Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup Greek yogurt
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 med cucumber

1 tsp salt, divided
Black pepper to taste

Drain yogurt if desired (I don't, because I don't care.)
Shred cucumber. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt, then wrap in clean towel and squeeze out liquid.

Mix all together and refrigerate. It's best if you let it sit for a couple of hours.

It's got a really great texture with the shredded cucumber, but if you want to save time, you can just chop them. If I'm really lazy I don't de-seed or drain them, either. It tastes great either way and is super healthy!

Roasted Eggplant with Garden Vegetables

I have a lot of tiny eggplants in my garden, that don't seem like they want to grow any bigger. So I went searching for a recipe.

I found the basis for this online - simply stuff baby eggplant with garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and roast. I had some other fresh garden vegetables and of course need to tweak everything anyway. This is the result!

* 6 baby or small eggplants
* 1 lemon, sliced thin
* 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
* 2 tomatoes, large dice *or* 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1 large or 2 small bell peppers. large dice
* 6 basil leaves, cut in half
* 2 tsp. capers
* 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
* 1 tsp. sea salt
* 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* juice of 1 lemon
* 1/3 cup feta cheese

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice each eggplant in half lengthwise, not cutting all the way through. Stuff the garlic, basil and sliced lemon into the slits. Arrange in pan. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly around the eggplants. Sprinkle with capers. Drizzle the olive oil and lemon over all, then season with salt and pepper.

Cover pan with foil and roast, basting frequently with pan juices, for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.

Serve with pan juices, topped with feta cheese.

** Using different colors of tomatoes and peppers looks beautiful!

Blueberry Custard - Low Carb

I found the basis for this recipe online. I tweaked to make it low carb, along with a few other changes. It was delicious! The kids had no idea it was low carb. One even chastised me for "cheating". WIN!

BLUEBERRY CUSTARD

6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, picked over and rinsed

Place berries evenly in a 9x13 pan.

• Custard:

Sweetener of choice, equal to 1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
5 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla

mix together the dry ingredients. Add eggs and sour cream, beating until well blended. Pour over the blueberries (do not stir).

• Topping: 

Sweetener of choice, equal to 1 cup sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp flax meal
2 Tbsp hemp hearts (use more almond meal if you don't have this)
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the custard.

Bake at 350 for about 55 minutes, until lightly browned. Do not overbake!

Eat warm or chill. This would be great with some whipped cream or ice cream!

• Sweeteners: I like to mix different sweeteners when it calls for this much. I think it makes it taste better. For this, I used a combination of Splenda, erythritol, and stevia. It would be fine to use whatever you like. 

Cauliflower "Mac and Cheese"

I'm doing so well eating low carb, and I hardly ever crave carb-full food anymore. But my kids have been eating a lot of mac and cheese this summer and that's something that's hard for me to resist! I Googled for a recipe and adapted it quite a bit from the original. It was absolutely delicious. Next time I will use half-and-half instead of cream, or water it down some, because some of the comments said they used milk and it was fine. Milk is higher in carbs, but this was really too rich to use full cream as originally called for. Also, I used a Mexican blend cheese mix because I had that on hand. I want to try it with medium to sharp cheddar.

Here is the exact recipe I used tonight. I will update once I try anything mentioned above.

"MAC" 

2 bags frozen cauliflower florets (1 pound each)

Cook the cauliflower as directed until done. It should not be mushy, but more on the soft side. Cool enough so you can cut it into small pieces (I tried to mimic the size of a macaroni noodle). Cut, then set aside.

Put the cut cauliflower in a lightly greased 8x8 baking dish.

"CHEESE"

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
1-1/2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1-1/2 cups shredded cheese (see note above)
1.2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a small saucepan, heat the cream, half-and-half and butter to simmering. Stir and simmer for 3 minutes. Whisk in sour cream and mustard, and simmer, stirring, for 3 more minutes. Reduce heat and stir in cheese, stirring until melted, about 1 or 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour over cauliflower in the baking dish. Stir to combine. Be sure the cheese mixture completely coats the cauliflower.

There are two ways you can go from here - I served mine as is. It was delicious!

Or, you can turn it into an oven casserole. Top with an additional 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven  until browned and bubbly - about 15 minutes.

Yum! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Paleo Nut Bark

This recipe is simply an adaptation of the Candy Bar recipe. 

Here is what I did: 

Line a rimmed pan with foil or wax paper. I used a cookie sheet. You may need to experiment with size and it depends on how thick you want your bark to be. 

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 cup cocoa

Mix well. Add sweetener of your choice to taste. I used:

2 Tbsp granulated erythritol (any powdered sugar substitute will do)

10 drops liquid stevia

I don't like it at all sweet, so feel free to add as much as you like. Too much liquid may affect the final texture.

Mix well. Pour half out onto your prepared pan. While it's still liquid, add nuts or other fillings of your choice. Pour the remaining chocolate over fillings so they're coated. 

Filling Variations: 

Any nuts or seeds of your choice

Dried fruits

Cocoa nibs

Coconut

 I used about a cup of pecan halves and a small handful of cocoa nibs.

I finished with a small sprinkle of the granulated erythritol, just because I like the little added crunch! It's exactly like regular sugar in that regard.

Place pan in refrigerator or freezer until firm. Break or cut into pieces and store in refrigerator or freezer.

A little funny story - while making this, I decided to mix the pecans in so they would be well coated. I store my nuts in the freezer, and had gotten them out to come to room temperature as I was mixing the rest. But I forgot to check first! The instant I poured them in, the coconut oil hardened. I could have ended up with some awesome pecan clusters. I ended up sticking it in the microwave for 20 seconds to soften it back up enough to spread it properly. Lesson learned!

No-bake cookies

Daniel's favorite. Quick, easy and delicious!

½ cup milk

2 cups sugar

1stick butter

4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix the above in a heavy saucepan. Stir frequently and bring to a boil; let mixture boil for EXACTLY one minute.

Remove from heat and add:

1 cup peanut butter

1 Tbsp vanilla

Stir until smooth. Add:

3 cups oats (regular or quick is fine. I prefer regular because quick can be  bit soggy.)

Mix thoroughly. All the oats should be completely coated with the chocolate mixture. Drop on wax paper by spoonfuls. I always place it in the freezer for a few minutes to set faster, but if you're willing to wait, you don't need to do that.

You can leave out the cocoa if you like. Chunky peanut butter is also good!

Green Chili Rice

We had this last summer at a home-cookin' type restaurant. I searched high and low for a similar recipe and ended up using a combination of several different recipes and my own tweaks, until I got it right. One difference between mine and the other recipes out there is the amount of chopped green chilies - mine is about double, which is how we like it (the chilies are not spicy at all). If you don't care for as much, use the smaller cans or just one of ones I call for.

The kids LOVE this! It would be a great potluck dish as well. I think it could easily be turned into a main dish by adding some chopped chicken.

Green Chili Rice

• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup
• 2 - 7 oz. cans chopped green chilies (undrained)
• 2 Cups shredded colby-jack cheese 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Cook rice according to package directions.

Mix the sour cream, soup and green chilies in a large bowl.

Add cooked rice and seasonings; mix well. 

In a 9 X 13 pan, put a layer of rice mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat, ending with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 35 minutes. Remove cover and allow to brown for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.