BBQ Beef Cups

These are a variation of the sausage muffins I make using my "corn" dog batter. 

Brown 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef and season with your favorite low carb BBQ spices.  Cook until just cooked through because it will bake in the oven also.

While the beef is browning, I make a double batch of my "corn" dog recipe. This will make about 30 BBQ cups.

When the ground beef is done, turn off the heat and add your favorite low carb BBQ sauce. I use a mix of Walden Farms and G. Hughes.

Line muffin tins with paper liners (parchment is my favorite) and fill each about 1/3 of the way with batter.  Then top with the BBQ ground beef.  Push the meat down into the cup.

Bake in a 400° preheated oven for about 22 minutes.  Let cool a bit (the liner will come off better).  I drizzle a little more G. Hughes BBQ sauce on top. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Instant Pot Pulled Pork

So, I'm not the most adept Instant Pot user, but was forced into it this past Sunday. I planned to have pulled pork and had my roast all ready to go for the Crock-Pot, but slept late and my Crock-Pot window had passed. My husband pointed to the Instant Pot sitting proudly on the counter and said "you could use that thing".

Fine, fine.... I'll try it!

And you know what?  This pulled pork was every bit as good as it would have been sitting in the Crock-Pot for 10 hours in less than half the time!  I'm STILL amazed!  I'm sure there are recipes online, but I didn't have time for any of that shenanigans Sunday morning (😂) so here's what I did.

I had a huge bone-in butt roast (nearly 8 lbs) so I cut it up into about 8 chunks. I seasoned all the pieces really well with sugar-free BBQ seasoning.

Then add little oil your IP and pre-heat on the Saute setting.  Brown all your pieces (I did in 3 batches).

Then add a splash of stock (I used beef, but pork or chicken would work) to the IP and use a wooden spoon to scrape all the yummy bits from the bottom of the pot (this goodness is called "fond"). Then add about 2 cups more stock.  Add about 1 tsp each liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce (both should be sugar-free). Add your pork staggering to leave air pockets...

Make sure your vent is sealed. Then cook for 90 minutes on Manual. (If your roast is smaller, you probably could do less time.) When it was done I let it naturally release pressure for about 15 minutes. Then I cooked on the Slower Cooker High setting for 1 1/2 hours.

After this ~3 hours of cooking it was fall apart tender. Seriously as tender as 10 hours in a Crock-Pot!

Just use 2 forks to shred and top with your favorite sugar-free BBQ sauce. Our favorites are Walden Farms and G. Hughs.

I served with mashed cauliflower and roasted, cheesy green beans.

Buffalo Ranch Pork Rinds

I'm not a lover of plain pork rinds, but most of the flavored ones have maltodextrin (sugar) and starches so I try to avoid.

Plain pork rinds in this buffalo ranch dip though... 👍🏻👌🏻😋

0 carbs, but a high protein snack so T1's need to keep that in mind to avoid a slow, delayed blood sugar rise.

Decorated Shortbread Cookies

My daughter and I were on vacation last week and she found a cupcake shaped cookie cutter she wanted so I told her we'd make cookies for dessert on Sunday. I used this shortbread cookie recipe, but swapped coconut oil for the butter to make it dairy-free. That makes it a bit harder to work with, but still doable.  I also had to bake it a few extra minutes until firm.

I added strawberry extract and a little red food coloring for a pink'ish cupcake. The icing is Swerve confectioners with almond extract and a little almond milk - mix until smooth. Just put the icing in a Ziploc baggie and snip the corner to pipe onto the cookie..  I used KNOW chocolate chips for decorations and added a little whipped cream on the side (almond milk whipped cream for Samuel).

About 3-4 net carbs.

90 Second Cake: Orange Cream and Chocolate

This morning I was busy gardening (read: weeding) outside.  When I came in to decide what I was going to do for lunch, it dawned on me it was Sunday (Dessert Day) and I had nothing made.  

GASP!

I thought about what quick desserts I have in my repertoire, but could also make something new with.  Two ideas came to mind.  Then an orange and chocolate concoction came together in my mind. I love orange and chocolate together, so I decided to give a it a go.

First I made an orange flavored 90 second cake.  This is a recipe I've posted before.  I just changed out the vanilla extract for orange.  Easy easy.  I let it cool and sliced it in half for 2 servings.  Click this link to the 90 second cake recipe.

Then I made Puppy Chow (aka Muddy Buddies).  The refular version of this uses Chex cereal.  This low carb version uses fluffy pork finds.  Click this link to the Puppy Chow recipe.  

