creamy jalapeno bacon biscuit bombs

I tried these Sunday evening for our snacky dinner 

and they were a big hit

so I figured I'd type up how I made them,

so I can make them again,

and you can make 'em, too,

if you're so inclined.

I'll try them at some point 

with my favorite low carb bun recipe

 and share the verdict,

but right now,

life is calling for canned biscuits.

I'm not thrilled with that,

but I am well acquainted with my limits,

and let me tell you,

I'm pushing them.

Canned biscuits it is.

And that's okay.

Mix together

8 oz softened cream cheese

about 1/3 - 1/2 cup bacon bits

about 1/4 - 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

2 small-med or 1 large jalapeno, diced small

After it's all mixed,

sorta smooth out the cream mixture

and cut it into eighths.

Pop open your favorite brand of flaky biscuits,

the kind with 8 large biscuits per can.

Smash a biscuit between the palm of one hand

and heel of the other

until your biscuit is about 4-5 inches across

spread 1/8 of your cream cheesy goodness

in the center of your biscuit pancake

and fold the biscuit up around the cream cheese,

pinching it to form a seal

and place on baking sheet

(lined with parchment if you've got some)

Repeat 7 times

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes

then sprinkle with grated cheddar

and bake another 10-15 or so minutes more,

'til the biscuits and cheese are golden.

Cool 10 minutes or so before eating

(Honestly, I have no clue if you need to do this.

That's about how long they sat 

while I finished up the rest of the food

and they were scrumptious.

They might be equally delicious piping hot...

I dunno...)

If you happen to have any leftover,

warm it/them up under the broiler

(but not too close)

for about 4 minutes.

almost LaHuerta's white cheese sauce / dip

The recipe card disappeared from the fridge,

so now the only place to find it is my brain,

and we all know how reliable that is,

here is our recipe for white cheese sauce.

Cheese dip.

Whatever you want to call it.

We don't add any heat to ours, because we have a plethora of sauces

 people can use to dial it up as much as they want.

Feel free to add jalapenos

or red pepper

or whatever you like to use to add some heat to a dish.

Almost LaHuerta's White Queso

(You'll want to whisk after each ingredient addition and 

occasionally

once everything has been added)

Put

1 stick of butter

in a medium saucepan

over medium / medium low heat,

Add

6 oz evaporated milk* (can also use cream)

When the butter is melted,

add 1/2 c greek yogurt

(you can sub sour cream for this, but the texture is better with the greek yogurt)

After that's mostly incorporated,

add

3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

Reduce heat to low / med low

and whisk every few minutes until cheese is fully melted

and sauce is smooth.

Leave over very low heat

and stir occasionally until ready to eat.

*while you can buy 6 oz cans, we buy the 12 oz
and eyeball 1/2 a can,
then pour the rest into a ziplock bag
and freeze it to use next time.

all purpose grain-free low carb wrap / flatbread / tortilla

Now, admittedly,

I tried out more recipes for chocolate chips cookies

than wraps,

before deciding to come up with my own,

but I have tried quite a few wrap / flatbread/ tortilla recipes.

None of them satisfied.

About a year ago,

heady with my cookie success, I guess,

I came up with my own flatbread/ wrap /tortilla recipe,

and then tweaked it

until I was happy.

(the wrap recipe didn't take nearly as many tweaks as the cookie recipe,

I can tell you that!)

You know how, 

at Chuy's,

you just rip up a tortilla and eat it 

- plain -

and moan something about it being food of the gods?

no?

That's just me, then.

Well.

Anyways.

Let me be the first to tell you

do not eat these plain!

There will not be moaning;

there will be face making.

And, if you took a big enough bite,

spitting, perhaps.

They are not tasty plain.

But

- and this is a big but -

they are a wonderful vehicle for all sorts of fillings/toppings.

We use these as tortillas for tacos and fajitas.

as wraps

for all kinds of sandwiches.

And as individual pizza crusts (dry 'em out in the oven first)

This recipe makes five 6(ish) inch wraps.

What I am using them for 

determines the size I make them.

If I'm making, say, sandwich wraps for the whole family,

I'll make a double batch and make 8 larger ones.

Grain Free Low Fat Low Carb Wraps for everything

Throw the following ingredients into a small mixing bowl

1/4 c  LC grain free baking mix*

2 Tbs Psyllium husk powder**

2 tsp oat fiber

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

couple shakes of salt

Give that a quick stir - I usually just use a fork,

then mix in

2 tsp refined (no flavor) coconut oil or olive oil

Then add 

1/2 c hot water

and stir briskly to combine.

Set a large skillet on the stove over medium heat.

(I guess you could use a griddle, too, if it's easily accessible.)

Divide the dough into 5 (or however many you want) equal portions.

Set one of your dough balls on a silicone baking mat

or piece of parchment paper 

(For goodness sake, buy yourself some mats!

They reduce a lot of frustration in low carb baking.

If you can't afford two, at least buy one...)

flatten it slightly

then cover with another silicone mat

(parchment paper works better on top than on the bottom if you just have 1 mat)

and roll out super thin.

