enough for me. I even asked our turkey, Percival to report on how good these cookies are. Come in, Percival!

Percival the Turkey: What am I supposed to say?

Me: Tell them how good the cookies smelled while baking.

Percival the Turkey: The cookies smelled REALLY good while baking.

Me: That was convincing.

Percival the Turkey: You're welcome.

 

Lemon Coconut Cookies

(Adapted from this recipe at joyfulabode.com)

Ingredients

100 grams cashews

Scant cup of dessicated coconut *

4 Tablespoons Splenda, granulated **

10 scoops Stevia powder ***

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Juice of one lemon

1 egg

dash of vanilla extract

Ingredient notes:

*Basically, I poured the cashews into a one cup measure and took note of how much it was. Then I just used the same amount of coconut.

** and *** My cookies turned out really sweet, which I like. My suggestion would be to add a little bit of sweetener of your choice and taste the dough BEFORE adding the egg.

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a food processor or a hand blender, grind cashews and coconut together until coarse. In a mixing bowl, blend the cashew and coconut mixture with the sweeteners, baking powder, lemon juice and extract. Make sure that there are no lumps and everything is mixed in well. Taste. If it's not sweet enough, adjust your sweeteners.

3. Add the beaten egg into the mixture and stir until blended. Spoon mixture onto prepared cookie sheet. I divided the dough into 12 but you can make these smaller to get more cookies with lower carb count apiece.

4. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the edges are brown. Remove from oven and cool. Enjoy.

 

 

Crustless Peanut Butter Pie

The curse of living in the province is sometimes you don't find ingredients you need, or even like. Take for example, heavy whipping cream. I've been using the Nestle All-Purpose Cream for anything cream-related and while it's good, I still feel like I'm not really getting the good stuff. Like the ones I see on TV in cooking shows. So when I found Anchor whipping cream at the grocery, I begged The Hubby to buy it for me. I realized too late, meaning after getting home, that the cream was going to expire three days from getting it. Oh no!

So I looked for recipes online that will help me use up an entire liter of whipping cream. And I stumbled upon this Peanut Butter Pie recipe and I decided to make it today. I tweaked it a little bit and made it crustless and sugar free, of course. Where's the recipe you ask, well here it is:

Crustless Peanut Butter Pie

Original recipe here

Ingredients

2 (8 oz) cream cheese

1 1/2 Cup No Sugar Added Peanut Butter

1 1/2 Cup sweetener equivalent (I used all Splenda, granulated)

1 1/2 Cup Whipping cream

2 oz Chocolate bar of your choice (I used 85% Cocoa)

Directions

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the first three ingredients until well incorporated. I don't know if it was because  the peanut butter didn't have a lot of oil but this was really crumbly and dry.

2. In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. once mixed well and there are no more white streaks from the cream, pour into a pie plate. I used a square glass dish, probably 8 x 8 inches big. Spread evenly.

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 10-second increments. You can use a fork to drizzle over the pie or put the melted chocolate in a sandwich bag, snip the end and drizzle.

4. This is the hardest part. Chill the pie in the fridge for at least four hours. Hard, I know. But it's worth the wait. Slice and serve. Enjoy.

11/08/10

Flax bread with butter (and SF jam) and lemonade

 

 

Fried Chicken with BBQ sauce and sliced cucumber drenched in sour cream and onion Pepsi Max

Cucumber Sandwich

I've been jonesing for a cucumber sandwich for a while now and when the Top Chef Just Desserts episode last week was about tea parties, I knew it was fate.

So I made flax bread, this time using the focaccia-style recipe from about.com which you can find here. This is the second time I made this recipe. The first time didn't really turn out well because I added other herbs and parmesan cheese to the recipe. It made the  bread taste fishy. I know, that's weird, right?

But this time, I stuck to the recipe. It turned out great.

For the cucumber sandwich, I simply sliced cucumbers thinly and let it dry on paper towels. Then I spread butter on one slice of bread, spread  and then I mixed softened cream cheese with a bit of cour cream and onion powder. I spread that mixture over both slices of bread. Then I layered the cucumber slices. I made probably three layers.

It was just as I imagined it to be. Very refreshing, very light and fresh. I felt like a lady.

