Apple buckwheat breakfast scones

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing fine. Summer is just around the corner and that means that the bikini season is ready for kick-off. With it, our bodies need to be in top shape so we can enjoy a summer freed of worries.
I've been experimenting with some new ingredients so watch out, unlike my other posts, this recipe is not really low carb. However it's very healthy due to it's low fat and the addition of buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is gluten-free and so amazingly good for you! It has high quality protein, it's rich in iron, very high in antioxidants, it's filled with many minerals and vitamins such as zinc, copper, and niacin and it contains a high level of rutin, which is an anti-cancer agent. Can this get any better?

So for this recipe, I felt like making something a bit less sweet and these apple buckwheat scones are a great way to start of your day. They fill you up, they are delicious and they are also easy to take with you if you don't have time in the mornings for a sit down breakfast. You can keep them for up to three days.

 

Ingredients:

250 gr buckwheat flour
2 tbsp stevia
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
100 gr soft butter (not melted)
120 ml low-fat yogurt or cream cheese
2 eggs
1 big apple

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and turn over with a spoon so they are combined.
3. Add small chunks of butter. You don't want to melt the butter, otherwise your dough will not be 'crumbly' enough. It's okay if chunks of butter remain in the batter.
4. Mix in the eggs and cream and turn around with the spoon. Gently add in the apple with your hands. I cut my apple in small cubes. The apple will add a gently touch of sweetness to the scone.
5. Put the dough on your baking tray, lined with baking paper and press down into a circle of about 5cm height. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 200 degrees or until golden.

They are so yummy! The buckwheat gives them a more nutty flavor than regular flour so that's why I didn't add macadamia nuts but of course, feel free to play around with the recipe as much as you like. Try adding blueberries or other kind of fruits to the mix. You won't be disappointed!

You can eat them without anything extra with just a nice mug of coffee or tea, or, I smeared one with jam. Delicious!

Enjoy
xx

Litlle Coconut Bites

Hey my sweet-loving friends. I hope you have enjoyed my recipes so far, so here's a new one. At about 14g of carbs for the entire recipe, it's a god sent. These little coconut bites are lovely with a cup of tea or coffee and might just be that little easy solution to your sweet cravings.

 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites 

2 teaspoons liquid sweetener
150 g coconut

A few drops of vanilla essence

 

Way to do it:

1. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. We won't need the yolks so either you keep them for a later recipe or you throw them out.
2. Add the sweetener to the whites and heat them up in a pan but don't let them boil. Stir all the while until it's one nice blend.
3. Add the coconut to the mixture and keep stirring.
4. Last, you add a few drops of vanilla essence, just for extra taste.

Gently, form little balls of the batter with your hand. Watch out, they are very fragile until you cook them.

Lay the balls out on a baking tray and spread them out. Don't make them too big. Bake at 180 C for about 10 minutes.

This recipe is very, and I mean VERY low in carb...and...in fat! So two for the price of one! Easy, only good coconut fat and very low carb...damn life can be good!



Enjoy
xx

Zucchini Noodles with Bacon

If I would have known how good this turned out to be, I would have exercised more restraint and waited to eat so I could take some pictures. If your low carb diet is making you miss a hot bowl of delicious pasta while you are curled up on the sofa, watching your favorite tv-show, then boy do I have good news for you! Is it that I've already forgotten what pasta tastes like that I'm loving this version so much? Or is it that I just simply love a delicious meal in which I don't have to say goodbye to taste to let in good nutrients? It's a simple recipe, as fast as any pasta but it's way healthier and it definitely fills you up. The combinations are endless and so is my love for the wonderful zucchini!

 

Ingredients:

1 medium sized zucchini
Half an onion
Half a yellow bell pepper
100 ml tomato sauce
100 gr bacon cubes

Optional: some mozzarella for taste

Way to do it:

1. Peel your zucchini and chop off both ends. With a slicer, slice thin strips. Turn the zucchini around as you go for even strips. Cut the strips into thin 'spaghetti' strands. Stop slicing once you get to the middle of the zucchini where the seeds are and just use your knife to cut the center into small pieces. On this blog, we don't waste any zucchini!
2. I used a wok but you can use any kind of big frying pan. Don't add butter, you can fry the bacon in it's own fat.
3. Add the onion and bell pepper and fry until the bacon becomes crispy and the onions start coloring.
4. Add the cut up center of the zucchini and fry some more. This would be the perfect time for seasoning, but since the bacon already has such a strong taste, I didn't season mine.
5. Then add in the zucchini strips and fry some more before you add the tomato sauce. Let the entire thing cook until the water has evaporated and your sauce sticks to your 'noodles'.

Put in a bowl, top with some mozzarella,get comfortable on the couch and dig in!

And now, once you know how to do it, you can make this dish with scampi, fish, chicken, minced meat... Basically, anything you would plop on your noodles, you can plop on this wonderful zucchini alternative.

Enjoy
xx

Icetray Chocolate Base Cheesecakes

A low carb treat for those warm summer days you can make in about 5 minutes? It must be magic. Put your ice cube tray to good use and make your own ice bon-bons. You can substitute the Greek yogurt for cream cheese, but it's basically the same. I made mine using Alpro Soya plain yogurt because I love the taste. You can make these with any yogurt or cream cheese you like. Play around with taste and you'll always have a great outcome.



What's great about this also, is that you can make small sizes. So make a tray with yogurt, make one with vanilla pudding... the choices are endless!

