low sugar – Page 3 – OwlCat Designs

November 30, 2011December 16, 2017

Chocolate Pear Overnight Pudding

I have been wanting something sweet, but not too sweet. Chocolate-y, but not actually chocolate, difficult right? Since I have drastically reduced my (refined) sugar intake, my taste buds realize just how much added sugar there is in everything. It’s just like salt, once you’re used to using less, you can taste its overabundance in everything. And as for sugar, many items I just plain don’t find enjoyable, no flavor just extremely SWEET. I remember how after every visit back home, I cannot eat commercially made salad dressing for a couple of months, they are sweet and it just tastes funny to me (I get vinegar & oil )

But back to the program: Make this the night before, enjoy as a healthy breakfast cold out of the fridge or heat in the microwave.

Since I started making these, I have been absolutely addicted to them, the pictures don’t do the taste justice. It’s a perfect healthy treat, desert or breakfast, YES all three ;). I’ll have some versions and variations coming up for you soon.

Yay, chocolate pudding any time!!

Inspired by Leanne’s Banana Cherry Pudding

Ingredients:

1 ripe pear, diced
1/2 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
2 tbsp flax seed, roughly crushed with mortar and pestle
2 tbsp chia seed
2 tbsp ground almond (aka almond flour)
1 1/2 to 2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup (optional, if you like things a bit sweeter)

Directions

Combine chopped pear, cocoa, and almond milk in a glass dish or bowl, stir until cocoa is incorporated
Using your handheld blender, blend until smooth
Add flax seed, chia seed and ground almond, stir, cover and refrigerate overnight
In the morning, eat chilled out of the fridge, or heat in the microwave for about 30 to 45 seconds

November 19, 2011December 16, 2017

5 minute Snack Cakes

Pumpkin White Chocolate version here shown made with rolled oats…

and Tropical Mango version with Raspberry Mango Sauce, shown made with Quinoa (I know, it looks like Ketchup; Trust me it tastes TOTALLY different!)

For breakfast, as a snack and the best part, it’s utterly delicious cold as well AND when cold, they are portable (minus the garnish)

You can make these with rolled oats or any other flakes such a quinoa or barley flakes. You might have to adjust cooking time a little, but whatever is on hand works for these!

As an easy alternative to getting a mango, peeling and pureeing it, I have used mango baby food. One of my friends turned me onto the idea of using baby food as a flavoring for plain greek yogurt. Check the ingredients, but the brand I use has no added sugar, some flavor varieties use fruit juice to add extra sweetness. Don’t like mango? Make it juts with apple sauce or maybe a pear baby food?

Tropical Mango Banana Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa or oat flakes,
1/2 ripe banana (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup mango purer (use 1 small glass of mango baby food, 4 oz)
1 tbsp sugar (palm sugar, etc)
(1 tbsp Chia seeds, optional)
1/4 cup rasbperries, frozen or fresh
Mix 1/4 cup of the mango, banana, oats (or quinoa), sugar, and Chiang seeds if using in a bowl
Grease two 8 oz ramekins with some oil on a piece of papertowel
Fill and smooh the top
Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, depending on the power of your device. It’s done when the top does not look liquid anymore and the sides gently separate from the bowl.
Run a knife around the edge, inverted on a plate and serve with raspberry mango sauce (below), or your favorite topping. Such as maple syrup, almond butter, Apple sauce.
Or eat out of the bowl

For the raspberry mango sauce, heat the raspberries in a small saucepan then stir in the remainder (1/4 cup) of the mango puree

Pumpkin White Chocolate Oat Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oat or quinoa flakes
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp sugar
1 dash cinnamon
1 dash pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp vanilla
White chocolate chips and coconut for garnish (optional)

Mix all ingredients except chocolate and coconut in a bowl, then divide into two 8oz prepared ramekin forms.
Microwave on high for 2 min 30 sec to 3 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge, inverted on a plate and decorate with white chocolate chips, cover with the just removed ramekin and allow heat to steam the chocolate until soft (you can also re-microwave for 30 seconds), serve with coconut, or your favorite topping.

November 12, 2011December 16, 2017

Cranberry Oat Scones

Guess what I found in my freezer? Cranberries! …and I remember putting them in there too. At the very tail end of winter, they were on sale, and I can be such a sucker for sales when it involves things that can and will be eaten. As for those cranberries, well, apparently they did not. So since they endured summer somewhere in the recesses of my freezer, I decided it was time to finally turn them into something, well, more than just frozen cranberry taking up space in the freezer.

