low carb waffles

this is the reason i love the atkin's diet. you can pretty much make all your favorite things into low carb versions! one of my favorite things to eat ANYTIME breakfast, lunch, or dinner is...WAFFLES. this recipe is great, it tastes kind of like oven pancakes, slightly eggy. so good served with berries and whipped cream!

low carb waffles

in blender combine:

1/2 stick butter

8 egg yolks

1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 t vanilla

then whip the egg whites and FOLD into the above mixture. i just leave it all in the blender container so i can just pour straight from there. if it looks a little too thick add some water or half & half.

pour in waffle iron and let cook for a long time to get crispy! whip up some cream with some splenda and also top with berries. yum!  makes about eight waffles.

healthy granola bars

i needed something quick and easy to have for breakfast along with some fruit or for a snack later in the day. i googled some recipes but none seemed right...so i made up my own! they turned out really good; slightly chewy, slightly crunchy. if you dont have all the ingredients, feel free to sub with whatever you want!

healthy granola bars

combine in large bowl:

1 c oatmeal

1 c all bran "sticks"

1 c puffed wheat

1/4 c almond flour

2 T flax meal

2 T wheat germ

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1 T brown sugar

1/2 c shredded coconut

1/2 c slivered almonds

1/2 c raisans

combine in medium bowl:

1 c applesauce

1/4 c honey

1 T oil

1/3 c peanut butter

1 t vanilla

add wet ingredients to dry, combine well. if it seems too dry to you, add some more applesauce. spread in a greased jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes! wrap in plastic or put in baggies. i store them in the fridge...probably not entirely neccesary though. :) 

enjoy!

heatlhy banana bread waffles

 i dont know about you but banana bread has got to be one of my favorite things ever. i got a new waffle iron for christmas and have been wanting to test it out..so lo and behold:  banana bread waffles! about 3 WW points for two waffles.

tip: when your bananas start to get brown, toss them in the freezer and when recipes like this come up, just microwave for 30 seconds!

healthy banana bread waffles

in mixing bowl combine:

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup blended oatmeal

1 T flax meal

1/4 t salt

1/4 t cinnamon

2 t baking soda

in blender combing:

one large banana

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)

3 egg whites

2 t oil

1 t vanilla

Mix wet and dry gently until combined, dont beat too much or batter will be tough. heat waffle iron. spray with cooking spray before each waffle. let them get pretty crispy!

i topped mine with a little smart balance spread and honey. 

YUM

Quiche Muffins

these muffins are great for a quick breakfast in the morning, and soo easy. just keep em' in the fridge all week and then pop in the microwave as needed for a minute or so. you can make any variations of these, another favorite is broccoli, sausage and cheddar. so good!

8 eggs

1 bag/box frozen spinach (squeeze the water out in a towel)

1 bell pepper

1/2 onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 - 1 cup mozzerella or swiss cheese

1 TBS half&half

1 tsp dried parsley

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper flakes

Mix all together and divide into 2 muffin tins, it should make 24. bake at 325 for 25 minutes.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

i saw this recipe on Pinterest the other day, and had to give it a try.. I followed the recipe just as it says. it turned out awesome! i just topped with what i had on hand: carmelized onions, spinach and olives, but i think itd be great with ham/pineapple/green pepper. i used two bags of fresh cauliflower, and it made 4 9-inch pizzas.

low carb italian cream cake

one of my favorite desserts ever is italian cream cake. i made it last year for the first time for our christmas eve dessert. and let me tell you... it was SO good. we all got sick from eating too much. so for my birthday this year i decided this was what i wanted.. but of course i needed to find a way to make it low carb:) it worked! my version tastes exactly the same as the full-carb version, without all the guilt! i made them into cupcakes this time for "portion control" (i just had two, so i guess it didnt really work) , im guessing each cupcake has around five carbs. ENJOY!

Low Carb Italian Cream CupCakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

1/2 cup shortening

1 stick butter

2 cups granulated Splenda

5 eggs, seperated

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup soy flour

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 cup white flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup half&half

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups unsweetened flake coconut

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract (a MUST)

1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

FROSTING

1 can Pillsbury Sugar Free Vanilla Frosting

1 8oz brick Cream Cheese or Neufchatel (thats what i used)

1/2 tsp almond extract (once again, this is a MUST)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325, (or do this later, i know my oven doesnt take this long to heat up). Grease and flour 2 cupcake pans, or use liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the shortening, butter and splenda until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one a time. Sift together the four flours, the baking soda, and the salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the half&half and the sour cream. Alternately add the flour mixture and the half&half mixture into the butter mixture, mixing on low speed and scraping bowl often.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they're stiff (when you lift the mixer up, the whites should hold stiff peaks). Gently fold them into the batter. Fold in the extracts, coconut, and nuts. Fill each cupcake with about 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they look like the picture below, they wont be as brown as you may think they should be, thats because of the Splenda.

Mix the frosting ingredients together with a mixer till fluffy. Frost and sprinkle tops with extra walnuts.

YUM!