Everything you could ever want in a refreshing summer salad

With the hot summer weather upon us, it’s nice to have some cool low-carb recipes that will keep your body energized with the fuel it needs without needlessly heating up your kitchen to unbearable levels with cooking up meals. And what better way to keep the oven and burners off than a fantastic salad with all your favorite low-carb fixins!

This recipe is compliments of our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur and they suggest using whatever low-carb vegetables you happen to have in your refrigerator or are in season at your local farmer’s market and backyard garden. Things like chopped mushrooms, diced zucchini, sliced celery and anything else that fits within your healthy low-carb lifestyle are PERFECT for this Cobb salad. Let this awesome low-carb recipe keep you and your house cool all summer long!

Click here to see what’s in this amazing low-carb Cobb salad, how to make it, and what the outstanding nutritional panel looks like. ENJOY!

‘m always in awe at the incredible creativity that so many of my readers possess when it comes to creating delicious low-carb recipes out of ingredients that are acceptable when you are livin’ la vida low-carb. Sometimes it just takes a little experimentation in the kitchen to come up with something fabulous to eat and a recent submission by one of my regular “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” blog readers proves this point exactly. It’s an ingenious pasta-less low-carb eggplant lasagna that will blow your mind.

Here’s what she said about it after she made it for her family recently:

I just made a low-carb lasagna that my kids didn’t even realize didn’t have noodles! If you like eggplant, then this is for you. It’s very time-consuming but well worth it because the leftovers last for days.

So, I’ll stop teasing you with this recipe and just share it with you now! ENJOY!

PASTA-LESS LOW-CARB EGGPLANT LASAGNA
1 or 2 eggplants
Eggs
Grated Parmesan cheese
One large can of no sugar added tomato sauce
2 pounds ground beef
Packet of dry Italian dressing seasoning
Your favorite cheeses
Garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste

Click here to check out how to making this tantalizing low-carb alternative to a traditionally high-carb dish!

These low-carb fish sticks ain’t coming in a frozen box!

I don’t know about what you ate in your family when you were a kid, but fish sticks were a pretty big mainstay in our household. They were conveniently packaged in a box you could shove into your freezer and then nuke ‘em for a couple of minutes in the microwave when you were ready to eat them. Of course, they tasted a little better when you baked them in the oven, but that used to take so long that my brother Kevin and I hardly ever bothered.

This “food” was about as disgusting as they come now that I look back on it through the eyes of my healthy low-carb lifestyle. Sure, the “fish” (what DID they put in those sticks?) was pretty good for you with healthy fats and protein in it, but that breading was absolutely LOADED with carbohydrates galore! And when you cooked these frozen fish sticks in the microwave, they came out all soggy and nasty. Ahhhh the memories of growing up as a fat kid totally oblivious to what I was doing to myself at the time!

The good thing is that there are better options when it comes to making fish sticks. Thanks to our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur, there is a wonderful recipe for homemade low-carb fish sticks that is super-quick to prepare and cook that tastes a MILLION times better than that frozen junk you used to eat with a whole lot less carbs and taste that will have your tastebuds doing the Macarena! WOO HOO! ENJOY!

HOMEMADE LOW-CARB FISH STICKS
1/4 cup light olive or canola oil
1 cup Dixie Carb Counters bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, black pepper, and paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup CarbQuik
2 large eggs, beaten
1 pound white fish fillets such as cod or tilapia, cut into “fish-stick-size” strips (about 3 inches by 1 inch)
Lemon wedges
Duke’s Tartar Sauce
Heinz One Carb Ketchup

Click here to find out the directions for making these amazing homemade low-carb fish sticks!

This is all the carbs you could be saving by switching to low-carb bread

Last month I announced a special recipe contest encouraging my readers to use that amazing Julian Bakery Smart Carb bread. The deadline for entries was yesterday and I received several very innovative and delicious low-carb recipes utilizing this unique bread. After much deliberation on the taste, creative use of the bread, and aesthetics, I have now chosen a winner: Shari W. from Tennessee!

As you can see from that photo of her dish at the top of this post, Shari took advantage of a pretty popular television ad for Geico insurance using a stack of money with eyeballs on it to create her own take with the Julian Bakery bread. Her ingenious line “This is all the carbs you could be saving by switching to Julian Bakery Smart Carb bread” is a spoof of “This is all the money you could be saving by switching to Geico.” Here’s the original commercial in case you haven’t seen it yet.

