Tag Archives: keto

Chocolate Chip Cookies Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten Free

Lately Tiffany hasn’t done well with egg yolks or flax or peanut butter or chia and an abundance of cheese. It has made it difficult to make special treats but thanks to google search, we can generally find something we can work with.

I’m so thankful for this recipe, although it did need a few tweaks. We subbed cashew butter for sunflower or tahini butter, psyllium husk powder for flax seed meal, and gentle sweet for coconut sugar.

So let’s get to it.

We start by mixing together the coconut oil, cashew butter, and sweetener (we use THM Gentle Sweet).

I found that you can substitute powdered psyllium husk for the flaxmeal, thus making a psyllium egg instead of flax egg. This is important for us since Tiff is currently sensitive to egg yolk.

So next add the “egg”, vanilla and mix again. And then finally add the baking soda, salt, and coconut flour.

Now the recipe calls for chopped dark chocolate but Tiff usually just used chocolate chips. Looking at the pictures on the original webpage makes me want her to use some chopped chocolate instead of the chocolate chips.

Now Tiffany is usually in a hurry and doesn’t chill at all; she immediately drops them on the parchment cookie sheet and then bakes.

Then we bake, cool, and eat. :)

Of course, it only makes 12 cookies.

So follow the directions one bakerita.com and use 3/8 cup Gentle sweet in place of the 2/3 cup coconut sugar. Check out the recipe because they look amazing! I am going to have to push to have these made “the proper” way for similar results. ;)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Philly Cheesesteak Wrap

When I was in college, I worked summers at the local pizza/sub shop. I absolutely love pizza but I found I got sub sandwiches most of the time. My favorite was a steak sub. I liked and ate others like hot ham & cheese or the Italian sub. I occasionally got a small pizza but it was rare, which surprised even me.

They made their steak and cheese subs with meat like a steak um and provolone cheese. I sometimes get a hankering for a steak sub and will buy a box of Steak Ums. Lately has been one of those times. ;)

I start by chopping up some onion, mushrooms, and peppers because that’s what I like on mine now. :) I get those cooking with some salt and pepper.

I add a bit of oil of some kind since I’m having this as a Trim Healthy Mama S meal. Sometimes I’ll add butter, sometimes bacon fat, and sometimes coconut oil.

When they are almost as done as I want them to be, I break up my Steak Um into pieces and add it to the pan.

I sprinkle on a little oregano.

Next I heat up my wrap. I try not to use too many low carb Mission tortillas because THM says that if you are not losing weight and you are eating these (and other “frankenfoods”;) then try cutting them out for a while and see if you start losing again. So that’s what I’m doing.

Last Saturday after I made the double batch of sourdough pancakes, I had Tiff whip up the batter for Trim Healthy Mama’s Wonder Wraps 2 from their Trim Healthy Table cookbook. They have a bit of psyllium husk flakes in them, so they are really beneficial to my health. :)

I made these on my griddle and then let them cool on cooling racks. Then I placed them between sheets of parchment paper and put them in a gallon baggie. Then I just heat them up in a skillet for a few seconds.

I spread a Light Laughing Cow cheese wedge on the wrap and added the filling.

I sprinkle on some nutritional yeast.

Fold and eat. :)You could definitely add some cheese on the meat and veggies and let it melt but I’ve been going a bit overboard with my meat and cheese intake lately and that’s not conducive to weight loss. :( I was surprised that the laughing cow wedge tasted so good on this.

Steak Ums aren’t cheap but I found the name brand is cheaper than the off brand at my local stores. I don’t use these for a family dinner but use them for lunches on occasion. :)

I hope enjoy this as much as I do.

Philly Cheesesteak Wrap

Ingredients

  • Frozen steak um
  • onion
  • peppers
  • mushroom
  • butter
  • wrap
  • light laughing cow cheese wedge
  • salt, pepper, and oregano
  • nutritional yeast, optional

Instructions

  1. Chop veggies and saute in a teaspoon or so of butter.
  2. When nearly done to your liking, break up the steak into pieces and add to veggies.
  3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit of oregano.
  4. Heat wrap and spread with light laughing cow cheese wedge.
  5. Add cooked meat and veggies and nutritional yeast, if desired.
  6. Fold and eat.
https://lifeofjoy.me/philly-cheesesteak-wrap/

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Taco Bites ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Taco Bites

I really missed making my taco bites last year, since we were low carb and couldn’t have the wonton wrappers that I had used to make them before in this recipe. So this year I decided to look for some low carb ones. I figured as a worst case scenario, I’d use low carb whole wheat tortillas.

