Celebrating Halloween-Japanese Style

Who would have thought that Japanese food could be fun and themed to a Western holiday?! To celebrate this coming Halloween, my friend Satoshi (who runs and maintains the TabiEats Japanese blog) came up with some pretty awesome ideas for a Japanese Halloween dinner.

At first I was skeptical to say the least. He started telling me about his plans to make sushi mummies, Halloween-colored sushi and jack-o-lantern simmered vegetables. As I listened to him go on for a few minutes, my mind started to wander to other things. What should go into my Rocky Road? What about a Halloween Pancake? As you can tell by now, I was far from excited.

As we got the kitchen set up for this, I realized how labor-intensive this could be. Choosing just one of these items to make doesn't take long. However making multiple items pretty much took up most of the afternoon.

Still, the results were so much better than I expected. In fact, I now love the entire concept. The dishes are festive and just looking at them puts a silly grin on my face.

So the entire spread consists of a savory custard, simmered vegetables and sushi. Doesn't that sound utterly boring? You can see why i started falling asleep during the explanation process. But one look at the photos below and you'll most likely agree with me that they are far from boring.

As the sushi is pretty complicated to make, today I'm going to share two of the recipes here. I promise to share with you a proper sushi recipe in the near future.

Just to let you know, these are very traditional Japanese dishes and call for Japanese ingredients so make sure you can have them before you attempt this recipe. For example, you can substitute the dashi broth with another broth of your choice, but it will result in something more akin to a Western dish.

So if you're ready to get started, here are the recipes.

Chawanmushi

Ingredients ( Serves 2 )

Custard
3/4 cup broth
1 egg, beaten well
Salt to taste

Pumpkin soup
1/4 small pumpkin, cut into small blocks
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup water

Instructions:
1. First, microwave the pumpkin until soft. ( about 5 minutes ) repeat if necessary.
2. Peel the pumpkins and set aside.
3. Sauté the onions with butter until translucent.
4. Add pumpkins and water to the mixture. Simmer until soft. (About 20 minutes)
5. Using a hand blender, purée until smooth.
6. Add milk and heat under medium-low heat until warm. Turn off heat and set aside.

Making the custard:
1. Add beaten egg and broth into bowl and mix until well incorporated.
2. Pour mixture into heatproof cups and cover with aluminum foil.
3. Put a metal colander into a pot with just enough water to fill bottom of colander.
4. Put the cups into the colander, cover and steam on medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, or until the custard is soft set.
5. Carefully remove the custards and pour 1 tablespoon of pumpkin soup on the top.
6. Decorate to make a jack-o-lantern face if desired. I cut up pieces from a sheet of nori, but you can use anything you have such as black olives instead.

Nimono

Ingredients ( Serves 2-4 )

2 medium-sized carrots
1/2 daikon radish
6 shiitake mushrooms (optional)
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce ( regular soy sauce is fine if you can't find light soy sauce )
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sake
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup dashi ( made with Japanese instant soup stock )

Directions:
1. Cut carrots into 1/2 inch slices. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.
2. Slice and cut out the daikon in the same way.
3. Put all ingredients into a large saucepan including the shiitake. Bring to a boil.
4. Simmer on medium heat until vegetables are just tender. About 10-15 minutes.
5. Take cooked vegetables out of broth and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
6. Place face parts onto the cooked vegetables. Serve.

Helpful Tips and Notes:

For the Nimono, I would suggest using light-colored soy sauce rather than the typical dark version. However if you can't find any, the regular kind is fine.

We've used cookie cutters for this recipe, one in the shape of a jack-o-lantern and one in the shape of a ghost. They are small enough to cut out shapes from the carrots and daikon radishes so please make sure yours does too.

For the carrots and daikon, I've cut out shapes from a sheet of nori with scissors. For the shiitake, I piped mayonnaise onto them for the eyes. I simply put some mayonnaise into a plastic bag, snipped the corner with scissors and piped it on. Please feel free to substitute these things with what you wish to use and have on hand.

If you enjoy Japanese food and have access to Japanese ingredients in your area, I hope you try these out this Halloween. Remember that you can simply skip all the halloween theming by simply skipping over all the tedious face-making steps and cutting things into ghosts and stuff. In the end, you'll still be able to enjoy traditional Chawanmushi and Nimono. Make a bowl of miso soup and steamed rice and you have the perfect Japanese meal.

To make it easier, we've created a video for you. Check it out below.

