My go to low carb bread recipe!

Forget about Julian Bakery bread! I wrote about them so many years ago, and they have changed! I have a really hard time finding their bread in my local health food store anyway, and they've changed the recipe so that it doesn't even taste good any more!

So, I scoured the internet and tweaked a few recipes to make my own low carb bread. And let me tell you, its like actual. freaking. bread.

It takes a lot of specialty ingredients, its true. But, if you really need some bread that has the texture like real bread, this is your new bae. Please don't hate me that I just typed out bae.

I found all of my specialty ingredients from netrition.com. Let me get some links for you.

wheat protein isolate 5000

wheat protein isolate 8000

resistant wheat starch 75

carbquik

Check out my video on how to make this in your bread machine! Have you ever heard of a low carb bread you could make in your bread machine?! This whole loaf only comes out to be 10 carbs! Just, make sure you find a heavy cream and sweetener with 0 carbs. But, its true, you will need to use actual sugar in this recipe to activate the yeast. only a tsp.

Little blog facelift, and some updates.

Its been many, many years since I have given this blog some attention and love. Sorry, I'm just kind of a lazy bum sometimes. I've tried to make this blog a little more accessible and organized with regards to my recipes. You'll see that there are a few different tabs you can click on to take you to my recipes!

I went through a big transition about four years back, and moved to a new town with my family! I gained a lot of weight back, got into some bad habbits... But now I'm in the middle of losing it all again! It feels good to be a loser 😉. This last January, I was finally motivated to lose the weight with my local gym's weight loss challenge they had. The man and woman who lost the most weight won a cash prize! I knew that I could do it! and guess, what? I won it! I lost 25 lbs in about 3 months. Honestly, not my personal best. But, I've noticed as I've gone around the bend of 30 years old, its getting harder to lose weight.

I did a lot of running, which is my favorite form of exercise believe it or not! I love zoning out, watching a movie (while on the treadmill), or listening to a book, and burning those calories! And of course, eating low carb. Its the only way to go for me!

Here's to another "after picture" in the next 3 months! Why don't you come on my journey with me, and take your own before and after pictures!

Feel free to check me out on:

Face Book:

fb.me/mylowcarbdiary

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@my.lowcarb.diary

Julian Bakery Bread

I really can't believe that I haven't blogged about this sooner. Attention!  Attention! This is the best thing that has ever happened in my low carb life. For reals.  This is bread that is only 1 net carb per slice.  And they are normal sized slices!! 

My sister (of course) told me about this bread.  While I was out visiting her earlier this year, she let me eat up all her low carb bread making french toast, normal toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, breaded chicken and so much more!  You feel so normal when you're able to just have a sandwich, ya know!?

The bread is made by Julian Bakery (Click on the name to go to their website) They have an awesome website.  You can order their bread straight from their website.  The bread that I buy (which is the bread in the picture) is 7.99 a loaf on their site.  Julian Bakery also offers TONS of different low carb bread and gluten free bread!  They have cinnamon raisin bread, sour dough bread, corn bread and a couple other types of bread too. 

One of my favorite features of their website is the "Where to buy" tab (click on the link to take you straight to this page).  You enter in your area code and it will find the store closest to you that sells their bread.  I don't live in a particularly large town, but there was a store only 20 mins away from me that sold it!  They even sold it cheaper than if I bought the bread from Julian Bakery's website! Awesome. 

Trust me, this bread is so worth it!  And it makes you feel normal.  Thank goodness for low carb bread!

Julian Bakery's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/julianbakery?sk=wall

Ham and Cheese Pinwheels

Here is another recipe that I converted to be low carb.  These are super delicious, but a little bit on the more involved side.  But, if you are looking for an amazing side dish for a holiday meal, this is a great low carb show stopper!  These pinwheels are also good for a meal on their own too!

 First I started by making a carbquik pizza dough.  The way to do this is to is by mixing 1 1/2 cups carbquik with 1/3 cup hot water.  I personally found it to be easier to work with the dough by adding a tbs or so more hot water.  It made the dough not so dry.

Then I rolled out the dough onto parchment paper.  Make sure to rub a little bit of carbquik on your rolling pin (the same way you would flour for rolling dough) this helps the dough not to stick to the rolling pin.  I rolled my dough into kind of a rectangle shape.

After your dough is rolled out, brush it with olive oil and sprinkle Italian seasoning over all the dough.  Then sprinkle cheese and then layer low carb ham over the surface. **Make sure to find ham that has 0 carbs! Really, you can use any type of sandwich meat.  I just find that ham and cheese are delicious together!!

Then, very carefully, begin to roll the dough and ingredients into a spiral shaped roll.  After your dough is rolled up, cut it on the bias into slices.  By cutting on the bias (diagonally) this will help give the roll a "pinwheel" shape.

This will make 8-10 pinwheels.  Lay each pinwheel onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the dough surface with egg.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.  In my oven this takes 10-15 mins.

Chocolate Mug Cake

Picture from ATX Gluten Free

This is recipe that I found from a blog called: ATX Gluten Free.  I adapted her recipe to be low carb! This is a really fabulous way to have a quick low carb dessert!


1-3 net carbs per mug

Ingredients:

• 1 large microwave safe coffee mug
• 4 tablespoons Carbquik (or any other low carb flour substitute)
• 4 tablespoons Splenda (or sugar substitute)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (or melted sugar free chocolate chips)
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or 2 tbs heavy cream 1 tbs water)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional add-ins: pinch ground coffee, dark chocolate chips
• 1 small pinch of baking soda and salt

Instructions:
Grease a coffee mug with oil or cooking spray. Place all ingredients in mug and mix with fork to combine ingredients, but don’t over-mix. Microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds. The cake might look like it is overflowing from mug, but it will settle. Cooking time depends on microwave strength, but the standard is 1 minute and 30 seconds; with 3 minutes being on the higher end. Final product should be moist.


Seriously. so. good.

Cream Cheese Cookies!

This is a new recipe that I found, and it was delicious! Instead of putting sugar free jam in the center I put sugar free chocolate chips.

Another idea if you don't want to use sugar free jam is to sprinkle some fruit flavored crystal light packets on the cookies (it was pretty good!).  Just don't use too much or your cookies will be very tart!


Carbquik Recipe: Cream Cheese Cookies



Ingredients:
2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
4 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup Splenda
2 eggs yolks, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups Carbquik
3/4 tsp. salt (unless salted butter is used)
Sugar free jam..(raspberry, apricot, strawberry) OR a pecan half



Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Place the butter, cream cheese, and sweetener into a bowl and mix until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the yolks and vanilla, and mix to combine. Then add the Carbquik and the salt and mix well until everything is incorporated.
To form cookies, use a regular teaspoon and then roll into balls with your hands and place on an ungreased cookie sheet or on parchment paper. Then flatten each ball with your fingers until a little disk is formed..About 1/2 inch..Then on top of each disk make a little dent with your finger and fill with the sugar free jam.. Not too much..OR you can put a pecan half in that little dent.
Bake for about 12-16 minutes, watching carefully..The bottoms will turn slightly brown, but the tops won\'t. Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan to cool for about 10 minutes. CAREFULLY remove them from the pan onto a wire rack to cool. They are very tender, so they will be firmer the cooler they are.

Simply Low Carb

My low carb guru (AKA my sister Beth) has started her own business!!  She has started SLC Simply low Carb!  She has her own website for her products, you can check it out here.  She has come up with her own delicious recipes for:

• Granola
• Macaroons
• Brownies
• Carmel Delights

Not only are all of these low carb, but she went the extra mile and also made them gluten free and vegan.  You should really take a minute and check out her website and foods.  You can order straight from her website too.

Trust me, I've tried these foods and they are soooo freaking yummy! And something that's especially great about her treats is that there's not a ton of sugar alcohol in them.  Usually when you find a really great low carb dessert it has a ton of sugar alcohol.  Even though sugar alcohol doesn't effect your net carbs, if you eat too much of it, then you may get a case of the cha-cha's... Nobody likes de cha-cha's.  Also, if you eat too much sugar alcohol, you can effect your weight loss and slow it down (at least I've found that in my experience). But, SLC barely has any sugar alcohol!! Hooray!

Check it out and enjoy!!