Dot's Chocolate Cake - 41g. :/ Oh my.

I saw this contest for someone looking for the best chocolate cake for her husband and knew this recipe had to be entered.

It's from my husband's side of the family and as soon as I tasted it, all other chocolate cake recipes I had were thrown in the trash. We make it for every birthday now. And, coming from someone who has a sweet tooth and likes icing... this doesn't need it. It's that good.

Edit: I won third place in the contest! Now I need to make the two that beat me because they must be delicious!


Dot's Chocolate Cake
2/3 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar together. Mix milk and soda together then add all ingredients except vanilla and water. Mix until blended. Add vanilla and hot water - stir until mixed. It will be very thin. Pour in greased and floured 9x13 glass dish. Bake 20-30 minutes

I cut it into 15 pieces.

The counts

Serving size: 1 piece

Net Carb: 42g. Oh my. :/

Protein: 3g

Fiber: 1g

*All counts listed are based on my best guesstimation and not necessarily correct. Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.

watermelon - 2.6g

I was looking around on Pinterest (big surprise there...) searching for tips on watermelon picking.

Our garden was all weird this year and everything basically stopped growing for like a month even though we watered religiously and did everything else we could think of to have a great harvest. Randomly, everything picked up where it left off and started growing, but all of our crops ended up small, non-existant or late.

:(

We've had a few picked-to-early watermelons and a few whose flavor was meh, but today I (finally) got a really good one.


It's a doozy at almost 30 pounds!

Anyway, while I was browsing Pinterest, I noticed that no one had pinned about the least messy way I have found to cut a watermelon:

It's perfect. The juice, seeds and small chunks run down the holes and are caught in the pan instead of getting all over your counter and floor! I came up with this solution all by myself so I'm going to go ahead pat myself on the back for it. Good job, self. :)

When I worked for a catering company, I learned the the quickest way to cut a watermelon. Grab a trash can so you can throw the rind straight in and a good knife. I use a bread knife because it has nice, long serrated blade and the tips are great for picking out the seeds.

Slice it in half then lay one half on the flat side. Slice the rind off each side, then chop the top off so you basically have a watermelon cube.

 

Next, cut it like a loaf of bread. I do about 1" slices.

 

 

Cut each slice into strips. At the catering company, we'd then cut these again to make cubes, but having a toddler and a pre-schooler at home, I just leave them like that so they can pick them up and eat them as is.

 

 

I used to spend way too much time picking out the seeds for the little ones, but now I just separate the parts without seeds into a different container. Non-seeded are for the kids, seeded are for the hubby.

 

 

The (contained) mess! Rinse it in the sink and you're done!

 

As far as carbohydrates go, it's not too bad of a snack, if you can stop eating it. A serving size is only 1/4 cup, but I tend to eat a cup at a time...

 

The counts

Serving size: 1/4 cup

Net Carb: 2.6g

Protein: <1g

Fiber: <1g

*All counts listed are based on my best guesstimation and not necessarily correct. Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.

fruit n' jell-o - 5-10g

My niece kept raving about this dessert her grandma makes called Fluff. It takes a pack of jell-o (not made, just the powder for flavor), canned fruit cocktail and cool whip... all high sugar and definite no-nos for low carb.

After she told me the ingredients, I wanted to create a low carb version and while this ended up being really nothing like Fluff, I love it! You can use any flavor of jell-o and any low carb fruits you'd like to change it up.

My favorite version:
2 packs sugar-free orange jell-o
1 fresh peach, cut into pieces
1/2 pound fresh strawberries, cut into pieces
1/2 pint fresh blueberries (unless they are sour...)
Redi-Whip

Mix fruit and jell-o together after the jello-has set and top with whipped cream.

The counts

These vary depending on what types of fruit you use. As far as I can figure, a one-cup serving is probably only around 5g of carbs. Definitely less than 10g.

Net Carb: 5g

Protein: depends

Fiber: depends

*Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.

Can you think of a better and more creative name to call it?

doing great!

I've been doing well sticking to my diet these past couple of weeks.

I haven't gotten much exercise unfortunately, but I have lost 2 pounds from just watching what I'm eating and I am feeling fabulous! My sugar cravings have gone way down and when I have had something sweet, it doesn't taste the same. I actually had one of my son's gummy fruit candies and it was so gross that I had to spit it out.

My daily carb intake has been around 40-50 most days which is below my goal of 60g. I haven't been starving in the mornings like I used to be, so I think my body is adjusting to having a more constant blood sugar level. Sometimes I just have a cup of tea until our 10 a.m. snacktime when I'll have a hardboiled egg or piece of toast or fruit or something to get me to lunchtime, so that's helping keep my carbs down, too.

Speaking of tea, I've weaned myself off of needing an ungodly amount of sugar in order to drink it. I couldn't switch straight to Swerve only, so I started doing half sugar/half Swerve or half Swerve/half vanilla creamer but today I had only Swerve and it didn't bother me at all. This is huge because I have always used way too much sugar in my tea... like 1-2 Tablespoons. That's ridiculous.

I'm hoping that this coming week I can fit some exercise in. I think I may have broken my toe so running on the treadmill isn't exactly easy to do right now, but I can walk okay if I wear tennis shoes. With the cooler weather and since my daughter loves having my son drive her around in his Little Tykes Hummer, there's no reason we can't go for a walk every evening on our 6 acres.

