So the 21st of September brought us our first rainy, cool day this fall.  I got all excited about our first fall soup day.  Meaning it was cool enough that cooking soup in the house wouldn't lead to overheated crankiness.  Taking my son home from school the radio played Earth Wind and Fire's "September".  "Do you remember?  The 21st day of September?" 

​I wondered how many veggies I could cram into the soup to celebrate the end of summer and fresh growing veggies.  Here's what I came up with.  If you count the veggies in the nomato soup, (beets, fresh basil, fresh garlic, butternut squash as well as duplicate veggies already present in the soup), I believe the total of different veggies is Thirteen. 

​Fry in soup pot until crisp:
6 slices bacon cut into pieces
take bacon out and let drain on paper towel

dump out most of bacon grease, leaving just a little

sauté:
1.5 onion
1 whole bunch of celery rinsed and chopped
6-8 carrots peeled and sliced

dump sautéed veggies out into a bowl

in the soup pot
fry up 7 lbs of hamburger

add beef broth

chop and add:
4 bags frozen green beans
1 whole cabbage
1 small red cabbage
8 turnips
sweet potatoes (I used three bags cubed)
cubed zucchini (I used about 8)
4 cups nomato soup from the freezer.  (Substituting for the can or two of tomatoes I would usually add.)

Lessons learned
this got way too big for my huge pot so the amounts need scaled back.

I also used all beef broth from the freezer from Sunday roasts. This made it pretty salty. It would be better to use maybe one of those and Costco broth.

I think the soup was better before I added the nomato soup, so I’m not sure I love it for a replacement for canned tomatoes in this recipe. I didn’t have straight nomato sauce, or I would have tried that instead.  As it was, the flavors ended up melding and we all really enjoyed it.  We are still enjoying it from the freezer (and it's definitely cool enough to appreciate soup now).

I've made a number of different versions of lower carb lasagna but this one was my husbands idea and it was so delicious!  It was definitely the best yet.  I fixed it for his birthday this week.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Cook:
3 large spaghetti squashes
(I cook for 3 or so hours in regular oven @ 350 in a baking pan with water in the bottom & cover with foil.)
when cool, scoop out seeds with large spoon
scoop spaghetti squash out of skin
 
Fry:
4 lbs hamburger fried with salt and pepper to taste
2 chopped onions
 
Fry:
1-2 lbs Italian sausage (not in casing).
 
Combine In large bowl:
spaghetti squash
48 oz cottage cheese (a big container from Costco works great)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbs Italian seasoning blend
2 tsp garlic powder
7 eggs
Stir well
 
Combine In 8-quart pan on stove top and heat together:
Cooked hamburger
Cooked sausage
2 - 2 lb jars Kirkland Marinara (or Rao’s)
 
Spray large stainless steel lasagna pan (or use two 9x13 pans) with Olive Oil or Avocado Oil spray.
 
Layer:
Squash and Cheese Mixture
meat sauce
mozzarella
 
I got two layers of each in my big lasagna pan, splitting the sauce and meat & marinara mixture in half to make layers.
 
Cook in 350 oven for 1 hour or until bubbly on the sides.

This is so yummy!  Once again, I put leftovers in single serving size containers (I like Rubbermaid 1/5 cup containers) and put them in the freezer.  That's just how it works best for us to use them.

Allow eggs and butter to sit out and come to room temperature before beginning.
Unwrap 3 bags Hershey Extra Dark chocolate kisses (I only had two on hand, and  as you can see, I ran out and used broken pieces of a Lillies chocolate bar for the rest).

Cream together in very large bowl with electric mixer:
6 cubes butter softened
4 ½ cups unsweetened peanut butter
1 cup xylitol
½ cup erythritol
½ cup allulose
½ cup brown sugar (if I substitute a different sweeter for this ½ cup, it doesn’t seem to brown right).
4 tablespoons vanilla
12 eggs

Mix these dry ingredients together well by hand, in a separate bowl:
1 cup Vital Proteins Collagen Protein Powder unflavored (you can insert an extra cup of almond flour here if you prefer.)
7 cups almond flour
½ cup psyllium powder
½ cup oat fiber
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt

Mix dry ingredients into previously creamed wet ingredients with electric mixer until well combined.
Line two Jelly Roll pans with parchment paper.
Spread cookie dough into two jelly roll pans on top of parchment paper.
Sprinkle top of cookie dough in each jellyroll pan lightly with xylitol.
Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes or until done. 
Cut with a pizza cutter into one inch squares while still warm.
Place one unwrapped Hershey’s kiss in the center of each square.

