Melon Quencher

 I made this with watermelon....put in agave instead of honey, added a little more ice, and didn't add the sparkling water or make the skewers, but it was delish!
Watermelon purees very easily, you want it to be like mush and not water. That's why I had to add more ice to make up for it.

It is from the August 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens...you can get it on bhg.com, too, but you do have to register... not sure if you have to be a magazine subscriber as well.

I made it with both watermelon and cantaloupe...it's good either way. It would make an excellent breakfast drink.

Fresh Melon Quenchers
Prep: 10 minutes

Ingredients

* 1 to 1-1/2 cups cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon puree*(about a quarter of a 4 lb. melon)
* 3 ice cubes
* 1/4 inch slice fresh ginger, grated
* Plain low-fat yogurt
* 1 to 2 tsp. honey
* Shredded lime peel (optional)
* Plain or flavored sparkling water
* Frozen Melon Drink Skewers (recipe below)

Directions

1. In blender container combine melon puree, ice cubes, ginger, a teaspoon or two of yogurt, and honey. Blend just until mixture is frothy and smooth. Pour into serving glass. Add additional honey to adjust sweetness. Stir in lime peel to taste. Add sparkling water to fill glass. Serve with Frozen Melon Drink Skewers. Serve immediately.

*To Puree Melon: Coarsely chop melon and transfer to blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. If needed, stop motor and press fruit down into blades with rubber spatula or spoon and continue to blend until smooth.

**Frozen Melon Drink Skewers: Using a small melon baller, scoop cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon into balls. Or use a knife to cut melons into cubes or 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Thread melon balls and wedges onto wooden skewers. Arrange on parchment-or waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 2 to 4 hour or until firm. Makes 1 (16-ounce) serving.
Nutrition Facts

* Calories 86,
* Total Fat (g) 1,
* Cholesterol (mg) 0,
* Sodium (mg) 57,
* Carbohydrate (g) 21,
* Fiber (g) 2,
* Protein (g) 2,
* Vitamin A (DV%) 0,
* Vitamin C (DV%) 142,
* Calcium (DV%) 4,
* Iron (DV%) 3,
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Fairly low carb and gluten free

Enjoy!

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Keto Cheezits

 

This yummy snack was posted on a gluten-free Facebook group I'm in. They taste a lot like Cheezits!

Lay thin squares of cheddar on parchment paper on a cookie sheet at least a few inches apart. They spread. Cook in 250° oven for 30-35 minutes. Don't let them brown too much. 

This can also be done with DF cheese.

Enjoy!

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Carb-Free Hot Chocolate

 Fill a small mug or cup half-full with cream. Fill most of the rest of the mug with water. Heat on high in microwave until hot (2 or more minutes, depending on how hot you like it). Don't boil it as it will get a film. (you could do this on the stove top instead of the microwave if you wish)

In a larger mug, put two or three heaping spoons full of cocoa powder (the kind you bake with, not hot chocolate mix) and an equal amount of Equal or Splenda (you might have to adjust this to your tastes). Pour in the hot cream/water mixture. Stir it very well until there are no clumps (you might have to use a mini-blender to get it completely mixed). Garnish with whipped cream (not the pre-sweetened kind). No marshmallows unless they are sugar-free. You could sprinkle some cinnamon on it for some extra flavor.

This is very rich, so you could easily save some for another day or share it with someone

I diluted the cream with water so that it will be less fattening and not as rich. Cream has no carbs, but milk does, so you don't want to substitute milk or half and half unless you want to add carbs.

This would probably make a good smoothie as well if you put it in a blender with some ice. You could add a little mashed banana (this will add carbs) or maybe find some banana or caramel sugar free syrup to add. Your only limit is your creativity

You can also add some Bailey's to the hot chocolate to give it a little kick, and/or some Godiva chocolate liqueur. I have ordered it in restaurants and it is delicious.

Gluten free and low carb

Enjoy!

Credit to Tim, bartender at Epiphany, for part of this!

