Dutch Keto Chocolate Cupcakes!

 Is chocolate part of your self care routine?? 

I love these Keto chocolate cupcakes - they are perfect on their own or you. An dress them up with some Chocolate Buttercream icing for a more dessert feel. 

Grain free & Sugar free so all the mouth orgasm pleasure of chocolate flavour and none of the insulin spike! 

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal finely ground
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or 2 tsp more golden flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup unsalted grass-fed butter or 4 TBS coconut oil + 1 TBS coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream or coconut cream
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee (optional)
• 1/3-1/2 cup xylitol or coconut sugar if paleo
• 2 eggs eggs at room temperature

I personally add peppermint extract or hazelnut extract instead of the expresso suggestion cause I am not a big coffee flavour fan. I also used dark dutch style cocoa for that deep rich chocolate colour.

If you can get your hands on sugar free chocolate chips - we love the Lily’s white chocolate or dark chocolate or the salted caramel chocolate chips -  they are a nice addition to this recipe too! 

Instructions 

• Each batch of cake is good for one 8-inch layer of cake (or 6 cupcakes). 
• Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 350°F/180°C. Grease, dust with cocoa powder, and line an 8-inch cake pan, set aside. Or use 6 silicone cupcake liners.
• Add almond flour, flaxseed meal, coconut flour, baking powder and xanthan gum to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, set aside. 
• Add butter, heavy cream (or coconut oil and cream), cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder (optional) to a large heatproof bowl. Melt over a water bath whisking constantly (or use the microwave in small bursts). Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly. 
• Add in the sweetener and one egg at a time, whisking well after each one until completely incorporated. The texture should appear smooth and thick, with all the sweetener dissolving into the mixture (if using erythritol, some granules may remain). Add the flour mixture, whisking vigorously until fully blended (about a minute). Pour batter into prepared pan or cupcake liners.
• Bake for 15-19 minutes, or until set and a toothpick inserted comes out just clean. Check often after minute 15 to ensure your cake doesn't dry out, and always keep in mind, however, that your cake will continue to cook while cooling! 
• Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the cake pan, before transferring to a rack. It'll be particularly fragile right out of the oven if you made it with xylitol or allulose, so you need to let it set. 

Bon Appetite!

Margaret 

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It’s National Vitamin C Day!

In the spirit of National Vitamin C Day here’s a tasty little dessert option to try! 

Keto Lemon Bars 

Recipe credit

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp. Vanilla 
1 cup powdered erythritol
3 medium lemons
3 large eggs

Instructions
Mix butter, 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup erythritol, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Press evenly into an 8x8" parchment paper-lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then, let cool for 10 minutes.

Into a bowl, zest one of the lemons, then juice all 3 lemons, add the eggs, 3/4 cup erythritol, 3/4 cup almond flour & pinch of salt. Combine to make filling.

Pour the filling onto the crust & bake for 25 minutes.

Serve with lemon slices and a sprinkle of powdered erythritol.

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life  

Buffalo Spaghetti Squash Casserole

 Buffalo Spaghetti Squash Casserole.

Video Credit 

Ingredients 
* 2 cups pre-cooked chicken breast, shredded
* 1 large (or 2 small) spaghetti squash, baked in “rings”
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup (or more) buffalo sauce
* Optional: add some ranch seasoning from Epicure
* Sea Salt (to taste)
* 1/2 cup celery/chopped/sliced
* Green onion (for sprinkling)

Instructions
SPAGHETTI SQUASH:
* Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice ends off the squash, then cut into rings.
* Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds.
* Place squash on lined baking sheet. Use hands to coat each ring w/ a little olive oil/salt/pepper.
* Bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping rings about half way. I love doing these in my Air Fryer helps with some caramelization of the squash - nom nom!  
* Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then peel the skin away and separate the strands into long spaghetti noodles using a fork.

CHICKEN:
* While spaghetti squash is cooking, make shredded chicken. Pan fry on stove, cook in instant pot, or buy rotisserie chicken - once cooked shred/pull apart with forks or hand mixer.

CASSEROLE:
* In a medium bowl, mix together olive oil, egg, buffalo sauce of choice until well incorporated.
* In a large bowl, add cooked spaghetti squash, shredded chicken + buffalo sauce mixture until well combined. Stir in celery or any other add-ins.
* Pour contents in a greased 8×8 glass baking dish. Bake at 400 for ~25 minutes or until starting to lightly brown on the edges. You can broil at the end to get crispy if you want!

This is also tasty with some extra old Balderson cheese shredded on top. 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

Friday night snacks

Looking for a fun Friday night treat? 

Low Carb Mozzarella Sticks - Yes please! 

