Traditional cheesecake, with lots of extra cream cheese and eggs.

3 8oz Cream Cheese
1.5 Sticks Butter
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbsp Vanilla
1 pt Heavy Cream
1 cup Sour Cream
8 oz Chopped Walnuts
2 Cups Splenda
8 eggs

Let the cream cheese, eggs and butter warm to room temperature.

First, grind walnuts, splash of soymilk, cinnamon melted butter and splenda (I used the ‘magic bullet’) and spread this with a spatula into pre-greased (used butter flavored non-stick cooking oil) and bake at 325 for about 7-8 minutes to form your ‘crust’. Be careful not to overcook.

While that was going on is when you’ll be combining all ingredients, using your electric mixer at slow speed, increasing gradually to medium while pushing the sides constantly using a spatula.

Bake for around an hour (checking on it regularly) and allow to cool overnight in your refrigerator before serving.

Feel free to experiment, this turned out absolutely delicious!

It is very easy to cut down on the amounts of carbohydrates you consume when you check out the list of the acceptable proteins and vegetables in the Atkins list. But the Atkins diet is too different from the normal manner of our eating, and that is the reason why it will take some getting used to. American food is generally about carbohydrates, and that extends even to the snacks. The Atkins diet is too deviated from this kind of eating. Using some substitutes for the carbohydrate foods might stave off this situation though.

Sugar substitutes are the most important in this list. Now, sugar substitutes can be both good as well as bad, depending on the constitution of your body. Aspartame and Splenda may not be good for everyone. But they can be used in preparing low carbohydrate snacks. These can be used in making sweet snacks without actually having any carbohydrates in them. There is criticism, though. Some people find that they crave for real carbohydrates much more after having these artificial sweeteners. If you find that is happening with you, you will need to eliminate them from your diet completely.

One more difficult food to give up is bread. Bread is almost a staple food, a primary food, which people cannot do without. There are low carbohydrate breads available in the market, but more often than not, they will contain masked carbohydrates in them and some other stuff that you can certainly do without. If you have the time and the inclination, you can check out a recipe for making low carbohydrate bread yourself. That way, you can be sure what you are putting into the bread.

Pasta follows the list of common carbohydrates that people consume. Pasta is a favorite food for many people, but the thing that makes pastas delicious are the toppings that go with it. The toppings could be meat, vegetables or cheese, but people on the Atkins diet could also do well if they use squash as a substitute for the pasta. Spaghetti squash is a recommended option. It is a yellow gourd and makes a good replacement for pasta. Another option is zucchini. You can replace noodles with lasagna made with large pieces of eggplant. Since the meats and cheeses used are all low carbohydrate, they fit in well with the Atkins requisites.

Finding a substitute for rice becomes a bit difficult. Some people would use cauliflower, which is chopped into small pieces in a food processor. These are then cooked in a microwave without any water. They become like rice, and can be used in all kinds of rice dishes.

You can also substitute potatoes with cauliflowers. You will have to puree the cauliflower till it is smooth and resembles mashed potatoes in texture. Then add the topping you prefer, and you have something that looks like potatoes, but doesn’t have those harmful carbohydrates in it.

If you love pizzas, there’s no need to sacrifice them when you are on the Atkins diet too. You can make some Atkins permissible pizzas at home. Use low carbohydrates tortillas to make the crust, or you can use Portobello mushrooms to make the crust.

These are great substitutes for the normal carbohydrates foods that we eat. They look good, taste good and fit in with the Atkins plan.

Darren Williger is a guitar playing, tea drinking, meditating, low carbohydrate eating, wine making sales maker who writes for MyLowCarbPages.com, and MindSatori.com.

I’ve been experimenting with some new and creative lower carbohydrate creations. These low carb tortillas at only 5 net carbs per serving gave me the idea of creating a simple sopapilla (a fried bread pastry I’d enjoyed as a child growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico). This tasty treat is a nice complement to other higher protein and lower carbohydrate cooking. More recipe experiments very soon!

If someone on a low carb diet yearns for something sweet, he or she should think first about eating some type of fruit. Fruit is sweet, but it does not belong to the category occupied by less healthful, high carb foods. Fruit belongs in the category occupied by other low carb food. It provides a dieter with an excellent way to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Fruit is colorful as well as sweet. That adds to its appeal in low carb recipes. The fruit makes the resulting dish more colorful. A dieter who eats fruit can end his or her desire for other low carb snacks. A person who keeps plenty of fruit on hand is more apt to stay with a low carb diet plan.

