Cheesecake (New York Style, Almond Crust)

Cheesecake is one of our favourite desserts in this household, and I've been making low-carb cheesecakes since my first time doing keto. They're fun to cook and easy to adjust for flavours. I'm not sure why I never posted a recipe! I have plenty of pictures and instructions, so I'm going to post them today. This recipe is going to be for a New York style cheesecake, but you can expect chocolate drizzle with brownie crust, chocolate swirl, maple pecan, and strawberry flavours soon enough!

Left: New York cheesecake bars with almond coconut crust
Right: peanut butter fudge bars with almond coconut crust

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Ingredients

Ignore "sugar"!!!
This picture is from when I made cheesecake for my mum, and she dislikes hates sweeteners

Crust

The crust we will be using for this, whether you're making bars or a round cheesecake, is almond coconut crust. If you're adding flavours to this cheesecake and you want to change up the crust, swap out the coconut for another kind of filler, such as crushed pecans.

• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 unsweetened coconut, shredded
• 1/4 cup granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I'm  using Splenda)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 2 bricks (16 oz) plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I'm using Splenda)
• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) heavy whipping cream
• 2 large eggs, whole
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt (optional)

Nutritional info, per serving (12): 239 cals, 4g net carbs (5g carbs, 1g fiber), 22g fat, 5g protein

Nutritional info, whole batch: 2867 cals, 49g net carbs (59g carbs, 10g fiber), 263g fat, 61g protein

Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
3/4 cup ground almonds	412	6	14	8	36	15
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut	71	1	3	2	7	1
1/4 cup unsalted butter	407	0	0	0	46	0
3/4 cup Splenda	0	18	18	0	0	0
16 oz plain cream cheese	1600	16	16	0	144	32
2 large eggs	140	2	2	0	10	12
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream	200	4	4	0	20	1
1 tbsp vanilla extract	37	2	2	0	0	0

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Directions:

We're going to start off by making the crust. First, preheat your oven to 350F and grease the bakeware you plan on using (a kick-ass brownie pan like mine, a 9 or 8 inch springform pan, ramekins, etc).

Melt 1/4 cup of unsalted butter. Mix dry crust ingredients in a bowl and add the melted butter. Spread the dough throughout your pan. I usually start from the middle and work my way out (using my fingers). It might look like you don't have enough, but you do: 

You can choose whether to bake your crust or not. You aren't using any ingredients in the crust that will harm you if you don't bake it now, and you will be baking it later. If you decide to bake the crust, pop it in the oven for roughly 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn the crust. After baking (or if you didn't bake it), put your dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

While your dough is chilling, make the filling for your cheesecake. An easy way to soften cream cheese is to leave it on the counter for a few hours the day you know you're going to make cheesecake. If you didn't do that, however, just pop your cream cheese in a microwavable bowl and microwave it for 20-30 seconds. To make softening easier, cut the cream cheese into slices/cubes/portions (by the way, the same works for butter!). 

I left these out all afternoon so I didn't need to bother chopping them up. 

Whip up your filling ingredients (16 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla, 1/2 cup granulated sweetener, and a pinch of salt). Unfortunately I don't have a picture of what the above looked like after mixing. 

This is from the cheesecake bars I made for my mum.
I picked up this kick-ass brownie pan from Stokes for $11 and I LOVE it.

Carefully pour your filling into your crust-lined pan. The crust is delicate so try not to push it around. Bake your cheesecake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour.

Note: I don't use water baths for these, but if you're concerned about your cheesecake drying out, go ahead and use a water bath. To do so, wrap your pan in foil to make it water tight, put the pan in roasting bakeware and add some water. Check out this video for some tips on this process. 

This is one of the first few cheesecakes I ever made with this recipe.
A New York style cheesecake with a brownie base. Mmm!