Ingredients

• 6 Mozzarella Sticks
• 1/2 cup grated dry Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups pork rinds
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend - want to spice it up add a little Cheyenne pepper 
• 1 egg
• 2 tsps water

Directions:

• Cut Mozzarella sticks in half cross-wise and set aside
• Place egg and water in a small shallow dish or pan. Whisk to mix.
• Crush pork rinds with rolling pin or crush in blender. Should make about 1/2 cup pork rind crumbs.
• Place Parmesan, crushed pork rinds and Italian seasoning in a shallow baking pan
• Dip Mozzarella sticks, one at a time, first in egg wash, then crumbs, then repeat both egg wash and crumbs for second coating.
• Set mozzarella on dish or pan that will fit in the freezer.
• Freeze for two hours
• After two hours: heat oven or air fryer to 500 degrees.
• Working quickly cover a baking pan in parchment or grease it.
• Place frozen mozzarella sticks directly from freezer onto pan.
• Spray with a light coating of olive oil. (optional)
• Bake for 6-8 minutes, just till coating is brown and cheese is warm and soft.

Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce, if desired.

Fun low carb snack for all ages! 

Bon Appetite

Margaret

Live, laugh, love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

National Crab Meat Day

Today is National Crab 🦀  Day! 

Celebrate with this tasty appetizer!

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Low Carb Raspberry Coconut bars

 

Recipe adapted from here: 

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut four 
• 1/3 cup sugar substitute
• 1 egg

Filling

• 1/2 cup sugar-free raspberry preserves (for test purposes I used Smucker's Sugar-Free Red Raspberry Preserves)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar substitute 
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8c8 square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an inch or more to hang over the edge for handles.
• Mix flour, butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl until mixture is crumbly. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and pulse ingredients until crumbly. Add egg and process a few times until egg is incorporated. 
• Press crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Meanwhile, add eggs to a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat with a whisk. Add sugar, almond extract, and coconut flakes to the bowl. Stir until incorporated.
• Remove crust from oven and spread raspberry filling evenly over crust. Top with the egg and coconut filling, spreading evenly over the raspberry layer. 
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Allow bars to cool completely then remove from pan and cut into 20 squares.

These freeze well - place parchment or wax  paper between layers in freezer safe container and remove desired serving and let defrost before serving. 

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Do you need a Dessert for One?

Keto Strawberry shortcake for one? Yes please! 

In a mug:

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup almond flour

2 tbsp sweetener of choice 

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 large egg

1/4 tsp Cake Batter extract 

2 tbsp heavy cream 

Mix all ingredients together well 

Microwave 90 seconds - poke with fork to ensure cooked in middle add 10 second intervals if fork doesn’t come out clean.

Either turn upside down onto a plate or if you hate extra dishes like I do just prep the rest right in your mug! 

Add 4 fresh cut strawberries - sliced

Top with 1/4 cup Sugar free whipped cream! 

Nutritional info

470 Calories 

 42 G Fat

 16 G Protein 

   8 G Fibre 

   7 Net Carbs 

Depending on your total carb goals this is definitely an occasional treat recipe coming in at 7 net carbs however it’s a contender for our Valentine’s Day dessert! 

Bon Appetite 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Baked Balsamic Chicken

Tik Tok for the win - adding this one to the menu this week! 

3 chicken breast - partially sliced across 

Mix together in bowl:

• 2 tsp olive oil 
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
• 1 tbsp swerve brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp oregano 
• 1/2 tsp basil 
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper to taste 
• 2 cloves garlic

Add chicken breast to marinate

Mixed following in baking dish 

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes 
• 1/2 Red onion sliced 
• 1 tbsp Oil and salt 

Mix together well

Layer chicken over top and drizzle with any remaining marinade 

Bake at 430F for 25 minutes 

Remove & Cover chicken

 with 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Return to over until cheese melted and bubbly.

Serve with a side salad 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Chicken Caprese Casserole

 Drop me a 💗 if you’re a menu planner too? 

Now that the home childcare is closed I am not nearly as anal about it like Monday we are having this but I do sit down each Sunday to plan the 7 family dinners we will be having than I cook whatever I feel like from that list on any given day. 

Menu planning is especially important for me right now because Paul is still doing all the in person shopping since I can’t keep the mask in long enough to do a full shop so I need to make sure I have added everything I am gonna need cause he doesn’t have the same intuition to have his memory jogged in the aisle that we need something I forgot to put on the list - so if it’s not on the list he’s likely not to get it. Heck thanks to supply issues these days  sometimes even if it’s on the list he’s not likely to get it all …. like apparently slim pickings in the frozen veggie aisle poor Alex is getting so sick of salad as a side cause Paul can’t find some frozen veggies to toss his way 🙁 

If the pandemic had reinforced any skills it’s definitely the ability to learn to accept the things you can’t control and pivot as required to adapt! 

It was a slow lesson for me but I am getting there! 