11/07/10

Cucumber sandwich on flax bread with Crystal Lite Raspberry Iced Tea

 

Dinner from Andok's Chicken: Four sticks Pork BBQ, Pork sinigang, Chopsuey and Half a wing of fried chicken

Accountability

I fell off the wagon. It was slow at first, a bite here, a chip there. I'll have just a bit of rice. Some corn chips won't hurt me. But it gradually snowballed until yesterday for my nephew's tenth month birthday, I had two servings of noodles, two slices of cake and ice cream. I was consciously cheating. It wasn't mindless. It wasn't me alone in a dark room surrounded by high carb foods and the voices in my head telling me to eat, eat eat. I was with my family, socializing and destroying the healthy eating I had done for months before.

October was really bad for me. It was my birthday and we went on a trip. It was a one-week cheat that turned into a whole month of conscious cheating. I don't know why I did it. I am not sure. Maybe I thought five months of being good deserved a treat, a reward. But my reward should be that my jeans are sliding off and my tummy is flat. I was noticeably irritable, too and always napping. The signs were there but I ignored them.

It stops today. Today is another day and I will take it one day at a time. It won't be easy to wean myself off of the carbs I consumed yesterday but I will try. For accountability, I would take pictures of everything I eat. This way I can keep a visual food diary and review my day. This way it won't be conscious cheating that I forget after a few minutes. I would have proof that I can keep going back to.

Wish me luck. Again.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

 

Happy National Sandwich Day!

I just saw this trending on Twitter and I'm reading a book by Sarah Addison Allen called "The Sugar Queen" where one of the characters bought a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. Since I read that the sandwich has haunted me. All I can think about is this sandwich! What would it taste like? How's the texture gonna be like? I figured the author just made this up but apparently it exists and even Rachael Ray had a version of it. So I decided to take this on because it sounded good and because I really want to and it's National Sandwich Day! I may be a day late but who's counting?

So I doubled the OMM recipe and used American sliced cheese and fresh tomato. Cooked it the way I would a grilled cheese sandwich. It's really nice. The tomato gives it a nice refreshing taste. I probably should've used more cheese or a more matured cheese like colby or cheddar but I was too lazy to slice them. Still yummy though. :)

How many times have I mentioned sandwich in this entry?

Demon Eyes Deviled Eggs

Last year our family started a Halloween tradition. As you know we don't really celebrate Halloween here in the Philippines. No pumpkins, no Trick or Treat, no costumes. But in recent years the Halloween trend finally caught up and now we see all those stuff in the stores. So last year we decided to throw a party and everyone had costumes. It was so much fun! I went as Hannah Montana and The Hubby went as... well he won't appreciate it if I tell you. However, he won Best Costume last year.

 

So today we're going to have our party again. Our theme is Plants Vs. Zombies. I will be dressed as the sea-shroom and once I have pics I will post whether you like it or not. Hahaha! Anyway, I thought I would bring pizza to the party but I realized it wouldn't be LC-friendly so I settled for something LC, fun and easy to make!

 

Check out my "Demon Eyes" Deviled Eggs!

 

I was inspired by Heather's post on her wonderful blog The Rogue Cookie. Hers look even more devilish! I have no LC ketchup and I think I will make a horrible mess making squiggly lines. Thanks Heather for this great tip!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Spongebob's Flax Muffin/Bread LowCarbPinay Way

My love affair with flax meal continues. I don't think it will ever stop. I keep looking for recipes to use it while keeping the carb count low. I really enjoy this ingredient and after having the guts to try spongebob's recipe, I can finally bake once a week and have enough bread for at least seven days!

If you think going low carb means you have to give up that delicious sensation of butter melting into warm bread, then you're dead wrong. This recipe does the trick for me. I love how versatile it is. Use a muffin top and it's a muffin recipe. Use a loaf pan and you have loaves! Use a bundt cake pan and viola! You got cake!

The original recipe can be found here but it has some ingredients that I can't find locally so I tweaked it for my use. I skipped the nuts and the sugar free syrup.

Tweaked Flax Muffin/Bread Recipe

Dry

2 cups flax meal (I use regular and I like it.)

1/2 cup Splenda, granulated

1/4 t Stevia powder OR 1/2 cup Splenda (carb count will be higher if you do Splenda)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Wet

5 eggs

8 T water

5 T butter, melted

1 t worth of flavoring extract (I've used banana and vanilla so far)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare pan by greasing well. I use a pastry brush to generously grease pans with butter.

2. Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl or measuring cup-- I like the lip, it helps me avoid spilling because I am klutz, pour the eggs and beat well. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients. Make sure that the eggs are well-beaten.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until well-blended. Portion into muffin/loaf pan. I use an ice cream scooper.

4. Bake until toothpick comes out clean. For muffins it's usually 8 to 10 minutes. For mini loaves 12 to 15, depending on how hot your oven runs.

Storing

You can wrap each loaf with cling wrap and store in a storage bag and put in the fridge. It can probably last awhile in the fridge but... it never lasts around here as I am always eating it.

Variations

To eat, nuke for a few seconds, spread with butter or cream cheese. I've made french toast with this, topped with sugar free maple syrup and cinnamon and butter. You can add nuts, different extracts, dried fruit, everything but the kitchen sink. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies (Video)

Hey everyone! This is my first time to make a video, I've always wanted to make one but never had the patience to. So, please forgive me if this is boring.

Here's the recipe:



Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies

200 g cashews

2 eggs

6 t Splenda, granulated

6 scoops Stevia powder

1 oz dark chocolate, chopped (Ghirardelli 72%)

1 oz SF milk chocolate, chopped (Use whatever SF chocolate you like, this is my favorite)

1 to 2 T butter, room temperature

pinch of salt

Directions can be found in the video. Here it is... please be kind heehee



Would you like more videos like this? Albeit with better shots, narration and editing? BTW, I used my phone to take the pic above and the video. Let me know!

Green Bean "Lasagna"

When I first saw this recipe I told myself not to expect it to be just like the high carb lasagna. I'm glad I did because I wouldn't mistake this for the "real thing". However, this was a pretty great recipe if judged by its own merit. I never would've thought that green beans would taste good with cheese, although how could I not? Cheese, much like butter and bacon, makes everything taste better. This was very delicious. I only made one layer so it wasn't thick and as filling. If you do it this way, you can have this as a side dish with maybe a piece of steak for a main.

The recipe can be found here and it was created by LCF member heidihoopi. The only tweak I did was to use our local green bean which I believe is called snake beans in English, sitaw in Filipino and latoy in Ilonggo. I used four bunches, cut them in half and kept them relatively long. Then I blanched them in salted water until they were soft.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this dish was and it heats up beautifully in the microwave. The taste does remind me of lasagna because of the sauce and the cheese but don't expect the texture to be the same as the real version. Hope you like this recipe as much as I did and thanks heidihoopi!

Back To Low Carb Reality

So my week of debauchery is over and it's time to get back on the low carb wagon and stay there, hopefully enjoying the ride and scenery. I really had a great time during my vacation but the fact that I am deathly afraid of my scale tells me I overdid it. It wasn't like the trip to Singapore, no. Since food was cheap and in abundance, I went a tad overboard with the sweets and dessert and frozen yogurt at Red Mango.

The first day back on plan was difficult. In fact, I wasn't 100% on plan. I had some oatmeal cookies that my hubby bought. I know. I am so bad! But I couldn't resist it. So I had one. Then two. Then three. It turned out to be six by the end of the day. I deserve a spanking, I know this.

Day two was much better since I started adding flax back to my diet again. I love flax and flax muffins and it keeps me "regular" but darn it... I don't like the "by product", neither does my husband. I don't blame him. Flax "by products" are the worst I've ever experienced in my life. Seriously. It could win national competitions and probably power a stove. But I will still do it because it really helps with my digestion... Maybe once my body is used to it again the "by product" will decrease and won't be as offensive. I also felt terribly bloaty and had tummy issues but that's just my body getting used to low carb.

It is now Day Three and I'm 100% back on the saddle, my friends! Can I get a woohoo? A what-what? Perhaps a small but well-deserved 'yay'? Pretty please? I'm just kidding. Day Three wasn't as difficult, of course. I take it one day at a time and it really does get better.

In other news, I finally received the package from my LCF buddy Melissa of "Less Of Mimi". More than a month ago I asked her if she could buy and ship golden flax seeds and stevia powder for me. She was so kind and generous that she went to buy it that same day and ship it, too! When the package finally arrived, the envelop was torn in places and taped in some. Sheesh! Our postal service is really crappy! But thank goodness the flax seeds and stevia made it here in their packaging. So double yay for me. Thanks again Melissa! You are such a sweetie... sugar free, of course, but a sweetie nonetheless!

