Category Archives: Food

Shakshouka // The lazy gals version…with chicken sausage.

I was totally intrigued when Esther posted this recipe. And then of course, I had to try my “lazy gals” approach to it! And…I added a little more protein, because…teenage boys and all. It needs to be more filling! All by itself, I LOVED it! I served it over veggie pasta, so that it would appeal the masses (teenage boys/toddler girl), but I would have happily eaten it as is, and been totally satisfied and happy!Ingredients

(serving size depends on how many you want to feed. I fed 5)

One medium size yellow onion
Tablespoon crushed garlic
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Jar of your favorite pasta sauce
8 Chicken sausage (already cooked and diced)
Half of a large avocado or one small
5 Eggs

What to do

In a sauce pan heat olive oil, garlic, and onions until onions are soft.
While those are heating, dice your chicken sausages into bite size pieces.
Add to onion mixture once onions are almost done and heat chicken sausages for a minute
Add pasta sauce and bring to a boil.
Make a pocket and crack eggs into the pocket. Cover and let cook for 6-8 minutes, or until eggs are cooked to your liking. Garnish with sliced avocado and enjoy!

Paleo Cinnamon Coffee Cake

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Paleo coffee cake? This is gluten and grain free and made with high protein almond meal. It turned out fluffy and perfect and the kids loved it as well. I am working on a version with apples that I will post later. 🙂

The flowers shown are from my Dogwood tree. Not edible, but they are a gorgeous rosy pink.

Ingredients

Cake

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup honey or maple syrup
3 large eggs

Topping

¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup coconut sugar (or maple syrup again works great)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ cup sliced almonds (optional)

Directions

Grease a 9-inch round baking dish with coconut oil and dust with almond flour
In a food processor , combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda
Pulse in coconut oil, honey, and eggs
Spread the batter into prepared baking dish
To make topping, combine coconut oil, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and sliced almonds in a bowl
Brush topping over cake batter
Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes
Cool and serve

Thanks and inspired by Elana’s Pantry

Lemon Pudding Parfait

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Lemon Pudding Parfait anyone? Protein rich and paleo! Top with some chilled whipped cream for some not so paleo but oh so delicious goodness!

Ingredients

12 egg yolks
¼ cup agave nectar or honey
pinch celtic sea salt
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup heavy cream or use a can of whipped cream to top the pudding – this will give a little extra sweetener (if you so desire) and is a little time saver! You could also drizzle with some coconut milk for a great dairy free option.

Directions

Place egg yolks, agave, and salt in a medium sauce pan
While heating over very low flame, whip with a hand blender for 6-8 minutes, then whip in lemon juice
Chill for a half an hour
If pudding separates, whip with hand blender for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy again
Whip cream in a separate bowl
Serve in small glasses, alternating layers of pudding and whipped cream
Garnish with berries

Serves 4

Thanks Elana’s Pantry! http://elanaspantry.com/lemon-pudding-parfait/

Basil Lime Fruit Salad

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This recipe takes your standard fruit salad and adds a savory undertone and some garden party elegance! 🙂 With whipped cream or coconut milk – it is pure deliciousness! I served this for my Easter brunch and made the syrup days in advance – you can clean and cut the fruit a day in advance, refrigerate separately and toss to serve!

The original recipe called for a 1/2 cup of sugar in the syrup but I generally don’t add sweeteners to fruit. I did add one tablespoon of agave syrup however to balance out the lime and basil. There’s definitely some flexibility here so go ahead and taste your way to the perfect syrup. 🙂

Ingredients

Syrup

1 Tbsp agave syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup packed basil leaves
1 Tbsp grated lime rind

Fruit

You can really use whatever fruit your heart and tummy desires including but not limited to –
Cubed pineapple (about one medium)
Quartered strawberries (about 1lb)
Cubed peeled mango (1 or 2)
4 kiwifruit, peeled, halved and sliced
Grapes, apples, pears, oranges..

Directions

Combine agave and water and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in basil and lime rind
Cool and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard solids.
Combine cleaned and chopped fruit and drizzle with syrup right before serving
Toss gently
Garnish with whipped cream, coconut milk and a mint leaf! 🙂

Raw “Tapioca” Pudding

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Ingredients

1 cup (raw) cashews
3 cups water
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
pinch celtic sea salt
¼ cup chia seeds

Place the cashews and water in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth
Blend in the agave, vanilla, almond extract and salt
Place the chia seeds in a large mason jar (½ gallon size), pour the cashew mixture into the jar and shake well (very well!) – or just whisk well in a bowl.
Place in the refrigerator overnight
Serve

