Banana breakfast muffins (gluten free! coconut flour! low fat!)

As I mentioned in my last post, I took the plunge and bought myself a Costco membership.  It’s a bit of a drive for me so I’ve only been there once, which is good because I blew through $200 like nobody’s business on that first trip.  Granted, I did pick up a lot of “junk” for zee boyfriend.  Costco has great prices on meat and some packaged stuff, but for fruits and veggies and such (I’m a human calculator to the point of being a little obsessive compulsive) the savings are negligible. Oh well, lesson learned a little late… I don’t think I’ll be renewing next year.

There’s something about the combination of fluorescent lighting, giant warehouse, and “DEALS DEALS DEALS” that put me into sort of a trance and I made a lot of – no, exclusively impulse buys.  Somehow I ended up with 16 cartons of egg whites.  How Jenny Craig of me!  But let me explain myself.  If you’ve ever cooked with coconut flour you know the recipes call for an absurd amount of eggs.  I’ve never had much success coconut flour recipes, not being a fan of dense, soggy, cardboardy baked goods. That is, aside from my microwave chocolate cake, which calls for egg whites and turned out terrible the one time I used a whole egg.  So I set out on a mission to make the perfect coconut flour muffin.

SUCCESS, my friends! I started with this recipe and substituted whites for half of the eggs, then cut back a single whole egg, then to none at all.  Guess which one was best?! While my yolk-less muffins rose beautifully, they were still a bit soggy and oily- so I cut back on the oil until I achieved perfection!  I’ve been tweaking the basic recipe all week with different add-ins and will continue to post my best concoctions until, well, I’m sick of muffins. Which will be NEVER.

Banana Muffins
Raspberry & Coconut
Makes 8

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. coconut flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1.5 c. egg whites (equivalent to 6 whole eggs)
• 1 T. oil (melted coconut oil, butter, or macadamia nut oil all worked for me)
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 dropper full liquid stevia (optional)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. In a food processor or medium bowl, combine dry ingredients- coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Add all other ingredients aside from walnuts and blueberries, if you’re using them.  Process in food processor or mix with hand blender until there are no lumps- I use my Cuisinart hand mixer.  Fold in walnuts (or berries or chocolate chips…).
3. Pour batter into lined muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 C) for 20- 25 minutes.

 

Nutritional Stats (per muffin- without nuts): 94 calories | 3 g. fat | 11 g. carbs | 3 g. fiber | 6 g. protein

Zucchini comfort “noodles”

Can I get a collective “booooo” to a rainy Labor Day weekend? Fall is definitely on its way and there’s a new recipe that’s going to be in my regular rotation this winter! It’s from The Clothes Make the Girl and is warm, comforting, delicious, and “cheesy” despite being dairy- free.

Comfort Noodles
Serves 1

Ingredients: (very slightly modified from the original recipe)

• 1 medium zucchini, spiralized or julienned
• ~ 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon almond flour or almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 eggs, scrambled
• 1 t. dried parsley
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

See the original recipe.  I promise, it’s not complicated.  Took me 10 minutes, tops, to prepare.

Quick n fluffy 48 calorie chocolate shake

Craving a chocolate shake but don’t have any gelatin prepared in advance?  I’ve perfected the art of “quick setting” gelatin in a shake using ice and a blender!   I daresay it’s better than the original recipe, but it’s also lighter and fluffier- if you’re craving something more substantial check out the original gelatin shake recipe.

The shake I made in the demonstration video was absolutely perfect!  It takes a bit of tweaking to get it just right- too much gelatin, you’ll get fluffy mousse that’s delicious but has to be eaten with a spoon, too little, your shake will be runny, too much ice and you’ll have more of a slushie than a shake.  Also- my experience adding fats (avocado/ almond milk) has not been good, as these seem to “un-fluffy” the “fluffyness.”

Fluffy Chocolate Shake
Raspberry & Coconut
48 calories / 0.7 g fat/ 3.5 carbs/ 1.8 fiber/ 7.1 protein

• water*
• 1 T. gelatin
• ice
• 2 T cocoa powder
• generous pinch of salt
• stevia
• 1 t. vanilla

*let the gelatin “flower” in 2/3 c. water before microwaving 30-45 seconds.  Add the rest after pouring the mixture over ice, as demonstrated below.

Chocolate milk shake with GELATIN!!!

Here’s another recipe using my basic gelatin prep method.  Watch and learn, my friends!

 

Chocolate Pudding- made with gelatin

A few years ago, after diet number “who knows” battling the last 15 pounds of my 60+ weight loss, my hair was thinning and my nails were brittle.  Enter flavorless gelatin, derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones.  (Macabre.  And I used to be a vegan.)  It has about 30 calories per tablespoon and is all protein, mainly glycine and proline.  Want to learn more about the health benefits of gelatin? Click HERE and HERE.