Once fully cooled, I store these by putting two cookies in a snack baggie, putting as many filled snack baggies as will fit in a gallon bag, labeling the gallon bag, and then putting the gallon bags of cookies in the freezer.   We pull out a baggie at a time for dessert.

Note:  With the exception of the ½ cup brown sugar, you can use the low carb sweetener of your choice.  You could play with substituting for the brown sugar too and let me know if you have more success than I did with that.

I have tried several different chocolate options for this instead of Hershey’s Kisses to make the chocolate sugar free.  My husband just doesn’t like any of the other options nearly as much as he likes the dark kisses (and I agree with him).  He finds that these cookies have no effect on his blood sugar even though there is a tiny amount of brown sugar and a regular Hershey’s Kiss.  I don’t know if it is because they have lots of protein in them or what, but they don’t bother me either and I am super sensitive to sugar.

Because of the fiber and protein, these seem to satisfy us rather than being one of those goodies you could just keep eating (insert gluten free shortbread here since we just got back from Scotland). 
 

We will be seeing the Scottish Highlands soon.  I am so excited!!  Thinking and reading about Scotland brought on this attempt at scones.  In the end, I felt like the almond flour batter was too fragile to work for rolled out scones, so I made it into a breakfast type cake instead.

Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Scone Cake
8 cups almond flour
5 teaspoons baking powder (I would use a bit less next time)
¾ xylitol or other favorite low carb sweetener.
2 tsp salt
Lemon zest from 2 lemons
Warm each lemon in microwave for 15 seconds and roll each of them on cutting board  with your hand with a fair amount of pressure to soften them before you zest the lemons.  This will make juicing what is left after zesting easier when you get to that part.
2 lemons juiced (the juice of one added to macadamia cream, the juice of the second for glaze)
2 ½ cups macadamia cream
16 oz water blended in blender with 1 ¼ cup macadamia nuts for 5 minutes or until very smooth and silky.
5 eggs
Additional xylitol to sprinkle across
Additional allulose and xylitol for glaze
2 cups frozen blueberries
 
In large bowl mix dry ingredients and lemon zest together well.  Make a well in the center and add macadamia cream mixed with the juice of one lemon and 5 eggs.  Stir just until moistened.  Do not over mix.

Spray large lasagna pan with olive or vegetable oil spray (or butter it if you prefer).  Add spoonfuls of batter to cover the bottom of the pan using only half the batter.  Try not to stir or spread too much in this process.  Sprinkle frozen blueberries over this bottom layer.  Then spoon the rest of the batter on top by spoonfuls to cover the blueberries.  Sprinkle top with xylitol or favorite low carb sweetener.
Bake in 325 degree oven for approximately 1 hour or until done in the center.

Add the juice of the second lemon to a small bowl.  Add Allulose powder and xylitol by the spoonful until it is the consistency of thick glaze.  Stir well between additions.  Drizzle over the top of the cooked Scone Cake.

Notes:  This needed more sweetening than the ¾ cup of xylitol.  You could add more sweetening to the batter rather than sprinkling more on top.  I always try to go way low on the sweetening, but this needed a bit more for balanced flavor which is why I sprinkled sweetener over top and added a glaze.  Next time I would use a little less baking powder and a little more sweetening in the batter.

Happy Fall!  This received rave reviews from my family.  Even my pickiest eater.  (Good thing since I have a huge amount in my freezer now.)  I've often made my mom's hamburger soup (which she discovered with surprise, was an awful lot like her grandmother's).  This is a unique take on that basic recipe plus left over spices I had mixed for the 4 meat chili and needed to use up. 

Ground Turkey, Italian Sausage & Cabbage soup
I have a gi-hugeous soup pot. I’m not sure whether it’s 4 or 5 gallon.  This recipe filled the pot and I put 21 pints in the freezer even after using it for several meals first.  Feel free to cut it in 1/2 or 1/4 or whatever needed to make it in the quantities that work for you.
 
