Not quite sunset, sunny views over the bay. |
Recently, when we invited a couple (who were on vacation) to our home for happy hour, I made an old favorite from the days when Tom and I first met and we entertained quite a bit. It's high carb, high fat, high starch and high sugar, which I never eat but, Tom does on occasion.
The rushing waters below at high tide. |
Jess’s Apricot Almond Brie en Croute
1 medium sized round brie cheese
¾ cup apricot jam (not jelly)
½ cup slivered almonds
1 package refrigerated Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 T melted butter
Preheat oven to 350. Cover a baking pan with nonstick tin foil or parchment paper. Top the unwrapped brie cheese with apricot jam. Sprinkle half of the almonds atop the jam. Pinch all the seams together of the entire package of crescent rolls and carefully wrap the dough all the way around with the brie keeping the jam side up. Make it look at nice as possible, leaving no gaps or holes. This takes one minute. Brush melted butter over the top. Poke holes in various spots in the top to allow it to expand during baking. While butter is still moist, add remaining almonds to the top. Use a spatula to transfer it to the prepared baking pan.
Place in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or less, checking to ensure the top doesn’t get too brown during the last 10 minutes (based on how hot your oven cooks). This dish is very hot. Be careful handling it. Serve with a variety of crackers and plates, forks and knives. May be prepared 48 hours in advance and cooked at the time of serving. Reheats well in the microwave.
When our guests visited, they loved this recipe so much they asked for it which prompted me to finally write it down for them via a PDF document. I hadn't made this dish in years.
Late afternoon sun over the sea. |
And, how I wish I could remove the clutter of old recipes from my brain in the same rambunctious manner. Yesterday, I found myself looking for a recipe for Moo Shu Pork, a favorite I often made when preparing a meal of Chinese food. (Is it PC to still call it "Chinese food?" I could call it Asian food but there are many regions of Asia that cook many different styles of food. Hopefully, I don't offend anyone).
Why was I looking for this recipe, so far removed from my modern day reality? I'd found a recipe on Dr. William Davis (Wheat Belly) site for low carb, grain free, gluten free, sugar free tortillas, which could substitute for the Mandarin pancakes required in the recipe for Moo Shu Pork. I thought if I could find my recipe for the food that goes inside the Mandarin pancakes (like a tortilla), I could adapt it to my way of eating.
A pair of Nene birds, Hawaii's state birds, wander around the golf course which they seem to love. |
Dr. William Davis (Wheat Belly) Tortilla Recipe
Make 4 tortillas
1 cup golden flax seed, ground
4 tablespoons almond meal or 4 tablespoons almond flour
1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Add ground flax seeds, almond meal/flour, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the eggs just until combined. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. Using 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll each ball between pieces until 6” round. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, or until golden.
After I spent considerable time looking for a recipe similar to my old version of Moo Shu Pork, casually mentioning it to Tom he said, "I never really liked that dish anyway. Don't bother to make it for me."
Oh. It was one of those dishes I made it in our "younger days" when he was courting me while pretending to like my "non meat and potatoes" recipes. Now that we're old, he doesn't try so hard to impress me. My feelings aren't hurt. I'll make the tortillas and use them for my adapted recipe for Mexican food (Is that OK to say?)
A gnarly tree trunk at the edge of the golf course. |
I found this recipe online and adapted it to my taste and way of eating and voila, its a heavenly dessert, energy booster and plain and simple meal substitute loaded with nutrients that won't raise a person's blood sugar if eaten in moderation, the size of an average protein bar.
A strained branch holding a cluster of bananas. |
Watching animals in the wild was a good lesson for me about eating in moderation, eating only until one is satisfied and not uncomfortably full. Animals never overeat (other than our household pets if we've been feeding them "people food").
I believe this is papaya tree. |
If you make these delicious bars, please place individual portions into baggies to store in the freezer, taking out one bag out at a time to eat frozen. They are so good they could trigger a frenzy of overeating.
