Mouthwatering Low-Carb Bacon & Cheese Cauliflower Better-Than-Potato Pancakes

If you like potato pancakes, then try this cauliflower one instead

I'm a real sucker for Southern comfort food. Call it my roots living in Tennessee, Virginia, and South Carolina for most of my life, but I love delicious foods made in the South. Unfortunately, most of these foods are decidedly high in carbohydrates.

That's why I have been looking for and working on coming up with low-carb versions of fried chicken, lemon icebox pie, and so many more. Lately I've been experimenting with my own version of mashed cauliflower and putting a Southern spin on it by frying it up in a pan like you would potato pancakes.

I've had some minor issues with getting the mashed cauliflower to brown like the potato version, but this recipe tastes as good as it looks! ENJOY!

LOW-CARB BACON & CHEESE CAULIFLOWER CAKES

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 stick butter (melted)
6 strips of crumbled bacon
3 Tbs sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large egg
Cheese (optional topping)
Sour cream (optional topping)

Break up the cauliflower and place in a large pot of water. Cook on high heat to a boil for 20-30 minutes until very soft. When it reaches this consistency, put out paper towels across the counter and carefully pull the cauliflower out individually on the paper towels. Take more paper towels and place on top of the cauliflower. Gently press down to soak up the excess water in the cauliflower.

Grab a big bowl and place the cauliflower you just dabbed with the paper towels in it. Using a potato masher, thoroughly mash up the cauliflower until it is smooth. Add butter, bacon, sour cream, whipping cream, salt and pepper, and egg. Whip until well-blended.

Heat up a non-stick skillet to medium high, spray cooking spray or use butter to grease the bottom of the pan, and scoop the cauliflower mixture into the skillet. Cook the cauliflower patties for couple of minutes constantly scraping the sides. Gently flip and place cheese on top cooking for two more minutes.

Plate the cauliflower cake and put a dollop of sour cream on top.

ALTERNATIVE RECIPE OPTION: My wife Christine loves garlic and onions, so I added these to the cauliflower mix before the skillet step. It's not too bad, so you might try it!

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 3): Gettin' Veggie With It On A Low-Carb Diet

We're baaaaaaack!

Yes, Christine and I have been away for the past couple of weeks while she had endometriosis surgery in Missouri, but we are back home again and ready to bring you more fun and exciting YouTube videos about the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle! THANKS so much to everyone who has subscribed to our videos.

We debuted with a quick promo video late last month and have since recorded two full-length episodes that have garnered hundreds of views already on YouTube. Episode 1 was an introduction about who we are and why we are talking about low-carb living while Episode 2 discussed the kinds of fruit you can eat on a low-carb diet.

Continuing with the theme of the last episode, today we focused on the subject of the vegetables you can eat on the Atkins diet. Yes, contrary to what you might have heard, you CAN eat your veggies when you are livin' la vida low-carb as the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins outlined in his book Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution.

Christine and I show you exactly which vegetables you will want to consume (including one exotic new vegetable I'd never seen before until recently) and explain what NOT to eat. As usual, we have some playful fun to make the video entertaining, so ENJOY:



If you like this video, then please leave a comment at YouTube about it and tell all your friends to check 'em out, too! We really do have a good time making these videos and look forward to creating even more of them for you soon!

By the way, in Episode 3 I cite fellow low-carb YouTuber Kent Altena's fantastic Mashed Fauxtatoes recipe made with cauliflower. You will certainly want to check out that one if you miss mashed potatoes on your low-carb lifestyle.

At the end of the video, we share one of our secret tips for dining out the livin' la vida low-carb way at a popular restaurant chain for less than $10 for both of us! If you are a low-carber and want to pinch those pennies when eating out, then you won't want to miss this tip.

As always, I'd love to know what you think and welcome your comments and suggestions about how to improve these videos. I turned the volume of the music WAY DOWN on this one, so hopefully that was better for everyone who was concerned it was too loud in the previous videos. Let me know what you think. E-mail me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

Making Mashed Cauliflower (aka Faux-tatoes)

When you start livin' la vida low-carb, there are certain foods that you know will not be a part of your new healthy lifestyle any longer. While some people say they are just too unwilling to give up these foods they think they can't live without, those of us who have been on the Atkins diet have simply learned to adjust our eating habits in such a way that we find other options to replace those "comfort foods" we enjoyed so much prior to going on low-carb.

One such food is potatoes. As much as people think they MUST have potatoes or their life will end, the truth is potatoes are decided unhealthy for your body and cause just as much of a rise in your blood sugar as eating chocolate cake. GASP! But I thought potatoes were a vegetable and aren't all veggies good for you, Jimmy? In a word, NOPE! The starchy vegetables are jam-packed with carbohydrates that your body simply does not need.

So what is a low-carber to do who likes the taste of potatoes, but doesn't want all those carbs to keep them from losing weight and getting healthy? You could shell out some money for pre-packaged potato-alternative products like Imitaters or Instant Mashers. But you could just make your own as my friend Kent Altena shows you in his latest Atkins cooking video.

ATKINS DIET RECIPES: FAUX-TATOES



This was the second how-to cook for the Atkins diet video Kent made (Click here to see his first one about making a low-carb Mock Danish) and mashed cauliflower is a favorite among people who are livin' la vida low-carb. I have yet to meet anyone who can tell the difference between this amazing side dish and traditional mashed potatoes. And yet the carbohydrate count is immensely different.

Here are the ingredients you will need for the Faux-tatoes:

1 Head Cauliflower or One Bag of Frozen Cauliflower
2.5 TBS Butter
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
1 Chicken Bouillon cube
1 tsp salt
White pepper to taste

Quick and Easy Directions:

1. Cook Cauliflower until fork tender. Drain well.
2. Place cooked cauliflower and other ingredients (crush bouillon cube first) into the food processor. Run on high until consistency of mashed potatoes. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple times to prevent lumps.

Serve to your friends and family and let them be amazed.

I enjoyed the end of this video when Kent had his 12-year old and 8-year old daughters try a bite and give their reaction to the Faux-tatoes recipe. If you haven't seen these adorable girls, then watch the video so you can see them for yourself. There's even a quick cameo of Kent's wife holding the dog at the very end and you can definitely tell where the girls get their good looks from. :D

THANKS again, Kent! These cooking videos are superb because people are always wondering what those of us on the low-carb lifestyle eat. Um, it's called food! Duh! LOL! Keep it going, buddy! Leave your comments for Kent about his latest video at his blog.