Sauté in large soup pot in left over bacon grease:
(you could use avocado or olive oil instead, but I think the bacon grease adds to the flavor )

1 red onion chopped
1 yellow onion chopped
6 fresh garlic cloves, peeled, smashed with the side of the knife and then chopped
1 full head of celery rinsed and sliced
8 carrots peeled and sliced
8 turnips peeled and cubed
 
Add and break up with spatula, then cook with above vegetables in soup pot, stirring often and continuing to break meat up as it cooks:

4 lbs ground turkey (I like Costco ground turkey)
2 packages of ground Italian sausage (about 9 oz each)

• 2 teaspoons garlic
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
  
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika (I used smoked)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt (or salt to taste)

ADD
2-3 quarts beef broth (I used beef bone broth)
1-2 quarts chicken broth (I like Costco brand)
3 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes

Add enough liquid from broth and tomatoes to make the soup the consistency you would like, and also have plenty of liquid to be able to add a bunch of cabbage to the pot.  The tomato is supposed to be light in this, more of a hint than heavy tomato.

ADD
6 packages of Dole Cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and a little carrot).

SIMMER for 10 - 20 minutes.  It doesn't take long for the shredded cabbage to cook and the rest should be well cooked already.  I left the cabbage just a tidge on the crunchy side and like it that way.

Check soup flavor to see if it needs more salt or seems to need more of any of the other seasonings.  I added more salt and more garlic powder.

One of the really great things about my grandma's carrot cake recipe is that I can really play with it and it still makes amazing cakes.  Years ago I tried zucchini for the carrots, apple sauce for the pineapple, as well as adding cocoa powder, and I loved it!  With chocolate cream cheese frosting, it's maybe one of my favorite cakes ever. 

This is my low carb version of that.  I've tried many low carb chocolate cake recipes that were dry and unimpressive.  This one is moisture-laden and yummy.  You may not be able to believe that it is gluten free, no sugar and lower carb. 

Keto Chocolate Zucchini Cake
8 cups grated zucchini
3 cups melted butter
2 cups Avocado oil
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 cup erythritol
1 cup xylitol
1 Cup allulose
1 Cup Walden Farms Maple Syrup (this is zero carb.  Regular maple syrup will not work in this version.)
4 tablespoons real vanilla
1 ½ cup coco powder (high quality)
16 eggs
11 cups fine almond flour
1/3 cup psyllium fiber
2/3 cup oat fiber
1 tablespoon no aluminum baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 bags lilies chocolate chips (I forgot the chocolate chips this time around and it was still great).

Blend together well.  Cook at 325 for 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours.  This I split between a 10X14 baking pan and and an even larger lasagna pan.   I cooked tonight’s batch for 1 ¾ and it turned out great. 

Note:  You don't need to use all the different sweeteners.  You could pick your favorite keto sweetener and use it.  (I'm sensitive to erythritol and to too much of others, so I'm better to mix it up.)  I do think adding the Walden Farms maple syrup helps, but it would still be good without it.  I make two huge pans with this, cut them up, and when cooled, put them by single piece in sandwich baggies, and then those baggies in gallon baggies, and freeze.  We love having easy access to single servings of great low carb, gluten free deserts.    

Almost every birthday growing up included this delicious recipe with cream cheese frosting.  Even a very discerning friend in South Carolina, who was an exceptional cook, thought this cake was amazing.  I have this recipe printed in a church cook book my mom was in charge of making many years ago that is falling apart.  I'm printing this here so that I don't loose it, and so that my family has easy access to it.

Grandma Leavens Carrot Cake
2 C sugar
1 ½ C oil
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 C grated carrots
1 small can crushed pineapple
3 C flour
2 tsp. soda
½ t salt
1 tst. Cinnamon
1 C chopped nuts
Beat Sugar, oil, and eggs.  Add rest of ingredients.  Bake 350 for 1 hr.

Bacon, spareribs, hamburger, and Chorizo.  How can you go wrong?  What an amazing Keto idea!  This recipe is inspired by Maria Emerich’s Slow Cooker Short Rib and Chorizo Stew from her cook book The 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse.  I can’t follow a recipe to save my life, so this is my take on it.  It turned out yummy and I want to write it down before I forget how I made it, so I can do it again.  It is obviously very meat heavy.  My husband and I ate it over cooked spaghetti squash which was delicious.  My kids loved it on hamburger buns like a sloppy joes (they are obviously not eating low carb).