So, CONGRATULATIONS to Shari W. from Tennessee for being the winner of the ONE-MONTH SUPPLY of Julian Bakery Smart Carb breads, including one loaf of the original and one loaf of the cinnamon almond raisin for four weeks in a row. WOO HOO! Way to go, Shari, and enjoy coming up with even more creative recipes.

Click here to access SHARI’S LOW-CARB GRILLED CHICKEN WITH SMOKED BACON SANDWICH recipe for yourself. ENJOY!

Strawberries make the perfect ingredient to this delicious low-carb pie!

Who doesn’t like berries? These natural morsels of low-carb goodness are packaged in small, sweet balls of nutritious and scrumptiousness–and they are PERFECT for anyone who is livin’ la vida low-carb! The phytonutrients in berries alone are worth adding them to your healthy diet from time to time and have I got an amazing dessert recipe to share with you today that includes the wholesome nutrition that comes from consuming strawberries.

Just one 8-berry serving of medium-sized strawberries contains more vitamin C than a whole orange! Did you know that little diddy of a fact? Plus, they offer up 20 percent of your RDA for getting your baby-friendly folic acid, have only 8g net carbs, and are high in fiber! Plus, they are very low in calories–LESS THAN 50–for each serving. All in all, these are a good addition to your low-carb lifestyle.

Our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur have shared this sensationally succulent low-carb strawberry pie recipe that is out of this world. It even includes a nut-based crust so you can surprise even your most skeptical friends and family members with this unassuming low-carb dessert option. As the days get hotter, a nice refreshingly healthy dish like this served up ice cold will certainly hit the spot. ENJOY!

LOW-CARB STRAWBERRY PIE

Crust:
1 cup NOW almond flour
1/4 cup Splenda or equivalent sweetener
4 Tablespoons butter, melted

Melt butter in a small bowl. Add almond flour and Splenda. Mix well. Press firmly into bottom and up sides of 8 or 9 inch pie plate and refrigerate until firm.

Pie filling:
3/4 cup boiling water
1 package (4-serving size) SUGAR-FREE strawberry-flavored gelatin
1/2 cup Da Vinci Sugar Free Strawberry Syrup
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup Truvia sweetener
2 cups strawberries, pureed in blender
Whipped cream, if desired
Strawberry halves, if desired

CLICK HERE for the low-carb strawberry pie recipe instructions and nutritional information.

May 5th is a time to celebrate with some delicious low-carb food

The tradition of Cinco de Mayo has transcended the American culture in recent years and has become as much a part of our lives as many other festive holidays celebrated in the United States replete with fun, fellowship, and, of course, food! And who says that just because you are livin’ la vida low-carb that you can’t enjoy some truly delicious low-carb food on this special day? Thanks to our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur, we’ve got you covered with a uniquely low-carb recipe for spicy fish tacos. EAT UP!

LOW-CARB SPICY FISH TACOS

CLICK HERE to find out the ingredients and the instructions for making these low-carb spicy fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo!

This low-carb lemon cheesecake dessert is perfect anytime

The weather is getting warmer outside and we are definitely experiencing all the wonders of the Spring season with vibrant colors of the leaves blooming on the trees. I love this time of year because it is the beginning of a new period of growth and vitality outside while people begin to experience the beauty of God’s creation for what it is. It’s the part of life that makes me smile the most.

I’ve got a recipe for you today that matches the aesthetic backdrop of this time of year with a delicious and low-carb nutritious dessert you’ll definitely want to sink your teeth into. It’s a gorgeous lemon-on-lemon cheesecake that will be both eye and taste bud pleasing, I can promise you that! Special THANKS to our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur, I’m privileged to offer this recipe complete with the perfect low-carb crust to my readers today. ENJOY!

CLICK HERE to access the ingredients and directions for this delectably delicious low-carb dessert recipe!

Yep, that’s some low-carb fudge made with healthy real foods

I’ve become a full-fledged fan of social networking over the past year or so. I don’t know if you’ve decided to take the 21st Century plunge into either Facebook or Twitter yet, but I HIGHLY encourage you to do so to connect with old friends and make some awesome new ones. There are nearly 1,000 friends on my Facebook page alone, but I also enjoy adding more each day. Feel free join the bandwagon.

One of those friends from Facebook shared a delicious new low-carb chocolate fudge recipe with me this week that I just couldn’t resist telling my readers about here at my blog. Her name is Fiona O’Dowd and she’s from Sydney, Australia (incidentally, there’s a pretty large contingent of regular LLVLC readers from the land down under comprising about 5% of my total visitors each day). It looks like she did a lot of experimenting in the kitchen to perfect this superb fudge recipe that I’m dying to try for myself sometime. It makes a rather large batch, so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don’t want so many servings. Or, if you want more, DOUBLE IT! THANKS for this outstanding recipe, Fiona! ENJOY everyone!