Fruit can be eaten plain or dipped in yogurt. Fruit also goes well with cheese. The French have long appreciated the health benefits of ending a meal with cheese and fruit. A person on a low carb diet might want to recall the general image of a French model when ending a meal with fruit, rather than a different sort of dessert.

The image of a slim French model enjoying cheese and fruit can offer motivation to someone on a high protein, low carb diet plan. It can underline the importance of making wise choices about the way to end a meal. It can illustrate the benefits of being flexible about the creation of low carb desserts.

Anything with a sugar substitute can be used to make a low carb dessert. Some brands of gelatin contain a sugar substitute. They come in a number of different flavors. A smart cook can use those packages of gelatin in a creative way. A smart cook can thus come up with some appealing and low carb desserts.

Diet sodas also contain a sugar substitute. That fact can aid the cook intent on creating a new type of low carb dessert. A diet soda can be added to a cake mix and used to make a low carb cake. If the cook uses a 12 0z Coke, then he or she can create a dessert with only 170 calories per serving.

Of all the advice on these low carb pages, the above advice on low carb desserts might be the hardest to obey. Some people find it difficult to banish all desserts from any effort at low carb living. After all, one can not always see a food’s carbohydrate content.

Thirty five years ago one man who had tried to stick with a high protein low carb diet had greatest difficulty avoiding ice cream. At one point he said, “I do not see any sugar in this scoop.” Then he proceeded to eat that high carb food.

That gentleman displayed a reluctance to view fruit as a dessert. He saw fruit more as a snack. At one point that ice cream lover did make a brilliant move; he provided his wife with some diet gelatin. If he were still alive today, his wife might have tried making him some low carb cake.

A person who decides to go on a low carb diet plan can expect to see an impact on his or her sexual performance. That impact might well be felt at both the start and the end of any high protein, low carb diet.

At various other places in these low carb pages the reader has learned about the interplay of dieting and feelings. That interplay can have a marked effect on sexual performance. It can color a seldom-mentioned aspect of low carb living.

Researchers have found that a couple shows increased sexual activity whenever they are taking part in a greater number of satisfying experiences. If, for example, a couple has chosen to attend a series of sporting events, or to buy a set of concert tickets, that couple could well display increased sexual activity.

Now when someone first begins trying different low carb recipes, he or she might feel hungry. That low carb food, even when supplemented with some low carb snacks, might not leave the dieter fully satisfied. In that case, the dieter might join his or her partner in some new activities (a way to take the dieter’s mind off of food). That could then lead to an increased desire for sex.

The decision to add more activity to a typical day to day routine can help a person to become more enthused about life. If that enthusiasm then leads to excitement, it can stimulate the urge for greater sexual activity. That is a second way that the start of a low carb diet might produce changes in a dieter’s sexual performance.

Now that we have looked at the initiation of a low carb diet, let us look at the end result from adherence to a low carb diet. A person who has enjoyed weight loss generally feels better. He or she usually feels happier. That feeling of happiness enhances any feelings of excitement. That enhanced excitement then causes and even greater drive for enjoyment of love making.

Now it should be noted that the increased sexual performance produced by a low carb diet is not going to be the same in every individual. Age contributes to the level of sexual performance. The sex drives decrease as a person ages. Gender also affects sexual performance. A woman’s desire for sex declines more with age than a man’s desire for sex.

That being said, it is still true that a person on a low carb diet can expect changes in his or her sexual performance. If the dieter has chosen to step-up his or her participation in various activities, that can enhance the dieter’s sexual performance. If the person on the low carb diet has lost a fair amount of weight, he or she should feel happy. That happiness can show-up in the form of improved sexual performance.

The bottom line is this: Being on a low carb diet does affect sexual performance. It does not hamper that performance; instead it serves to enhance that performance.

A person on a low carb diet gets his or her energy from protein. Since protein, rather than carbohydrates, is the body’s chief energy source, the decision to eat only low carb foods can alter the biochemistry of the body system. In other words, the person who is adhering to a low carb diet plan might encounter problems with motivation and focusing.

The reader should not write off the effectiveness of low carb recipes, due to their tendency to affect motivation and focus. The impact on the system from low carb-induced biochemical changes can be controlled. This section of our low carb pages offers information on the nature of that control.

Many dieters demonstrate problems with motivation. A sizeable percentage of people who loose weight later gain back that weight. That can damage their motivation to try maintenance of a reasonable weight.

