A Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole that’s Gluten-free, Paleo and Vegan

November 20, 2012 By 5 Comments

Okay guys, bear with me! I have one more Thanksgiving Day recipe to share with you and then it’s all about Christmas {I kid!}.

When I was looking for a “sweet potato something” to bring to my Sunday Thanksgiving Day celebration with my parents, I came across a recipe at DeliciouslyOrganic.net from Carrie.  Her recipe was already grain-free and Paleo, but it contained butter, which I wanted to try to do without. Not to brag or anything, but I succeeded in a major way. ;) This recipe tastes more like dessert than a side dish. However, it actually works perfectly as a side dish to balance out all other savory flavors on your plate. Here’s your instructions….a bit of sweet potato and a bit of stuffing on your fork….yummo! You will definitely taste a hint of coconut from the coconut oil and coconut flour, so go ahead and use butter and another type of flour, if coconut’s not your thing.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole {Gluten-free, Paleo and Vegan}
Author: 
Recipe type: side dish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6-8
 

Perfect side dish for Thanksgiving! A sweet treat to balance out all of the savory flavors on your plate. Easily adapted to gluten-free, vegan and Paleo.
Ingredients
  • +For the potatoes+
  • 3 cups baked sweet potatoes (about 5 large sweet potatoes) (I used 3 cups of Trader Joe’s prediced sweet potatoes.)
  • ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
  • 2 eggs (for vegan use 2 tbsp ground flax with 6 tbsp water, whisk and allow to sit for 5 mins.)
  • ¼ cup coconut oil (butter or other oil will work)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • ½ cup milk (I used vanilla unsweetened almond milk.)
  • 1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • +For the topping+
  • 1 cup almond meal or flour (I used Trader Joe’s almond meal.)
  • 2 tbsp coconut flour (other flours will work)
  • 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • ½ cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an 8X8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Combine all ingredients for the potatoes in a food processor and process until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into baking dish.
  3. Combine all ingredients for the topping (except pecans) in a medium bowl. Then, stir in pecans. Sprinkle over potatoes.
  4. Bake for 20 mins and until golden brown.

Notes
For preparing potatoes for this recipe: Bake the sweet potatoes for 45 mins at 400 F. Remove skins before making dish. If using prediced sweet potatoes bake at 400 F for 15-20 mins.

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Enjoy your day! I know I will….only a half-day today and then my Thanksgiving break begins!

Something to think about……

Who’s starting their Thanksgiving break today?

Do you like sweet potatoes? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat them?
I love mine with a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutbutter drizzled on!

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Fall Bucket List Revisited & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

November 10, 2012 By 6 Comments

The day before the first day of Fall, I posted my Fall Bucket List. I wanted to take a look back and make sure that I’ve completed all of the fun Fall activities that I had originally set out to complete.

First on the list was decorate for Fall. I didn’t go overboard, but I decorated more than I have in the past. I can honestly say that I’ve really enjoyed all of the Fall decorations around the house and I will definitely decorate again next year.

I think apple picking was an unrealistic item. I actually looked up places to apple pick near my house and there just wasn’t any. apparently, Texas is not the place to pick apples…oh well.

I’ve made several pumpkin desserts and all are must tries. I’m not stopping with these….I’ve got a few more sweet pumpkin ideas up my sleeve. ;) Click on the following links for easy access to the recipes; Gluten free, Paleo & Vegan Pumpkin Pie {healthified}, Pumpkin Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pumpkin Pie Power Balls and Pumpkin Rice Krispy Treats.

Burning my pumpkin candle has been going on for quite some time! This pumpkin cupcake candle from Bath & Body Works is one of my very favorite candles ever. I’m hoping to find these on sale this weekend when I go to stock up on lotion {it’s buy 3, get 3 right now}.

We completed our family tradition of carving pumpkins. Unfortunately, they don’t last long when the temp is in the 80′s.

I’ve made Butternut Squash Chili and it turned out really good. I’m still wanting to make a traditional chili, but in Texas the temps have been pretty warm and I’m trying to hold off until it’s a little cooler outside. If you do make this Butternut Squash Chili, be sure to make the Paleo Pumpkin Muffins. They complement the chili so well!

Visiting a pumpkin patch didn’t happen. Like the apple picking, there just weren’t any good options near my home. I could have driven out to one, but it really just didn’t seem worth it. Maybe next year…..