Serves 4

Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

Protein Berry Smoothie

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When the Huz travels, and we don’t have the boys, Maya and I keep it pretty simple for dinners. One of our favorite things to make is smoothies-DUH! 🙂 We’ve posted various smoothie recipes, and really it’s hard to go wrong. Just dump a bunch of ingredients in a blender and it comes out tasting delicious (usually!) Since it was going to be our dinner I added some protein powder and other “healthy” powder that made me feel a little better about it as a meal 😉Ingredients

3 cups Almond Milk
2 Frozen Bananas
1 Scoop Natural Pro Complex Protein Powder (could just use cocao or cocoa powder)
1 Scoop Green Vibrance Powder (you could just toss in a handful of spinach instead!)
1/4 Cup Almonds
1 Cup Frozen Blueberries

She’s pretty excited to help hahaha. Even more excited to lick the spoon 🙂 Cheers! 🙂 I can’t even handle it… SO CUTE! Enjoy!

Strawberry Coconut Bonbons (nut free)

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I recently posted the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bonbons and the Raspberry Coconut Bonbons. Both were big hits, but I wanted to make a nut-free variation of those super yummy bonbons. Because these don’t have the cashew nut as a base, and more water, they freeze harder. Simply remove from freezer a while before serving and let them soften a bit.

You can use strawberries, raspberries or another berry or fruit as desired. Adding a small chunk of cooked beet adds a great deeper pink color but does not taint the taste! I promise.. tried and tested and kid approved!

Ingredients

1 cup coconut cream (full fat, unsweetened, comes in cans)
1 cup raspberries or other berry
1-2 Tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Blend everything on high for about a minute, or until really smooth.
Pour into silicone muffin trays (oiled with a little coconut oil), or regular metal trays lined with paper cases. Freeze to set for at least 30 minutes.
Remove patties from the molds and place into container and return to freezer.
They will keep in a covered container in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.

Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Cream Sauce

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Sound amazing? Look amazing? It is. Chicken is baked in a sun-dried and basil cream sauce.. wow!

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste (optional)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt butter in the skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not brown, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan, thyme, oregano and basil.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
Place chicken into baking dish. Cover with sauce and place in hot oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 175 degrees F.
Serve chicken immediately, garnished with basil, if desired.

Thanks DamnDelicious.net for the inspiration. I modified the recipe quite a bit to make it quicker to make. But wow, that was still amazing!

Banana Almond Raspberry Frosty

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I wanted to make a single serving of Lauren’s pure deliciousness “ice cream” frosty – Paleo Chocolate Almond Banana Ice Cream Shake // Healthy Wendy’s Frosty so here’s the recipe with some minor modifications.

Ingredients

1 frozen banana
1 Tbsp almond butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4-1/2 cup water (adjust for desired consistency)
handful of raspberries for topping
Shredded unsweetened coconut for topping

Directions

Mix up first four ingredients
Garnish with raspberries and coconut shreds

Serve immediately! This totally tastes like ice cream!

Paleo No Bake Avocado Chocolate Mint Bars

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I’ve been wanting to make an avocado mint concoction in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Ok, really, I just wanted it in general, and this seemed like a good excuse to finally do it! I found this recipe for No-Bake Coconut Avocado Grasshopper Bars from Whole New Mom. Turns out, she shared it from Raia’s Recipes. I love how people share recipes all around, and obviously, I will always say where I got my idea, inspiration, or entire recipe! I didn’t stray very far from her recipe, except I added more honey to mine, because the batter didn’t taste sweet enough 🙂 These are a light refreshing take, and leave you feeling not so guilty.

Teenager, toddler, and Huz approved-aka the trifecta WIN! Mint Layer Ingredients

1 Avocado
1/3 Cup Raw Honey
6 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 Cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract (although, I think next time I might do a little more)
dash of sea salt

Chocolate Layer Ingredients

1/4 Cup coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Raw Honey
1/4 Cup Cocao powder
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of sea salt, then I grinded some sea salt on the top after it was cooled.

Mint Layer Instructions

Line a 8×8 inch baking dish with foil. Place all ingredients in high powered blender or a food processor. Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Smooth mixture into prepared dish and stick in the freezer while you make the chocolate layer.

Chocolate Layer Instructions

In small saucepan, melt coconut oil and honey over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients (ok, I forgot to do this and just dumped it all in at the same time!). Pour over chilled bottom layer and return to the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until the chocolate layer is hardened. Remove from foil and cut into bars. Store covered in the freezer.

Maya loves to push the pulsing button. I totally remember loving to do the same thing when I baked with my mom! But she loves licking the spatula even more!

As did I… 😉 I’ve been having her help clean her own bowls lately, and it’s super cool! And…a little keeping it real. It’s not always easy photographing food with a toddler around!