If someone on a low carb diet hopes to avert problems with motivation and focus, he or she should take a cue from these suggestions. The following advice can help lower the impact of a low carb diet. It can help to restore a dieter’s motivation and focus.

It can set a dieter on the path to successful low carb living.

Dieting success is greater when the dieter strives to feel better rather than look better. Such people often make dieting and weight loss a major part of their lives. That unwise emphasis on dieting and weight loss can result in the development of major medical complications.

Obviously, the development of such complications takes away from the health-giving features of weight loss. Such complications can be avoided by dieters who do not allow a diet to take over their lives. The following paragraphs detail the most healthful ways to diet.

A dieter should consider slight modifications of his or her behavior. The dieter might want to eat on a schedule, and to eat at a more modest pace. The dieter might choose to keep a journal about his or her food choices during one 24 hour period. A wise dieter would plan to avoid any eating triggers, such as fatty junk food.

All of those items can help a dieter to achieve the desired weight loss. All of those efforts can steer a dieter toward a changed attitude toward any type of diet, including a high protein, low carb diet. The change produced by the above suggestions usually allows the dieter to become more motivated and better focused.

A dieter might need to change certain thoughts and beliefs that encourage overeating. A dieter might benefit from joining some type of group. A dieter might need to learn a few tricks. A person on a low carb diet, for instance should know how to make low carb snacks.

If a person on a low carb diet takes the time to read and study the above suggestions, he or she should achieve dieting success. He or she should manage to overcome any impact that the low carb diet might have had on his or her motivation. He or she should manage to develop a healthy and proper focus.

Picking up where the low carb brownies left off with a higher-protein extra chocolaty version! Check out how easy this is to make too. You’ll want to let these ingredients sit for an hour at room temperature for the best results.

Shopping List:

8oz Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
1/2 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream
Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1.5 Sticks of Salted Butter
Half Cup PB2 (if you have)
2 Cups of Protein Powder
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
8 Oz. Chopped Walnuts
Half Dozen Large Eggs
1 Cup Half and Half
1 Cup of Carbquick
2 Cups of Splenda

Or experiment. This happened to turn out real good. If you try some variations, please share them here so we can all eat more delicious things.

Melt baking chocolate and butter in a small pan on low-medium setting until melted. When liquid, turn to lowest setting and add the splenda.

Prepare the protein powder, eggs, liquids, carbquick (and optional PB2) into your mixmaster bowl. Do not add cat. You’ll need all this in the mixmaster for a few minutes at a low mixing speed, which you can turn up a little after the ingredients blend in. You’ll be adding the walnuts last.

Using a spatula, divide this mix into cupcake tins (why do I call them tins when mine are silicone?), brownie pan, bread bin, whatever works for you – it’s rather versatile! Chocolate bread?

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until springy and easily pulled from side of pan.

I was impressed with the consistency and will make this again, but as I made a bunch of them I’ve got some extra to last for at least a week or more.

I froze some too as this worked well with the last batch.

I need to add up all these ingredients and figure out a total per serving carb count at this point but I’m already sure from what I put in that there’s a lot of protein and very low carbs per serving. This diet (ahem, lifestyle) gets easier each and every day – probably because it becomes more fun.

Low carb. Chocolate. It’s not an oxymoron, it’s delicious!

I’m learning ways to creatively enjoy a lower carbohydrate lifestyle with some delicious eats! I’ve explored the supermarket to find some various low carb surprises to work with.

Today I’m making up some chocolate cupcakes. I’m going to try some more variations of this in the future too with some protein powders for additional protein. Overall I’m very pleased with how these turned out.

Watch video for details and here’s the ingredients:

1 Stick of Butter
6 Oz Baking Chocolate
2 Cups Splenda
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
5 Large Whole Eggs
3/4 Cup CarbQuick
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1/2 Cup (optional) PB2 powdered peanut butter)

I mixed all these ingredients in the mixmaster with a little soy milk (you can use water and you may not even need) and poured into a flexible non-stick muffin pan. I used a butter flavor enhanced non-stick spray because butter anywhere anytime is just awesome! Cook at 350 for 10-20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Tasty, you won’t believe it’s low carb! LOWCARBTHIS!

I want to try this next with a chocolate protein powder. Watch out world!

More at http://lowcarbrecipes.us

I love beef jerky. It’s low-carb, easy to keep in the car to snack on between meetings, at my desk or anytime I want a “portable steak”. Well, I bought a food dehydrator and have been experimenting with different recipes, now including using ground beef and blending in a mixmaster.

This particular recipe included Worcestershire, soy and sriracha sauce along with garlic, salt and pepper.

