Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

One of my husband's favorite side dishes is roasted potatoes. I don't make them very often, but it's a real treat when I do. Come to think of it, I don't know why I don't make them very often, they are so easy and SO good!

These potatoes are the perfect side dish for fall!  They warm you to your core, are full of robust flavors and fill the house with the best aroma! We will definitely be making these again soon!


Roasted Potatoes:

8-10 small red potatoes (or golden would be good)
2 Tbps Olive Oil
1.5 tsp chopped Rosemary
3/4 tsp garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat over to 400.

Cut potatoes into eighths. Or Sixths. The smaller they are the quicker they cook. Put potatoes in a large bow. Add Olive Oil, Rosemary, garlic powder and salt and pepper. mix thoroughly until well combined.

Lay potatoes flat on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Bake for 15-20 more minutes, or until browned.

We had ours with Steak (for the hubby) and Salad for me (still having my animal protein aversion). It's the perfect side for any meal!

Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes

Wow, it’s been almost 3 months since my last blog. I wish I could say that I had some awesome reason for my hiatus or that something exciting was going on in our lives, but… I don’t. I simply had been feeling unmotivated to blog.

I can’t pinpoint why I was feeling this way or what sparked me to start blogging again, but I’m back. I think I was pressuring myself to post something EVERY DAY, and if I didn’t, I was some kind of failure, when really I started this blog as a way to keep track of recipes I liked and a virtual diary of sorts.

I have a bunch of new recipes and ideas to share and I am excited to get them on the blog again!

While this first blog isn’t really a recipe, I thought the idea was so fun and clever I had to share.

Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes

These cute little treats are so much fun to serve for dinner or would make a great addition to any potluck. We use mustard in our tuna, hence the yellowish color in the pictures!

Ingredients:

2 cans of Tuna (drained)

1 pickle, diced

Quarter of an onion, diced

Mayo (or mustard) to your liking

2 tsp minced garlic

3 beefsteak tomatoes, hollowed out.

Basil for sprinkling

Mix up your tuna to your liking in a bow. Hollow out the tomatoes, just as you would a pumpkin. Stuff the tomatoes with the tuna and top with a sprinkle of basil.

Serve with some organic tortilla chips for a wonderful appetizer or dinner! 

Chicken Con Cipolle e Formaggio

I have a plethora of chicken breasts at my house right now, about 40 lbs to be exact.So expect a lot of chicken recipes in the next few weeks.

I knew I wanted to try a new recipe, as my husband easily tires of chicken, and to get him to love any chicken dish, it has to be new, and something we don’t eat very often!

Thus came along Chicken con Cipolle e Formaggio, which is really just Chicken with Onions and Cheese, but it sounds so fancy :) 

Not to brag, but oh wow! This dish came out even better than I could have imagined. It was so moist and flavorful!

Chicken con Cipolle e Formaggio:

3-4 Chicken Breasts

1 medium onion, sliced

8 slices of goat cheese

Italian dressing of choice to marinate Chicken in

Coconut Oil to grease your baking dish and for Onions

Salt

Marinate your Chicken breasts in Italian dressing of your choice up to 24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Lightly grease a baking dish, add your marinated chicken breasts to the dish and cook for 25 minutes.

While your chicken breasts are cooking, add some coconut oil to a saute pan and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add your sliced onion. While they are cooking, sprinkle with salt (this makes them sweet, not sugar surprisingly) Let them cook until they are slightly browned and very limp.

When the 25 minutes is up, take your chicken out of the oven, top each breast with 2 slices of goat cheese (or more or less), and then a large pile of onions. Put back into the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

I wanted my onions and cheese to brown slightly, so for the last five minutes I turned my oven to broil.

Quinoa Summer Salad

My dear friend, Jenny, emailed me a version of this recipe a few weeks ago. Her co-worker brought this salad to a work potluck, and Jenny thought of us, since it was gluten free and delicious!

After being on vacation (a post on our wonderful trip to Florida is coming soon) and just a crazy month of May, I finally got around to making this dish last night. It was a huge hit! My husband even said “Ang, I think I have a new favorite!” I love that he is so easy to please!

I adapted the original recipe a bit to add more protein and make it a dinner dish. My adapted recipe is below.

Quinoa Summer Salad

3 cups Quinoa

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 bag (2 cups) frozen corn

2 Chicken Sausages

1 pint (about 10-12) grape cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup cilantro

½ Onion finely chopped

¾ jar of creamy balsamic dressing (or dressing of your choice)

½ lime squeezed

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, diced

1 Avocado, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the Quinoa according to package directions. Once the quinoa is cooked and has cooled, add olive oil and fluff. Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a large serving dish/bowl.

