Refrigerator Pickles

Home made, versitle, low-carb, keto friendly refrigerator pickles. You can make these seasoned either: sweet, garlic, 5-spice, old bay, dill, or any other spices/blends you can think of!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lbs fresh Mini Cucumbers
• Filtered Water
• Vinegar
  
• Sweetener of choice
• 1 recycled jar, clean.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start by washing, and drying, the fresh cucumbers.
• Cut off ends of cucumbers (Note: if your neighbors have chickens, consider the ends chicken food; or compost.)
• Thinly slice cucumbers.
• Add fresh cucumbers to jar.
• Boil together 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sweetener (to taste).
• Allow mixture to cool.
• Pour over cucumbers as prepared previously in the jar.
• Remove air bubbles.
• Close top. Store in fridge.

Ingredient Tips: Rum Extract

Typically various brands of rum extract list their ingredients as: water, alcohol an rum (or some other word for rum flavoring). Manufactures in the USA don’t need to list the type of alcohol and be forewarned, if you have a corn allergy, you may or may not be sensitive to the alcohol used in any given bottle of extract due to corn being common as the source of the alcohol used in manufacturing such extracts.

GUIDE:

• 1/2 tsp of rum extract is equivalent to 1 TBSP of light rum
• 1,5 tsp of rum extract is equivalent to 1 TBSP of dark rum

USE SUGGESTIONS:

• EGGNOG: for every 1 cup of whipped cream (veg or regular) add 1/4 tsp rum extract and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.
• OATMEAL: for every one cup of prepared oatmeal, add 1/4 tsp rum extract. Stir and add raisins if desired.
• FRENCH TOAST: When making French Toast, make it eggnog flavored by adding 1/2 tsp of rum extract for each egg in your bread dunking mix.
• RUM BALLS: (recipe)
• CHEESECAKE: (recipe)

“Cheese Dip” (dairy free)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 TBSP Water
• 1 TBSP Cornstarch (arrowroot or cassava equivalent)
• 13.6 Ounce Can Coconut milk
• 3/4 C Nutritional Yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp (tumeric)
• 1/8 tsp cardamom (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together water and cassava.
2. In a sauce pan, over medium heat whisk together, until combined well, the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, and spices.
3. Stir in water mixture into sauce pan and continue whisking while heating for 5-10 minutes while your sauce reaches the consistency you want.
4. Taste. Adjust flavor with added, but optional, salt, pepper, or cumin powder, etc to taste,
5. Enjoy with your favorite dippers or use as nightshade-free pizza sauce, casserole sauce or as a veggies sauce.

Mayo Substitute

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 package Sweet Leaf Stevia
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon real salt
• ⅛-1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 28 ounces coleslaw mix

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, apple cider vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
• Add the coleslaw mix to a large bowl and pour the sour cream mixture over the top. Stir to combine completely.
• Chill the coleslaw at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

another idea: use cream cheese

use greek yogurt

Carrot-Pecan Cake (lower carb)

Delicious, moist, amazing treat! This recipe has special-occasion worthy written all over it!

So often, recipes like this use a microwave and/or almond flour. If you’ve been searching for a worthy carrot cake recipe made without almond flour and without using a microwave, then this is the one for you! If you like your carrot cake with some nutty crunch, try blending our own pecan meal, leaving some of the pecan pieces a bit more chunky while grinding the remainder to “flour” like consistency.

To make this coconut-flour rich cake turn out moist, this recipe uses baby food. Why? It is the perfect consistency for ensuring a moist and delicious cake, and it is also sized perfectly for this recipe ensuring no wasted excess carrots. Be certain to purchase stage 1 baby food as it only has one ingredient; in our use case here that is simply pureed carrots.

INGREDIENTS:

Cake Batter:

• 4 TBSP Coconut Flour
• 4 TBSP Ground Pecans (see note)
• 4 TBSP Swerve Powdered
• 2 TBSP coconut oil (melted)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 ounces carrots stage 1 baby food (no added ingredients, just pureed carrots)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounce package full-fat cream cheese (room temp)
• 2-3 TBSP Swerve Powdered (to taste)
• 1-2 Packages Sweet Leaf Stevia
• coconut milk (as needed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• shredded carrot for topping or candles (optional)
• one flavoring: vanilla, orange, lemon, maple (optional)

METHOD:

• Grease two ramekins with coconut oil.
• Mix together dry batter ingredients in one bowl. Stir until well blended and there are no lumps.
• In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients until well blended together.
• Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
• Equally distribute into prepared ramekins.
• Bake in a 350 degree toaster oven for 12-15 minutes. Don’t over cook or the cake will be too dry.
• If you will be frosting these for a “birthday” or layer cake, you’ll need to unplate them. Otherwise, you can skip this step. To unplate, begin with one, then follow the steps for the second ramekin. Use a snack plate the size of your ramekin or slightly larger. Using hotmits (the ramekins are still hot!) place the snack plates over the top of the hot ramekin. Flip the ramekin covered with your snack plate upside down so that the plate is on the counter and your ramekin is upside down over the plate. Tap the bottom of the ramekin. Carefully lift up the ramekin so the cake is now on the plate. Repeat this process for the other ramekin.
• Allow cake to fully cool.
• Place in freezer for15-30 minutes (this helps us frost the cakes as they are very soft and moist!
• While the cakes are freezing to frost, it is time to start making your frosting. NOTE: You can make a 2 layer cake out of each Ramekin or a 4 layer cake out of both. You’ll need to time this perfectly. Freeze just long enough to have the cakes firm enough to use your cake cutter to make the layers, before frosting.
• Whip together the room-temperature cream cheese package, your sweetener, your pinch or two (to taste) of cinnamon, and if desired a flavoring such as vanilla or other extract (maple, orange, lemon all interesting frosting flavors, but this cake is so moist and delicious you don’t need any of the optional flavors. Just use coconut milk to thin, if needed, to get the frosting consistency.
• Taste before frosting to ensure your frosting is sweet enough for you.
• Remove cake from freezer.
• Carefully frost.
• Top with candles or carrot shards, if desired (optional)
• Enjoy!

NOTES:

• Carrot cake always takes a bit more time than other cakes to make. Using pureed, stage, one, carrot baby food saves time. Frugal tip: make your own pureed carrots and freeze them in 4 ounce portions to use later in making this recipe when ever you need it.
• This frosting is so delicious and versatile with the optional flavorings you can really enjoy this on its own, or atop other recipes besides this carrot cake. There are lots of Vitality oils which could be used as a topping flavor too: Lemon, Orange, Tangerine, Lime, Grapefruit, Ginger, Spearmint, Mint. Citrus Fresh, Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom, Bergamont, Lemongrass, Lavender.
• If you are not using this recipe for a special occasion, you can reduce the frosting in half to simply top the top of the two ramekin cakes in the ramekin and enjoy right away without freezing or any additional steps.
• Swerve Powdered Sugar style works best for this recipe. If you only have granular sweetener, grind it in your coffee grinder.
• To make the pecan meal, grind fresh pecans in a coffee grinder to a “flour” like consistency, stopping just short of making pecan butter.
• Another optional topping could be coconut flakes (dyed with food coloring or not)

These cakes unplate easily, are super moist, delicious, spiced just right, and easy to frost once soft-frozen a few minutes.

Happy birthday!

Salad Dressing

This salad dressing is versatile, nightshade free, keto/low carb friendly and can be used together with mayo, sour cream, or cream cheese to make fry sauce, veggie dip, or other condiment like substitutions. Can be used as a substitute for cole-slaw dressing.

Ingredients:

• 4 ounce Pumpkin Baby food (this is 1 “stage one” container)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Swerve granular
• 1/2 cup fresh EVO
• 1/4 minced yellow onion
• 1/4 cup cooked beets, minced
• 1 1/2 TBSP Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 cup malt vinegar
• 1 TBSP lemon juice

Method:

Combine all ingredients inside blender until well mixed . Pour into clean salad jar. Refrigerate.

NOTES:

While this recipe, tastes great, it doesn’t “sit” well in the fridge. It begins to break down and needs to be re-blended. It is best used the same day it is created and/or tweaked with the addition of a stabilizer which i will be examining in future editions of this recipe! My planned first trial will be Soy Lecithin, which is used in vegan butter recipes to hold it together.

“Scallops” (Vegan)

This recipe makes a mock “scallops” from pan frying hearts of palm in a seasoning which results in a clean scallops substitute.

In less than 15 minutes, you can enjoy vegan “scallops” as an appetizer, main dish, or a favorite go-to addition to kale or spinach salad(s).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can or jar of Hearts of Palm
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil (or saute in veggie broth for oil-free)
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning (link to my DIY recipe)
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. Begin by draining and rinsing the hearts of palm.
2. If your container (where I live they are sold either in a jar/brine or in a can) has your hearts of palm whole, then cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds, like scallops are naturally shaped. If your container doesn’t contain whole hearts of palm, not worries–the dish will still be T A S T Y! You can use your pre-cut in the can hearts of palms just as nicely in this recipe.
3. Add olive oil to your seasoned or non-stick pan over medium heat.
4. Saute the garlic and hearts of palm, ensuring they are in a single layer.
5. Cook each side to brown or golden on that side before turning.
6. Season with a pinch of salt and Old Bay seasoning. (link to recipe to make a nightshade-free version of Old Bay)

Image of Hearts of Palm. Left is already cut, and the right is needing to be cut.

