Bacon & Cheese Deviled Eggs

When on a low-carb diet, eggs are your friend.  I eat a lot of eggs, usually scrambled or boiled for breakfast. I use then in a salad for lunch and a flourless cake for dessert.  This is one of my favorite ways to eat eggs!

Deviled Eggs with Bacon and Cheese 
12 boiled eggs, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 Cup of Mayonaise 
1 tablespoon mustard
4 slices of bacon, well-done and crumbled
2 tablespoons of finely shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the last four ingredients together along with the yolks out of the boiled eggs. Mix this up very well and then spoon it back into the white part of the boiled eggs.  Sprinkled them individually with a little paprika.  These are delicious any time of day.  This is a terrific way to use up all those boiled eggs the kiddos just found around the house on Easter morning. 

Easter 'Potato' Salad

The Easter season is almost here! What do you do with all those Easter Eggs? I have the answer! Make Easter Potato Salad. This is a low carb alternative to real potato salad. I use cauliflower to replace the potato. This is seriously good stuff. I actually make this salad once every two weeks or so.

6 boiled eggs
1 package of frozen cauliflower
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. mustard
1 Tbl. Sugar substitute
1/4 cup table cream
1/2 tsp. onion powder

After the eggs are boiled, peel them and chop them into bite sized pieces. Boil, drain and chop the cauliflower, again into bite sized pieces. Put these in a bowl. In take separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients together and then pour over the eggs and cauliflower. You can a season it with salt and pepper and maybe a bit of paprika. If you like it sweeter add more sugar substitute.

Pumpkin Roll

I haven't posted a new recipe or a long time. Life has been busy, busy, busy. So... I was craving something pumpkin. I looked all over for a low carb pumpkin dessert and couldn't find anything so I changed up the flourless, sugar free chocolate cake recipe and this turned out great. My husband loved it. This would be great to bring to a thanksgiving or harvest dinner.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Prepare a cookie sheet by putting parchment paper on it and spraying it with a vegetable spray.

6 eggs, separated and pit into two small bowls.
Use 1 cup of canned pumpkin in a bowl and mix into it
1 cup of Splenda or some other sugar substitute
Mix the 6 egg yolks into the pumpkin mixture and add
2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

Whip up the six egg whites in your mixer until the whites are stiff then pour them on top of the pumpkin mixture.
Carefully fold the mixture together being careful to keep it fluffy.
Pour the batter out into the parchment paper and into the baking sheet.
Spread it out in the form of a rectangle
Bake for 18 minutes at 350
Let this cool for a good half hour . Then top it with either home made whipped cream or some lite cool whip.
Roll it up and slice it into about 12 pieces.

Cloud Bread

Carb Free Cloud Bread

"These are delicious home-made bread replacements that are practically carb free and very high in protein. They look like puffy clouds, hence the name.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
3 Tablespoons whole milk cottage cheese or 3 Tablespoons cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 packet artifical sweetener

Preheat the oven to 300.

Separate the eggs

Mix together the egg yolks, the cream cheese or cottage cheese and one packet of sweetener until smooth.

In another bowl add 1/4 tsp. Cram of Tartar to the whites and beat until they are fluffy and form nice peaks.

Carefully fold the eggs yolk mixture into the egg white mixture, try to keep things fluffy.

Spray two cookie sheets (I only used one large one) with Pam

Put dollops of the mixture into mounds that are the size you desire.  I made them about 4 inches in diameter and used them for a soft taco.  You can make them smaller for use as a hamburger bun or to substitute for a biscuit.

Bake on the middle rack. Bake them for about 30 minutes or until they are nice and golden brown.

Remove from the pan and cool them on a rack.

If you cook them longer than I did (see above) you will get crispy ones.  The ones I made are strong yet bendy.

You will be amazed how good these are! You can use them as soft taco's, buns, toast with jam, a sort of pita. etc.

Cheesecake Berry Popsicles!

