Peanut Butter Cream Dream Dessert

Peanut Butter Cream Dream Dessert 

I love a dessert that I can eat right away and, better yet, that takes five minutes flat to make and enjoy! So tonight I experimented with something new. Tonight I made a Peanut Butter Cream Dream Dessert! 

Ingredients

- 8 oz cream cheese

- 1/2 cup peanut butter (unsweetened, flavored, whatever kind you love!) 

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tsp liquid sweetener 

- 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

- soften, or as I do, melt the cream cheese and butter in the microwave for 1-2 mins 

- add the other ingredients and mix with a hand blender 

- add additional liquid sweetener as your taste buds dictate. I used liquid Splenda but you can try your favorite Skinny Syrup too! 

Now, you can eat this Creamy Dreamy Dessert right away OR you can wait until the morning, after it's been sitting in the fridge overnight, for it to become hard and cold, and then indulge at breakfast time (don't judge me!) I ate this right off the spoon, no need for an additional carb to dip into it! 

This dessert is super simple and super divine! It was hard to just eat a few bites and put it away, but I did (proud moment!) I hope you'll try it and love it as much as I did! 

Happy Dreams!

Gigi 

Low-Carb Cucumber Salad

Easy peasy cuc salad! With fresh cucs from the garden! (In-laws garden, not mine) 

Ingredients

- 1 cup sour cream

- 2 tbsp distilled vinegar

- 1 tbsp dry dill seasoning

- a few pinches of Pink Himalayan salt

- 3 cucumbers, pealed and sliced 

 Instructions

- peal and slice the cucs. Toss to the side.

- in a bowl, mix all ingredients together

- add cucs and stir together

- enjoy! 

Very easy and refreshing salad! Even my little man ate with me! 

Yum! Yum! 

Gigi 

Low-Carb Mug Cheesecake

Thanks to someone on one of the many Low-Carb Facebook pages that I follow for posting a Low-Carb cheesecake tonight! Of course the recipe sounded simple so I had to try it! I adapted the recipe to be less than the 6 carbs it started off at and mine is only 2 carbs! Heck yea! Now double the recipe because it is just that good!! Check it out!! 

Ingredients

- 2 tbsp sour cream (remember to look at the carb count and buy the lowest one! It's not always the full fat one either, so read carefully!) 

- 2 oz cream cheese

- 2 tbsp sugar free sweetener like Torani or Skinny Syrup

- 1 egg 

Directions

- melt the cream cheese in a mug for about a minute

- add 2 tbsp of sour cream, an egg, and 2 tbsp of the sugar free sweetener of your choice

- microwave for 90 seconds, then microwave at 30 second intervals till the cheesecake isn't runny (another 45 seconds for my microwave)

- now dig in and enjoy!!! 

Don't burn your tongue while enjoying this sweet treat! It's best when fresh and made to order and won't disappoint!! 

Seconds anyone?

Gigi

Bottle Flowers

I like to recycle "... the other man's treasure" and create unique somethings. I especially like to do this with my kids. Downside... it's messy to paint with young kids, I have to clean it up, and sometimes they touch something that they weren't suppose to touch. Upside... I have a new craft table with a shiny surface that is super easy to clean with a wet sponge! I also have smocks for the kids and an abundance of paper towels. I guess I should give a shout out to my hubs for the craft table and to my pops for the paper towels! ;) 

So today we decided to make some flowers. My favorite kind of flowers too; aka, the ones that don't die! 

Here's what you're going to need:

- the bottoms of water, soda, and/or juice bottles. You'll have to cut the bottoms off from the bottle as shown in the photo below. You can use the bottoms of 2 liter bottles too, but you'll be making another project with them; I'll explain that later! 

- other water bottles, to use as a vase, still intact with no lid

- paint. I used tempura, acrylic, and puffy paints 

- straws- any color will do and you can paint them green or find green straws. Flexible straws are good to flex the flowers in the vase, but not necessary. 

- single hole punch

- paint brushes 

Now to get started! 