I was thrilled to find this recipe. It is really quite simple. Unfortunately I forgot to take two of the pictures but I think you can get the idea. ;)

Start by placing about a tablespoon of cheese in a flattened pile on a silpat on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan. I fit 12 piles on my large tray. Leave about 2 inches between piles. (So sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step. :( )

Brown your meat. We used ground turkey. Drain well and season as you like for tacos. (The other step I forgot to take a picture of. :( )

You bake the cheese on 350º for about 5-7 minutes. You want the edges to be slightly browned and the center melted. Let them cool for about a minute, so you can handle them without burning yourself. The arrange them into mini muffin pans.

mini Taco "shells" ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Add the seasoned cooked ground meat.

undressed taco bites ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Add toppings of choice. No more cheese is needed but some avocado, tomato, lettuce, and/or sour cream are good options.

Taco bite with avocado, tomato, and lettuce ~ Lifeofjoy.me

These were super simple and good. Makes sure your meat is not wet or it will seep out the cracks and holes of the cheese. We didn’t eat ours right away and they were a tad bit cold. I’ll wait to fix them until the last thing next time so they are hotter.

Hope you enjoy them. Go here to homemadeinterest.com for the full recipe.

I hope you have a great New Year’s Day. We are having a nice, laid back day full of rest, relaxation, and gaming (probably individually on different electronic devices as we played board games together last night).

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Peanut Caramel Candy ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Pay Off Day Candies

Michael loves Payday candy bars. So every now and then I make him these candies. The first several times I made them I followed the directions and tried to spoon it out into circular candies, which did not turn out well for me. However they tasted delicious. So I got creative and decided to let laziness take over. ;) I put the candy mixture into a loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper to make it easier to remove. Then I just cut it into pieces/bars. :)

So here’s how you do it.

Put the butter, gentle sweet, and stevia into a pan and begin stirring as it melts.


butter to melt ~ Lifeofjoy.me
melt butter and sweetener ~ Lifeofjoy.me
Sweeteners ~ Lifeofjoy.me

While it is just starting to heat up get your other ingredients ready to go: nuts, peanut butter, heavy cream and caramel extract.

Add caramel extract to heavy cream ~ Lifeofjoy.me

When the butter and sweeteners are melted, add in the heavy cream and caramel extract.


melted butter and sweetener ~ Lifeofjoy.me
Add cream and caramel ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Whisk as it slowly boils.


Whisk away ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Keep whisking until it becomes a nice caramel color.


Nearly caramel colored ~ LIfeofjoy.me

Watch it carefully once it begins to brown because it goes from that to this in just a few seconds, it seems.


Right colored caramel ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Now we add in the tiny bit of natural peanut butter and the slightly chopped peanuts and combine.


Adding peanuts and pb ~ Lifeofjoy.me
pay off day candy ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Here’s where I cheat and just put it in a parchment lined loaf pan. Since I made a double batch today, I’m putting it in a parchment lined 8×8 pan.


Put in pan ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Then I put it in the refrigerator and let it harden up. I’ll cut this in half and then each half into 8 strips/bars. The recipe is supposed to make 16 pieces, so I reckon each of our bars are two pieces. ;) It doesn’t last long around here.

DIY Payday Candy ~ Lifeofjoy.me

The full recipe is on page 381 of the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook and can be found online if you search for it, especially if you have a THM membership.

I hope this helps you make this delectable candy.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Open-face Philly Cheese Chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Philly Cheese Chicken Skillet

Creamy, cheesy chicken cooked with onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers.

When I was in my early twenties, I worked at a pizza and sub shop. I love pizza but when I worked there I realized that I also loved sub sandwiches. Specifically Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I also really liked Italian  hoagies and hot ham and cheese subs too. Most every time I worked, instead of getting a small pan pizza, I got a Philly Cheese Steak.