Every time we carve pumpkins, I want to roast pumpkin seeds, but I never get around to it. Well, this year I did. I pretty much followed Angela’s tutorial, but came up with my own seasoning.

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Sweet Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Author: 
Recipe type: pumpkin seeds, snack
 

Ingredients
  • Pumpkin seeds from a carving pumpkin or a sweet pumpkin
  • a few tsp of olive oil or olive oil spray
  • 1 tsp salt, plus more for cooking seeds
  • 1-2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • a sprinkling of desired sugar/sweetener (I used xylitol.)

Instructions
  1. Clean pumpkin seeds.
  2. Bring seeds in a pot of water with 1 tsp salt to a boil. Then simmer uncovered on low-medium heat for 10 mins.
  3. Drain seeds and dry lightly with a paper towel.
  4. Spread seeds out on a baking sheet and drizzle a few tsp. of olive oil over them or spray them with olive oil spray.
  5. Next, you will sprinkle or lightly dust your desired seasoning over the pumpkin seeds. I didn’t use exact measurments with my seasonings.
  6. I grinded sea salt over the seeds. Then dusted them with about 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice and a sprinkling of xylitol. If you don’t have xylitol, you can use regular sugar or brown sugar.
  7. Roast seeds at 325 degrees for 10 mins. Then, take them out of the oven, stir and add a bit more salt, xylitol, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Roast for another 8 or so minutes. The seeds will burn before the shell, so you might want to take a couple out and open the shell to make sure the seed isn’t burning.
  8. Enjoy! Eat the shell and seed.

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Something to think about…..

Did you make a Fall bucket list? Did you accomplish all that you wanted to?

Anything that you wished you would have included on your bucket list, but didn’t?
For me, that would be making S’mores around the fire pitt.

Hope your weekend is great so far! I’m off to get a quick run in and then I have a hair appt and a grocery store appt. ;)

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Breakfast Change-Up & Marvelous in my Monday

October 29, 2012 By 12 Comments

Lots of fun was had this weekend!

My family went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival on Saturday. Unfortunately, the winds were too strong and the balloons weren’t able to go up. We had fun hanging out together at the festival, anyway…..the fajitas and froyo we stopped for on the way home didn’t hurt either.

Sunday, I had a nice {but too quick} visit with my sister-in-law and mom. My brother and sister-in-law had come in from Mississippi for the Cowboy football game. I didn’t get to see my brother this time because he was already at the game with my dad when I stopped by. :(

It’s another Marvelous Monday!! Thank you, Katie for hosting another round!

Why is this Monday so Marvelous?

  • A week of beautiful weather in the forecast! So sorry to all of that aren’t having such nice weather and are experiencing destruction from Sandy. {Stay safe!}
  • Halloween fun to be had on Wednesday!
  • Had an AWESOME chicken enchilada dinner last night and I will be posting the recipe this week.
  • Looking forward to something different for breakfast everyday this week.

Katie is also switching up her breakfast everyday this week and that gave me the idea to do the same. It’s always better to eat a variety of foods, anyway right? I thought I would share my breakfast with you everyday this week and maybe it will give you an idea of something you might want to make too. Feel free to share your own breakfast ideas or link to one of your favorites in the comments!

Breakfast is my very favorite meal of the day. I usually love eating a sweet breakfast; like pancakes or a sweet bowl of oats or cereal. This breakfast scramble is the perfect breakfast for me….it’s healthy, but also satisfies my sweet tooth. Also, the calories are low enough that you won’t feel guilty about adding plenty of yummy toppings. I actually posted this recipe a few days ago here, but I didn’t have a very good picture, since I ate the scramble in an almost empty sunbutter jar {which is always a great option}.

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Paleo Pumpkin Scramble
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 1
 

Easy, quick, healthy, and the perfect morning treat! Only 190 calories for the scramble. Paleo & Gluten-free.
Ingredients
  • ½ tsp coconut oil or cooking spray
  • 3 egg whites (or similar desired amount)
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 small very ripe banana (if you don’t have a ripe banana, just mash up your banana and warm it in the microwave for about 40 seconds)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 packet stevia or other sweetener (optional and not Paleo)
  • Favorite toppings, like nutbutter, coconut butter, honey, and/or fruit

Instructions
  1. Heat coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
  2. Mix all ingredients.
  3. Scramble batter on medium heat, flipping and stirring occasionally for about 10 mins.