Carefully remove your cheesecake from the oven and let it cool for 10-20 minutes, then place in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Send me some pictures if you make this cheesecake! I'd love to see them!

xo,
Jennifer

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Simple Sloppy Joe Meat

I really love me some saucy, sloppy meat. For a while when you start doing low-carb you think you'll never get to have recipes like chili, spaghetti, and sloppy Joes again. After all, these things are typically loaded with brown beans, kidney beans, onions, tomatoes, etc.  After a while of cooking for this way of eating the reality becomes clear. You can still have these things, and easily make them low carb! Unlike low-carb baked goods, you don't even have to break the bank buying super specialty items like almond and coconut flour. Plus low-carb dinners are often less complicated/ingredient heavy than their full-carb counterparts. Even if you can't replicate mom's cooking, you can still have some staple keto recipes.

Earlier I posted my cheesy sloppy Joe chicken (which I'll be making again... soon), so today I'm making a dedicated post just for the sloppy meat.

As mentioned, I use this simple low-carb mix with these egg buns, but I've recently used it with a modified version of this stromboli dough. I even considered making extra batches and freezing them for later, or putting some in the fridge for lunches. I'd like to try this recipe in my crustless quiche, as well as using it for meat pie. Who doesn't love meat pie?

this is a stromboli dough pocket stuffed with sloppy meat :)

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Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef, lean or medium (I am using lean. It was on sale! Use medium if you want a higher fat content)
• 1/4 cup sugar free ketchup (I used this)
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (I went with Classico Tomato & Basil, but you can use any kind you have, from pasta sauces to pizza sauces, or even just use tomato paste)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce (Frank's RedHot Buffalo Sauce is my choice)
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder

The tiny Club House jar contains Frank's RedHot Buffalo sauce and
spices which I mixed and had leftover from chicken wing night!

*Note: "Nutritional Info" does not include optional ingredients. See "Optional Filler Ingredients" below.
Nutritional Info, per serving (6): 172 cals, 3g net carbs (3g carbs, 0g fiber), 12g fat, 16g protein
Nutritional Info, whole batch: 1029 cals, 13g net carbs (15g carbs, 2g fiber), 69g fat, 93g protein

Sloppy Joe Meat Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
1lb lean ground beef	951	0	0	0	68	91
1/4c sugar-free ketchup	20	4	4	0	0	0
1/4c tomato sauce	25	4	5	1	1	1
1 tbsp hot sauce	5	0	0	0	0	0
1/2 tbsp garlic powder	28	5	6	1	0	1

Optional Filler Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
1/2c white mushroom pieces	8	1	1	0	0	1
1/2c canned wax beans	15	2	3	1	0	1
1/2c chopped zucchini	10	1	2	1	0	1
1/2c chopped cauliflower	13	2	3	1	0	1

While this post is my "Simple Sloppy Joe Meat" recipe, you can include a filler or two to amp up the flavour and add variety to each bite! I've included four possibilities to get you started (above). For every 1/2 cup of filler you include, be sure to include 1tbsp each of ketchup and/or tomato sauce, rather than just adding more water (we don't want to dilute the flavour of the sauce!).

A word about ketchup: if you don't have or cannot find sugar-free ketchup, you can use regular ketchup. Regular ketchup definitely has more carbs, so make sure you keep track of how much you use. I prefer the sugar-free ketchup in this recipe because it has more of a tangy vinegary flavour that I associate with sloppy joe sauces from my childhood. Alternatively, you could omit the ketchup and just use more tomato sauce, or a low-carb BBQ sauce if you have it. Play with the flavour and see what you like best!

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Directions

Start out by putting your ground beef in a 3 quart sauce pan. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook on medium-low until most of the meat has browned.

Some meat is still pink. No problem, we'll be cooking it some more later

Using a collander, strain your beef. If you're adding any fillers, let the beef rest in the strainer while you cook them. Toss your choice of filler in the sauce pan and cook until soft. If you're using a hard veggie, such as cauliflower, you may want to steam or boil it first.

Once your filler is at the desired doneness, add back your meat and mix them together on low heat.

