I’ve been blogging actively for a year now. Every single week I have managed to publish a recipe which I have developed more or less from scratch. I have also published a recipe per week in my Finnish blog.
Well, this blog has been a real challenge — sugar-free, gluten-free low-carb recipes with 5 or less natural ingredients, using foreign language and foreign measures — but totally fun! Over 100 000 unique visitors, hundreds of lovely comments. Thank you all! Your great feedback really keeps me going.
I try to perfect my recipes but there is always room for improvement. That’s where your valuable comments really help. Please keep them coming, I appreciate every single comment (not spam, though) 🙂
To show my appreciation to you, I’m doing my first giveaway now. I would like to give you the moon and the stars but since I can’t afford them (and there are some technical issues in between), I’ll give away something more practical: a great compilation of my favorite low-carb goodies and high-quality ingredients for healthy low-carb baking. And, there is a bonus as well: two secret special recipes using super-healthy cold-pressed Finnish sea buckthorn juice, which is included in the compilation. Here is what you might win:
That is:
- 2 packs of powdered Zsweet sweetener
- Sukrin Gold, the best brown sugar substitute I’ve tried so far
- Cola stevia
- Cherry flavor (makes great DIY Diet Dr Pepper with the previous one plus some club soda)
- German chocolate, 85 % cacao
- Organic garlic bread seasoning
- Organic creamed coconut
- 100 % Finnish cold-pressed sea buckthorn juice
- + bonus: 2 secret recipes using that sea buckthorn juice!
The worth of the prize is approximately $70 (without the recipes…)
I’ve never done a giveaway before, but now I wanted to try out how it will work in practice. I have purchased all the products myself, except the Zsweet sweetener is sponsored by YesDeli, a great Finnish company which imports and sells high-quality special groceries.
How to participate?
Just simply leave a comment below in the comment field. In your comment, please mention what is your favorite comfort food which is saving your day no matter how dark the clouds are. Something you could eat every day if you could. Not that I just wanted to make something up, no, I’m really interested in that 🙂
You have one week time to participate. The last day to leave a comment is 26th May 2013 after which I randomly choose one lucky winner and let him/her know right away. Please leave your correct e-mail address (won’t be published) so that if you are the lucky winner I can contact you asap. If I don’t reach you within three days (= 72 hours), I have to draw another winner, which I really would hate to do.
If there are some restrictions which apply in your country, I might not be able to ship your prize. In that case I have to pick another winner.
1 comment per person, please. I have a second giveaway on my Facebook page, so if you would like to maximize your chances, you can simply like my page, answer the question there and that’s how you can win almost similar prize! Well, there is still another giveaway in my Finnish blog, but to be able to answer the question there, you have to be able to read and write Finnish 🙂
Good luck everyone (and sorry for using so many smileys… I’m just in a really good mood)! 🙂
P.S. Next week you are going to get a recipe which is perfect for hot summer days…
Update May 27th, 2012:
The winner of my first ever giveaway is Annette. Congratulations! Many thanks for all of you for your kind comments and thanks for participating!
Yay! I won
I love eating chocolate covered strawberries
That’s real indulgence! Thanks for your comment and good luck! You were the last one to comment and now it’s time for the draw!
sour patch kids!
So simple and so great 🙂 Again a real challenge to convert into low-carb… Good luck with the draw!
I am a big pizza lover. I could eat a slice of cauliflower crusted vegetable pizza everyday!
It’s so great that there are nowadays proper and healthy low-carb alternatives for pizza crust. Pizza is a great way to have your daily veggies as well! Good luck with the draw!
I love eating cotton candy!
Oh yes, who wouldn’t! That would be a real challenge to convert a cotton candy recipe into low-carb. Maybe with maltitol that would succeed… The drawing is soon… Good luck!
Nice blog and cool giveaway! My favorite comfort food is chocolate chip cookies. I’m still trying to perfect this recipe as low-carb.
Thanks, Sara! I’m also trying to perfect a recipe for low-carb chocolate chip cookies… they are simply so good! Good luck with the draw!
Love eating flourless chocolate cake when I can
Yet another chocoholic, we are many! Chocolate always does its job. I really would like to develop a perfect recipe for flourless chocolate cake… Something very chocolatey… Good luck with the draw!
I love chicken salad as my comfy food..yummy
Now that’s healthy comfort food 🙂 And sure delicious! Good luck with my giveaway drawing!
Not a food but a mocha hazelnut latte from my favorite coffee shop always makes my day!
Hazelnut is great! I wish they would have healthier alternatives for sugar-free hazelnut syrups, those what I have seen contain sucralose or aspartame. Good luck with the drawing!
My comfort food is definitely egg omelet. You can do it within few minutes and with vegetable along, it´s the best combination!
Oh yes, omelet is so versatile! And a good way to use veggies and leftovers from the fridge. Good luck with my giveaway!
I always have a little stash of chocolate for when I’m feeling down.
Me too… chocolate sure is healing the mind and body. At least for a moment… Good luck with the competition!
I am so glad I found your blog. I am enjoying it and your easy and delicious recipes immensely.
My favourite comfort food is dark rye bread spread with butter.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your kind words! Great that you enjoy my blog and the recipes.