While the Quinoa is cooking, defrost corn and cook the sausage until heated all the way through. Chop the sausages into bite sites pieces.

Cut up the tomatoes, onion and cilantro and avocado.

Add the corn, onion, sausage, cilantro, grape tomatoes, and dried tomatoes to the Quinoa mixture. Squeeze your lime and add your dressing to the dish and mix until well incorporated. Top the dish with the avocado and serve.

 

 

I'm sharing this on Pennywise Platter Thursdays,  Full Plate Thursdays, and It's a keeper Thursdays

Asian Green Beans

I have to admit that I get really lazy when it comes to side dishes for dinner. I spend a lot of time prepping and making sure that the main dish is delicious, that we usually end up having salad (every.single.night) or simple rice/quinoa.

I have been wanting to try and get more creative with the side dishes I prepare, so here is one of my first attempts! And boy, it was hit! I will definitely be making this again. You could even add some chicken and use this as a main dish!

Asian Green Beans:

2-3 Cups Frozen Green Beans (organic) or Fresh

½ Cup Walnuts or Pecans

Sauce:

1 Tbsp Soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tsp Olive Oil

½ Tsp Garlic powder

½ Tsp  Onion powder

½ Tsp or less Salt

1 Tsp Sesame Seeds

Preheat your oven to 350

Steam your green bean on the stove top until done (typically about 10 -15 minutes if frozen, 5- 10 if fresh). While your beans are cooking, place nuts on a silpat or cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, or until brown.

While everything is cooking, prepare your sauce in a small bowl.

Once your bean and nuts are done cooking, combine the two in a serving dish. Drizzle your sauce over the top of dish and mix well. Sprinkle Sesame Seeds over top of the dish and serve!

Here it is with our dinner from last night! (recipe for the fish is coming soon! Coconut crusted Cod!)

 

Im sharing this on Pennywise Platter Thursday!

Full Plate Thursdays and 

Its a Keeper Thursdays!

Nut Butter Bread

I found this recipe on Homemade Dutch Apple Pie’s blog and was so intrigued by the recipe I had to try it for myself.

I could not wrap my head around the fact that the ingredients in this recipe come together to make a… bread? But low and behold, they did! This Nut butter bread is moist, flavorful and a wonderful treat!

Nut Butter Bread

1 cup nut butter (I used almond butter!)
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs ( I only had two left, and the recipe turned out just fine, but I would recommend 3 if you have them on hand)
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 T vinegar or lemon juice (I used lemon juice)

Combine all ingredients except for the lemon juice and mix well. Add the vinegar or lemon juice and mix well, then pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven (mine only needed about 25-30 minutes, not sure if it was because I omitted an egg or not?). It is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

Cajun Casserole

 

I don’t know how I’ve had a blog this long without posting this recipe! I have been making this casserole (as least some version of it) for years! It is packed with protein, it’s quick and it’s good!  

(And yes, those are brussel sprouts in my picture. That recipe coming soon – I’m just like you, thought I HATED them, but oh man, these were fantastic!)

I call this Cajun Casserole because I used Cajun spices to season it. You could easily change the spices to better reflect what your family likes. You could make this more Italian, or Mexican if you prefer!

Cajun Casserole:

½ -1 lbs Ground Turkey or Beef (grass fed if using beef)

½ large onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 Cups cooked quinoa (or brown rice)

1 can organic diced tomatoes

15 oz (1 can) cooked organic kidney beans (or black beans)

1 Tbps minced garlic

2 Tbps Cajun seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400

In a large skillet or pan, cook your ground turkey (or beef) until brown and cooked all the way through. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste. Remove meat from skillet and set aside.

Add a bit of oil (may not need to if you have grease left over in your pan) to your skillet/pan and add onions and pepper. Saute until soft – about 5-7 minutes. Add Garlic about one minute before your veggies are done.

Once your veggies are done cooking, add tomatoes, beans and meat into skillet/pan. combine well. Add 1 Tbps of Cajun seasoning. Let cook for 1 minute.

Add in Quinoa (or rice) and stir until well combined.

Transfer contents into a large baking dish. Top with remaining 1 Tbps of Cajun seasons. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until flavors combine. 

I'm sharing this on Pennywise Platter!
and on Full Plate Thursdays!
and Its a Keeper Thursdays!

