Category Archives: Recipes

Food, Recipes

Strawberry Jam (Gluten-free & Low-Carb)

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This fruity jam is a little more on the thin side but so, SO good! Top a cake with it, some pancakes in the morning for a fruity breakfast or even just on some whipped cream as a nice evening treat!

Ingredients

  • 1 package  of overly ripe strawberries, chopped*
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sweetener, or to taste (I use Swerve sweetener)

*can be replaced with other berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries), if you prefer but water and sweetener quantities may vary

Place strawberries and water in a sauce pan and place on medium heat. When strawberries are soft, mash using a potato masher. Add the sweetener and mix. Turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer till it thickens

Tip

Make this with the strawberries that are starting to go mushy in your fridge and store in a mason jar.

Food, Recipes

Bacon-wrapped, cream cheese stuffed chicken breasts (Gluten-free, Low Carb, Keto)

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Chicken is definitely one of my favourite meats because of its versatility. Roast it, fry it, BBQ it — you name it, you can do it with chicken. The only problem is that it is one of those proteins that can easily be dried out with improper cooking. However, if you fill it with cream cheese and some other goodies & wrap it in bacon, it is almost guaranteed to be delicious (regardless of your cooking proficiency).

This recipe is one of my family’s favourites! The chicken is so succulent and flavourful and then paired with bacon and cream cheese? Heaven!

jesspaigelchf

Ingredients

  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup Spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup Cream cheese
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • 8 Chicken thighs, boneless & skinless
  • 8 strips Bacon

Directions

In a food processor, add your spinach, cream cheese, garlic, salt & pepper. Blend till forms a paste. On each chicken thigh, place 1 heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese-spinach mixture. Roll meat around mixture. Wrap one strip of bacon around each meat/mixture wrap. Be careful with this step to try and seal the mixture into the meat with the bacon. Repeat for remaining 8 chicken thighs. In a preheated oven at 350F, bake the chicken thighs on a baking pan. Broil chicken thighs to crisp up bacon for 5-10mins or until bacon looks cooked/crisp.

Bon appétit!

Food, Recipes

Gorgonzola Cream Sauce & Spaghetti Squash (Gluten-free, Low-Carb, Keto)

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Leftovers are probably one of my favourite things. They’re already prepared, packed with seasoning and since you’ve made it, you know the nutritionals. This little dish is something I just threw together with the leftover half a spaghetti squash I had after making my Spaghetti Squash Lasagna a few days prior.

**All ingredients below are estimations as I did not measure anything when making this**

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Ingredients

  • Half a medium spaghetti squash (already baked & removed from skin)
  • 1/3 cup organic Heavy cream (I use Nutricor Organic 35% Whipping Cream)
  • 2-3 Tbsps Gorgonzola cheese
  • 1/4 Tsp Garlic powder
  • Pink salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Fresh basil (garnish)

Directions

In a pan over low-medium heat, add the heavy cream, pepper, garlic powder and salt. When it starts to simmer (make sure not to burn it!), add the gorgonzola. Mix till incorporated and sauce has started to thicken. Add in your spaghetti squash and mix so that all the spaghetti squash noodles are coated. Serve with fresh basil and sprinkle more salt & pepper as needed.

Food, Recipes

Spicy Honey BBQ Bacon Halloumi Roulades (Gluten-free, Low Carb & Keto)

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Halloumi is a firm cheese that I recently discovered late last year. Since the discovery, I’ve been quite obsessed with it, often making fried or grilled halloumi with my eggs in the morning or ordering Halloumi frites from one of my favourite cafés.

This morning, when I discovered I’d still had halloumi and was preparing my usual, eggs + bacon + halloumi, I thought.. Why not bacon-wrapped halloumi? After all, bacon-wrapped anything is incredible and halloumi is delicious on its own.. Awesome + Awesome must equal double awesome. Right? Well… Success!

 Spicy Honey BBQ Bacon Halloumi Roulades

Serves 1.