For those of us that enjoy an occasional baked treat, scones are the perfect marriage between sweet and substantial. These scones are just a touch sweet, and even though full of oats and other goodness, have a surprisingly light texture. Having made the discovery before that finding a good scone, isn’t as simple of task as it seems. I remember the taste bud disappointment from biting into what I expected to be slightly crunchy on the outside and soft crumb in the center, just to bite into a brick, a extra sweet brick 🙁 Not a fan, no can’t say. So with this recipe I made sure that would not happen. Try them still warm for breakfast or reheat in the toaster oven.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar (sucanat, coconut sugar or turbinado/raw)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
7 tbsp butter, cold, cut into cubes
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp rolled oats
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk (dairy or almond) or half & half
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp turbinado (raw) sugar for garnish

Directions

Combine dry ingredients (flour through salt)
Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter or 2 knifes, or pulse in the blender until coarse meal forms
Add 2/3 cup oats and stir to mix
Add cranberries, then add the milk and vanilla
The resulting dough is going to be quite sticky. Using a measuring cup, drop by the 1/4 cup onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing about 2″ apart. (I made them in the 1/2 cup size before, but they get really big)
Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbsp oats and 3 tbsp sugar
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until skewer inserted from the side comes out clean

Makes about 12 scones, (or 6-7 big ones )

October 18, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Cheesecake Minis

Ahhh it’s Fall, and I love me some pumpkin cheese cake. But ever notice how heavy that stuff is? I have a hard time finishing those huge pieces one is supposed to eat. How about ~~bite sized, nah, too small~~ maybe 3-4 bites? Now we’re talking! And while we’re at it, make it easy and quick as well.

That’s right, my friends, I want my (cheese) cake and eat it too (could not resist that one) And as you might know, I am not one for letting anything go to waste and so I was going through my fridge to see what’s on hand that might be useful.

The result? SUPER EASY, and besides the crust, NO BAKING! And to top that, you can make these in the toaster oven, in fact they turn out better in the toaster oven 🙂 Win!
Here is my secret weapon of choice: left over pot sticker wrappers! That’s right, and we are going to blind bake (or toasterize) them into crunchy littlte tartlet shells.

You need:

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 bar, pack, block? what do you call that?), softened
3-4 tbsp pumpkin puree (from can)
2 tbsp suconat or coconut sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
1/8 tsp vanilla
8-10 pot sticker wrappers (or wonton wrappers, trimmed to a round shape)

Directions

Place pot sticker wrappers in individual Madeleine forms or muffin tins, place in toaster oven for about 5-6 minutes, being careful not to let them get too brown, trust me, it goes quickly. On mine I set it right between the light and the dark setting. If your toaster oven has a temp setting, turn it down to 400, but leave it on toast (depending on your muffin cups/ Madeleine forms it might take more or less time, shiny metal reflects the heat…) Alternately, using your oven, bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just slightly golden. They will crisp up more as they cool.
In the meantime place softened cream cheese in a bowl, add the coconut sugar/sweetener of choice, and stir until completely incorporated.
Add spices and pumpkin and mix until uniform.
When the shells are cooled a bit, fill each using a tablespoon.
Refrigerated for min. 1 hour to allow to get firm, prior to serving.

Note: these are best made and eaten within a day or so, since the crust will soak up the moisture from the filling and get progressively less crunchy.

October 18, 2011December 16, 2017

Reena’s Amba Ma Smoothie

Version 1: Pineapple-Cantaloupe-Raspberry

During the fall months, there is a particular Hindu Holiday ‘Navaratri’ during which believers perform several rituals and practice fasting. It lasts 9 nights and is devoted solely to the Mother Goddess — known regionally as Durga, Bhavani, Amba, Chandika, Gauri, Parvati, Mahishasuramardini…

File:Durgas.jpg

The story goes: After one of the Gods (Brahma) gave the demon Mahish the power not to be destroyed by man (including male Gods) because of doing a good deed for Brahma, Mahish started to cause all sorts of terror. So, the 3 forms of God, Brahma (birth or creation), Vishnu (life or preservation) and Shiva (death or destruction) combined their energies and powers and created a female form of God (Devi or Durga) to destroy the demon, (since no man could vanquish him). She represents the furious powers of all the male gods, and is the ferocious protector of the righteous, and destroyer of the evil. Durga is usually portrayed as riding a lion, and carrying weapons in her many arms.

I’ve also heard “Durga” means ‘invincible‘ and she is the personification of ‘shakti’ or divine feminine force!

