Easy Bleu Cheese Dressing

Easy Bleu Cheese Dressing

• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 TBSP white wine vinegar
• 2 TSP Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ TSP pepper
• ½ TSP garlic powder
• 6 OZ crumbled bleu cheese

(I use a 5 oz container of Treasure Cave Blue Cheese and that amount works fine.  You can also leave this out and still get most of the great flavor without the chunks.)

Mix well.  It will be thick.  You can thin with a little milk or cream if you prefer. 

 

Easy Ranch Dressing

Easy Ranch Dressing

• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup yogurt (I use the 7 oz Fage Total full fat yogurt and then use the empty container to measure out the mayo)
• 2 TBSP parsley
• 1 TSP onion powder
• ½ TSP garlic powder
• ½ TSP salt
• ⅛ TSP pepper
• dash dill weed

Mix well.  It will be thick, but you can thin it with milk, buttermilk, or cream if you prefer.

Coffee Creamer

Dairy free coffee creamer, that is!

Shortly before this past Christmas, I went on a mission to try to figure out why my blood sugar seemed to want to stay above 100.  I was doing everything right – super low carb ketogenic diet, no grains, no sugar – and still my blood sugar didn’t seem to be cooperating.

The only culprit I could find was the heavy whipping cream I used in my coffee.  Lactose, anyone?  I have never been lactose intolerant, so it took a while for me to latch onto this culprit.

I tried the sugar free versions from the brand name varieties, thinking that at least they were dairy free, and sugar free.  But they weren’t carb free.

I searched online and found a recipe for a dairy free version: A Primal Non-Dairy Coffee Creamer : Breakfast Ideas Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

I modified this recipe a bit, since the only canned coconut milk I could find was loaded with sugar.  I did, however, find an unsweetened coconut milk, so I used that one.

Initially, the only coconut oil I had on hand was the one that has the coconutty fragrance.  Nice in some foods, not so much in coffee.  Blech!  I stuck with it though and almost immediately, the facial candida rash I’ve struggled with for the past few years seemed to disappear.  Only the barest traces remain, yay!

And my blood sugar plummeted into the 80s.

Not to mention a 6lb weight loss in a week and a half.

Seriously, how awesome is that?!

I think we’ve found a winner!

Naturally, I had to start experimenting with different flavors.  Yesterday morning, the chocolate extract I ordered finally came in.  I couldn’t find it while grocery shopping, and discovered that McCormick isn’t making it anymore, so I did a search on Amazon and found some, woo!  Jr Watkins Chocolate Extract 8 Oz.

I couldn’t wait to get started, so yesterday afternoon, I whipped up a batch of chocolate-peppermint flavored creamer.  Now that I have an unscented version of coconut oil, the chocolate and peppermint together can really shine.

Oh my gosh, it’s so good!  It smells like chocolate mint ice cream, or a York Peppermint Patty!  Yum!

Next I might try chocolate almond.  Or chocolate hazelnut.

While waiting for the chocolate extract to arrive, I did make a vanilla almond variety that smelled like a bear claw.  It was like having a pastry with my morning coffee, with no guilt or bad consequences.  🙂

So many extracts, so many flavors, so many possibilities!

So here is the recipe as I modified it for myself:

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon extract.

[UPDATE: I’ve since gone from 1 teaspoon of extract per batch, to 2 teaspoons of extract per batch (or 1 tsp per cup of coconut milk).  It really boosts the flavors and they come through much better.  Plus, using 2 of everything makes the recipe easier to remember, lol.]

Now, I often split that teaspoon into 2 half teaspoons, for instance, half teaspoon peppermint, half teaspoon chocolate.  I break it down as a half teaspoon per cup of coconut milk.  You may want to use a full teaspoon of a single flavor if you don’t want to blend flavors.

Also, you may want to use a full teaspoon of extract per cup of coconut milk, depending on your taste preferences.  For me, that measurement was a little strong, so I cut it back a bit.

I melt the coconut oil for a few seconds prior to blending it with the other ingredients, otherwise it hardens up as soon at it hits the cold stuff and you get clumps of coconut oil in your creamer.  Yes, it melts once you put it in your hot coffee.  Still, melting it first is better I think.  🙂

I just blend mine in a clean peanut butter jar with my little Gizmo … because I have an almost obsessive compulsion to collect the peanut butter jars as my kids go through them, since you never know when a peanut butter jar will come in handy.  Hey, at least I’ve managed to break my mayonnaise jar addiction!  LOL

Once blended, I can just pop it in the fridge and it’s ready to use.  Honestly, I don’t know how long it keeps because I go through it pretty quickly, but I wouldn’t give it longer than a week, with the eggs in there.

This version is unsweetened, since I add my own sweeteners to my coffee, but if you want a pre-sweetened variety of homemade coffee creamer, I also found this recipe: Homemade Dairy Free, Paleo, Sugar Free Coffee Creamer Recipe.  I am not adventurous enough to try to make my own date paste, but if you are, please let me know how it turns out!

