Way behind on posting. I had a torn rotator cuff and dealing with some very itchy allergy issues. The first one is healing. Still not sure what I’m allergic to.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Lucy’s Luscious Lemon Pound Cake
I get raves about this cake all the time. People can’t believe it has no regular sugar in it. Everyone wants the recipe, whether they are on the Keto diet or not. It is THAT good!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (soft – room temperature)
- 1.5 cups Birch Xylitol or powdered sugar substitute
- 12 oz cream cheese (1 + ½ blocks) room temperature
- 8 whole eggs (set out at room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp zest from the lemon
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
Lemon Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Birch Xylitol or powdered sugar substitute
- 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 oz cream cheese
Notes
before you start:
I’ve used both salted and unsalted butter….It doesn’t seem to make a difference
For the powdered sugar substitute, I use either Swerve powdered or the less expensive method using Birth xylitol. (I put the granulated xylitol into my Vitamix blender and whirl until it’s powdered)
Make sure your butter, eggs, and cream cheese are at room temperature.
The ingredients listed for the icing make enough frosting for one of the loaves. I like one loaf for a quick breakfast or snack. Slice and go! So I don’t want it to be messy. The other loaf I enjoy the icing to make it a special treat dessert. So double the ingredients in this recipe if you want to frost both loaves.
Instructions:
With your mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar substitute until
smooth.
I alternate adding 1 egg and then a chunk of cream cheese. Mix and repeat until
you’ve added all 8 eggs and cream cheese into a smooth mixture
Next, add the vanilla extract and lemon extract and continue mixing.
In a separate bowl add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the batter into two non-stick loaf pans. (If they are not Teflon type pans, spray with a non-stick cooking spray first.)
Bake the loaves for 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick, or knife, in the center, to make sure it comes out clean. If not, bake a bit longer.
While it bakes, make the frosting.
Mix the powdered sugar substitute, vanilla extract, and heavy whipping cream on medium-high until smooth and creamy. Next mix in the cream cheese until fluffy.
Let the pound cake cool completely before you apply the frosting.
Net carbs 5.7 – Calories 182
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Where Are Julio And Lola is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com There is no extra cost to you. I only promote brands and products that I use and trust.
Here is a link to download a printable version of the recipe:
https://wherearejulioandlola.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lucys-Luscious-Lemon-Pound-Cake.pdf
Halloween at Salsa Sierra
We love getting into the Halloween spirit! Leon spends hours putting everything up. Ten hours to be exact. But so much fun. Everyone appreciates his efforts.
(Unless you’re arachnophobic! haha!) Check out the video of all the decorations.
We always choose a family theme. This year it was cowboys.
Even though the power was out, we had a great party. We hung lanterns and had battery power to play the music. Danced a lot! Ate a lot! It was fun!
Celtic Festival Fun
We go to the Celtic festival in Grass Valley every year! We have a booth and I do face painting, glitter tattoos, and hair shimmers. The dogs love going too. They say “We love all the attention we get!”
“We love watching the parade almost as much as the people in the parade like watching us!” say Julio and Lola
One gentleman had a special request for some specific designs.
I love face painting. It’s an artistic outlet for me which I enjoy. However, I mostly love the joy that it brings to the kids.
They just light up when they see themselves in the mirror.
International West Coast Swing Rally 2019
Julio and Lola watched us perform in Nevada City, CA. They are in almost every shot! Heehee.
Every year Virginie & Olivier Massart from France create a west coast swing dance routine. Dancers around the world learn it and everyone performs it in September and posts their version online. FUN!!!
We danced at our historic Chamber of Commerce court, in front of the vintage Court House, in front of historic Miners Foundry, and at our Salsa Sierra dance studio.
This year’s dancers are Phil Storey, Carie Dykes, Petra Maher, Sammi Bell, Valentyna Lane, Leon Fletcher, and Lucy Galbraith.
Lola’s birthday!
It’s Lola’s 4th birthday!! Such a good girl to wait until the song was finished before diving into her “cake”! She’s enjoying her pup-cake from Scraps Dog Bakery.
By the way Nevada County residents………if you mention our blog WhereAreJulioAndLola.com you’ll get 10% off when you shop at Scraps!!!!!
Chaffles!
Chaffles are quite the craze if you are on the Keto diet. I heard even Amazon had a run on the little waffle makers and temporarily ran out. They are cheesy waffles. Chaffles can be made savory or sweet. And they are delicious. Use them as a substitute for bread to make sandwiches or as a bun for hamburgers. Chaffles make great individual pizzas!
You will need a small waffle maker called the Dash Mini Maker
Chaffles
5 eggs
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Put all in a blender and mix on high for the batter
Sprinkle some shredded cheddar or mozzarella on the hot waffle maker.
Spoon on the batter and close the lid
Makes 14 Chaffles
We were at the West Coast Swing Rally in Sacramento
Every year a dance routine is learned online. Then on the first Saturday in September everyone around the world dances and submits a video to the facebook group. It’s fun to see the same routine performed in Japan, Germany, Australia, etc etc etc.
And it’s a very fun thing to do!
Our Keto lifestyle
Leon and I changed our diet in January of this year and we have been following the Ketogenic diet faithfully. I have been studying, reading and attending seminars on Keto. As of today, Leon has lost close to 40 lb and I have lost 30. So it’s working! We still have a ways to go and more to lose, however, I doubt that I will ever revert back to being sugar dependent. This is not just a diet, it’s a way of life….an awakening.
Instead of thinking about what you can’t have, it’s how can I make substitutions? It is so wonderful to enjoy foods that formerly were considered “fattening”. Examples would be avocado, olive oil, butter, and cheese. My cheesecake recipe below is to die for and I can have that for breakfast if I want – and without guilt! Fantastic!
It is sugar that makes us fat. And it is literally poison. Sugar (aka high fructose corn syrup) is in almost every processed food out there. Plus all carbohydrates and starches convert to glucose (sugar) in our bodies. You can start your education by simply reading the ingredients on the back of any processed food.
Mainstream nutrition has been lying to us for 4 decades. Eat low fat this and low fat that – and instead they load up foods with carbohydrates and partially hydrogenated oils. Because of this, close to 70% of the American population is obese, pre-diabetic, or diabetic. Not the mention the increase in cancer. It’s easy to stay away from sugar when you just remember that sugar feeds cancer.
I’ll be speaking about our keto way of life from time to time but for today I’ll share one of my favorite recipes. This cheesecake is a perfect size for when you want a little something sweet.
Low Carb Cheesecake with Chocolate bottom
You’ll need a silicone muffin tray like this one.
The first step – take 1 cup of Birch xylitol and put it in your blender on high to make it powdered. ¼ will go in the crust. ¾ will go in the filling.
Chocolate crust
1/4 cup Birch xylitol powder
6 Tbsp almond meal
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp butter (melted)
In a bowl, add xylitol powder, almond meal and cocoa and stir together.
Add in the melted butter and stir together. This will be enough for 12 bottoms. Add a small spoonful to the bottoms of a silicone muffin tray. Place in freezer.
Cheesecake filling
8 oz (1 package) cream cheese at room temperature and soft.
5 Tbsp sour cream
¾ cup Heavy whipping cream
¾ cup birch xylitol
Cream all together in blender or mixer.
Take the crusts out of the freezer and spoon the filling in. Add a bit at a time to give each the same amount of filling. Freeze.
When they are frozen, I just pop them out of the silicone tray and put them in a baggy to store in the freezer. If desired, dust with a bit of cocoa powder before serving.
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Where Are Julio And Lola is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com There is no extra cost to you. I only promote brands and products that I use and trust.