Goddess of Victory of Good over Evil

For the fasting part of the ritual, nothing except Milk, nuts and fruit can be eaten during the day. And so I created this yummy smoothie in order to take advantage of all the goodness that’s to be had from milk, nuts and fruits

Ingredients

1 cup milk (that can be almond milk or dairy milk**, your choice)
1 tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter: remember peanuts aren’t really nuts)
1 really ripe banana
1 cup pineapple(fresh or frozen)*
1 cup cantaloupe or mango pieces (fresh or frozen)*
1-2 tbsp raspberries or strawberries (optional)

* Make sure that one of these is frozen. If it is still hot outside, both may be frozen or you could add some ice cubes before blending.

** If using dairy milk, the recipe is no longer dairy free or vegan

Directions

Put all ingredients in the blender, starting with the banana, add fruit, then the almond butter on top and pour the liquid over top.
Blend until smooth.
Enjoy or pack in a cooler or lunchbox and take to work to have throughout the day.

Version 2: with Blueberries…

Ingredients, Version 2

1 cup milk (that can be almond milk or dairy milk**, your choice)
1 tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter: remember peanuts aren’t really nuts)
2 really ripe banana
1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)*
1 cup peaches or pineapple (fresh or frozen)*

* Make sure that one of these is frozen. If it is still hot outside, both may be frozen or you could add some ice cubes before blending.

** If using dairy milk, the recipe is no longer dairy free or vegan

Directions

Put all ingredients in the blender, starting with the banana, add fruit, then the almond butter on top and pour the liquid over top.
Blend until smooth.
Enjoy or pack in a cooler or lunchbox and take to work to have throughout the day.

And here’s a great thing to do with any leftover smoothie:

Pour into popsicle molds (or any small paper or plastic cups and add one of those wooden sticks they sell at craft stores) and freeze for a sugar free treat later.

October 12, 2011December 16, 2017

‘Summer in a Jar’ (Canned European Plum Compote)

On Saturday we spend part of the day rummaging and discovering our way through a local antique place. I got some great deals on glass custard dishes, and a couple of old glass bottles we’ll be using to store my home made salad dressing (like the Greek Feta Buttermilk Dressing). It was rainy and the the temperature was steadily dropping, so being inside for several hours looking through old kitchen and household items, books and furniture was fun!

The trees behind my house are changing color, the first touches of fall, the first signs of frost (it only went down to 37 at my house, yipee!), and I have to come to terms with the fact that summer is definitely, absolutely over. No more denial. It’s FALL! Don’t get me wrong I LOVE fall, it’s just I really, really, REALLY liked summer this year and it’s hard to let go of something dear. In order to be able to take advantage of end of summer, super ripe, bursting with flavor European plums (aka prune plums, they are the smaller, oval purple/blue ones, that look a bit hazed over vs shiny) for a little while longer, I decided to cook them up into a compote, that can be used on Crêpes, pancakes or eaten as s desert (cold or warmed up) with some whipped cream or stir into greek yogurt as a treat!

or over cottage cheese…

If you live near an Italian or even Russian Market, you might have an easier time finding this old world favorite as not all stores are carrying them in our area and the seasonal availability is limited to a short window of opportunity. At my parents garden in Switzerland they would usually ripen sometime in late August or early September.

Today, after having found a nice (hopefully not quite yet) last batch at the farmers market, Now let’s see if we can make that preserving magic happen, for when fall or winter really hits and we are all longing for something that tastes of SUMMER!

Ingredients

5 cups prune plums, halved, pitted (or 4 cups plums and 1 cup apple)
1 -3 tbsp sucanat/rapadura*, raw sugar or other real sweetener of choice
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp tapioca
3 pint canning jars and lids, bands, washed in the dishwasher
21 qt water bath canner with canning rack
small sauce pan with boiling water ( to sterilize lids)

Directions

Prep the canner: fill with required amount of hot water and bring to a simmer. Heat water in small sauce pan, add the lids to it and bring to a simmer.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the plums with the rest of the ingredients above and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally . Keep at a simmer of 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and set aside.

If your jars are still hot (they juts came out of the dishwasher) sit them on a kitchen towel and fill one at a time with the compote, using a ladle and a canning funnel, leaving a 1/2″ head space (If they are cold, heat them submerged in the canner, in order to prevent them from breaking from the quick temperature change)
Wipe rim with clean paper towel, so not compote or juice clings to the top, then center one of the prepares lids on top, then tighten band (not too much, juts fingertip tight) with your fingertips only! When all the jars are filled and lidded (is that a word?), place them on the canning rack an lower into your canner, making sure all jars are covered by 1″ of water.