Add your sauces (1/4c sugar free ketchup, 1/4c tomato sauce, 1 tbsp hot sauce) and 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder to the pan. If you prefer spicy foods, don't be afraid to add as much hot sauce as you desire. 

Add back 1 tbsp of hot water at a time if you want a saucier texture. Be careful of adding too much, as we are using a small amount of sauce to begin with so it will be easy to dilute. If you find you have diluted the sauce, just add back a tbsp at a time of ketchup or tomato sauce.  

Once everything is mixed thoroughly and cooked (5-10 minutes), add your sloppy joe meat to whatever other food you're using. Eggs? Tasty! Low-carb wraps? Convenient! Keto buns? Filling! Stromboli? Delicious, obviously.  

I added the meat to some rolled out stromboli dough and made "hot pockets" out of them. Yum!

As always, please enjoy.
xo, Jennifer

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Cheesy Sloppy Joe Chicken

I miss the meals my mum makes, especially my favourite comfort foods like chili, brownies, loaded garlic toast, and sloppy joes. She'd buy plain hamburger buns, make a super saucy meat and bean mixture, line some buns with cheese, and load up my plate. Mmmm. I could eat leftover sloppy joe meat for days. I've made sloppy joes before doing keto, using a similar recipe to what I will be posting here, and slapping the meat on these egg buns. It tastes close to what my mum used to make, minus all the beans.

I love chicken but I want to mix things up now and then so we don't get bored of it, and I was thinking, what should I stuff these breasts with? Ham and cheese? Nah, been there, done that. Pizza? Again, need something newish... Ground beef? That could be awesome. Plain ground beef? Bleh... boring! Taco meat? Spaghetti style sauce? Chili? Sloppy Joe meat?! YES. Sloppy Joe meat! So, I bring you, chicken breasts stuffed with sloppy ground beef and cheese, crusted with more cheese. Please enjoy.

If these weren't so freakin' hot I would have eaten it like a burger!

SERIOUSLY STUFFED!

Servings: 4
Nutritional Info (I didn't weigh the meat so these values are estimates at best):

Total:	1,128 cals	11g carbs	1g fiber	58g fat	129g protein
Per Serving:	282 cals	3g carbs	0g fiber	15g fat	32g protein

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Your Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 lb ground beef (I used lean this time because it was on sale. For higher fat content, use medium)
• 80g (~1/4c) shredded cheese (I used mozza)
• 2 tbsp sugar free ketchup (I used this)
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce (I went with Classico Tomato & Basil)
• 1/2 tbsp hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot Sauce is my choice)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1-2 tsp garlic salt (optional)

Your Tools:

• a 1.5 quart or 3 quart sauce pan
• a baking dish
• a colander

The Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375-400F. Put your ground beef with about 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of water in your sauce pan and cook on medium-low. 

this has already been cooking for a few minutes... duh!

While your beef cooks, butterfly your chicken breasts. That is, slice your chicken breasts almost completely in half so they open like a book and look like messy hearts! Also press the meat out so your breasts are of even thickness. I actually used a meat tenderizer for funsies. If you're not sure how to do that, this video is pretty handy. 

these are particularly ugly :( the other two looked like adorable hearts but the SO was taking the pictures... *cough* 

Sprinkle some shredded cheese on all 4 chicken breasts. Save a bit for garnish.

p.s. I got this kickass cutting board at Costco. The silicone strips keep the board from sliding!

Now let's finish the sloppy joe meat. Strain the meat and put it back in the sauce pan on low heat. Add ketchup, tomato sauce, hot sauce, and 1 tsp garlic. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Add back a tbsp at a time of hot water if you'd like a saucier texture. 

Divide the beef mixture among your cheesy chicken tits. Spread the meat around or just smack it in the middle.  

Fold your chicken tits closed. Be careful not to make a mess. Sprinkle the remaining mozza cheese on the chicken breasts, as well as one tbsp of parmesan cheese and some garlic salt if desired. Spray with a cooking oil (I used olive oil) or carefully brush with melted butter. The video I linked above suggests tying the breasts closed. I don't think that is entirely necessary, but go ahead if you want to feel fancy!

