Paleo breadsticks

Well back in the day when I ate bread, the one thing I did love at Olive Garden was there breadsticks. I mean who are we kidding here, we all loved them & ate way more then we should have. 😜

Well if you saw my last post, on that blog, a recipe for breadsticks was linked to it, so I just had to make them. 

These were really easy to make, even rolling & twisting them. Although I'm sure if you didn't want to twist them you could just have single breadsticks. 

These turned out really tasty & I think you should make these to go with any soup 😃 

http://www.paleocupboard.com/paleo-breadsticks.html

Paleo Zuppa Toscana Soup

Tonight was supposed to be another cold day so I wanted to make an easy soup. I've never been a fan of Olive Garden, but over the past few years, I've been given a lot of gift cards to there, so Dave and I will go just to get soup and salad. They actually have some pretty tasty soups and have always really liked the Zuppa Toscana so when I found this recipe I knew I had to try it. 

My husband was hesitant because he doesn't like cooked spinach or kale but he actually liked this. I do think next time I do half the red pepper and use coconut milk instead of almond. It was really good but I think coconut milk will make it creamier and that's one thing I love about that soup. 

I did use sweet Italian turkey sausage and not pork but other then that I followed this to the t. 

http://www.paleocupboard.com/zuppa-toscana-soup.html

Paleo bacon zucchini red pepper frittata

Oh my goodness was this ever good! I'm so glad my husband decided to have people over to watch the NFL game that was being played in London (7:30am our time) because I may not have discovered this deliciousness that I'm about to share. The key ingredient for this to me is the coconut milk. It gives this casserole a creamy, cheesiness, without any milk or cheese. 

Next time I think I'll sauté some cherry tomatoes and spinach in the bacon fat just to add more veggies to it 😃

http://www.paleonewbie.com/paleo-bacon-zucchini-red-pepper-frittata/

Best chili ever!

Today we had a chili cook off at church for our harvest party. I wanted something easy, saw this recipe, and thought sweet just brown the meat, dice an onion, toss in spices & some canned stuff and you're done. That to me is a winning recipe. 😃 I ended up browning the meat then tossing it in the crockpot & setting it on low for 6 hours. 

My chili didn't win even though I thought that it was the best. Had I rendered to take my guacamole, I know that would've topped things off and would've made me first. Oh well. 

The pumpkin adds a nice texture to this and the cocoa mixed in gives it a good flavor. I'm making this again this week because there was none left to have as leftovers and I only had a 1/2 cup of it 😢

http://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/the-best-paleo-chili-ever/

Stuffed acorn squash

Tonight I wanted to make a stuffed squash. I had two acorn squashes because did you know Costco sells them right now?? Best thing ever!! 

Anyway found this recipe and it sounded amazing because again his can you go wrong when it has bacon!! Plus I had all ingredients on hand so I didn't have to make an extra stop for ingredients which for me is always a huge plus. 

This recipe was so delicious and we all really liked it. I ended up using ground turkey because that's what I had in hand, as well as Granny Smith apples from my clients tree. Definitely will make this again soon since its squash season. 

http://stupideasypaleo.com/2012/10/07/stuffed-acorn-squash/

Pumpkin banana swirl bread

Ok I know, I know. Enough with the pumpkin already. Well I'm sorry you have a whole month until I stop making things pumpkin all the time. 😉

Well on this occasion I had two super ripe bananas but was wanting to make pumpkin bread. I decided to see if there was such a thing as banana pumpkin bread and bam - there was!! 

This thing was amazing. I should've turned it into French toast instead of hogging it all and eating it for my snack and/or dessert. 

Guess I'll just have to make it again😃

http://paleoly.com/pumpkin-banana-swirl-bread-paleo-grain-free-dairy-free-gluten-free/

Super fluffy vanilla coconut protein pancakes

In case you want another snack/pancake recipe or you don't like pumpkin, try this one because it is really good too. 

These turn out so fluffy. I again used my gnarly vanilla whey (which you have to try out because it's not natural with no added crap, its grass fed whey and the taste is amazing!!) 

Anyway the fun thing about these pancakes you can change them up by adding fruit & some other spices or extracts. This just gives you a good base. 

Enjoy! 

http://fastpaleo.com/recipe/super-fluffy-coconut-vanilla-protein-pancakes/

Pumpkin spice smoothie

This smoothie is amazing & very filling. In the last week I've made it at least 4 times. Because not only am I obsessed with pumpkin, so is Jaedyn. 

I used liquid vanillacreme stevia as well as light coconut milk & it still was amazing. I'm going to try it with almond milk soon just because it cheaper  then canned coconut milk😜

A side note: use fresh ginger because that makes a huge difference in flavor. If you want to be lazy they sell a tube kind in the produce section by the spices you could use. But trust me, use fresh! 

 http://elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-spice-smoothie/

Skillet meatloaf

I was craving meatloaf the other night but didn't want any ordinary meatloaf. I stumbled upon this recipe and I'm so happy I made it. 

We all LOVED this. Dave raved about how good it was. Definitely a keeper in my book. 