Bring the water in the canner to a boil and process for 30 minutes, adjusting for altitude
When time is up, turn off heat and leave them in the water bath for another 5 minutes, then lifting the rack up an hooking it to the sides of the pot, remove the jars gently (don’t shake or tighten or anything) place on a kitchen towel to cool off completely.
check in 24 h if the seal is secure (Lid does not flex up and down when pressed in the middle) place any not properly sealed jars in the fridge and eat quickly (just the content, please)
Label and store, or gift 🙂

October 9, 2011December 16, 2017

Healthy Carrot Cake

The last couple of days I have been thinking about home (the old home, where I was born and where I used to live) maybe it was brought on by roasting and eating those amazing chestnuts the other day, who can say? Anyway, we have a lot of regional specialties in Switzerland and this recipe pays homage to a Carrot Cake from the region of Aargau, and juuust in case any of you are into linguistics, the name of the dish I am going after is ‘Aargauer Rüebli Torte’. In my recipe, there is no butter or oil in the cake batter, there is limited amount of sugar compared to most regular muffin or cake recipes, hardly any flour and it can be made gluten free. It’s moist crumb is achieved without the addition of fat, in fact the only fat in it, comes from the egg yolks and the ground almonds used. Still it’s cake, it’s a desert and should be enjoyed as such, in moderation 😉 Not saying this would be a good idea, but it’s quite a way to sneak some veggies past certain people called kids 🙂

For simplicity reasons, you can also make muffins (simplicity, because you don’t have to try to come up with believable stories on where the missing piece of cake went 😉

Ingredients

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
5 organic eggs, seperated
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp warm water
1/2 lemon peel
1 lb carrots
2 cups ground almonds, natural, not blanched (also known as almond flour)
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp flour (use oat flour to make it gluten free)
1/2 tsp baking powder

egg yolks , and sugar: looking dark yellow to start…

…and light in color after stirring

Directions

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl and stir until light in color and airy
add lemon peel
Shred the carrots on the fine side of a grater into the egg mixture
add the cinnamon and allspice, stir to combine
in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, add on top of the mix
sprinkle the ground almonds on top
sift flour and baking powder over top and gently incorporate the almonds, egg whites and flour.
Fill into prepares 8″ spring form pan ( or grease muffin cups, you can use paper liners, only bake 25 minutes) and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
After cooled completely, coat top of cake with sifted confectioners sugar, and marzipan carrots. Or make a white glaze by mixing 1tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 tbsp water and 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar until mixture coats back of spoon evenly. Spread over entire top and sides of cake.

By the way: My boyfriend, who was very adamant about not liking carrot cake, never having liked carrot cake, finally agreed to try a tiny piece, after my: ‘this is not your typical extremely sweet american carrot cake, just saying. But, alright, more for me!’ Well, he revised his opinion, in his own words: ‘OMG, this is delicious!’

October 3, 2011December 16, 2017

Greek Feta Dressing with Buttermilk

Honestly, the only reason I eat salad, is because I like dressing. There I said it. I do think salads are yummy when they contain more than just lettuce, but I guess I still have not grown out of my childhood, when my Dad used to say that the slugs in the garden ate more lettuce than we (my brother and me)!

I know raw foods and leafy greens are healthy, but don’t be fooled, stay away from Iceberg lettuce, there is nothing in there if nutritional value, nope nada, it’s just crunchy water.

In the spring and fall, when my garden is producing lots of lettuce, I have to get creative and not only use up the prolific stream of salad greens coming out of my garden but also the various herbs I grow.

I like the fresh and asserting flavors of Greek dishes: lemon, thyme, Greek oregano, garlic and salty feta cheese (it makes you feel like a sunny vacation). So I decided to get working and turn that into something good. Using Buttermilk and Cottage cheese gives the dressing body and thickness without the added calories of mayonnaise.

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider or white wine vinegar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 lemon, zest only
1 md clove garlic*
1 slice Feta cheese ( about 1″x 1/2″x 4″ ) chopped
2 tbsp chives, fresh, chopped, divided*
1 tsp oregano (from 2 fresh sprigs, leaves only)*
1/2 tsp Thyme*
1 tsp black pepper corns, freshly ground in Mortar

* I used all fresh herbs and ingredients. If you are using dried herbs, adjust the quantity down

Directions

Blend all ingredients except 1 tbsp chives, oil, vinegar and buttermilk in blender until smooth.
Add buttermilk, oil and vinegar, pulse to combine. Remove from blender and stir in remaining chives. Ready to enjoy!