If you've been following this blog, you probably already know about these too-cute-to-eat corn dog mummies. The best of all is that they are made from scratch and what makes them better is that they were actually easy to make. Aren't they just absolutely adorable? 

Check out the video on how to make these adorable corn dog mummies below. 

Now if you need a cool dessert for your Halloween party, check out my Rocky Road Video by clicking right here.

Make sure to subscribe to my blog for regular updates plus a free copy of my 10 favorite recipes! If there is something you'd like me to make in the future, let me know in the comments below. As always thanks so much for reading.

Happy Halloween!

Insane Rocky Road

I knew something was brewing on the back of my mind. Ever since I made my first ever Rocky Road about three months ago, I've been thinking of ways to elevate the whole Rocky Road experience to another level. I love Rocky Road and I adore it in its purest form. You know, the ones with chocolate, biscuits, candied cherries and marshmallows.

There's really nothing else like it. It's a whole bunch of yummy ingredients tossed into chocolate. Nothing less and nothing more...until now!

You see, I knew I had to do this soon. I've been thinking about this for too long. Dare I add non-traditional ingredients into the. Is? How about adding cranberries and raisins instead of cherries? Would people criticize my addition of Oreo cookies? This went on for weeks on end and it was time. Time to see if my insane Rocky road would taste as good as I imagined they would be.

So I spent a good 2 hours at my local supermarket to gather up stuff that I thought would be awesome in a Rocky Road and I tried to be as untraditional as I could. I went for those Oreos and M&Ms, cranberries and huge pumpkin-flavored marshmallows. Seriously? I thought to myself. But then I immediately thought, "Why the hell not?"

I had a lot of fun with this one. And although it seemed like I chose things randomly without a thought, that's not entirely true. I did think about how the chosen candies would taste together and whether any flavors would clash with one another. I also made sure to choose things that would add some interesting textures to the finished product.

In the end though, the main thing is to just have fun with this and choose whatever your heart desires. And if you come up with one that was just too awesome for words, make sure to share it with us in the comments down below.

Ingredients

3 large chocolate bars ( milk or dark )

2 packages M&Ms

1 bag marshmallows

2 types of biscuits

8 oreo cookies

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup cranberries

2 snicker bars

Directions

1. Melt chocolate in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Take it out and give it a stir. Repeat this process until the chocolate has completely melted smooth. 

2. Add in all the goodies saving one bag of M&Ms and 4 oreo cookies for the topping. 

3. Stir well until the ingredients are combined. 

4. Pour into a square pan lined with plastic wrap. Make sure to press down with the back of a spoon, making sure to get the chocolate into the corners. 

5. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

6. Take it out and cut into single-serving blocks. 

7. Eat and enjoy!

If you think you'd enjoy this insane rocky road, make sure to check out my video HERE. Once you see it, you'll see just how amazing this rocky road truly is. It's truly insane!

Don't forget to subscribe to this blog for regular updates. You'll also receive a free copy of My Favorite Recipes from My Kitchen, which includes 10 recipes I consider to be some of my favorites. Also let me know what you thought as well as what you'd like me to make next time in the comments below. 

As always, thanks so much for reading! 

Tips and Tricks for Better Food Photography

I've been taking photos with my iPhone camera for as long as I've started taking snapshots of food. So it was surprising to me when I was asked to give tips on photography when I used to write for the now-defunct Squidoo platform. Last week, someone asked me if I had any advice on how to take better photographs.

The fact is, I've never considered myself any kind of photography professional or anything coming close to it. I admit I do enjoy taking photos of food and I might spend a lot more time than others, taking forever to get that perfect angle or shot of my bowl of soup. But as I mentioned before, the iPhone camera is the only camera I've ever used so I'm not sure how much use my suggestions would be to those who don't use a smartphone.

For those of you that are still interested in some advice from me, I will do my best to give you some advise on what I do to take better food photos.

First of all, I spend a lot of time studying other people's work, especially food bloggers and on Pinterest. I try to learn as much as I can from these professionals and I simply do my best to emulate what they do with my iPhone camera. I learn so much just from doing this.

Next, I try make my food as pretty as they can look. Presentation is everything when it comes to taking great food photos. Would my cupcakes look great on a certain plate? Or do they look better in a basket? A plain white tabletop? I spend a great amount of time going back and forth, debating whether the colors of the cupcake clashes with my tableware.

