Super Bowl 50!

Super Bowl Sunday! I love Super Bowl Sundays! And even though I don't have a dog in this race I can still be excited about it because of the commercials and the food! But don't get me wrong, even though I am a Dallas Cowboy fan I do have a puppy in this race...Peyton Manning! I think he's pretty great and I hope that he has a great game today and most importantly I hope he wins!

So the commercials? Those are always fun. I remember many, many years ago when the movie The Exorcist came out. The hype for that movie was just crazy! It was supposed to be the scariest movie ever! So I went into the theater with expectations beyond what any movie could deliver and I was disappointed. I kept waiting for my heart to stop with fear and it just didn't happen.

My All-Time Favorite - Budweiser Frogs!

I think the same thing has happened to the Super Bowl commercials. When they first started doing outrageous commercials it was AMAZING! Something to talk about with friends and family for days! "Did you see when..." or "My favorite one was..."! But it's hard to keep the momentum going year after year and to keep topping the previous year.

But I still always enjoy them and look forward to them and give props to the marketing and promotion people that have to keep coming up with them!

I hear tell that Lady Gaga will be singing the National Anthem. Good, I know she will do a good job but I'm glad she's not the half time show, I am not a fan of Lady Gaga!

But the food...the food is probably my favorite part of the Super Bowl! We did our shopping for snacks and yummies yesterday. I myself will stick to my low carb/high fat (WOE) Way of Eating.

My son requested Dorito Chicken Casserole from The Blog Chef. I don't make this often because I'm sure the sodium level is sky high, but it is a special day and a special request, so getting ready to make this in a few minutes. (It is super delicous!)

Photo Credit - The Blog Chef

Luckily my daughter requested something that is actually low carb/high fat which I can eat. She wanted Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs. She will eat hers with a hot dog bun, but of course I will just omit the bun and it will be perfect for my WOE. Not the prettiest picture I've ever taken though!

I'm also planning some Jalapeno Poppers.

Some Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.

And something new that has been popping up on all the boards of the low carb groups I follow on Facebook....sugar free, zero carb gummies! I love gummy bears, worms, sweet gummies, sour gummies, all matter of gummies! I'm so happy to have found a recipe that works so I can have these little bits of deliciousness again!

I made these yesterday. The first batch I made I used an icecube tray that makes those mini little round cubes. They turned out great! And they taste so yummy! They are made with sugar-free Jell-o so they taste just like Jello!

After making these I decided I wanted to make some pretty ones in special molds for Super Bowl. I couldn't find any football molds at Michaels but I did find some seashell, flower and star molds.

Aren't they lovely? I can't wait to buy other flavors/colors of Sugar-Free Jell-o! They are so easy too!

1 - 3 ounce box of Sugar-Free Jell-0
1 Box Knox Gelatin - 4 pack
1/2 cup of cold water

Mix and mix and mix that all together, then I microwaved it for about 20 seconds and mixed and mixed some more then poured into molds and put in the fridge for about 20 minutes and they popped right out (after a little urging) of the molds!

Everyone in my low carb group on Facebook has been buying this Gummy Candy Maker, which is pretty cool and you can buy it on Amazon, but it is $28.66 plus shipping and just another gadget I have to find a place to store in my kitchen. So I think I will just continue making them the way I did it.

Amazon.com - Gummy Candy Maker

So that's it. I'm off to finish getting snacks and food ready and watch pre-game stuff with the talking heads. Happy Super Bowl and here's to Peyton Manning winning Super Bowl 50!


 

Birthday Goodies - Low Carb Style

I've been trying to post more often, ok…not really! What I've been doing is telling myself to try to post more often.

My sister and I use my blog oftentimes as a history of what we've done in the past and what day and where we went and what we did and what we served as food or what someone served us. But in the past year or so I haven’t been posting as I should and we’re losing track of our history.

So for my faithful readers, all two or three of you, some of these posts may be boring but they are bookmarks in time, so bear with me.

Last month my co-worker Angelica had a birthday. Angelica is not only my wonderful co-worker and friend, but she is my low-carb companion through and through. We help each other and share tips and tricks and encouragement.

During the time of my dad’s illness when I was spending every spare minute I had with dad in the hospital or at the nursing home, Angelica would fix an extra low-carb lunch to share with me every single day! I can never repay her kindness and thoughtfulness; she is a very special person.

For our birthdays, she and I try to make each other a special low-carb treat since we can’t do the traditional birthday cake and ice cream or donuts or cupcakes or whatever other things people do in normal non-low-carb offices.

We each put a lot of thought into what we are going to make for the other. For my birthday in July this year, Angelica spent the weeks before trying out different low-carb ice cream and cake recipes and she created this beauty! A low-carb Strawberry Shortcake with low-carb Vanilla Ice Cream. It was delicious!

So trust me when I say that I was stressing over what I could do to top that. But Angelica has the most powerful sweet tooth in the world! She loves herself some sweets, especially chocolate. That’s why I give her so much credit for sticking to a low-carb lifestyle.

