Sausage Crust Quiche

My oldest sis has a local coffee shop that serves a frittata that uses sausage as the crust. Isn't that ingenious!! I had to come up with a version of my own so I could share in the awesomeness. I'm calling it a quiche since it was cooked only in the oven and not the stove top.

Printable Recipe:
Ingredients:
8 eggs
1/2 lb sausage (leave out for a veggie version)
2 medium carrots
1 medium zucchini
1 bell pepper
2 tbs butter divided
1/4 cup black olives
2 large mushrooms
1 tsp salt
1 tbs minced garlic (I love garlic, you can use less)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Press the sausage into the bottom of a greased 9x9 pan. It will shrink, so make sure it is a thick layer. You can add more than 1/2lb if you'd like. Bake for 10 minutes. While the sausage is cooking, shred/chop your veggies and add to a bowl. I shredded the carrots and the zucchini, but you can finely dice them as well. This is about 2 cups of veggies so if you want to try different versions go for it! Break in your eggs and stir until well combined. Add your spices and stir to combine. When the sausage is done, pour the egg mixture over the sausage and top with the 2tbs of butter. Bake for another 40-45 minutes until the eggs are no longer liquidy. Remove and let cool. Slice into squares and serve! This is great left over! It is also a good way to serve multiple guests. This version made 4-5 servings.

Nutrition Notes: This is a great way to sneak veggies into your breakfast. Feel free to eat as much as you like. If you'd like a lower carb version, leave out the carrots. Eggs are a great source of healthy cholesterol and the veggies in this dish are loaded with vitamins. Make sure to buy nitrate free sausage from a responsible source. 

Sweet Treat Saturday: Dairy Free Cheesecake

Cut into pie pieces

Or cut into bars (this shape stores well minus the toppings)

We are big fans of cheesecake around here! I wanted to create a paleo version and saw that you can use cashews in stead of cream cheese! I've actually never made a real cheesecake, so this was an experiment that happened to go really well. I made a second cake with a different crust and half the honey, and it did not turn out as tasty. It was still easily edible, but not as treat like.

Printable Recipe

FIRST: Soak 2 cups of cashews in water overnight.

For the crust:
1/2 cup almonds (you can soak these and dry them before using to get rid of the anti-nutrients, but the crust may not be as crunchy)
10 pitted dates
1/4 cup coconut oil

Put the dates in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. Remove and set aside. Put the almonds in the food processor and process until finely chopped as well. Add the dates back in and the coconut oil. Process until the mix starts to clump and is well combined. Line a cake pan with parchment paper and press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350 for 5-10 min (you can skip this step if you want a raw, no bake version). Place in the freezer while you prep the cheesecake.

Love those little helping hands! So easy a 1.5 year old can do it.

For the cheesecake:
2 cups of pre-soaked cashews
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey (we made another version with 1/4 cup honey, so try if you want! you can also swap for maple syrup for a vegan version. I'd like to try Stevia next to find a fructose free version.)
1/2-1 cup of fruit or extras (we made a blueberry version, and a plain version topped with blueberries from our blueberry picking! Feel free to add chocolate, or nuts. Anything you can think of!)

Directions:
Drain your soaked cashews and add to the food processor. Add in the lemon juice, coconut oil and honey. Process until smooth. This will take some time, so be patient! Around 5-10 minutes. You may need to scrape the sides every so often. The batter should be smooth without any chunks of cashews. Add your extras at the end and pulse to the desired consistency.

Remove the crust from the freezer and carefully spread the cheesecake filling onto the crust. Smooth the cheesecake until it looks pretty and return it to the freezer for at least an hour. I recommend chilling about 4 hours. When it is done slice it up and enjoy! We had ours as pie pieces first, but then decided cutting it into bars would be best. I cut the whole cheesecake into bars and stored it in an air tight container.

All of our blueberry picking paid off with this yummy compote!

For the compote put 1 tbs of water in a sauce pan and a handful or 2 of blueberries. Cook down for about 5 min. until it becomes compote-like.

We even made a blueberry version!

Nutrition Notes: This is definitely a treat. One small piece should be the serving size. The honey makes it high in carbs and fructose. Nuts like cashews should only be eaten in small amounts. This would be a perfect dessert for a holiday meal!

Gettin' Figgy with It: Fig Almond Coffee Cake

My Great Aunts have this awesome fig tree in their yard and my momma brought me a sample after my eye surgery last week. I fell in love and made her take me to pick more! She claimed to hate figs, but was singing a different tune after she retried them. We didn't know what to do with them all besides fig newtons and eating them fresh.

Here is our first fig recipe, check back for more later! I have a gallon baggie of figs chillin' in the freezer.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped figs

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond butter

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Pinch of salt

Chop your figs in a nut chopper, blender or food processor. Remember to remove the green stems. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and transfer to a baking dish. Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. 

Serve with whipped cream or bulletproof coffee!

Nutrition Notes: Figs are great as a treat, but are high in fructose. They also have similar effects as prunes on the digestive system so be warned! ;) Make sure to wash them before eating! You never know what could be lurking around.

Theme Night Thursday: Vegetarian Zucchini Lasagna

E had the grand idea that we should have a theme night where we eat a certain cuisine and listen to that style of music. I thought it was a hilariously grand idea, so started this week. I went easy on myself and started with our tried and true Zucchini Lasagna! We are getting to the end of the 1/8 of a cow that has been chillin' in the freezer, so we went vegetarian tonight.

Here is the playlist we listened too while we dined in style ;)

Holiday in Venice from djpopo on 8tracks Radio.

Zucchini Noodles

I'm currently hanging out in Iowa with the middle sister. Her husband has grown an amazing farm with rows of veggies, fruits and herbs. It's zucchini season around here so we've been brainstorming recipes. We started out with zucchini lasagna of course! My sister whipped up a batch of zucchini chips to go with our portobello burgers and tonight we had zucchini noodles! I've seen tons of recipes for these using a spiralizer, but ain't nobody got time (or money) for that. With some more brainstorming and maybe some googling (equivalent to brainstorming these days?) we decided to use a lemon zester. It worked great!

Printable Recipe

Here's what we made, we call this Mongolian BBQ in my family. 

Ingredients:

2 zucchini

3 mushrooms chopped

1 cup kale or spinach

1-2 carrots chopped

2 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs braggs aminos, gluten free soy sauce, or coconut aminos

1 tbs garlic

In case you were wondering what a lemon zester might look like!

Directions:

To make the noodles drag the lemon zester down the side of the zucchini. You will get to a point where you can't zest anymore. We just cut up the rest of the zucchini and tossed it in with the other vegetables. In a pan cook everything except the noodles and kale until the carrots and mushrooms are soft. Add in the kale and cook until wilted. Add in your noodles and cook 5-10 more minutes. That's it! Super easy peasy! You can easily add grilled chicken, ground beef or cubed steak to this. My middle sister is vegetarian so we skipped the meat. I do suggest adding cashews or slivered almonds as a protein source because we were hungry later that night with the only protein coming from the braggs aminos! 

I'm excited to have a way to make noodles without buying a spiralizer!! I know E is going to love these noodles with marinara sauce as spaghetti. 

Pickles

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 Pickling cucumbers

2 cups water

1/2 cup vinegar

2tbs salt

1/4 tsp ginger, turmeric, dill weed

1/2 tsp dill seed, ground mustard, crushed red pepper

4 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

Slice pickles and add them to a mason jar (20 oz. works).Add the bay leaf and garlic. Add the salt to the water and stir to dissolve. Add spices, then salt water and vinegar to the pickle jar. Place the lid on the jar and invert or shake well to mix up the spices. If you seal the jar you can store outside the fridge, if not store in the fridge for about a week, so the pickles can ferment.

Mango Avocado Salsa

1/2 a large avocado diced

1 mango diced

10 grape tomatoes halved

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp basil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

Pickled jalepeños diced to taste 

Cut up all your ingredients and then mix together gently in a bowl. This would be great with chips but we don't eat those around here so we just ate it with a fork! It was the perfect mix of sweet, spicy and savory!

Paleo Brownies Take 1

These brownies are simple and easy to bake! I'm still working on tweaking the recipe to perfection. I'll post back if I make any changes.

Printable Recipe

I adapted my recipe from Baker Gal.
Here's what you need:
1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg

Combine all ingredients and beat to mix everything together. Pour into a glass pan. I lined mine with parchment paper, but I think that was unnecessary. Cook at 325F for 35 minutes.

EZ Eats: On the Road

Eating healthy while on the road is tough! Especially if you're trying to limit your carb intake (limited amount of fruit as an option). I like to eat a large meal before we leave, have 1 or 2 snacks for the car, and try to eat at our destination. (To be honest I actually ate my bacon and cantaloupe salad on the way to pick up E from work.) E on the other hand can't and shouldn't go that long without a meal. The food I bring is mostly for his benefit ;) and to battle my boredom.

Here is what I packed for our 6 hour road trip:

6 Lara Bars (check the ingredients, not all flavors are Paleo friendly, but all flavors have wholesome ingredients!)

1 bag pistachios

2 apples

Almond butter

1 dark chocolate bar

Raw carrots and cucumber

Dressing and cashew hummus for dipping

Cantaloupe

Hard boiled eggs

Date bars

Homemade Coconut milk

Paleo Brownies

(We did not eat all this, but I like to have it just in case! On our last trip to Dallas we were stopped in traffic for 3 extra hours)

Things we didn't bring but that pack well and last the day in the car:

Almonds, pecans, walnuts etc.

Roasted turkey or other nitrate free lunch meats (this is not the optimal choice for health since there are usually other additives)

Cooked, diced chicken

Celery

Bananas and other fruit 

Red Bell Peppers

Beef jerky (the only ingredients should be meat and possibly pepper and salt)

Baked sweet potato

Are there any healthy snacks you can't live without while traveling?

EZ Eats: Bacon Cantaloupe Salad

We were headed out of town for the weekend and needed to clean out the fridge. This is what I came up with! (I used the Tasty Food Photograph eBook to help in my picture taking! Can you tell the difference??)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups mixed greens lettuce

4 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
1/2 tomato

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup cubed cantaloupe

Mint leaves, minced

Favorite dressing. I use Cindy's Kitchen Rosemary and Roasted Garlic from Whole Foods. 

Cut your veggies and cooked bacon and serve over a bed of lettuce.

Pecans or feta would be a great addition!

Coconut Flour Pancakes

I have been trying to perfect a perfect coconut flour pancake recipe for a couple months, and I think I've finally got it! Let me know what you think!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 egg whites, 1 egg (I would like to try just 2 whole eggs next time)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
Coconut oil or butter to grease pan

Melt the butter in a skillet and leave to heat up. Pancakes cook better in a well heated pan. Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour batter into the pan (about a 1/4 cup, but measuring is not important). Swirl the batter around in the pan so it spreads out, making a thinner pancake. Cook on one side until bubbles form and start to pop. Loosen from the pan and use a spatula to flip. If you're fancy you can flip it just using the pan (I'm practicing ;)). When the bottom is browned, 2-3 minutes, remove from pan and keep warm in the oven or microwave. Finish cooking the batter and serve with maple syrup or honey. Makes about 6 pancakes.

Health Notes: Everything in the pancakes is healthy. Be careful adding maple syrup and honey because both are pure sugar! If you have a clean protein powder, feel free to add it in. You may need to add more liquid to keep the consistency.

EZ Eats: Taco Pile-On

Tacos are a huge tradition in our family and we have a family recipe that we love! Sadly it has flour in it :( It can easily be omitted, but it is not quite as savory. Here are the seasonings I used:

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1tbs cumin
1tbs garlic
1tbs cayenne pepper

Cook all ingredients on a skillet on the stove until meat is cooked through. Serve over a bed of lettuce with any veggie you can think of. We had tomatoes, bellpeppers, jalepenos, mushrooms and a side of avocado. Don't forget your cauli-rice!

EZ Eats: Bomb A Salad

This is E's favorite salad ever. He named it Bomb A$$ salad in honor of all its amazingness. Its so simple to make that I feel silly blogging about it! All you need are sliced strawberries, blueberries, mixed greens lettuce, avocado and your favorite dressing. We love the dressing pictured from Whole Foods. It has wholesome ingredients and no sneaky additives. I also like to make a lemon/olive oil vinaigrette. Toss everything in a bowl and serve.

Chia Seed Pudding

Chia pudding is super popular lately and with good reason! Chia seeds are high in omega 3 oils and they expand in your tummy leaving you feeling full long after. This pudding is similar to tapioca and is incredibly easy to make. Here's how it goes:

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2-3 tbs chia seeds
1 cup coconut milk (you can use almond milk, but it won't be as sweet)
fruit & nuts (optional)

Directions:
Combine the chia seeds and coconut milk in a sealed container. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours. The chia seeds will swell and become jelly-like. You can leave it overnight if you like. Remove from fridge, add in any of the extras and serve!

The variations of this are endless! You can add cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice. Let me know what you try!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I had never tried brussels sprouts until visiting my sister Rosita in Seattle. She made them and they were delicious!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 bag of brussels sprouts
bacon or bacon grease
sea salt
garlic

How to:
Cut the brussels sprouts in fourth and spread on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with bacon grease (you can use melted butter or coconut oil as well). Add chopped uncooked bacon. Season with salt and garlic. I used garlic powder, fresh minced is better. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until some of the outer leaves brown and look crispy.

Boiled Eggs

These are our farm fresh eggs. Aren't they beautiful! The larger ones are actually turkey eggs. Turkey eggs have a harder shell and a little firmer yolk. They taste just the same to me! I've been searching for the perfect hard boiled and soft boiled eggs and I've finally found it! 

Soft boiled:

Bring water to a boil and place fridge cold eggs in the water. The water should cover the eggs. Let boil full blast for 8 minutes. Drain and place in cold water in the fridge to stop the cooking process. The goal is a soft runny yolk and a firm white. Serve anyway you like!

Hard Boiled:

Place eggs in a pot of water and bring to a full boil. Let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place in cold water in the fridge to stop the cooking process. The goal is to have a firm yolk without any gray coloring. These are great in egg salad.

Peeling tricks:
Crack the egg gently on the counter all around. Focus on the rounded end (the bottom). Rub the egg between your hands to loosen the shell. Start peeling from the bottom and try to get under the membrane. Use the pads or your fingers and not your nails to keep from taking chunks out of the egg white. You can crack it under cold running water, or rinse it after you have the shell off. I am a terrible egg peeler due to my lack of patience and these tips really help me!!

Tahini Muffins

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. I was excited about it not have much sweetener, and not using almond butter. We eat a lot of almond based foods around here, so having other options is a necessity. The recipe was pretty basic and is vegan. I think I would try using real eggs next time because I am not the biggest fan of flax. It contains phytoestrogens (a nasty plant hormone that mimics estrogen in our bodies) and can't be eaten in its natural state. It has to be ground up to be edible making it very similar to grains. Mark Sisson has a great article explaining the pros/cons. On to the recipe!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup ground flax and 3/4-1 cup water
1/2 cup tahini
2 ripe mashed bananas (the ripeness of the banana can change the taste)
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbs honey or maple syrup
1/3 cup canned coconut milk

Mix all ingredients in a kitchen aid mixture, or with a hand beater. Transfer to greased muffin cups. To grease my muffin tins, I use coconut oil and rub it around. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. The recipe mentioned 20-30 minutes, but mine were far from done at 20 minutes. A fork test will not tell you if these are done because they are very dense. Enjoy!

Nutrition Notes: 1-2 muffins is the best serving size. Keep in mind that replacing all your normal eats (muffins, pancakes, cookies) with healthier versions does not promote fat loss.

Green Chile Stew

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 onion chopped (I leave mine in giant chunks so I can pick it out :))
2 lbs stew meat
juice of 1 lime
1tbs garlic
1/2 cup chopped green chile
1tsp cumin
1 tomato diced
1tsp oregano
1tsp salt

In a skillet brown the beef. Add all ingredients to a crockpot and cook for 6-8 hours. My crockpot cooks hot! so I only did 6 hours. This is great served alone, with "cauli"rice or baked potatoes. I made E a baked potato, but I just ate the stew.

Cauli-Rice

White rice is ok on occasion on the Paleo diet since it doesn't have the same inflammatory properties of other processed grains. I choose to not eat it often because it is high carb. Carbs tend to promote fat storage and weight gain. Carbs are great for endurance athletes, but not for the average person who spends most of their day on their booty in front of a bright screen like I do :). "Riced" cauliflower makes the perfect substitute for rice and its extremely easy to make.

Printable Recipe

Here are 2 different ways to make it:

Microwave
1. Cut cauliflower into florets and discard the stems and leaves.
2. Toss in a food processor or blender.
3. Blend until the consistency of rice.
4. Pop in the microwave for 3 minutes.
5. Remove and serve!

Stove-top/Steamer
1. In a pot of water boil the cut cauliflower until soft. You can also use a steamer and steam the cauliflower if you have one!
2. Remove from stove and drain.
3. Transfer to a blender and process until rice like.
4. Remove and serve!