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Smoothies

 

Nonfat and low-calorie

1/2 package of frozen raspberries

an equal amount of fresh strawberries, washed, trimmed and hulled, and cut in half.

one banana, peeled and cut in thirds

a cup of plain nonfat vanilla

Equal to taste

3 Tablespoons orange juice

Defrost raspberries.  When they are almost defrosted (soft enough to cut up easily but not soggy), put them in the blender or food processor.  Add other fruit.  Blend or process (puree) until smooth.  Add yogurt and Equal to taste (I like a lot because both the raspberries and yogurt are kind of sour).  Blend until smooth again.

You can add a package of blueberries as well.  You can switch and use frozen strawberries and fresh raspberries, or you can use both frozen or both fresh.  I like the frozen/fresh combo because it seems to work well for the consistency.  I don't always measure the Equal or the yogurt, I just put in how much I feel like.

Should make enough for two smoothies.

If you like your smoothies really frosty, you can fill the rest of the blender with ice and process until it is smooth.

Gluten free; not low carb.

For a low carb smoothie:

Cut up 4 or 5 strawberries (or your favorite fruit). Add in to the blender with a Cup of cream, your favorite sweetener to taste (I like a lot of Equal or Splenda), and and a bunch of ice. (I just eyeball it)  You could add other fruits if you wish, as well.  Puree until smooth.  It may take awhile. I like to test it first with a straw before I get it out of the blender to make sure all the seeds and ice are well blended, and that it's sweet enough for me. You can also use whipped cream, Cool Whip, yogurt or milk.  The last two have more carbs, though.

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Pancake Bites

 These are mini-blueberry muffins! Delicious!

Pancake Bites

Enjoy!

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Delicious Low Carb Muffins

 This recipe was from about.com...

I made them tonight. Delicious! Especially for me because I cannot eat gluten, so almond flour is a good substitute. These are made even better with a little dollop of butter or margarine.
I made them with blueberries.
I will warn you that almond meal/flour is very expensive! I couldn't believe it.

This is gluten-free, but you might have to find baking powder that is gluten free if you react to the regular kind...

These below are not my comments.

These versatile sugar-free and low-carb muffins can be the basis for many variations, including low carb blueberry or apricot muffins.
Ingredients:

* 2 cups almond flour (almond meal)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
* 4 eggs
* 1/3 cup water
* Sweetener to taste -- about 1/3 cup usually works well -- liquid preferred

Preparation:
1) Preheat oven to 350 F.

2) Butter a muffin tin. You can really do it with any size, but I'm basing the recipe on a 12-muffin tin.

3) Mix dry ingredients together well.

4) Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly (You don't want strings of egg white in there and you don't have to worry about "tunnels" when you are using almond meal).

5) Put in muffin tins (about 1/2 to 2/3 full) and bake for about 15 minutes.

Variations: Add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins. For apricot muffins, take a teaspoon of sugar-free apricot jam on each muffin and push it in slightly (it will sink more during baking).

Nutritional Information: Each of 12 muffins has 1.5 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber, 6 grams protein, and 185 calories.

Gluten free and low carb

Enjoy!

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Low Carb Cinnamon Rolls

 This was posted on the diabetesdaily.com forum.

It doesn't really taste like cinnamon rolls to me, but it's very yummy and makes a great snack.

Spray cooking spray Pam into a coffee cup
add: 1 scoop or 1/4 Cup vanilla whey protein
1 whole egg
1 packet of stevia or other sweetener
2 Tbsp of cinnamon (to taste)
Mix into a batter.
Microwave for 45 to 60 seconds in the coffee cup. It will puff up but sink back down once you turn off the microwave.
It will come right out the shape of your cup, so slice it into three or four piece, and you can
add a topping such as sugar free syrup, sugar free icing, butter or margarine, greek yogurt or cream cheese. Some like it plain or dunked into coffee.
Mix stevia in the greek yogurt, and make it really sweet if you prefer.

Enjoy!

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