Tag Archives: Healthy Eating

Crock Pot Rosemary Pork Loin with Apples + Onions | Paleo + Whole30

Every time I make a meal in my crock pot, I think…

“WHY don’t I do this more often!??” As in…ever single day?! HA!

Alas, I get brain dead with the day to day, and fail to think ahead. That is pretty much the only prep time with a crock pot meal. Thinking of it ahead of time. Once you do. You toss everything in to the pot in the morning/early afternoon. Your entire house smells amazing ALL DAY LONG, and then when it’s dinner time-it’s DONE! Seriously, what’s better than that??

NOT MUCH. 😉

BUT…can we all agree that crock pot meat does NOT look appealing? Everything you cook ends up looking about the same color, BUT all that really matters is that it tastes delicious! I may have thrown a few greens on top to break up the monotony haha 🙂 I snapped these pictures about 5 minutes before we ate dinner, as always (with a flash *UGH*)…yet wished I could have made the meal look a liiiiiiiittle more appetizing. Styling dreams that may never come true.

Added bonus? The meat easily shreds, so no slicing on a cutting board necessary, aka child friendly and one less thing to clean!! Blog Paleo Whole30 Crock Pot Rosemary Pork Loin Apples Onions-1 What You Need…

Pork Loin (depends on how many people you want to feed) I used one pack from Costco, which is equivalent to 2 small ones from other grocery stores.
1 Can of Chicken Stock (have it cover about half the pork loin)
1 teaspoon Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 small apples or one large apple (I used Gala, but any strong flavor type would be good)
2 small onions or one large onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

What to do…

Chop the onion and apple into approximately 1 inch slices.
Layer everything into your Crock Pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or or low for 7-8 hours.
THAT’S IT! 🙂

Serve with any kind of side or all by itself!

Enjoy! dit-elle-Lauren

Mini Pumpkin Cake with Maple Pumpkin Frosting and Caramel Glaze // Paleo

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This base of this cake is the same as the Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple Pumpkin Glaze that I posted the other week. In fact. I did the doughnuts in one pan, and then had a muffin top pan that I used to make these at the same time! It’s a two-fer recipe-WIN!!

How perfect would this be for a smash the cake session for a 1 year old?!! Ok, the photographer in me is coming out 😉

For a size reference. The cake is about 4″ in diameter 🙂 Ingredients

(for Cake-will make 6 doughnuts and 5 muffin tops/cake layers or 10 muffin top layers for multiple mini cakes!)

5 large eggs
½ cup Almond Milk (you could use cocunut milk too)
½ cup Pure Maple Syrup
½ cup Organic Pumpkin Puree
¼ cup Coconut Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 ¼ cup Coconut Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt (I did 20 grinds on my grinder :))
½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce

For the Frosting

1/4 Cup Coconut Cream (refridgerated)
1 Can Full Fat Cocunut Milk (refridgerated)
1 Tablespoons Organic Pumpkin
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 Tablespoon Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Honey

Glaze

Maple Pumpkin Glaze (recipe here)

What to do

(For the Cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and oil the insides of your muffin top pan really well. I put coconut oil on a paper towel and rubbed it around.
Mix all the wet ingredients until eggs are fully blended
Add the dry ingredients, then mix until dough is formed
Fill muffin top tins to the top (the dough is dense and doesn’t rise very much)
Bake for 20 minutes. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, then pop them out and cool on cooling rack.
Once cool. Drizzle with glaze. Best eaten right after glazing. Or…skip the glaze and eat as is!

(For the Frosting)

Scoop out the hardened part of the full fat coconut milk and place in a bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Whip everything with a high speed mixer for about a minute-scraping down the sides a few times as you go.
Put into a pastry bag and decorate as you want! Or slap it on with a spoon and knife and call it good 😉

Drizzle glaze and eat right away. Or…refrigerate frosted cake, and let sit for about 20 minutes. Then glaze and eat. Glaze will harden after about 15 minutes.

NOTE

The frosting isn’t as flavorful as I imagined it would be, and I honestly thought it would be a flop. UNTIL…I drizzled the glaze over everything. The cake base and the glaze are so flavorful, that the frosting being not as flavorful is perfect. The creamy texture of it is a nice balance to the dense cake, and creamy decadent glaze. Enjoy!

