This is one of our favorite low-carb treasures. It is a delicious, thick and creamy strawberry or chocolate shake. I just developed a pumpkin pie shake which is my husband's new favorite; his favorite used to be chocolate. My favorite is the strawberry shake. A regular "frosty"  has 50 grams of carbs for a small. The chocolate version of this has less than 6 carbs.

The inspiration for this shake is the "60 second Chocolaty Frosty" from Melissa at satisfyingeats.blogspot.com. She had the brilliant idea of freezing unsweetened almond milk in ice cube trays and using the almond milk cubes as the base of the shake. I have made these shakes for many friends and family, and everyone loves them.

Strawberry Shake

4 cubes of frozen, unsweetened Almond Milk (about 4 ounces)

4 ounces of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup  unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 small spoonful of stevia (to taste) (I use Bolivian)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or ninja. Blend until smooth.

Chocolate Shake

8 cubes of frozen, unsweetened Almond Milk (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup  unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 TBL powdered swerve (erythritol)

1 small spoonful of stevia (to taste) (I use Bolivian Stevia)

2  1/2 TBL unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or  ninja. Blend until smooth. 

Pumpkin Pie Shake

To make this shake, you need to have frozen cubes of pumpkin puree as well as the frozen Almond Milk cubes.

5 cubes of frozen unsweetened Almond Milk (about 5 ounces)

3 cubes of frozen pumpkin puree (about 3 ounces)

1/2 cup unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 TBL powdered Swerve

1 small spoonful plus a pinch more of Bolivian Stevia (to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or ninja. Blend until smooth.

Before our grain- free low- carb lifestyle we would have whole grain pancakes or waffles every Saturday morning and then feel tired and sluggish when our blood sugar dropped. We now enjoy these delicious pancakes made with almond flour and now have the energy to enjoy our Saturday. 

These pancakes are delicious with a nice flavor and texture. They are great with fresh or frozen blueberries. This recipe makes a good sized batch, if you have some left keep them in the refrigerator, they reheat in the toaster very well. I like to add  the first four ingredients to quart sized Ziploc bags for convenience later. I store these in the refrigerator.

Almond Flour Pancakes

2 cups of almond flour (I use Honeyville blanched)

2 tsp baking powder (I use aluminum free)

1/2 tsp sea salt

a pinch of stevia (to your taste)

4 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or the kind of milk that you use)

2 TBL melted coconut oil (or light for baking olive oil)

In a medium, small bowl mix the dry ingredients together. In a medium, large bowl, I use my 8 cup measuring bowl so that I have a spout for pouring the pancakes, mix together the eggs, almond milk and the coconut oil. Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until incorporated.

Heat your skillet then grease it with coconut oil or butter. Pour the pancake batter onto the hot, greased skillet flipping over when golden brown.

We like these with my stevia sweetened berry jam. Click here for the recipe.

These muffins are seriously delicious and easy to make. They have a great flavor and a very nice texture. They are nice and light not heavy like some grain free muffins that I have made. If you have a ripe banana and 2/3 of a cup of natural peanut butter then you probably have all of the ingredients to make a batch! I found this recipe on the blog Satisfying Eats, click here for the recipe.

July and August have been so busy with visiting family and fun. I thought that I would do a quick post on my favorite way to make fried chicken. I love it so much that I have a hard time wanting to prepare chicken any other way.

This is more of a method than a recipe. I use about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. Almond flour, Herbes De Provence or poultry seasoning,  season salt and a generous 1/4 of coconut oil for frying the chicken.

In a large bowl I sprinkle the almond flour on the chicken. I use only the amount of almond flour that is needed to coat the chicken as almond flour is not cheap like regular flour. I place the coated thighs on a large plate or cookie sheet and sprinkle both sides generously with Herbes De Provence and season salt. Herbes De Provence is a blend of thyme, marjoram, rosemary, basil, fennel, sage and lavender. Poultry seasoning works well also. 

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add a generous 1/4 of a cup of coconut oil. Carefully place your seasoned chicken thighs in the hot oil. Cover the pan, cook for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken and cook for 10 more minutes or until done. I do this in two batches as my pan is not large enough to cook all of the chicken at once. If you are using chicken with the bone still in it will take longer to cook. Check that your chicken is cooked thoroughly before serving. I make 2 pounds for the two of us because I love it cold the next day.

