Spaghetti squash with chicken, mushrooms and spinach

I made this dish about a month ago and I was so excited with how great it turned out. My kids aren't always super excited to eat spaghetti squash as pasta but they did not even utter a groan once they tasted the amazing chicken mixture! Score! This dish has a lot of ingredients going on so if you are like me and want to get in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible to move onto the next item at hand, I would do all your prep work earlier in the day. (Chopping, cutting, measuring you know, exciting stuff ;))

Ingredients:

1 (3.5-pound) spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 slices center-cut bacon, chopped
1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1.5 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces sliced crimini mushrooms
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/4 cup organic chicken broth
6 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
*Optional* Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top if you desire or your kids are begging you :)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Brush on a coat of olive oil to inside and around the rim of the squash. Salt and pep generously. Place squash halves cut side down in a 13x9-inch baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Check for tenderness and if not flaking with fork, cook another 10 min. until ready. Careful not to overcook or you will have mushy pasta. Cool. Scrape inside of squash with a fork to remove strands and add to serving bowl. Keep warm.
3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to pan; cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Cool and crumble. Increase heat to medium-high; sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to drippings in pan and cook 4 minutes; remove from pan.
4. Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan and cook 3 minutes or until soft, stirring frequently. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, reserved bacon, garlic and Italian seasoning to pan; cook 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and cook 4 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add wine to pan and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute stirring constantly.
5. Add reserved chicken, chicken broth,and spinach to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly. Place squash on individual plates and top with amazing chicken mixture...Delish!

Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com

Sunday roast with mushroom gravy and sweet potatoes

Sunday Roast with mushroom gravy and sweet potatoes

This is my new go to Sunday recipe! I have missed the days of roast and gravy with a big bowl of mashed potatoes on the side. This is an amazing Paleo version of the traditional Sunday roast. It is so easy to throw everything in the crockpot and then refrigerate it Saturday night so all you have to do is plug in your crockpot before church and let it cook up an amazing feast for when you get home!

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 8 hours Total time: 8 hours 5 mins
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1-2 lbs beef chuck roast
3-4 cups organic low sodium chicken broth
1-2 large onions, roughly chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ cup full fat coconut milk, canned
*optional* for extra crazy flavor, add 1 pkg onion soup mix.

Instructions

Grab the crock pot and throw in your broth, coconut milk, onions, garlic, mushrooms, and spice to your crock pot and mix together.
Make a little room in your crockpot and nestle the roast amongst the mushroom goodness.

Turn on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
Take out roast and shred with two forks on a plate and then pour shroom gravy over the top and serve with buttered sweet potatoes. YUM!

Recipe adapted from paleomg.com

Smoky Bacon Chili

The other day winter was in full effect and even though the skies were grey and the air was frigid, I was a happy lady. There is nothing better then a house filled with the smell of an amazing smoky, bacony (yes I just made up my own word ;0 ) aroma. So here is the recipe for heaven in a pot. When I made this I served it over sweet potatoes which was beyond devine. Okay enough drooling, on to the goods!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
6 slices of bacon, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14) ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 (8) ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 sweet potatoes (optional but highly reccomended!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke holes in your sweet potatoes with a fork. Place on rack in oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until potato is soft and cooked through.
Now pull out a large pot, add your cubed bacon and let cook down.
While the bacon is cooking, chop the onion and garlic.
When the bacon has browned and is a bit crisp, add your veggies.
Let cook for about 6 or so minutes, then add your ground beef and all the spices.
Once the beef is browned, add your tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes.
Mix well and let all the flavors meld together while cooking on low for the next 8 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Then split open your sweet potato, pour your chili over it, and eat. Heaven.



Recipe adapted from paleomg.com

Pulled pork with sweet potato home fries

This dish turned out amazing! I was pleasently surprised with how much my family liked it too. I am going to include the recipe for the BBQ rub as well as the BBQ sauce. I ended up making both but I realized while eating this dish that I am more of a dark and sassy kind of BBQ gal while the recipe for this sauce is more of a sweet and zesty if you will ;)Great news though, the rub that goes on the pork before it cooks is so good and there is a lot of really great flavored juice left after the pork is done cooking that can be poured over the shredded meat if you choose to opt out on the BBQ sauce.

-2.5 lb Pork Roast, Serves 4

The Rub:

½ tsp powdered ginger
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dry thyme
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1-2 tsp chipotle powder (this stuff is crazy spicy so start small and add more if needed)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tbsp sea salt
1-2 Tbsp honey *if you are NOT going to make the BBQ sauce below

Combine the above dry ingredients. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork. *If you are not making the sauce, drizzle the honey over the pork after applying spices. If you are going to make the sauce, skip the honey at this point. Let sit while you prepare the base.

The Base:

1 medium sized onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced
4 medium sized firm apples peeled and chunked
1/2 to 1 tsp ground chipotle powder (Again, a little goes a long way)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry thyme)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup honey
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Place the onions, garlic and apples in an even layer in the slow cooker. Combine chipotle powder, vinegar, thyme, honey and sea salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over the onion mixture, followed by the stock.

Place the rubbed roast in the slow cooker, cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.

While the pork is cooking you can make the Zesty, honey chipotle Sauce. You can use the juices from the cooking process to make an equally tasty serving sauce if you opt out of the BBQ sauce.

Honey Chipotle Barbeque Sauce:

In a small saucepan, cook slowly over medium low heat until well softened and beginning to caramelize:

3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 medium red onion, chopped

Add:
2 cups plain tomato sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ground chipotle powder (to taste)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground dry thyme
1 tsp sea salt

Simmer slowly for about 20-30 minutes or until reduced by about 1/4 , stirring often. When cool, puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion/apple mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer, retain the solids and set the strained liquid aside.

Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker and here you have a choice:

If using the above sauce, add the sauce, and mix to combine and serve.

If you’re not using the sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, reduce the liquid until it slightly thickens. Add in some of the cooked onions and apples and puree the sauce with an immersion blender or in a food processor to smooth it out. Mix into the pulled pork and serve.

Viola! Enjoy ;)



Recipe adapted from fastpaleo.com