Sugarfree Pecan Meringue Cookies



1 cup whole pecans
3 egg whites (room temperature)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
3/4 cup of Splenda granular

Take the pecans and lightly toast them in an oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes. Set them aside to cool. Heat oven on 300 degrees.

In a bowl beat the egg whites and vinegar until soft peaks form. Then slowly add the sweetener and salt with the mixer on medium high. Continue mixing for a few minutes. Then increase the speed on the mixer to high and whip until they form stiff peaks.

Chop the pecans and lightly fold into the meringue mixture. Drop by the teaspoon onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Should make at least 2 dozen cookies but I think I got more. 

Put the cookie sheets in the oven, shut the door, and turn it off . Leave in the oven overnight and they should be done in the morning. They are wonderly light, airy, and crispy. These were a huge hit with my sister who is also diabetic. She even took some home with her after dinner. Everyone at work liked them, also. If the people at work, who aren't sugarfree, like them then I consider it a big plus. 

Low Carb Cinnamon Coffee Cake

In one of my previous blog postings I said that the cake recipe for the lemon bars could be used for other desserts. See lemon bars here...... Low Carb Lemon Bars. I hadn't made any before but that was the statement from George Stella's cook book. The other day I was drinking my morning coffee and I remembered that cinnamon cake thing and thought I'd make one to go with my coffee.

I whipped up the basic cake recipe and baked it. It's so darn easy. I let it rest for five minutes and I laid some chopped pecans in several places on top. Then I poured the mixture from the lemon bar recipe but minus the lemon juice and zest and with a teaspoon of cinnamon.

This was very good. I even took it to work and several people tried it and said it was good. It went extremely well with my morning coffee, too.

Low Carb Lemon Bars

This recipe is from George Stella's "Real Food Real Easy" cook book. When I first received the cook book and was looking through is I knew I was going to make this recipe. All of George Stella's books are excellent and I'd suggest them for anyone doing a healthy low carb way of life.

This recipe is in two steps.

Cake:

2 Large eggs (beaten)
1 1/4 cups almond flour
1/3 cup Splenda granulated
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine all the cake ingredients and mix well. Pour into an 8x8 inch pan greased with non-stick cooking spray. Bake on the center rack until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

While the cake is baking make the Lemon Glaze Topping.

3 large eggs (beaten)
1 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Removed the browned cake from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake while it's still hot and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until firm. This is where I discovered that my stove doesn't sit level and I had to prop up one side with a spoon. Refrigerate for 2 hours to serve chilled but it didn't make it that long before I tried it. Cut into 12 bars and enjoy.
 

I sprinkled the bars with some powdered erthitol. I took these to work and passed them around. One guy even had two of them! Everyone really liked them.

calories 90

fat 7 grams

protein 5 grams

fiber 1 gram

net carbs 2 grams

This basic cake recipe can be used as a base for other desserts. You can try adding 1/2 cup of walnuts to the cake and topping it with a cinnamon glaze by skipping the lemon ingredients and replacing with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. I might do that next because it's sounds like it would be delicious with morning coffee.

Creole Seasoning Blend and Hidden Sugars

The following is the blend of spices that I used in the recipe for the Cajun Gumbo recipe I posted earlier in my blog.

When you're trying to keep to twenty net grams of carbs every little thing counts. If you read the labels of most seasoning blends in the stores you'll find that many of them have sugar as an ingredient. The closer it is to the start of the list the more of it there is in the item.

Creole seasoning blend

2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt. Store in an airtight container.


Many times it's best to create your own blend of spices to insure that you're not getting any extra sugar carbs.

Sugar is not always listed as sugar and it can be a little tricky finding it but not impossible. Here are some other names for sugar that you might see when reading a label.

When you find words that end in -ose, there's a good chance it is sugar. Sugars ending in -ose are:

• Sucrose
• Maltose
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• Galactose
• Lactose
• High fructose corn syrup
• Glucose solids

 Sugar also masquerades under the following names: 

• Cane juice
• Dehydrated cane juice
• Cane juice solids
• Cane juice crystals
• Molasses
• Honey
• Dextrin
• Maltodextrin
• Dextran
• Barley malt
• Beet sugar
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Caramel
• Buttered syrup
• Carob syrup
• Brown sugar
• Date sugar
• Malt syrup
• Diatase
• Diatastic malt
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Dehydrated fruit juice
• Fruit juice crystals
• Golden syrup
• Turbinado
• Raw sugar
• Sorghum syrup
• Refiner's syrup
• Ethyl maltol
• Maple syrup
• Yellow sugar

Bacon Grease and Other Gadgets

Well, this is a handy little gadget that my seventy-six year old father bought from a "mail order catalog". Seems like he buys a lot of stuff from those places and I guess that's why they send him a catalog just about everyday.

This is a gadget that you can use to cook bacon in the microwave. Of all the stuff he's ordered I have to say that I use this one the most. I find it's nice to just put in the microwave and forget about it while I cook other stuff on the stove. I usually put it on five minutes at 80% power and the bacon comes out nice and crispy. And I like how the bacon grease drips down into a well with a pouring spout. Too many times though I have thrown that nice, tasty bacon grease out in the garbage.

I've decided that throwing it out is such a waste when I could save it and use it for flavoring other foods, especially green beans. I remember when I was very young that my mother and grandmother use to have a grease keeper on their stoves. Of course, back then we didn't have a fat phobia with saturated fat being vilified in the media. Funny thing is that we've had that "fat is evil" mentality for years now and the nation keeps getting fatter!

I did a search and found this handy-dandy container that I'm going to order from Amazon.com Fryer's Friend Grease Keeper  Grandma and Mom would be so proud.

Low Carb Cajun Gumbo

1/3 c. canola oil

4 tablespoons Bake mix ( I also put in some almond four)

2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
small onion, chopped
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth plus 1 cup water
1 cup diced stewed tomatoes
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning blend (more if desired) 
2 garlic cloves, pushed through a press
1 package (10 ounces) frozen cut okra 
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
Hot red pepper sauce (if desired)
Salt and pepper

I put the oil in a large dutch oven type pot and heated it slightly. Then I stirred in the bake mix and almond flour to make a roux. Once I got it to a nice brown color I poured in the chicken stock. Then I added in the celery and everything else on the list. But I also used a chicken breast and 2 bison Italian sausages, sliced at an angle. You can use just about any kind sausage but I just happen to have some made from bison that I bought on HSN Body by Bison Italian Sausages ~ Tony Little.

Also because I like saving time, I used a seasoning blend of frozen red, yellow, and green colored peppers and onions instead of chopping it all up from fresh. I put in about 3/4 cup. I find it very handy to keep a bag in the freezer so I always have peppers and onions when I need them. Also, if you don't have two cans of chicken broth (I only had one) you can use 2 cups of water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes or an equal amount of granules. And finally, I used the kind of garlic that comes in a jar and is already minced up. These are just some things that I do to cut corners when cooking.