Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Cinnamon is everywhere this time of  year. I love it. Today, I made some amazingly yummy muffins using golden flax and coconut flour as the base.  The texture is great. The flavors are amazing. I wanted something really bursting with cinnamon taste. I had cinnamon oil from making those old fashioned cinnamon toothpicks. Remember those? Good to ward off snack attacks. I also use it to flavor tea. But here I am highjacking my original post, so now back to the muffins.

I decided to boost the flavor in the cinnamon butter mixture I was planning to ribbon through the vanilla batter. Knowing my grocery store cinnamon just wasn't going to get me to absolute cinnamon nirvana, I added a few drops--OK, like seven drops to the butter and sweetener. Oh yeah! that is the kind of cinnamon I am talking about to rival all the fall candles I have around the house. Have I mentioned I love fall?

I  made these muffins in my Babycakes Cupcake maker. Mine took only 7 minutes to bake. I haven't tried them in a standard oven, so use your mad cooking skills to know when yours are perfectly baked.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

1/2 cup golden flax seed meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup granular erythritol (or equivalent sweetener)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp mild oil (grapeseed is good)
1 tsp vanilla or vanilla butter nut flavoring
 Cinnamon Topping:
1/4 cup granulated erythritol  (or equivalent sweetener) 
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
7 drops cinnamon oil
Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sweetener
2 tsp butter melted
2 tbsp water, or less

In a medium bowl, mix the flax meal, coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate small bowl, bet the eggs. Stir in the water, oil and vanilla. Add more water to thin the batter if necessary, as coconut flour can vary.  The mixture should be thick, but spoonable, not pourable.

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients: granulated sweetener, melted butter, cinnamon and cinnamon oil.

Line mini muffin cups with papers. Spoon the batter into the cups. Pour about 1/2 a teaspoon of the cinnamon topping over each muffins. Use the spoon to make X shaped "cuts" into the batter to allow the topping to settle inside. Bake the muffins in a cupcake appliance or at 325 degrees until the tops are lightly browned and the middles are set. Remove and cool while preparing the glaze.

Fill a very small bowl with powdered sweetener. Stir in melted butter. Thin with water to the stage where the glaze will pour from a spoon. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins. Makes 12 small muffins (my Babycakes machine makes muffins which are larger than traditional mini- muffins, so you may get more.)

You can add nuts to these if you like. Also, I used a favorite flavor--Vanilla Butter Nut flavoring. I think it makes my baked goods taste like pound cake. Not all natural though, so you may prefer straight vanilla. Use whatever sweeteners you like best. I am pretty sure most any low carb sweetener, even liquids will do in the batter.  I happened to have Swerve for the granulated. For the topping and glaze, it is probably more important for texture to use the bulkier sweeteners called for.

These are a bit more trouble than most of my muffins, but they are so worth it!

12 servings   92 calories   3 g protein   8 g fat    1.1 g net carb

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Bacon Jam-- Diner Style

I am so over the bacon in unusual things craze. Exceptions apply. Bacon cookies just didn't do it for me. I do still love bacon though. Somehow, in a rather twisted way, I think bacon ought to belong just to us low carbers. Let the world demonize it. Let Jay Leno make fun of us every night . Just leave the bacon and all its glorious flavor to those of us who don't do Krispy Kreme or Snickers Bars. Just keep my bacon out of your cookies and your ice cream sundaes.

This is the exception. I don't know how I never tried Bacon Jam, given my interest in things sweet and salty. Somehow I missed the craze. Until today. This is delish. Salty and smokey, sweet and tart. It is a condiment now, so don't stand over the jar with a spoon.

This is great over scrambled eggs, how we had it this a.m. Also with cream cheese as an appetizer. Put it on burgers, chicken, sandwiches. All sorts of things could use a little sweet bacon side. My original inspiration came from Allrecipes. I have seen recipes that included coffee, booze, peppers, chili powder, maple syrup, allspice...Obviously, there are many many ways to make this stuff. I went with a simple recipe with a tang of vinegar. It just sounded good. It is.

