We’ve got this great cereal product down here called ‘FibreX’ which can also be used as a base for lots of other things, one of which is a very moist ‘bread-like’ muffin. These have been a big hit with Aussie low carbers (thanks to Voodaloo who put us onto them) so I thought it would be a good idea to share it with everyone. The muffins really are the closest thing to bread (without actually being bread) that I’ve tasted since starting this WOE. In fact I probably won’t even bother trying to make bread from now on because these are so quick and easy and satisfy my bread cravings.

The FibreX ingredients, listed in order on the packet are: whey protein concentrate (I use isolate), almond meal, ground flaxseed, ground sunflower seeds and psyllium seed husks. I use the following proportions which makes about 400g of mixture: -

1¼ cups WPC or WPI
1¼ cups almond meal
¾ cup + 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
¼ cup + 2 tsp ground sunflower seed
¼ cup psyllium husks

Combine ingredients and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

This is my approximation of the amounts of each ingredient so feel free to tweak to your personal taste but I think it’s pretty close to the original product.
BTW an Australian cup size is 250ml and a tablespoon is 20ml (4 teaspoons)

To use as cereal:
Add ½ cup hot (or cold) water to 1/3 cup FibreX, combine well and let stand for 1 minute. Add cream and sweetener if desired. Made with water the carb count is about 2g per serve. I add cream and chocolate DaVinci to mine.

To make muffins:
This recipe is taken from the Empower website

1 cup FibreX mixture
50g grated tasty cheese
2 tsp baking powder
100g lean bacon, finely chopped
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
¼ cup cream
½ cup water
(can substitute the bacon with 2 tsp each of chives and dried onion flakes)

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease muffin tray/s lightly with oil. Combine FibreX, cheese, baking powder, bacon and salt, mix well. Add eggs, cream and water, mix well. Pour mixture into muffin tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes until top has set. Allow muffins to cool in tray.
Makes 12 small or 6 large muffins
12g carbs for entire recipe

The above carb count is based on using the bought product of course but it should be fairly close. You can also bake the mixture in a loaf tin but it will take longer to cook (mine was cooked after 25 minutes). I’ve found that a finely grated cheese (I use Parmesan) works best as it doesn’t sink straight to the bottom. I also pre-cook my bacon in the oven to make it nice and crispy and take the loaf/muffins out of the pan to cool to stop it from getting all sweaty on the bottom. The loaf in the picture was cut lengthways into long slices then cut across to make 9 slices at 1.3 carbs per slice.

The mixture can also be used in pancakes and beef and chicken burgers but I can’t vouch for those as I haven’t made them yet. Click here to see photos:

http://zgirl.myphotos.cc/photos.htm

I just moved to OZ a few months ago from U.S. and have no clue as to where to get what to make lo-carb breads, etcetera. Can FibreX be picked up from anywhere? And have you tried it in making bread instead of the items in Atomhockeymomm's recipe. I live in Eastwood and have a health store here, but when I was trying to make the LoCarb recipe, I was able to find gluten flour, but could only find Oat meal. Can that be used in place of oat flour? And how does that compare with FibreX?

C J

Sorry I didn't reply sooner....have been away on holiday. FibreX is a porridge mix that can also be used to make muffins, pancakes etc....it's not a bread mix. It just happens that the savoury muffins you make with it are sort of close to the taste of bread without actually being bread. You can buy FibreX at health food shops and if you go to their website www.empowerfoods.com.au you will find some recipes etc.
I don't really bother trying to make low carb bread....I just bake a linseed loaf (a tweaked muffin recipe baked in a loaf pan) that is quick to prepare and very low carb.
When I was experimenting with bread I found all the ingredients I needed in health food stores. As far as I can remember I think oat meal is the same as oat flour in Australia.

All Health Food stores in Oz, and most grocery stores, carry what is called "LSA" which is linseed, sunflower, and almonds, ground. However if you can find unground LSA (I did, in a HFS), best to grind it yourself, and refrigerate. Then just add some psyllium and whey protein isolate to make FIbre-X, and a lot, lot cheaper!!

You can also get wheat protein isolate, which can be used as a substitute for all and any wheat/gluten flour in recipes, from Misty, who gets all this stuff in for us:
www.passthetoast.com

Val