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Stretch each strip of bacon and cut in half width wise. Sprinkle with FlavorGod Spicy Everything  & black pepper. Wrap each halloumi piece with half a strip of bacon and sprinkle with FlavorGod Honey BBQ. Repeat with remaining halloumi and bacon. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with fresh flat parsley to add some freshness.

Food, Recipes

Chicken Parmigiana (Gluten-free & Low-Carb)

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Chicken Parmigiana is an Italian classic that usually involved breading chicken breasts with bread crumbs, frying that up and then baking the whole dish with tomato sauce and cheese. As delectable as this dish sounds, it unfortunately, is not low-carb and gluten-free friendly.

Luckily, Emily and I were craving this last night and so I just took to the kitchen. The final product turned out absolutely delicious – not sure if that was because I hadn’t eaten all day or if it was amazing but regardless, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 1 Tbsp Flavor God Garlic Lovers
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
  • 4 Chicken Thighs
  • 2Tbsp Olive Oil
  • Aluminium foil
  • 1/2 cup Tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated

Method:

In a bowl, whisk the egg. In another bowl, mix together the Flavor God and Parmesan. For each chicken thigh, first coat in egg and then coat in Flavor God/Parmesan mixture. Place all chicken thighs on aluminium foil covered baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake the chicken in preheated oven at 350F for 35 minutes. In a 8×8 baking dish, place the chicken thighs and cover with the tomato sauce and then the cheese. Broil the cheese on the top rack of the oven for 5-7minutes or until golden brown.

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Serves 4.

Food, Recipes

Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free & Paleo)

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Starting your morning on the right foot can make all the difference in how you face the day ahead. Why not start that day with a protein-loaded, delicious and comforting dish of Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes. Waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of maple syrup and hot cakes reminds me of childhood.. Here’s a healthier, adult-friendly alternative that won’t make you deviate from your diet.

Now, I know. Sweet potatoes? Low-carb? Before you freak out. There are only 2.9g of carbs per serving (2 pancakes) so yes, they are low-carb, gluten-free, paleo-friendly and of course, keto-friendly.

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Ingredients:

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. The batter should be thin like normal pancakes but with chunks of butter. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, put some coconut oil to cook and fry like normal pancakes. Top with some coconut butter and/or butter and this makes for the most, delicious breakfast or brunch.

Serves 2. (Serving size is 2 pancakes)

Food, Recipes

Bacon Bombs (Gluten-free & Low-Carb)

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As you all know if you’ve been following me for a bit, Emily from Low Carb Genesis has been visiting from the UK! We’ve been having a blast exploring the city and all the awesome things it has to offer. We ended up at this cute little restaurant/café called Le Bon Vivant. Emily ordered the special “Bacon bombs”, which basically comprised different ground meats all wrapped in bacon and then BBQ sauce.

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They were absolutely delicious but it got me to thinking… How could I make these keto-friendly? As meaty as they were, they still contained bread crumbs and were coated in sugary BBQ sauce. I also couldn’t stop thinking about how yummy these would be with some cheese.. and that’s how this recipe kind of came about. These bacon bombs are a much healthier option, being both gluten-free and low-carb.

Ingredients:

  • 250g of Mozzarella cheese, cubed
  • 900g of ground meat (I used a mixture of pork and beef)
  • 1/4 cup of Parmesan, grated
  • 2 eggs, whole
  • Oregano, to taste
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 package of bacon

Method:

In a large bowl, mix the ground meats, the eggs and parmesan. Do not over mix or you’ll get tough burgers! Add in oregano, salt and pepper and mix a bit more. Make a little meat patty (approximately the size of your palm), place a cube of cheese in the middle and wrap the meat around the cheese. Make sure the ball is perfectly round and then wrap a strip of bacon around the ball.

Use a tooth pick or wooden skewer to keep the bacon around the meatball during cooking. Repeat for all remaining meat. Grill meat balls for about 15-20m (depending on size of balls) on the upper shelf so they do not get direct heat and burn.

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Make sure to cut one ball open to ensure that the meat has been properly cooked prior to consumption. Garnish with chopped fresh green onions if desired and serve with mustard or LCHF friendly BBQ sauce.

