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High Protein Recipes

Holy Cauliflower Batman Is That Really A Wrap?

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OMGosh! If you’ve been looking for a low calorie, gluten free, low carb, high protein, properly combined wrap solution then this is your lucky day. Cauliflower is truly the Batman of the vegetable world!

I stumbled on this recipe on Lauren’s blog yesterday and have been thinking about it ever since. It bothered me that the wraps were so delicate that you have to be careful of what you wrapped in them and I think I’ve come up with a solution.

Lay the wrap on your work surface, lay a large lettuce wrap on top of the wrap, then pile on your filling, roll and eat. The lettuce leaf should work to keep the other ingredients from poking through. A piece of very thinly sliced meat would work as well, although I think that the lettuce would actually be sturdier.

I’m traveling right now and can’t try this out but if anyone has the opportunity to do so, I’d love to hear if it worked or not.

High Protein Recipes

Low Carb Holiday Party Menu

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low carb gluten-free Paleo sugar-free party recipes

Whenever I’m planning a party I make sure to include low carb, Paleo, gluten-free, and sugar-free options, not only for myself, but nowadays there are always several people in the crowd that have dietary restrictions. To let people know what foods are “safe” for them to eat I use chalkboard mats or chalkboard picks to write the name of the dish and beneath the name I’ll write “low carb”, or “gluten-free”, and so on.

Spicy Cheddar Bites

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup soy flour
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Cream butter until soft and fluffy. Use a pastry cutter, fork or two butter knives to cut in remaining ingredients. The batter should look like coarse cornmeal.

On a very lightly floured board form the dough into two long, thin rolls, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap or foil and chill until firm, one to two hours. They can be stored in the fridge or frozen until ready to bake.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut each roll into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices, edges not touching, on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 5 – 10 minutes until brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately, or let cool; storing in an airtight container.

 

 

Herb Brie Spread

from 14 Days ~ 14 Pounds: Low Carb Daily Plan with 140 Quick & Easy Recipes

Serving Size: ¼ cup – 1 net carb/serving
1 cup Brie cheese, melted
2 tablespoons diced fresh parsley, or basil, or mint
2 tablespoons diced oil-packed sun-dried tomato

Blend all ingredients with a fork.
Spread the herbed Brie onto your choice of the following:

  • thinly sliced meat, roll and eat (zero carbs)
  • cucumber slices (1/2 cup slices 1 carb)
  • celery sticks (7-inch long stalk = 1 carb)
  • radish slices (1/2 cup sliced = 1 carb)
  • One Carb Bread

Variations

You can use any herb in place of the parsley, and I encourage you to do so. Whichever herb you choose will completely change this spread.

 

Creamy Pesto Dip

This is such a simple and versatile spread that I’m not going to give an exact recipe but rather the basic ingredients and let you go to it on your own.

Use a fork to mix equal amounts of cream cheese or mascarpone cheese and pesto. That’s it! Serve with veggies, toasted protein bread and crackers or mini-toasts for guests who aren’t low carbing it.

 

Spinach Rolls

You can substitute cooked ground beef, pork or turkey for the cheese or even go half and half.

1 cup onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed well to remove excess water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
sea salt and black pepper
jarred grape leaves: Middle Eastern markets carry bottled leaves with no preservatives. These taste better than the supermarket ones with the acid preservative.
1 cup veggie, mock chicken, or beef broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Saute onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon peanut, walnut or sesame oil until onion is translucent.
Add spinach, black pepper, nutmeg and sea salt and continue sauteeing until onion is tender.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese or meat.
Taste and adjust seasoning.

Gently remove grape leaves from the jar, rinse and drain in a colander. Lay on towels to absorb excess water. Lay the leaves out on a work surface.

Cut and discard any long stems. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each leaf. Fold bottom and top of leaf over filling. Fold left leaf over filling and roll. Arrange in single layer rows in a baking dish, seam side down.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes. These taste much better when you make them 1 to 4 days ahead. Serve cold or at room temperature.