Simple Taco Salad

Taco Salad is a staple in our household. I put taco salad on our menu at least once a month. It’s so quick to prepare, it’s healthy, it’s delicious and it’s fun, because YOU get to pick what to put in your salad.

I always prepare the salad like a salad bar. I will cut up lots of different veggies, put out corn, beans, chips, seasoned taco meat, salsa, avocado, different salad dressings, ect and then my hubby and I top our salads however we choose!

There isn’t really a recipe for this salad, as you can choose whatever your family likes, but I will provide a list of ingredients that we typically use for our Taco Salads:

Taco Salad:

Carrots – chopped

Onions – diced/chopped

Peppers – chopped
Olives – chopped

Avocados – chopped or turned into guacamole

Corn

Beans – either refried as a topping or any whole bean (heated would be best probably)

Corn Chips – crunched as a topping

Tomatoes – chopped/diced

Shredded Chicken/beef – Seasoned w/homemade taco seasoning

Ground beef/turkey – Seasoned w/homemade taco seasoning

Cheese/Sour cream – if you can eat dairy

Salsa

Salad Dressing of Choice

Throw together and enjoy!

Papa's Chicken

I plan my meals a month in advance. I find that this is the easiest way for me to stay within our grocery budget, for me to cook healthy nutritious meals and to make sure that we don’t eat out every night. It is so much easier to come home from work after a long day and not have to think about what’s for dinner. I simply look at my chart, and start cooking. I already have all the ingredients and I rarely plan for anything that takes longer than 30-45 minutest to prepare!

Last night, however, was one of those rare nights when I got home, the vegetables had gone bad, the meat wasn’t thawed and I had NO desire to try and be creative and make the dinner work. So I dug through our freezer and fridge to see what we had and this recipe is a result of our existing ingredients. We loved it (my husband did especially – anytime he gets bacon, he’s a happy boy!)

Papa’s Chicken

4 Boneless Free Range Chicken Breasts

8 Slices Nitrate Free Bacon

1.5 Cups Homemade BBQ Sauce, divided

Homemade BBQ Sauce

¾ cup Organic Ketchup

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 T Garlic Powder

1 T Onion Powder

1 T Honey

Mix in a small pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350

Rinse and pat dry your chicken breasts. Place Chicken Breasts in a 9x13 lightly greased baking dish. Poor half of your BBQ Sauce over chicken breasts. Place in over and bake for 30 minutes.

While chicken is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. When chicken timer goes off, place 2 slices of bacon on each chicken breast. Top with remaining BBQ Sauce. Bake for 10-15 more minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Such an easy dinner, and if your husband is anything like mine, it will be a HUGE hit!

I'm sharing this on Real Food Wednesdays, What's Cooking Wednesdays, and Pennywise Platter Thursdays and Real Food Weekly

Easy Pot Roast and Veggies

When I married my husband, I made it a priority to find out what his favorites home cooked meals were so that I could make them on a semi-regular basis or for special occasions for my sweetie. What were they you ask? His mom’s potato salad, steak and Pot Roast.

Steak? No problem! I don’t mean to brag, but I can make a mean steak. Potato salad? A little more intimidating, but because he loves his mom’s specific recipe, all I had to do was get the recipe from her and have her help me with the first batch. Pot Roast? That’s a whole other story. I had never, ever, made a pot roast before we were married. I don’t think I had even eaten a pot roast in 10 years.

Well, in the almost 1 year that we have been married I have successfully made at least 5 pot roasts and have received raved reviews from my hubby every time! I don’t know why I was so intimated by the thought, pot roast is definitely one of the easiest meals to prepare and almost impossible to mess up!

Crockpot Pot Roast w/Veggies

1 Beef Roast (any kind will do, really! I used Chuck Roast last night)

10-15 mini carrots or 3 large carrots, peels and chopped into quarters or fifths

1 large onion, chopped into large chunks
Potatoes – amount to your liking (cubed and skinned, if using Russets)

1 Tablespoon Allspice

1 ½ Tablespoon garlic salt
1 Teaspoon Thyme (or spice of your choice)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine allspice, garlic salt, and Thyme, salt and pepper. Rub the spice mix onto your roast. Save remaining spice mix.

Place your roast in the center of your Crockpot. Place carrots, potatoes, and onions around the roast. Sprinkle the remaining spice mix over top of veggies and pot roast.

Lastly, add the minced garlic over top of the veggies and pot roast.

