As someone who is working remotely full time, I get home earlier from work now, which gives me more time to prepare meals during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am using the food that I have in my cupboards, fridge and freezer. Sometimes that can be limiting, but given some creativity (and time) you can pull together some pretty tasty creations. Check out my Taco Soup and Frozen Raspberry Cheesecake Pops.
What have I been creating in the Kitchen?
Taco Soup
Let me start with “I did not make this recipe up myself”, but rather followed, very closely, a recipe posted by Gimme Delicious. This is usually how I discover something that I like alright, but then play with it to make it mine. This time, everything was perfect. I followed the recipe exactly and got the results I was looking for. Plus, like the heading said, this soup has meat in it so my husband was a fan.
FINE, I did one small thing, but it had nothing to do with changing the ingredients, but rather in adding a technique that suited my personal preference with soup. I took half the mixture out, after it was done cooking, and then used my immersion blender on the remaining soup. Pouring in what I removed (because I do like some texture). That’s all I did to change the recipe. Check out my TikTok video here.
FROZEN RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE POPS
I was really craving ice cream and well, you know that can be tricky. I’ve played with the quick version of heavy cream, low glycemic frozen fruit and sweetener. This produces a soft serve type ice cream, that while good, wasn’t exactly what I wanted.
I came across a recipe by An Edible Mosaic, that looked great. I tweaked it, mostly because I didn’t have the ingredients on the list. My version turned out great. In fact, in addition to the 9 pops, I also made 120 small 1/2 pops in my molds. Check out my TikTok video here.
See my recipe below:
- • 5 oz frozen Raspberries, unsweetened
- • 1 tablespoon Swerve Confectioners
- • 1 teaspoon Gelatin - Plain
- • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- • 1 drop liquid stevia
- • 1 small pinch sea salt
- • 8 oz (1 brick) full fat cream cheese
- • ½ cup (60 ml) water
- • 4 tablespoons Swerve Confectioners
- • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- • 4 drops liquid stevia
- • 1 ½ cups heavy cream (35%)
- 1. For the 1st Bowl - Raspberry sauce, add all ingredients to a bowl and mash with a potato masher until it forms a sauce (it will thicken slightly). Let it sit for a few minutes.
- 2. Meanwhile, in the 2nd Bowl - Vanilla Cheesecake, beat together the cream cheese, water, Swerve Confectioners, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and liquid stevia until smooth in a large bowl.
- 3. In the 3rd Bowl - Cream, beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks in a medium bowl. Beat ¼ of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the remaining whipped cream ¼ at a time.
- 3. Fold in the raspberry sauce
- 4. Gently divide the mixture into your molds and freeze until stiffened enough to scoop, about 4 hours. These can be popped right out of the freezer and into your mouth! They will melt and taste delicious.
How is Covid-19 affecting our life
Now more than ever, I am conscious of what my family eats. Making sure that we get healthy well balanced meals and maintaining some level of activity. For us, that means the kids and I are out walking the dog and my husband is working out in our home gym. On our walks, it’s incredible to see that the streets are quiet, except for the occasional dog walker or jogger. Everyone that we pass is respectful of the physical distance limitations, but that doesn’t stop them from a friendly nod or wave.
Just this past weekend we had an Xbox/Facebook Jackbox Event Party with our neighbours. I rigged up a tablet to face my TV (which was playing the Xbox game Jackbox) and my laptop was facing our family as we relaxed on our sofas. I created a Facebook event and invited our neighbours to join us. When the time came, we shared with them the Jackbox code (completely legal, I checked). Each of the families also had a laptop/tablet facing them, so that we could all see each other. Then, using our phones we launched into a fun game of Jackbox. We had a blast! It was super fun to actually see our friends and enjoy some social time!
Everyone take care and be safe!
Karenlee
“Plan for tomorrow, because tomorrow you won’t have time”
Published by