FIONA’S WICKED LOW-CARB CHOCOLATE FUDGE
1 cup organic full-fat coconut cream
1 100g bar quality extra dark (86% cocoa) chocolate
4 tablespoons of natural peanut or almond butter
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots or cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup whole raw nuts and seeds mix
2 Tbs linseed sunflower almond (LSA) meal
2 Tbs oat bran
2 Tbs whole oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tbs preferred sweetener

Click here to find out how to make this deliciously healthy high-fat, low-carb fudge!

Making an mmm mmm mock mashed potatoes masterpiece

It’s a shame that so many people think that livin’ la vida low-carb is all about depriving yourself of foods that you think you can’t live without. In my experience, that is simply not the case at all. When you make smarter choices about what you allow to go inside of your mouth, the result can be as equally if not MORE delicious than the original dish you started out with.

Take, for example, mashed potatoes. This is one recipe you CANNOT have when you are following a healthy low-carb lifestyle. Potatoes are not an integral part of any effective diet plan because of their negative impact on blood glucose and insulin levels. But who says you have to use potatoes to get that same taste and texture of mashed potatoes? My low-carb blogging buddy Kent Altena offered up his own Mashed Fauxtatoes video recipe using cauliflower instead of potatoes and I even shared my own mashed cauliflower recipe in late 2008 that would fool even the most ardent skeptic.

Today, our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur serve up their own version of mock mashed potatoes with the use of the ever-popular cauliflower and even a variation using of all things TURNIPS! Yep, you read that right! Keep reading and try these low-carb alternatives to one of the all-time favorite comfort foods. ENJOY!

LOW-CARB MMM MMM MOCK MASHED POTATOES
2 10-ounce packages frozen cauliflower (or fresh 3/4 head)
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp minced onion flakes (optional)
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs heavy cream

Click here for the instructions on how to make this mock mashed potatoes recipe as well as the turnip alternative that will have them screaming for more!

Whip up a delicious batch of low-carb frosted chocolate cupcakes

Do you have a birthday party or celebratory event coming up where you’ll need to have an incredible low-carb dessert ready to go? While most traditional desserts are loaded with sugar and white flour, you can make them better and healthier simply by using ingredients that are low in carbohydrates. It’s amazing how incredibly simple it is to swap out things like almond flour for white flour and alternative sweeteners for the sugar. But people who are livin’ la vida low-carb do it all the time and I’ve got another awesome recipe to share with you today.

Thanks to our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur for this low-carb chocolate cupcakes recipe that includes the frosting, too! If you need a little something sweet to eat as a low-carb treat or if your family is trying to eat healthier even on those special occasions, then this could be the perfect recipe to try. And the recipe is not very hard to make at all, so ENJOY!

LOW-CARB CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH CREAMY FROSTING

Ingredients for Cupcakes
2 cups almond flour
1 cup Splenda (or sweetener equivalent)
6 Tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon Singing Dog Vanilla Extract
5 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 Tablespoons Ghiradelli Unsweetened Cocoa

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Whip egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff. In separate bowl, using electric mixer, cream butter with egg yolks until light yellow and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and Splenda.

Beat until well mixed. Add about 1/3 of whipped egg whites to the butter/egg yolk mixture and mix lightly. Fold the whole thing in to the whipped egg whites and fold lightly.

Add 1 cup of almond flour and fold lightly. Add remaining almond flour, baking powder and cocoa and fold thoroughly, being careful not to break down whites. Fill paper muffin cups in muffin tin about half full.

Bake at 325°F about 15 to 20 minutes until cracked on top.

Ingredients for Frosting
1 pkg Dixie Carb Counters Vanilla Pudding Mix
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream
3 packets Splenda
Half ‘n Half (to thin to make spreadable if necessary)

Whip cream cheese in food processor or with electric mixer until smooth. Add cream and mix again briefly. Add pudding mix and Splenda and then mix well. Add Half ‘n Half in 1/2 teaspoon amounts if necessary.

Makes enough to frost 32 cupcakes (2 batches) and will store in fridge or can be frozen. This recipe can also be spread in a fudge pan, frozen and cut in squares as a treat.

Chocolate Pudding can be used for Chocolate Frosting or fudge.

Makes 16 cupcakes. 3g net carbs per cupcake unfrosted, 6g net carbs frosted.