Best Caramel EVER...in a Fat Bomb kind of setting...YES PLEASE!!!

Today was my kitchen day.  Caramel sauce and Chocolate Sauce were on the menu today.  I found a new Caramel Sauce recipe though and I decided to give it a whirl!!!  BOY, am I glad I did!!! 

It's AMAZING!!!

I found the recipe at KETO COOK.  It was so simple and basic.  It did require some deciphering of metric measurements, ie...basically guessing.  It isn't near as hot as my previous recipe and it uses a TON less Xylitol as well.  The taste is awesome and hopefully it will hold up better than the other recipe as well.  With less Xylitol I would think it would be creamier.  My old recipe was very grainy due to the large amount of Xylitol.

Anyway, here's my recipe for the Caramel Sauce:

1 cup Butter (salted, because I love salted caramel.  You can use unsalted, but WHY!)
1 cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp Xylitol (that's the equivalent of 2 Tbsp of sugar, so use that to figure out your personal sweetener preference)

Melt the butter on medium/medium high in a non stick sauce pan.  Keep warming it till you get brown flecks.  It takes several minutes.  You'll see a lot of foaming.  Keep stirring it till you get enough browning, but don't burn it.

I turned off the heat and added the cream and sweetener while stirring (not sure if it's necessary to turn off the heat, but I did).  Turn the heat back on to medium/medium high and let the cream mixture come to a boil.  Keep stirring the entire time.  It might separate some, but keep stirring and heating.  Turn the heat down to medium low(ish) and keep stirring while it thickens and gets sticky.  It won't thicken the whole way till it cools down the rest of the way.  Pour into a 2 cup container (like the pint jar I used) and store in the fridge.

That's the recipe in a nut shell, but then I thought I could use it to make a fat bomb, mousse(ish) type thing.  I made up another batch of caramel then added it to cream cheese in a food processor.  Here's the recipe:

Caramel Fat Bomb

1 recipe of Caramel Sauce
2 - 8 oz Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Xylitol
1/2 cup Heavy Cream, opt. (I didn't add this in this experiment, but I will next time.  It will give it a little more volume and make it just a bit more creamy)

Put both cream cheese blocks in the food processor and add the lid.  Turn it on and slowly pour the warm caramel sauce in the bowl as it runs.  Add the Xylitol to your taste.  If you want to, add another 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream as the food processor runs.  Drizzle it in slowly and it will fluff up as the processor runs.  Separate the mousse fat bomb into 7-8 one cup bowls.  It makes just around 4 cups of mousse, more if you add the heavy cream.  Store them in the freezer.  It's almost like an ice cream!!! 

That's my delicious cooking day today!!!  I can't wait to try the caramel sauce in my morning coffee and a caramelly snack later on!!!

Just a little quickie...

I just wanted to post something real quick.  I'm in the middle of a project that I will share later...here's a glimpse.

But I wanted to tell you about a recipe I recently found...this Chocolate Shake!!!

Oh my WORD!!! 

It was SO quick and SOOOO good!!!

It was a bit like a Wendy's Frosty.  The only change I made were to round the tablespoon of cocoa and add a few drops of stevia, then just like a teaspoon of my premade caramel.  Blend it up and DELISH!!!

Till the next recipe/project...

Jennifer

Buffalo Balls!!!

I have one of the pickiest group of kids.  Finding something to feed all 3 of them that everyone likes is quite a feat!  So when I do I have a small party...party of one, but it's a party!!!  In the past they have been very vocal about hating meat loaf and meat balls...but not this time!

Let me introduce you to Buffalo Balls (when you click on the link slide down...the recipe is there I promise)!  Funny name...makes your mind go "there" right...but they're SOOOOO good.  And guess what...EVERY ONE OF MY KIDS LOVED THEM!!!  Yep, party of one going on here!!! 