Bacon Jam Diner Style

1/2 lb bacon, fried or oven baked
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2-2/3 cup sugar substitute
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Wright's Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp black pepper

Fry or oven bake the bacon. Let cool and crumble. Keep or add a few tablespoons bacon fat in a skillet, Over a low flame, saute the onion until just soft. Stir in the bacon, tomatoes, sugar substitute, vinegar, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. Let the skillet simmer until the mixture is thickened. Spoon into a jar and keep refrigerated. May be frozen.

This is really easy. Mine cooked for about 20 minutes, though it may take longer. So all you carbivores, stay away from my bacon!

Update:  I am pretty sure I had a glitch in my nutritional analysis program. The stats I got when I was formatting this recipe for Low Carbing Among Friends had the carbohydrates way too high. I ran it again and again, only to get the same results. Using a different program, now in 2014, the stats seem for more in line. So much for computers! If using eryhtritol and not a sweetener with calories and carbs, this works out to 50 calories per serving and 1 carb. That is assuming you can get 24 servings in the jar.  If you own the cookbooks, you may wish to write in the correct stats. If you are counting varbs, that is definitely the way to go!

Love the recipes I share on this blog? My ebook helps you plan and prep to stay healthy 24/7.   http://www.247lowcarbdiner.com

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Hearty Pumpkin Soup

This soup is thick and creamy, and hearty with sausage and nuts. Nuts? Yep, walnuts add a wonderful crunch other soups would envy! Peanut butter helps thicken a bit and adds a depth of flavor. The secret here is to get a tasty sage sausage that you really love. I love sage: it just tastes like fall!

This recipe was featured in the October Diner News--along with lots of other soups and stews and chowders and such. Yum. This is the second time I have made it, and this time I ran a little short of cream. Just as good. So if you are cutting calories, feel free to cut the amount of cream. The texture is still wonderful with the pumpkin and nuts, but I wouldn't eliminate the cream altogether. The creaminess it adds is so much a part of the experience.

 Hearty Pumpkin Soup

1 lb sage flavored pork sausage
1 medium onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup walnuts, diced
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 can pumpkin
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream

Brown sausage with diced onion and celery. Drain fat. Place meat and vegetables into a Dutch oven. In a small sauce pan, sautee walnuts with butter. When nuts are lightly browned, stir in peanut butter. Add this mixture to the pot. Stir a can of pumpkin into this mixture. Slowly add in chicken broth, stirring to incorporate pumpkin well. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Just before serving, stir in cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6:  499 calories  8 net g carb

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Please excuse the momentary diversion

I will have some low carb goodies soon. I am super busy working on the next Diner News...and working on our "school." I mention it often. It is a huge part of my life now. In launching, we are struggling like most new businesses. We have several students who would like to attend, but the families just cannot find tuition money. We would love to help with scholarships, but until our enrollment increases, every dollar matters. We are raising money with an Indiegogo campaign. You see, we are not a traditional school. We are for kids who don't fit in with most schools. My son was one of those. This past summer, he introduced himself as "broken" in one of our meetings. I cried. With his severe dyslexia, he would have been considered broken. With our academic intervention, he went on to earn a 4.0 in college the last year and a half. He is just one of our amazing stories. His happy ending never would have happened if he had remained in a classroom, struggling to keep up with the other 25 kids.

 I know there are many kind, wonderful human beings out there who follow my blog and buy my books. Much of the money from my cookbook sales are going to fund this educational program, so this is your project too. Included with it is a great little video that gives insight into what we are about. Take a look at the campaign just to see the video. Then you will know what I am doing all day (I do still do some cooking at our eLemenT house, but my time is definitely an issue) If you are so inclined, leave a gift toward our scholarship fund. If you think we have a worthwhile endeavor here, please share it with your friends. I promise the next post will have a recipe! Until then, please check this out.

Heart of Italy Skillet Stew

I am developing some new stew and soup recipes for the Diner News in October. This one is especially delish. It features artichoke hearts in a chunky Italian stew.  I took some, packed in a canning jar, to school today. Not so elegant eaten out of a jar, but the taste was a way beyond the standard PBJ!

This will be featured in the News, but if you don't want to wait, you can make it sooner. You can make it in a Dutch oven of course, but if you are in a hurry, it can be made in a skillet just as easily.

