Happy 2020! It’s been a while but I had a bit of time to blog today about this great recipe I found. We have been eating super clean over the last few weeks and starting the year off on the right foot! Lots of food prepping and sneaking in those veggies wherever we can. My husband Brendon and my daughter Lucy are both joining in on the food prep.

We also have really changed up our kitchen and I’m so excited to continue to meal prep and make some new dishes in my up to date kitchen! Hooray!

Today we made some “sweet green muffins”. They are sort of a smoothie and muffin recipe combined! Lots of spinach in there and you would never know it. Cheers to good health and yummy food in 2020. Eat up, friends.

Sweet green muffins

Ingredients

In a blender, mix until combined:

• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1 banana
• 1/4cup milk of choice
• 1/2 water
• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c coconut oil

In a separate mixing bowl, combine:

• 2 cups bobs red mill paleo flour (I haven’t tried other flours but try subbing here where needed)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 walnuts

Preheat oven to 375

Mix wet and dry ingredients together until well combined.

Evenly drop mixture into muffin tins and bake for about 18 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let rest for 15 or so min for easy removal.

This recipe is great if you’re trying to eat vegan and can be gluten free! It’s loaded with fiber and good carbs and protein. Enjoy!

I ran out of eggs this morning after making a single fried egg sandwich for my daughter- which almost never happens in my house. I usually have a couple of cartons on hand- one opened and one backup ready at all times. Total first world problems right? It just so happened I was baking a lot lately and we had hard boiled some for lunches and before I knew it, we ran out. In my opinion they’re one of THE most vital source of protein there is, you can cook them any way, any time and almost never disappoint… any way, egg rant over.

So… in my despair, breakfast needed to satisfy and fill my grumbling morning belly and I was not about to let this mornings empty egg carton ruin my day. I had to be creative and go figure, I accomplished what I would say would be a stellar alternative.

Not many would argue that bacon is ever bad to have in hand. Neither is cream cheese, or tomatoes or my absolute favorite English muffins- food for life sprouted grain. Turns out, when you combine these things together it’s an absolute flavor explosion. Salt, fat, acid.

This can arguably be eaten any time of the day. I would even say could be eaten for lunch or diner with a nice green salad.

Bacon, Cream Cheese and Tomato Open Faced Sandwhich

Preheat your oven to 375. Bake bacon on a foil lined baking sheet until crispy. About 10 min.

Toast English muffins and spread a generous amount of organic cream cheese on them. Fold a s slice of bacon on each side of the English muffin. Place sliced tomatoes on each and season with salt and pepper.

SIT DOWN and Enjoy!

Why does breakfast have to be a high carb/low nutrient dense meal? Don’t eat a bowl of sugary cereal or a white piece of toast…AND WHY CANT YOU SIT AND REALLY ENJOY YOUR MEALS?! Try this instead!

While visiting the Georgetown neighborhood in Washington, D.C. we went to this amazing French cafe, le pain quotidien, for breakfast one day. My meal looked a little something like this. Salad, with a simple oil and Dijon dressing, eggs and couple of pieces of fresh bread. It’s so simple, yet so healthy and absolutely delicious. It’s such an easy way to get greens in right away and you feel so accomplished after eating a salad for breakfast!

Look at that cup of coffee! Isn’t that a dream?

When you sit down, Look at your meal. Is it colorful? Is it something that came from a box with a label of unrecognizable ingredients? How can you add to your basic eggs? Just use your basic knowledge and add fruit and greens whenever you can.

Lastly I’ll add this… it’s the holiday season. Are your weekends filled with parties and maybe a little bit more sugar and alcohol than usual? Let your weekday meals be top priority at this time. It’s ideal to do this all of the time of course but if you can’t do it every meal, at least jump back into your normal routine right away on a Monday, do it!

What do I eat for lunch? Well, I saw an awesome post a bit ago about what nutritionist Erin Holt feeds her 5 year old for lunch and I realized that there are times that I ate less than my daughter Lucy does at a meal. I was snacking and hungry a lot during the day…sooo I thought, “there’s something wrong with this picture…” my lunch consistently looks this now. I’m either eating a humongous salad loaded with goods or something like this, at least 600 calories of nutritionally dense foods. Go figure. I’m feeling satisfied and happy for hours.

I think a lot of my choices are based on common sense… can you really go wrong with a cup or two full of any kind of veggies?

Also, I READ LABELS. I Don’t just assume something is “good for you” because its organic. I Look at the sugar content. Do you think an organic cookie with 17 (or more) grams of sugar is good for you on a regular basis? Probably not. How many carbs? What kind of fats are used? So on and so forth… On the flip side, does it have a lot of protein? Does it come from nature? Is it processed? I try to ask myself these questions when I make food choices for my family and for me.