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Hope you enjoy!

Something to think about……

Are you in a breakfast rut?

What’s your favorite thing to have for breakfast?

What do you have most often for breakfast?

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Paleo Pumpkin Breakfast Scramble

October 20, 2012 By 2 Comments

Hey guys! I actually slept in this morning and didn’t wake up until 7:30…..yes that’s sleeping in for me. It was nice to catch up on sleep, but then I missed my quiet Saturday morning.

Since, I slept in I was in a big hurry to get breakfast going and get to BodyPump. I whipped up a pumpkin breakfast scramble; which easily fueled me through running 3 miles and then an hour of BodyPump……that’s pretty good! I got the idea for this recipe from Tina at Carrots n’ Cake. You can check out her version here.

This is so SUPER easy and quick! Just mix together 3 egg whites (or similar desired amount), 1/2 cup pumpkin, small very ripe banana (if you don’t have a ripe banana, just mash up your banana and warm it in the microwave for about 40 seconds), 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, and 1 packet stevia or other sweetener (optional and not Paleo).

Lucky me, I had an almost empty jar of sunbutter!

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend! Well, I’ve got to scaddadle….my goal for the weekend is to get my VERY messy closet cleaned out….so, off I go. Fun times!

 

Paleo Gluten-free Pumpkin Breakfast Scramble

  •  3 egg whites (or similar desired amount)
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 small very ripe banana (if you don’t have a ripe banana, just mash up your banana and warm it in the microwave for about 40 seconds)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 packet stevia or other sweetener (optional and not Paleo)
  • Favorite toppings, like nutbutter, coconut butter, honey, and/or fruit

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going bananas & MIMM

October 8, 2012 By 9 Comments

Happy Monday morning! Are you awake? Have you had your pumpkin latte yet?

Some of you probably have the day off for Columbus Day….lucky you! I did not get that lucky…..

But that’s okay because I’ve got some marvelous in my Monday today!

And here’s one reason why……

This bread is seriously the best grain free bread I’ve ever had. The texture is perfect and the taste is deliciously sweet with a hint of coconut. This bread truly surpassed my expectations. My husband and I devoured this loaf within two days….oops! I really just couldn’t believe the sweet taste since there was not a bit of sweetner or sugar in the recipe. I think the secret was the VERY ripe bananas that I used. When I say VERY ripe, I’m talking dripping and turning to liquid ripe. I’m definintely going to be working on a pumpkin version of this.

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Paleo Grain-free Banana Bread
Author: 
Recipe type: bread, breakfast, snack, dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 10-12
 

This is the best grain-free bread I’ve ever had! The texture is perfect and the taste is deliciously sweet with a hint of coconut. This bread truly surpassed my expectations. The secret to get the sweetness is using VERY ripe bananas.
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs
  • ⅓ cup coconut milk (I used light.)
  • ¼ cup 100% raw pure honey (local, if possible)
  • ½ cup extra virgin coconut oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
  • ¾ cup coconut flour
  • ½ cup almond meal/flour (I used Trader Joe’s almond meal.)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt (I used Himalayan pink salt.)
  • 1 cup VERY ripe bananas, mashed (about 2 large bananas)

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degees and prepare 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray, butter, or oil. I wiped a bit of coconut oil over pan with a papertowel.
  2. Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until all ingredients are fully combined. You may have to stop the food processor a few times and scrape the sides down with a spatula.
  3. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 mins. Mine took about 55 mins.
  4. Allow bread to fully cool for about 15-20 mins. If you try taking it out of the loaf pan while it is hot it will crumble.

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And yes, I really am going bananas…..I have another banana bread recipe for you. If you guessed that I had a few ripe bananas that needed to be used up, you’d be right! I promise I haven’t forgotten that it’s pumpkin season! See that spread up above on the banana bread…..that’s pumpkin butter.

I converted the pumpkin microwave muffin into a banana blueberry microwave muffin and it was really good with the pumpkin butter too. {I think Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter is pretty much good on anything!}

This banana blueberry muffin was puffier than the pumpkin one, I’m not sure why, but it was equally delicious and especially yummy with almond butter and pumpkin butter. It would be really good with any jam or butter, I’m sure. I didn’t use any sugar or sweetner and with the almond butter and pumpkin butter, it didn’t need any additional sweetner. You can always add in a stevia packet or whatever you prefer to sweeten it up a bit. eeeeewwwww and honey would be divine!! Click on this recipe link to be taken over to the recipe on my recipepage.