(I forgot to take a picture of this. 

I am so not a food blogger!)

Carefully peel off your top silicone mat,

and carry your bottom mat, with the rolled out dough on it,

over to your pan,

peel it off

and lay it neatly in the pan.

As if you needed the absence of a picture to let you know I am not, in fact, a food blogger. bahhaha

Cook  the wrap /flatbread / tortilla about 1 minute, 

then flip it over and cook about a minute more.

Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack

(If you don't have one, a plate would work just fine, I imagine)

While your wrap is cooking, roll out the next one

and so on and so forth.

When cool, store in a plastic bag, or eat up :-)

*if you haven't yet made the baking mix (why not?!)

just use 2 Tbs ground flax, 1 Tbs almond meal or flour, and 1 additional Tbs oat fiber

in place of it

For the Trim Healthy Mamas:

each wrap  only has 2.4 gr of fat and  .7 gr of usable carbohydrates

(based on 5 wraps/recipe)

so  you can eat 2

 (provided you have no additional fat, except in your low fat protein source)

and stay in FP mode.

**Psyllium seed powder also works fine in this recipe,

but your wraps will be considerably darker colored.

This is not a problem, just useful information,

lest you wonder why yours don't look like mine...

I will admit

the kids all prefer a regular tortilla to these.

Quite honestly, I might also.

(although, I am quite pleased with these!)

But if eating a regular grain filled tortilla isn't a good option for you,

these make a mighty fine substitute in my (rather picky) opinion. 

buns and bagel dogs

We found (and tweaked, of course)

a fun recipe to add to our lunch and Sunday Snacky Dinner options.

These everything bagel dogs are a hit with everyone.

The kids think we should bring them as a 242 snack,

which is high praise for a low carb 'bread' food, let me tell you.

We usually have a bit of leftover dough, and I'll make a plain 'bun' just for me :-)

I'll warm that bun, open faced, under the broiler

and slather on some butter.

De-liciousness!

Last time, I accidentally left it under the broiler too long and made toast.

Oh my goodness, it was good!

I'd planned to give 1/2 the bun to Tyler,

and I did,

but it was a sacrifice.

And when he offered me a bite,

I didn't hesitate to take one :-)

Her recipe says it makes 4,

but I have found that I can get 5 or 6 per batch.

Maybe we just like our bread part a bit thinner?

I don't have all of the ingredients she uses for the topping,

so I just mix together a little bowl of seeds and spices that I do have.

We've made them without any topping,

and without brushing with the extra egg,

and they are still quite yummy,

but they do look nicer with the topping.

I'll list my ingredients here,

but you'll want to go to the above link for the how-to,

and to see her beautiful pictures.

Whether you use Sarah's recipe or my tweaked (cheaper/lower calorie/tastier) version,

(or your own tweaked version)

is up to you,

but I really think you want to try them.

Bagel Dogs (or buns), our version

1/2 c shredded monterey jack

1 c shredded mozzarella 

(You can use all moz, but the mj makes it more flavorful)

2 Tbs cream cheese (or 1 oz if you like to use the packets)

1/4 c baking mix

1/2 c almond flour

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

1 egg

In a nutshell ~ melt the cheeses together

and in a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients with the egg.

Then mix the two together.

I turn them out onto a silicone baking sheet and knead it (with wet hands)

until it's well mixed.

Divide into 4-6 equal portions

and flatten

and wrap around a hot dog or sausage, sorta sealing the dough on the bottom.

(or just shape into flat-ish buns)

(her method of spiraling looks better,

 but it's harder for the kids to do.

Plus, it's just faster to smash and wrap...)

Add egg wash and toppings if desired

then bake

(on the silicone liner or parchment paper)

at 400 for about 20 min.

yum!!

Italian soup

Gosh.

I didn't mean to leave you hanging with your leftover spaghetti sauce for so long; sorry!!

I intended to write up the recipe the next time we had spaghetti;

we always have about a quart left.

But the next time we had spaghetti, we didn't have salad,

and besides leftovers for Tyler's lunch, we ate every bit of it.

The next time, Tony and Kacy popped in and ate with us, so, no leftovers again.

The next time after that, we did have leftovers,

and I did make soup,

but for whatever reason, didn't have time to write down the process.

Since Master is getting all up in arms about my lack of posting of late,

and we had Italian Soup for dinner last night,

well,

I figured it was high time to share.

Like most of my 'recipes', it's not an exact science, more of a method...

Italian Soup

(I cut up the veggies as I go, and add them to the pot, giving it a stir with each addition. If you are not a fast slicer and dicer, or if you just want to do your prep work early, cut everything ahead of time and just dump it all in a bowl or bag 'til you're ready to cook)

Place a stockpot on your favorite burner set to medium heat and pour in a glug or two of olive oil.

To your warm oil, add 2-4 carrots, diced

1/2 - 1 whole onion, diced 

1/2 - 1 whole bell pepper, diced

a yellow squash, you got it, diced

and a couple of small zucchinis - one diced, one grated, unless your kids admit to liking zucchini, in which case, you can dice both.

a handful of parsley, chopped as small as you can get it

If mushrooms are on sale, they make a delicious addition, especially if you saute them in butter and garlic salt first. 

