Baked Poppers

This is a basket from Rwanda filled with produce that was given to me at my open house last weekend.  I knew I could make salsa with some of the stuff, but wasn't sure what to do with the peppers.  Then I remembered how much I like jalapeno poppers.  I've only ever had them from the deli case at the supermarket, but I was willing to try a more healthy homemade version. 

 

10-12 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, with stems, seeds and membranes removed

(You may want to wear gloves while doing this.)

 

8 ounces cream cheese

1 ½ cups shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend.)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

 

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.

Cream together the cheeses, chili powder, onion powder, salt and smoked paprika. You may need to add a tablespoon of milk to make it creamier. I started in my food processor, but the mixture was too stiff so ended up mixing in a bowl by hand.

Put a tablespoon (or more) of the cheese mixture in the center of each jalapeno half. It was easier to do by hand than with a spoon.

  Beat the eggs in a shallow dish, put the breadcrumbs into another shallow dish. One at a time, dip the jalapeno half in the egg and then the breadcrumbs, pressing to coat. Place the coated peppers cut side up on the baking sheet.

 

Bake about 30 minutes, until the filling is runny and the crust is golden.

 

They were so delicious!  Much better than the deli case version.  Mr. Inappropriate liked them too, although he did get a bout of heartburn later on from it.  I think I will make these again.

Would you have done this a different way?  Let me know!

Open House and Spiced Apple Cider Punch

Happy Anniversary to Me!

My office held a 15 year anniversary open house last weekend and we had so much fun!  People that I hadn't seen in years showed up.  There was a lot of conversation and laughter, great food and my apple cider punch.  Many people asked for the apple cider punch recipe. I have made this before for other parties with sugar.  This time I used liquid stevia as the sweetener and I think it turned out very well!

 

 

 A few days before the party I got my ingredients together:

1 gallon apple cider

1 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 ½ teaspoons liquid stevia OR 1 cup of sugar

Mix all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then let simmer gently for 7-10 minutes. Let cool a bit and then strain. You can serve it warm or once cool enough can be refrigerated.

I made a stevia ginger ale ice ring by freezing the  homemade ginger ale syrup recipe in a bundt cake pan and putting orange slices in it.

 

 

To make the punch for the party, I gently warmed the bottom of the ginger ale ice ring in its pan and then slid it into the punch bowl, poured in the apple cider punch and then added 1-2 liters sparkling water and garnished with orange slices.

 

I was so busy having fun at the party, I never did get a picture of the punch bowl of goodness!

I'll be posting my Japanese chicken curry recipe sometime in the near future.

For no particular reason, here's a picture of Stretch looking at pictures on the computer. (:

Crust-less Stevia Cheesecake!

In the fall of 1987, I was in my last year at Cornell College in Mount Vernon and my brother Harvey was starting law school at the University of Iowa. I would visit him, Kris and baby Lindsey in Iowa City about once a month and Kris and I would make cheesecake. Sometimes I would babysit so they could go out, but mostly we spent time together. Ever since then I always think of cheesecake when it's fall.

I've never really cared for the graham cracker crust on cheesecake. The delicious filling is what I want! Lately I've been trying to have a more low carb diet and decided to experiment with cheesecake. The following is the recipe I've come up with so far, but it probably needs a few more tweaks until I'm satisfied.

Crust-less Stevia Baked Cheesecake

Coconut oil or something to grease the pan (I use a pie plate.)

2 8 ounce packages cream cheese

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

12 packets stevia powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash of salt

½ cup of half and half

2 eggs

A couple hours before you intend to make this, it is best to take your cream cheese and eggs out of the fridge.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat the pan with shortening of your choice and set aside.

 

 

Unwrap the cream cheese and put it in the mixing bowl. Beat it until fluffy.

 

 

Slowly mix in the lemon juice, stevia, vanilla, salt and half and half.

 

 

I break the eggs one at a time into the measuring cup and break it up with a fork, then add to the mixture, beating well after each one.

 

 

 Once it is all well mixed and fluffy, pour it into your prepared pan. Bake it in the oven for 55 minutes.

Nutritional information

8 servings

Total calories:  1,116     Per serving:  140

Total carbs:      21                                  3

Total fat:          96                                 12

Total protein:   33                                  4

Total sodium:  1,116                           140

Total sugar:     15                                   2

 

 

I put some melted unsweetened baking chocolate sweetened with a dropper of liquid stevia along with a spray of whipped cream to enhance my serving of cheesecake.  Next time I won't add the dash of salt, it was a touch too salty for me.

Do you have some good low carb recipes or stevia recipes to share?