Fathead Cracker/ Pizza Crust

Keeping with the season – a blast from the past. Give this Halloween Pizza a try. If you are on a ketogenic, low-carb diet, you can substitute the bread dough for a Keto Pizza Crust or this Fathead Cracker recipe.

1 3/4 c. shredded/grated mozzarella
3/4 c. almond meal/flour
2 Tbsp. cream cheese
1 egg
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp. flavorings of your choise

Mix the cheese, almond flour and cream cheese in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir then microwave on HIGH for another 30 seconds. Add the egg, salt and flavoring, mix gently.

Place on a piece of parchment paper and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Roll thinly.

Remove plastic wrap.

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until browned. then add your favorite pizza toppings.

If you want to make crackers, simply cut the dough into small bite size pieces and bake 5 minutes then flip to bake other side.

Catfish Nuggets with Tartar Sauce

I really don’t have an established recipe for catfish but there are a few things I like to do. First cut your fillets into 2” nuggets then soak in buttermilk, salt and pepper. This will enhance the flavor of the catfish and reduce the fishy taste.

Next crush some chiccarones (pork rinds). Mix with almond meal/flour and Cajun seasoning. We like Comeaux that we picked up in Louisiana.

Get your deep fryer ready by putting oil in it to the appropriate line and heating until a drop of water pops.

Now take each nugget out of the buttermilk and cover with the dry mixture and place in the deep fryer basket. You will have to do this in batches. When they are brown and have risen to the top of the oil remove and place on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. Make sure to sprinkle with salt immediately after removing from the oil.

I always like tartar sauce with my catfish nuggets and it is very easy to make. You’ll need at least mayonnaise, mustard and pickles (we prefer dill but if you have sweet pickles or relish you can use that). I also added some pimientos this time. I don’t measure anything when I make this but you want about 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of mustard and ¼ cup finely chopped pickles. Mix well and voila – tartar sauce.

If you want to make this a healthy meal, add cut fruit.

Flax Seed & Almond Meal Bread/Pizza Crust

I love pizza. But because of the carbs in the crust, I have been looking for a low carb bread/pizza crust. So I adapted a recipe for Coconut Flax Bread found in “200 Low-Carb High-Fat Recipes” written by Dana Carpender. Because of the consistency, I did not get it really thin. So when it rose while baking, it got thicker than I wanted. I cut the crust into 6 pieces and then sliced them in half so I ended up with 12 pieces of crust for pizza. This makes each slice/piece approximately 10 grams of carbs. Even though it does not taste like the normal pizza crust, it has the flavoring of what you might recognize as wheat bread.

1 ½ c. almond flour/meal
¾ c. flax seed
1 Tbsp. xanthan or guar
1 tsp. truvia, if desired
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ c. water
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
3 large eggs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to make a loaf of bread, grease a standard-size loaf pan (4 ½ x 8 ½ inches). Since I was making a pizza crust, I placed parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

In your food processor with the S-blade, combine the dry ingredients until they form a ground meal.

Combine the water & vinegar and have standing by the food processor.

While food processor is running, add the eggs, one at a time, through the feed tube. Finally pour the water & vinegar mixture in through the feed tube and run for another 30 seconds.

Now scrape the batter  onto the parchment papered cookie sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it sets & just starts to brown. If you make the loaf of bread, it will take approximately 1 hour & 15 minutes. Place the loaf or crust onto a wire rack to cool. After cooling, cut the crust into 6 even parts. Then slice each piece in half horizontally with a bread knife for the perfect slice of pizza crust.

Now remember that when on a Ketogenic diet, you can have as much fat as you want with moderate protein and low carbs (under 20 a day is ideal). So with a low carb pizza crust you can put whatever you want on the top, which is what we did. It was delicious!