Sweet potato treat on the fly

Lunch this afternoon was homemade vegetable soup, the last of the turkey tenderloin, seasoned with garlic pepper and basil and topped with homemade pico de gallo, and a delicious dessert made with sweet potato.

White and red potatoes spike my blood sugar but a moderate amount of sweet potato doesn't. I usually eat it with butter and pepper but today I've craved something sweet and decided to put my half of the sweet potato to good use. I didn't feel like doing a lot to it, though, so I came up with a simple and easy treat.


I baked the sweet potato and cut it in half. I mashed the potato, cut the peel in small pieces and added it to the potato. To that I added a splash of Half and Half and half a splash of vanilla extract. I mixed it all well, put it in a small bowl, and topped it with a dollop of Redi-Whip, one of my favorite I need something sweet and need it now things. It's almost carb free, doesn't spike my blood sugar (in moderation) and just plain ol' tastes good!

The resulting "pudding" was creamy, smooth, and just sweet enough. Next time I'll add a little cinnamon and maybe some cardamom or some cinnamon seasoned chopped walnuts but for a lower carb dessert on the fly this is awesome! And the best part is it was less than 15 grams of carbs.

If you like sweet potato and crave something a little sweet, try this idea and let me know what you think of it.

Bread Pudding on a Low Carb Plan?

Yes, bread pudding! I used my sister's bread pudding recipe to make this and it was a fantastic treat the man person and I both enjoyed. I used Julian Bakery's Cinnamon Almond Raisin Bread (which appears to not be available now) and cut the ingredients by 2/3 to make enough for only two servings. I also reduced the baking time by about 2/3 so this was a very quick and easy dessert to make.

Connie's Low Carb Bread Pudding

6 slices of low carb bread, toasted
2 cups of heavy cream
1/8 cup of splenda or other sweetener
1/8 cup of sugar free maple syrup
cinnamon to taste

Break the toasted bread into small pieces and put in a small oven safe dish. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the bread. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then at 375 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle a little more syrup on the pudding and serve with whipped cream.

I did make a few changes to the recipe and here they are:

I didn't have quite enough heavy cream so I punted and used some half and half mixed with the cream. I added a splash of vanilla extract and didn't use as much syrup as the recipe calls for and no whipping cream and still got a substantial spike. I've had the same bread toasted with a little peanut butter and didn't get a spike so I don't believe the bread is the culprit. Artificial ingredients often cause spikes and the syrup has plenty of those so I suspect it. I used Splenda in this recipe and it normally doesn't cause my BG to rise but I think I'll make this using stevia and see what happens.

I'm going to try this dessert again without the syrup and see if my BG handles it better. I'm also going to add one egg to the cream mixture to see what that does to the texture. The pudding wasn't what I consider dry but a little egg lends much to a creamy texture and I think that would be an improvement. I might also pour a little bit of heavy cream over the finished pudding. Yum!

All in all this was a great dessert and it made me a happy camper, except for the resulting spike and I think I can improve that substantially by playing with the recipe's ingredients.

By the way, the Cinnamon Almond Raisin bread by itself just rocks. It toasts beautifully and has a very subtle spicy, nutty taste without the sweetness of similar breads. And with 15 grams of carbs per slice and 12 grams of fiber, its a low carber's dream! I think it can be used for all sorts of goodies and I'll try many.

Julian Bakery, thank you again for having such tasty and healthy bread available!

Cherry Cobbler Bowl

My sister made this beautiful but easy dessert featuring Cook's Choice products and I wanted to share it with readers. No, it isn't low carb so I didn't eat any but I can guarantee that if it weren't for my Diabetes, I'd have eaten a little (or a lot!) of it. I think this would be great for get togethers of any sort or just as a nice treat once in awhile.

Cherry Cobbler Bowl

This recipe yields two 5” bowls, six 3” bowls, or one loaf bowl

1 can Cook’s Choice Cobbler Mix
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 21 oz can of cherry pie filling (or any flavor you prefer)
1 can of aerosol whipped cream

1 Cook's Choice 5” Gourmet Bowl Maker

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray the bowl maker thoroughly with a cooking spray with flour. Stir the batter mix and the milk in a medium to large mixing bowl. Pour the mix into the sprayed bowl maker filling only to the fill line as the batter will rise.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top of the cobbler bowl is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Turn the bowl maker upside down on wax paper. Shake the bowl maker slightly to loosen the cobbler. Do not force the cobbler bowl out of the pan. You can tap lightly on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon if you need to. Once the cobbler bowl has slid out of the pan, turn it upside down. Pour the filling mix in a small sauce pan and warm slightly then pour it into the cobbler bowl.

When the cobbler bowl has cooled completely, decorate with whipped cream and serve.

This can be made ahead, warmed in a microwave, and decorated just before serving.

So there, a "fancy schmancy" but easy dessert idea for you. :)

Cream Cheese Cupcake

Last night I whipped up one of my favorite treats;cream cheese, splenda, and vanilla extract. I ate a few spoons of it and put the rest in a cupcake paper in the fridge. I then put the cupcake paper in a plastic 1/2 cup measuring cup so the cheese wouldn't spread.

This morning I was greeted by this:

How pretty and tasty! This is about 1/3 of a block of cream cheese so it has about 6 grams of carbohydrate in it. Don't even ask about the fat content but I think one could substitute low fat cream cheese and get the same results.

Goody, a new treat for my bento!