National Bacon Day!

 So how do you enjoy your bacon? Are you a traditional bacon lover, a thick slice bacon lover or do you enjoy the peameal bacon version of bacon? 

Over here I am the only one whose not a lover of the peameal bacon but I love me some thick slices bacon! 

#nationalbaconday #bacon #baconlovers #nomnom #keto #lowcarb #grainfree #autoimmunedisease #glutenfree 

Friday night snacking low carb style

One of the biggest challenges or hurtles to creating a 'new lifestyle' is getting over the connection we have between memories/traditions and unhealthy food choices .... normally Friday night has always had the tradition of 'winding down' after a long week of work life balance so we curl up on the couch with a drink in one had and a carbalicous snack in the other! So it is hard when those memories clues of it being Friday night and choosing our movie or in this case Netflix binge option of the series You sets off a 'craving' for popcorn on me!

But not this time cravings .... tonights Friday night movie time is about to begin and I am ready with the  “popcorn habit” replacement ... bacon chips with some of my carefully rationing Epicure cheesy jalapeño dip 💕💕

What is your ultimate low carb snack option? Drop me a line in the comments!

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

#lowcarb #keto #grainfree #celiac #autoimmunedisease #snacks #epicure #epiclifechallenge #nomnom 

Soft & Chewy Keto Bagels

Nom nom ... slowly making my way through my wishlist recipe try outs from over at Gnomgnom.yum blog!

Up today is the Soft & Chewy Keto bagels ... they were so easy to whip up although I might need fresher yeast cause not sure mine was as frothy as it should be but work with what you have when in self isolation 🤣

I have a bagel/donut mold so I rolled mine into it but you do not need a mold you can roll out onto parchment paper. I also used the Everything Bagel topping from Epicure. 

They smell awesome and have a nice squishy feel to them when I transferred them to the cooling rack! Took me all I had to wait for them to cool down so I could turn one into my BLT! My tomato was a wee bit thick but it was SO GOOD!

They have a great Net carb option allowing for my lunch to come in under 5 net carbs with my bacon, lettuce, mayo, cheese and tomato add ons! 

Bon Appetite! 

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

*Post contains affiliate links

Bacon Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken in the Crockpot!

 Bacon Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken in the Crockpot!

 





What You Need

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup BBQ sauce,  either store bought or quick DIY version below pairs nicely!
• ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
• ⅛ cup lemon juice, fresh or from a bottle
• 5 small apples, peeled and chopped, I love the tartness of a Granny for cooking but Gala works well too.
• 8 slices bacon

What You Do

1. In a small bowl, combine BBQ sauce, coconut palm sugar, lemon juice and peeled/chopped apples.
2. Wrap each chicken breast with two slices of bacon and place in a greased slow cooker.
3. Pour BBQ-apple mixture over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is done.

Maple BBQ sauce
 
What You Need:

• 1 cup ketchup (homemade ketchup using Epicure Chai Ketchup blend)
•  3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
• 1.5 tablespoons molasses 
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

What You Do: 1. In a medium saucepan mix together all ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.
2. Simmer for 20minutes (uncovered), stirring occasionally.
3. Makes 1.5 cups of sauce. Pour and unused sauce into a glass jar and refrigerate for future use with a lovely BBQ hamburger option.

Serve with a side of your choice ... I opted for a lovely spinach and cabbage salad with a  Balsamic vinaigrette ... perfect dinner specially this past weekend with the wet weather we were having making using BBQ outside less palatable! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

So what to eat when you are grain free and recoverying from a Rota-virus and the recommended 'BRAT DIET' of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast ends up being the BA diet of Bananas and applesauce! 

Look in the fridge and throw together what you think might be 'safe' to digest from the leftovers there so you do not to spend too much time standing at the stove and yet will still have lots of healthy benefits to get you back on your feet!

Butternut squash  packs a lovely punch of vitamin B6, essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems so lets use up t hat!

Parsley  is rich in many vital vitamins, including Vitamin C, B 12, K and A. This means parsley keeps your immune system strong, tones your bones and heals the nervous system, too. It helps flush out excess fluid from the body, thus supporting kidney function.

Garlic which helps to boost immunity and detoxify the body so is an awesome aresenol in the diet to fight off sickness! 

Ginger has a long history of use for relieving digestive problems such as nausea, loss of appetite, motion sickness and pain. 

Onions improve the working of Vitamin C in the body, thus gifting you with improved immunity.

Bacon  ~ well everything tastes better with bacon but it is actually GOOD for your health too!

So put them together with a couple clean eating staples like an egg, almond flour and coconut oil and what can you make?  

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

Makes approximately 6 Latkes how many that serves depends on your appetite!

What You Need

• 2 cups of cooked butternut squash ~ scooped out of the skin.
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of almond flour
• 2 slices of cooked bacon very finely diced to help with digestion
• 1/2 an onion finely diced to help with digestion
• 1 Garlic glove minced for its antibacterial punch
• 1 pinch of ginger for its soothing tummy affects
• Few sprigs of fresh parsley 
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

What You Do

• In a bowl beat the egg well and add the remain ingredients to mix.
• Melt coconut oil over medium heat and drop a 'patty full' scoop onto the frying pan and flatten even with flipper. 
• Brown on each side for about 4 minutes until heated through.
• Serve as a meal on their own or as a side with some meat and veggies!

Nutritional Breakdown  

Based on the recipe making 'six' latkes ... the coconut oil and bacon gives it a bad 'saturated fat' rating but you need to decide for yourself if you feel this is a 'healthy fat' option or a 'bad fat' option cause IMO their analysis does not discriminate between fats when I put nuts in there they say they are bad too and nuts are full of healthy fats!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much!

Be  Totallyawake4-life

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

Sriracha-Honey Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple

Normally when one attends a potluck gathering they bring one item ~ the joy of having allergies and restricting dietary needs you end up bring a few options to make sure that if nothing else you can at least eat what you brought and still have variety ~ so this weekend we brought Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs as well as these delicious Sriracha-Honey Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple tidbits and tomorrow I will share the Sweet and Spicy Bacon Chicken Bite recipe we also brought ... so I had a lovely variety of option to share with everyone!

Sriracha-Honey Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple

What You Need

• 1 fresh pineapple, cut into bite size chunks
• 1 lb thick cut bacon cut in half so one slice will wrap 2 pieces of pineapple
• 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 lime, juiced to make 2 tablespoons
• 2-4 teaspoon sriracha sauce 
• 2 teaspoon coconut aminos or if gluten free soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish if desired

What Do You Do

• Preheat  BBQ to 400 degrees F or your oven if preferred.Lightly grease a baking sheet.
•  Cut the bacon in half so you'll have twice as many strips to work with. 
•  Wrap each pineapple chunk in a piece of bacon and place seam side down on the prepared baking sheet and adhere with a toothpick. 
• In a small bowl, stir together sugar, honey, lime juice, sriracha, and coconut amino's. Spoon a little bit over each piece of bacon-wrapped pineapple to glaze or baste with a basting brush. Sprinkle cilantro stems over the top.
• Grill on the BBQ for 30 minutes OR bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until bacon is crispy. I prefer the BBQ only cause the bacon will splatter the sides and well a splattered BBQ adds 'flavor' according to my spouse where a splattered over sets off our fire alarms.
• Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve to guests.

 BTW ... the glaze used to create these is also tasty on crockpot meatballs, pork tenderloin and shamefully admitting straight from the bowl with your finger!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life