I did make a few changes from her recipe based on the ingredients I had.  First change: she used ground chicken or turkey.  I realize that this technically makes them buffalo style, but I only had ground hamburger so that's what I used.

I was going to be brave and stir this by hand...yeah, that's WAY too cold!!!  My hand was burning.  This large Pampered Chef spatula did the trick! 

To scoop the mixture into balls I used another Pampered Chef tool I have.  This is the medium scoop.  It's approximately 2 tablespoons and my number one go to for two-bite sized balls.  Ok...you can quit laughing now!!!

Once I got them all scooped I put them in the fridge to chill.  I did this early in the day since we had a busy night and I needed to get dinner done fairly quick.  It made it easy to plop them on the pan and cook since the prep was pretty much done.  I sprayed the pans with coconut oil spray and popped them in the oven.

Second change: and this one might have been because of my first difference...I had to cook them for 15 minutes to start then I cooked them an additional 10 and followed the rest of her recommendations for cooking time.

Third change: she said to use Frank's Red Hot for the hot sauce.  I couldn't find it at the store I was in but I found a sugar free version called Wing Time Parmesan Garlic that worked equally well.  I added sauce to the end as well.

I'm thinking you're probably grossed out by all the grease in the pan.  Personally the fat is something I need for my diet, but this picture was taken after the first 15 minutes of baking as I was dredging the balls in the sauce.  It cooked another 12 minutes or so and most of that grease was gone by that time.  I also scooped them out with a slotted spatula which left some of the oil behind.  Nevertheless...it was GOOD!

Here they are all dished out.  I made up some ranch dressing (still working on finding the best recipe for that) for dipping, but they did NOT need it.  It was good with the ranch, but better on their own. 

 

My kids actually fought over the leftovers!  But mama got her's set aside first...and they were even better the second day!!!

 

Try these out...they're simple and delicious!!!

 

Till we meet again...

 

Jennifer

Breads, Breads, Breads...

Remember how much I love bread?  Remember the peanut bread?  Well, I've found some more bread recipes to experiment with. 

I liked the peanut butter bread.  It was a great consistency, but I made some mistakes in the ingredients as I think I mentioned.  Plus it was very salty...my mistake.  I ended up throwing it out.  But I found a couple new recipes, and low and behold I had all the ingredients to play with. 

Here's where I started...

 I went in search of a coconut flour bread, and I ended up at Sugar-Free Low Carb Recipe blog.  I think the first recipe I spotted was a banana bread.  Bananas are very high in carb...I think one of the highest fruits you can find.  She had others though, and that's when I spotted this one...Basic Quick Bread.  It's all made in a food processor and it was really easy.  It has a TON of eggs though...8 to be exact...which makes it pretty high in protein, but a bit eggy tasting as well.  It bakes beautifully though and has a great texture. 

I had to cut it right away...impatient bread lover that I am.  I didn't even toast it; I just cut and buttered!!!

Oh, I may have added a bit of sugar free honey... ;-)

It reminded me a bit of corn bread.  Not too bad...still a bit dry/dense, but that's comparing it with white yeast bread.  But as far as bread goes it's edible.  This morning I tried to toast it and it doesn't toast quickly.  So I took it out of the toaster and buttered both sides and toasted it in a skillet...kind of like making grilled cheese and it ends up looking a little like French Toast.  I treated it like French Toast and poured a little sugar free syrup on it (same brand as the honey).  It was very good!!!  Great breakfast this morning, and QUICK!!!

Here was bread experiment #2.

