Creamed Spinach

This is a low carb recipe and it is as easy as it gets. It takes a little patience to make the sauce as it takes a while for the sauce to thicken, but it is so worth it.

You need a bunch of spinach, washed, chopped and cooked with chopped onion until all the water has evaporated. Don't add any seasoning at this stage.

Sauce
1 1/2 cup fresh cream
2 T real butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t mustard powder
Pinch of nutmeg

Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Stir occasionally. Let it simmer together until the sauce thickens. This can take up to an hour to thicken.
Pour over the spinach and enjoy.

The same sauce can be used for cheese sauce. Omit the nutmeg and add grated cheddar cheese and allow to melt. Use for cauliflower and cheese sauce.
I love cauliflower, but I must admit, I am not a fan of cauli-rice or cauli-mash. I still prefer it with cheese sauce.

Cottage Cheese

I have come across this method of making cottage cheese. It is ridiculously easy. We use a lot of cottage cheese. My husband just loves cheesecake and buying cottage cheese can become quite costly.
You will need:

Maas
Salt to taste
Any other flavourings you would like to add.

I normally just use salt.

Method.

Line a colander with a cheese cloth. (if you don't have cheesecloth you can use a clean dish cloth)
Put the colander on top of a container, big enough to catch the wey draining from the maas. (the wey can be used to replace buttermilk in recipes. I also read it is good for tomato plants.)
When most of the wey has run off, tie the cloth at the top and hang in the fridge with a container underneath - there will still be a bit of wey draining from your cheese.
Leave for two or three days. the longer it hangs the firmer the cheese will be.
Take out the fridge, add salt and any flavouring you want.
I found that 2 kg of maas will make approximately 700 g of cottage cheese.

TOMATO AND BASIL CHEESE MUFFINS

I have made these muffins the conventional way forever, and it is good. However I have now experimented with a low carb version. First I tried it by adding eggs to the mixture which the conventional method does not have. It was good and then I tried making it without eggs, only adding psyllium husk to bind it - not such a good idea. The taste is great, but it looks - "ag siestog arme ek." And so we learn from our mistakes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c grated full fat cheddar cheese
1 c almond flour
20 ml baking powder
30 ml melted butter or extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin coconut oil. (I usually use butter)
5 sun dried tomato halves, chopped ( I use Ina Paarman's marinated version.)
1 T psyllium husk powder
5 ml dried basil
2 ml cayenne pepper
2 eggs
190 ml cream

Method

Set the oven to 180 degrees C
Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly.
Add 1 c cheese and mix well.
Add the tomato, butter, cream and eggs. 
Mix well and spoon the mixture into a regular sized greased muffin tin. 
This will make approximately six muffins. 
Let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes for the psyllium husk to firm up. (if  you don't the cheese on top will just ooze down the center of the muffin and you will have a secret center and hardly any cheese on top.)
Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.
Bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C.
Let it cool down for a few minutes before removing from the tin.

Baked Sugar Free Cheesecake

This cheese cake does not have a lot of ingredients, but it is still delicious. I have an option of Xylitol or honey for sweetener, but you can use what ever sweetener you prefer. I personally prefer the honey. If you are a Banter, stick with the Xylitol as honey is on the orange list.

Crust

1 1/2 c crushed almonds or pecan nuts
4 T melted butter
2 T Honey or Xylitol

Mix together and press into a spring form tin lined with baking paper. Place in the deep freeze for the crust to set.

Filling

500 g Cream cheese
2/3 cup Xylitol or Honey
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 T lemon juice

Soften cream cheese and add Xylitol/ Honey, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat well.
Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Pour filling into crust and bake at 180 degrees for 45 - 50 min or until firm.

Topping

1 c sour cream
1/2 t vanilla
3 t lemon juice
1 T Xylitol/  honey

Mix all the ingredients for topping together and spread over hot cheese cake.
Return the cake to the oven for a further 5 - 7 minutes.
Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Let it cool and refrigerate

Low Carb Coconut Clusters

The other day we felt like something sweet. I chucked a few things together and the end result was not bad at all. Just remember if you are following a LCHF lifestyle and you are still trying to lose weight, do not eat the whole container. Eat one when you get hungry.
I use a flat Tupperware dish about 22 X 12 cm to press it into.

Ingredients

1 c fine coconut
2/3 c extra virgin coconut oil (melted)
2 T Cocao
2 T raw honey - on the orange list for Banters. You can use any sweetener of your choice.
1/2 t vanilla

Method

Mix everything together.
Line the container with wax paper.
Press the mixture into the container.
Cut into squares and freeze.

It is a very quick and easy treat to make. Enjoy!

Chicken Livers

I like chicken livers - now and then. I have made a few versions, recipes I got from friends and from recipe books. Some are good and some are just so-so.
The other day I found a recipe for a basting sauce for meat and chicken in Low Carb is Lekker. I made chicken with it and it was indeed lekker. When I decided on chicken livers again, I used the basting sauce as a cook-in sauce. I made a few changes to the ingredients, not major though.

Ingredients

250 g chicken livers
3 T butter
2 T lemon juice
2 t crushed garlic and ginger mixture
1 t curry powder
1 t dried mixed herbs
1 t raw honey
4 T double cream
1 t mustard powder
Salt to taste (when I use curry in a recipe, I never use black or white pepper)

Method

Melt butter and add the rest of the ingredients. Let it simmer slowly until the sauce has reduced a little.
Serve with a slice of bread-in-a-cup, cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash.

General

Fresh Start

People who have been following this blog will know that nothing much happened here in a while. Well this is Naomi's Kitchen's fresh start.

There have been changes in my lifestyle and commitments and there will be a few different recipes seeing the light on this blog.

Watch this space.