Just for Fun…and a tease! :)

Just for fun today…I’d like to see where my readers are from, so if you don’t mind, please leave the name of your state (or country) in a comment.  I’d appreciate it so much!

. . .

Also, just let you know…I’ve been busily baking!

Right now I’m testing some new low carb recipes and some new uses of some already tried and true recipes.

Here’s some pics to let you know what’s coming up.  I’ll be sharing the recipes in the very near future.

I’ve been using my low carb Carbquik biscuit recipe in different ways and I’m pleasantly surprised at how versatile this recipe is!

First…

my biscuit recipe baked in a muffin pan.

Then I had the bright idea to add a little bit of Splenda and some sugar free chocolate chips.  To 2 of them I added some peanut butter just to see how they would bake up.

 

Same biscuit recipe made a little sweeter and turned into a cake batter, then baked in a cast iron skillet.  With the added fruit, I’m not too sure of the carb count.

But this sure is good when heated and topped with a little sugar free vanilla ice cream!

Hope you enjoy looking at the food pictures and will be back to check out the recipes!

Y’all come back now, ya heah?!  :D

Kitchen Style

So many beautiful looks!  So little time and money!

I’m trying to remodel my small country style kitchen,

but what’s my style?!

I see one kitchen and I think, “That’s it!” only to

be awestruck by another style.

So far I’ve been through the country blue and mauve

“Ducks” stage, then

on to the blue and yellow “Sunflowers” stage,

to the “Teacups” stage.

Now I’m not sure what I’m ready for,

other than I know I’m ready for a change.

I’ve been checking interiors like crazy!

I think I’m leaning more toward this pale green walls

with white cabinets layout.

Right now I have some open shelving

that is stained dark oak, so that means they would

get painted white.

Am I ready for that?!

Then I ran across this…

That blue is awesome and look at all that light!

Still, that’s a lot of white…

Here’s lots of open shelving painted white.

Beautiful and that country look that I love.

Then…look at all this color! It’s such a warm kitchen.

I love the island and all the personality!

 

Wow!  This is nice with pops of color here and there!

Hmmm…nice green cabinets!

I love this beadboard!

 

What about this French Country kitchen with all the lovely

warm woods and colors?  I love the utensil shelf.

Look at all this color!

Makes you feel happy just looking at it.

Oh!  I’m liking this

Cottage Kitchen!

 

Here’s a Shabby Chic Kitchen.

 

Here’s Lindy’s kitchen over at Cottage Hill.

I love everything about her whole house!

Love these soft green walls, too.

This girl’s got style!

…

I’ve ran across other kitchens that really impressed me,

but I can’t find

them at this time.  I guess you’re glad, uh?

I may need to

do another kitchen post in the future!

If I can muster the energy

and everything else it takes to remodel, I will

share my own kitchen picstures with you.

. . .

Thanks for coming along on my kitchen tour.

 

Slow Cooked Pot Roast with Root Veggies

I made this a few months ago, but still

remember how delicious it was!

My daughter loves roast,

so I try to have it ever so often when I find

it for a good price.

Slow Cooked Pot Roast with Root Veggies

3-4 pound English roast or pot roast

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1cup water

3 carrots, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 beef bouillon cubes

½ cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

oil for browning

Take the roast and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Lightly dredge in the flour.  Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat.  (Mom always said that searing the meat first seals in the juices and flavor.)  Place in the slow cooker and add the soup mix, water, carrots, onion, potatoes and beef bouillon.   Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours.

If there happen to be any leftovers, I like to add tomatoes and more broth and mixed veggies to make soup.  That’s another thing my Mom did.   Love and miss that woman like crazy!

TIP: If your trying to stay away from potatoes, substitute cubed turnips for the potatoes.  I usually add them in the last few hours of cooking.

…

Bacon-Wrapped Lil’ Smokies

Yum, yum!  When I saw these on 2 different sites, I just had to make me some!  Anything wrapped in bacon…can it get any better?!

When these came out of the oven, I had to share!  So I quickly snapped a shot with my cell phone and uploaded it even quicker!

Make these and soon.

I made them like my friend, Grace, but since I didn’t have the Sugar Twin Brown Sugar (she’s right! it is very hard to find!), I used Splenda and added some spices…like garlic powder, bbq seasoning, and some Cajun seasoning I had on hand.

These would be great for a Super Bowl Party! or have them for breakfast with a low carb biscuit and cuppa Joe, like me.