Early in my marriage, I found Steak-Umm steaks and figured out how to make them at home. Yummo! Well, Michael cannot have steak currently, so I decided that I’d try to make this over with chicken. We all loved it. :)

Without further adieu, here’s how to do it.

Slice the veggies and chicken into thin strips.

Slicing onions ~ Lifeofjoy.meSauté the veggies until nearly done to your liking.

sauté veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Sauté onions peppers mushrooms ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd the chicken strips

cook chicken strips ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen chicken is cooked, about 5 minutes or so, depending on how big or small you cut your chicken pieces.

saute chicken and veggies ~ LIfeofjoy.me

Add the cream cheese (or Greek cream cheese) and stir to combine until cream cheese is melted.

philly cheese chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.me(We like our veggies VERY well done.)

Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Mozzarella cheese on chicken and veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen it is melted, it is ready to serve.

Philly cheese chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Philly cheese chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.meI heated some Swiss bread to serve this on.

Heating swiss bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meWe like green fries (roasted frozen fancy green beans) with ours.Philly cheese chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Philly Cheese Chicken Skillet

Ingredients

  • onion, sliced
  • green bell pepper, sliced
  • mushrooms, sliced
  • chicken breast, sliced thin
  • salt, pepper, and oregano
  • about 2 ounces of cream cheese, neufchatel, or greek cream cheese
  • about 3-4 ounces mozzarella, shredded

Instructions

  1. Slice veggies and sauté in a bit of oil.
  2. Add sliced chicken when veggies are nearly cooked as desired.
  3. sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano to taste
  4. add cream cheese, mix in and allow it to melt.
  5. sprinkle with shredded mozzarella
  6. Serve either in low carb roll, on low carb bread, or just eat off your plate. 😉

https://lifeofjoy.me/philly-cheese-chicken-skillet/

I hope you enjoy this.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

WWBB ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Another Kind of Bread

Low-Calorie bread that you can have slathered in butter if you so desire. :)

My first attempt at this Wonderful White Blender Bread from the Trim Healthy Mama Table cookbook page 242, turned out less than stellar results. ;)

FP Bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meAlthough it did some serious collapsing, it was still edible and good enough that another loaf was desired.

The second time yielded much better results. I also made a batch into buns. They weren’t very large buns but they made some nice hamburgers. I’ll make them again this week to have with the Slim Sloppy Joes.

Brian, Lauren, and Liam were here this weekend and they liked it too. We finished off the loaf I made a few days prior.

It looked really nice and didn’t have that big fold over top that I’ve had on previous loaves and that I’ve seen online of other’s loaves. This time I changed up a few things per other’s experiences on the THM Facebook group, so I think that contributes to the lack of fold over.

I’ll walk you through it, as I make another loaf. (That is my only regret about this recipe, it makes only one loaf instead of two.)

So first up is to get a whole lot of eggs whites. Yes, it is easier to use egg whites from the carton but I cannot pay $3 or even more for a quart when I can get 5 dozen eggs for just $2.08 which turns out to render quite a bit more than four cups. So, I start this (and many recipes) by separating eggs. Thankfully we have animals that love the cooked yolks. ;)

Egg whites in Blender ~ Lifeofjoy.meThe whites go into the blender while I go measure out the other ingredients.

Modified WWBB Ingredients ~ Lifeofjoy.meI measure out the ingredients into a bowl. All the dry in one and the cup of Greek yogurt. Then I run the blender for a minute with just the egg whites and xanthan gum.

Egg whites ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd the remaining ingredients.

Add dry ingredients to blender ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd Gk Yog ~ Lifeofjoy.meBlend for another minute or so.

Pour into sprayed straight sided loaf pan.

Baking Bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meBaking Bread ~ Lifeofjoy.me

After it is baked, lay it on its side and keep it in the oven with it turned off for about 10-15 minutes to keep it from falling.Bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meThen put it on a cooling rack on its side to cool some more.

bread ~ Lifeofjoy.mebread ~ Lifeofjoy.me bread ~ Lifeofjoy.me bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen it is freshly baked, it has a squishy sponginess. I don’t know how it tastes because I waited and toasted mine.

toast ~ lifeofjoy.me toast ~ lifeofjoy.meI shared though; it’s hubby approved.

Hubby Approved Bread ~ Lifeofjoy.meHope you like it too.