Alright, so enough with all of the bananas!! Here are a few reasons why my Monday is sooooo marvelous and head on over to the beautiful Katie’s blog at healthydivaeats.com to check out some other Marvelous in my Monday posts.

  • Fabulous weekend! Madelyn worked so hard at dance and I just know it’s going to be adorable. Her group is dancing to “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To”.
  • Did some shopping and I’m a little more prepared for the colder weather with some new sweaters.
  • The kids don’t have school today due to Columbus Day, which will make it a super laid back day for me at work.
  • The hubby is having a VERY exciting day today! He’s in Upland, CA getting a tattoo from Corey Miller {he was on LA Ink with Kat a few years ago}

Share with me…what’s Marvelous in your Monday?

Have a great one!!

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microwave muffin & WIAW

October 3, 2012 By 19 Comments

Welcome to Wednesday and another round of “What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday”!


For the most part, I’m still “falling into good habits” with the Paleo diet. I say for the most part because I’ve eased up on myself a bit {but I’ll save that for another post}.

After seeing so many microwave muffin posts around the blogosphere; I’ve been dying to try one. Last night I searched around the internet and came up with one from shoretorun.com. I adapted it ever so slightly….it already had pumpkin in it, so we were good. ;)

This may be the greatest creation ever! Super easy and so many variations to try!!

Breakfast 6:00 am- I first, sprayed a large mug with evoo spray. Then, I threw in all of my ingredients and stirred. Last, microwave for 5-7 minutes and Voilà! …breakfast is served. These would also make a perfect snack or after dinner treat.

I just turned the mug upside down on my plate and the muffin slipped right out.

I cut it in half and topped it with coconut butter and sliced banana. It turned out better than I expected and this is going to be a new go-to breakfast, especially for those rushed mornings.

I also had half of a white necterine. This one was from HEB and did not even begin compare to the ones from Trader Joe’s. :(

So, if you’d like to recreate, here you go…..

microwave pumpkin muffin for one

  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk (any milk will work)
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon would be a great substitute)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • non-stick spray (I used extra virgin olive oil spray.)

Spray mug with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients in mug. Microwave for 5-7 minutes. I microwaved mine for 5 and it was great, but next time I’m going to try 6:30 for a little bit drier consistancy. Turn mug upside down over plate. Top with all of your favorite toppings and enjoy! *to make prep time a bit quicker in the morning, I had all of my dry ingredients already mixed. Paleo & gluten-free. www.hungryhealthygirl.com

 

Snack 9:00- Strawberries {I have to get my red in for the plantPOWER challenge!} and pumpkin pie balls {I’m enjoying these more everyday!}

Lunch 11:45- Leftover Italian Stuffed Acorn Squash….I love just grabbing this out of the fridge for lunch. So filling and there’s nothing to prepare!

Snack 3:00- Do I really even have to tell you?

Landen’s friend took him to gymnastics today, so I actually got to come home and enjoy my evening. Since it was so nice out, Max and I went on a 3-1/2 mile walk. Then I came home and threw together a really wonderful dinner.

Dinner 6:00- I cooked up a couple of thinly sliced chicken breasts, red pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms with marsala sauce…super quick, easy and tasty {recipe to come}. I served the chicken and veggies with a side salad.

 Dessert 7:30- For a little after dinner sweet treat, I had another pumpkin pie ball crumbled over Trader Joe’s fat free Greek frozen yogurt {not Paleo…I know}. Perfect end to a delicious day!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

What was something very yummy that you ate yesterday?

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MIMM & Foodie Penpal & Plantpower

October 1, 2012 By 16 Comments

Hi guys!! How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was a blast. Saturday, I did some much needed house cleaning and a little Fall decorating. On Sunday, we enjoyed a family day at the Rangers game.

Hold on tight because this post is a bit on the long side…..but there is so much going on!

First, I want to start off with why there is soooooo much Marvelous in my Monday.

  • Fun-filled weekend with the fam.
  • Fall-inspired decor going up at my house.
  • Cleaned my house this weekend and it feels so good to start the week with a clean house.
  • Foodie Penpal stuff to share.
  • A yummy recipe to share. It includes pumpkin! {how’d you guess?}
  • October is here…..bring on the Fall weather in Texas!