I continued my search on the same blog for a pumpkin bread.  I've read pumpkin is very good for you and I love pumpkin in pretty much all dessert forms.  I finally came across Low Carb Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread.  This recipe is done in a mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer vs. the food processor.  I used xylitol as the sweetener and discovered that mixing xylitol with the wet ingredients without any dry ingredients isn't the best idea.  It gummed up on the paddle attachment on my mixer.  BUT...once I added the dry ingredients it mixed in fine.  Next time...and there WILL be a next time...I will mix the xylitol with the dry ingredients then add them to the wet at the end.  I also used pecans vs. walnuts.  I am not a walnut fan and I had pecans in my pantry...no brainer!  Here again this bread has a bunch of eggs...another 8 (it's a good thing I purchase my eggs at Sam's Club 36 at a time).  The batter is thick and doesn't rise a lot, and it took approximately an additional 10 minutes to cook, but BOY...it was GOOD!!!

This one was so good I didn't even get a picture before it was cut and eaten.  The bread isn't gone yet, but it will be quickly...and it has the approval of my non healthy eating son!  He actually called it good!!!  Score one for Mom!!!

That's it for today.  Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at Buffalo Meat Balls!  Doesn't that sound YUM!

Till then...

Jennifer

Peanut Butter Bread and Caramel Sauce

I posted about Lisa's Peanut Butter Bread yesterday, and I was able to make it yesterday afternoon.  It was really good.  I need to make some adjustments on my end...piece of advice, don't use fresh ground peanut butter unless it has enough oil in it.  The one I had was very dry.  I tried adding some butter to add oil to it, but next time I will use natural peanut butter from Smuckers or some other trusted brand.  Anyway, I also made 1 1/2 recipes of Lisa's bread so that I could get a fairly good sized loaf out of my loaf pan.  Here's how it came out...

I think I added a bit more than 1 1/2 times the salt so it was a bit too salty, but that was my adjustment that I'll work on next time.  The bread has a wonderful consistency and I can't wait to toast it and make over easy eggs to go with it!!!

Next I made up more chocolate syrup.  I didn't picture that because I've already blogged how to do that here.  I needed some more caramel sauce as well so I whipped up a batch of that.

You all know how much I enjoy Maria Mind Body Health blog.  She has several different ways to make Caramel sauce.  I love caramel...pretty much anything...so this works for me!  I use xylitol as my sweetener so I had to use her xylitol version. 

I've made this before and had some issues with it.  She says to boil the xylitol, but it smokes way before it boils and begins to get a smoky, bitter flavor.  The point of boiling the xylitol is to get it to brown, but I noticed last time that once the butter was in the xylitol it began to get a darker color.  So this time I made a change. 

I melted the xylitol till it was completely clear (there will be "grains" of xylitol that will melt if you get it hot enough...it almost looks like bubbles).  I didn't let it get to the smoke point.  I added the butter, stirring the whole time, and cooked it till the butter browned.  It started to get a little smoky...not much, just a little...then I took it off the heat.  I waited just a couple of seconds then stirred quickly with a wooden spoon while drizzling in the cream. 

I stirred the mixture till the bubbles were gone.  I immediately poured the caramel sauce into a pint sized wide mouth mason jar.  I don't know if this is the right time or if I should have done it before, but I added 3 twists of Celtic Sea Salt salt grinder to make it a lightly salted caramel. 

It is MUCH better this time.  I couldn't even wait for it to cool completely.  I cut a couple of pieces of bread to try it out, toasted it up, buttered it and added a drizzle of caramel sauce.  YUMMMMMM!!!

Replacing all those things I love for something I love more...and yet still being able to enjoy a version of it...well I think that's priceless!!!  If I can do it then so can you!

Till next time,

Jennifer

Breads that are good for you!!!

I have had a very busy week.  I have a teen, a preteen and a daughter who thinks she's a preteen. They keep me hopping all around town.  For instance, today my teen is half a state away in a Jazz competition...so I'm busy praying he stays safe.  The other two have an early release day today so I have to leave in about an hour to get them both.  I want to bake or cook, or bake and cook, but we have been busy all week long.  Thank the Lord I had leftovers from our Super Bowl Sunday.  We've been fending all week on leftovers and quick items.  For me fending means a couple of eggs scrambled, some cheese and deli meats, a one minute muffin or a couple of pancakes made gluten free and low carb. 