32 Rib Eye Steaks

The best birthday gift ever. Today was my birthday and the fifth day of eating off-plan but to prove that I do wanna go back on eating LC the moment we get back home let me tell you about 32 beautiful, marbled, juicy rib eye steaks.

We got them today at Melbourne Prime. They're frozen and will be shipped back to Roxas City tomorrow and will probably get there by the time our flight lands on Sunday. I am ecstatic! This steak is so delicious and definitely my favorite.

So thanks to my darling hubby for giving me this birthday gift!

Low Carb Pinay in Manila

So my birthday week celebration started with a flight to Manila. It was DH's birthday and we spent the day doing things he liked. Had a Mexican dinner and ate yogurt at Red Mango. Totally an off-plan vacation but still bought Pepsi Max just because it's so yummy.

Day Two just began and we had Taco Bell (I'm not impressed though) but DH is pretty happy. It's his taste of home, I guess. We began the visa process today and keeping our fingers crossed. who knows by this time next year I would be Low Carb Pinay in the US. Wish us luck!

Moving the Blog and Birthday!

Hello! I'm moving this blog over to wordpress. I like the look of the blogs over there.
Anyway, it is currently under construction but I'm going away for a birthday week celebration so I won't be able to work on it for awhile.

I am turning 30 on Friday and Dh and I have planned a trip together. To get away from it all. I am going to be eating off-plan but I hope getting back to eating LC will be easier this time around. so far I have lost 25 lbs since I started, averaging a loss of 1 lb/week since I started. It's not so bad. I'm also REALLY gonna start being active. REALLY.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you on my new blog!

The New Low Carb Pinay blog!

Monster Bacon and Egg Sandwich

For dinner tonight I made bacon and egg sandwich on flax bread. I used the One Minute Muffin recipe but added garlic and onion powder to the dry ingredients and skipped the cinnamon altogether. Half the recipe was nuked first to make one "slice of bread" and the other was nuked afterwards.  Then I fried up four strips of bacon and scrambled two eggs, toasted my "bread" slices after slathering them with butter and built my monster sandwich.

It is huge. It is greasy. It is messy. It is delicious.

I take one bite and bacon grease would cling to my lips and fingers. Thank goodness for wax paper and paper towels! But it was definitely worth it. I doubt I look sexy as I cram as much of the sandwich as I could in my mouth without any of the filling falling out but who cares about sexy eating? I certainly don't. Neither should you.

OMG It's OMM!

(Oh My Goodies It's One Minute Muffin!)

This recipe is so simple and has been around for so long that it's been tweaked twelve ways to Sunday and I have to confess that I do not know who created this recipe first. How I wish I was the person who woke up one day, sat up and exclaimed, "By George I've got it! I will make a one minute muffin that doesn't use any flour at all and all low carbers will enjoy!" I seriously do.

When I got my flax meal (ground flax seeds) sample from FlaxAsia, I knew that the first thing I would make is the OMM. I had always wondered if the hype was worth it. So I made the recipe as is and I was blown away! It was delicious and looked, tasted and FELT just like a real muffin, like it was made with high carb ingredients. The texture is what I really loved.

When I made it again, I tweaked it a little bit to make it sweeter. Here's the original recipe with the italized text my tweaks.

One Minute Muffin
Ingredients
1/4 c flax meal
1 packet Splenda or equivalent sweetener *I used 3 packets because I wanted it to be a sweet muffin
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon *I added more, didn't measure though
1 beaten egg
1 T butter

Directions
1. Mix dry ingredients well. Add wet ingredients and mix everything well.
2. Pour into a microwave-friendly container. I just bought these cute shaped silicon muffin cups and I was able to make two "muffins" with just this recipe. Some people would use a square or circle-shaped container.
3. Microwave on high for a minute. Pop the muffin out of the container, don't worry it is quite sturdy and will not crumble.
4. Enjoy. I mixed cream cheese, Splenda and a little butter and put that on top. You can also just slather butter on top or plain cream cheese or sugar free jam (if you use SF jam it won't be Induction-friendly anymore).

Ready for some food porn?