Pop the cheesy sloppy joe chicken breasts in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes! I cooked mine at 400F for 40 minutes. I checked them at 30 minutes and they were still slightly pink.

Enjoy!

xo,
Jennifer

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Egg Crepes

Hi everyone! The other day I posted a recipe my household really enjoys: egg waffles! Two points to make about that recipe:

1) yes, they are sweetened scrambled eggs. The recipe is pretty much a scrambled egg recipe plus sweetener (eggs and dairy! or water!). That was the point of my original egg waffle recipe; I didn't want all those extra things like flour and cream cheese... basically, I wanted the end result to include syrup and peanut butter traps. YUM. 

2) Waffles require a waffle maker; making the recipe into crepes/pancakes might be tricky. That is why I am making this post :)! I want everyone to be able to enjoy my favourite meals (or at least try them). Therefore, I'm going to have egg pancrepes for lunch today so I can take pictures! I really hope this post is helpful!

I'm going to use most of the same information from my waffle post, but note that I'll only be making half a batch... no one else is home to eat them with me :(.

I put 1/2 tbsp of whipped peanut butter in each and drizzled 1-2 tbsp on top. 

I am referring to these as pancrepes/crepecakes because I have never made them thin enough to be called crepes, but I don't find them thick enough to be called pancakes, but next time I make this recipe I am going to try to make them verrryy thin and see how they turn out. Result: excellent!

I used 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa for extra chocolatey goodness. 

Also, the texture of the egg pancrepes is completely different than that of the egg waffles. I'm sure you can imagine if you've had "regular" crepes and waffles before. I would describe the egg pancrepes as dense and moist, basically the opposite of how I would describe the waffles.

Servings: 4 servings (4-6 crepes)

Time: 10-15 minutes

Nutritional info (per 1 serving): 122 cals, 3g net carbs (3g carbs, 0g fiber), 10g fat, 7g protein

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 4 tbsp of heavy whipping cream
• 2-4 tbsp of sweetener (depending on how sweet you want them. I usually use 2 tbsp)
• 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder or 1/2-1 tbsp cinnamon [optional]

Tools

• electric whisk or stand mixer (I'm using a Cuisinart electric mixer)
• a mixing bowl
• a small frying pan (I used an 8 inch pan)

Directions

Preheat and grease your waffle maker frying pan on medium-low. Beat/whisk the crap out of the eggs, cream, sweetener, cocoa/cinnamon until it is all frothy and thoroughly combined.

Pour about 1/4 of the batter into your heated and greased pan (assuming you're making a full batch. Leave it to cook for about 8-10 minutes!

3 minutes of cooking at medium-low

You can delicately check the edges every 3 minutes; look for the eggs firming up, browning edges, etc.

6 minutes of cooking at medium-low

8 minutes of cooking at medium-low.
Not much of a difference compared to 6 minutes, but the browning on the other side looks better 

A little blurry, sorry! This is the first side after ~9 minutes.
This was ideal for me.

Try to keep the cooking time to around 8 minutes for the first side. It is easy to overcook these. If you cook them for much longer than 8 minutes the outsides dry up too much and get too crispy, causing them to crack easily:

I got distracted. This is anywhere from 10-13 minutes.

See? The one that cooked longer is split (though still roll-able!).

After you've got one side of your crepecake to a good browning level, flip it and let the other side cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, dress it, and rinse/repeat with the rest of the batter.  

Get creative with your waffle crepecake toppings and enjoy! Try rolling bacon, a bit of peanut butter, and a bit of sugar-free syrup in your waffles. YUM! 

xo, Jennifer

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Egg Waffles

A couple of breakfast things I really miss are pancakes and waffles. After plenty of consideration I have learned that it isn't the cakey parts I miss, but all the different toppings to put on them! I had to figure out something... I've tried various keto crepe recipes and particularly enjoyed ones with cream cheese. However, I didn't like making them. I always got frustrated at how easily they broke when I tried to do anything with them. I started experimenting and when I came up short I thought "why do I have to use flour or cheese?"...