Last night I had Bible study with a friend of mine, Lisa.  She is the author and contributor of the 24/7 Low Carb Diner blog and the cook books Low Carbing Among Friends.  She gives me so much useful information and I'm sure I just drive her crazy with all my questions.  I so appreciate her wisdom.  While we were discussing all my inquiries she mentioned that she had a peanut butter bread recipe that works very well for a bread replacement.  So last night I went searching on her blog and found the recipe.  Not only does it look easy, but there are a TON of testimonials on how good it is.  So today I am going to try this recipe...after I pick up the kids that is.



Lisa's Mr. Peanut Sandwich Bread courtesy of 24/7 Low Carb Diner

 But that's not the full purpose of this post.  Since I was already pinning I started searching for more bread replacement recipes.  See I love bread!  In case you didn't get the full impact of that statement I'm going to say it again...I LOVE BREAD!!!  I'm not kidding...I love it!  I love biscuits, sliced warm right out of the oven bread with lots of butter, toast, rolls, croissants, etc.  I love garlic French bread.  I love sour dough bread dipped in soup.  Do you get the picture?  Surprisingly I've been able to avoid bread without too much temptation, but if I'm going to do this life change I know I will need a bread replacement.  So therefore the search!!!  I found a bunch of replacement breads that I love and I'm going to share the links to several of them today so if you decide to make this change you can find them too.

Low Carb Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Zucchini Bread
Basic Quick Bread
Diner Style Coconut Pancakes
Coconut Flour Buns - for cheeseburgers
Mozzarella Cheese Biscuits (with a variation to make them like Red Lobsters...oh YEAH BABY!!!)
And many more...click here for my Changing my life - Breads board

This is possible!  We can do this!  With a few adjustments, some time and patience it is possible to make the changes necessary to be the best you (or me) ever!!! 

Want proof...this week I've purchased 3 sized smaller jeans, undies and bras...all out of necessity!!!  3 sizes...in about 5 months!!!  It can be done!

Till next time...

Jennifer

Super Bowl Fun!!!

Today has been a fun day.  It's almost like a holiday.  I love football; I love a great get together with friends.  Combining my two loves...awesome!!! 

I was the host of this year's Super Bowl party...by my own choice.  Why?  I wanted to make sure that I made some delicious foods that I could eat.  I never want to force anyone to eat this new way nor to cater to me because it's my choice.  But if I'm hosting then I get to choose!  Win for me!!!  So I've spent the last week or so perusing all the blogs I follow looking for great Super Bowl recipes.  Here's the ones I chose:

Crispy Nut Crackers

I decided to make these Crispy Nut Crackers by Jennifer at Splendid Low Carbing.  They were easy to make, but I'd like to do some tweaking with the flavor.  It was a bit dry and bland, but the cracker tends to be just a vessel to get dip from a bowl to my mouth so I can handle that!

 

 

Pepperoni Chips

Next on my list were these Pepperoni Chips by George Stella.  He posts his recipes to Facebook via Low Carbing Among Friends page.  If you haven't liked that page and you want to try this new way of life out then I suggest you hit that LIKE button.  I made these almost exactly as George says except I omitted the final baking.  When I opened the door to check them after about 9 minutes smoke came rolling out.  I don't know if it was the pepperoni or the parchment paper, but something was smokin'!  And yes...it did set off the smoke detector.  But they're very good!  I love crispy pepperonis!!!

 

Black Bean Flourless Cake

Now, I've heard that beans aren't the best for a low carb way of life.  I guess they turn to sugar somewhere deep inside...LOVELY!!!  But one of my friends let me know it was better than the alternative and it's not that high in carbs so I thought I'd try it out.  I really wanted a sheet cake like my mom used to make when I was a little girl so I found this recipe and just used a sheet cake pan vs. the 9" one recommended.  This site is a share sight for recipes so I don't know who to give credit to...but it was GOOD and no one even knew it was black beans!  SCORE...hee hee hee love the pun!!!