Naked muffins... they taste just as good but why pass up an excuse for frosting?


Cute muffins


Look at that texture! It's very bready and sturdy and chewy!

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!

Let's Eat Out Tonight!

One thing that scared me about doing low carb was eating out. My hubby and I love going out for dinner (and lunch and snacks and basically anytime we don't feel like cooking)and this scenario gave me the heebie-jeebies:

Waiter: So what will it be?
Me: (Peruses the menu) Hmmm... Are the chicken wings battered before deep frying?
Waiter: (Looks bewildered) What do you mean... battered?
Me: Dipped in some flour-egg thingy before frying.
Waiter: (Scratches head) I think so...
Me: (Sighs) Alright... Does the chopsuey sauce have cornstarch in it?
Waiter: (Looks even more bewildered) Yeeesss...
Me: (Sighs again) Can I get the Texas Rib that has NOT been marinated?
Waiter: (Gets a little angry now) They're ALL marinated...
Me: (Resigns) I want something that has NO starch, NO sugar and LOW CARB!
Hubby: (Imitates the great Marjorie Dawes) How about dust? Anybody? No? Dust. Anybody? No? Dust. Anybody? No? Dust. Anybody? No? (Watch here)

But after venturing out into the world of high low carb eating a few times, I now have peace of mind. It is easy to make safe, delicious choices. I'm lucky to live in the seafood capital of the country because there IS always something that I can eat that's not dripping in sauce or drowned in gravy.

My favorite restaurant for low carb eating is Coco Veranda, a bar and grill restaurant right on the beach. The view is great and service is excellent. Here's what I ordered at a recent visit there (forgive the pics, taken with iPhone)



Steak (skip the side dishes or give it to hubby)


Lechon Kawali (Deep Fried Pork)


Shrimp Kinilaw (Ceviche)


Boneless Bangus (Milkfish) stuffed with onions and tomato, wrapped in cabbage and cooked in coconut milk

So don't be afraid to eat out. There's something quite liberating about finding a restaurant that caters to your LC WOE. Just remember to ask the right questions, don't be embarrassed or feel like you're being a pain in the you-know-what. This is your WOE. You have every right to know what's in the food you're going to put in your mouth. Most of all, you're paying, so you better get what you want.

Happy (LC) eating!

What do you think about the new layout? Is it too obvious that I love pink?

Burger Love Affair

If there's one thing I crave a lot since going low carb, it's burgers. I find myself just constantly thinking and drooling over burgers.

Luckily, my hubby makes the most awesome burgers. All he does is make patties out of pure ground beef (half a cup per patty) and then fry in a pan with no oil (the beef is pretty fatty) with a sprinkling of salt.

Trust me. This is so good and so simple. So he makes six to eight patties at a time with 1 lb of ground beef and we keep them in the fridge. Then when I want to have one I reheat it with some butter and top it with a whole lotta stuff.


Bacon Mushroom Melt
With sautéed onions and mushrooms, bacon and cheese


DOUBLE Bacon Cheeseburger
Two patties with bacon and cheese


BLT + OC
Bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese


Pizza Burger
Tomato paste, Italian seasoning, tomato, onion, olives and cheddar cheese

Sugar Free 3-in-1 Coffee Review

There is no better way to start your day than with a nice cup of freshly brewed coffee. But if you live in the Philippines buying, nay, finding ground coffee can be quite a task, not to mention too pricey. As for me, we get ground coffee shipped from the US thanks to my sweet mother-in-law.

When I started working I tried bringing my own brewed coffee but prepping it before going to work became a little too tedious for lil ole lazy me. So when my hubby found sugar-free 3-in-1 coffee for me, I was elated. I can just take two to three packs with me to work and all I have to do is add hot water! It's not as good as brewed coffee but it's fast and convenient.That's good enough for me. The initial box of 10 ran out in three days and I went to buy some more. To my pleasant surprise, I found different brands offering sugar-free 3-in-1 coffee! When you're doing low carb here in the Philippines the one thing you rarely have is a choice. So to find four sugar-free coffee brands was exciting enough to be the highlight of my week (not a particularly exciting week, huh?). For the sake of all my readers (heehee) I made the sacrifice of trying out four different brands and here are my thoughts:


Great Taste 3-in-1 Sugar Free Coffee
Price: 39.35 per 10 packets = PhP 3.93 per sachet
Carb Count: 3g
Rating: **


Review: The aroma was really wonderful but I was disappointed when I had my first sip. It tasted like sugary water. I could not taste the coffee at all. For a 2-cup serving, I used 3 sachets and it got sweeter and sweeter but the coffee flavor did not deepen at all. I will not buy this brand again.