Another Kind of Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 3/4 cup whey protein isolate powder
  • 1/2 cup THM Baking Blend
  • 1/2 cup oat fiber (THM or LIfesource 500 brands)
  • 1 cup greek yogurt or 1% cottage cheese
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon THM Super Sweet Blend (Or possibly Sukrin +)
  • 1/2 teaspoon mineral salt
  • 1 tablespoon yeast (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º and spray loaf pan with coconut oil spray.
  2. Blend the egg whites and xanthan gum on high for about a minute in the blender (or some say a mixer will work too)
  3. Add remaining ingredients and blend for about 30 seconds.
  4. Scrape down the sides of the blender to ensure it gets well blended.
  5. Blend for another 30 or so seconds.
  6. Pour into loaf pan.
  7. Bake for 40-50 minutes.
  8. When it is done, turn off the oven and lay the pan on its side and stay in oven for another 10 minutes or so.
  9. Then remove from oven and put on its side on a cooling rack.
  10. When cool, slice.
  11. Store in gallon size baggie with a paper towel in the refrigerator if it will last longer than a day.

https://lifeofjoy.me/another-kind-of-bread/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Mozzarella Stuffed Pesto Meatballs

Whether you use homemade pesto or store-bought, this is an easy meatball meal that is a nice difference. Add the cheesy surprise and they are a hit. :)

I found this recipe on the I Breathe I’m Hungry website when we began our keto (low carb, high fat, moderate protein) diet about a year ago. She has so many varieties of meatballs that you could fix a different recipe every night for a month and still have a couple week’s worth yet to try.  These have a piece of mozzarella cheese stuffed inside them.

They are simple to make and could probably even be baked in the oven if you wanted to. If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and get your easy pesto made. :)

Now let’s get started. I’m using ground turkey but you could use whatever ground meat you desire.

Combine the ground meat,

Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd almond flour (if you’re a carb eater, you could use some breadcrumbs instead), egg, salt, pepper, and pesto in a bowl.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meCheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meCheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meCombine it well and level it out. I like to make some kind of marks so I get relatively evenly sized meatballs. I think the original recipe makes this into only 10 meatballs but since there are four of us, I make an even 12. So first I divide it in half each direction so each section is about 1/4 the mixture.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meThen each section is roughly divided into 3 sections.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meTake one section (1/12 of the mixture) and flatten it out in your hand and place a piece of the cheese in the middle.Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meBegin wrapping the meat around the cheese cube.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meClose it up and make it round.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meHeat oil in a skillet and fry the meatballs (about 4 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through).

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meI waited a little too long to turn them so they are more like ‘cakes’ than ‘balls’. :D

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.meServe with pesto. We served these with zoodles.

Cheese Stuffed Pesto Meatballs ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Mozzarella Stuffed Pesto Meatballs

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons pesto + more for serving
  • 2 ounces fresh mozzarella (cut into 12 pieces)
  • 2 Tablespoons or more for frying

Instructions

  1. Combine ground meat, almond flour, egg, salt, pepper, and pesto in a bowl.
  2. Divide meat into about 12 meatballs and form meat ball around a piece of cheese.
  3. Fry in heated oil, about 4 minutes per side, until browned and cooked through.
  4. Serve hot with added pesto.
  5. We served on zoodles (strands of zucchini sauted in butter).

https://lifeofjoy.me/mozzarella-stuffed-pesto-meatballs/

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Keto Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Egg Noodles

Literally noodles made from eggs, well, and a bit of cream cheese and oat fiber. Yep, don’t mock it until you’ve tried it.

One thing I love during the holidays is noodles cooked in ham broth. We simply call them ham noodles. Well, I’m preparing NOW for the holidays. Yes, I know I’m way early but I figure this is going to take some experimentation. However, I have made these noodles twice or thrice now and we are liking them.

For a simple, quick noodle, these cannot be beat. All you do is take one ounce of cream cheese (which is 2 tablespoons), 2 room-temperature eggs, and 1/4 teaspoon oat fiber and put it in a blender.Egg Noodle Batter ~ Lifeofjoy.meI know this doesn’t look like cream cheese and oat fiber in there with the eggs, but trust me it is. Blend on high for a minute or until completely smooth.