 



Chocolate Ganache



What chocolate cake isn't complete without a yummy frosting.  And you cannot go wrong with a Chocolate Ganache.  For that I went to my trusted source Maria from Maria Mind Body Health blog.  I have had so much success following her recipes that I turn to her most often than not.  I added a 1/2 cup of Xylitol for the sugar and no Stevia.  I don't have a love for Stevia...although I'm trying to add it a bit at a time as recipes call for it.  Perhaps one day my taste buds will get used to it. 

 

 

Here's the final marriage of the Black Bean Cake and Chocolate Ganache...yes it is as good as it looks.  If you want to make this lovely confection follow the directions to a T, add in your favorite sugar substitute in place of all that sugar, pour in a greased sheet cake pan and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for about 30 minutes (you're ganache needs to cool that long too so that it's not too runny).  Pour the ganache over the cake and spread out evenly.  Cool in the fridge for a couple of hours to set the ganache.  Take the cake out and slice it and serve at room temperature.  The cake is SUPER moist (yet another pun/plug for the Super Bowl)!!!

 

Chicken Enchilada Dip

I went back to Jennifer at Splendid Low Carbing for this Chicken Enchilada Dip!  Man, it was good!  Unfortunately I didn't taste it warm since I had so much going on, but it was delish cold...so I assume it was awesome-er hot!!!  I made no changes except that I had Colby Jack vs. Cheddar cheese.  It went pretty darn good with my Nut Crackers.  Half the pan was gone by the end of the night!

 

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

The star of the evening was our entrée Zuppa Toscana.  This is a HUGE favorite with my friends and a recipe that one husband has duplicated himself.  Everyone loves it whenever he makes it so I had to give it a go...and it worked!!!  I doubled the recipe using one pound of sweet Italian sausage and one pound of hot Italian sausage.  I did NOT double the red pepper flakes since I used the hot sausage and not everyone likes it hot and BOY we didn't need the extra heat.  It was enough to melt the snow outside that's for sure.  But everyone loved it and this dutch over that was practically full is now nearly empty! 





 



So who did I do all this for???  Here's just a few of the friends who joined us tonight...

 

 

There were kids all over the house...as well as a photo bomber...but there were no injuries and nothing broke so all is well. 

 

I hope you had an equally fun evening enjoying the commercials Super Bowl!!! 

 

Till next time,

 

Jennifer

Spicing Up Our Lives!!!

One of the best meals in our house...one that's guaranteed to get devoured...is Tacos.  We usually have little to no leftovers, and it is one of the few leftovers that my kids will eat.  But when I started this change in my life I became an avid label reader.  Unfortunately, there was a bunch of junk I knew was "not so good" in it, but when kids will eat something...  Anyway, I kept buying it because I couldn't find anything better.  But then...

I discovered Maria's blog.  By chance, and a Google search, I stumbled onto Maria's blog named Maria Mind Body Health.  I read, and read...then I read some more.  I couldn't believe how much information she had.  I couldn't believe how much sense it made.  And I couldn't believe how many awesome looking recipes there were.  She has a ton of options for replacements of crucial ingredients that are harming our bodies.  I was blown away.  Then I read that she'd asked people to challenge her to make something they miss because of changing our eating habits.  So now when I'm looking to replace something I normally buy I check her blog first.

That's kind of how I stumbled across this recipe for taco seasoning.  Low and behold I had all the ingredients, and I just happened to have a little container to mix and store it all in...what a deal!

The ingredients are basic staples for most of us.  I bet you have them in your cupboard right now...well maybe not the pepper flakes, but I bet you have most of them.  It's just a matter of putting them all together. 

And it makes such pretty sand art...LOL!!!  Well, that is until you shake that puppy up!   As soon as it was all mixed up it was time to use it. 