 

Thankfully he just got home and found everything I needed to try this chicken caprese casserole recipe this week except the fresh Basil but I can add a drop of basil essential oil to compensate and add some spinach chopped for colour! With the no frozen veggies to be found I’ll figure out a side dish! I think air-fried asparagus might go nice!  

Bon Appetite 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Game Day appy’s

Sunday means GAME day over here - where the boys get to enjoy some football and afternoon appy’s! Recipe credit 

JALAPEÑO PUFFS

INGREDIENTS

4 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1 ½ c. Shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg, beaten 

1/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Jalapeno peppers finely chopped

6 Slices of bacon, cooked crispy, crumbled

1 tbsp Ranch seasoning

 

Instructions:

In a small mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth. 

Mix egg into almond flour until well combined. 

Add Shredded cheddar cheese, jalapenos and ranch seasoning to the cream cheese, mix well. 

Stir in almond flour egg mixture until fully incorporated.

Crumble the bacon pieces and place them on a plate.

Form a tablespoon of the jalapeno mixture into a ball, and roll it in the crumbled bacon.

Place on cookie sheet, refrigerate 30 mins. 

Preheat oven to 425.   Bake 10 minutes or until golden and puffed. 

Allow to cool a few minutes before eating.

These are SO tasty - next time I’m gonna double the recipe cause I let the boys wanting more! 

 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Tasty Thursday Recipe Review - Baked Boursin Chicken

Nom nom - saw this recipe on a Tik Tok so had to give it a try! I wish I had jotted down the creator so I could give a shout out but it was a 2am insomnia find and in my effort to read the ingredients on my phone clearly I zoomed in and accidentally cropped off the handle when I took the screenshot! So whoever you are - thank you kindly for this one it was a huge hit!

 

 This one got 6 thumbs around the table here and at least one this is a worthy mouth orgasm  - even the still developing his clean eating palette cleaned his plate! 

We had this with a spinach salad because we try to eat grain free - however if you can have grains it would be lovely over pasta. Next time I think I will try it over some sauteed Zucchini noodles to help with the delicious sauce having something to stick to - although its all good I got it up with a spoon this time so it did not go to waste!

 

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4/life 

Fudgy Keto Brownies

 

Getting a few requests for my afternoon tea indulgence this afternoon over in our Facebook community  .... seriously a lovely guilt free mouth orgasm so thought I should share! 

 

Recipe is courtesy of the All Day I Dream about Food blog and the most amazing Cocoa I have found since Epicure discontinued theirs - it is from a company called OliveNation and I bulk ordered mine with the lovely Lynn .... having the right cocoa makes ALL the difference in chocolatey goodness! My chocolate chips are Lily's dark chocolate from NaturaMarket.ca

Bon appetite

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

*post contains affiliate links

Saturday Comfort Food

Excuse the bed head - went out for my  brisk morning walk with Paul before I showered 🤣

Two healthy meals in today - brunch of Greek Omelette seasoned with Epicure!

 

 

Baked Ham with a side of “Loaded Scalloped” cauliflower. 

 

Also my Keto Nat and this evening enjoying a Better then Broth Salted Caramel with some Kiss my Keto chocolate MTC protein while watching the Queens Gambit.

Have an amazing day!

 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

New Year -New determination!

 New Year so perfect time to push this stupid body of mine back into being healthy whether it likes it or not! I lost far too much of 2020 to auto immune challenges from the stress changes due to Covid brought! 

 

Thanks to lockdown the gym is closed so started the day with a nice brisk walk with Paul - the change in temp when we returned caused an asthma attack so took my meds and had a nap cause the steroids make me feel loopy.

 

Powered up with my Keto Nat with MitoPLEX electrolytes added for morning!

 

Had a late lunch of Guacamole inspired tuna salad!

 

And Epicure Tandoori chicken with caulirice veggies for dinner!

 

And later I will enjoy a Caramel Macchiato and Kiss my Keto hot chocolate combo as my evening snack to help balance out my macros for the day!  

 

 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Adult Gummies

Making some “adult” gummies! Thanks to Lynn over at Healthy Keto Lifestyle community for the recipe inspiration I tweaked it a bit 😝

 

Ingredients 

• 2 scoops Keto Nat - I used Splash 
• 1 tbsp Torani Black Cherry (optional I just wanted to compliment the watermelon/grapefruit in the Splash and add some colour to them cause alone they were flesh coloured!
• 4 tbsp Unflavored Gelatin  
• To make them “adult” I added 40 mg CBD oil so works out to about .5 mg to each gummy that’s an optional  ingredient too ;) 

Instructions 

• Melt Keto Nat in 1 cup room temperature water than add 1 cup boiled water (not boiling) 
• Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine and melt gelatin and mix in oil. 
• Pour quickly into molds re-stirring as needed to keep gelatin and oil evenly mixed!  
• Cool in fridge for couple hours until firm and pop out or molds! 