Cook for 8 hours on low, or 4-6 hours on high. I have found it is juicer and melts in your mouth more if you can cook it for longer on a lower heat than on the higher setting, however either way works!

This meal is great because you have a whole meal done when you get home from work. Through it on the plate and you are good to go!

I'm sharing this on Real Food Wednesdays, What's Cooking Wednesdays, and Pennywise Platter Thursdays

Collard Wraps w/Sunflower Pate

My husband enjoying his Collard Wraps

I found recipe through one of my very favorite blogs, Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. They have great whole food, healthy, allergy friendly, original recipes! If you haven’t checked them out, I greatly encourage you to stop by their blog.

This recipe is very unique! The flavor is so wonderful and while it is fairly time consuming, it is totally worth it! This recipe was not the biggest hit with my husband, but I loved it! It is so healthy, and makes a huge amount! I think it would be a great appetizer to bring to party, or for a large dinner as the main dish!

Collard Wraps with Raw Sunflower Pate (from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen) 

1 bunch (large) collard greens

Sunflower Pate:

 2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 6 to 8 hours

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup finely diced shallots (I found ¼ cup was a little to strong for my family, next time we will use a little bit less)

2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon honey (I added this to the recipe as I found it was too tart without it!)

Fillings (all optional, whatever sounds good to you!)

pumpkin seeds
green lettuce
tomatoes

grated carrots

sprouts

sliced avocados

Cut the stems off of the bottom of each collard green. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

While the water in coming to a boil, drain and rinse the sunflower seeds in a fine mesh strainer. Place all pate ingredients into a food processor fitted with the "s" blade and pulse until desired consistency. I like mine processed until the pate is fairly smooth. Set aside.

To blanch the collard greens, dunk each one in the boiling pot of water for approximately 60 seconds. Gently remove with tongs and set on a plate to cool. Continue to do this until all of the greens are blanched.

To assemble the wrap, place a green onto a large plate or cutting board. Place a few scoops of the pate on the bottom (stem-end) of the green. Add your other filling ingredients on top. Fold the long ends in slightly (about an inch on each side) and then tightly roll. Refrigerate right away or cut in half and serve.

Sweet and Oniony Beef

With Christmas season upon us, I must admit that I have been struggling to keep up with my all homemade meals, grocery shopping and whole food eating. With all the Christmas parties, concerts, weddings, and friends home from out of town, things are a little crazy around our place! So crazy, I forgot to take a picture of this dish! It’s beautiful though with the green peppers, onions, red tomatoes and beef! Very Christmas-y!

This dinner is simple and got rave reviews w/my husband!

Sweet & Oniony Beef

1 lbs. steak of your choice (I used Top Sirloin)

2 Onions, diced

3 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Garlic, minced
1 Green pepper, sliced

1 Can diced tomatoes, juice drained

2 Tbs arrowroot powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut your steak into ½ in. wide strips. Brown beef in a large skillet with a bit of coconut oil, Season meat w/salt and pepper to taste. When meat is almost done, add onions and sauté until onions are translucent. 

Add the honey, garlic and cover the dish until about half way covered w/water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes add pepper and tomato and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Bring to a low boil.  Mix arrowroot powder with cold water (just a little bit, enough so the arrowroot powder mixes in) and add to hot liquid, stirring constantly until thick.

Serve over brown rice or quinoa. 

I'm sharing this on  Real Food Wednesday, Simple lives Thursday, Pennywise platter Thursday and What's coooking Wednesdays!

Apple Pie and Pie Crust

Since I am an October baby, all of my birthdays have had apples involved. Whether it was bobbing for apples, Carmel covered apples or an apple toss, each birthday memory is sweeten by the thought of apples!

Well this year, as I was throwing my first large dinner and dessert party for my birthday, I knew I had to make an apple pie! I just love apple pie and couldn’t think of any other dessert I would want for my birthday.

I guess I didn’t realize how much work would be involved in making a gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free recipe that would work. This apple pie was definitely “my Everest” of desserts; however, the outcome was worth it! The pie was a hit!

Apple Pie Filling:

5 Apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch slices
3/4 cup honey (1 cup if you like sweeter pie)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 Pie Crusts (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl add your, Peeled, cored and sliced apples. Pour the lemon juice over the apples to prevent browning. Heat the honey on medium low until it flows freely. Combine flour, spices and salt. Sift flour, salt and spices over the apples.

At this point I like to set the apples aside and prepare the top crust, that way the apples don't get soupy while they wait, covered in sugar, for the top crust to be ready. 

