Butterscotch sauce…

This recipe is great when incorporated into a fat fast or simply when low carbing. It has been an absolute godsend to me as I can now make wonderful looking ice cream sundaes and the recipe is so simple to follow but also uses ingredients most, if not all, low carbers have in their cupboards.  So without further ado, here is the recipe.

 

Butterscotch Sauce

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of 40% cream

1/8 cup sugar substitute (I use a brown sugar type of erythritol)

Note: Be prepared to adjust the sugar amount as desired; I typically end up adding a but more that what I’ve written).

Directions:

Melt the butter over low heat in a small non-stick pan over low heat (trust me, you need a non-stick pan!)

The butter will start to foam a bit and separate itself from the milk solids (if you stop stirring for a bit) so keep stirring occasionally until the butter is a nice golden brown.

If it turns too dark a brown it will taste burnt so watch it like a hawk. Below is the colour I like it to be before adding the cream.

Once the butter is golden brown in colour, add in the cream and sugar and continue to stir. The mixture will foam as it comes to a boil.

Keep stirring and eventually, it will begin to thicken.

 

 

 

Keep stirring as it gets thicker and you should see that the bubbles take longer to form.

At this stage is where I typically add more sugar if necessary.

It probably doesn’t need the extra sugar but if it isn”t thickening fast enough and I’m growing impatient (and hungry!) then I’ll add sugar to hurry the thickening process.

You should notice at this late stage that the sauce has thickened nicely and darkened in colour as shown in the photo below. At that point, remove it from the heat and enjoy!

 

Note: Because of the nature of erythritol and many other artificial sugars, the sauce will crystallise and/or separate when it cools.

If that happens, simply stir it and warm it up in the microwave in 30 second bursts (stirring between the bursts) until it is back to its original consistency again.

 

 

The resulting sundae! Low carb chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and butterscotch sauce.

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Choosing a healthy oil…

It’s been a while since my last blog post so today I am going to update with some information on choosing the right healthy oils to incorporate into your diet. I’m a strong advocate of the LCHF lifestyle (for some it’s a diet while for me, as a Type 2 diabetic, it is a lifestyle). I have also suffered a heart attack last March of 2011. Together, the heart attack and diabetes pushed me into researching about healthier foods and ultimately, to healthy oils. At first, I never really understood which oils were actually healthy. I’d heard about trans fats and how bad they were for us but never really understood which oils fell under the good and bad categories. Everything we are being told about fats is completely wrong and I’m going to set the record straight today. However, let it be completely understood that it is not just me that is pushing to change the attitudes about fats but that many studies are also challenging the previous thinking concerning fats.

Now, I am not the best person to write about choosing the best oils so i will simply provide you all with a link that does a fantastic job of categorizing all of the oils and discussing the pros and cons of each oil. Here you go:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthy-oils/#axzz1mrBy8o9W

I am a horrible diabetic. Why? Because I hate all of the foods that are very healthy for a diabetic to eat. I can’t stand olives, olive oil, avocado or avocado oil or seafood (including sushi) among other things. So while choosing an oil to cook with is easy (coconut oil), the choice of an oil to use on salads is much more challenging. I’ve resorted to making my own creamy dressings rather than oil & vinegar-based dressings simply because I can’t find an oil that I can tolerate which is also healthy. I had seen a pumpkin oil at the local supermarket last week that I was hoping would be a healthy choice (it’s not included in the linked list). But further research has shown it to not be a wise choice. So if any of you have a suggestion for a good healthy oil I can use, please comment.

 

My path to health in pics…

As part of my fitness regime that began after my heart attach and Type 2 diabetes diagnosis last March, 2011, I started going for progressively longer walks until I reached the point where I am today. I now walk approximately 7-10km each and every day (excluding inclement days). I normally use an iPhone app called Runmeter to record the statistics for each walk. During the summer months, I often combine walks with the occasional mountain bike ride following the same path (although I often extend the route from 10km to 20-25km). While I normally post those stats to my Facebook and Twitter accounts, I will also post them here so anyone following my blog can also follow my fitness regime. To give you an idea of the route I follow, I am going to post some pics taken over the past few months. They are in no particular order and span a number of seasons. I hope you enjoy them and I encourage you to leave comments.