Ingredients:

125 ml non-fat plain Greek yogurt or Alpro Soya Plain yogurt
1 teaspoon liquid artificial sweetener
60 g dark chocolate

Way to do it:

1. Blend the yogurt and sweetener and set aside.
2. Gently melt your chocolate in the microwave or be a real chef and do it au bain marie.
3. Coat a pre-chilled, clean ice cube tray with some vegetable oil. Let the excess drain out.
4. Using a spoon pour the chocolate into each ice cube mold and make sure to fully coat the bottom using your spoon.
5. Fill each ice cube mold with the yogurt filling.
6. Top with a dollop of chocolate.
7. Place in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

To eat, remove from freezer and then, gently twisting the ice cube tray, remove as you would an ice cubes. Eat immediately.



Depending on which ingredients you use, these babies are so low in carb that feeling guilty is not necessary. Mine come out to not even 1 carb per cube.

I hope you like them and let me know what you think!

Enjoy
xx

Zucchinin With Minced Meat in the Oven

I fell in love with my oven ever since I started low carbing. It's amazing what you can do with him. I've baked cookies, pies, cakes and tons of main dishes that keep my hunger at bay. Now, it's time for a zucchini lasagna with minced meat, topped with some peppers and buffalo mozzarella. I know, a big moment because this is my first main dish I post here. It's just too good to not share it. It's an easy recipe, hardly no preparing so it's great for those days when you just wanna relax but still enjoy good and healthy food.

Ingredients:

170 g minced meat (I used a mix of beef and pork)
1 garlic clove
1 medium onion
120 ml of your favorite tomato sauce
1 green bell pepper
1 large zucchini
50 g buffalo milk mozzarella cheese
1 small chili pepper

Way to do it:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Peel the zucchini and with a sharp knife, slice in long, thin slices. Salt the slices to get rid of excess water. Also cut up your green bell pepper in small cubes.

In a pan, fry chopped onions, meat and the garlic. When they are done, add the tomato sauce and let it cook until all the flavors are mixed. Season as you like. I seasoned with a special mix for meat.

Pat the zucchini slices dry with a clean towel and take an oven dish.

Start assembling your lasagna. Place some sauce at the bottom and layer the zucchini over it. Over the zucchini comes the meat and the sauce and the green bell pepper cubes. Add another layer of zucchini and again top with sauce and bell peppers. Continue until your ingredients run out.

Top the entire dish with the chopped up chilli pepper for added flavor and place thin slices of mozzarella on the top.

Bake in the oven at 2000 degrees C for 25 minute Turn on the grill to turn the cheese brown for the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy
Xx

Amazing Low Carb Waffles

Ingredients:

3 tbsp melted butter
2 large eggs
a pinch of salt
A teaspoon baking powder
50gr coconut flour
50gr almond flour
250 gr cream cheese
2 tbsp sweetner (or to your taste)

Way to do it:

Take the cream cheese and add the sweetener to your liking. I used about 2 tablespoons. The sweeter you make the chese, the sweeter your waffle will be.

Mix in the melted butter and whisk until smooth

Add the eggs and mix well.

Then you add both flours and the baking powder with the salt.

Grease your waffle iron with some left-over melted butter but not too much. Then bake your waffles. Spread out the batter to make sure the entire area is covered. The waffles need to bake longer than regular waffles do so have patience and check once in a while to see if they are done. I have quite a bad waffle iron so mine didn't cook regularly on both sides, but they are still so yummy!
Also be careful when you take them out. The waffles are very fragile when hot. Especially when they are under-cooked. Transfer to a plate and let cool.


I Hope you enjoy them as much as I did and working with the cream cheese gave me some great ideas. Next up, cream cheese cookies!


See you soon,
Enjoy
Xx

Ps: Feel free to adapt the recipe. I haven't tried it myself but I think that a few teaspoons of cocoa powder would make for some excellent chocolate waffles. Or leave out the sweetener for a waffle you can top with cheese.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Hi Everyone,

I just can't stop making cookies!
I love them with a cup of tea to end a stressful day or with a cup of coffee in the morning for that sweet kick-off. This time, I shelved my almond and went to work with coconut and man did that work out.
If you try only one thing on this entire blog, try this! They are easy to make and low in carb.

Ingredients:

2 large Eggs
3 tbsp low fat cream cheese
150 gr soft butter
a tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp sweetener (or to your taste)
120 gr shredded coconut
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
60gr melted dark chocolate( the less carb the better. Mine was 16gr per 85gr
60gr dark chocolate chopped

How to do it:

Preheat over to 170 degrees C.

In a bowl add butter, cream cheese and sweetener. Then add the eggs, vanilla extract and the melted chocolate.

Add the baking powder,salt and shredded coconut.

Finally, gently stir in the chopped chocolate

I made 11 big cookies with my dough. The dough is strong enough for you to roll little balls with, making a nice shaped cookie. Place them evenly on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake for about 15min at 170 degrees C. During the baking, the cookies will loose some fat. Don't worry about that. It's normal and it results in an even 'healthier' cookie.

Afterwards, gently move them to a plate to cool.

Depending on how big you make them and which ingredients you use, this entire recipe contains about 22gr of carbs. So that's about 2 gr of carb per cookie. Still way less than any cookie you can buy in the shops. And less expensive. Besides, they make your house smell amazing all day.

Do leave them overnight if you can resist their smell because I found the taste and texture is better the next day.

Note: You can also add some white chocolate chunks or replace the melted chocolate with non sweetened cocao powder for a cookie with even less carbs. Use this recipe as a base for further recipes and add maybe maple sugar for a sweet cookie, or more sugar and vanilla for a rich vanilla cookie. Experiment, you know I will....

Enjoy
xx