Both of these recipes can be made in about 10 minutes.  I added some whipped cream, low carb chocolate sauce, and decorated with the Puppy Chow.  The Puppy Chow is really rich, so the not-so-sweet orange cake went really well with it.

It made a pretty star shape from the top.

Easy Sausage Muffins

These muffins were super fast and easy.  I browned 2 lbs of breakfast sausage.  While that was browning, I mixed up 2 batches of my "corn"dog batter recipe.  After the sausage was browned, I added it to the batter, and mixed to combine.

Fill lined muffins tins - I got 30 muffins.  Bake in a 375° preheated muffin for 20 minutes.

I served with some sugar-free pancake syrup for dipping and a salad.

And now we have leftovers for lunch and dinner.  These would be great for fast breakfasts or packed in kids lunches.

Dairy & Sugar-Free Ranch Dressing

I recently found this dressing that is dairy-free and has 0 carbs.  It's by far our favorite store-bought dairy-free ranch dressing! 

So far, I've found it at Wal-Mart and Whole Foods.

Strawberry Snow

Oh my gosh, this is so fun!  Apparently, my husband grew up eating this, but had since forgotten about it.  I had never heard of it.  A few months ago, my husband was visiting his parents who gave him a bunch of old books.  One of those books was Children's Digest from 1972.  In it we found this recipe. It's super simple and very light and refreshing.  

The recipe calls for strawberry jello, but use whatever sugar-free jello flavor you like.  Reminder... a lot of sugar-free jello has maltodextrin which is a sneaky name for sugar, so be sure to avoid those!

This dessert/snack is essentially flavored egg whites.  The texture stays like whipped egg whites, but is slightly sweet and has the flavor of the jello.   This dessert is 0 carbs and about 7g of protein from the egg whites, but it makes about 6 servings, so I don't even have to count this towards Samuel's bolus.  He has about a 1 cup dish as a serving.

0 Carb Homemade Sno-Cones

We sometimes go out for Sno-Cones... I just order plain shaved ice and add our own syrup (Jordan's sugar-free syrup that I carry in a recycled ketchup squirt bottle).

But we were at home and the kids wanted Sno-Cones.  I added a few handfuls of ice to my Blendtec and used the "ice crush" setting. It made PERFECTLY FLUFFY shaved ice.  I was totally shocked.  I honestly don't know if this would turn out as well in a blender that wasn't a Blendtec or a Vitamix, but it'd be worth a try!

We just topped with our Jordan's syrup like usual.

Easy Frosted Cookie

I wanted a quick sweet treat today and had some "sugar" cookies leftover from the weekend in the fridge.  And I almost always have some sugar-free "magic shell" on my counter too, so I put the two together.  I iced my cookie with the magic shell and then put it in the freezer for about 30 seconds.  It was really good; sort of a fudge-like consistency.  This would also be an easy way to ice lots of cookies for a party and not worry about icing melting.

(Use the blog search bar to find the "sugar" cookie or magic shell recipes.)

Grilled Chicken Strips & Honey Mustard Dip

I marinated about 8 large chicken breasts for a few hours. Cut into strips, season with your favorite sugar-free seasoning, and then grill.  Be sure to make enough for leftovers!

G. Hughes sugar-free Honey Mustard dipping sauce is an easy dipping sauce for a week night. (No actual honey in it.  2 Tbsp/30g is 1 carb.)

We made a simple salad and added some green beans for an easy dinner.

Sausage & Egg Ham Cups

I've posted smaller versions of these before, but I made these much larger using a hamburger bun pan.

I lined the pan with 3-4 thinly sliced pieces of ham. Then filled that with browned sausage.  Then I beat 7 eggs with salt & seasonings, and topped each of the ham cups. If you're not dairy-free you could top with cheese too.

Bake at 400° for about 25 minutes or until the eggs are set.

After cooked, each one of these weighed about 5.5 oz. This is perfect for us at dinner. Dinner is Samuel's lightest protein meal to avoid protein highs over night.

These were a really substantial meal and very satisfying. My husband thought they'd be great for camping or hiking wrapped in foil.  The kids also split one for a snack the next day.

Cinco de Mayo Dinner

Ok, so this isn't really a Mexican dinner, but it was delicious.  To be honest with you, I didn't even remember it was May 5th until around 4pm.

