Fruit & Veggie Snacktime

One of the big issues in living a low carb lifestyle, as I have found from my own experiences and from talking to others, is finding snacks to eat. There's a good selection of choices that are tasty and will satisfy you, helping keep from giving in to those high carb junk foods.

Some of my favourites are pretty easy to prepare though you'll want to refrigerate them. Uncooked vegetables and fruits can give a crunchy and refreshing snack. Just make sure they're high in fiber and low in sugars/carbohydrates.

Some suggestions for easy fruit/veggie snacks are:

Veggies

• Brocolli
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Peppers 
• Pickles
• Tomatoes

Fruits

• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Cranberries
• Kiwis
• Raspberries
• Strawberries

Most people will find that eating a bunch of plain vegetables all the time will get old really fast. I like to try out sauces that aren't filled with sugar as dip for my vegetables.

Look for sauces with as low carbohydrate count as possible and especially without added sugars or starches like flour and cornstarch. I enjoy a variety of hot sauces as my main dip, but you can use special made low sugar ketchup and salad dressings, ranch, mustard, home-made sauces, or other sauces you can find with a low carb count.


Here's an example of a couple snacks I enjoyed myself.

Fresh vegetable plate with hot sauce for dip

Fruit/Berry plate with whipped cream

Feel free to email sauces or dips you have found as well as other low carb snack ideas to gfgourmet@hotmail.com

Sugarless Eggnog

One of my favourite parts of the Christmas holidays is Eggnog. It is absolute heaven. The only problem is that if you buy it in the store, even the low fat version is loaded with sugar. A low carb eggnog is one of the first recipes I started playing around with when trying to find a way to make my low carb lifestyle permanent and not just a crash diet that could never be sustained. It was a recipe that I made several times when I felt a desire to have something high carb and festive. This recipe is delicious and rich (better I think than store-bought eggnog) and satisfies that need for something festive without the high carbs that you will regret. This recipe is a real quick and easy one so if you want, you could be having some guilt-free eggnog 10 minutes from now.

Prep Time: Under 10 minutes(includes gathering ingredients)

- A good blender(I like my Ninja)
- 5 eggs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups crushed ice and water
- 3/4 cup sweetener
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt 

Here's everything you'll need

Put the sweetener, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and
salt in the blender and shake it up a bit

Add everything else: the ice water, cream, vanilla and eggs

Turn on your blender until well blended

It should be nice and frothy on the top

Serve and top with a little bit of nutmeg shaken on top

For those looking for a more adult eggnog, this recipe
works great to add a little of your favourite alcohol to

Guilt Free Gourmet on Social Media

I know it's been a while since I've made any posts here on guilt free gourmet but that's about to change. I will start making regular posts very soon. If you want to keep in the loop on new posts, you can check out the new guilt free gourmet social media pages. I have now made pages for:

Pinterest

http://pinterest.com/guiltfreegourm/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Guilt-Free-Gourmet/189974341030794

and Twitter 
https://twitter.com/GuiltFreeGourm

Chipotle Chili

Chili is one dish that goes great with eating a low carb very well as it is mainly meat and spices. It is not exactly a very precise recipe and it is pretty hard to screw up but I have put in approximate amounts for the spices. With how flexible the recipe is, you can adjust it to your taste preferences. Also, I use black soy beans as they have very few carbs and lots of fiber which makes these the lowest carb beans around. If you don't have the Ground Chipotle Pepper, the recipe will be fine without it but I really recommend it as it has tons of great flavour to add.


Ingredients
- 2-5 pounds of beef or pork(ground, shredded, doesn't matter)
- Can of tomatoes
- 1-2 onions
- Several peppers
- Onion Powder (2-6 Tbsp)
- Garlic (1-4 Tbsp)
- Mexican Chili Powder(3-8 Tbsp)
- Ground Chipotle Pepper (1-3 Tbsp adjust for heat and flavour)
- Crushed Chilies (1-3 Tbsp adjust for heat)
- Can of black soy beans (Optional)

Get all your ingredients together, I used 5 lbs
of ground beef for this recipe

Chop up the onions

Throw them into a large pot with some oil on high heat

Add the meat after frying the onions for a bit

Shake plenty of onion powder on as well as the garlic

Be generous with the chili powder and throw
some of the other spices in

Cook until browned, mixing well

Crack open a can of tomatoes

And dump those in

Mix it up and let it cook off some extra moisture
Let it cook for 10-30 minutes

Get your peppers cut up if not done already

Throw all those peppers in there

And keep it cookin'

If you are adding beans,
get those ready
No offense to any Texans

And add them

Now just let it cook and taste it
occasionally to see if it is done.
If you want, add more spices to improve
the flavour if it needs any tweaking

Crispy Coated Chicken Strips

This is a quick and easy low carb dish that is one of my favourites. They make a great leftover lunch for the next day or even a quick snack right out of the fridge(tastes pretty good even when it`s cold). This really takes care of any cravings I get for shake 'n bake or coated chicken.

 

Ingredients:
- Several chicken breasts thawed out
- 1 Cup Crushed Pork rinds
- 2 Tablespoons Unflavoured Protein Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Ground Almonds(Almond Flour)
- 1 Tablespoon Psyllium
- 1/2 Tablespoon Parsley
- 1/2 Tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
- Couple shakes of seasoning salt and pepper


- 1 or 2 eggs



Preheat the oven to 375 F

Get these things together

Crush the pork rinds

Mix ingredients for the coating together

Mix it well

Cut your chicken into strips

Add the eggs to the chicken and mix

Take the strips out of the egg and coat them

Get them totally covered

And put them on an oiled pan

Throw them in the oven at 375 F

Take them out 30-40 minutes later or
whenever the chicken is done and the
coating is crispy enough for your taste

Serve with side dish(es) and enjoy!

Almond-Flax Fiber Muffins

While experimenting in the kitchen I came up with this recipe that reminds me of a bran muffin a lot. It is great for baking up a bunch to take to work/school for lunches or snacks.

A little butter on top is great

Ingredients
- 1/3 Cup Flaxseed Meal
- 1/3 Cup Ground Almond(Almond Flour)
- 1/3 Cup Unflavored Protein Powder
- 1/4 Cup Sweetener
- 1 Tbsp Psyllium Husks
- 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder


- 1 Egg
- 3 Tbsp Cream
- 3 Tbsp Oil
- 3 Tbsp Water 



Preheat the oven to 350 F

Combine the dry ingredients

Add the wet ingredients and mix until consistent

Oil the muffin pan(s) you are using

Pour the mix into the muffin pan and throw in oven

Peeking in the oven..

Pull them out after 15 or more minutes
when the muffins have browned

Now give it a try

Make sure to enjoy