 

 

Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms

from 14 Days ~ 14 Pounds: Low Carb Daily Plan with 140 Quick & Easy Recipes

12 servings of 2 mushrooms per serving – 1 carb per serving

24 medium mushrooms
¼ pound spicy sausage, cooked and crumbled
3 ounces Bel Gioioso mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove stems and gills from mushrooms. Set stems aside to use in another dish or on a salad. Place mushroom caps in an oiled baking dish. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from oven.
While mushrooms are baking, mix cooked sausage and cheeses together.
Fill each mushroom with 1 teaspoon of stuffing mixture. Return mushrooms to oven stuffed side up. Bake for 7 minutes.

Variation

Use 3 medium zucchini in place of the mushrooms. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp, leaving a ¼-inch thick shell. Toss the pulp or chop and use in a salad.
Place zucchini, cut side up on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon each salt and black pepper over all three zucchini. Turn cut side down and bake for 7 minutes or until just short of al dente. Fill with stuffing mixture and bake for another 7 minutes.

 

 

Ham Poundcake

If you have shaped bread tins a party is a great time to use them for this bread. You’ll need two shaped tins, one bread loaf pan and two mini loaf pans. For a party I think it’s nicer to use either the shaped tins or mini loaf pans.

1/4 cup finely diced broccoli
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs, room temperature
1-1/4 cups soy flour
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup finely diced, cooked ham

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly oil pan(s).

Sprinkle broccoli and onion with a small pinch of salt and steam until just tender.

In a large bowl beat butter at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating each time until mixture is almost smooth.

In a medium bowl combine the soy flour, orange peel, lemon peel, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add dry mixture 1/4 cup at a time to egg mixture, stirring to roughly blend each time. Stir in vegetables and ham.

Spoon batter into pan(s). Smooth top of batter.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. If using bread tins cook 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. When tester shows no raw dough remove from oven. Let sit 10 minutes then carefully remove from pan(s). Cool before slicing. Arrange slices on lettuce lined plate or tray.

 

Spicy Meat Rolls

Spread gourmet mustard on thinly sliced roast beef, ham, corned beef and/or pastrami. Roll up and secure with a toothpick.

 

Extras

Set out plates of different types of olives, cheese cubes, and crudites.

 

High Protein Recipes

Company Dinner – Coriander Lamb Chops

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Here’s a page from my upcoming cookbook “3 Ingredient Low Carb Recipes” (title still under construction – any suggestions?). Even if you or your guests aren’t eating low carb these recipes will wow them.

A note about 3 ingredient recipes. I don’t count salt, pepper, oil or the title ingredient. For instance if it’s a lamb chop recipe, it’s a given that you’ll have a lamb chop, salt and pepper and maybe oil in the pan. Even so, I’ve still kept the recipes as simple as possible.

The carb counts for these recipes are calculated based on net carbs (total carbs minus fiber).

Coriander Lamb Chops­

Serves 4 = 0 carbs per serving

You can easily multiply this recipe to serve as many as you like. If you choose to use fresh herbs in place of the dried coriander then use 2 teaspoons, finely chopped.

Ingredients:

4 to 8 lamb rib or shoulder chops to equal 24 to 32 ounces total

2 teaspoons dried coriander

salt and pepper

Instructions:

Rub both sides of chops with coriander. If you can let the lamb sit with the coriander rub for 2 or 3 hours, great, otherwise proceed by seasoning with salt and pepper. Grill, broil or sauté in oiled pan over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare.

Variations: use any of the following in place of coriander:

  • rosemary
  • Herbs de Provence
  • Italian Seasoning
  • mint
  • dill
  • garlic
  • oregano

Serve with Lemon Sour Cream Sauce if desired – don’t forget to add the carbs for the sauce.

Lemon Sour Cream Sauce

4  1/4 cup servings = 2.5 carbs per serving

I love this sauce because it’s so versatile. You can drizzle it over ham, fish, asparagus, green beans … It’s also a good veggie dip or salad dressing.