 Heart of Italy Skillet Stew

1 1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

1 zucchini, sliced

1 can Hunts Diced Tomatoes with Fennel and Red Pepper (or regular diced tomatoes)

1 can medium artichoke hearts, cut in half

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Brown ground beef with onion. Drain fat. To the skillet, add the zucchini slices. Let them cook for about 5 minutes. Cut the artichoke hearts into halves or fourths. Add the diced tomatoes, artichoke hearts and seasonings to the skillet. Let simmer for ten minutes or longer.

 Yes, it really is that easy. Easier than Hamburger Helper. If speed is important to you, t is worth a hunt for the Hunts. The fennel flavor really does come through.Unfortunately, Hunts does add some sugar, so the carb count is about 10 carbs more for the entire dish. If want to keep carbs  lower,  then add some crushed fennel seeds to plain diced tomatoes. I hate trying to crush the seeds, so I love this brand. I am not sure how much of a red pepper flavor is in there, so it is probably fine to leave that out for the lowest carb count. 

This stew is great when you need to throw a dinner together in a hurry. A little sprinkle of Romano cheese doesn't hurt either.

If you have a favorite fall soup, stew or one pot meal, please feel free to send it to me for the Diner News. I love recipes from fellow Diners!

Applewood Smoked Chicken Salad

This stuff is amazing. I mean really, really delish. I will be making some of this for my future daughter-in-law's bridal shower. Until then, I am just eating it--for the second time in two weeks. Yummo.

Sent some to work with my hubby. I didn't warn him he was supposed to put it on the bowl of lettuce in the other container. He warmed it in the microwave. Said it was still good. Yup. Still good even hot.

Amazingly easy too if you have already baked and cubed chicken squares like I do. If not, still worth it to make the chicken cubes.

Applewood Smoked Chicken Salad

3 cups prepared chicken cubes or lightly seasoned rotisserie chicken shreds
1 tsp Wrights All Natural Applewood Liquid Smoke
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded Romano cheese
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Place the chicken cubes in a large bowl. Sprinkle the liquid smoke over the chicken. Stir well to coat. Add in mayonnaise and stir well. Gently stir in Romano cheese and slivered almonds. Chill and serve.

This is delish. Eat it as a salad, or roll it up in lettuce leaves. Spoon it on cucumber slices. I guess you could heat it up too, but I'm pretty sure cold is best. Sorry, Hon.

Get more great recipes at the Low Carbing Among Friends Facebook Page:               https://www.facebook.com/LowCarbingAmongFriends

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Order my original e-book or the latest version for couples and singles,  A Table for Two here

Prefer Coffee or Tea? Yes.

 First things first. Is that the most awesome cup? When I saw it at Goodwill, it made me smile. No, I don't pour Bailey's Irish Cream in my coffee like it promotes, but I do have another trick. Maybe that is why my cup is winking.

I must admit.  I prefer coffee to tea. Not that I don't like tea--I do. It is just that when I have all these choices, I find myself going to coffee more often. Some nutritionists are fine with coffee, and some aren't. I know I am not giving up my java, so I put my hands over my ears and sing la la la when they discuss coffee. Green tea however. Have you ever heard anyone NOT approve of green tea?

I have tried to fall in love with it. It is doable, but not what I run to. My mom heard about this fusion idea. She saw it on TV--maybe Dr, Oz, I dunno. She told me to try it since I seem to get in much more coffee than tea. It is a fusion of the two. Cool idea. I guess the overpowering little coffee beans can coexist with their brothers, the leaves.

The idea is, you get all the health benefits of drinking green tea, with the flavor of the coffee. Now, the ratio of tea to coffee is up to you. In my experimenting, I have found that one tea bag to one cup of joe was just too much tea for this girl. It tasted "weird." I can do one tea bag to two cups of coffee, but that is still a little strong. What I have settled on is one or two tea bags directly in the basket with my coffee grounds. We usually make 8 cups. Sure, the benefits are diluted, but then, it is better than none at all. Sorry Keurig users, I don't know how you could do this...

I drink my coffee with half and half and stevia. With those additional flavors, I don't notice the tea at all. Even if I choose to make a stronger tea infusion, the taste is unique, not bad. Try it for yourself. It may not be a miracle cure, but every little bit helps.