I took this recipe from Ranee Clark's blog.  Thanks Ranee!

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 8 oz tub of whipped cream ( sugar free) or make your own real whipped cream with splenda.
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of Splenda

Whip cream cheese until smooth. Add whipped cream and whip together. Add Splenda and mix until smooth and no longer grainy.



Well, it's summer time, so I thought to myself, would this work frozen? And what's better with cheesecake than berries?  So, grab yourself some of those cheap popsicles thingy's people use to make homemade popsicles and make yourself some frozen delight.


Make the fake cheesecake as described above. I used a little less sugar than normal since I was putting in berries.
Blend 1/4 cup raspberries and 1/4 strawberries (or any combination of berries you love to make up 1/2 cup) in a blender until the desired consistency. If you want big chunks, less. If you want it smooth, more. (Duh.) Mix it in with the fake cheesecake. Spoon the mixture into the popsicle molds (oh, yeah, that's what they're called). And freeze. Then, when they're solid (if you can wait that long), devour them. Possibly all in one sitting. No one here will judge you.

Grilled Steak W/ Chimichurri Sauce

If you are getting ready to grill up some steaks this spring, try this recipe.  It is really good.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for grill grates
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 strip steaks (about 1-inch thick), about 1 1/2 pounds total, trimmed of excess fat and halved
• Chimichurri sauce, recipe follows

Place a double layered piece of heavy-duty foil on a tray or cutting board; fold and gather edge to form a rim. Toss the green beans and tomatoes on foil with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

Preheat a grill to medium. Lightly oil the grill grates and season the steak with salt and pepper. Slide the foil tray onto the grill; cook, tossing occasionally, until the beans char slightly and cook through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the steaks to the grill; cook until desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Remove steaks to cutting board to rest 5 minutes. Slice, and serve steak and the vegetables with the Chimichurri Sauce.

Copyright 2010 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Nutritional analysis per serving of steak and tomatoes
Calories 451; Total Fat 29g (Sat Fat 11g, Mono Fat 13.4g, Poly Fat 1.54) ; Protein 37g; Carb 9g; Fiber 4g; Cholesterol 94mg; Sodium 217mg

Chimichurri Sauce:

• 1/2 small garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs, such as parsley, mint and cilantro
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the garlic, vinegar, herbs, olive oil and water in small food processor; pulse until herbs are coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper.

Calories 33; Total Fat 3.5g (Sat Fat .5g, Mono Fat 2.7g, Poly Fat 0.3g) ; Protein 0g; Carb 0g; Fiber 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 120.5mg

Low-carb Rigatoni With Cauliflower Sauce and Toasted Garlic Breadcrumbs

•  
• For the Breadcrumbs:
• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
  
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, Panko or homemade (coarse ground)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley tops, finely chopped
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 
  
• For the Cauliflower Sauce:
• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 pound pancetta, guanciale or bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons thyme, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons chopped golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 head cauliflower, root and core cut away from head with sharp paring knife
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound rigatoni(use low-carb noodles, I use dreamfields pasta)
• 3 tablespoons butter

Yields: 4-6

Preparation

For the breadcrumbs, heat EVOO and butter over medium heat, melting butter into oil. Add garlic and stir 1-2 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and stir until very fragrant and deeply golden in color. Remove breadcrumbs from heat and cool; toss with parsley and cheese.

For the sauce, heat EVOO, a couple of turns of the pan, over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add pancetta, guanciale or bacon and stir until rendered and crispy, 3-4 minutes. Add onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes and raisins, and stir to soften 3-5 minutes. Add white wine and stock, set cauliflower into pot, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Cook 15-20 minutes until very tender then mash up into small pieces with wooden spoon or potato masher.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Add a cup of starchy water from pasta to sauce just before draining.

Along with starchy water, stir butter into cauliflower sauce. Combine with pasta and adjust seasoning. Serve in shallow bowls topped with garlic breadcrumbs.

This recipe is from the Rachel Ray show and modified.