No-Guilt Cheesecake Mousse

Life's little interruptions. They're inevitable, you know. And occur frequently when facing any sort of deadline. So it's always best to get the upper hand whenever possible. Write those extra words. Put dinner in the CrockPot early in the day so you won't be scrambling at suppertime. And make up a batch of your favorite grab-and-go sweet treats so you aren't left wishing you had one when you want something sweet yet have no time to make anything. This is particularly true if you're trying to stay within a specific eating lifestyle. Which, for me, is low-carb. But when the cravings come calling around 3 PM, making smart choices can be difficult.

With only four ingredients, this No-Guilt Cheesecake Mousse is easy to make AND can be made with real sugar or sugar substitutes. 

You'll need:

• 8 oz brick cream cheese
• 8 oz heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered Erythritol (you can use powdered sugar, if you prefer) OR 1/4 cup plus one tablespoon Truvia or other stevia blend
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Whip the cream to stiff peaks and set aside. In another bowl, blend the cream cheese, sweetener and vanilla until fluffy. Add whipped cream and mix on low to combine. Pipe or spoon into individual serving dishes, cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator until you're ready to grab one. For grab-and-go portions, the small 4 oz mason jars are perfect.

I love this because it's tasty, low carb, filling, and doesn't spike my blood sugar. And that keeps me going instead of tanking my energy. Oh, and it makes a great dessert, too.

What are some of your favorite grab-and-go snacks?

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

 

Carrie's Dreamy Bars

This is one of those all-purpose, make everybody happy recipes!

The original recipe is called “Uncle Bubba Bars.” My daughter found this gluten-free, nut-free, sugar-free recipe on Briana Thomas’s blog. 

Since she wanted to make gluten-free bars, but not nut-free, she made some substitutions and came up with her own version of these delicious, dreamy, cream cheese/chocolate chip bars.

At the end of the recipe, I’ll give you the ingredients to make these bars with no special ingredients.

A win for everyone, right?

Carrie’s Dreamy Bars

(this version uses special ingredients available on-line at www.trimhealthymama.com or your favorite on-line retailer)

Cookie Layer Ingredients:

1 ½ cups THM baking blend

1 Tablespoon THM Super Sweet Blend

1/8 teaspoon THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (can substitute 5 packets Truvia for the Super Sweet Blend and the Stevia)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon Gluccomannon

½ teaspoon salt

12 Tablespoons (3/4 cup) butter, softened/melted

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon Molasses

¼ cup water

½ cup chocolate chips (use Lily’s sugar free chocolate chips to keep the recipe at zero sugar)

As you can see, we used regular chocolate chips - no Lily's
brand chips in the house!

Cream Cheese Layer Ingredients:

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons THM Super Sweet Blend

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

additional chocolate chips for topping

For the cookie layer, whisk the dry ingredients together (this works best in a food processor), then add the wet ingredients. 

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread just over half of the dough in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan, reserving the rest of the dough for the top layer.

Make the cream cheese layer. Beat all of the ingredients together until smooth.

Yes, this is my funny looking mixer. It's a Bosch - a
real work horse in the kitchen!

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cookie layer in the pan.

Drop small blobs of the remaining cookie dough mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. Distribute them as evenly as you can. The cream cheese layer is a bit "soupy," so it's hard to spread the cookie dough on top.

No worries about how it looks - the cookie dough rises as the bars bake, and ours turned out beautifully.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.

Bake at 350° for 20-23 minutes, or until the cream cheese layer is set in the middle. We did the jiggle test (no movement) and the finger-touch test (touch lightly with the tip of your finger - if a depression stays, it needs to bake longer).  Don't over bake these bars!

Refrigerate to chill completely before cutting.

And I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the finished product, but these were delicious!!!

If you go to Briana Thomas's blog (link here), you can see what they're supposed to look like.

Hey, I hear you non-gluten-free, non-special-ingredients people out there! I told you this recipe was for everyone, didn't I?

Here is the "no special ingredients" list - 

Cookie Layer Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 up sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 Tablespoons (3/4 cup) butter, softened or melted

4 eggs

1 Tablespoon molasses

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Layer Ingredients:

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

additional chocolate chips for topping

The mixing and baking directions are the same!

Meanwhile, it's that time of year when our friends from the south and east are sharing pictures of daffodils, snowdrops, and crocuses.

We're still in the midst of winter...but do you see that sunshine? Spring will be here before we know it!

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com