I used my fun spiralizer on my sweet potatoes, but you could hand grate these or run it through a food processor to get the same results, but I highly suggest buying one of these because it makes eating veggies fun 😃 and you can make them into noodles and use them instead of pasta. 

http://wwjme.com/2014/09/19/skillet-meatloaf/

 

Pumpkin protein pancakes

Most of you that have been around me have heard me talk about these pancakes. I'm a) obsessed with pumpkin and b) these make the perfect snack so I keep making these. I use my vanilla gnarly protein & don't add the honey. I also use the enjoy life chocolate chips. I never use syrup either. I will eat these plain or topped with a little almond butter.  

http://lexiscleankitchen.com/2013/09/29/chocolate-chip-protein-pumpkin-pancakes/

Spaghetti squash w/a creamy mushroom sauce

I made this recipe a few weeks ago. This sauce was DELICIOUS! I wish I would've made more. Oh well. Just have to make it again.  😃

http://paleoleap.com/spaghetti-squash-creamy-mushroom-sauce/

Butternut squash & beef stew

Tonight was another oops I forgot some ingredients so I made do with what I had. I used ground beef instead of steak as well as onion powder instead of an onion. Dave & I both still liked this but I bet this would've been better had I used steak & an onion. So I'm posting this so I try it again the real way. 

http://paleoleap.com/butternut-squash-beef-stew/

Chicken & vegetable soup

Today is a cold, wet, dreary fall day, which to me means: SOUP WEATHER!!! Besides my obsession for pumpkin, I love fall because of all the yummy soups I get to make. 

I wanted one that had lots of vegetables so I chose this one, although really I just added my own veggies & a lot of them, plus the chicken. Then seasoned with the seasonings this recipe called for and adjusted them as needed. I did add all their veggies but probably double the amount and then added roasted cauliflower & broccoli because well I love veggies! 😃 

Soup hit the spot & I can't wait to make more soups soon!

http://paleoonabudget.com/2014/01/30/chicken-vegetable-soup-egg-nut-dairy-free/

Crockpot zucchini & Parmesan chicken

Like I said before this week was going to be a crockpot week. I had (or so I thought) all the ingredients for this recipe so I decided to make this once I got home from work. My only problem was that I realized after i put jaedyn down for a nap, I didn't have any marinara sauce, so I quickly made one from scratch & it actually turned out really well. The only bummer was my crockpot cooks so high that it became more of a soup, so I put it over top my leftover spaghetti squash

I didn't add any cheese until after observed this. This turned out good but I want to make it again with a different marina sauce. 

http://smilesandwich.com/2014/09/10/crockpot-zucchini-chicken-parmesan/

Crockpot shredded pork over plantain mash

This week was a busy, wet one, so you'll see a lot of crockpot recipes & soups! I found a pork roast in the managers special at smiths so I grabbed it so I could make a pulled pork. I wasn't really feeling bbq pulled pork so I went to one of my favorite blogs in hopes to find a recipe I could make. And sure enough there was one. 😃 the best part about this was it was only a couple ingredients to throw into the crockpot. The only part that would take any time was making the plantain mash. 

I accidentally only bought two plantains and they both were green. I guess I should've read the recipe again before I left the store with my ingredients. Oh well. I just didn't add as much of the liquid and it turned out great. The plantain mash was different but it complimented the pork well. I'm sure it would've been better had my plantains been brown not green. 

http://paleomg.com/easy-shredded-pork-caramelized-mashed-plantains/

Paleo sausage, veggie, and egg breakfast casserole

Dave & I have been craving eggs lately, so I decided since he had to get up early & was leading worship, I'd make a casserole. Me being me wanted an easycasserole and something I that I had all the ingredients for. I stumbled upon this one & it definitely did not disappoint. I added extra veggies and more spinach then it called for. I also only had 8 eggs but had egg whites, so I used that for my other four eggs. I actually had to add a little more of that & the coconut milk because all my extra veggies weren't covered by the egg/milk amount the recipe called for. 

One other  thing is I used spicy turkey sausage because that's what I had.

I'm going to make more of this soon because it's easy to grab & take to work with me. Plus Dave raved about this one. 😃 

http://ourfullplate.com/recipes/my-new-paleo-pork-sausage-veggie-and-egg-breakfast-casserole/

Paleo chocolate chip chia pudding

Lately for breakfast I've been eating some leftover egg casserole and a pumpkin pancake. This means I'm not eating my chia seeds everyday. If you're not familiar with chia seeds, you should look them up because they have lots of benefits. I'd go into detail but I'm lazy now & try to keep these posts short. Ha! 

Anyway... I used to make chia pudding all the time for a snack/dessert, but haven't done it in awhile. Then yesterday while on FB I stumbled upon a post & it sounded sooo good, I just had to make it. If any of you know me, you know that I love coffee & dark chocolate, so this was the perfect snack. Plus not to mention it has protein powder in it which makes it even better! 😃 

Anyway this definitely did not disappoint & totally hit the spot this afternoon. My only problem was that it makes 2 servings & I had a real hard time not eating it all 😃 

http://lexiscleankitchen.com/2014/02/18/espresso-chocolate-chip-chia-pudding/