Maxwell House 3-in1 Sugar Free Coffee
Price: 53.75/10 = PhP 5.37 per sachet
Carb Count: 3g
Rating: ***

Review: This wasn't too sweet but the coffee flavor wasn't deep enough either. It was quite bland when I used 1 sachet for a 1-cup serving. But when I added another sachet, the flavor got better. However, I don't wanna add extra carbs just to get my coffee fix. I will probably buy this if my favorite brand runs out but otherwise, I will skip it. Out of all the brands I tried, I was most disappointed with this one just because it is an imported brand.


San Mig 3-in-1 Sugar Free Coffee (Original)
Price: 30.35/6 = Php 5 per sachet
Carb Count: 5g
Rating: **

Review: San Mig offers three different variations: Original, Mild and Strong. I only found the Original one. This was too sweet for me, although the coffee flavor was definitely there. It makes me want to try the Strong flavor, just to see if the coffee flavor will be intensified. The fact that it is too sweet (I discovered that I have recently developed low tolerance for sweeteners) will stop me from buying this particular variation. 5g of carb in one serving is too much for coffee.


Nescafe 3-in-1-Sugar Free Coffee (Original)
Price: 53.60/10 = PhP 5.36 per sachet
Carb Count: 3g
Rating: ****

Review: My tastebuds vote for this brand as the best one. It is not too sweet and the coffee flavor is definitely there. It is deep and rich and the aroma is oh-so-good. The nice balance of bitter (coffee) and sweet (sweetener) really suited my tastes. I like this better than other instant coffee mixes, sugar free or not. I will definitely buy this brand over and over as long as Gaisano Mall doesn't run out.


I hope this review helps you out when you make your choice. Happy coffee drinking!

Chicken Tinola (Filipino Chicken Ginger Soup)

For days now I've been craving chicken tinola. So when we took a short trip to the grocery and I found some green papayas, I immediately grabbed them. Alas, the sales lady said that it was already too ripe to put in the tinola.

Nevertheless, I bought one whole chicken and had it chopped. When we got home, I asked our helper to go to the market and buy the rest of the ingredients for me. I haven't really cooked tinola ever before in my life so I turned to Google and found lots of recipes.

For this particular one, I chose to use a small green papaya (due to carb count) and added one small chayote. The two look almost identical when cooked and the chayote has such a mild flavor and it lends well to the dish. I remember chili leaves or sometimes malunggay leaves are added too but since I bought a couple bags of Bokchoy a few days ago, I decided to add those in.

So this really isn't the traditional chicken tinola of my childhood but it is still yummy and it gives me so much comfort and joy.

"I-Can't-Believe-This-Isn't-Cheating" Cream Cheese Balls

You might think I'm exagerrating but I'm not. Whenever one of these cream cheese balls touch my lips, my brain sends out an alarm: CHEATING! CHEATING! CHEATING! But I, of course, know that the nerve endings in my brain are just spazzing out from the deliciousness that my tongue is experiencing.

I first met these balls whilst reading a thread on LCF about what to do with 18 blocks of cream cheese. Since my hubby hoardes Philly cream cheese blocks like it's going out of style (but seriously, we don't find them so easily in our neck of the woods so hoarding is a great idea, moreso because of this recipe). “didi” posted,“Keto Balls! They can live in the freezer.” Followed by the link to the recipe.

Now... Keto balls sounded... vile, like something you'd find living in the socks you wore to the gym once and forgot to throw into the washer because it managed to crawl BY ITSELF under the bed only to be found when you were looking for your flip flops. It sounded nasty and gross. But since I like living on the edge, I clicked the link. And boy was I happy to be the adventurous clicker that I am. Because this recipe is anything but vile or nasty or gross. It is divine and easy and oh-so-good you'd forget, your brain will actually forget, that it's LEGAL.

You may find the original recipe here. The one below is a double batch and with a minor tweak.


See the lovely flecks of green from the pistachios?

