Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Meringues – Low Carb

Valentine’s Day is here and I wanted something I could indulge in without feeling too guilty. For me Valentine’s Day is the worst. I hate being reminded constantly that I’m single. Dating is so hard and it seems like it’s impossible to find anyone I’m interested in.

I was at work one day thinking about dairy and how several coworkers are allergic to it. Most of my recipes have butter, cream cheese, or milk in them. It is really hard to find a recipe that doesn’t. I refuse to use margarine, as it’s disgusting. Then from there I started thinking about meringue and how could I incorporate peanut butter into egg whites. I wasn’t sure about how well they would go together, so I googled it and from there experimented. This recipe is the first try. I still think it needs some tweaking, and of course I added cream cheese, so it isn’t dairy free, but all in all it isn’t bad for a first shot.

I started out with the basic egg whites, cream of tartar and salt, and whipped them until soft peaks formed. Then I continued whipping on a slow speed and slowly incorporated the splenda. I decided to use splenda this time around to try to keep the carbs to a minimum. It would have worked, if I hadn’t add the chocolate chips at the end.

Anyway, once I incorporated the splenda I cranked up the speed on the mixer to high and let it whip until the meringue was stiff. Then I folded in the peanut butter and cream cheese, once these were mostly mixed in I added the mini chocolate chips. The whites deflated quite a bit once everything was incorporated, but they still turned out great.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Meringues

Makes approximately 24 cookies

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup splenda
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz mini chocolate chips (1/2 bag), optional

Preheat oven to 350, line two baking sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper.

In a large clean glass or metal bowl, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly incorporate the splenda about a tablespoon at a time. Once all the splenda is added, turn the mixer up to high and whip until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl whip the cream cheese and peanut butter together.

Once the egg whites are stiff, fold in the peanut butter mixture, folding until the peanut butter is well incorporated, the whites will deflate a little. Add in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto the baking sheet, leaving a bit of room between each cookie. Bake for ten minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven for an additional fifteen minutes. Remove from oven, cool and enjoy!

Per my fitness pal, each cookie has approximately 79 calories, 6 grams carbs, 6 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein. Without the chocolate chips, each cookie would have approximately 44 calories, 2 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein.  THESE ARE ESTIMATES ONLY

Red Velvet Oreo Truffles

Thank you to April Cobb for the greatest idea ever. Without you I probably wouldn’t have made these Valentine’s Day truffles!!

Oreo has come out with a new flavor of cookie. Red Velvet. I absolutely love these. I was talking about these with my friend, April, and she mentioned truffles, so I stole her idea and bought two packages to make them. Unfortunately before I could make them, one package just disappeared. It’s still a mystery to where it could have gone….

The truffles are the easiest things in the world to make. I used my food processor to mush them up into crumbs, processing about half the cookies at a time. You could also use a zip-top bag and a rolling-pin if you don’t have a food processor. Just smash them into crumbs, cream and all.

Once you have your crumbs, blend them with the cream cheese and extract and then shape into balls and freeze.

Once the balls are frozen, and make sure they really are frozen, dip into melted chocolate and top with the garnish.  This is the hardest part. For some reason I rarely can get the smooth perfect balls, and they look like a five-year old dipped them, but they still taste good. Which really the taste is all that matters right?

I decided to use heart sprinkles, because I like to make things pretty, and it helps to cover up some imperfections caused by the dipping process.

Red Velvet Oreo Truffles

• 2 packages (roughly 40 cookies) red velvet oreos
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 tsp butter flavored extract
• white candy melts
• light cocoa candy melts

Line two baking sheets with wax paper.

Place about 20 cookies in the food processor and process until they are crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor use a zip-top bag and a rolling-pin and whack them until they are pulverized. Pour into a large bowl and then repeat with the remaining cookies.

Add the cream cheese and butter flavored extract and mix until well combined. Take the dough and form into small balls with your hands. I did about a tablespoon per ball, placing the balls on the prepared cookie sheets. Place each sheet into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Before you remove the balls from the freezer, heat the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until the candy melts are melted and smooth. Remove from the freezer and dip each ball in the candy melts, place back onto the wax paper and immediately garnish with sprinkles or nuts or whatever. Once all the balls are dipped then place the truffles in the refrigerator for about ten – fifteen minutes to set up. Enjoy!

Lemon Mousse

I am wishing for spring. It is one of my favorite seasons. Everything starts growing and blooming and there are colors everywhere. I am so tired of winter and ugly brown grass and mud. It hasn’t been a very pretty winter here at all. To brighten things up I decided I needed something colorful and cheery.

The way things have been going lately I really needed something I could whip up easily. Between exercising, looking for a new place and packing everything is just crazy. Add in time for baking and there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything. It’s enough to make me crazy.

This dessert is low carb, although there is artificial sweetener in it, it is super thick and creamy. The lemon flavor is pretty subtle, so you may want to add some lemon zest or even a little lemon extract to it.

Lemon Mousse

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 box (4 serving size) sugar-free lemon flavored instant pudding mix
• sprinkles for garnish

Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and whip for about 30 seconds. Add in the cream and pudding mix, whipping until thick and creamy. Pour into individual ramekins and refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with sprinkles right before serving. Enjoy!

Creamy Cauliflower and Ham Casserole (Low Carb)

I apologize for the lack of updates on here. Time just got completely away from me.

This winter has just been so bizarre. It was 61 on Wednesday. It’s January, yet felt like spring. I have been spending all my time walking and running outside, enjoying the nice weather. Now it’s back to being colder, with a mixture of rain and snow. Which is a bit more typical of January. It was so warm at one point I saw bugs and the grass was beginning to poke through the ground in places. Too bad it’s back to winter now.

I decided that I wanted something hot and creamy, yet low in carbs. I love creamy sauces over pasta. There is just something so good and comforting about them. I decided that I needed to nix the pasta though. In its place I used ham and cauliflower. The sauce is super rich, thick and creamy.

Creamy Cauliflower and Ham Casserole

• 1 cup cream
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 cloves or 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasonings
• 1-16 oz bag of diced ham, drained
• 1-16 oz bag of frozen cauliflower
• 1 1/4 cups, 5 oz or one container of shredded Three Cheese Blend of Parmesan, Romano & Asiago cheese

Preheat the oven to 350, spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine the cream and cream cheese, blending until thick and creamy. Add the mozzarella cheese, garlic, onion powder and Italian seasonings mixing until well combined. Add the cauliflower and ham, stirring to combine.

Pour into the 9 x 13 pan and bake for 30 minutes. The casserole should be bubbling at this point.

Pull out of the oven. Turn the oven up to broil. Cover the top of the casserole with the three cheese blend, place under the broiler for 3 – 5 minutes or until the top of the casserole is a golden brown.

Enjoy!