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a small bowl mix all ingredients. Spoon ¼ cup sauce (1 serving) over Coriander Lamb Chops. Remaining sauce keeps well in the fridge to use as a salad dressing or dip.

 

Mock Mashed Potatoes

4 servings = 3 carbs per serving

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower broken into florets or 1 bag frozen cauliflower

1 tablespoon sour cream or mascarpone cheese

½ teaspoon vegetable or chicken broth powder – be sure to use powdered broth and not liquid broth

3 tablespoons butter

¼ teaspoon ground black or white pepper

Instructions:

Steam or microwave cauliflower until it’s so soft that it falls apart when poked with a fork, about 6 minutes. Pat dry with a towel to remove as much moisture as possible.

Puree cauliflower with remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning, butter, and sour cream so that you end up with a rich tasting dish that NO ONE will believe is not really mashed potatoes.

Optional Additions:

4 cloves roasted garlic = 1 carb

½ cup shredded Parmesan = 0 carbs

cooked turkey bacon = 0 carbs

¼ cup minced chives = 0 carbs

 

Herb Salad

4 servings = 1 carb per serving without dressing

Ingredients:

8 cups torn lettuce

your favorite sugar-free salad dressing

4 tablespoons sliced olives or 1 teaspoon chopped

4 tablespoons roughly chopped flat leaf parsley or mint

Instructions:

Toss lettuce with dressing together. Garnish with olives and herbs.

 

 

High Protein Kid Friendly

Cheeseburger Eggs

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I thought I’d treat you all to a sneak peek from one of my upcoming books from the “2 Weeks On …” series. This book “2 Weeks on Low Carb Phase 2” will contain 14 days worth of menus and recipes including beverages, snacks and desserts.

This is a recipe for our low-carb readers, but if you’re not low-carbing it you can certainly serve these burgers on whole wheat buns. If you’re making dinner for your family or a barbecue you can make this recipe up on buns for everybody else and skip the bun for yourself, or go the lettuce wrap route.

4 servings = 1 carb/serving

Ingredients:

  • 4 cooked burgers
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 4 slices American cheese

Your choice of burger condiments:

  • 1 carb ketchup = 1 carb/serving
  • Dijon mustard = 0 carbs
  • Dill pickle = 1 carb per spear

 

Directions:

Beat eggs, water, cream, salt and pepper in a small bowl until blended.

Heat butter in a small skillet over medium heat until hot. Pour in eggs. As eggs begin to set, push the cooked eggs from the edges into the center and tilt the pan so that the uncooked egg runs to the outside edges.

Continue cooking, lifting and tilting eggs until no liquid egg remains. Remove from heat.

Place burgers on microwave-safe plate. Top each burger with a quarter portion of eggs, then with a slice of cheese. Top with your choice of condiments.

 

High Protein Living Food Neutral Recipes Vegetarian

Prepare Ahead Packable Low Calorie Low Carb Salads

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Have you ever found yourself standing in front of the fridge so hungry that you can’t even think. No? Well I have plenty of times. For those of you who are often in the same quandry I’ve put together a selection of easy (no measurements and infinitely customizable to use what you already have) make-ahead salads that will be ready to go when you are. Plus they’re perfect to pack up and take along to work, on a hike, to a picnic …

Note: if you’re looking for a Neutral or Vegetarian salad instead of a Protein salad just leave out the meat, cheese or egg. It won’t hurt these recipes at all. Infinitely customizable 🙂

Spicy Peanut Cucumber Salad

Diced or sliced cucumber, green onion (both white and green parts), tossed with Trader Joes Spicy Peanut Vinegarette.