So I knew that what I wanted to make for her was something sweet and it had to be fabulous! I hunted all over the Internet world for a low-carb recipe for Truffles. I must have pinned at least 20 recipes to my Pinterest board for low-carb recipes which you really should visit, I have some great things pinned in there.

I finally found a recipe that looked simple enough that even I couldn't possibly mess it up, so I went for it! So glad I did too as they were a big hit with Angelica and it made me so happy to see her eyes light up when she saw what I had created for her. Ok, maybe created is too strong a word, so she could see what I copied from someone else, just for her!

Now how about that?? Aren't those beautiful? And so easy to make using the recipe I found over at Your Lighter Side. Kimber, the blog creator calls them Mascarpone Choconutty Bites, which is a totally acceptable name, but since I was making these as a gift I wanted to give it a fancy name, so I call them Low-Carb Truffles. You can head over to Your Lighter Side and get the RECIPE HERE.

I did everything exactly as Kimber has in her recipe. The only thing I did different, besides change the name, is once the truffle balls were dipped in the chocolate, while the chocolate was still not set I dipped two in diced walnuts, sprinkled another two with the shaved coconut. Then I made a low-carb faux graham cracker mixture using a bit of almond meal, cinnamon and Splenda and sprinkled two with that mixture. I left two naked with just the chocolate dip on them and then "BAM" as Emeril Lagasse would say, I "kicked it up a notch" and sprinkled two with bacon bits!!! BACON and Chocolate? Have I gone mad?

Nope...I'm a genius! Those were the ones we tried first. Just take a gander! The inside was chewy and gooey and deliciously coconutty. The outside was crunchy chocolate covering and then you had that salty little bit of bacon! They were fabulous!

My co-worker/friend/life saver was thrilled! Thanks Angelica for being such a great person. I am the luckiest person in the world to work alongside you every single day, day in and day out for years upon years!!! Happy Birthday again!

 

One New Thing a Week and I'm Already Behind! Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake and a Birthday Girl!

So on June 29th I did my first post of my new plan to cook and post one new low-carb dish each week instead of eating the same old thing every day. Here is the link to the post and if you want to see my yummy Jalapeno Deviled Eggs it would be well worth the visit, they were fabulous!

Well...here it is July 17th and I believe 2 weeks have gone by and I didn't post anything new! I'm really not very good at this planning stuff I think.

But today I'm going to share something pretty special. I was blown away by it. Check it out!

Does that not just jump right out at you and say "EAT ME!"

Now before you all start applauding and telling me how wonderful and creative a low-carb cook I am, let me tell you that this is not my creation. Nope, this delectable dessert wonder is the creation of my co-worker and dear friend Angelica.

Every year for each other's birthday we try to create a Low-Carb dessert or meal as a surprise for the other one, and this year she made this Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake. The cake is made with almond flour and the vanilla ice cream is also home-made. Not sure with what ingredients because my mouth was too full of ice cream to ask!!!

My birthday will be this Sunday and I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow for a road trip with my sister Lisa. Our plan is to go SOUTH and see what we find. I love not having a plan and just going! My dad used to love to do that as well, that must be where I get it from!

So here I am...not bad for 30 right? Hahaha, yeah right. Well not bad for 56 if I do say so myself!

Thank you Angelica for the great Birthday treats, my Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake and my Sugar-free Iced Vanilla Coffee from Starbucks, you're a doll!

 

Strawberries stuffed with Cheesecake - Yeah Baby!

A co-workers and I are trying to lose weight by watching our carb intake. We've both been doing really well. But then those pesky birthday's come up and you want to be able to celebrate with the other ladies in the office by partaking of some kind of delicious yummy something or other, right?

Well for my birthday in July, my co-worker Angelica made me a yummy low-carb cheesecake topped with strawberries.

So I knew I had to come up with something great for her birthday in August. Thank goodness I have the world at my fingertips and I googled until I found the perfect item!

Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will see they are yummy, sweet, juicy strawberries stuffed with cheesecake and topped with diced walnuts! *sigh* Heaven in a little bite!

My sister and I got together the night before and whipped these up. They are so super simple and look like a gourmet dessert that took hours and hours and a gourmet dessert chef to make them.

But no...if I can make these...you can make these. And I got to break out my beautiful cake plate that I hadn't used in years. It definitely added to the beauty of the dessert.

Ingredients:

20 whole large strawberries, hulled
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Splenda (this is what made them low-carb, but if you want you can use 1/4 cup powdered sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2/3 cup chopped pecans
Directions: (Call your sister and pretend you need her help, then just let her do all the work :-D )
Just kidding...this is how you do it:

Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut side down, on a serving platter. Carefully cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms with a criss-cross cut. Fan wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff. Using a teaspoon or pastry bag with decorative tip, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Roll the stuffed strawberries in the walnuts. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Simple Simon right? Make some...now, go on, you won't regret it!