Now I'm going to introduce you to something you really, REALLY need in your kitchen.  If you're a mom, if you have a busy life, if you're single and just don't have a ton of time...if you have a kitchen...then you need this!  This is a Bean Pot from Celebrating Home...and I'm linking you to my friend Stephanie's site!  She is an amazing consultant who gives her hostesses the absolute most she can.  Anyway, this bean post is the best way to make anything with ground beef quickly. 

I had gotten the ground beef out of the freezer, but not early enough for it to be defrosted.  So I just threw it in the pot and started to nuke it.  I started at 3 minutes then got it back out to begin breaking it up.  Oh, you'll love one of these tools too...

It's Pampered Chef's Mix 'N Chop.   It really breaks the meat up quickly.  I love it.  Anyway, back to the meal...I cooked the meat in 5 minute increments, breaking it up each time, till it was cooked through.  Then I drained the meat just like I would if I'd cooked it on the stove top.  It took about 10 minutes from start to finish, it's less messy and certainly less heat than the stove top version.  Then I added 2 tablespoons of the healthy taco seasoning and about 1 1/2 cups of water.  Mixed it all up and put it back in the microwave for about 8 minutes, stirring half way.

To serve it up healthy I layered lettuce shreds, the taco meat, cheese, cream cheese mixed with salsa, and a few dices of Roma tomatoes.

Oh man, it was SO good...but boy was it spicy.  I'm sure adjusting the red pepper flakes would help reduce the heat if you're not a heat person, but I actually liked it.  I probably will add more cream cheese/salsa next time to tame it down for my mouth, but I won't change the recipe...

 

 

...see, it was a home run!!!  Oh, and just so you know I've always had issues with taco seasoning because it never seemed to settle well in my stomach.  I always ended up with indigestion....but not this time!!!  Even with the heat I had absolutely NO reaction with this seasoning, and I no longer take my acid reducer at night (which I've done for the past 12 years).  If that's not testimony to this way of life I don't know what is!!!

 

Seriously, check out Maria's blog.  You will not be sorry!!!  Thanks Maria!

 

Till next time,

 

Jennifer



Oh, just an FYI...I'm not getting paid for any of these things I'm saying.  This is my personal opinion and experiences.  I'm just an open book!!!

Changes Aren't Always Easy!!!

I have days!!!  You know "those" days?  The ones when you just want to chuck the whole thing...Yeah, those days!!!  Yesterday was one of those days, or maybe I should say last night was one of "THOSE" nights.  Here's the scoop.

My husband has been out of town this week.  It's made for a crazy schedule for this taxi mom.  Yesterday was supposed to be the craziest of all.  Initially I was to take my oldest to his school (10 miles or so round trip), come home quickly to grab the youngest two kids and stop at the elementary for my daughter and then take my middle son back to the same school I'd dropped my oldest at earlier.  BUT...as things often do it didn't quite go that way.  My daughter woke with a sore throat, and since we've had strep throat in our family in the last month I had to keep her home to get it checked (it was not by the way).  So, I ended up taking both boys to school early and saved some steps.  Add to that my oldest had more Jazz practice last night downtown, and a trip to the doctor for my daughter.  It was a lot of miles logged.  On top of spending quite a bit of time in the car I ended up spending a bunch of time in the kitchen deep cleaning it and prepping for our dinner.  I roasted and peeled garlic, cooked chicken and did a TON of dishes all in preparation for this Roasted Garlic Chicken Soup.  Everything was prepped and ready to throw it all together once the kids were home from school.  It all had to be done and eaten by 5:30 so I could get my son downtown.

I decided to try my hand at mashed "potatoes" which in low carb world means mashed cauliflower.  Here's the thing, I've NEVER liked cauliflower.  Of course that was a childhood thing, but I've not given it a "real go" in my adulthood.  So since I kept reading that cauliflower was bland and just takes on the ingredients you add to it then I thought "Why Not?!?"  I found this recipe.  I added butter, but didn't have any green onion.  I don't know that I cooked it completely because it was a bit watery...