Optional Garnishes:

  • toasted sesame seed
  • toasted pumpkin seed
  • toasted sunflower seed
  • diced waterchestnut
  • crumbled dried seaweed
  • baked tofu

Ranch Coleslaw

Toss a bag of shredded coleslaw with any sugar-free ranch dressing. Add one or more of the following if you like:

  • chicken or turkey
  • shredded carrot
  • sliced celery
  • diced or shredded jicama
  • diced or shredded zucchini

Orange Cucumber Salad

Diced or sliced cucumber dressed with Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegarette and tossed with one or more of the following:

  • tomato
  • bell pepper
  • zucchini
  • ham or proscutto
  • radishes

Optional Garnishes:

  • feta cheese
  • green or red onion
  • crumbled bacon
  • diced hard-boiled egg
  • olives
  • toasted nuts: walnuts, pecans or almonds
  • toasted seeds: sunflower, pumpkin or pine nuts
Healthy Products High Protein

Food Review: Rosenborg’s Blue Cheese in Oil

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Rosenborg’s Extra Creamy Blue Cheese in Oil has transformed my salads, transformed my LIFE! I’ll never be able to buy bottled blue cheese dressing again because these little cubes of heaven have made my salads stand up and DANCE. I first used them in a fruit salad for lunch and when dinner time came around and I was still dreaming about my lunch salad I decided to make a meal of what I had originally planned to be just a starter salad. Suffice it to say that I will never be without a jar of Rosenborg’s Extra Creamy Blue Cheese in Oil again. Go ahead, check my fridge.

Living Food Recipes

Quick & Easy Soup “Salads”

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Here are some quick and easy recipes using canned soups that will help you to get more raw veggies in your diet, particularly on a cold day when a bowl full of salad isn’t that inviting.

Celery Tomato Soup

This soup is a good one when you only want a small salad with your meal, since it contains lots of raw veggies.

Use a blender to finely chop equal amounts of:

  • fresh parsley
  • green onion (both white and green portions)
  • celery, cut in 1/2 inch sections (preferably inner stalks and leaves)

Turn off blender and pour in Imagine Foods Creamy Tomato Soup, Roasted Tomato and Red Bell Pepper or an UnDiet compatible commercial brand of tomato soup (one that contains no refined sugars) and a little vegetable broth.

Place the top on your blender and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

 

Quick Black Bean Soup

This soup is another good one to have when you only want a small salad with your meal, since it also contains lots of raw veggies.

Puree some fresh tomato salsa.

Heat a can of vegetarian refried black beans until very hot. Stir in pureed salsa at a ratio of about 1/4 cup salsa to 3/4 cup beans.

Variations: If you don’t have any salsa stir V-8 juice into your black beans. This won’t qualify as raw veggies but it’s still veggies.

 

Quick Carrot Risotto

Risotto isn’t really as time consuming as most people think that it is. There’s no need to stand in front of the stove watching the rice cook – in between adding broth you can be making a salad, setting the table, cleaning the kitchen … Before you know it you’re risotto is done and dinner is on.

  • 1 large peeled carrot, finely shredded on the smallest setting on your grater
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 cups instant brown rice
  • 2 – 3 cups vegetable broth

Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat. Season with sea salt and black pepper while sauteeing. When onion becomes translucent (about 5 minutes) add garlic. Stir occasionally to keep onion from browning. It may get light brown, but it shouldn’t get crispy.

Set onion aside and add butter to the pan along with the rice. Stir until rice starts to brown then add 1/2 cup vegetable broth and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.

Let simmer without covering pan. When rice is almost dry add another 1/2 cup broth. Continue doing this until you’ve used 2 cups of broth.

Taste the rice. It should be chewy but not crunchy. You can stop adding liquid at this point or add up to another 1 cup of broth in 1/2 cup increments.

When liquid is absorbed remove from heat and stir in carrot puree and cooked onion. Taste and add more sea salt if needed.

High Protein Kid Friendly Menus Recipes

Southwestern Meatloaf Dinner

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This is a low carb meal that you can serve to your family without any apologies.

You’re welcome to substitute ground beef for all or part of the ground turkey in the meatloaf. I prefer the taste of the ground turkey though as it doesn’t overwhelm the spices and herbs and I definitely appreciate the lower calorie count of the ground turkey.

