Stay busy, eat well during COVID-19 quarantine

Stay busy, eat well during COVID-19 quarantine

Compiled by Denise Swogetinsky

Kemper Messenger

Don't let staying home ruin your healthy living life style.

Start a new hobby or two. You could see it paint. You could watch YouTube videos and learn to knit or crochet. Take walks around your neighborhood. Ride a bike or go fishing. Start a scrap book of pictures you've taken. Start a journal. Write a story. Read a book. Begin to learn how to bake. Keep you mind and body active.

Remember that healthy living takes planning and moderation.

Low Carb Brownies

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)

4 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ounces dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup Sweetener

30 chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in the microwave then pour over the chocolate chips – stir until all is melted together. Cream together the butter/ chocolate mixture, cream cheese and sugar with either a hand or stand mixer. Add eggs in one at a time, waiting until the eggs are fully incorporated into the mixture before adding more. Add the vanilla extract. Slowly add the dry ingredients (baking powder, almond flour & cocoa) until fully incorporated. If adding the chips, stir them in here using a spoon or rubber spatula. Coat your baking pan 8×8 pan or 9×9 with a coconut oil spray for clean removal of brownies. Pour in your mixture, making sure to get every ounce out of the bowl and into the pan! Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes. Serve and munch it out!

Low Carb

Cheesecake

32 ounces cream cheese

1 cup sugar substitute

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 eggs

1 egg yolk

3 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar substitute at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add all other ingredients except eggs. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly. When eggs are incorporated, do not mix any more. Over-mixing the eggs is a contributing cause of cracked cheesecakes. Don't over cook. Always treat the batter gently. Pour the mixture into a springform pan. Place the pan on a very large piece of aluminum foil, and fold the foil up around the pan to create a watertight barrier around the cheesecake. Then place the barrier pan in an even larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. This is called a water bath. It is a gentler way to cook the cheesecake. Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in the oven. Cook for 1 hour at 300 degrees F then reduce heat to 200 degrees F for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly.

Low Carb Almond Pound Cake

1 cup butter (softened at room temperature)

1 cup sugar substitute

5 eggs (at room temperature)

2 cups almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar substitute well. Add eggs - one at a time - beating well after each. Mix almond flour with baking powder and add egg to mixture a little at a time while beating. Add lemon and vanilla extracts. Pour into greased 9"-10" Springform pan (or 9" round cake pan) and bake at 350 degrees.