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple Pumpkin Glaze // Paleo

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I’ve been dying to make baked pumpkin donuts. We finally did this last week, and they were so good! I couldn’t really find a recipe that matched up with the ingredients I had on hand (no time to go to the store ;)), so I kind of made it up as I went along using Against All Grain‘s “Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts” as my guide and changed/added things here and there from what I had on hand and what I thought it needed.

These are baked instead of fried, are paleo, and have no refined sugar. No guilt, yet delicious-WIN!

I drizzled the Paleo Maple Pumpkin Sauce/Glaze that I posted yesterday over them, and…YUM!!!

Ingredients

5 large eggs
½ cup Almond Milk (you could use cocunut milk too)
½ cup Pure Maple Syrup
½ cup Organic Pumpkin Puree
¼ cup Coconut Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 ¼ cup Coconut Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt (I did 20 grinds on my grinder :))
½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
Maple Pumpkin Glaze

What to do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and oil the insides of your doughnut pan really well. I put coconut oil on a paper towel and rubbed it around.
Mix all the wet ingredients until eggs are fully blended
Add the dry ingredients, then mix until dough is formed
Fill doughnut tins to the top (mine didn’t rise very much)
Bake for 20 minutes. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, then pop them out and cool on cooling rack.
Once cool. Drizzle with glaze. Best eaten right after glazing. Or…skip the glaze and eat as is!

Having a cute assistant isn’t necessary, but it helps 🙂

The batter is pretty dense and only rises slightly, so you can fill the molds up to the top. And then…you wait 🙂 Enjoy!

Easy Paleo Maple Pumpkin Sauce

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I made this with the thought of drizzling it over some pumpkin doughnuts I made (recipe coming tomorrow!). After I made it though, I thought of a kazillion different things it would be great on. Hence…it’s getting it’s own post 🙂

And…it’s only 4 ingredients. Paleo, no added refined sugar, nut free, dairy free, and vegan. BUT…it’s delicious and you’ll want to put it on everything haha.Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 Tablespoon Pure Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Organic Pumpkin Puree
1 Tablespoon No Sugar Added Sun Butter (if you don’t have to worry about nut allergies, you could substitute any creamy nut butter)

What to do…

Combine all these ingredients and either microwave or heat over the cook top until all melted and combined to a creamy texture. Let it cool a little before you drizzle over whatever you are drizzling it over (doughnuts, cupcakes, banana ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal…the possibilities are endless) or dip fruit into it! It will harden after a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Banana Ice Cream Sundays with Figs Almonds and Honey

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Need I say more haha?

I’ve been dying to make a dessert with figs! I’d love to say that it’s because of their flavor, but sadly…no, it’s because of how beautiful they are. YES, I’M THAT WEIRD!! But in my mind…if they look that beautiful, and they are THAT EXPENSIVE (!!!), they have to be delicious too, right??

Truthfully…I’m glad I got some (thank to my parents splitting the Costco batch with me!), but…you could easily just top this with any fruit that is in season and it would be just as yummy! They ARE pretty though, right??!Banana Ice Cream

Frozen Bananas (I cut mine into 1-2 inch pieces and then freeze) amount varies on how many servings you want. I used two, and it was enough to feed 3.
1/2 Cup Almond Milk (or any kind of milk)

Toppings

Figs
Almonds (diced)
Unsweetened Coconut
Drizzle of Raw Honey

What to do

I a blender, mix all the Ice Cream ingredients until smooth and creamy. It helps to let the frozen bananas sit out for about 5 minutes.
Scoop into little bowls and top with whatever you have on hand! Really, the possibilities are endless on how you can vary this! And…I DO! 🙂

And this is what happens when you try and take pictures of a dessert with a hungry toddler haha. ENJOY!!

Paleo Spiralized Peppers with Tomatos, Mango, and Avocado Salad over Grilled Chicken

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My parents bought me a spiralizer for my birthday, and I’m in LOVE! I can’t wait to make “pasta” out of various veggies, but first, I tried it on some peppers. It literally took me less than a few minutes to spiralize 3 peppers! At first, I was just doing it to get them all pre-cut for the week, but then they looked so pretty, I decided to make a little salad out of them for dinner! Eat as is or add chicken or fish for a delicious meal!

Ingredients

1 Each of a red, yellow, and Orange Pepper Spiralized (or diced if you don’t have one)
1 Mango cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium avocado cut into 1/2 inch cubes
A handful Cherry tomatoes diced
1 shallot diced
4 chicken breasts marinated in the same ingredients used for the dressing. (omit for a delicious vegetarian salad!)

