low carb lemon squares - 3g

My friend, Lauren, has an (awesome) food blog. Since 2009, when she originally posted this recipe, I've commented 3 times about how I want to make it and yet I had never tried.

Today, she mentioned it again on Facebook so while the kids were outside playing in the snow, I set out to try to turn it low carb.

I looked around online for some recipes, and found one that I combined with Lauren's to tweak it and make it my own.

The crust needs some tweaking. It tastes good, but it came out falling apart. (I didn't have any guar or xanthan gum, which just would help hold it together.) Edited to add: After it cooled completely and was refrigerated, it firmed up more and was fabulous!

The topping is yummy! Not as lemony or sweet as I thought it would be, but very mild and tastey! My husband even commented on how delicious it was!

Low Carb Lemon Squares
For the crust:
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup Carbquik
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup Swerve (erythritol)
5 Tbs softened butter

For the filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup Swerve
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tsp lemon juice (substituted for 1 tsp lemon zest)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Blend crust ingredients using a pastry cutter. Press crust into an 8 x 8-inch foil-lined baking pan spayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly.

Filling: Lightly beat the eggs, sugar, and flour together in a bowl. I used a fork. Add lemon juice, heavy cream, and salt and mix well.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Stir filling again, then pour filling over warm crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling no longer appears wet and shaky.

Set on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into 12 bars.
The counts

Net Carb: 3g

Protein: 3.5g

Fiber: 1.8g

*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.

egg nog - 4g

Egg nog was always one of those things that scared me. Drinking raw eggs? Ew! I'd tried some store bought stuff once and just wasn't impressed and didn't understand what the big deal was.

Then I saw an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton Brown takes you through the entire process and by the end of the episode I wanted to make some egg nog so friggin' bad! I adore AB so I knew there was a high chance that it would be yummy.

And it was. So, so yummy! It's one of my favorite holiday treats now!

Yesterday, we went and cut down our Christmas tree and were supposed to decorate it this morning. My husband comes home with store-bought egg nog and a new bottle of rum for the occassion and though very sweet, the egg nog is carby. (12g for 8 oz. That's 1/4 of my daily intake!) He had some things to do before we started so I decided to see if I could make a low carb version!

I wasn't too impressed at first. I used all heavy cream and that's practically all you could taste. I decided to make another half batch using some almond milk to cut down the cream taste but then it tasted too much like almond milk. Still not impressed and now I had a huge batch of egg nog.

I figured I'd try again tomorrow after a trip to the store for supplies but then this evening, I decided to have a cup (can't let it go to waste!) and the tastes have now all blended together and are really good!

AB does suggest you use bourbon, but my favorite alcohol is spiced rum so that's what I always use in it.

I was too busy enjoying the heck out of mine to take a picture. :)

Image via Alton Brown on the Hisotry of Eggnog

Low Carb Egg Nog
altered from Alton Brown's recipe

6 large eggs, separated
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups almond milk
1 Tbs nutmeg
2/3 cup Swerve + 1 Tbs Swerve
6 oz spiced rum


In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup Swerve and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the almond milk, cream, rum and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Clean and dry your mixer bowl and whisk before working with the egg whites. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of Swerve and beat until stiff peaks form.

Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

*Beating the egg whites into soft peaks does make it a very frothy and thick drink. If you want your egg nog more liquidy, don't separate the eggs at the beginning.

Serves 10-12

The counts

Net Carb: 4g 

Protein: 5g

Fiber: 0.8g

*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.

My breakfast wrap - 8g

This isn't really a recipe and I'm positive others have come up with this before, but this is one of my favorite low carb meals (8 net grams), especially for breakfast because it is so quick and easy. I like starting my day off with a very low carb, high fiber, high protein meal just to get the day off right. Usually I'll have some sort of fruit or a low carb yogurt on the side, too.

What you'll need: low carb tortillas, cheese - I like colby jack - hard-boiled eggs and ham.

On a microwavable plate, layer the ingredients. Microwave for 30 seconds and fold!

 

Hide from your children while you eat so they don't devour the entire thing.



The counts

Net Carb: 8g

Protein: 26g

Fiber: 12g

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

One day, I used some leftover ground turkey that had been made with a little taco seasoning and it was delicious! I haven't done much else, but the possibilities are endless!

-different cheeses

-turkey

-salsa or hot sauce

-onions

-mushrooms

-shredded zucchini

-chopped up greens, like spinach or kale

What low carb ingredient would you add?

The Incredible Edible (Boiled) Egg

Eggs are definitely a staple of a low carb diet. Low calorie, 6g of protein and 0g of carbs. Versatile little things, too, so I'm sure I'll have lots of egg recipes that will get posted at some point.

Once a week, I boil a dozen eggs and eat them with my morning breakfast wrap. (Ole XTreme High Fiber tortilla wrap, a slice of ham, boiled egg and cheese, microwaved for 30 seconds. 5 grams!) However, I suck at boiling eggs. It takes forever, They never come out the same and half of the white ends up in the trash when I peel it. I've tried all the tricks I could find - using older eggs, using fresh eggs, starting the water cold, adding things to the water, cooking for different times, different types of eggs, etc. None of it worked for me so I resigned myself to using my As Seen On TV Eggies, even though they were kind of a pain in their own way, too.

Then a friend posted a link to a Pinterest page about baking your "hard-boiled" eggs.

I decided I'd give it a try and couldn't believe that IT ACTUALLY WORKS!

Lauren at The Burlap Bag suggests 325-350 degrees for 30 minutes but my friend said hers worked at 320 and since my oven seems to burn things easily, I went with 320.

Lauren also came up with the idea to use a mini muffin tin, which is brilliant!

I could do two dozen at a time... which may be necessary soon since my

two little ones seem to love eggs as much as I do and like to have them for snacks.

After baking, some of them might have brown spots on them.

This usually goes away after the next step, though sometimes you'll have

little brown spots on the egg white where it was resting in the tin. Doesn't bother me though.

Next up: Ice bath for 10 minutes or so.

This cools them down and stops the cooking process so the yolks don't turn green.

And peel! So easy, my 3-year-old can do it.

 (Like my fingernail? My niece taught me how to do that! She probably found it on Pinterest, too.)

Perfectly done!

This is absolutely how I will always "boil" my eggs from here on out! And now I can finally try to make deviled eggs! Just need a good recipe...