• 2 pack of Costco center cut bacon
• 4 pounds hamburger (I used diet lean with only 7% fat)
• 2 pounds uncooked chorizo without casings (or 2 packages)
• 2 onions chopped

Fry up a skillet full of bacon and leave the bacon grease in the pan when you remove the cooked bacon.  Then fry up hamburger & chorizo and two chopped onions in the left-over bacon grease.  I cooked the rest of the two packages of bacon on a parchment covered jelly roll pan in the oven for 40 minutes.  Next time I may cook all of it in the oven and save the grease, then fry up the hamburger and chorizo in a dollop of the grease.  I fried the meats up the night before and stored them in the fridge, but you could do them on the same day without a problem.  You could get the short ribs going in the instant pot and then fry your meats.

• 2 lbs bone in pork short ribs
• 3 cans chopped Tomatoes
• 2 small cans green chili peppers hot
• 1 ½  cups beef bone broth (I just used left over broth from cooking a roast that I had in the freezer).
• 2 teaspoons garlic
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika (I used smoked)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Place rack in Instant Pot.  Pour beef broth in bottom.  Mix dry spices and rub onto both sides of the ribs.  Place ribs on top of the rack.  Add canned tomatoes and chili peppers on top of ribs.  Cook in Instant pot for 30 minutes on high pressure.  Let pressure release naturally. 

Scrape tomatoes and peppers off cooked ribs and keep them in the pot.  Lift out ribs via the rack and set on platter or in big bowl (something that will catch the sauces that run off so you can add them back in to the pot).  Let cool until cool enough to handle safely.  Remove the meat from the bones and shred it. 

Add cooked hamburger and chorizo, and all remaining juices back into the Instant Pot.  Cook for 30 minutes.  While its cooking slice up all the cooked bacon into chunks.  Taste the flavor of the meat mixture to see if the flavor needs something.  I added quite a bit more salt and garlic powder.
 
Add chopped bacon and shredded boneless pork to the mixture in the Instant Pot.  Mix well.  Set Instant Pot to slow cook and cook for 4-6 hours.  You could also just do one more 30-minute round on high pressure if you are rushed for time.  The flavor I ended up with after slow cooked for 6 hours was terrific, but I imagine the flavor was good long before that.

Some things we would like to try with this meat and sauce base:

• Shepherd’s pie (it would work for low or high carb version)
• Lasagna (it would work for low or high carb version)
• Chili of any variety
• A Chili vegetable stew:  I am going to sauté an onion, chopped fresh garlic, sliced celery, turnip cubes and chopped zucchini.  I believe I may add cooked spaghetti squash and will add more tomato products and beef broth.

When we lived in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Lee, who is a native of South Korea, came over and made this with me at my house.  (Which really means she made it and I watched so I would know how to do it next time).  I wrote it down as we made it.  She is an amazing cook!  I’ll never forget how shocked I was when she asked me if I had fresh garlic and found that she meant two whole heads of fresh garlic instead of two cloves.  (I had to go to the store for more garlic).  The huge amount of Black Pepper made me giggle as well.  (I’d never used ½ cup of black pepper in anything before this nor do I in any other recipe).  No wonder it is so flavorful!  It has become a family favorite for special occasions like birthdays.

Sauce: 
4 onions peeled and quartered
2 whole heads of fresh garlic; chop off ends, pull apart and peel each clove separately
3-4 inches of fresh ginger root; peel and chop into ½ inch chunks
1 cup sweet rice cooking wine (sake)
2 cups Soy Sauce
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sesame oil
½ cup black pepper
2 ½ cup honey

Blend in blender or food processor until well blended and no chunks of onion, ginger or garlic are left.  It may take more than one batch to blend it all.
Pour sauce into large bowl
Add 2 bunches green onion thin sliced

Add meat:
2 lbs bulgogi sliced  Rib Eye Beef (marinate in refrigerator overnight)
2 lbs thin sliced chicken breasts (marinate in refrigerator overnight)
Take a fork and take each slice of meat and coat both sides with the sauce and then let it sit in the bowl.  Cover bowl and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 

She had me do beef the first night and then after cooking the beef, use the raw sauce again to marinate the chicken overnight and then we cooked that 24 hours later.  I worried about this from a food contamination standpoint but it turned out delicious and did not make anyone sick.  She was trying to make full use of the sauce.  We usually just choose one meat to do these days.
 