Ingredients

Cream cheese, 2 (8 oz) blocks
Unsalted butter, 2 sticks or 1 cup
Splenda, 1 cup
Nuts of your choice (I used ½ cup of pistachios)

1.Make sure the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature. This will make it easier to mix. With an electric mixer, blend the cream cheese and butter well. Add the Splenda and mix some more.
2.For the nuts, I chose to incorporate them into the mixture rather than cover the balls. I only had ½ cup of pistachios that I crumbled and crushed into smaller bits, not powdery though. I gently folded the nuts into the mixture.
3.Refrigerate for at least an hour.
4.Scoop the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with cling wrap or parchment paper. I used my small ice cream scooper which can hold 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon. Then I stuck toothpicks into the little balls before putting the cookie sheet into the freezer. You can certainly roll after scooping, but I didn't want to deal with the mess. I made about 30 balls with this batch.
5.After freezing, transfer the cream cheese balls into a covered container and keep in the freezer.

Just a couple of notes: I have recently gotten sensitive to sweeteners and the 1 cup of Splenda used here is too sweet for me. Next time I will use less Splenda, maybe start with half a cup and take it from there. Second, make sure you use UNsalted butter so that the flavor of the cream cheese remains the star of the show. Third, with the nuts this is obviously NOT for Induction but you can just omit the nuts and I bet it will still taste good and you'd feel like you're cheating. Lastly, didi is right. These will live in the freezer... but not for too long. I have to constantly remind myself that I can only have one ball a day. So thanks to didi for linking this and to MandyM for posting the recipe on LCF.

Summery Vegetable Salad

Pretend you're me and it's a rainy Sunday afternoon so you left the confines of your bedroom for the first time since you woke up to rustle up a meal. You open the refrigerator door, one hand on your cocked hip, give the contents a once over then close the refrigerator door. You do this two more times before letting out a big dramatic sigh that implied, “Okay, I give up! The contents of the fridge won't magically change every time I open it, so I'll just make a summer vegetable salad (even though it's raining)!” So you gather all the ingredients and proceed to make the following salad.

Ingredients

Vegetables**
Broccoli
Sweet bell peppers
Cucumber
Onion (optional)

Meat**
Chicken breasts, cooked
Bacon strips, fried til crispy

Dressing
Mayo, 3 to 5 tablespoons
Lemon juice from one lemon
Splenda, 1 packet
Salt and black pepper

**Basically anything in your fridge that you need to use up before it gets too squishy**

1.Prep the veggies. Since you're me, you steamed the broccoli until they were a little soft, but not too soft, crisp tender is the term you're looking for. Slice the bell peppers and cucumber into thin rings. See the remaining half of the onion you used to make something you forgot about a couple of days ago? Dice it up.
2.Prep the meat. Roughly chop the left over chicken breasts that your hubby fried for dinner two nights ago. Crumble up some of that bacon, too.
3.Make the dressing. Add all the ingredients you THINK make up a decent dressing and mix them all up, making sure you dip your pinky in a few times to gauge the taste. Add salt and pepper if you must.
4.Toss the salad. Put everything in a big bowl and armed with two plastic ladles, toss the vegetables, meat and dressing until everything is lightly coated with the dressing. Refrigerate until serving.
5.Serve to sick hubby.
6.Accept compliments.

Now stop pretending to be me and you make this salad.

Low Carb Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

There are a lot of things I missed when I started doing low carb. But then I started reading an amazing blog by an equally amazing woman. There I found recipes upon recipes of the things I thought I could never have again. One of them was pizza. I was so glad that pizza hadn't gotten on that bus and left me standing by the highway in a swirl of dust. Cleochatra's Cauliflower Pizza Crust looks just like the real thing. She even turned them into bread sticks! Bread sticks!!!

So when my hubby insisted to have pizza for the nth time, we decided to look for cauliflower. Alas, the poor quality produce that Gaisano Mall's grocery provided left us empty handed. Weeks passed with still no cauliflower and I thought pizza had really gotten on that bus.

Then another recipe made our pizza dream come true. The recipe can be found in a thread at LowCarbFriends.com and was thought up by NancyElle.




We used 2 cups mozarella cheese and 1 cup cheddar cheese. We had trouble flipping the pizza because it stuck to the tin foil. Next time we'll just bake it on the cookie sheet, no more foil.