You may also choose to use frozen veggies in place of fresh veggies. You could use taco or fajita seasoning in place of the chili powder, black pepper, cumin and salt if you still have them in your cupboards but I try to avoid these prepackaged seasonings as they contain so many chemicals. The prepackaged Mexican seasoning mix found in the spice section of most grocery stores is great though.

You can use instant oatmeal, whole wheat panko, whole wheat bread crumbs or crushed whole wheat crackers in place of the pork rinds, but I don’t like to mix starches with proteins as it makes food more difficult to digest and if you’re on a low carb eating plan then you’ll want to keep the recipe as is.

Southwestern Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 medium minced onion
  • 2 small minced & seeded green chilis
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
  • 1 cup pureed roasted red peppers
  • 3/4 cup finely crushed pork rinds
  • 1-1/2 pounds ground turkey

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl except the ground turkey. The reason that you mix the meat in last is that if you manipulate the meat too much your meatloaf will turn out tough. You want to manipulate the meat as little as possible, so adding it last means you will only need to mix it much less than if you dumped all the ingredients in a bowl and went at it.

Pack the meatloaf mixture into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake uncovered about 1 hour, until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf reads 160-165 degrees. If you don’t have a meaat thermometer you can make a cut in the center of the meatloaf and check to see if the meat is still pink.

Once the meatloaf is fully cooked, remove from oven and let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. This helps the meatloaf to reabsorb much of the juices and of course you end up with a juicier, more flavorful meatloaf. Slice and serve drizzled with Enchilida Cream Sauce (recipe below) or 1 carb ketchup.

Enchilida Cream Sauce

If you don’t want the extra carbs you can skip the sauce. If you’re trying to lose weight by lowering your calorie intake you can use 2 cups of broth and skip the heavy cream. However if  you really want the cream sauce then don’t deprive yourself – choose where you’ll lose.

This sauce is also good with chicken or pork. Just marinate a chicken breast or a pork roast in the Enchilida Cream Sauce, then baste with the sauce during the last few minutes of cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy, almond or coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 sixteen ounce jar roasted red bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Dump the jar of red bell pepper into a colander and quickly rinse. Puree in a blender or food processor, then dump the puree into a coffee filter lined small colander to drain overnight.

In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute.

Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds.

Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

The sauce will thicken and smooth out.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Variation: Add 1 cup chopped sauteed onion and 1/2 cup minced green chilis or roasted bell pepper.

 

Zucchini & Pepper Saute

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 chopped red pepper
  • 1 minced green chili pepper (or jalapeno pepper if you like it hot)
  • 3 cups sliced zucchini
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt (or 1/2 teaspoon salt and add 2 minced garlic cloves to onion mixture. If you have a head of roasted garlic you could mince 2-4 cloves and add at this point in place of the minced garlic)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican seasoning (or 1/4 teaspoon each chili powder, paprika, oregeno, and cayenne pepper)

Saute onion in canola or olive oil until just soft. Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

 

Garlic Mashed “Potatoes”

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower, separated into florets or one 16 ounce bag frozen cauliflower
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup marscapone or cream cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower (or cook in microwave) until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15-20 minutes.

In a medium saucepan over low heat combine garlic cloves, (shortcut: buy refrigerated peeled whole garlic cloves) and butter. Cover & stir occasionally until garlic is tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Alternatively you could use roasted garlic and skip this step.

Puree all ingredients in blender or food processor. If the mixture is not thick enough add some powdered chicken or vegetable broth. Taste and add salt & pepper to taste if needed.

You can make this up to two weeks ahead & freeze in freezer quality ziplock bags. Thaw by leaving at room temperature or on top of fridge until completely thawed or at least thawed enough to remove from bag & reheat in a covered dish in the oven.

Dessert Kid Friendly Recipes

More Healthy Halloween Recipes

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Chocolate Dipped Caramel Apples

All the flavor of caramel apples & none of the guilt!

Make Caramel Chews and when mixture tests firm remove from heat and using a fork or tongs dip apple slices into caramel. Place on wax paper or oiled aluminum foil or cookie sheet. When caramel has cooled dip in chocolate sauce from Chocolate Dipped Cherries. Place back on wax paper and until chocolate has cooled.