- save bottles

- cut the bottoms off of the bottles, as I described above and use a single hole punch to put a hole in the bottle bottom, where you'll stick the straw through 

- use an empty egg crate to put paint in

- put smocks on your kids, or yourself, and start painting 

My kids have been patiently waiting to start! 

So here we go! 

And check out their art work!

Of course, they are very proud artists! And I am a very proud mommy! 

We had to wait for the bottle flowers to dry before putting the straws in the holes and placing them in the vase. So we waited overnight and completed our project in the morning! 

As you see, we used the 2 liter bottles bottoms too, but they were just too top heavy for the 16 oz bottle vase. Instead of trashing a beautiful paint job, I made them into ornaments and made my daughter very happy! 

I just tied a string through the hole and hung it on my cork board. But of course you can hang these anywhere in your home or office or gift them to the grandparents too! 

Hope you enjoyed this project! It's super easy and fun! It's a great family bonding activity too! :) 

Crafting Away!

Gigi 

Low-Carb Almond Milk Ice Cream

Oh hum yum yum yum!!!! Ice cream. Mouth. Watering. Yum yum yum. How dare you post a video on Facebook about how to make simple ice cream and not post a Low-Carb version?!?! What is wrong with people?!?! But hey, that's okay because I can create something for myself, and this post is to share it! I'm sharing especially for my friend Bella in Melbourne Australia who loves ice cream too!! 

Ingredients

- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk 

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 tsp coconut extract (or another extract flavor of your choice) 

- 2 squirts of liquid Stevia (or liquid Sucralose or 2 packets of powdered sweetener) 

- 2 dashes of salt 

Instructions

- mix all ingredients in a freezer safe container 

- freeze overnight 

- when you're ready to eat, zap in the microwave for 25-30 seconds and your ice cream will be ready

- enduldge!!

Carb Breakdown: ONE for the cup of milk! (If you substitute a powder sweetener for a liquid, there will be more carbs) 

You can also put yummy additions into your ice cream such as - cocoa powder, chocolate chips, nuts, berries, SF syrups (Torani, butterscotch, chocolate, etc). Just try to add something sweet and SF (to keep the carb count down) and viola! Overnight instant ice cream!! Hope you like it!! 

Soothing my Sweet Tooth!

Gigi 

Low-Carb Roll Ups

Here's a simple recipe that every low-carber should try! (And have on hand!) Its super low-carb and perfect for a snack, lunch, or treat! 

Ingredients

- hard salami

- pickles

- cream cheese

Instructions

- on a single slice of hard salami, schmear some cream cheese 

- then put a pickle in the middle and roll up the salami

- take a bite and enjoy!!

Wow! That was simple! Try pepperoni meat or a flavored cream cheese if you want! A lot of flavored cream cheeses only have 2 carbs per 2 tbsp like plain cream cheese, unless they are sweet cream cheeses (like honey almond or pineapple). 

Carb Breakdown

2 carbs per 3 roll ups! 

Try it! You'll like it!

Gigi

Low-Carb Ice Shake

TWO simple low-carb "ice shakes" good enough for my littles! Here are the simple recipes. 

RECIPE 1:

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

- 3/4 cup of water

- 5 squirts of liquid Crystal Light OR one powder packet (any flavor can be used) 

- a handful (about 8) of ice cubes

Instructions

- add all ingredients to a blender, smoothie maker, or magic bullet and blend 

- then enjoy! 

Carb Count = 4

I tried this recipe with a non sugar free powder packet of crystal light (better for my kids who insist on sharing) as well as the liquid crystal light. Both came out good. Personally, I prefer the flavor of the powder (same way I feel about Splenda). 

RECIPE 2:  

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

- 3/4 cup of water

- 1 tbsp of Torani sugar free vanilla syrup (though you could probably use any SF syrup)

- 1/2 tsp of coconut extract (again, you could use any extract too)

- a handful of ice cubes 

Instructions

- add all ingredients to a blender, smoothie maker, or magic bullet and blend

- then enjoy!!

Carb Count = 4 

Be more careful about sharing this one with your littles because too much SF products can cause diarrhea. This shake comes out white, so if you want to add some color, just add 4 squirts of food coloring! 