Low carb strawberry cheesecake…

Since I started eating LCHF, my craving for sugar has disappeared but I can still enjoy a good cheesecake now and again. I did a lot of research on how to create a low carb cheesecake and I think the following recipe is as good as it gets. This cheesecake incorporates a nut crust and a strawberry sauce but you can omit the nut crust if you wish and you can, of course, use other sauces instead of strawberry. I have, in the past, made sauces with raspberries, blueberries, chocolate and forest berries (simply a blend of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries). What you decide to do is up to you but the basic recipe is here for you to tinker with. You might way to make a lemon cheesecake by increasing the lemon juice in the recipe to 1 cup (220 ml) and adding a tablespoon of lemon zest.

As with all the recipes written on this blog, I will use both imperial and metric measures. If you have any questions…leave a comment.

 

Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake

4 x 8-ounces ( 4 x 200g) tubs of regular cream cheese (not light!)

2 x 8 ounces  sour cream

1 1/3 cups (266g) sugar substitute

3-5 eggs (use 3 eggs for a creamy cheesecake and 5 for a New York-style)

2 cups ground almond/macadamia/walnut/pecan meal (which nut type(s) you use is your choice).

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons lemon juice

cinnamon

1

*Coconut flour is difficult to find and is expensive. It’s not the same as shredded coconut.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200° C or 39o° F.

Prepare a springform baking pan by coating the entire inside of the pan with butter.

Wrap aluminium foil around the pan to catch dripping oil from the nut crust while it is cooking.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the nut flours with the melted butter.

 

Pour this mixture into the pan and spread it out evenly onto the bottom of the pan. I press the mixture down with the back of a tablespoon to smooth it out evenly.

Sprinkle the surface of the crust with cinnamon and place the pan onto the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes.

In a larger, high-sided bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and slowly add the sugar. Continue to mix as you add each egg one by one until they are all incorporated into the mixture.

Add the sour cream and lemon juice and mix until smooth and creamy.

Remove your crust from the oven.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pan and shake the pan slightly to smooth out the top of the mixture.

Place pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C  (320° F), place a sheet of aluminium foil over the cake and bake for 2 hours or until the centre of the cheesecake is firm. Prop the oven door open a bit, turn it off and let the cheesecake cool in the oven to prevent it from cracking if you are worried about that sort of thing. If not, take it out of the oven and let it cool on the counter then place it into the refrigerator  and leave it for 24 hours so the flavours mature.

 

While waiting, prepare the strawberry sauce…

Mix together one bag (750g) of  frozen strawberries that have been thawed, along with 1/2 – 1 cup of artificial sugar until the sauce is the consistency that you prefer. I usually use two bags of frozen strawberries since I make cheesecakes often.

Once 24 hours has passed (as if!), you can have your cheesecake and eat it too.

 

 

 

Top 25 low carb snacks…

• Peanut butter
• Any cheese with a high fat content
• Cottage cheese
• Broccoli or cauliflower with melted cheese
• Garden salad with low-carb dressing
• Tomato and mozzarella salad
• Celery with peanut butter
• Fresh berries with low-fat plain yogurt
• Veggies with low carb dip
• Cucumbers with olive-oil and rice vinegar
• Greek yoghurt with sliced almonds and blueberries
• Snap peas with Caesar dressing
• Radishes with tzatziki
• Green beans cooked and cooled with lemon juice
• Nuts
• Sauteed Spinach
• Pickles
• Rotisserie chicken
• Deli meat (not processed)
• Pepperoni and cheese
• Beef jerky
• Hard boiled eggs
• Tuna salad wrapped in lettuce
• Egg salad with bacon bits
• Homemade trail mix with nuts (no cashews or peanuts), blueberries and cranberries.

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog!

I’m a Canadian man living in Sweden. After a heart attack in March, 2011, I began regaining control of my health. I quit smoking, began exercising each and every day and most importantly I began eating Low Carb/ High Fat. I chose to follow this way of eating because, along with my heart attack came a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. This blog will be used as a venue to present my thoughts and feelings on maintaining a healthy heart, controlling my diabetes and eating to a LCHF lifestyle. I don’t pretend to know all of the answers but am much more knowledgable than before in regard to these topics. I invite you to follow me on my journey as I attempt to regain my health. I’ll try to update as often as I can and present you with stories and of course, tons of LCHF recipes for those of you that are contemplating the use of LCHF for either diabetes control or general weight loss.

Everyone is welcome to please leave your questions and/or comments!