My Daughter-in-law and my Mother have asked me recently about making something chocolaty. I have been wanting to try the Brownie Bites from SlimPalate.com. I made them today and they are a winner. I find that chocolate is better with a blend of sweeteners because of the bitterness of the chocolate. His recipe recommends 1/2 tsp of liquid stevia plus 1/2 cup water or 1/2 cup of honey. I used 1/8 tsp of Bolivian stevia (this is 1/4 cup of sugar sweetness) plus 2 TBL of erythritol and 2 TBL of honey. For the water I used 1/4 of a cup plus 2 TBL. I wanted to use a little bit of honey because it adds moistness to baked goods, but not too much honey that would spike our blood sugar. I can not taste the erythritol, which is a good thing. The taste and texture is great. My silicone mini muffin pans were so nice, after cooling for 10 minutes the brownies popped right out of the pan. I got my pans at Joanne's craft store with my 50% off coupon. I mixed natural peanut butter with a pinch of stevia to frost them with, for all of you chocolate with peanut butter fans, like my husband. For the recipe click here.

 I soak my raw nuts and seeds for at least eight hours to neutralize the phytic acid that is found in seeds, nuts and grains. Untreated phytic acid can combine with magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper and iron in the intestine, blocking the bodies absorption of these minerals. Soaking seeds and nuts also neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors, which are hard on your digestion. Soaking actually encourages the production of beneficial enzymes. Activating these enzymes also increases the amount of many vitamins.

In a big plastic or glass bowl I cover m yraw nuts or seeds with water and add 1 tsp of sea salt. I soak overnight or at least eight hours. After rinsing well, I dehydrate the nuts or seeds in my dehydrator on the nut setting which is 103 degrees for about 24 hours or until crunchy again. The soaked sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are actually starting to sprout after soaking! Now it is not a big deal to soak and dehydrate my seeds and nuts. I soak 2 or 3 pounds at a time and store them in zip lock freezer bags in the freezer.

When I first learned about nuts containing phytic acid I thought, "oh no, one more thing that I have to do, soak my nuts." After the first time that I soaked my nuts and tried them, without dehydrating them, I did not like them! They tasted rather beanie and were soggy. I was happy when I thought to try dehydrating my soaked nuts, they taste better than the unsoaked ones, and have a great texture. I love the raw, soaked, sprouted, dehydrated sunflower seeds and keep a dish on my counter to snack on all day.

This is our favorite cereal, as it contains 2 cups of nuts you can see my motivation for the steps above so that they are beneficial nuts. It is seriously delicious and easy to make. It was inspired by the Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal at satisfyingeats.blogspot.com. Because I make this cereal often, I pre chop big batches of my nuts in my food processor or ninja and store them in my freezer.    

Peanut butter granola

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I like crunchy, salted)
1/8 tsp stevia, to taste (this is equal to 1/4 of a cup sugar sweetness)
2 TBL powdered erythritol (I use Swerve)

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. In a small bowl combine the peanut butter and the stevia. In a medium, large bowl mix the coconut, almonds, pecans and walnuts, stir to combine. Put half of the sweetened peanut butter on the nuts and stir, repeat with the remainder of the peanut butter. Break up the big clumps of peanut butter. Sprinkle the granola with the powdered erythritol. Stir to mix well. 

Spread the granola on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir carefully. Bake for 10 minutes more, being careful not to burn it. The coconut should be a nice golden brown.

Cool completely and store it in the refrigerator.  

I love coconut milk and gelatin so I developed a delicious recipe that gives us the tastiness and great nutrition of both. Coconut milk contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which are all great. More exciting is that coconut milk is rich in a unique substance, lauric acid, which is a medium-chain fatty acid.  Lauric acid is abundant in mother’s milk; it is important for little developing brains and used to help people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.  Lauric acid is anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I use full fat coconut milk because the coconut oil of the coconut milk is where a lot of the benefit is located. I look for coconut milk that does not have preservatives, we don’t have a problem with guar gum, it is a thickening agent derived from guar beans. Native Forest organic coconut milk is canned with BPA free cans. If your coconut milk has a thick layer of hardened  coconut oil on the top just gently warm it or blend it.  

