Low Carb Gelatin-Cream Dessert

 Ingredients:

2 pkg. sugar free gelatin, any flavor, small sized box, or 1 larger box

2 c. boiling water

1 c. heavy cream

8 oz. pkg. full fat cream cheese, cut into pieces

Equipment:

Blender. A real one. I tried a stick blender the first time and, despite my best effort, I still ended up with a few chunks of cream cheese in the resultant dessert. They tasted fine, but didn't look right. 

1.     Pour the gelatin powder into the boiling water. Stir for a few minutes until well dissolved.

2.     Add gelatin mixture to your blender container along with the heavy cream and cream cheese cubes.

3.     Blend until smooth.

4.     Pour into a bowl or a mold, if you want to get fancy.

5.     Refrigerate overnight. Unmold if appropriate, or just scoop and serve.

This is easy, quick, and a pleasant treat after a meal. A few berries stirred in would make a nice addition, if you can afford the carbs.

Found at:

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/other-dessert/low-carb-jello-cream-mold.html?p=1

LOW CARB CHEESEBURGER MUSHROOM CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. baby bella mushrooms
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• Paula Deen’s House Seasoning, or seasoned salt, to taste
• ¼ cup onion, diced
• 4 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2-3 T. low carb ketchup
• 2-3 T. mustard
• ½ cup cubed dill pickles (a rough guess)
• sliced cheddar or American cheese for the top

For serving:

• 4-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced (or equivalent)
•  lettuce, thinly shredded

Instructions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350F.

2.   Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Dice the stems. Slice the caps thinly.

3.   In a skillet, brown the beef and stir in onions and mushrooms until they soften. Then mix in the cream cheese and pickle pieces. Season with Worcestershire sauce, low carb ketchup, mustard, and seasoned salt. Taste and adjust. You want to be able to taste the ketchup and mustard in the mix without it being overpowering. We like plenty of pickle in there.

4.   Place the hamburger mix into a baking dish and top with sliced cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

5.   Serve with shredded lettuce and sliced tomato on top.

We really enjoyed this tonight. My inspiration was a stuffed mushroom appetizer recipe, but I ended up making a lot of changes, so this one's mine. 

Cheesecake Fluff

This stuff is pretty amazing. Swoon-worthy, even. But it is rich, so I recommend a small serving size.

8 oz cream cheese

3 tbsp. Da Vinci SF Syrup (I chose caramel for my first try)

4 oz. heavy cream  

4 tbsp. sour cream.

Whip it all together until it gets stiff peaks. Refrigerate to let it set a bit. 

This would be amazing with some sliced strawberries or a low carb blueberry sauce. 

Note: For my first try, I warmed the cream cheese in the microwave. It mixed better that way, but I think it was too warm to develop the stiff peaks mentioned. It did get smooth and a little fluffy that way, but I’ll try it cold next time and get back to you regarding how that worked.

Simple Low Carb Cream Sauce For Meat or Vegetables

I invented this yesterday as a spur-of-the-moment problem solver. I had some leftover roast beef that I feared would dry out upon reheating. I used what I had on hand to make this sauce as a "food lube." It turned out to be quite good. I'm recording it here so I don't forget it! This is roughly what I did. Of course, I didn't measure. I wish I had.

2T. butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 pint heavy cream
2 t. beef base (my guess)
Paula Deen's House Seasoning to taste
About 1/2 t. low carb thickener powder

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the onion and reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir for a few minutes. Add the cream and the beef base. Bring to a boil and simmer a while to reduce a bit. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add low carb thickener powder and stir to remove any lumps that might form. Heat a few more minutes until it thickens, and serve. It didn't get very thick, but it was thick enough to do the job and taste divine.

Note: This is a basic recipe you could ada[t in many ways. Add herbs. Use chicken or another base. Add minced garlic, or sliced mushrooms.

I tried this also on my steamed green beans, and it was a nice combination. It's also a pleasant way to increase your fat intake for the day, if you think you need to.

QED* Low Carb Zucchini Side Dish

* QED = Quick, Easy, Delicious

I was buying a package of zucchinis at Aldi today, and met an old woman who was doing the same. She mentioned she was buying them for her husband, who was ill, and that one of these small-to-medium zucchinis was a serving for him. On the spur of the moment, I asked her how she cooked them. She told me she grated them and cooked them for about five minutes, then sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese. I told her I was going to try that tonight, and I did. Wow! My husband and I loved it. So here, before I forget, I share this discovery with you. This is what I did:

2 small to medium zucchinis, shredded coarsely
2 T. Butter
Paula Deen's House Seasoning to taste
Parmesan cheese, about 1 T.

We grated the zucchini quickly with our Salad Shooter. **
Heat the butter in a skillet on medium-high. Add the shredded zucchini and stir as it cooks. Season with Paula. Some liquid accumulated in the skillet, so I waited until it evaporated before calling it done. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese, stir and serve.

I wish I had gotten that nice lady's name.

**Regarding the Salad Shooter: Grating cheeses and other things was slow and sometimes arduous. I finally found the answer, and it was the Salad Shooter I saw on TV years ago and ignored. It's made my cooking life so much pleasanter. I wish I bought one years ago. The model below is the one I have. My only objection is that it is a bit on the noisy side, so don't hold it next to your ears! It makes short work of whatever needs to be sliced or grated, and is easier to clean, generally, than the food processor would be.

Low Carb High Fat Food Pyramid You Can Print

Print this and stick it on your refrigerator as a nifty reminder and motivator.

http://www.edify.net.au/food_pyramid.php

Easy Peel Hard Boiled Eggs in an Electric Pressure Cooker

If easy peel hard cooked eggs were the only thing a pressure cooker did, I would still own one. I have struggled with those darn egg shells for too many years, trying all of the hints without success. The pressure cooker technique was a true epiphany for me. And you don't even have to use older eggs!

Here is a site that explains it fully:

http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/pressurecookerhardeggs.htm

I learned something there that I haven't seen elsewhere in my research, so I am impressed.

I have settled on 1 cup water in the bottom, eggs on a rack above.  6-7 minutes on low pressure. Natural release. Ice water bath. Peel now or later.