Serving size depends on CBD oil tolerance.

Bon Appetite 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

 

*post contains affiliate links 

Spinach Riccota Dip

Are you totally missing 'potluck' season thanks to Covid shelter at home and keep in your bubble mandates too? There is no reason we cannot have 'virtual' parties to maintain our traditions  .... make a few of your favorite potluck items in smaller quantities, set up a Zoom or Facebook chat room and grab a glass of wine or your favorite festive beverage and do the virtual sharing of good times! 

 It might be 'different' but in my humble opinion we really need to try to keep our focus on the blessings we have to be facing this world wide pandemic in 2020 vs 1920! We have the benefits that modern technology offer us to remain connected, to access the things we 'need' via online shopping and quick delivery to make sheltering at home more viable! 

100 years ago when the Spanish Flu caused a world wide Pandemic after the war resulting in similar lock downs to help flatten the curve and manage the health care needs of society - they were truly stuck at home ALONE with only those in their households and it was not easy for arranging for the 'delivering' of groceries or supplies and no ability to 'work from home' via Zoom or Internet connections!  

It may not be 'ideal' but we have so many more options today!

Spinach Ricotta Dip

 

Ingredients needed:

1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach

3/4 cup ricotta

1/4 cup Parmesan

Pinch Red pepper flakes

Pinch Garlic powder

1 tsp Epicure Spinach dip seasoning

 

Instructions:

1.Mix ricotta, spinach and 1/2 the Parmesan cheese in a small baking dish. Add a dash of garlic powder, red pepper flakes, Epicure seasoning. Top with remaining cheese.

2. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

3. Enjoy with homemade grain free crackers (posting one of my favorite adaptions below) or Whisps or veggie sticks! 

Cheddar Asiago Crackers - adapted from Carol Ketchum's recipe

1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup of Epicure Macaroni Cheese Seasoning or add a pop with the Ooey Gooey Queso
1/2 cup finely grated Asiago cheese (could sub Parmesan)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp melted butter
2 egg whites

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 225F.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well.

Add in butter and egg whites and stir until a cohesive dough forms.

On a large cookie sheet, roll out into a rough rectangle between sheets of parchment paper to desired thickness. Can be made very thin, but make sure that it is of even thickness all over so the edges won’t burn before the middle crisps up.

Remove top layer of parchment. With a sharp knife, score into desired size of cracker - craving pita's cut them in triangles for that nice 'pointy dip' option!

Bake one hour or until firm and edges are crispy. Turn off oven and leave crackers in oven another half hour to an hour. 

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

Faux Hamburger Helper!

I made my own healthy grain free version of  faux 'hamburger helper' tonight thanks to Epicure! Nom nom nom ... way better than anything that comes out of a box and way healthier!

 

 

From Epicure you will need the following ... Mac and Cheese seasoning. This stuff is way better than Kraft dinner crap! As well as Fajita Seasoning - again this is so much healthier with no fillers and low sodium.

 

I browned a pound of ground turkey with onions, peppers and homemade salsa and fajita seasoning. I then  tossed couple cups of cauliflower florets with the dry Mac and cheese seasoning pack and 1/2 cup cream in my rectangle steamer than added the fajita meat mix and 2 cups spinach. Topped with some shredded cheese. Baked 350F for 30 minutes!

So tasty 😋

Bon Appetite

Margaret

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Be Totallyawake4-life

*this post contains affiliate links 

Fat bombs 💣

 Stocked up some more of the fat bombs today .... chocolate almond cheesecake fat bombs! Nom nom! 

So easy to make!

1. Let Butter and cream cheese get room temp. 2. Blend room temp nut butter, butter and cream cheese ingredients very well and form into 40 small bite size balls on parchment paper lines tray - roll the balls in coconut or unsweetened cocoa or a mix of both if desired - pop in freezer to chill and firm and than transfer to storage container and keep in fridge or freezer until ready to eat. 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

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Be Totallyawake4-life  

#keto #lowcarb #fatbombs #celiac #autoimmunedisease #cleaneating #healthandwellness #recipes #snacks #dessertalternative 

Progress makes me Happy!

 I am so grateful to be able to be back at the @bostwickymca and hats off to all the amazing staff keeping everyone safe with all the extra cleaning and the physical distancing protocols! It was a long few months with everything closed and my poor health took a tole from the stress Covid sent us! Not just the grateful for physical benefits but the mental health as well that getting out and swimming provides!

Cleaning eating combined with back to 4 days a week of lane swimming and aqua jogging and I am down 20 pounds ... slow and steady working towards my goal! 

What’d your go to exercise regime for mental health?

Margaret

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Be Totallyawake4-life