You can even create this in your oven at very low heat…

Fresh meat jerky is low in cholesterol and fat and very high in protein, making jerky a nutritious and wholesome snack. Jerky is an excellent food when camping, biking, skiing, or anytime you want a snack.

3 lbs. meat (not ground meat)
2/3 cups Worcestershire Sauce
2/3 cups Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. smoke flavoring
2 tsp. Tabasco Sauce

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large (gallon size) plastic zipper bag. Add sliced meat (cut about ¼ inch) and refrigerate, mixing and turning about every hour. You should marinade it over night.

When you’re ready to begin drying, place a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven. Drain meat in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel (the drier the meat now, the better). Set oven at about 150 degrees and place the meat strips on the ovenracks. Leave the oven door open to allow the moisture to escape.

The drying time may vary due to ovens and the size of the meat. The meat should be firm and dry, and not spongy at all. But if the jerky is so dry that it snaps in two easily, than it’s over dried.

Even though it has been several decades since the late Dr. Robert Atkins created his self-named low carbohydrate diet, it was only in the late 1990s and early 2000s that the Atkins diet took the weight loss world by storm. Millions of people rode on the low carb bandwagon and nutrition experts were appalled. The uproar over the diet is understandable; after all, it went against all the principles of the medically accepted and traditional low fat regimen, which had been the norm for years.

Simply put, going on the Atkins diet – or “doing Atkins” – means that a person has to drastically cut down on his or her intake of carbohydrates, especially those found in starchy foods. People find that this can be difficult, especially those who have become accustomed to consuming food like bread, potatoes, cakes, cereals, and pasta regularly for years. On the up side, protein-rich foods are not only allowed on this low carb diet, they are actually encouraged. So there’s no need to give up mayonnaise, butter, pork, beef, fried food, and many others that are off-limits in low fat diets.

There are four phases in this diet. The first stage, called Induction, requires the dieter to reduce his or her carb intake to 20 grams per day for two weeks. Carbohydrates should be acquired from vegetables, so the usual starchy baked products and fruits are forbidden during this period. After Induction, you are allowed to gradually increase your intake of carbohydrates until you reach your carb threshold, or the amount of carbs you can safely eat without gaining weight. For many adults, 60 to 90 grams of carbs per day is the limit. With this diet, you count carbs, not calories.

The Atkins premise is that carbohydrates, which our bodies use for fuel, are the culprits responsible for weight gain. Excess carbohydrates increase blood sugar levels, which in turn make us feel hungry in a short amount of time after a meal. An increase in your blood sugar can also trigger the pancreas to create more insulin, which in turn influences how the body converts carbs to fats, which are manifested in that paunch or those love handles. This extra weight can lead to many health problems, including diabetes and heart disease.

In addition to helping a person lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time, a number of clinical studies have shown the Atkins diet to be beneficial in the reduction of the so-called “bad cholesterol” that can lead to heart disease. In addition, other studies suggest that the diet has at least a positive short-term effect on diabetics, and anecdotal evidence states that it is also instrumental in relieving the symptoms of disorders such as polycystic ovarian syndrome.

One thing that the critics praise about the Atkins low carb diet is its education of people about being picky about foods; to avoid junk food and those that contain nothing but sugar and empty calories. Another aspect of the diet that meets with expert approval is its encouragement of exercise. It still follows the basic tenet that if you take in more than you burn, you will still gain weight, no matter what diet you are on.

One relative difficulty that reduced-carbohydrate dieters complain about is food boredom. Perhaps this was a problem in the early days, but not so anymore. Today, there are plenty of “mock” foods patterned after regular dishes like pancakes, mashed potatoes, cheesecake, muffins, and the like – but without the carbohydrates and sugar. If you have a craving for something sweet, you can still eat candy bars, cakes, and chocolate products that are sweetened not with sugar but with sucralose.

Weight loss on this low carb diet is quicker than that observed on low-fat diets, but remember that you should not shed pounds too rapidly – 2 to four pounds a week is the average. And to make sure to take the necessary dietary supplements to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients you need to stay healthy while losing weight. You should also remember to drink plenty of water. This will help flush waste from your body and assist it in the burning of fat as the major source of fuel.

Going on the Atkins diet can help you in your weight loss efforts if you follow the basic tenets: don’t overeat (eat only until you feel satisfied); don’t under-eat (eat whenever you feel hungry); exercise; be realistic. You should not aspire to be razor thin. Rather, aim for your ideal body weight and stay healthy on your way there.