Egg noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meStop the blender and push down anything stuck on the sides with a rubber spatula and finish blending.

Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meNow all you do is pour it onto a rimmed baking sheet covered with either a silpat or parchment paper. I was out of parchment paper and my silpat didn’t fit exactly. Then I will also note that my oven is not completely level. So, if I can make these noodles and they taste good, under these conditions, you can with whatever situations you have.

Bake the egg mixture ~ LIfeofjoy.meIt would be best for it to be an even layer and to be spread thinly over the entire pan. As you can see, I have struggles right from the start but I am baking it anyway. Just 5 minutes in the oven on 350º.

Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meAs you can see, some my egg mixture went under my silpat. I was not going to be deterred. I used all but the thinnest bits of noodles. When it is cool enough to handle, release it from the silpat or parchment paper and cut into strips of whatever size you like your noodles, with a pizza cutter or knife.

Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meI even get the part that snuck under the silpat and cut it.

Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen the noodle is thicker, I cut the strips thinner and when it is thinnest, I cut them wider.

Egg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meEgg Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.meNow you can use your noodles however you like. Once I used it in Tasty Tuna Toss-Up and Mike and I really enjoyed it. On this day though, I put them in some ham broth and thickened it a bit with a tiny bit of glucomannon (that has not yet been perfected). Everyone enjoyed the noodles and said it tasted like Thanksgiving.

Score!!!

Next time I’ll try it with some parchment paper and see if I can’t get them a bit more uniform. I also want to work with it to see if I can make it a bit more like homemade noodles that my Aunt used to make with just egg, flour, and a bit of water. We shall see. But until then, this will do nicely.

Pork Roast and Ham Noodles ~ Lifeofjoy.me(Yeah, I forgot to take a picture of the completed noodles until we were cleaning off the table and putting away the tiny bit that was leftover!)

Egg Noodles

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce cream cheese (2 tablespoons)
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon oat fiber

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about one minute.
  2. Pour onto a silpat or parchment paper covered rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Bake on 350º for 5 minutes or until the thickest part of the noodle is firm.
  4. When cool enough to handle, cut into strips and use as desired.

https://lifeofjoy.me/egg-noodles/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Choc Peppermint Fat Bombs ~ lifeofjoy.me

Chocolate Peppermint Fat Bombs

These chocolate peppermint candies fat bombs are great at curbing hunger without increasing carbs.

Today’s recipe is super simple. It may look like a lot of ingredients but it really isn’t.

Choc Pep Fat Bombs ~ Lifeofjoy.meNo, don’t go away! Three of those bottles is just because I have them; they are totally unnecessary! :D

My coconut oil is refined because we do not care for the unrefined coconutty taste and it sits on my counter and it has been warm, so it is pretty soft. The butter on the other hand is fresh out of the refrigerator, so I grated it to make it easier to combine.

Coconut Oil and Shredded Butter ~ Lifeofjoy.meThe next ingredient is the only one that is really unusual . . . coconut butter or also called coconut manna. It is simply processed coconut. Literally, I put unsweetened coconut into my food processor and processed until it was kind of smooth. (It can be processed until completely smooth if you have the patience or inclination to do so.)

Coconut Manna ~ Lifeofjoy.meNext add cocoa powder, three drops of peppermint spirits, a tiny bit of cinnamon, and a tiny bit of instant coffee–Michael says this one I bought is gross when drunk, so I’ll be able to make oodles of these fat bombs before I run out of it.

For sweetener, add powdered sweetener of your choice. I use Sukrin Melis/Icing or powdered Swerve. You could also take your favorite granulated sweetener and blend it in a coffee grinder to powder it. You could also just use your favorite liquid sweetener. I used 4 heaping teaspoons of melis, about 8 drops of chocolate liquid stevia, about 8 drops of vanilla cream liquid stevia, and about 4 drops of liquid stevia concentrate. :/ We like it a little bit sweet. ;) (I only use all those liquid stevias because I’ve had them in my refrigerator forever and I might as well use them up. ;) )

I added the rest of the ingredients and then thought I had done something wrong and forgot to take a picture before blending, so there is no picture here. :(

But this is what it looks like once it is all whipped together.