Now let’s talk about my very special Foodie Penpal, Maia. She sent me some really great stuff. She knew that I was following the Paleo lifestyle and tried to ablige and even drew a cute little picture on her note.

If you’d like more details on how you can participate in the Foodie Penpal program, just click on the large link below. By the way, you don’t have to be a blogger to participate. Also, my penpal that I sent to, was Anne at lovemintchocolatechip.com. She is so cute and has a really fun blog. Check her blog out to find out what great Trader Joe’s stuff I sent her.

The Lean Green Bean

Last, but definitely not least, Kasey has something brand new going on at powercakes.net. It’s all about giving ideas of ways to include more plant-based foods into your diets and challenging you to do just that. Today’s challenge is to eat a rainbow. Check out my rainbow from breakfast.

  • R- red bell pepper
  • O- butternut squash
  • Y- yellow bell pepper
  • G- spinach & avocado
  • B- blueberry chia seed jam
  • I- grapes
  • V- figs

Do you guys remember learning the colors of the rainbow in school? I was taught ROYGBIV. ;)

My “plantpower” recipe of the day is the magnificant Paleo Pumpkin Pie Power Ball!! Believe me when I say magnificant because they are! They are packed with nutrient rich ingredients.

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Pumpkin Pie Power Ball
Author: 
Recipe type: snack, dessert
Prep time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 21
 

A little bite of pumpkin pie loaded with antioxidants and protien. Gluten-free, Paleo, vegan, & no bake.
Ingredients
  • 10 pitted medjool dates
  • 1 cup raw pecan halves
  • ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • ¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut (+ more for rolling balls in)
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree (I used just a bit less than ½ cup.)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp cloves
  • 2 pinches of salt

Instructions
  1. Process dates in food processor. Take dates out and set aside.
  2. Grind pecans, seeds and cocount together in food processor.
  3. Add the dates back in along with all other ingredients and process to combine.
  4. Roll into balls and roll in shredded coconut if desired. (I used extra fine coconut for this.)

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Hope your Monday has plenty of “Marvelous” in it! Eat a rainbow today!!

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paleo pumpkin muffins

September 28, 2012 By 10 Comments

Anyone totally over pumpkins yet? I’m sorry, but I’m just getting started….might as well enjoy it while you can!

Pumpkin isn’t only delicious, but also super nutritious. Check out some of the health benefits below.

 

And now for a recipe, so that you can go ahead and get your pumpkin fix; if you haven’t already. I really enjoyed these muffins! But I do want to warn you and let you know that they, of course, don’t have the same texture as a normal muffin. They are a bit less moist and somewhat cakier. Having said that; I really liked them and will make them again. They have no sugar or sweetner in them, but they have a hint of sweetness that satisfied my sweet tooth. My favorite way to eat them is with sunbutter or crumbled in my butternut squash chicken chili. {which was a delicious pairing}

4.7 from 3 reviews

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Paleo Pumpkin Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast, snack, side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 12
 

Delicious pumpkin muffin with no added sugar or sweetner that has just a hint of sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth. Paleo friendly and gluten-free!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond meal/flour
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (plus more for topping)
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • ¾ cup canned pumpkin
  • ⅓ chopped pecans (optional for topping)
  • 1 small very ripe banana, mashed

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin pan with tins or nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Combine all wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
  4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  5. Fill muffin tins about ¾ full. Makes 12 muffins.
  6. Add chopped pecans and a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice to each muffin.
  7. Bake for 20-25 mins at 350 degrees.

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Hope you guys enjoy the muffins as much as I did!

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! Woohoo Rangers game on Sunday for me!!

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Butternut Squash Chicken Chili {in the crockpot}

September 25, 2012 By 7 Comments

So I’ve been seeing so many yummy looking soups and chilis around the blogosphere; I decided that it was time to dust off my crockpot and try something Fall inspired.

I don’t use my crockpot near enough. It just makes meals so easy and fuss free. A great site with tons of crockpot recipes is http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/  I usually cook my soups overnight, rather than during the day. That way the soup or chili has longer to sit and absorb all of the flavors. It also just makes me nervous having something cooking when no one is at home.

When I saw this butternut squash {organic and already chopped up} at Costco, I literally squealed in excitement. My kids couldn’t figure out what was so exciting about seeing a display of butternut squash. But if you ever peeled and chopped it before…you know where I’m coming from.