Even before I cook, I think about how the finished product would look. For example in the Japanese Beef Stew above, the Japanese Negi ( green onions ) were added at the very end to add some much-needed color. Without them, the dish didn't look as nice. And because it's a dish that's eaten during the fall season, I added some maple leaves to the picture. By the way, those maple leaves are fake and were purchased at the 100 yen store.

Compare the photo above with this one. First of all, this is before editing and you can clearly see how dark the photo appears. I also thought that the dish looked better taken from a top angle. With the right angle, some props and editing, there's finally some drama to the photo. 

Although not all the time, I usually do some kind of editing work on my photos, either in photoshop or more often these days, with an app like Snapseed or Camera +. Editing them just a bit will really push your photos up a notch or two. 

For these strawberry cupcakes, I was striving for a spring mood as evident by the fake sakura petals in the foreground. I also thought they looked great placed in a basket. I also added some blur in the foreground and background in Snapseed with the Tilt and Shift option in addition to increasing saturation just a tad. 

Sometimes, taking photos from an unusual angle is all it takes for an interesting picture. This shot I took at a modern Thai restaurant was made so much more interesting by taking it at an angle. As you can see, the food as well as the tableware was very rustic and although beautiful, there wasn't enough color to make it pop. So the unusual angle adds some visual interest to this rustic dish. 

If all else fails, try taking a photo from above. This is especially helpful when you want to focus on everything on the plate. For this plate of pasta, I carefully planned it to look this way even before I started to cook. I knew I wanted to go with a yellow theme so to complement the yellows, I added green peas into the mix.

Taking the photo from the top lets you see all the various shapes and colors of this very happy pasta plate.

A bowl of granola with pineapples. Oh how ho-hum it can seem. Unless there's some honey that's being drizzled on top! You won't believe how I took this photo. 

I carefully drizzled the honey from my spoon with one hand, while I took the picture with my other hand. It took a bit of concentration and timing, but it worked. Action shot. Yay!

Do you notice all those beautifully-photographed food all over the internet? You know, the ones with the immaculate background and surfaces that you would never be able to replicate at home? Well, you can as long as you know how.

You simply go to the nearest hardware store and buy yourself some wood. I bought two of them and painted them white. I was looking for a distressed and weather-beaten look so I tried my best to make them look like that. It wasn't difficult at all and was quite fun to do.

I also painted the other side of the wood with a brown color. This way I have two choices of colors to use for my surfaces and background. Not sure if you noticed, but I've used the brown side for my Japanese Beef Stew above.

Check out this super unattractive picture. Here I am prepping my Japanese Rock Road for blogging purposes. Yeah that's my TV in the background, but you won't be seeing that in a picture anytime soon. I set up my two boards like this with the Rock Road facing my window for some natural light. 

Once I got the angle I wanted, I took a dozen snapshots of the Rocky Road. Unless you're going for a gloomy effect, it doesn't look that pretty does it? 

Now comes the editing. I simply edited the photo in Snapseed using the Brightness and Contrast filters. I also minimized shadows with the Shadow filter. 

After all that's done, this is what the final photo looks like. It's pretty obvious what a difference editing makes. Most of these apps are free or just cost a few dollars at the most, and you really don't need to use expensive software like Photoshop. Leave that to the pros!

Finally for those using Pinterest, photos like this one are better. Notice that it's taken at a vertical rather than horizontal. However on blogs like this one, I feel horizontal shots look much better so I make sure I have enough shots to use later on. 

So there you have it. I hope these simple tips and tricks will help with improving your food photos. Like I said, I'm no pro and I only use my smartphone camera for everything. If you just keep a few things in mind, you're guaranteed to get fantastic photos that would surpass any of mine. 

Thanks for reading and I hope some of this helped you in your food photography endeavors. Cheers and have a fabulous weekend!

As always, please subscribe to my blog and stay updated with the latest news at TabiEats. Also check out our new YouTube Channel! Yes, it's kinda crazy and sort of weird and makes me seem even less trustworthy, but it would be cool if you'd check it out. Oh, if you like the channel, please subscribe! :)

CLICK HERE FOR MY TABIEATS YOUTUBE VIDEOS!

Thanks!

Almost Too-Cute-To-Eat Halloween Corn Dogs

It's pretty obvious that I've been having Halloween Fever for the past couple of weeks. In fact, I think it's probably closer to a month since I've started doing these "trial runs" for the actual day but I have to tell you that I'm having so much fun experimenting in the kitchen. ( Perhaps too much fun!)