Serving Suggestions:

• Use in any recipe, as you would scallops.
• Allow to cool slightly and add to a crispy salad for a nice summer time meal which doesn’t “heat up the kitchen”
• as a snack
• in seafood enchiladas
• as a sandwich or tortilla wrap filling

Seasonings: Old Bay (Nightshade-Free)

This blog post is one in a series of posts on DIY Seasoning Blends.

Nightshade -Free “Old Bay” style spice blend

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 TBSP ground yellow mustard powder
• 2 TBSP celery salt (I used homemade, made by grinding whole celery seed and combining with Real Salt)
  • 4 tsp parsley flakes
• 2 TBSP peppercorn blend (I used HEB Medley)
• 1 tsp coriander
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
• ¼ tsp cloves powder
• ¼ tsp nutmeg powder

METHOD:

If any of your spices are whole, take a moment to grind them. Otherwise, combine and enjoy! This mixture exactly filled an empty spice jar and a bit of extra left over.

NOTES:

• Tastes great with fish!
• Use in making salad dressings or as a salad seasoning.
• Awesome flavor to add to soups and stews. Don’t forget to add a bay leaf or two while cooking.
• Tastes great as the seasoning added to your “flour” before breading pretty much anything.
• Also great with wild rice.
• Source: I adapted this recipe to my own needs and preferences after reading Mindful Jay’s blog post. Thanks Jay!

RECIPES:

A few tried and true recipes using this “Old Bay” seasoning

• Vegan “Scallops”
• Old Bay Salad Dressing

Coconut Waffles

This recipe was cooked in a Churrwaffle 4-mini waffle maker using 1/8 cup of batter and coconut oil for greasing the waffle maker. Resulting waffles can be enjoyed as is, toasted, or frozen and thawed.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz cream cheese (vegan: use cashew cream )
• 8 eggs (vegan: use “just eggs” liquid )
• 8 TBSP coconut flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 TBSP melted butter (vegan option: use coconut oil)
• 2 TBSP Sweetener of choice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat waffle iron .
2. Combine eggs, cream cheese, and melted butter. Mix well.
3. Add remaining ingredients to mixture and stir to combined.
4. Grease heated waffle iron with fat of choice (I used coconut oil)
5. Add 1/8 cup batter to heated waffle iron per well.
6. Cook until done to your preference.
7. Repeat with remaining dough.
   

TIPS:

• This recipe makes 24 mini waffles.
• To use this as bread, omit sweetener.
• Optional add ins include: Vanilla Extract (1 tsp), cocoa powder (1-2 TBSP); or mini chocolate bits or cocoa nibs. (I made mine without any of these optional ingredients)

FREEZING:

These waffles freeze and thaw well. It doesn’t change their texture too much and make them a great allergen-free convenience food substitute.

To freeze, be sure to cool waffles fully before preparing to freeze or you will have unpleasant ice crystals. If you don’t allow them to fully cool, you will have a lot of condensation which will ruin the texture of these when they thaw. I labeled and then lined a gallon zip lock with a row of waffles, parchment paper, another row of waffles. I then “burped” all the air out of the zip lock and froze them flat. Generally, when I want a frozen item to stay flat, i freeze it atop a tray; later, I remove the tray from the freezer once the item is fully frozen and will keep its shape.

When removing the waffles later to use, this method insures you can remove the exact portion you want. It takes less than 5 minutes, from frozen to eating them, to thaw these in a toaster oven. It takes about 20-30 minutes on the counter top to fully thaw. Perfect if you’re fixing something and want to consume these when finished such as: cooking, showering, doing the laundry, preparing lunch, or doing the dishes, and so on.

TOPPINGS:

• Enjoy 2 of these as a “bun” for sandwich, breakfast sandwich, grilled cheese, making french toast, a cheese burger, or other sandwich type of snack or meal.
• Enjoy one or more as is, spread with butter, honey, jam, jelly, or any fruit or nut butter.

My favorite topping is my faux apple butter.

Creme de Menthe

this recipe is a lower carb option on a classic. there is even an option for an alcohol-free alternative

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups vodka (or for alcohol-free version use 2 cups of simple keto syrup)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves (or skip the “infusion” step all together and instead use a drop or two of Young Living Vitality Peppermint oil.
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar substitute
• 3 to 5 drops green food coloring (optional)

METHOD:

1. In a one-quart jar, infuse mint leave in vodka. Allow to infuse for a few days at room temperature. NOTE: If you desire to make the alcohol free version, steep the mint leaves as you would make tea, in 3 cups of water.
2. Make simple syrup by boiling water and adding sweetener.
3. Combine simple syrup and well strained mint infusion. (Toss mint)
4. Bottle (add green food coloring if desired)

Serving Suggestions:

• Over Ice Cream
• In cocktails
• Grasshoppers (recipe posting soon)