Am I perfect? Nope. Do I eat dark chocolate every day? Yes. I try to keep it real.

#ilovetoeat #dontdenyyourself #justmakegoodchoices #prepyourfood

This super easy, high protein dish was great to make on this chilly weekend! Sweet potatoes, herbs, pecans, dried fruit, riced cauliflower and tempeh! Unexpectedly delicious.

Fall Protein Bowl

Ingredients:

• 12 oz bag frozen, riced cauliflower
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup chopped organic dried fruit (to avoid preservatives and corn syrup etc).
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small sweet potato peeled and diced
• 1 package organic tempeh (I used lighthouse brand)
• 1 cup organic chicken or vegetable broth
• avocado oil for sautéing and olive oil for drizzling before serving
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• Handful of chopped, fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions in avocado oil until a bit translucent in a large non stick pan. Add sweet potato, dried herbs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until tender and starting to brown.

While veggies cook, chop tempeh into small pea sized bites. Add tempeh and cauliflower to pan once sweet potatoes are cooked. Add half of the stock and warm.

Stir in chopped nuts and fruit once stock has been incorporated and mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more stock if mixture seems dry (I used all 1 cup of my stock).

Turn off heat. Add chopped parsley and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil. Enjoy!

Hope you feel warm and cozy now! Cheers to warm fall food.

-Kassie

This squash is a meal in itself or the perfect side to any protein or salad.

Since it’s getting chilly out there, I decided to use some warm spices like cardamom, nutmeg and ginger. The flavors mix beautifully. Sweet, salty and spicy perfection.

Roasting the squash and chopped fillings together caramelizes the dates perfectly. The nuts and seeds give it a nice texture in contrast with the roasted squash.

This recipe serves one or two- depending on if you’ll have this as the main dish or a side (Acorn squash aren’t very big). You’ll be cutting one squash in half, filling the middle and scooping out the flesh of each side.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Dates, Pecans and Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

• 1 Acorn squash
• 1 Tbsp avocado oil for drizzling
• 1 Tbsp pecans
• 1 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 pitted dates
• Flaky sea salt
• Seasonings- ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Wash acorn squash. Carefully cut in half and scoop out seeds.

Place both halves of squash in a small casserole dish, drizzle with avocado oil (this oil is great to use in high heat cooking because it is stable up to 500 degrees). Season with a small dash of ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and pepper.

Chop up seeds, pecans and dates. Combine and fill center of squash. Salt with the flaky sea salt and put in oven.

Roast for 35-40 min. Squash should be soft enough to scoop out.

Enjoy this warm fall dish!

Yes, you read that right. You’re about to spatchcock a chicken, don’t even be afraid of this, just do it!

I used to be nervous to cook an entire bird. It’s really hard to time and it’s easy to undercook. This method of preparing an entire bird – essentially you’re butterflying the bird- allows for an even cook through the whole bird and cooks in much less time. It’s a total win- win situation.

There’s also a major plus to buying an entire bird- you’ll have a lot of leftovers and meat for soup!

I thought this was a perfect, simple video on how to prepare the chicken: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppa1bxB89vg.

Once you’re done cutting…

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Seasoning suggestion:

I softened an entire stick of butter and mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme) and garlic, salt and pepper to make a flavorful butter bath for the bird. Season the whole bird, bottom and top with lots of salt and pepper, then bathe the whole bird in the butter mixture (Save extra butter for coating any veggies). Give the bird a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before putting into the oven and voila! You’re done.

Cooking:

I had cooked the bird at 375 for about an hour, uncovered in my Dutch oven. You can continue to baste the bird periodically to make sure it stays nice and moist. You’ll need to make sure the internal temperature of the bird reads 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

In the mean time, prep veggies to be roasted. (Root veggies will take the longest). Next time I would do things differently with my veggies- I just tossed cauliflower in the butter mixture and added them to the Dutch oven with the bird when I thought the bird was about 10 min out from being done. The bird ended up being done but the cauliflower wasn’t. I actually ended up taking the cauliflower out of the Dutch oven, bringing the temperature up to 400 and roasting them on a baking sheet for about 10 min to get them nice and crispy.

Last step:

Letting the bird rest is important! Don’t miss this step or you’ll lose all your juices and the bird will dry out a bit. I let my bird sit about 30 min before cutting into it.

Once this is done, pat yourself on the back. It’s super fun to say you’ve spatchcocked a chicken!

