Butternut Squash Soup

Hey Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know I did! Missing my family around the holiday season makes me want to have warm and comforting food! So soup is the ANSWER! I made this very tasty Butternut Squash Soup. I adapted the recipe from the "Primal Palate" cookbook but added some sage to it. It turned out really well! We have been getting squash in our veggie delivery lately so instead of roasting or grilling it this is an easy way to change it up!

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp coconut oil (Virgin, unrefined)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sage
1 tsp salt
1 quart of chicken stock

Process:

1. Sauté chopped onion in coconut oil in a large pot
2. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, sage, and salt
3. Add chopped butternut squash to pot, and pour in broth
4. Boil the squash in the broth until tender
5. Puree soup in a food processor or high-speed blender until smooth
6. Garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon and chopped walnuts

ENJOY : )

TurKey Day

So this is an exciting post for me because this was the first turkey day dinner that I have ever cooked for MaRu and I. And on top of that I did it PaLeo Style : ) I would say that it was a success, alot of work but totally worht it!


I adapted the recipes from Primal Palate through there blog and cookbook. I am in love with there cookbook it is so amazing! I would definitely recommend buying it.


Also sorry about the post being after Thanksgiving but it was a crazy week and just cooking the dinner was enough for me at the time. If you are having a late Thanksgiving over the weekend then you may get some use out of these recipe ideas.

MENU:

Roasted Rosemary Turkey

Pork Stuffing

Bacon Brussel Sprouts

Carrot Soufle

Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Pie with Almond Flour Crust

Roasted Rosemary Turkey
Ingredients:

• 6-7lb Turkey Breast
• Rosemary
• Olive Oil
• Kosher salt & Pepper

Process:
For the Turkey

1. If frozen, defrost turkey breast. Best done by placing in refrigerator at least 24 hours in advance.
2. Preheat oven to 325.
3. Drizzle olive oil over turkey breast, brush to coat.
4. Separate rosemary from stems, roughly chop and sprinkle liberally on turkey.
5. Add kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste.
6. Place turkey in shallow roasting pan.
7. Cook turkey approximately 2 - 2 3/4 hours (turkey is done when a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 170 degrees) Periodically baste turkey with juices in the pan, especially towards the end of the cooking.
8. Let rest for 10 minutes, carve, and serve!

I used a 5 lb Turkey Breast and cooked it for about 2 hours.


Pork Stuffing
Ingredients For Stuffing:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 packs of button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons each, rosemary, thyme, and sage, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp each, fennel seeds, anise, and paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coconut oil

**Note: Adjust stuffing measurements accordingly depending on amount of people being served. This stuffing filled a 16 lb turkey, as well as a 5 qt braising pan.

Process For Stuffing:

1. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
2. Place bell pepper, mushrooms, and celery into skillet and saute.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pork, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, fennel seeds, anise, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
4. Add ground pork mixture to skillet, and cook until pork is browned slightly.
5. Remove from heat, and discard any liquid in the pan.
6. Stuff turkey with pork stuffing.
7. Place any remaining stuffing into a baking dish, cover and place in the fridge.
8. Place outside stuffing in the oven, uncovered for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking, or until the stuffing is crispy on the tops, and the pork is cooked through.

For the stuffing I used less celery because I don't love it and I only had one pack of mushrooms so that is all I used. Everything else was the same. I did not stuff the turkey but next time I will because I felt that the stuffing was a little dry, very good just on the dry side. I think the moisture inside the turkey would have fixed that.


Bacon Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or bacon fat : )
• 3-4 cups brussel sprouts
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bacon (nitrate/nitrite free and make sure you read the ingredients.) I buy one that is sweetened with honey.

Process

1. Rinse brussel sprouts and cut off ends
2. Place in pyrex dish and cover with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
3. Toss brussel sprouts in olive oil and salt and pepper until evenly distributed
4. Place Bacon on a baking sheet and bake in oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes. You want it crispy not burnt (so keep a close eye on it)
5. Take bacon from oven when crispy and place on paper towel to soak up extra grease
6. Roast brussel sprouts at 400° for 30-40 minutes.
7. In the last 5 minutes of cooking crumble Bacon over brussel sprouts.

When I made the brussel sprouts I used a combo of olive oil and bacon fat. I cooked them at a lower temp because I only had one oven and I cooked them when I was cooking the turkey. After I took the turkey out I roasted them for about 10 minutes to get the crispiness.

Carrot Soufle
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds baby carrots
• 1 quart of Trader Joe's Free Range Chicken Broth, or Imagine Free Range Chicken Broth
• 3 omega 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoon minced onion
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Process:

1. Cook carrots until soft in free range chicken broth.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. In large bowl, combine pureed carrots, onion, lemon juice, melted coconut oil, coconut flour, salt, cinnamon, pure maple syrup, and eggs.
4. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
5. Pour into a 2 quart souffle dish, lightly greased with coconut oil.
6. Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes, center should be firm to the touch before eating.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired, and serve.

*Carrots may be cooked and pureed hours ahead adding lemon juice and covering tightly until ready to mix other ingredients. You also may bake the souffle, freeze it, and reheat it for Thanksgiving

Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw, fresh cranberries
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp stevia extract or 1 tbs pure maple syrup

(I only used 1/2lb of cranberries and also did 1/2 oj/1/2 water. Also I sweetened it with Maple Syrup.)

Process:

1. Begin by rinsing the cranberries off in a colander, and pull out any cranberries that have gone bad.
2. Place cranberries and orange juice in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, occasionally stirring.
3. After boiling a few minutes, cranberries will begin to pop open. Continue to stir.
4. Once they have popped, stir in the stevia or maple syrup and let cool.

Pumpkin Pie
Grain Free Pie Crust
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (organic and unrefined)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract (Gluten Free brand)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, combine wet ingredients (make sure to melt the coconut oil before mixing it into the batter)
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
5. Lightly grease pie dish with some coconut oil.
6. Pat the dough into a 9.5 inch glass pie dish (You want to create an even thin layer, the dough will rise a bit when you bake it.)
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden.
8. Remove from oven to cool.

Filling
 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon unflavored Knox Gelatin
• 16 oz pure pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (I used Almond Breeze)
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Process:

1. In a saucepan combine gelatin, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin, egg yolks, and almond milk. Mix thoroughly.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it boils.
3. Remove from heat, and chill until set (once the pan is cool enough, you will want to put the filling in the fridge to cool).
4. Beat egg whites until stiff.
5. Once pumpkin has cooled and set in the fridge, remove from fridge and fold pumpkin into the whipped egg whites. ("folding" is a stirring technique that adds air into the batter, check out this quick video)
6. Pour filling into pie crust.
7. Cover pie with saran wrap and cool in the fridge until set.
8. An optional topping is to whip heavy cream and sprinkle with cinnamon

Everything turned out amazing the pumpkin pie and carrot soufle were my absolute favorites!!!!

ENJOY : )

Mashed cauliflower & ground meat thing!

(Guest Post by MaRu)
Alright, as requested by my lovely friend... here is my recipe on how to make a paleo shepherds pie!!!


Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower (medium size will be fine)
- 1 large egg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
* add cayenne, paprika, parsley and other spices to taste (I usually put way more spices than I usually would because I've found that ground turkey or ground beef don't suck in the flavor as easily)
- Some olive oil (to grease the cooking dish)
- 1 package of ground turkey or grass fed ground beef (either at trader joe's work great)
* tomato sauce is optional (if you use it, don't go crazy, just 1/4 cup would be fine)
- 2 tablespoons of almond flour
- 1/4 cup Yellow Mustard (be careful when buying it because a lot of them have sugar added)


Directions: (Pre-heat oven at 350)
1. Break off cauliflower from stem (like broccoli)
2. Boil cauliflower in salted water or chicken/beef broth for about 15 minutes or until soft (again make sure the broth is organic and doesn't have any sugar or other crap in it)
3. Drain and mash (you can use a little bit of the water or broth you cooked it in... depends on how you like the texture, you can use a hand masher or a blender... make sure you don't over liquify if using a blender)
4. Add salt, pepper and a lot of garlic powder when mixing (you can put some grass fed butter in there as well if you'd like)
5. While working on the mash cauliflower, get the meat all seasoned up with the spices, egg, mustard and almond flour. Brown and crumble meat for 6 to 8 minutes (if there is liquid stuff, take most of it out).
5. Fill a rectangular ceramic dish (or pyrex) with the meat. Depends on what dish you are using you can layer it or simply do the meat in the bottom and the mash on top.
6. Top if off the the mash cauliflower and cook it for about 10 minutes (I like to then broil it on high for a few minutes to get the mash brown, but be careful I have burned it before!!!)