For starters, you can get the basic Knox brand from the store, but a much cheaper option is to order in bulk.  I’ve used NOW brand beef gelatin powder, which is about $25 for FIVE POUNDS (which lasts FOREVER) as well as Great Lakes brand, which is considerably more expensive but is a finer powder (which lends to slightly better gelling) and is from free-range cows (you can order porcine gelatin as well, but I haven’t yet tried this.)

I’ve experimented with using it to thicken soup, ice cream, smoothies, and to make my own “jigglers.”   Of all these methods, my favorite by far is “moo-sse.”  Seriously, I LOVE this stuff and eat it almost every day.  The gelatin keeps my nails and hair strong and shiny, and this fairly low-calorie dessert keeps me satisfied after dinner.  You get a HUGE serving for around 100 low-carb calories. Plus- there are INFINITE possibilities for mix-ins!  I’m sharing my recipe for basic chocolate pudding in this post, but STAY TUNED for many more, and please, feel free to share any combinations you dream up!

First, I’ll show you how to set the gelatin:

Basic gelatin prep:
Makes enough for about two servings of pudding

2 T Gelatin
4 c. Water

Measure 1 c. water into a microwave-safe container.  Sprinkle gelatin into the water and immediately whisk with a fork until combined.  Let the mixture sit undisturbed for about 8 minutes.  Pop the whole thing in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until water is warm, almost hot, to the touch.**   Add the remaining 3 c. water and whisk until blended, cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours.  This stuff will keep for awhile- I’ve never had any spoil on me.

**Note: If you have a fancy-schmancy microwave, it will take less time.  I have the cheapest one I could find- but I would imagine the longest you’d want to heat the water with any model would be about 1:15.  It’s important to get this “just right,” so I wouldn’t recommend doubling or halving the recipe.

On to the MOO-SSE (get it?!):

Chocolate Moo-sse

• ~2 T Cocoa (I prefer Hershey’s Special Dark)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• Liquid Stevia, to taste

Optional add-ins:

• Almond or Coconut milk
• Cayenne pepper (personal favorite!  You’ve gotta try it!)
• Nutritional Yeast
• Maca powder
• Avocado
• A tiny bit of xanathan or guar gum to thicken and smooth
• Cottage cheese (If you can tolerate dairy, I HIGHLY recommend this- it makes the pudding extra creamy)
• A TBSP or two of heavy cream

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast

Chocolate cake! For breakfast!? This 150-calorie cake-y chocolatey big-as-your-fist treat is a totally sufficient breakfast if you smother it in butter!  I remember watching this Cosby skit with my dad a long long time ago- “chocolate cake for breakfast” became a running joke when he was on breakfast duty.

“Eggs! Eggs are in chocolate cake! And milk! Oh goodie! And wheat! That’s nutrition!”

Anytime Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Spoonful of Sugar Free
Dry Ingredients:
1 T. Coconut flour
2 T. Protein powder
2 T. Cocoa
1/2 t. baking powder
Pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:
1/4 c. egg whites
2 T. canned pumpkin
1 T. – 1/4 c. water
A few drops of vanilla and/or stevia, optional
Optional mix-ins: frozen blueberries, raspberries, or chocolate chips.

Grease a bowl with coconut oil, set aside. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add wet ingredients and mix-ins, stir, and add water to thin (see video). Pour batter into the greased bowl, then nuke for 3-4 minutes, depends on your microwave. Flip the cake out of your bowl, put a paper towel on the bottom, and nuke it again for 1- 1.5 minutes. Schmear with butter or peanut butter and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee on a lazy Sunday morning. These are also good cold and get really fudgy when they sit in the fridge.

In case you’re interested, here are the nutritionals for the WHOLE cake:
Calories: 144
Fat: 2.3 g
Carbs: 18 g.
Fiber: 8 g.
Protein: 19.1 g.

Not too shabby!

Cauliflower “Rice”

My sore throat is gone and my cough is clearing up, but whatever’s been festering inside of me has moved to my sinuses. The freezer is full to the brim with beef and chicken stew, thanks to my mom, who, in true Lutheran fashion, continues to make soup and brew multiple pots of coffee daily, even as temperatures climb into the ‘90s. I love soup but I need more volume to make my tummy happy, so I’m whipping up a batch of cauliflower rice today.

Some carb-phobic genius created this recipe back in the dark ages of Atkins, so I’m not sure to whom I owe credit. Cauliflower rice is a staple in my kitchen and can be used in place of rice in any recipe, as a base for curries, or enjoyed on its own with a pat of butter and some salt and pepper.

Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients:

• Cauliflower
• Fat: Lard, butter, ghee, coconut oil, or some mix of these.

Directions:
Grate cauliflower. Preheat skillet over medium-high and add fat to the pan. When fat is melted, spread it around and add the cauliflower. If you need a lot of “rice,” do this in multiple batches- you don’t want to have more than an inch of cauliflower in the pan; it will get soggy. After about a minute, toss the rice to coat it with fat. Let the cauliflower brown, tossing every 4 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.