For the toppings, hubby made cheese steak by cooking sliced beef tenderloin, onions and sliced bell peppers until everything was cooked. He seasoned with salt and garlic powder.

After the crust baked, I spread cream cheese on top and then distributed the cheese steak topping evenly over it. Shredded mozarella was sprinkled on top and we turned on the broiler and left the pizza under it until the cheese melted.

This was really as amazing as we imagined it to be. Depending on how you slice it, you can get up to 12 servings. I used a cookie sheet so the pizza was rectangular. This is quite filling too.

And before I go to sleep tonight, I will open our refrigerator door and peek inside just to check if the pizza is there. Just to be sure it's not going anywhere near that bus.

Next in line... bread sticks!!!

Peruvian Style Beef Steak

What do you do when you text your beloved husband what he wants to do for dinner and he replies, "It's up to you, honey!"? I type the only thing I can think of that's not frozen into Google and look for a recipe. So I typed beef tenderloin and got lots of results. I settled on a version of Peruvian beef steak but of course, I did it my way. I added bacon because well bacon makes everything better!

This was really interesting because it reminded me of the Tagalog Bistek, which I love. The vinegar replaces the kalamansi juice and makes it a tad sweet. I didn't mind the sweetness factor; it was just unexpected. This would be great with cauliflower rice but I just had it by itself. I only had four pieces but it's quite filling.

Peruvian Style Beef Steak
*Adapted from this recipe. Serves 4-6.

600 grams beef tenderloin, sliced into serving pieces

3/4 c white vinegar

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 stick butter, more as needed

1 onion, sliced thinly

2 small tomatoes, seeded and sliced thinly

3 strips bacon

1/4 t cayenne pepper, optional

salt and pepper



1. Mix soy sauce and vinegar in a bowl. Marinate the beef pieces for at least an hour.

2. Cook bacon until slightly crispy. Remove from pan, cut into 1/2 inch strips and set aside.

3. Add a little bit of butter into the pan. Fry the beef pieces until browned and cooked. Reserve the marinade. Set aside the beef pieces.

4. Add more butter as needed into the pan, saute the onions until translucent. Add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are soft, add the bacon strips. Saute until bacon is heated through. Add the beef pieces.

5. Once the beef is heated through, pour the marinade into the pan. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, if using. Let it reduce uncovered.

6. Serve.

NOT IHOP's Pancake Cheesecake Stacker

I know it doesn't look as good as this but it's really, really, really good.

I made a cheesecake mousse which is very easy and put that between two of SFS's Pancakes! Delicious! Awesome! If you're past Induction you can even add strawberries and it will look just like the real thing.

I didn't make a real cheesecake because I thought it would add to the carb count. But please bear in mind this is so decadent and so rich that you should only have it during special days. Unless you have the self-control not to eat more than 1 "stacker".

Besides if I baked a cheesecake it would've taken longer and I was DYING to make this. Also, if the filling was an actual cheesecake then I wouldn't have gotten this adorable picture.



This is the closest I will get to an IHOP. *sigh*

Cheesecake Mousse

*The recipe I found asked for 4 oz cream cheese but I needed more cream cheese-y taste so I used an entire 8 oz. block. This makes a LOT. You have been warned.

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature, DO NOT SOFTEN IN MICROWAVE
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 T Splenda, granulated
2 t vanilla extract

Whip all ingredients until stiff. I don't know if it was our hot weather here or the fact that I doubled the cream cheese amount and left the cream the same but it never got stiff, just semi soft. It kept its shape and that's good enough for me.

Put mousse in well-sealed bag and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

SugarFreeSheila's Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes

Chicken Wings

Not too long ago there was a thread on LowCarbFriends that introduced me to the awesomeness that is chicken wings. Unable to control my craving for something I have never made before, I urged my hubby to buy some chicken wings so we can make our own.

Now my hubby loves BBQ sauce but unfortunately for me I wasn't able to find a low carb recipe (I have found one since then that I'm going to try next time)so he made his own high carb BBQ and I just mixed a tablespoon of Emeril's Creole Seasoning mix and some Splenda into soy sauce and dipped the deep fried chicken wings right after they got out of the fryer. My chicken wings did not look as good as his but they tasted great (his tasted awesome but they're PURE EVIL!) and I will gladly make them again. YUM!