I marinated chicken breasts in lemon juice, oil, salt and seasoning for about 8 hours (prepped in a zip top bag after breaksfast).  Then I just threw them on the grill for dinner.  For sides, I served green beans and a cauli-rice stir fry found at Wal-Mart (frozen). 

Disclaimer... This cauli rice has peas, red peppers, spring greens, corn and tamari soy sauce.  This is the first time Samuel has had it, but BG so far is very good.  A serving is 105g and is 5 net carbs.  He had 70g. I actually made sure his serving had a small amount of peas and only a few kernels of corn.

So, since I had just recently realized it was Cinco de Mayo, I made myself a low carb margarita (a double if I'm still being honest).  I made it in a mason jar, but then got lazy so I just scooped out the ice cube I shook with it and added some fresh ice.  This is the beauty of living in the country... drinking out of a mason jar is always appropriate. 😂 You can search the blog for this recipe or look in the 'Drinks' topics.

Ice Cream Popsicles

This is a recipe I adapted from one I found online.  You will need popsicle molds that you can find at any discount store or even at most grocery stores.

Mix in a blender:

1 cup coconut cream (or heavy cream if you're not dairy-free)

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 cup Swerve confections (if you use a granular sweetener blend REALLY well)

1 1/2 tsp extract (vanilla, almond, strawberry, banana, mint, coffee, etc)

Blend very well.  Pour into 4 popsicle molds (leave room for added goodies and your handle).  Then add any fun additions (optional; 2-3 tsp per popsicle)... KNOW or Lily's chocolate chips, toasted chopped nuts, chopped strawberries, etc.  I stir the goodies in with a skewer to distribute. Freeze until solid.

These are mint chocolate chip and so good. Drizzle or dip in "Magic Shell" to make even more special!  Search "Magic Shell" on the blog for the recipe.

Waffle Sandwiches

Saturday morning is "waffle day" at our house.  We make enough to have lots of leftovers.  I grabbed two of our leftovers and used it to make salami & turkey sandwiches for lunch.  I threw on some dill pickles and whatever leftover veggie each person wanted.

Lunch was done in 10 minutes and about 6 net carbs. 

Use the search feature on the blog to find my "waffle" recipe.

Grilled Chicken & Shrimp

Easy dinner of grilled shrimp and chicken.  Sides of green beans and riced cauli.  About 4 net carbs.

Homemade Low Carb Fishsticks

This is really just my corndog batter made into fishsticks.  I wasn't sure how they'd turn out, but everyone really, really loved them.

I sauteed some tilapia (use whatever fish you like) and seasoned it really heavily so the flavor carries through the breading.  Cook until almost done; set aside to cool.

Make corndog batter (use search feature on blog to find the recipe).

Pre-heat corndog maker and get going!

Cut your fish into corndog-sized strips.  Add a little batter, fish, and top with batter.

Bake until golden brown.  Add some super-easy sides and dinner is done. I also made a tarter sauce using homemade mayo, dill pickle relish, Tajin spice, and hot sauce.

Packed to the gills fish sticks at about 1 net carb each.  Haha... get it?  Packed to GILLS.  See what I did there?  😂🤣🐟🐠

Breaded Pickles

Grind plain pork rinds in a food processor with your spices of choice (no salt though) until fine.

Dry baby dill pickles well.  Coat in egg, then roll in the pork rind breading.

Place breaded pickles on a wire rack over an aluminum foil covered baking sheet.

Bake at 400° for about 15 minutes.  Serve with dip of your choice.

Valentine Chocolates

We made our own low carb Valentine chocolates using a mold and a cute heart tin from Hobby Lobby.

Add 6oz oz of Lily's or KNOW chocolate chips with 1 tsp of refined coconut oil.  Melt in a microwavable bowl at 50% power for 45 seconds.  Stir.  Melt again at 50% power for 25 seconds.  Stir again.  Repeat another time or two until smooth.  Put into silicone molds.  Place in fridge to set. 

This makes 15 chocolates in the size you see in the pic.

Spicy Buffalo Breaded Baked Chicken

Breaded baked chicken with a spicy buffalo mayo sauce, cinnamon "maple" cauli rice, and raw green peppers.  4 net carbs.

Search the blog for the Breaded Baked Chicken recipe.

Sauce is made of homemade mayo (or your favorite no-sugar store bought), your favorite hot sauce, and sweet paprika.  Mix well.  Thin with unsweetened plain almond milk until just thin enough to drizzle.

Cinnamon "maple" cauli rice is steamed cauli rice drizzled with Walden Farms 0 carb maple walnut sauce, and sprinkled with cinnamon.