I spent a lot of time trying to find a pie crust recipe I could roll out and top a pie with, after about 5 tries, I decided that with grain free pie crusts, that just wasn’t an option. I decided to use a small cookie cutter, and cut out shapes to top the pie, rather than one large crust (see picture above).

Once your top crust is prepared, pour the honey over the apples and gently combine. Place the apples in your bottom crust. Add your cut out shapes to the top of the pie to almost completely cover your pie. You can brush the crust with milk or egg white to help it brown.

Cover the crust with tin foil to keep the edges from burning. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Rotate the pie front to back and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake until bubbling, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Pie Crust: (from Spunky Coconut)

Add to bowl:

3 tbsp flax seed meal OR 1.5 tbsp Chia Seed meal

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp applesauce

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

8 drops Vanilla Creme liquid stevia

1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified

Mix with electric mixer.

Add:

1 cup almond meal flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Mix again.

Roll out the dough.

Flatten the dough out slightly, so it's about 6 inches wide, then put it in the dish, and press it the rest of the way out with your hands.

(I also lightly grease and flour my pie dish first, so the crust doesn't stick.) Then bake and the time listed above!

I’m sharing this on Pennywise Platter Thursday and Simple Lives Thursday!

"Carmel" Apple Dip

I am posting this recipe due to popular demand from my family. One of the blogs I follow, The Whole Life Nutrition, posted this recipe about a month back and I tried it, and my husband and I LOVE it!

We have made this probably 3 times since, and it is delicious every time. I made a few adjustments to the original recipe to make it work with what we had at home.

The consistency of this dip is not the same as Carmel; however the color and the taste are very similar. This is a great healthy dessert!

“Carmel” Apple Dip

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup Raisins
1/4 cup grade B maple syrup

2 teaspoons alcohol free vanilla

Pinch sea salt

6-8 tbps water

Place the cashews into a small bowl and cover with water. Let soak at room temp for about 2 to 3 hours.

To make the dip, drain and rinse the cashews then place them into a food processor along with the raisins, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Add about 3-6 tablespoons of water and blend. Blend until smooth. Then transfer to a blender and add additional 3-4 tablespoons water and blend until creamy.

Serve with sliced apples!

So easy and so delicious!

Pumpkin Pie and Pie Crust

This past weekend I celebrated my 25^th birthday! What a fun celebration it was! We invited 25 of my closest friends and family over for dinner and desert! I made 2 roast chickens, 2 pot roasts, 10 lbs of mashed potatoes, and a LOT of roast veggies (carrots, green beans and onions).

This was my first time cooking for a group this large, and I had a BLAST! The food turned out great as well! In all the craziness of preparing for the party, I didn’t get any pictures of the food, but I did manage to capture some pictures of the DESSERT that was served.

I decided to make a Pumpkin Pie, an Apple Pie and a Vanilla Torte with Chocolate Frosting for dessert. It was a lot of work making these desserts. I would definitely say it was the most stressful/time consuming part of the whole process!

The real test was to find Grain-free, gluten free, dairy free, refined-sugar free recipes that actually taste good enough to serve to a group of people who can eat all of the above. But, I was able to make 3 desserts, all of which were delicious and met all of our family’s criteria! I will share all of these recipes this week!

Pumpkin Pie (Grain free, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free)

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree or 2 cups fresh baked pumpkin
3 eggs
½ cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
¼  tsp sea salt
½ tsp nutmeg
1 cup coconut milk (full fat)
1 pie crust (recipe below)

Line a lightly greased 9 inch pie pan with your pie crust. 

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat well.  Add the rest of the ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Pour batter into pie crust.

To avoid the crust getting burned, cover edges of pie pan with strips of aluminum foil until they just over the edges of the pie crust.

Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until firm.

Pie Crust:

3 cups almond flour

2 tablespoons turbinado

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons cold coconut oil

one large, beaten egg

Combine almond flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Cut the coconut oil into eight smallish chunks and toss them into the mixture. Use your fingers to rub the oil into the flour. I do this by scooping the mixture into my cupped hands and rubbing it firmly between my thumb and fingers, letting the mixture fall back into the bowl. Do this until the mixture resembles coarse sand and no coconut oil chunk is larger than a pea.

Then add the egg all at once and mix it in with your hands until all of the mixture is moist. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Pat the dough into a pie plate until it evenly coats the bottom and sides, and smooth the rim of the crust with your fingers. Chill the crust for another 10 minutes, then bake add pie filling and bake!