Carbs for Generations

The Carbiest Generation Paying the price for an ill-conceived experiment

until now, no human society has ever lived on a high carbohydrate diet.  We are paying the price for this ill-conceived experiment on humanity with higher and higher rates of obesity

This is something that is also becoming a growing interest for me as well.  When you discover all the truths about grains and sugar and what they do to humans, it can be pretty infuriating.  We’ve been told to eat the very things that are killing us. 

Makes you wonder why.  (not really)

~Ness

Low Carb and Ketosis

Fat Head » Low-Carb = Ketosis? Not Necessarily.

The reason he’s doing this is that he discovered eating low-carb doesn’t necessarily mean being in ketosis, or at least not in the zone that Drs. Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney call nutritional ketosis: a blood ketone level of between 0.5 and 3.0 mM. As they explain in their terrific book The Art and Science of Low-Carb Living, it’s within this zone that we can easily tap body fat for fuel and keep our brains happily supplied with ketones.

This is a pretty informative post from Tom Naughton about some of the differences between low carb and ketosis.  Interestingly, I was just having a debate with a friend of mine the day before I came across this article.  🙂

~Ness

Cheese Chips

You can find this recipe all over the Internet, there’s nothing unique about the one I’m sharing here. I’m just putting it up because I referenced it in the Guaca-FAUX-le post, and figured I should make the recipe available for using alongside it.

So, what you’ll need is:

• 2oz of shredded cheese (see caveat below)
• A microwave
• Parchment or wax paper (I prefer parchment)
• A microwave safe plate
• A paper towel or two
• Patience (kidding)

Wrap the paper plate with the parchment paper, or lay the parchment paper on top of the paper plate. If your microwave has a carousel, you’ll want to make sure the paper spins with the plate when activated. If the paper’s too wide, the cheese may not melt evenly. On the other hand, if your microwave doesn’t have a carousel, who cares?

Put the 2oz of shredded cheese in a layer on the parchment paper. I like to mound mine in the middle just a bit, but I try to have a nice, even layer everywhere else. Don’t fret though, it won’t stay.

Put the plate with paper and cheese in the microwave. Times on this will vary, but you’re going to actually overcook the cheese here. What you want is for the cheese to release the oils in it, and when they stop bubbling on the surface of the cheese OR the cheese starts turning too brown, it’s finished. If you burn it the chips will be GROSS, so keep an eye on it!

CAVEAT: You can use your favorite cheese, but I don’t recommend Colby or Colby-Jack blends. The finished cheese is way too salty. Cheddar, for whatever reason, doesn’t get salty at all, in my opinion. But for guacamole (real or faux), the taco or Mexican blends are the best. They’re incredible when finished.

After pulling the plate out of the microwave, dab any remaining oils off the top. Be careful, it’s HOT! Transfer the finished “patty” to a new plate and you can either break it into chunks for the chips, or cut it, or simply use the entire thing as one big chip. When it’s removed initially, it will be pliable (if you take it out as soon as the microwave stops); you can bend it over something to form a taco shell.

Delicious and VERY low carb, but careful, ketogenic dieters — it’s got protein in it, and contributes to your totals.

Ranch Dressing From Scratch Recipe

 

“Once you make this simple dressing you will never buy another bottle of the stuff. This is far superior even to the name brand. From hillbillyhousewife.com. I always use buttermilk but yogurt is ok too.”

That description sounds like pretty high praise.  But, I’ve heard high praise before and come away disappointed, so I wasn’t expecting much.  Boy was I wrong!  This is the best Ranch dressing I think I’ve ever had in my life!  I followed the recipe twice – the 1st time I used buttermilk but honestly, I didn’t care for it that much.  It was runny and I just didn’t care for the buttermilk flavor like the original poster did.  The 2nd time, I used yogurt.  Just plain, Greek yogurt, I believe Fage is the brand name, and wow!  Now, I like it thick but you could thin it out a bit with either some of that buttermilk, or cream, or even plain milk.  Just a little though.  It’s great on salads, and as a dipping sauce for veggies too. 

Here’s a nutritional breakdown as made with yogurt: (Awesome for a low-carb lifestyle!)

• Per tbsp or ½ oz =
• Carbs – .5
• Fat – 11
• Protein – 1

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Units: US | Metric

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup buttermilk (dry buttermilk is fine) or 1 cup yogurt (dry buttermilk is fine)
• 2 teaspoons parsley
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash dill weed
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Get out a medium sized bowl.
2. Measure the mayonnaise into it.
3. Gradually whisk in the buttermilk or yogurt.
4. If you use powdered buttermilk, whisk in the powder first, and then slowly add a cup of water.
5. Then add the seasonings. Whisk again.
6. Or you can make it in the blender by putting everything into the blender and whirling until smooth.
7. The mixture will be a little thin, but it will thicken on standing. Store in a pint size jar, makes 2-cups.
8. Keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Tastes really good with yogurt by the way. This is my favorite way of making it. It tastes good with powdered buttermilk too, but the consistency is thinner than with yogurt.
9. Note: If desired, you may add a tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese and/or a tablespoon of lemon juice to the dressing in addition to the seasonings above.

Copied from: Ranch Dressing From Scratch Recipe – Food.com – 245439