Dressing

Juice from 1/2 a lime
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

After you spiralize the peppers they will be in one continuous cut. I loaded them all onto a cutting board and just cut the pile into 4ths.
Cut everything else up and toss in a bowl!
Put all ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk til blended. Pour over salad and toss to coat.
Serve over grilled chicken (or fish would be yummy too!) Grilling on medium heat 8-10 minutes per size depending on the size of the breast.

ENJOY!

Medjul Date Caramel Sauce

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I’ve seen/heard about people making caramel sauce out of dates, and have been wanting to try it out. I finally did last week, and YUM!! No refined sugar, just a few ingredients, and super easy. Pretty much a win in my book! Oh, and it’s yummy!Ingredients

8-10 Medjul Dates (pitted)
1/4-1/3 cup Almond Mild (or milk of your choice) Amount depends on the consistency you want and how many dates you used.
1/2 a vanilla bean (inside scraped out). Could also use pure vanilla extract
A few grinds of sea salt

Directions

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender or Cuisinart and blend until creamy. You’ll need to scrape the sides a few times. I started out in a Vitamix, but I don’t think I was making enough so it didn’t blend well. I dumped everything in my Cuisinart and it turned out great!

Maya loved helping me pit all the dates, and of course hitting the pulse button 😉You can dip apples in this, spread on toast, or put over ice cream (or banana ice cream!), or put dollops into a cake (THAT is coming on Wednesday-so good!!!)

Enjoy!

Mango Avocado Chicken Salad

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Ok, ok. Just when you think I’ve posted enough mango avocado salad recipes…here’s another one haha. I just can’t help myself. The combination is just so good!! Maya chowed it down, and asked for 2nds!

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right? 😉 Ingredients

2 Cups diced chicken (I used left over rotisserie chicken, but you could grill up a few breasts seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper)
1 ripe mango diced
1/2 cup diced tomatos
1 avocado diced
1 1/2 cups diced peppers (I used red, orange, and yellow)
1/4 Cup diced red onion (I omitted this, because Maya is weird about onions, but I think it would be a great addition!)
Dressing of choice. I cheated and used a pre-made poppyseed dressing, but you could use either of these paleo friendly recipes Esther has posted. Mango dressing here or Creamy Lemon Garlic Dressing here. Or the Avocado Dressing I posted here.
Serve over a bed of butter lettuce. Arugula or spinach would be great too!

Enjoy!

Healthy Cherry Garcia

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I love anything cherry flavored. Growing up, I always requested cherry chip cake with cherry icing. Everyone in my family groaned, and thus said I only requested it so I could eat the whole thing. While, somewhat true… I mean what kid doesn’t want the whole cake to themselves?? I really did (ok, do…if I let myself make it, which I can’t…) love it!! I’ve come across other die hard cherry chip lovers in my adulthood. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!!! 🙂

Anywho! I also love Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia! YUM. I’ve been dying to try to make a healthier version. I succeeded a while back, but was rushed and took horrible pictures.

This week had been hard on both Maya and myself with us both being sick. She’d been abnormally bipolar. We’d been stuck in the house without school or other activities we usually do during the week. I’d been sick too and sleep deprived due to her being sick, so we were both a little stir crazy. All in all…not a good combination. SO…a treat was in order for us both!!

Thankfully, I still had most of the ingredients on hand to try the recipe again! And…I do believe it was even better than the first attempt!Ingredients (serves 4-Maya and I shared the above…it’s a pretty large serving ;))

2 Frozen Bananas (cut into 2-3 inch pieces prior to freezing)
1 cup frozen cherries
1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
Half of a vanilla bean (slice open and scrape inside out)
Garnish with dark chocolate chips, dried cherries, and unsweetened coconut (optional)

Directions

Put frozen bananas, frozen cherries, almond milk, and inside of vanilla bean in a Cuisinart, or blender and pulse until it looks like this (you might have to stop and stir occasionally. Also, might need to add more Almond Milk depending on the size of your bananas.Maya loves to push the pulse button 🙂 She also likes to get in the way and try eat whatever I’m photographing 🙂 Garnish with the dark chocolate, dried cherries, and unsweetened coconut (although, omit this if you are strict on certain diets). Enjoy! We did 😉

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!