Here's the recipe:
Jess's Low Carb High Fat Keto Bars
1 cup organic extra virgin coconut oil, melted (Don’t use
microwave. Use room temperature)
1 cup organic almond butter ½ cup any lowest carb protein powder (I used hemp)
1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened (the large unsweetened coconut chips found in the healthy section in grocery stores or a health food shop, are good to use)
½ cup chopped almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans or
hazelnuts (I used macadamia nuts, grown here in the Hawaiian Islands)
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup unsweetened cocoa chips (found in health food stores)
1/3 cup erythritol or other preferred 0 carb sweetener, (found in health food stores)
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp Himalayan or sea salt
Whisk together oil, nut butter, protein powder until
smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir.
Pour onto lined parchment paper baking pan being
careful to have pan fully covered with parchment. Cover and place in freezer until frozen (3
hours). Break or cut into bar size pieces, keeping single servings in plastic bags in the freezer. Keep and eat frozen.
These low carb recipes that I post are suitable for a low carb way of eating where the body is burning our own fat stores for fuel, not burning the sugar we've consumed. These recipes are not intended to be eaten in combination with sugary, high calorie, high fat food for which in doing so may increase in weight could result. Burning our own fat for fuel is referred to as "ketosis" not ketoacidosis, a dangerous life threatening condition. These are two entirely different metabolic states. The reading material in the following paragraph explains this further.
For more on the science surrounding the low carb, high fat, grain, starch and sugar free way of eating which causes our bodies to burn our own fat for fuel and subsequently reduces inflammation, please read, Dr. William Davis (Wheat Belly) or Dr. David Perlmutter's book Grain Brain, and Jonathan Bailor's books, all of whom have highlighted my story on their websites and in Jonathan's recent book, Eat More, Lose More (about health) in which there's a full story and photo on my return to good health after an over 20 year struggle.
Here's a link to my story which was posted on their sites a few years ago, all of which are similar.
These three links I've provided above today are directly to their free blogs in the event you want to read more before buying their books, if in fact the subject matter appeals to you. I wouldn't be traveling the world, pain free, if it weren't for the science presented in these professional's books and websites.
Enough for today. No preaching intended. Write if you have questions.
Aloha.
_____________________________________
Photo from one year ago today, April 4, 2014:
These low carb recipes that I post are suitable for a low carb way of eating where the body is burning our own fat stores for fuel, not burning the sugar we've consumed. These recipes are not intended to be eaten in combination with sugary, high calorie, high fat food for which in doing so may increase in weight could result. Burning our own fat for fuel is referred to as "ketosis" not ketoacidosis, a dangerous life threatening condition. These are two entirely different metabolic states. The reading material in the following paragraph explains this further.
For more on the science surrounding the low carb, high fat, grain, starch and sugar free way of eating which causes our bodies to burn our own fat for fuel and subsequently reduces inflammation, please read, Dr. William Davis (Wheat Belly) or Dr. David Perlmutter's book Grain Brain, and Jonathan Bailor's books, all of whom have highlighted my story on their websites and in Jonathan's recent book, Eat More, Lose More (about health) in which there's a full story and photo on my return to good health after an over 20 year struggle.
Here's a link to my story which was posted on their sites a few years ago, all of which are similar.
A boat, filled to the max, looks for the last vestiges of the humpback whales, many which have already begun the journey to Alaska for the summer. |
Enough for today. No preaching intended. Write if you have questions.
Aloha.
_____________________________________
Photo from one year ago today, April 4, 2014:
The colors in the displays in the souks was astounding. Four of our senses were all in full on mode as we wandered through the maze like environment; the smells, the sights, the sounds and the touch of the fabrics. As for taste, we proceeded with caution, never dining on any of the food in the Big Square, the Medina for fear it would contain ingredients contrary to my diet. For more details, please click here. |
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