Coconut Milk Jellies recipe
  
2 Cups water

2/3 cup Bernard Jensens gelatin (If using Great Lakes gelatin reduce to ½ cup)

1 (13.66 fl oz) can of full fat coconut milk

¼ tsp stevia (this is equal to ½ cup of sugar sweetness)

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 drops of orange or lemon essential oil (optional)
 
Put the water into a microwave proof dish, I use a large glass measuring cup. Sprinkle the gelatin into the water a little bit at a time, stirring to prevent clumping.  Allow the gelatin mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Microwave the gelatin mixture for 2 minutes until hot but not boiling. If you don’t like to use the microwave, boil a pot of water that your glass dish of softened gelatin will fit into without boiling water getting into your gelatin. Carefully place your dish of softened gelatin into the boiling water, stir for a few minutes until the gelatin is melted, remove the dish from the boiling water. 

Pour the coconut milk, stevia, vanilla and essential oil, if using, into a large container with a pouring spout, I use an 8 cup measuring bowl,  add the hot gelatin to the coconut milk mixture. Stir well. Pour into 48 small silicone
molds. You need to put the molds on cookie sheets or you will have a big mess when you try to pick it up. I only did that once! You can pour the mixture into a large glass pan 9x13 or larger. I like to use the silicone molds because they only take 2 hours to set up and they are fun to eat.  

Refrigerate, after the coconut jellies are set up, pop out of the molds or cut into squares. Store your coconut milk jellies in the refrigerator. Makes 48.

I got my silicone molds at Joanne’s craft store with my 50 % off coupon, they were $6 each. I saw a cute daisy mold there.

These are our favorite crackers. They are so delicious and easy to make with just a few ingredients, equal amounts of blanched almond flour, shredded Gouda cheese, a little sea salt and cold water, I use 2 TBL of water. Because of blogging etiquette I need to send you to Maria’s blog for the recipe because I have not changed it. I do have some helpful hints though as I make them every week.

To keep the cost down I buy the Gouda in a two pound wedge at Costco. I shred it all in my food processor and freeze it in individual zip lock sandwich bags. Since cheese is a little variable when measuring I like to weigh it. I determined 1 ½ cups of shredded Gouda is 4.5 ounces.

I don’t separate the dough into two balls. I roll all of the dough between parchment papers until thin. I fold the edges of the parchment, with the dough that is too thin on the edges, so that my edges are straight and not too thin, so that it will not burn. My square is 11 ½” x11 ½.” I bought a pizza cutter, it is much easier to cut the crackers with than a knife. I bake the crackers at 350 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. While warm I recut the crackers on the lines.  I leave the crackers out to crisp up overnight then I put them in our cracker jar which is on the counter. One batch makes about 56 crackers.

Regular goldfish crackers contain partially  hydrogenated vegetable oil also known as trans-fats. These factory made fats are so bad for our health. Unfortunately our body sees them as a fat instead of the toxin that it is. It crams this toxin into our fat cells which blocks our bodies use of essential fatty acids. This can lead to cancer, obesity, birth defects and many more health problems. We avoid eating partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and stay away from all vegetable oils, opting for healthier coconut oil, olive oil and organic butter. These crackers are more delicious than regular goldfish or cheese crackers and so easy to make. Our Grandson loves these, he calls them “cheese cookies.” Click here for the recipe.

These peanut butter bunnies are my favorite snack. I will even eat a couple of them for lunch when I am too busy to make lunch. They help me keep my blood sugar stable. 
 
I have had high blood pressure for many  years even though I was at a healthy weight, exercised and “ate well” (low fat, whole grain). Very soon after we started eating high healthy fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate my blood pressure was finally at a normal healthy level. I wanted to answer the question why did eating low carb help to lower my high blood pressure?

The answer is that when blood sugar goes up, insulin goes up. From the book Protein Power by Michael R. Eades, M.D & Mary Dan Eades, M.D. page 329 “ The excess insulin works in several ways to cause elevation of blood pressure: it prompts the kidneys to hold on to salt and fluid; it promotes growth in the muscular layer of the artery walls, making them thicker and less pliable; it increases the levels of norepinephrine, an adrenalinelike substance that raises the heart rate and constricts the blood vessels…”

It looks like my breakfast of whole grain toast with jam or cereal with skim milk was raising my blood sugar which caused my insulin to go up leading to an elevation in my blood pressure. I now have a healthy breakfast of eggs with bacon or sausage which gives me enough fat and protein to keep me full for a long time and keeps my blood sugar
stable.