For example, take a look at these corn dog mummies. Aren't they almost too cute to eat? Yeah I think so too. However I must tell you that not long after I took these photos, these corn dogs were gobbled up in no time. 

I know these look complicated but they really aren't too difficult to make. The most difficult part of the entire process was trying to get the noodles to stay on the corn dogs. Other than that, there's nothing to it. 

Here are some useful tips to keep in mind. 

• Have the mummy "eyes" ready to go so you can stick them right onto the still-warm corn dogs. The heat will help them adhere to the corn dogs. 
• You'll need to cut out the shapes for the eyes as well as the pupils. I've used a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to cut out circles for the outer eye. For the pupils, I used a circular frosting tip to cut out smaller circles. 
• To help make the noodles stick to each other, criss-cross the noodles and give them a firm press so that they adhere to each other. The frying will take care of the rest so don't worry too much. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

8 sausages

Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Put cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl and stir well to combine. 

2. Add milk and beaten egg into the mixture and give it a good mix around until smooth. 

3. Cook the pasta noodles until done. Drain and set aside. 

4. Take your wooden skewers and stick them into the sausages. 

5. Add the cornmeal mixture into a tall glass. 

6. Dip one sausage into the cornmeal mixture, making sure it's completely covered. 

7. Make sure your oil is hot and ready. Deep-fry the corn dog in the oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Take it out and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the corn dogs. 

8. Let's make the eyes. Cut out circles from a slice of cheese with something small and round, like a measuring spoon. 

9. Snip off some meat off a black olive. Cut out very small circles with the olives. ( For an easier way, just use already cut black olive slices ) 

10. Wrap the pasta noodles around each corn dog, making sure to leave space for the face. 

11. Put the wrapped corn dogs back into the hot oil and fry until the noodles are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the rest. 

12. Carefully place two eyes on each corn dog. 

13. Eat with mustard and/or ketchup. 

I hope you enjoyed this fun recipe. You can also check out my video for this recipe to see step-by-step, how it's done. If you do make these, don't forget to share your photos and let me know where I can find them. I would love to see how good they came out!


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Thanks for reading and hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!

Making a Salad with Makomotake?

The other day, I stumbled upon this very strange-looking plant in the supermarket. I'm not even sure if it's a vegetable. Whatever it is, I was intrigued enough to buy a package of Makomotake, as they are called here. Now I have no idea what it's called or if it's even available outside of Japan as an hour of searching for information in English online proved futile. 

However, I did come up with a lot of information in Japanese so it's obviously more popular than I thought at first. Why haven't I ever seen this plant in my life before? As a self-confessed foodie, I am almost ashamed to admit this fact but I blame it on the rarity of its availability for most of the year. In fact, you can only find these in select stores in the fall. 

Think of it as a long stalk of artichoke. The outer leaves are hard and must be peeled away to reveal the edible and tender heart. Once exposed, the Makomotake hearts can be eaten raw in salads, or cooked to your liking. Today I decided to try a little of both. 

For my salad, I simply sliced the tender hearts into random slivers like so. While slicing them up for my salad, I snuck in a bite to see what it tasted like unadorned and in its raw state. Hmm....it's a bit reminiscent of asparagus  in texture and taste, with a hint of young bamboo shoots. I think I might really like this plant. 

So I rummaged through the vegetable compartment of my refrigerator, trying to make use of what I had before they spoiled. I made sure to thoroughly wash, dry and cut them into bite-sized pieces for easy consumption. Lunch time was near. 

As soon as the vegetables were prepared, I immediately placed some baby leaves on a large-sized plate. I love any sort of green leafy vegetables in salads, with the exception of iceberg lettuce. That one vegetable is utterly boring, it can put me to sleep. 

The next steps are easy and I find, therapeutic especially while humming to your favorite tune. If you take your time to compose your salad in this way, you will be rewarded with a beautiful one. Not only are salads more beautiful this way, it seems to taste better too. As you can see, I carefully placed sliced cucumbers ( cut on the bias ) into the mix. 

Here comes the star of the show. The freshly-cut Makomotake slices have been placed strategically into slots reserved especially for them. Today I treat them as VIP so they get to sit inside the salad first. 

Once the Makomotake slices have comfortably found their places in the salad, it's time to accessorize with color. These organic radishes taste wonderful in salads and I love the slight bitterness they add to this otherwise, subtle-tasting salad. 

Finally, yellow cherry tomatoes are like the cherry on top of sundaes. Not only do they add color, they bring a beautiful sweetness to the salad mix. The dressing is kept simple and can be made in a pinch. 