New finds:
McDonald's vanilla kiddie cones only have 7g net carbs!
I am absolutely fine with a Quarter Pounder with Cheese without the bun. 9g!
I went for years hating bacon and now I love it again. So very much.

"Hershey's" chocolate syrup - 2.5g

I love Pinterest.

(FYI: There may be quite a few posts on this blog that start off like that.)

So I'm sitting outside while the kids are playing in the sandbox, browsing around Pinterest on my laptop. I come across this pin for a homemade Hershey's chocolate syrup recipe. I look at the ingredients and know I can copy it with my Swerve sweetener, making it low carb.

But how will it taste...?

I decided to give it a shot after the kids went to bed and sure enough it tastes great! This is so exciting to me for multiple reasons. Now I can add some to my almond milk and have a chocolate milk fix - or even splurge and drink some real chocolate milk and not go into a sugar coma! Also, my kids love chocolate milk but with 20g of sugar in Hershey's and 14g in Quik, I don't love giving it to them. Not to mention that I always cringe when we run out because the price just keeps going up!

I even had a Hershey's Lite (ick!) bottle that was almost empty that I could clean out and relabel for my own low carb syrup!!

Low Carb "Hershey's" Chocolate Syrup
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups Swerve sweetener
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt

In a large saucepan to prevent boiling over, combine the cocoa, water, sweetener and salt over medium heat. Mix with whisk until smooth. Stir constantly until it boils, allowing it to boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

It will be very watery but after it cools it will thicken. Keeps for several weeks in the fridge.

Makes almost 2 cups. A serving size according to Hershey is 2 Tbs.

Edit: This does crystalize in the fridge, but I just pop it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds then shake it up and it's back to being all liquidy goodness.

The counts

Net Carb: 2.5g

Protein: 2g

Fiber: 3.6g

*Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.

caprese salad - 4g net carbs

I love me a caprese salad.

I first had one at Joe & Mimma's Italian Pizza restaurant in Newport News, Va. I had never had one and was iffy about it when my co-worker ordered it. One bite and I was hooked.

Then, I discovered Campari tomatoes. They are a bit expensive at the store, but they are so delicious that I buy them anyway. Then we discovered that we could dry out the seeds and plant them in our garden so now every summer we are overloaded with the best tomatoes ever.

What to do with them? This little appetizer, of course!

Caprese Salad
1/2 cup of sliced tomatoes
1.5 ounces of sliced mozzarella cheese
olive oil to drizzle over
salt, pepper and basil to sprinkle

That's it. To make a big batch for a cookout, I've actually cut things up into bite sized pieces and just mixed it all together, but I like it this way best.

The counts

Net Carb: 4g

Protein: 1.5g

Fiber: 9g

*Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.

starting again

I am on and off the low carb bandwagon way too often. I do well for a week or two and then start relaxing a little bit and next thing I know I'll realize that I've been eating badly for a week straight.

It starts out innocently enough. I had dropped my carb limit from 100g to 80g a day but never really stuck to it. Then I'd be all, "Oh, I've only had 70g today, it won't hurt me to eat this donut - that'll just put me over 80g!" Which is true, but not helpful at the whole breaking the sugar addiction thing.

The good news is that I haven't been gaining wait... I've just completely stalled out.

So today I decided to start again and I'm dropping my limit down to 60g OR LESS. None of this "I've got this many left to work with so I can splurge!" stuff. That'll give me 15g per meal and 15g for snacks throughout the day. I've done great so far. It's almost 3 p.m. and I'm only at 25g. I'm nervous about dinner though because I have no idea what we're having yet and know I need to get to the store so my low carb options are kind of scarce.

I'm also working on drinking more water back. My plan is to drink 12 oz first thing in the morning and then 12 oz with each meal. That will at least put me at 48 oz a day. I need to add vitamins back, too. They'd been making me nauseous - even with food - so I started dreading taking them which led to be stopping them altogether.

Edited: At bedtime, I was at 51g net carbs for the day. Score. :)

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - 7g

My mom makes the best spaghetti sauce ever. She tweaked this recipe from one she saw in a magazine until she got it just right. It is incredibly easy to make and freezes great, so I tend to triple the batch in order to have tons leftover and spaghetti can be a quick go-to meal that I know everyone will eat.

I did do my own tweaking earlier this year: I added pureed canned carrots and green beans to hide in the batch. The first time, I put too much green beans in and you could definitely taste them. I've got it down now though, and even my picky niece forgets they are in there and devours it.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground chuck (or ground turkey)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 29 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbs parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Brown meat with onions until no longer pink. Drain. Add remaining ingredients. Heat over medium heat until sauce starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

As I said, I triple this recipe and to that I add 2 cans of green beans and 1 can of carrots that I have pureed.

Mom's recipe makes 3 quarts... adding the veggies probably makes about another quart. Triple the entire thing, and I end up making 12 quarts at a time. I freeze them in tupperware containers that hold 3-4 cups each so all I have to do is pop 1-2 of them in the microwave to thaw out whenever I need them!

Combine them with Dreamfields Low Carb Pasta (5g net carbs per serving) and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and you've got a complete, healthy meal! Sometimes, I also sautee some zuchinni and mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder to add to it. So yummy!

The counts (for the sauce only without pureed veggies)

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Net Carb: 7g

Protein: 7g

Fiber: 2g

*All counts listed are based on my best guesstimation and not necessarily correct. Remember to check the specific nutritional content of the brands you are using as each one is different.