Happy Sunday to you all!

. . .

Snow Cream!

(Recipe Re-run)

For all you with snow on the ground…

Here’s a real treat you can make with that white fluffy stuff!

Click on the photo to be taken to the original post.

…

Sharing with…

Great Low Carb Breakfast Recipes

These are great for a quick breakfast on a cold snowy morning.  Grab and go!

(click on the pictures for the recipes)

Cheesy Sausage Egg Muffins

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Cheesy Sausage Balls

Low Carb Biscuits

PB & J Wrap

Low Carb Sandwich Rolls

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And last, but not least, ’cause it’s so good…here’s a Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe from my friend Grace.  It’s my breakfast on this cold snowy morning.  It’s even good enough for dessert! Thanks, Grace, for such a tasty recipe!

More low carb links:

Low Carb Diet Recipes

Low Carb Lunches

Low Carb Office Lunch Tips

Low Carb Brown Bag Lunches

Low Carb Low Cal Lunches

Rachel Ray Low Carb Lunch

Low Carb Guy Lunches

More Low Carb Lunch Ideas

AC Low Carb

Simply Recipes Low Carb

Kalyn’s SB Low Carb

Low Carb Friends Soup Recipes

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I love Salad!

And here’s one of my favorite salads!

A dressed layered salad

…

Here’s what you need…

 

Layer the salad…

Starting with your greens (I used leafy lettuce and baby spinach), then the sliced veggies, ending with the dressing, bacon, and cheese.

Optional:  add sliced boiled eggs, English peas, sunflower seeds

.

For the dressing…

1 cup of mayo

1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2-3 tablespoons Splenda or sugar

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Holiday Candy and Cookie Trays

Happy New Year!

And Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday I turned another year older.

Since I was so busy over the holidays, I didn’t get to share with

you the holiday candy and cookie trays I made for my family

and friends.   Here’s just a few that I sent out.

Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut Macaroons, Peanut Butter Fudge

(I used my PB Fudge recipe and added 3 tablespoons of cocoa)

Nut Crescent Cookies (recipe below)

Coconut Macaroon, Choco Chip Oatmeal Bars,

Peanut Butter Balls, Peanut Butter Fudge,

White Chocolate Dipped Pretzels,

& Applesauce Nut Cake

(same items as above)

Hello Dollies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

…

Here’s the recipe for the cookies:

Nut Crescent Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted softened butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground nuts (I used walnuts and pecans)
• dash salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• confectioners’ sugar

 

Preheat oven to 325°. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Mix in flour, walnuts, salt, and vanilla to make a smooth dough.  Roll into balls and shape into crescents.  (I also flattened some into round cookies.)

Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheets for about 8-11 minutes, or until just set.  Let stand for 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool.

Dredge in or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.  Keep in air-proof container.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

.

…

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some other dishes I made over the holidays.  Some will be low carb, others not so low carb, but my plans are to go back to the low carb lifestyle full time.  I just feel better that way.

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My family doesn’t eat low carb and insists on the old fashioned Southern-style dishes and desserts that I make on occasion.  So be sure and stop by soon as I’m sure there’s a recipe coming up soon that you’ll enjoy.

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Also this year, I want to focus more on things other than food and recipes.  My daughters want to their rooms redecorated and there’s some ideas I have for redecorating my kitchen that I’ll be sharing.

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Another goal I have this year is to exercise at least 4 times weekly.  I have started walking in the evenings and I want to continue to do that as well as adding some light weight lifting and stretching.  So I may be sharing these updates as well.

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Once again, Happy New Year to you and yours!

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2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 35,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

 

In 2010, there were 89 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 158 posts. There were 226 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 56mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was December 21st with 536 views. The most popular post that day was The best Chocolate Chip Cheesecake ever!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were lowcarbfriends.com, thepioneerwoman.com, genaw.com, grace2882.wordpress.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for fried cauliflower, rotel cheese dip, easy chess pie, heart of a country home, and sour cream pound cake using cake mix.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

The best Chocolate Chip Cheesecake ever! December 2010
4 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

2

Low Carb Meals (Pictures) August 2009
3 comments

3

Deep Fried Cauliflower Florets (Low Carb) March 2009
12 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

4

Low Carb & Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie October 2010
6 comments

5

Sugar Free Butterscotch Cheesecake March 2010
7 comments