Who on earth doesn’t like macaroni and cheese? It’s not often you hear, “no I’ll pass…” when you’re offering probably one of the best combos of carbs and cheese… even if they only sneak a bite.

My recipe came from something I had tried a long time ago but I decided to make it a bit sharper by adding a teaspoon of dijon. This includes ground beef and I used Banza chickpea pasta in this recipe (which in my opinion is the best chickpea pasta I’ve tried). I have seen it in most grocery stores now. It’s loaded with fiber and and protein. You won’t need much to feel full and satisfied. It also makes a lot and is perfect to serve a large amount of people.

Dreamy Mac N’ Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 boxes Banza shells (or any kind of shells)
• 1 8oz container mascarpone cheese
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 lb ground beef (Optional)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil

While water heats up, cook beef and season with salt and pepper. Drain off excess fat.

Cook pasta for about 6 min or until al dente. Strain and return to same pot. Add cheese, butter and mustard. Stir over low heat until combined. Add beef and combine.

Add a bit more pepper. Eat immediately

Enjoy the richness and comfort of this dish! Cheers.

Kassie

Let me first start off by saying that I couldn’t get a good image here because we all ate it so fast there wasn’t any time to stage a good photo.

Chicken. Chicken is so versatile and can be used in so many dishes and soups. Grilled, baked, slow roasted, shake n’ bake, eaten off the bone, fried… you name it, chicken can be the centerpiece of basically anything. It can even stand alone. Today, that’s what happened. We were hungry. We bought (in this case chicken thighs), we seasoned, we seared, we ate.

Chicken thighs, in my humble opinion, are the hidden gem of the bird. You get so much flavor without much prep (with chicken breast I always tenderize but here you don’t need to), it’s hard to dry them out and you don’t have to do much to get a nice juicy and tender piece. Bite after bite, you’ll be amazed at your masterpiece of a protein. Don’t be afraid of the thigh. Embrace the thighs!

The shining star of the recipe however is the seasoning. I was lucky enough to get a lot of fresh herbs from my back yard this year which I used today (after I dehydrated them). I love using lots of herbs in my cooking. This recipe is one that you’ll be able to combine several for a serious flavor explosion.

There’s a couple of steps in this process you don’t want to miss: Do not under salt your meat and do not place into your pan unless your pan is searing hot. Your meat won’t hold onto the flavor like it should and won’t be as juicy. Very important!

Garden Herb Chicken

• 1 1/2lbs chicken thighs
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil for searing

In a small bowl, mix all herbs and garlic together and set aside.

Place chicken thighs on a paper towel lined pan and thoroughly dry them out. Season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Coat both sides with herb mixture, patting it down into the chicken.

Heat a larger non stick pan over medium heat for about a min. Once the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles, add a generous drizzle of avocado oil (this is a stable oil to use in high heat cooking) or oil of choice.

Place chicken into hot pan, cook over medium high heat for about 5-6 minutes per side or until chicken juices run clear.

Now, try to sit down, eat this and enjoy. It may be consumed at the counter before you get to the table. Damn, it’s good.

Stuffed peppers are delicious but I prefer them a bit crisp! I didn’t realize that I was doing it “wrong” but apparently I didn’t cook them correctly when I first started making them, which it turns out, worked out in my favor! Instead of steaming them first, I fill them raw and bake them just to soften and crisp them up a bit. It gives it a nice al dente texture and they won’t be mushy.

This recipe is a great, super flexible one. I have made stuffed peppers Mexican style with salsa and beans and I’ve made them Italian style with basil and parsley. You can use ground beef or turkey and rice instead of quinoa or a blend of both. This recipe is a really nice, light, high fiber version with quinoa as my grain. I also made it easy on myself with the precooked meat. It makes a lot and we will have leftovers for sure.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 4 peppers (multicolored for fun!)
• 1 yellow onion, Diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 package pre cooked organic Italian chicken sausages cut into small chunks
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• Pinch of fresh basil and parsley
• olive oil for drizzling
• Ghee for sautéing onion
• Parmesan cheese for flavor on top before baking and for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Wash and slice peppers in half (from stem down). Lay in large casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Sauté onion in a large pan in ghee and season with salt and pepper. Once onions are translucent, add diced tomatoes, sausage pieces and garlic. Cook, stirring until liquid has been reduced from tomatoes and add quinoa, basil and parsley to pan. Drizzle with olive oil.

Stuff peppers with quinoa mixture and sprinkle with Parm cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly browned. Serve immediately!

Enjoy these babies at your next dinner. Super easy and delicious.

Happy eating!

Kassie