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Serves 8 (with the serving size being two balls each).

Bon appétit my Keto friends!

Food, Recipes

Faux-tato Salad (Gluten-free, Low Carb, Paleo)

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Ingredients:

  • 1 Cauliflower, steamed and soft
  • 2-3 Tbsp of dill, fresh
  • Olive oil
  • White vinegar
  • Half an onion, diced
  • Salt, to taste

Cut the cauliflower into florets and place into a large bowl. Chop the fresh dill. To the bowl containing the cauliflower, add the fresh dill and the onion. Season with olive oil and white vinegar and salt, to taste.

Bon appétit my Keto friends

Faux-tato Salad with Coddled Eggs and Hollandaise sauce
Faux-tato Salad with Coddled Eggs and Hollandaise sauce

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Food, Recipes

Crispy Pork Belly (Gluten-Free, Keto & Paleo)

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Pork Belly thinly sliced (before pan-sear)
Pork Belly thinly sliced (before pan-sear)

Ingredients

Pork Belly

  • 2lbs Pork belly
  • 1 cup salt*

*Do not worry about this large of a quantity. It comes off later as a 1 piece crust so you do not end up consuming this much salt.

Marinade

  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Tamari or Coconut Aminos (Paleo option)
  • 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1/3 cup Olive oil
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions

In the bottom of a roasting pan (with rack removed), mix all ingredients for the marinade together. Place pork belly in marinade with meaty section in contact with the marinade. Do not let the skin get wet (it should be outside the marinade). Refrigerate for a day or longer. Remove the pork belly from the marinade, pour the marinade into a container for reuse (just refrigerate) and fill the roasting pan with about 1in of water. Place rack over the water and put the pork belly on the rack. [Make sure the pork belly is level. If the surface of the skin is uneven, it will result in sections that are burnt and others that are undercooked.] Cover the pork belly with the salt. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove pork belly from the oven, the meat should be cooked by this point. Remove salt crust (it should come off as one layer). Preheat the oven to 465F and bake the pork belly for 25-30 minutes or until the skin begins to crisp up and bubble. If the skin is not completely bubbled by this point, broil for 1-2 minutes but watch closely.

Slice pork belly width-wise into thin strips and pan sear until golden brown on each side of the slice. (Side note: If you’re making the pork belly to be eaten later in the week, I like to stop at this step. I just leave the thinly sliced pieces in the fridge in a container and then when it comes time to eat, I just pan sear the pieces I plan on eating.)

Pork Belly - the final product
Pork Belly – the final product

N.B. I like to pair this with homemade basil & parmesan pesto or a soft camembert cheese. Nom nom!

Bon Appétit my Keto friends!

Cooking method inspired by: http://kirbiecravings.com/2014/08/crispy-golden-pork-belly.html

Food, Recipes

Low Carb & Gluten-free Eggplant Lasagna

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This is by FAR my favorite recipe ever! Words cannot begin to describe how much I love this eggplant lasagna: cheesy, gooey, hearty and delicious. What is there not to like? to all you low-carbers, I STRONGLY suggest you try this one!!!

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Prep time:                                     Bake time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium sized Eggplant, sliced
  • 1 Onion, fried
  • Mushrooms
  • 1 Small can Tomato sauce, low carb
  • 1 container Cheese, cottage
  • 500g Cheese, Cheddar or Mozzarella, grated
  • Parmesan
  • Olive oil

Wash the eggplant and cut off the ends, slice it into thin, lasagna-thick noodles and steam for 5 minutes. Coat each Eggplant slice with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until soft at 350F. While that cooks, chop the onion and the mushrooms and fry in a pan. Add a bit of the tomato sauce to the pan with the mushroom-onion mix, to give it slightly pastey consistency.

**You can layer anything into the lasagna, usually I put in minced meat and/or bacon.
Layering:
Coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of pizza sauce, then eggplant, cheddar, onion-mushroom-tomato sauce mixture, another layer of eggplant, repeat. On the top, cover with cheese and parmesan. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes at 400F and then put on broil without the foil for 5 more minutes.

Bon appétit my Keto friends!