Peanut Butter Protein Bunnies or Balls

½ cup natural peanut butter, just peanuts and salt (I like crunchy)

1/3 cup vanilla whey protein (I use Jay Robb)

2 TBL powdered erythritol (I use confectioners Swerve)

1/8 tsp Bolivian stevia (this is equal to ¼ of a cup of sugar sweetness)

4 TBL heavy whipping cream

Place all of the ingredients in a medium sized pan, stir well, taste to adjust the sweetness. Over low heat, gently warm the peanut butter mixture, stirring constantly. You just want the mixture warm not hot. It should be the consistently of play dough. If the peanut oil starts to separate from the dough it got too warm, but it still tastes
good.

Press into small silicone molds or roll into balls. Refrigerate 2 hours or freeze 15 minutes. Remove from molds, place in an airtight container, refrigerate. These do not last very long in our refrigerator!

Life is interesting: I don’t know what I don’t know until I learn it. One thing I recently learned that I was so happy about was that healthy gelatin is actually really good for you. I love gelatin; not super sugary, artificially colored and flavored Jello, but gelatin made with fruit juice or healthy low-carb beverages. The healthy high-quality gelatins are made from pastured bovine. These brands are Bernard Jensen’s or Great Lakes. I also learned that unflavored Knox gelatin was the wrong kind of gelatin to use. I have found Bernard Jensen’s locally at The Good Earth in the baking section and at The Vitamin Shoppe in the joint health section. If you cannot find a source locally, you can order it here.

I have found that Great Lakes gelatin is a bit stronger than Bernard Jensen’s. If you use Great Lakes to make these jigglers, you might want to use 3 TBLS instead of 4 - it depends on how firm you like your gelatin. These jigglers are firm enough to eat with your fingers. If you want to eat it with a spoon, use 1 or 2 TBL of gelatin. Most children will love this healthy, sugar-free snack. Every tablespoon of gelatin has 12 grams of protein. I love this tasty protein filled snack, it is so easy and fast to make! I eat it every day!

This information on the health benefits of gelatin is from Kate at nutritionbynature.com. Click here to read her
informative gelatin blog. Below is a synopsis of her blog:
 
“Gelatin is pro-thyroid and helps to restore/support optimum metabolism by balancing certain amino acids that can inhibit thyroid function…Gelatin (proline) can aid in wound healing, suppress tumor growth…and reduce systemic inflammation...supports the biosynthesis of collagen…Gelatin can aid in the digestion of milk and milk products…has a sparing effect on proteins…promotes gastric secretion…is soothing and healing to the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract…is immunomodulatory…can increase blood levels of calcium…is used in the synthesis of the endogenous “master” antioxidant glutathione…supports overall liver health…opposes oestrogen and favours progesterone sparing…Gelatin directly opposes stress hormones adrenaline, cortisol and serotonin…has an inhibitory effect on neurotransmitters, helping to promote relaxation and deep sleep. Gelatin facilitates the blood-sugar lowering action of insulin, and has a history of use in the treatment of diabetes and
insulin resistance.”

Healthy Lemonade Jigglers 

1 bottle of Vitamin Water Zero squeezed lemonade 16.9 fl oz

4 TBLS of good gelatin (Bernard Jensen’s or Great Lakes)

1 small spoonful of stevia (taste to achieve your desired sweetness)

2 drops of lemon essential oil (I use doTerra essential oils)

Pour half of the lemonade into a two-cup glass measuring cup. Sprinkle 4 TBLS of gelatin onto the lemonade. Stir then allow it to sit for five minutes. Microwave the lemonade gelatin mixture for 1 minute. Stir some more since the gelatin should now be melted. If you don’t like to use the microwave, you can boil a small pot of water. Place the glass measuring cup with the softened gelatin in it and stir the gelatin for a few minutes until it melts. 
 
Pour the remainder of the lemonade into a medium sized (4 cup size) glass container. Add the stevia and the lemon
essential oil. Then, add the melted gelatin mixture; stir and refrigerate. Cut into squares and eat!
 
This recipe works well with any of your favorite SoBe lifewater or Vitamin Water Zero flavors. I always make sure that they are sweetened with erythritol and stevia, not sugar. The SoBe lifewater blood-orange mango is good with two drops of orange essential oil. I like the berry-flavored drinks with ½ tsp of natural strawberry or raspberry extract in place of the essential oil.