New Recipes

As you can probably imagine, breakfast is probably the hardest thing for our family. Bacon and eggs get boring after several days in a row. I've done some research and come up with two recipes that I've tested on my family. I've taken them from two websites that I really like.

The ingredients are not hard to come by. The only special trip I've had to make is to Trader Joe's to get the almond meal. Almond meal is ground almonds. You can make this yourself in a food processor. Almond meal is wonderful! You can find a lot of great recipes to give you a "carb" fix. You can also substitute it for bread crumbs when making chicken or fish! Flax Meal is easy to come by... just make sure you store it in the refrigerator! (And remember this is a huge source of fiber, so don't go crazy eating a bunch of these in one sitting) Here are the recipes...

Primal Pancakes

If there’s one thing almost every neo-Primalist misses, it’s a heaping stack of pancakes on a cold winter weekend morning. This recipe will sate those deep-seated cravings and make you forget about your extended tryst with Mrs. Buttersworth (as sweet and sinful as it may have been).

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix it all together until a batter forms. Pour the batter onto a buttered or greased skillet. Cook over medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Drizzle raw honey or just eat it plain. For kicks, add some blueberries or bananas to the batter.

One word of caution on this recipe: I would suggest keeping the size of these almond pancakes on the small side. Larger pancakes have a tough time sticking together.

FitDay breaks the whole batch down thusly (without any honey or added berries);
Calories: 798
Fat: 65.4 g
Carbs: 20.1 g (11.2 g fiber)
Protein: 42.1 g

Not bad!

Low-Carb "Doughnut" Muffins (I reduce the amt. of Splenda to half, and I throw in some pumpkin spice)

These muffins are meant to taste like doughnuts, and I think they do a good job. There's even a version with buttermilk. This is one of the few recipes for which I use powdered Splenda (for the topping). You don't end up using much per muffin, but you need enough to dip the tops. Save the rest for cinnamon toast made with flax meal bread.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flax meal
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 and 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1 t cinnamon
• Artificial sweetener - 1 cup equivalent - zero carb (such as liquid) preferred
• 1/2 cup (I stick) butter, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup plus 2 T water
• Topping:
• 1/2 cup equivalent powdered artificial sweetener
• 2 t cinnamon
• 2 T melted butter

Preparation:

Makes 12 regular-size muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; butter muffin pans.

2. Mix dry ingredients well (exclude those used for topping).

3. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, water, and sweetener to the dry mixture. Mix well.

4. Fill muffin cups a bit more than half way with the mixture.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove.

6. Mix the cinnamon and powdered sweetener for the topping in a clean bowl.

7. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the melted butter you allocated for the topping, followed by the sweetener/cinnamon mixture.

Each muffin has 1.5 gram effective carbohydrate plus 4 grams fiber. (This is assuming half a gram of carb for the topping.)

Buttermilk Version: Switch out 1/2 cup buttermilk for the same amount of water. Substitute 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder for the baking powder in the regular recipe. This variation adds half a gram of carb to each muffin.