If you don't have a child particularly averse to spinach in soup,

go ahead and add a few handfuls of chopped spinach, too.

I, personally, don't even notice the addition of spinach, but Josiah, who really is a pretty good eater, and eats spinach raw just fine, 

can not stand the feel of spinach in soup.

I get that.

Since I am not overly fond of torturing my children for the heck of it,

I choose to feed my family spinach in other ways.

Back to your soup.

Continue to cook your veggies, stirring occasionally.

Throw in some of your Italian Seasoning mix and a few cloves of garlic, crushed.

Also a bit of seasoning mix.

When your veggies are mostly cooked, increase heat to high and add about 6 c of chicken broth.

When it's good and boiling, reduce heat back to medium and add your leftover sketti sauce.

Simmer and stir and stir and simmer.

Taste and add more spices if needed, and maybe some salt, too.

It'll be ready after about 15 minutes of simmering, but if you aren't ready to eat yet,

just reduce the heat and leave it simmering 'til you are.

Now.

As is, the soup is good, but nothing terribly memorable;

add the following toppings, though 

(I've listed them in the order of importance) 

and you take it up several notches.

Even Lily, who has been an awful eater lately, loves it, which is quite a feat these days, unless sugar is involved.

sliced pepperoncinis, with juice

cottage cheese

bacon bits

grated monterey jack

cabbage leftover from your sketti dinner, chopped small

hemp seeds

Oh ~ all those scraps from your veggies? Don't throw them away. 

Well, you can toss the carrot peels and the stem from the pepper,

but the onion, carrot, and squash ends

put in a bag or other container and stick it in your freezer.

Add other veggie scraps to it (but no pepper scraps) and I'll tell you soon(ish) what you can do with 'em.

perfect spaghetti

Now, you may be wondering how it is that we even eat spaghetti,

seeing that we don't eat wheat.

My friend asked me that very question recently when she asked what we were having for lunch after church one day 

and I replied,"Spaghetti."

I told her we eat it on shredded cabbage instead of pasta. 

(I know. 

It sounds gross. It's not; it's actually very good)

She said, "Then it's not spaghetti. Spaghetti refers to the pasta."

So, all this talk about spaghetti,

 is,

 I guess,

  technically 

talk about marinara sauce (with ground beef)

that we happen to eat over raw very thinly-sliced cabbage instead of long skinny noodles

but tastes suspiciously like the spaghetti of my memories.

Needless to say, Tyler was more than happy to tweak the recipe a bit,

'cause it meant more spaghetti to taste test.

And if he could get it to where I actually liked it,

well, he'd be in spaghetti heaven.

The last time he'd made the sauce,

we decided to reduce the seasoning mix,

so scribbled out the previous measurement on the bag

and wrote the new one.

So the next time I made the sauce accordingly.

(Hey! It just dawned on me; I've made the spaghetti every time except for once,

since he came up with and perfected the recipe. What gives?!)

It was simmering on the stove

and I gave it a stir as I walked by.

And then I tasted some.

And I said, "mmmm".

And then I realized,

I had just mmmm'd spaghetti.

Which brings us back to where I started this whole thing...

to be continued.

again.

just kidding :-)

And now, the recipe.

I have yet to figure out the measurements for doubling / tripling/ quadrupling....

It can be done quite easily, I'm sure, converting Tablespoons to cups and partial tsps to Tbls,

but I've been in a rush each time I've had to make up a batch of the seasoning,

so it was quicker to just make it as it's written on the crumpled paper bag Tyler brought the spices home from OFF in, 

than to think and multiply to convert....

Italian Seasoning Mix for people who don't like Thyme

(and people that do...)

9 TBS basil

9 TBS parsley

4 TBS oregano

3 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS rosemary (ground)

3/4 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

3/4 tsp ground fennel

Mix 'em all together, give 'em a whir in the grinder (or a blender) and store in a jar.

(our spice grinder is just a dedicated coffee grinder from a yard sale :-)

To make Tyler's Spaghetti Sauce,

in a large pot, brown 2-3 lbs. ground beef (round or chuck) with a bit of garlic powder and season-all

While it's browning,

dice an onion and a bell pepper (half is okay if they're pricey, but a whole one is better)

and throw them in the pot when the beef's about 1/2 done.

When the beef is thoroughly cooked, 

add 1 big can (102 oz) crushed tomatoes

and 2 TBS of the magic spaghetti seasoning mix..

You can add a clove or two of crushed garlic, or not.

Let it simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes if you're in a rush,

but it's best simmered 3-4 hours if you get it going early enough.

If that's just wayyy too much sauce for you,

reduce the meat (duh) and onions & peppers,

and mix 1/2 Tbs of your italian seasoning mix with a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes.

If I were you, though, I'd go ahead and make the big batch,

'cause I'll be back before long,

to tell you what you can do 

with the leftovers.