Just for fun, and added health benefits, add a tsp of Chia or Hemp Seeds! 

Gigi 

Veggie Lasagna

We all crave a little Italian in our lives... Right? Well tonight I did. But duh- I'm not going to eat the pasta, so I figured out another way to make a layered pie with all veggies. It's actually simple. And this recipe is so great for the working mom (& dad) because you can put it all together the night before and, when you get home, just pop it in the oven for 25 minutes for dinner! Simple, fast, efficient. All while still getting your kids homework done for the night. Sounds like a recipe I can bake with!

Ingredients 

- 2 zucchinis

- 2 yellow squash

- 1 red pepper

- mozzarella cheese

- 2 cups of tomato sauce

- *optional: Italian seasoning

- Pam 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

2. Slice up your veggies. Don't make your slices of zucchini and squash too thin. And cube your red pepper. 

3. Make one layer of zucchini at the bottom. 

4. Spray with Pam. 

5. Next, layer with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, just enough to cover the zucchini slices. 

6. Now layer with some mazarella cheese. I used about a handful. *optional: add some Italian seasoning. 

7. Place squash slices next. Then another 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and another handful of mozzarella cheese. 

8. Place the red pepper cubes now. Then another 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. *

9. Lastly, place another layer of zucchini and squash (yes, I mixed it up this time!) and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. *

10. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins and enjoy! 

Now wasn't that an easy recipe?!? I thought so! 

Shout out to all the working Moms & Dads! 

Gigi 

Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana

I don't know about you, but I am totally in love with the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup! Gosh, I can go to the OG and order the unlimited soup and salad and eat 3 bowls of soup and another 3 bowls of salad! It's just that delicious! But the carb count kicks my tush... :( so I found a recipe and adapted it so that it was more my pace, and less the carbs!! Check it out! This recipe was a hit with my whole family of picky eaters! Score!!

Ingredients

-5 oz bacon

-1 lb ground beef. While the OG's recipe calls for spicy sausage, I just used ground beef so that my family wouldn't complain that it was too spicy. 

-1 medium sized onion

-2 tbsp chopped garlic 

-32 oz chicken broth 

-3 cups of turnip or cauliflower. I used some of both which was about 1 head of cauliflower and 3/4 of a medium turnip. 

-2 loosely packed cups of kale torn off the stalk

-1 cup heavy whipping cream

-3/4 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp pepper

-optional: Parmesan cheese for topping 

Instructions

1. In a large soup pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Shred bacon while cooking into smaller pieces. 

2. Add ground beef, also separating into small crumbles while browning. 

3. When meats are done cooking, drain most of grease and save a little bit to sauté the onion. 

4. Push the meats to the side and add the diced onion into the middle with the grease. Cook. 

5. When the onion is done cooking, add the garlic until fragrant. 

6. Now add all the chicken broth, cauliflower and/or turnips with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 mins until the cauliflower and/or turnips are tender. 

7. Add the heavy whipping cream and kale to the soul and keep simmering. Taste and re-season as needed. 

8. The soup will be done in just a few mins. Let the kale cook but stay bright green. 

9. Put your soup in a bowl and add parmesan cheese, if you want. 

10. Enjoy!!! I promise you will!! 

Some tips I picked up while cooking...

-The turnip smells strong, but when it's cooked, the consistency is just like a potato and it doesn't have much of a taste. 

-Slice up your veggies before doing anything else. The meats will cook quicker than you think (even frozen), so you want to be prepared to add each ingredient when it's time. 

-If you're looking for some extra spice in your soup, try some curry or creole seasoning. Or use spicy sausage instead of ground beef. Buy the spicy sausage that is already ground in the meat section of your grocery store. 

-This soup is easy to store for leftovers and tastes just as good the next day. Just reheat in the microwave for 2+ mins and enjoy! 

Hope you love this recipe as much as I did! I must have done something right if my daughter loved it! She even ate it for leftover dinner the next night! 

Bon Appetit!

Gigi