 

Let's face it...it doesn't matter, I DO NOT LIKE CAULIFLOWER!!!  It is NOT as bland as people say.  It truly has that cauliflower flavor.  GAG!!! 

 

 

I tried putting it under my soup and it did cover up the taste, but then I had a texture issue.  Needless to say it wasn't a pleasant experience!  The cauliflower ended up down the disposal, but the leftover soup is in the fridge.  Hopefully today I can eat that and see how I like it without the other...maybe that will be a success. 

 

To finish off the rest of the story...after the unsuccessful meal last night I got really discouraged.  I was really hoping for success with the cauliflower since it looked like a great replacement for the potatoes I LOVE!!!  I needed to find some more recipes for this weekend's Super Bowl party and I second guessed every recipe I saw.  I was just ready to throw in the towel so to speak, but I was tired, I was influenced by a bad experience and frankly needed to just finish out the day with a good night's sleep. 

 

This morning things are much better.  I've found the recipes I need for this weekend, the kids are at school successfully without too many miles, and I'm off to the gym as soon as I'm done with this post.  Some days are rough, but often it's just a matter of perception...and a good night's sleep!!!

 

Till later,

 

Jennifer

 

Chocolate!!! It makes me Happy, Happy, Happy!

Raise your hand if you like chocolate!!!

 

 

I love it...but I'm a female, of course I do.  Do you know what else I love...COFFEE!  I love Starbuck's Caffé Mocha...but do you know how much sugar is in it???  Actually, I don't either, but I'm sure it's a TON more than I'm supposed to have.  Sooo...I needed to come up with something to replace my sugary addiction.

 

I had to think..."How does Starbucks do it?"  Pumps of chocolate syrup plus espresso with some steamed milk...that sounds about right.  The first thing I had to find was a sugar free chocolate syrup so off I went on an internet search (what did we do before the world wide web???)  I found this recipe from kitchen TREATY for Homemade Chocolate Syrup.  Her recipe is not sugar free, but I have sugar substitute right...why not.  And the rest of the ingredients are kitchen staples. 

 

 

So after a stop at Hobby Lobby for this 11" square bottle...at half off (gotta love Hobby Lobby)...I came home to try my hand at chocolate syrup. 

 

 

I started with two different sugar substitutes: xylitol and Just Like Sugar table top version.  I decided to mix it half and half then add the other ingredients just like the recipe calls for.

 

 

I didn't bring it to a boil because I've learned from past experience that xylitol doesn't boil...it burns!  Let's not make that mistake again!!!  I gave it a taste and it wasn't sweet enough...too bitter.  So I added about 1/4 cup more of xylitol.  It's still a bit bitter, kind of like really dark chocolate, but not so much as to turn me off of it completely.  It still has that chocolaty flavor that we all love!!!

 

The syrup started to thicken up fairly quickly so I didn't have to cook it near as long as the recipe states, so I had my trusty helper (my daughter) grab the camera and help me document my new adventure...thank you Sweet Pea!!!

 

 

 

I poured all that lovely chocolate goodness into my new bottle.  It filled it about 2/3rds of the way.  Then I had to try it out!!!  So on went the Keurig since we had to see if I could get close to that Caffé Mocha I love so much.  I chose a Kahlua coffee and got out my heavy cream (I have no way to steam it so I have to forgo that step) in anticipation of mocha yumminess!!!  It wasn't quite as sweet as my Caffé Mocha, but I can handle that...plus it costs a heck of a lot less!!!  It was pretty good...not perfect, but good enough for me!

 

 

Now I can have my addiction without the guilt.  Maybe next time I can add a bit of sugar free whipped cream.  Who knows...but its sure to be good!!!

 

Till next time...

 

Jennifer