Lee grilled the meat.  I haven’t quite figured out how to keep the extremely thin slices on the grill but my daughter Sarah says she has seen it done on the grill in with several layers of foil to keep the meat from falling through.  If you want to serve this sauce with the meat after marinating, you must cook it thoroughly on the stove top.  It is delicious without sauce however.  Extremely flavorful from marinating.
 
 The Lower Carb Version
In more recent years, I have made this lower carb so my husband I can eat it without doing serious damage to our blood sugar.   (Notice I don’t say low carb.  It’s just my best shot at lower carb with keeping the original flavor as much as possible.  I have tried it without the sweet cooking wine before and it did not maintain the same flavor).  We made it this week for Son #3’s birthday and it was delicious.  No one could tell that it was the lower carb version.

Sauce:
3 small onions quartered
16 peeled garlic cloves
3 inches fresh ginger root peeled and cut in ½ inch chunks
1 cup sweet cooking wine (sake)
2 cups Tamari (gluten free)
1 ½ cup avocado oil
½ cup sesame oil (I cut it down because I am sensitive to sesame but can get away with a little)
½ c black pepper
2 ½ cup low carb sweetener of your choice.  I use half erythritol and half xylitol.  I get stomach upset if I use all erythritol and am sensitive to most other low carb sweeteners as well.   I did add a little allulose this time too when the sauce didn’t seem quite balanced and needed a bit more sweet.  Before the raw meat is added, you can taste the sauce to see if the flavor is right.  Lee did a lot of this when she was making it.

Blend all in blender.  It will probably take more than one batch.  Then pour into large bowl.

Add 2 bunches of green onions thin sliced

Add Meat:
4 lbs very thin sliced Rib Eye
Take fork and coat each side of each piece of meat and then let sit in bowl of sauce.  Cover bowl and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.  Then grill.

2 Notes:
We’ve had two difficulties with this recipe.  One is finding Bulgogi sliced Rib Eye since there is not a Korean market close.  We’ve used all kinds of beef cuts and thicknesses in this marinade, just buying the thinnest of what I could find at our local stores, but the thin sliced Bulgogi slices are the best. 

This week I tried asking our local grocer to slice rib eye steaks very thin for me.  He was obliging, but what I got was a mess where the slices did not maintain their integrity and were a little like hamburger.  Next time I will buy the Rib Eye Steaks, partially freeze them, and slice them myself.  I finally have sharp enough knives that I think I can do it myself.  All that said, we laughed about the final product (I had to cook it in a skillet like a hamburger dinner) but it was still absolutely delicious and we are enjoying the left overs.

The second problem is how to cook it.  We’ve done it on a George Foreman Grill (very messy), James has grilled it when the slices were a little thicker, I’ve tried cooking it in the oven on jelly roll pans (not my favorite), this time it was obviously in a skillet.  Honestly, it’s always good.  Maybe next time I’ll get the grilling on foil figured out.

Some things are good enough that it is just worth making it work however you can.  You can not go wrong with this marinade.  It is amazing!  Thank you Lee!

This was a surprisingly quick yummy dinner that got James stamp of approval (he packed the leftovers up in small containers and took it in to work with him to eat for lunches).

I make this in my huge skillet with lid from Costco

• Avocado oil
  
• 1 large onion chopped in big chunks
• 1 bunch of celery, stalks rinsed separately and then chopped
  
• 4-5 fresh garlic cloves, peeled, crushed with flat side of knife and chopped small
• 2 inches frozen fresh ginger grated (it grates much easier when frozen)
• Fry in skillet on medium high heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring well
• Mix in:
• 2 large bunches of red Swiss chard, well rinsed and chopped (I chopped clear from the leaves down through the stems.  I chopped a little wider on the leaves and like celery on the stems).
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• ¼ cup tamari (or soy sauce)
• 5 large cans Costco Chicken, drained

Mix well, put lid on and let cook down for about 10 minutes
This cooked the leaves of the Swiss Chard but left the stems with a bit of crunch
Stir well and serve

note:  I can't handle the carbs for thickening so I tried to keep the liquid to a minimum.  You could easily thicken the sauce with cornstarch mixed into water if you want thickening.  Mine ended up with good flavor and very little liquid.  James and I just ate it as a veggie fry, and the kids ate it over rice.