So far I have used it on various lettuce & vegetable salads (muuuch better than just lettuce). And the sprouted Quinoa White Bean Broccoli salad I had today. Thinking that using it as a marinade might be good as well…

If you’re in need of an idea,

try the warm ‘Sprouted Quinoa Broccoli and White Bean Salad‘ I had today (recipe coming tomorrow)

September 28, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Muffin Bites

Alright, i admit it: I am suffering from a pumpkin addiction at the moment, and while were at it, I have an obsession with bananas. It all started with trying to use up all those severely ripe bananas in the summer. I would buy bananas, thinking:’ good snack, conveniently packaged’ and then have an apple instead.
So I have come up with countless ways of using up those ‘end of the week, less than pretty, by themselves inedible’ (I prefer them just a bit green) bananas without having to whip up banana bread every time. Now it’s gotten to the point where I purposely buy extra bananas to let ripen fully. They are cheap, readily available and much better for you than sugar. And get quite sweet when they get to ‘really ripe’ status. So I started using bananas as natural sweetener. (Using alternates to sugar has become more and more important to me since my boyfriend was diagnoses with diabetes last year.

And telling everyone about my quest for the perfect pumpkin latte (recipe to come soon) and my woes in finding canned pumpkin, I had several friends donate cans they found at stores. Soooo… Now I have lots of seasonal pumpkin and once a can is open, well you better use it up 🙂
That’s where these come in:

Pumpkin Muffin Bites!

Ingredients

1 Mashed very ripe banana
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tblsp cashew butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 -1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
1-3 tblsp Sucanat*, Rapadura or date sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Ground almonds/ almond flour
1/2 cup Chickpea flour
Pecan halves for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F and line mini muffin pan with muffin cup liners.
Mash up the ripe banana, add the pumpkin and the nut butter and stir until no lumps remain. Add Sucanat, stir.
Stir in vanilla and spices, then add the chickpea and almond flours along with the baking powder and mix until combined
drop into mini muffin pan lined with paper muffin cups by the teaspoon full and garnish each one with a pecan half.
Bake in middle of preheated oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on rack.

* Sucanat and Rapadura are dried sugar cane juice, not bleached, not refined

Super yummy, but the color before they are baked is rather questionable…just saying

September 27, 2011December 16, 2017

Sweet Potato Apricot No-Bake Macaroons

I was searching for Pumpkin Puree (the one that conveniently comes in cans) ALL OVER town, after seeing this lovely Pumpkin Spice Smoothie — Healthful Pursuit recipe from Leanne and the Pumpkin Spice Latte over on Averie’s blog…

After three (3!!!) grocery stores without pumpkin, a store manager telling me they were out since last December, still due to ~~a shortage last year~~ every one making those delicious looking lattes and smoothies, I suspect 😉

Craving the sweet, orange fall flavors, I started with the sweet potato I had on hand and went from there. At first I thought, maybe I will just adapt the smoothie or latte and use the sweet potato instead (I argued it might work, it’s sweet, orange and creamy when cooked, add the right spices, they make sweet potato pie filling…) At 9 pm after being up since 4 that morning, that seems like a great idea, trust me. And maybe it would have been…

I have to admit though, courage left me after cooking the sweet potato and here’s what I have come up with instead:
Sweet Potato Apricot No Bake Macaroons. I really wanted to call them: Sweet Potato Coconut Apricot Banana Almond Balls, but that would have been a bit ridiculoso!

No, sorry no drink recipe (yet)

They are kind of like those Energy Chunks at the Health Food store, but more tender, fresher, sugar free and softer in texture, enjoy!

No cooking/baking involved, except for the sweet potato:

Ingredients

1/2 cup sweet potato, cooked, mashed
1 really ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup almond flour/meal
1/2 cup coconut shredded fine
1-2 tblsp chopped dried apricot
(optional) 1 tblsp maple syrup or other sweetener
1 tblsp chia seed
more coconut and almond flour for coating

Directions

cook, let cool a bit and peel sweet potato, chop roughly
add very ripe banana, chia seed, sweet potato (and sweetener if using) to food processor (can be done by hand as well) pulse to combine
combine chopped apricots, almonds and coconut with the food processor contends, mix until incorporated
form 1 1/2″ dia balls, using a spoon to measure it out, roll between your palms, then roll in a mixture of more coconut and ground almonds
Refrigerate and enjoy!