 

Candied Maple Nuts

1 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups walnuts and/or pecans (preferably toasted)

In a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat stir together maple syrup, cinnamon, butter and salt.

Cook and stir until syrup becomes darker and starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Toss syrup with walnuts until evenly coated. Pour onto waxed paper or lightly oiled baking sheet. Let cool before storing in airtight container.

Coconut-Almond Toffee Bars

No, you haven’t stumbled into another dimension – these really are sugar-free, delicious, easy to make – and yes, this is still the third rock from the sun in the year 2013. Check out the Tropical and budget Oatmeal versions.

These can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/3 cup sliced almonds
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup unrefined sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup coffee
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
12 ounces grain-sweetened chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped almonds or coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread coconut and almonds on a cookie sheet and bake until golden, 5 to 7 minutes; stirring 2-3 times. Remove from oven and turn oven up to 400 degrees.

Pour coconut and almonds into a medium bowl and add the butter, sugar, vanilla, coffee and honey, stirring until well blended.

Wipe the cookie sheet with the butter wrapper or spray with cooking spray. Pour nut mixture onto buttered cookie sheet and bake about 18 minutes, until toffee is brown and bubbly. Remove from oven.

Sprinkle  chocolate chips over toffee. Let stand 10 minutes until chips are melted. Using a buttered metal spatula spread chocolate evenly over toffee then sprinkle with chopped almonds.

Cool completely. Cut into squares. Store tightly covered in a cool dry place.

Tropical Toffee Bars – use fresh orange juice in place of water, (add 1 tablespoon orange curacuo to toffee mixture before baking), mix 1 tablespoon finely diced orange zest into final topping of almonds or coconut.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars – in place of almonds and coconut use 28 ounces instant oatmeal (toast first), (apple or white grape juice instead of water), 1 tablespoon vanilla instead of 1 teaspoon, add 1/2 teaspoon salt to oatmeal mix, top with any chopped nuts that you have around.

 

Honey Popcorn Bars

It took me five years, but finally I’ve come up with an UnDiet version of one of my favorite treats – Marshmallow Rice Krispie Bars. You won’t believe how close these taste to the snap, crackle and pop version that we all grew up with.

If you’re making these for Halloween in the final step use your hands to shape them into popcorn balls instead of bars. You can even add a few sugar-free cinnamon candies or grain-sweetened chocolate, white chocolate or peanut butter chips.

2 cups butter
1-1/2 cups honey
6-8 cups popcorn (preferably air-popped)

Bring butter and honey to a boil over medium heat in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir frequently while bringing to a boil, then stop stirring while mixture continues to boil until it turns a dark golden brown about 7-10 minutes. Use your stirring spoon to drop a small glob of syrup into a glass of very cold water. If mixture forms a soft ball after hitting the water it’s ready. If it floats to the bottom of the glass in threads boil a few more minutes without stirring and test again.

Remove from heat and stir in popcorn so that it’s all well coated. Allow mixture to rest 5-10 minutes until the popcorn collapses from soaking in the syrup, then press into a buttered cookie sheet or onto a large sheet of waxed paper. Using buttered hands or the back of your stirring spoon press the mixture firmly to further collapse the popcorn.

Variations:
Cut cooled mixture into shapes with knife or cookie cutters.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla to mixture after removing from heat and before adding popcorn.
Add 1 teaspoon flavoring extract (try peppermint, coconut, chocolate, butterscotch, rum) to mixture after removing from heat and before adding popcorn.
Add 1 cup chopped nuts, dried dates, raisins, grain-sweetened yogurt or chocolate covered raisins, or grain-sweetened chocolate (or peanut, or espresso) chips to mixture when you stir in the popcorn.
Instead of popcorn use whole grain, sugar free air puffed cereal.

 

 

Dessert Kid Friendly Recipes

Healthy Halloween Candy Recipes

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healthy Halloween candy

One for you, two for me! That’s what you’ll be saying to trick-or-treaters this Halloween season when you have these UnDiet treats around. So when someone says “trick or treat”, smile and hand them a Snickers bar while you reach for an UnDiet Halloween treat – or two – or three. I won’t tell.

Citrus Chews

Using a vegetable peeler, remove large pieces of peel being careful to leave the bitter white pith with the fruit. Try one or more of the following:

oranges
lemons
limes
grapefruits

Use a small sharp knife or cookie cutter to trim the peel into interesting shapes (stars, moons, bones, bats, cats …), then in a small saucepan over low heat, simmer peels and

1 cup honey for every 6 pieces of whole fruit

Stir frequently for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, tongs, or collander remove peel from honey. Cool on foil or saran wrap lightly sprayed with a light coating of cooking spray, or use a large piece of wax paper and no cooking spray.

Chocolate Coated Cherries

Chocolate dipped fruit is one of the simplest, tastiest, healthiest desserts with the potential for an infinite number of variations. I use this basic recipe for many UnDiet holidays, varying it to suit the season.

2 cups grain-sweetened chocolate or carob chips

4 tablespoons butter

fresh cherries with stems, or strawberries, grapes, raisins, dried date nuggets …

In a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stir chocolate and butter until melted and smooth then remove from heat. You can also microwave the chocolate with the butter until it is melted.

Using a fork dip cherries one at a time, into melted chocolate. Place chocolate-dipped cherries on wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set chocolate. If the kids are bugging you for a quick snack you could place a few pieces in the freezer to speed up the process, but don’t put the whole batch in the freezer; the chocolate will develop a white film.

Liqueured Up Cherries

Soak cherries overnight and up to 4 days in your choice of liqueur. Pat dry before dipping in chocolate. Caution: don’t dip and drive

Oatmeal Candy

4 cups unrefined sugar 
6 tablespoons cocoa or carob powder (use carob if you’re losing weight, cocoa if you’re maintaining) 
1/2 cup butter
1 cup cream, nondairy milk, or mix of cream & nondairy milk 
1 cup nut butter
4-1/2 cups oatmeal, not instant

Mix sugar, cocoa, butter and cream in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.Remove from heat. Add nut butter and stir until smooth. Add oatmeal and stir until well blended. Drop by teaspoon or tablespoon onto wax paper or lightly oiled cookie sheet. Cool and eat!

Shaped Candies: dump the candy mixture onto a buttered cookie sheet. Use a spatula to smooth the top so it’s all level. When the cookies are cool cut them with a small sharp knife or cookie cutter into whatever shapes you like. If the knife or cookie cutter sticks to the candy, dip the cutting instrument in vegetable oil or spray with oil.

Caramel Chews

Eat these as is or use them to make many other goodies such as Chocolate Dipped Caramel Fruit.

1-1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
2 cups heavy cream (or 1/2 cup cream & 1/2 cup soy/nut/seed/rice milk)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup cream & 1/2 cup nondairy milk)
Combine honey, 1 cup heavy cream and butter in a medium-size heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Do not stir. Cook until the mixture begins to get dark and thick. Add 1 cup heavy cream, stir to combine and continue to boil without stirring.

After about 5 minutes use your stirring spoon to drop a small glob of syrup into a glass of ice-cold water. If the mixture forms a firm but not hard ball after hitting the water it’s ready. If it floats to the bottom of the glass in threads boil a few minutes more and test again. When mixture is ready, pour it into a well buttered square pan. When cool, cut into squares.

Note: sometimes a caramel recipe just doesn’t harden like you would like it to. If that happens, don’t despair, you can use this as a caramel sauce or to dip caramel apples into.

Pecan Raisin Clusters

1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1/2 cup roughly chopped toasted pecans and 1 cup raisins or chopped dates

In a microwave or double boiler melt chocolate chips until smooth. Dump in pecans and raisins, stirring until well blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes, until set. Store in airtight container in cool place, but they don’t need to be refrigerated.

 

Stay tuned – I have lots more Halloween recipes coming over the next few weeks.