Bust out your waffle makers, friends (alternatively, just make... crepecakes. Not thin enough to be a crepe but not thick enough to be a pancake). I've been making waffles like this for a long time now but I, again, never got around to posting it... until  now! This recipe is a wonderful semi-sweet breakfast treat to use as a base for a variety of toppings. Whipped cream. Fresh fruit. Peanut butter. Sugar-free jam or syrup... you get the idea. I usually opt for 1/2 a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of sugar-free syrup. When the SO is feeling adventurous he opts for peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, sugar-free syrup, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Monday, August 4, 2014 

This morning breakfast consisted of chocolate egg waffles topped with some sugar-free syrup, accompanied by a side of reduced salt bacon (not because I am against salt. I just prefer my bacon less salty). Oh yeah, and freshly brewed coffee (1 tbsp hwc, 2 tsp of splenda, in a pretty sweet stein), a glass of water, and a multivitamin! I'm glad I decided to go back to early morning breakfasts, because I sure do feel productive today. All told, this special breakfast (everything included) was a little heavy on calories and carbs, but not so much that the rest of my day is ruined. Lunch will be a salad with chicken, and (ended up not eating lunch. drank water instead) tonight we're doing appetizers and a movie Fullmetal Alchemist for at-home date night. NICE.

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fiber	Fat	Protein
Egg Waffles, 2 serving(s)	243	6	0	20	13
Maple Leaf Prime - Reduced Salt Bacon, 3 slices uncooked	260	1	0	24	10
Mrs. Buttersworth - Sugar Free Syrup, 1/8 cup (60mL)	10	4	0	0	0
Foldgers - Coffee, 8 oz.	0	0	0	0	0
Splenda (Canada) - Granulated Sugar Substitute, 2 tsp	0	1	0	0	0
Neilson - Cream, Whipping, 35%, 15 ml (1 tbsp)	50	1	0	5	0
Totals	563	13	0	49	23

Chocolate egg waffles with two tablespoons of sugar-free syrup and a side of bacon.
These were a little softer than I normally make them (you can tell by the edges)

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Servings: 4 servings (my waffle maker makes two large waffles, which I consider to be two servings each)

Time: 10-15 minutes

Nutritional info (per 1 serving): 122 cals, 3g net carbs (3g carbs, 0g fiber), 10g fat, 7g protein

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 4 tbsp of heavy whipping cream
• 2-4 tbsp of sweetener (depending on how sweet you want them. I usually use 2 tbsp)
• 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder or 1/2-1 tbsp cinnamon [optional]

Tools

• electric whisk or stand mixer (I use a Cuisinart electric stick blender/whisk)
• a mixing bowl
• a waffle maker or a small frying pan (for crepecakes)

Directions

Preheat and grease your waffle maker. Beat/whisk eggs, cream, sweetener, cocoa/cinnamon until it is all frothy and thoroughly combined.

Whisk those eggs!

I make my waffles in layers. I do one layer as pictured below and let it cook for a few minutes, then add another layer. Don't let the first layer cook to dry and crisp, you want the next layer to bind to the previous. 

First layer

Let your waffle maker cook these up until you are satisfied with them. The chocolate egg waffles (pictured at the beginning of the blog) were a little more moist than usual. The waffles pictured below are my preference; firm and crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside.

Get creative with your waffle toppings and enjoy! Try rolling bacon, a bit of peanut butter, and a bit of sugar-free syrup in your waffles. YUM! 

Plain egg waffles. Slightly crispy outside, fluffy and soft inside.

If you're looking to make crepes/pancakes instead of waffles, just heat up your frying pan and add some butter. Then poor a bit of the batter into the pan and cook as you would a pancake. Fair warning: the texture of this recipe as a pancake is much different than as a waffle. see this post: Egg Pancrepes/Crepecakes

xo, Jennifer

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