Thanksgiving Keto Style

 

Hello, Friends! Flossie Benton Rogers here. The dreaded fattening food season is upon us, made harder by the exciting and beloved holidays it cradles-- Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. What? You made it through Halloween without succumbing to a miniature Snickers? You rock! One down and two to go! The holidays coming up are fabulous family times. At Thanksgiving, in particular, you may want to indulge in what everyone else is eating, which may include turkey and gravy, dressing, yams, cranberry sauce, corn pudding, pumpkin pie, and many other delicacies. However, maybe you'd like to have one or two keto dishes on the table just for you and Aunt SassyJane, who is a keto enthusiast if I ever saw one. 

Fabulous recipes can be found by googling keto and whatever dish you are looking for. Almond flour and coconut flour often play a part. I like to stay away from those as much as possible because, though low carb, they still contain more carbs than I like. The recipe I'm sharing today is made from a keto enthusiast's best friend-- pork panko (crumbs made of pork rinds). You can buy pork panko or make your own by pummeling pigskins or pork rinds into crumbs. The entire dish contains about 7 carbs.

The recipe is a  quick and easy "Two-Fer"-- Keto Dressing and Keto Bread Pudding made from the same base mixture. I concocted the recipe after being inspired by an old "pigskin pancake" recipe I've been using for years and the newer keto chaffle recipes featuring cheese. I bake both the stuffing and bread pudding simultaneously in a divided Pyrex dish.

The following two pictures show most of the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS FOR KETO BASE MIXTURE:

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups pork panko 

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup shredded Creamy Melt mozzarella cheese

REMAINING INGREDIENTS FOR KETO DRESSING:

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning 

pinch pepper

Optional: If you like your dressing made from cornbread, add 1/2 teaspoon of cornbread flavoring as pictured above. I had no idea this existed and was tickled to recently discover it. This is Amoretti brand, and there are other brands as well.

REMAINING INGREDIENTS FOR KETO BREAD PUDDING:

1/4 cup water

heaping teaspoon of stevia or other sugar-free sweetener

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking oil into baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix the ingredients for the Keto Base Mixture until well combined and all panko has been moistened. Divide half the mixture into a second bowl.

To the mixture in the first bowl, add the remaining ingredients for Keto Dressing. Mix well and spoon into one side of the divided baking dish.

To the mixture in the second bowl, add the remaining ingredients for Keto Bread Pudding. Mix well and spoon into the other side of the divided baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from oven. The dressing will be lighter in hue and the bread pudding darker.  

Slice and enjoy! The keto bread pudding is extra delicious with a dollop of whipped cream made with stevia and whipping cream.

In the comments below tell me your favorite Thanksgiving dish for a chance to win a copy of Mind Your Goddess or any of my Wytchfae eBooks. flossiebentonrogers.com

Thank you for participating in our celebration this week! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE PEN DAMES!

Summer Spirits

 

by Jill Wellington, Pixabay

Hello from Flossie Benton Rogers! Here in the south we’re heading into deep summer. My family has been enjoying the pool for a couple of months now. It’s clear they inherited my husband’s hot blood rather than my chilled blood, or maybe it’s a sign of my getting older. Whatever the reason, I’m basically miserable hitting the water until late July and August.  However, I can join them by lounging poolside with my feet in the water, as the girl above is doing, enjoying the spirit of summer while sipping a Summer Spirit.

With our passion to be faithful to a keto eating plan, though, we’ve had to adjust our cocktail recipes. Skinny Syrups has a keto bar collection that includes keto lime juice, keto simple syrup, and keto grenadine. The little ones love cherry cola mocktails: cola or cola zero over ice with keto grenadine added. Several syrup brands have fruit-flavored keto syrups that are on point. We all have different taste buds for cocktails and mocktails. I love a crisp gin concoction such as the iconic gin & tonic. Here is a delicious keto version. Omit the gin, and it makes a refreshing mocktail.

KETO GIN & TONIC

Ingredients

One jigger (1.5 ounces) Nolet’s silver gin or your favorite brand

Cup or more of diet tonic water (my absolute favorite is Publix diet)

Teaspoon of keto lime juice

Directions

Add ingredients to a chilled glass, stir, add plentiful ice, and enjoy.

It’s always interesting to see what beverages book characters go for. In my fantasy romance, Lord of Fire Wytchfae #5, the hero visits an underground club called Slice that deals in selling trafficked beings. Slice stays hidden by situating itself in an alternate dimension, as well as two years into the future. The hero, known as The Hawk, is trying to blend in as he searches frantically for the kidnapped heroine. He knows a Wytchfae would be a prize for an unscrupulous buyer. While waiting to see if Garnet appears, The Hawk imbibes a few cocktails.

 

“What can I get you to drink?”

“Bring me a Scotch Inferno, neat, black not red.”

As the server bobbled off toward the shiny onyx mirrored counter, he lent his intense scrutiny to the cavernous room with its many privacy booths and secluded crannies. His attention fell on the stage area. There appeared to be three platforms, and the curtains were closed. The swirling spotlights told him something special was about to take place. He remembered the shows here, tame compared to some of the other bars in the hotel. There had been music and other things. Usually metal or other forms of rock, designed to stimulate and excite.

 

The server set his drink in front of him on the table. One of the side curtains opened to reveal a group of four young male musicians, fronted by a slick-looking emcee in sharkskin and gooped up hair. The speaker mimicked a Cockney slang. “My name is Levi, and I’m here to welcome you to Slice. Punks and ponies, it’s time for some Nineteen Seventies vintage punk. Give a finger and a whistle for The Crash!”

 

The band’s energetic music blared out in the arrhythmic discord of dissatisfied youth. Hell, they might even be straight from the 1970s if things still worked the same around here. The angst-ridden twang of the lead guitar revved louder and spiraled the room. The vibration thundered through his veins. By the time the set was done, so were two Infernos.

After several more acts and performances, including that of a female lamia transforming into a giant snake, the hero finally catches sight of his woman.

The drumbeat accelerated once more, signaling the entrance of another thrall. "Prepare for a delicious treat indeed, gents and ladies. This rare gem comes to us from the human world. She is a Wytchfae extraordinaire. Put your hands together for the luscious Garnet."

Although he had been expecting it, the announcement of Garnet’s name half gutted him. The Hawk knocked back the dregs of his Inferno and squeezed the glass until it broke in his hand. The audience clapped in sync with the drum.

 

The curtain shimmied open once more. Her head held high, her expression stony, Garnet stood in the middle of the center stage. Her luscious body shimmered beneath the sensuous stage lights.  The crowd’s excited roar bounced off the walls. Whistles and catcalls pierced the air.

 

Can Garnet and The Hawk escape from this predicament with their lives intact? I don’t know, but—fingers crossed--I’m trusting in the power of true love and happily ever after!

Dear Friends, relish your summer. Spend lots of time with precious family and friends. Enjoy one or two cocktails, mocktails, or Summer Sprits of your choice along the way.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Flossie Benton Rogers for Pen Dames