I don't know why people use store-bought dressings in the first place. I usually find them cloyingly sweet, too salty or just too thick for my liking. Today I simply mixed extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and a little bit of honey. How easy is that? 

The great thing about a simple dressing is that it doesn't mask the flavors of the fresh salad ingredients and lets you enjoy each vegetable in its purity. I love salad this way and I feel, this is the way salad should always be. 

And voila! What do you think of this salad? Beautiful no? Yes? Maybe so?

By the way, I also made a video about Makomotake. You can check it out right here.



And if you didn't we had a YouTube Channel, well now you know! I, along with my friend Satoshi, will be releasing new videos twice a week. Hopefully we'll get them out more than that once time allows.

For now though, we do have a dozen videos up for your enjoyment so please pay a visit to our channel and see if any interests you. Also if you like the videos, I would be forever grateful if you give them a thumbs up over there. If you subscribe to the channel, that would probably make me cry with intense happiness. No kidding! :)

Once again, thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this post, don't forget to subscribe to this blog for regular updates and more! Also if you have anything you'd like me to make, review or visit in Japan, please drop me a note on the comments below. Or you could just say hi. I'd be happy either way.

Thanks and have an awesome week!

How to Make The Most Delicious Low-Carb Cookies Using Almond Flour-On Video!

Hi guys, this is just a quick update to let you know that the video for the Low-Carb Almond Cookies ( the post right below this one ) is finished and ready to be seen by the public. If you enjoyed my post down below for those delectable yet healthy treats, the video will help you see just how easy they are to make.

Just to let you know, this cookie recipe has always been my go-to recipe for gluten-free cookies and never really planned to share them here. However my followers over at my Instagram page ( I post beautiful photos of food every single day!) demanded that I share this recipe with them. I don't know about you, but I think these cookies are simply amazing. For the full recipe, click here.



The video is just a little over 3 minutes so it will go by in a blur. But I think you'll be itching to make these once you see me in action.

Until the next update, take care and stay happy everyone!
Connect with me on Instagram!

Buttery and Delicate No-Sugar Low-Carb Almond Cookies

Many people ask me how I stay in shape while cooking up all the sinful treats I do on a regular basis. Today I'm going to fill you in on my secret. It's not rocket science and it's quite easy really. As a former overweight man for many years, I have come to terms that dieting is not an exact science and everybody is not created equal.

So my method to keeping my weight in check is simple. I simply cut out unnecessary carbs and sugars from my diet, or at least I cut back on them when I need to. If I'm having a solo dinner at home, I stick to some protein ( meat, tofu, beans ) and lots of fresh vegetables. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I make all kinds of low-carb, gluten-free treats and these buttery almond cookies are a staple in my cookie jar at home.

They're so much easier to make than cakes or pies and as long as I have a stash of these morsels of delight, this dessert-loving guy is one happy camper. They don't require dozens of ingredients and don't take very long to make. 

The secret to these cookies is the combination of almond flour and coconut flour. Cookies solely made with almond flour tastes pretty darn good, but I find the addition of coconut adds stability to the cookies, giving it a more realistic texture...something that resembles the real thing.

Here are a few tips for the best results.

• The cookies are fragile compared to normal cookies so handle with care
• If you prefer crispier cookies, you can keep them in the freezer
• Add chocolate chips, raisins or your favorite add-ins for variety

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups almond flour

3/4 cups coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sweetener of your choice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

3.5 oz sugar-free chopped chocolate

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix together the almond flour, coconut, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter with sweetener. Beat in the vanilla and egg until well combined.
4. Add the flour mixture until dough is mixed well.
5. Make 1-inch balls with the dough and place on baking sheet.
6. Press each ball to 1/4 inch thickness.
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until just brown.
8. Remove from the oven and cool in pan 5 minutes.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Watch our video on YouTube!

I finally finished making the video for this recipe last night. Check it out and see exactly how easy they are to make. Plus you'll get to see me in all my idiotic goofiness, testing the cookies at the end. Don't judge please and please be nice. :)

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I love eating them. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog for regular updates and a free copy of my 10-Recipe File. Also, if you know someone who might enjoy this recipe, please share them by clicking on the social icon buttons after the post.

I also have a YouTube channel I'm working on with my Japanese pal Satoshi. Videos are still not as professional as we'd like them to be, but we'll get there I promise. There's a great selection of videos on there right now so check them out when you have time. Thanks for your support and come back soon for more recipes, travel and fun!

