No Carb Cheetos!

If you are like me sometimes the low carb lifestyle leaves me longing for crunchy foods! I got this recipe from 'mariamindbodyhealth'. These golden crunchy puffs are delicious and satisfied my craving for Cheetos. I don't know how long it has been since I have had real Cheetos. There are some things that I would change with this recipe. Maybe adding some cheese flavored popcorn salt would do the trick about halfway through the baking process.

3 egg whites beaten until very stiff

1/8 tsp. cream of tarter (add this to the egg whites before beating)

1/2 cup frozen cheddar cheese that has been pulsed in the food processor or blender until it is in tiny bits.

Add the cheese bits gently to the egg whites. Be sure you don't let all,the air out of the egg whites. Put the cheese and egg white mixture in a plastic bag nd cut a hole in the corner and squeeze out Cheetos size shapes onto a greased cookie sheet. I used olive oil but you could also use parchment paper.

Bake this in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes. If you want you can sprinkle them wi Parmesan cheese or dust them with cheese flavored popcorn salt.

Low Carb Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I created this recipe from a 'regular' one. My husband calls it 'low carbing' them. These don't always work out very well but this one turned out fantastic! I figure there are about 4 carbs per muffin when all is said and done. I ate one warm from the oven and they are really good but if you wait until the next day, they are even better! I think it gives the almond flour time to meld with the cream cheese.

Batter:

2 C Almond flour

12 packets of Stevia or the equivalent of 1/2 C sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix these together in a bowl then add:

2 eggs, beaten - less 2 Tbl beaten egg to be used in the cream filling

1/4 C olive oil

1/2 C cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream cheese filling:

6 oz. cream cheese 

8 packets stevia or 1/3 C sugar equivalent

2 Tbl beaten egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

Cinnamon streusel:

1/4 C almond flour - next time I might just used regular flour since I didn't really like the way this part turned out.

6 packets of stevia or 1/4 C sugar equivalent

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbl cold butter

Strawberries cut into small chunks.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Layer the ingredients into the muffins cups. This will make about 12 muffins. First add about a tablespoon dollop of batter. Next put about a teaspoon of cream cheese filling. Then top with a few strawberry chunks and a bit of streusel. Repeat one more time and pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

I think there are about 5 grams of carbohydrates per muffin.