Picture: Coming soon!!! BUEN PROVECHO.

Cookies!!!!!

I know, I know what your thinking! This girl is starting this healthy lifestyle food blog and her third entry is about cookies... but this is what I made today because of some birthday celebrations coming up over the weekend. Birthday celebrations deserve cookies right!?! : ) These aren't just ordinary cookies they are made gluten, soy, and dairy free, and naturally sweetened.

When I bake I use either almond flour or coconut flour. Today I used blanched almond flour and for my sweetener I used organic 100% dark amber maple syrup. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips which is normal but the brand is special. It should be "Enjoy Life" brand because it is gluten, soy, and dairy free. I bought mine at a local health food store called "Rainbow Acres" but you can also get them at "Whole Paycheck", aka "Whole Foods".


Soooo are you ready for the recipes!!! I think I am way to excited about this ; )
I made Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Spice Cookies....


CHOCOLATE CHIP
Ingredients:

• 3 cups Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/2 cup Virgin Coconut Oil, unrefined
• 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 2 Omega 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Gluten Free brand)
• 1 1/2 cups Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
5. Melt coconut oil, pour into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop balls of cookie dough, about a tablespoon in size.
8. Bake for 15 minutes. (I baked mine between 10-13 minutes because 15 seemed to long in my oven, so just keep an eye on them close to the end of the 15 minutes.)

PUMPKIN SPICE

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup yacon syrup, or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt, kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice blend (I didn't have this so I used these instead...)

                    1 tsp Cinnamon

                    1/2 tsp Nutmeg

                    1/2 tsp Ginger

                    1/2 tsp Allspice

• Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Blend all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.
3. On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop spoonful of batter (about 1-2 tablespoons in size)
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
5. Let cool and serve.

~For some reason when I baked these they where burning very quickly. I only baked mine for 12-15 minutes which is significantly shorter, but they turned out great!

ENJOY : )

Happy Birthday Angie and Emma!!!! Te Amo Mucho!!!


(inspired by primal palate)

Paleo Quiche

I am making this blog so that I can share my experiences with family and friends... This way we can stay connected and share ideas... recipes... comments... articles... workouts... and anything we might think will help all of us stay healthy!!! 

I'll start by sharing a recipe of a quiche I made:








Ingredients:

For the Filling:
12 Eggs
Broccoli
Sun Dried tomatoes 
Shallots 
Chives
Coconut Oil
Sausage (italian, sweet apple, or bacon, etc) 
Mushrooms
Avocado


For the Crust:
1 Cup almond flour/meal
1 tbsp butter 
1 egg 
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Process:

Making the Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix Melted butter, almond flour, egg, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
3. Take crust and form in pie pan. Push up edges edges of plate
and form even layer. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork.
4. Place crust in oven until you have a lightly browned crust.
5. Remove crust from oven and set aside. No need to refrigerate overnight. 


Filling:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. Sauté the shallots in oil, once softened, add broccoli, sausage and then add the mushrooms... close to the end, add the sun dried tomatoes.
3. Add chives for the last 2 minutes of cooking the ingredients above. Set aside.
5. In a bowl, whisk together eggs.
6. Pour the mixed ingredients into the bowl with the eggs and stir together.
7. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish with the partially baked crust.
8. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes – or until the eggs are cooked (test with a fork.)

Finishing California Touch: Sliced Avocado on top with a side of fresh fruit!!!

ENJOY : )

(Inspired by livebeautiful blog)

Starting

cook·ing/ˈko͝okiNG/

Noun:

The process of preparing food by heating it. The practice or skill of preparing food.