Do you have Instagram? Check me out over there as I post fabulous photos of food every single day! I'm also on Pinterest, where you can see my huge collection of curated pins of things I love about travel, food and general life. I'd love to connect with you there.

Until next time, take care and hope you're having an awesome day!

Quick Low-Carb/Paleo Bread with Sunflower Seeds

For the past 8 months, I've found myself in the kitchen for most of my days. Of course this is by choice, as my life is devoted to food and if I'm not tinkering around in my kitchen trying to come up with awesome stuff to eat, I sometimes feel like I've wasted an entire day.

You see, I've never been the type to sit around and watch TV all day. In fact, that's probably my least favorite thing to do in the world. Well, if you count math as an activity, I'll probably choose an hour or two of TV over that, however for the most part, I like being productive. I love learning new things ( trying out a new recipe for instance ) and if it's a beautiful day outside, I love exploring the world around me. For me, there's never enough time to see and do everything I want.

As many people know, I've been extremely overweight for a significant part of my life and although I try to stay as active as possible, I do end up eating a lot of what I make in the kitchen, which means lots of pancakes for breakfast, salads for lunch ( mostly healthy ) and numerous cookies, cupcakes and sweet treats. Oh, I even learned how to make no-churn ice cream over the summer and boy did I make ( and consume ) a lot of that!

As a result, I've gained more than a few pounds and although 2-3 pounds is OK, more than 5 pounds is just unacceptable. So as soon as I made the last batch of Halloween cupcakes last week, I decided that it might be best to get back to my healthy weight. I simply need to lose 6-8 pounds and I'd be happy once again.

So because of this, I'm back to avoiding things like bread, rice and noodles for the most part and I already feel better about myself. To help me with my cravings for rice, I substitute cauliflower. I eat spaghetti squash in place of noodles. And when I crave bread and I need it fast, I turn to this recipe.

This is my go-to recipe for low-carb bread and it's ready in mere minutes. Of course it doesn't compare to the real deal and no low-carb bread will ever compare to a crusty loaf of freshly baked baguette. Nothing!

However for the sake of losing weight and improving health, this quick bread will do. It's really good for breads made without flour and the sunflower seeds add nuttiness as well as crunch to the bread. The method is simple. You basically mix everything up, pour it into a mug and zap in the microwave for 90 seconds. That's it! It's so ridiculously easy to make, even a 5-year old could probably whip this one up.

So if you're watching your carb intake, diabetic or just want to try something different, give this one a try. I promise you won't feel bloated after eating them and they contain only good stuff. Oh, this is Paleo-friendly and gluten-free too just in case you wanted to know. :)

Quick Low-Carb Bread with Sunflower Seeds

Ingredients

1/3 cup almond flour

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1/2 tablespoon sunflower seeds ( you can also use pumpkin seeds or other nuts )

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 1/2 tablespoons butter ( you can use coconut, olive or grapeseed oil instead )

Directions

1.Grease one mug with some oil. 

2. Put all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well with a fork. 

3. Pour the mixture into the mug. Microwave on high for 90 seconds. You might need to cook it a few seconds longer depending on your microwave oven. 

4. Let it cool in the mug for 3 minutes. 

5. Gently pop the bread out of the mug and slice. 

Helpful Suggestions

• You may want to pop the bread slices in the toaster for a few minutes. This will give it a bit more structure and make it easier to smear butter or jam on them. 
• Substitute chai seeds in place of the coconut flour for variation
• Feel free to add your favorite add-ins such as raisins, walnuts and even blueberries.

If you enjoyed this recipe, or would like me to keep experimenting, please let me know in the comments below. If you have a recipe suggestion or have something you'd like to see me make, you can leave me a comment as well. 

I also want to let you know that I recently launched a YouTube channel for TabiEats. Currently there are only a handful of videos and they are mostly of travel.

However I have plans to start releasing videos at least twice a week very soon so stay tuned. As always thanks so much for reading and bon appetit!

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There are many brands out there selling almond flour and after testing a few of them out, I prefer this brand to others. Not only does it have a great flavor, my baked goods never come out gritty and always moist.

If you've never tried cooking with almond flour before, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to use it in place of white flour. It works especially well for baking and is perfect for those trying to cut carbs or gluten out of their diet.

Almond flour adds a hearty flavor without empty calories. Full or protein and dietary fiber, almond flour adds richness and flavor to your recipes.