Chocolate Peppermint Fat Bomb batter ~ Lifeofjoy.meFat Bomb ~ Lifeofjoy.meAt this point you could put it all into a glass dish and pop it into the refrigerator until it sets or in the freezer if you are impatient. ;) But I prefer to put it in these little ice cube trays I found at dollar tree. I think they are a great size.

Choc Peppermint Fat Bombs ~ lifeofjoy.me

I have ordered some really cute smiley face candy molds. I’m eager for them to arrive but alas, I must have patience for my $2 purchase will take several weeks to get here.

Oh! I just scooped the fluff out onto the tray and spread it across with a spatula and continued doing so until all the holes were filled. Then I used the spatula to level it all off and clean it up a bit. You can see on the second tray where it isn’t as level because it was the last bits.Choc Peppermint Fat Bombs ~ lifeofjoy.me

You can also melt the butter and the oil together and use a hand blender to emulsify it all together, then just pour it into the cups or dish. I think it sets up a bit harder if it is melted first, but I’ll have to wait until later to decide for sure.

Now, I can almost hear some of you asking why on earth you’d want to eat a fat bomb. Well, when you are on a ketogenic diet, the object is to get your body to burn fat for fuel instead of glucose. If you a lot of carbs or a lot of protein, your body will produce glucose and will burn that first, because it is easier to burn. So if you are hungry but have already eaten as much protein and carbs as you should, then fat bombs are to the rescue. It also helps that they are a sweet treat as well. If you are cold, you probably need to stoke that fat furnace as well, to get it going. As far as sugar free sweet treats go, these are the bomb. ;)

Chocolate Peppermint Fat Bombs

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces coconut oil (softened or melted)
  • 4 ounces butter (I use salted. If you use unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt) (softened or melted)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut butter/manna
  • 3 drops peppermint spirits
  • 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 4 heaping teaspoons Sukrin Melis/Icing (or your preferred powdered sugar free sweetener)
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granuals
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • liquid sweetener, as needed

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in mixing bowl combine thoroughly with either a hand blender or a mixer.
  2. Fill candy molds, mini ice cube trays, or other rimmed container and chill or freeze until solid.
  3. Remove from molds and serve. (If large rimmed container was used, cut into pieces and store in plastic zipper bags until serving.)

https://lifeofjoy.me/chocolate-peppermint-fat-bombs/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Bacon in the Oven ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Baked Bacon

For the juiciest, most tender, delicious bacon you have to bake it! Oh! And it is super easy!

Can you tell I’m passionate and excited about this? :D

This is delicious stuff! It is super easy. I’m talking, much easier than babysitting it over a stove top and getting splattered by it.

Now, save yourself some elbow grease and line your rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. You can use aluminum foil but I have read and heard that it is not good for you, as it can leach bad stuff into your food. I get a twenty-five foot roll at Dollar Tree for a dollar. I don’t know how good that is but it is a good way to try parchment paper to see if you like it. I have found that I love it!

Baking Bacon ~ Lifeofjoy.meThis is one package of thick cut bacon; I guess it was about one and a half pounds, I don’t remember exactly and the trash has already been taken out of the house, so that’s as close as we’re getting on the amount. ;)

As you can see, I flip and rotate the pieces so that they fit nicely onto the sheet pan. Sometimes one end is smaller than the other and so I situate them so that there’s a narrow part on the same side of the pan as a thicker piece beside it. Here you can see what I mean, although the pan is not full. (We did this one last week and had too many pieces for one pan but not enough for two full pans.)Bacon ~ Lifeofjoy.meNext you put the pans in the oven and turn it on 375ºfarenheight. I have been told that there is something really good about putting it into a cold oven but do not know the reason or paid attention to why yet.

Set a timer for ten minutes, at which point you will check the bacon and rotate the pans. You may want to flip a few pieces but I don’t usually.

Set the timer for five minutes. Check bacon for desired crispiness.

I usually bake mine for about twenty minutes total.

 Note:  If you are using thin bacon, I’d rotate the pans at about  eight minutes  and keep a close eye on it.

Yummy Breakfast ~ Lifeofjoy.me

I hope you love this bacon as much as we do. Oh, if you failed to set a timer and your bacon got extremely well done, I encourage you to taste it anyway. Bacon is not cheap, so I ate the burned bacon . . . it wasn’t all that bad . . . honestly. ;)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº