Cherilyn's Chocolate & Almond Butter Cups

Reese has nothing on Cherilyn! 

If you are a dark chocolate lover, these are the best!

Homemade dark chocolate envelopes creamy almond butter to create handcrafted 'peanut' butter cups!

 

Cherilyn's Chocolate & Almond Butter Cups

2/3 cups cocoa powder

5 Tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp almond butter (peanut butter can be substituted)

Coconut oil for coating muffin tin*

Using a paper towel, rub a little coconut oil on the bottom of 6 muffin tins.  Place cocoa powder into a small bowl.  If coconut oil is solid, measure and heat a few seconds in microwave or on stove top to bring to liquid.  Add coconut oil to cocoa powder and stir till smooth. Add vanilla and honey and stir well. Voila!  You have homemade dark chocolate sauce!  (If you find the chocolate is too dark for your liking you may add more honey, a little at a time, but this will change the carb/calorie/fat content. Personally I LOVED the dark chocolate of Cherilyn's cups!) Place about a tablespoon of chocolate in a prepared muffin tin and repeat with other 5 muffin bottoms.  Place in freezer about 5 minutes or until chocolate hardens.  "Plop" 1/2 tablespoon of prepared almond butter** on top, flattening it to almost the edges of the muffin tin, if needed.  Cover each cup with the remaining chocolate, distributing it evenly over the 6 cups and 'sealing' the almond butter inside. Place in freezer until chocolate hardens, about 5-10 minutes. Remove muffin tin from freezer and turn over on to clean counter and gently tap to remove.  Let it sit for a few minutes or enjoy at once! Keep chilled if being stored.

*I used silicone muffin liners so I did not need to coat them with coconut oil and they 'popped' right out without any coaxing.

**If you really like to cook and love being all-natural you can make your own almond butter simply by placing 4 cups of whole, raw almonds and a dash or two of salt in a food processor and whirl it until it makes a butter.  This is what Cherilyn used and she said it took a very long time to become almond butter, but it did in deed turn to butter! And she had a jar of almond butter left over to use for other recipes.  Personally, I just bought my almond butter!  Even if you decide to use peanut butter bought from the grocer, the numbers won't change significantly. However, if you decide to make your own almond butter you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you made it all from beginning to end!

Each cup contains ~ recipe makes 6

255 calories

8.8 net carbs

23.8 fats

4.8 proteins

3.8 fibers

 

Conni's Crispy Chicken Strips

 

Conni's Crispy Chicken Strips

These are super good!

Chicken strips

12 Chicken Tenders (1oz each)

  or 3 large boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts sliced into 4 equal parts

3/4-1cup Corn Starch

2-3 Eggs, beaten

Salt & Pepper to taste

Paprika, Garlic Powder, Chipotle, and/or Season Salt to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

Garnish

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 Jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

4 large pieces of Bacon, fully cooked and broken into' Bacon Bits'

2 Tbsp prepared Ranch dressing

Over medium-high heat, heat oil in large skillet. Dip each piece of chicken in corn starch, then dip in egg, and dip again in corn starch.  Place each piece in hot oil. Reduce heat to medium or medium low and cook until tenders are golden, then, using a spatula, flip to cook the other side.  Cook until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from skillet and sprinkle with cheese, jalapeno and bacon. Drizzle with Ranch. 

The main carbohydrate contributor is the cornstarch - If you left out the cornstarch the whole recipe (all 12 pieces) has less than 3 carbs.  There will be an egg & cornstarch 'goop'  left by the time you're done dipping so it's hard to estimate how much cornstarch you'll truly be eating. 

Here is my best guest-a-mate for a serving of 3 tenders:

530 Calories

11-13 Net Carbs

36 Fats

33 Proteins

Less than 1 Fiber

Stacie's Maui Wowie Pulled Pork

This delicious dish is a breeze to make and is especially easy to clean up. Great for large gatherings!

Stacie's Maui Wowie Pulled Pork

3 pound Pork Roast (Shoulder, Picnic, etc.)

2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke seasoning

1-2 tsp Sea Salt

Yep! That's it!!

Place roast in a crockpot, drizzle with Liquid Smoke and sprinkle with sea salt. Set on low and cook all day. Your house will smell FANTASTIC, everyone will wonder, "What's for dinner?" and it's super tasty.  After cooking all day (at least 8 hours) remove lid and, using two forks, shred the meat.  For kids and other non-carb conscious eaters you can serve on a roll (Hawaiian King's bread roll) and top with a pineapple ring. This recipe, as shown above, is very low carb. A serving is 4 ounces.

Four oz serving of pork has

359 Calories

0 Carbs

27 Fats

27 Protiens

0 Fibers

Shara's HEARTy Low Carb Sausage Casserole

HEARTy Goodness you're going to LOVE!

2 lb sausage

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 small onion

12 beaten eggs  + 2T Best Foods

1 c shredded cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking  spray.  In large skillet sauté sausage until cooked. Remove sausage and drain on paper towels.  Fry the onion in a little of the remaining sausage fat.  Place the sausage on the bottom of the dish.  Break up the softened cream cheese into little pieces on top of the sausage.  Using slotted spoon, remove the sautéed onions from pan and sprinkle on top of sausage.  In separate bowl beat the 12 eggs with mayo.  Pour egg mixture over sausage and then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Enjoy! Serves 12 

497 calories

1.5 carbs

30 fats

22 proteins