Dough Balls – sounds unappetizing, but they aren’t too bad

It has been a bit since I posted a recipe. But I thought I would try making some “dough balls”… I wasn’t too sure about it though.

I’ve seen a few recipes popping up and the last one looked decent. But I didn’t have the specific ingredients, and decided that I would alter the whole process.

So… while they are “doughy” when fresh out of the oven, they are tasty dipped in melted butter. Once they are completely cool they are more bread-like in consistency.

As I hate using just part of something in a recipe I used probably more cheese in this than necessary, but it still worked out.

Cheesy Dough Balls

Pre-heat oven to 350F, and line a pan with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

One 340 gram (or thereabouts) package of Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup of butter

2 eggs

2 tbsp each of fresh herbs of your choice – I used chives and thyme. Add as many as you like. These hold up to strong flavours.

3/4 cup of coconut flour

2 tbsp psyllium husk powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Measure out the dry ingredients into a small bowl and combine.
2. Chop or shred the mozzarella into a microwave safe bowl and put in the microwave on high for 30 seconds or so. Take out and stir. Keep nuking it in 30 second bursts until it is completely melted.
3. Add the butter and herbs to the cheese and mix in as best you can. You might need to nuke for another burst.
4. Add the eggs and work in until reasonably mixed in.
5. Add all the dry ingredients and stir to combine as much as possible, then you need to start working it with your hands. Knead it as you have to work the dry into the cheese mixture really well. It will form a fairly even dough. This may take several minutes of kneading.
6. Pinch off the dough and roll into ping-pong ball sized balls. Line up on the parchment close together in a rectangle.
7. Bake at 350F for approximately 20 minutes – they should be browning on top.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.

I dipped them in melted butter to eat while warm. I then brushed melted butter over the remaining balls.

These are definitely better the second day!  The flavourings take over the coconut flour taste which make them much more tasty.

I think the next time I do this I will amp up the flavourings – more herbs, maybe pepper or other spicier things, maybe onions or green chillies. And maybe reduce the mozzarella bit and add in a strong cheese.

Also, it might work to wrap the dough around something – like a piece of cheese or meat, or an olive… would make a nice appetizer or snack.

 

 

O.M.G. I am still in shock.

I’ve been culling my wardrobe pretty much on a continual basis for the last two years, as I’ve posted about before. Lately I’ve been quite ruthless in getting rid of things in anticipation of selling the house – no point in taking/packing things that don’t fit. So my selection of available items was getting down.

All I had left in the leg covering category were leggings, yoga pants, and two pairs of capri pants. And some weren’t suitable for anything more than the gym or mowing the lawn.

I needed a pair of dress slacks last week.  So, off I went to the Mall. I was wearing size 12 black yoga pants that I’d bought back in early 2016, with high black boots. They weren’t tight.

I popped into the first women’s store I passed.  I was standing there staring at the wall which had lots of black pants on it when one of the staff asked if I needed help.  So I told her I needed black dress pants – slacks not leggings.  Told her I was wearing a 12.  So she grabbed some different pants and let me into a changing room.

Well… I think I tried on around 10 pairs.  Many were more like leggings than slacks. The slacks hung badly me, sagging between the thighs and on the outer thighs.  I don’t have much in the way of a butt or hips so find many women’s styles have too much material in that area to look nice on me.  In casual pants I usually buy men’s, that way there isn’t all that extra material.

At that point three of the staff were looking for pants for me and I was trying on size 10s. One of them then said, “I’m going to get an eight.”

I started laughing and told them, “I used to be a size 28.”

So she got some slacks that were still boxes and not yet out on the floor, in a size eight. And you know what?  They fit perfectly!  No baggy thighs, comfortable, looked nice.

SIZE EIGHT!

As she rang in the sale she said, “Welcome to the single digits!”

And in tops I’m in medium. I actually killed some time at Value Village the other evening while the house was being shown, and bought five tops in medium – all fit well.

It is very strange, STILL, to look at my new clothes and to think, THAT fits me?

Here is the visual – size 28+ jeans, and my new size 8 dress slacks.

And 2X t-shirt (I don’t have any of the 3 & 4X left) with a t-shirt that fits me now!  It is a child size XL that I accidentally picked up last Fall when I was at Niagara Falls – it was too small then, but not now.

I’ve also now officially hit the lowest weight ever in my adult life.  I’ve been maintaining steadily in a five-pound range since last December, with a drop of a couple of pounds every few months that lowers the range a bit.

And my blood sugar is staying in the normal range, which was the point of the change to Low Carb, High Fat.

But… wow, SIZE EIGHT!!!!!