In celebration of breakfast today, Friday's post is going to be Saturday morning! That was the best excuse I had for not making it to my computer yesterday! There was a lot going on and the day ended with me crashing at 8:30 at night. I do wish I had a cup of coffee to share this interesting recipe, which I found at Food.com, but we can make due with a bowl of yogurt and almonds.
Things have come along well at the house. Kids entertained, bedrooms cleared, and waiting for mom to show up. I've been trying to make some menus (again yes!) to have an idea for grocery list and such, but so far I'm coming up blank. Not sure what some good ideas are for when company is over. There are still 300 soups in my freezer, so that's always a good fallback right?
Let's discuss for a moment vegetarian and vegan perspectives in this blog. I am obviously not against eating meat in any way shape or form. I am highly dependent on it for keeping my blood sugar regulated and my metabolic syndrome in check. However, there are some people, like a friend of mine, who recently was told to stop eating meat - for medical reasons. I'm going to go for an elementary and short explanation, search the web if you want more comprehensive idea of how these diets work, I don't follow them, so I'm NOT the expert! Cutting out meat and meat products would be vegetarian. Cutting out meat, dairy and any animal product or by product is vegan. Vegans won't eat honey, eggs or milk because it's taken from bees and cows. Vegetarians will or can eat honey, eggs and milk. Everyone's food choices are what's best for them and in this blog, there's an abundance of meat. You'll find sometimes that I've thrown in a vegetarian option (and I've tried to dabble in veganism a couple times to no avail.) Coconut and almond milk can only go so far for a person who can't/shouldn't eat grains. Eventually you need some substance. Vegans can wake up in the morning and have a bowl of cereal with almond milk and go about their day. I haven't had a bowl of cereal in over three years.
Keep these three things in mind when you're going over some of my recipes:
1. Chicken stock/broth can always be substituted with vegetable stock/broth. Always. It's good stuff! Likewise with milks, some recipes (not yogurt! or custards, they require different methods) can have almond or coconut milk substitute
2. Some soups/foods can omit the meat and still taste great. Try substituting portabella mushrooms for steak or hamburger.
3. Beans are also a good meat substitute. Later, you'll find me substituting wheat flour with beans. =)
Today's recipe is neither vegan nor vegetarian but you can modify it to vegetarian if you like (just leave out the bacon! - what??? Leave out bacon is capital crime in my house.)
Here's my source!
http://www.food.com/recipe/carb-free-cloud-bread-411501 Yes, I changed some things, YES! I do make the recipe as stated FIRST before making my modifications. You can be sure this recipe is a lot of fun in my house and makes amazing hot ham and cheese sandwiches!
Bacon Onion Cloud Bread
3 eggs separated (very carefully - no yolk in the white at ALL!)
3 pinches of cream of tartar
2oz softened cream cheese
8 drops of liquid stevia
5 green onions chopped into tiny pieces
2 pieces of bacon (cooked) and the meat parts (cut off ALL the fat) chopped into tiny pieces
Preheat the oven to 300f.
In a mixer, mix on high the egg whites and cream of tartar until STIFF white peaks form. Stiff is the keyword here. High, fluffy, and can stand in towers on their own.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, cream cheese, liquid stevia, green onions, and bacon until as smooth as possible.
Then, we're going to FOLD, the yellow mixture into the whites. Don't go crazy here. Take a spatula (bowl scraper) with a silicone end and fold fold fold, then stop. If you over mix it, it's going to turn into a liquid and that's what we want to avoid. Go for fluffy.
These things tend to be a bit sticky. Try wax paper on your cookie sheet but just cooking spray or oil is not going to be enough to keep them from sticking. I greased my pan with liquid bacon fat (from cooking the bacon) but they still got stuck, but didn't fall apart taking them off the pan.
Drop into large spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. I get about 6 to a sheet and they are the size of a regular burger bun. They do not spread so much, but leave some room.
Bake on middle rack for 23 minutes. Some people might need longer, some shorter, just keep an eye on it, you don't want them overly browned but white is definitely not done.
Cool on a cooling rack and store in a plastic container in the FRIDGE! Use two to make a delicious hot ham and cheese sandwich (heat a fry pan med heat, put some butter in it, put cheese on one 'bread' and top with meat, and another bread - fry on one side till the cheese is melty, then flip and cook another 3 min.) This bread is also good if you add 2 cloves crushed garlic and serve with low carb spaghetti or one of the soups on this blog!
Hope you enjoy this recipe, it's a LOT of fun to make. I have added sweet things to it too as a dessert or breakfast bread and it's always turned out well. They are fluffy, low carb, wheat and gluten free, interesting bread substitute and easy to pull out of the fridge and have for any meal.
Here are some pics of the steps I took. I DO have a camera now, but I was still using my droid for these pics!
Have a fun weekend!