For me, everything tastes good with real butter 🙂 And I think dark rye bread with butter is also the ultimate comfort food for most of us Finns… Good luck with my giveaway drawing!
We ladies sure do love our chocolate 🙂 My favorite comfort food is chocolate yogurt pudding, which is simply 1 qt of full fat yogurt with a packet of sugar-free instant pudding mix (plus extra cocoa and sweetener). It is very thick and rich and I can eat it every day and not gain weight 🙂
Rose, so true about chocolate 🙂 And that comfort food really sounds too good to be true! Good luck with the draw!
My fav comfort food is anything with chocolate. Hot cocoa, cookies ice cream — all of the above. lol
Mmmm… chocolate…
For my favorite I am going to go with my favorite beverage Coconut chai tea! 😀
Alicia, that really suits every occasion!
Great job with the blog!!!! It looks truly lovely for being so young, and I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried.
My favorite comfort food, without a doubt, is dark chocolate and raspberries. But that’s more a dessert–rare ribeye with pureed cauliflower and smoked gouda is my favorite “meal,” and it’s even made with under 5 ingredients:-)
Beverly, so great to hear that you like my recipes!
You get a whole meal with those 5 ingredients: ribeye, cauliflower and smoked gouda as main course + dark chocolate and raspberries for dessert. Perfect idea, indeed 🙂
I cannot resist the combination of dark chocolate and raspberries… Yum!
Congratulations Elviira on the 1st anniversary of your blog!! Well done on all the fantastic recipes.
I baked your Simple and Fluffy Bread again at the weekend. I love its versatility for breakfast with butter and jam or for sandwiches.
My favourite comfort food is a nice scone with butter and jam or honey. Not the American-type, but the English-type which are crisp on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I have tried lots of low carb subsitutes for the real thing, but still haven’t found a satisfactory replacement. Maybe that’s a challenge you can beat! 🙂
Best wishes, Sarah (Ireland)
Sarah, many thanks for your kind words! I’m so happy that you like my recipes.
A recipe for gluten-free and low-carb English-type scones sounds like a real challenge. But I love challenges 🙂 Thanks for a great idea and good luck with the draw!
This might sound weird but I love Greek yogurt with cocoa powder mixed in. I eat it all the time!
Madeline, thanks for you comment and good luck with the draw! Doesn’t sound weird to me, sounds delicious!
First, congratulations on your anniversary! This is quite an accomplishment developing all these recipes using so few ingredients! I, for one, would be quite happy if, after a whole year of this restriction, you gave yourself permission to increase the number of ingredients per recipe. I love reading about your method in recipe develpment, and seeing your helpful and artistic photos.
My favourite comfort food is/was ice cream. I could eat it every day (almost any flavour) if I weren’t following a low carb diet.
Thank you for all you do.
Kind regards,
Kathy
Thanks, Kathy, for your nice words! I’m thinking of starting another blog for low-carb stuff consisting more than 5 ingredients. Or then I’ll write a cookbook. Haven’t decided yet 🙂
I love ice cream, too! I just made an experiment using that brown sugar substitute which is included in the prize. Otherwise nice, but faaar too sweet. You can make low-carb ice cream quite easily. Have you ever tried?
Good luck with the competition!
Happy Birthday indeed, TRUE!
A LOT to be proud of in one year’s time too!
Never heard of buckthorn juice…now have my curiosity,
Wonder what it tastes like? Am sure the question will not be unique to me!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks, Joanne! Sea buckthorn juice is filled with vitamin C and good oils. It’s very strong tasting and quite bitter. You can’t drink it just like that, but in drinks, sauces, frostings and toppings it tastes great! Good luck with my giveaway draw!
Coconut milk ice cream or Dole whip can always cheer me up. In colder weather, I love a spicy chili with tortilla chips.
Sounds yummy! Coconut milk ice cream is also my personal favorite. Good luck with the draw!
My favorite comfort food is mac and cheese. That makes any day better!
That’s real comfort food, indeed! Good luck with the competition!
I’m just starting out looking for recipes an ingredients
for my husband he is diabetic an now gluten free
I have heard that gluten free stuff taste bad? so I can’t offer any thing to make because I’m not sure what I’m doing 🙂
Eileen, depends on the recipe and the ingredients how the result tastes. Some sweeteners have really BAD aftertaste whereas some taste okay. I’ve tested numerous sweeteners and try to use those which I have found to be the best tasting.
Goods baked with almond flour and whey protein usually taste pretty okay for everybody. Hope you find something useful and tasty, and good luck with the draw!
Oops, forgot the comfort food – sugar free low carb chesecake using almond and coconut flour for base
No problem 🙂 Low-carb cheesecake has a dedicated place in my heart (and in my table) too. Yum! Good luck with the giveaway!
I love your blog and would love to win your giveaway
My fav comfort food that I am able to eat every day is 2 minute protein cake.
I use 1scoop of protein powder+1egg+pinch of baking powder+2tbsp of milk.
Mix it together and put into microwave for 2mins and the cake is ready 🙂
Lucy, sounds like a great recipe! Thanks for sharing and good luck with the competition!