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.

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!

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.

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!