This recipe would also be great with a can of white beans added in, but in order to keep it Paleo friendly, I didn’t use any beans. And it was delicious with crumbled pumpkin muffin {recipe to come}. Totally like a blast of Fall in your mouth! ;)

 

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Butternut Squash Chicken Chili {in the crockpot}
Author: 
Recipe type: soup/chili
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8-10
 

Warm and comforting chili perfect for a breezy Fall day; with the added bonus of no fuss crockpot cooking. Paleo friendly.
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 butternut squash, cubed (or 5 cups)
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ½ tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • 4 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (I used a combo of chicken broth and water.)
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Heat evoo in a med skillet over med-high heat. Saute onion and red bell pepper for about 5-7 mins or until soft. Add garlic and cook for another 1-2 mins.
  2. Add onion, garlic and pepper along with all other ingredients into the crockpot.
  3. Stir all ingredients around to combine.
  4. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6hrs. Make sure chicken is fully cooked through and sqush is tender before serving. I cooked on low for 6 hours and my chili was good to go.

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Have a great day and don’t forget to enter my Chobani giveaway. Who doesn’t want a free case of Chobani yogurt delivered straight to their house? ;)

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WIAW Paleo Style

September 19, 2012 By 14 Comments

Hi guys and happy hump day!

This week has been SUPER busy at work, but the “up side” is that it’s going by fast too.

Here are my delicious eats from yesterday and if you’d like to check out other bloggers’ food ideas click on the link below.


I’m following the theme of “Falling into Good Habits” by sticking strictly to the Paleo diet. It’s been fairly easy for me so far. However, the moment of truth came this weekend when Alexis and I were out for our nail appointments and noticed that the yogurt shop next to the nail salon had just opened up. Alexis wanted yogurt; so we go inside and what do you know? They had all of my favorite flavors……peanut butter, caramel pretzel, and cookies & creme. I just about gave in to the craving, but I knew I would just be mad at myself later. I’m not saying I’m never going to eat yogurt again, but for these 30 days I want to follow the diet strictly and hopefully reap the rewards. ;)

So onto the goods……..

Breakfast was my Paleo Pumkin-Banana Pancake with a slather of sunbutter and a peach {VERY yummy}. I’m actually working on the recipe to make it a little lower calorie without sacrificing taste and texture. I’ve got it down, but the only problem I’m seeing is that it falls apart too easily. So, it’s still a work in progress.

Here’s what I did:

  • 1 tbsp of coconut flour instead of 2
  • 2 egg whites instead of 2 eggs (I may try 3 egg whites next.)

Midmorning snack was a failed recipe from this weekend. :(   It actually tastes great, but not much of a muffin, once you take the muffin tin off the muffin just falls apart. I’m going to keep experimenting with this one….. I had my muffin crumbs with a dollop of Barney Butter (almond butter), which I got in the mail this week from my foodie penpal. Love these little packets….so convenient.

Lunch was an awesome recipe from the very creative, Danielle with some unpictured roasted veggies on the side. I’ve tried several of her Paleo recipes and they have all been wonderful, but I think this just might be my favorite so far. You can find the eggplant stack recipe here. I made just a few changes. While I was cutting and preparing my eggplant; I browned some lean ground turkey with Trader Joe’s organic spaghetti sauce (nothing in the ingredients, but the veggies). I cooked and prepared my eggplant exactly like in Danielle’s recipe. My stack included 3 slices of eggplant layered with the turkey-sauce mixture…..so, so, so tasty!

Afternoon snack was the usual, apple slices with the rest of the Barney Butter. Don’t you guys love my Raggedy Ann bowl? It was actually mine when I was a little girl. ;)

Dinner was a big spinach salad from Which Which. On the spinach went guacamole, cucumbers, chicken, tomatoes, carmelized onions, black olives and red pepper and yes, I brought TJ’s green salsa in my purse to use as dressing. ;-)

After I took a picture of my food, Madelyn had to take a picture of her dinner too.  ;) She had a whole wheat cheese pizza which.

Evening treat was dried apricots {thank you foodie penpal} and almonds. Peek-a-boo Max!

I think most of you fellow bloggers can relate. Isn’t this too funny!! My family is constantly giving me a hard time for the very same thing, but not Facebook, the bloggy blog.

Have a great day!

What is something yummy you had to eat today?

If you are a blogger that is constantly taking pictures of food; does your family and friends think your crazy?

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