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Paleo Sweet Potato Layered Breakfast Casserole

So, I was just about to add a different, much less appealing recipe and came across this photo sitting in my media folder. OHHHH! How could I almost forget about this one? It’s a paleo breakfast casserole that’s layered with eggs, sweet potato, turkey sausage and vegetables. And it is amazing. It was my breakfast for a whole week during the time that I was in cruise-preparation mode.

Now this isn’t my first or second sweet potato breakfast recipe, but this might be my favorite. I’m not a huge fan of sweet breakfasts, so savory recipes that can be made ahead of time are sort of my thing. This one’s perfect because you can cut it, freeze it, and take a piece to work for breakfast each day! It reheats beautifully … a perfect quick paleo breakfast casserole recipe if you ask me.

Paleo-Sweet-Potato-Breakfast-Casserole

Paleo Sweet Potato Layered Breakfast Casserole

What you need:

2 small sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 bag precooked turkey sausage crumbles (you can use any sausage you like!)

½ onion, diced

1/2 green and orange bell pepper, diced

5 eggs

½ cup coconut milk

¼ teaspoon sage

Red pepper flakes (to taste)

Sea salt and pepper (to taste)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grate the sweet potatoes, place in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes to soften them up. Pat with paper towels to get rid of extra moisture.

3. In a medium skillet, heat coconut oil and sauté the onions and bell peppers. If your sausage is not precooked, cook it at this time in the same skillet.

4. Beat the eggs in a bowl, then stir in coconut milk, sage, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan with cooking spray, then assemble the casserole. Spread the sweet potatoes on the bottom, then add the sausage, then the vegetables. Pour the egg mixture all over the top.

5. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad

GUYS! I’m moving out! Although I’m beyond excited to move to the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago, this also means that I will be a blogger on a budget. SO, prepare yourself for budget-friendly, super easy, don’t-require-a-ton-of-dishes recipes. 🙂

Which brings me to one of my favorite quick lunch solutions. When you just don’t have time to meal prep, and you just don’t have energy, and you just happen to have a can of tuna sitting in your pantry, make this 2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad! It’s so delicious and takes minutes to throw together. Tuna is one of those cheap ingredients I like so much that I buy it at Costco.

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad

And just because I took this picture on my dysfunctional iPhone before I ate it at work doesn’t mean it’s not delicious! Please note that this is not strict paleo but life is about breaking the rules.

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad
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Ingredients

  • 1 can albacore tuna in water
  • 2-3 tablespoons homemade pesto (see recipe below)
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts
  • 1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup bell peppers, chopped
  • *Note: These are estimated quantities - I suggest just throwing in however many vegetables and nuts you like!

Instructions

  1. Drain the tuna. In a small bowl, mix to combine the tuna and pesto. Stir in the pine nuts, tomatoes and bell peppers.
  2. For best results, refrigerate for a few hours before eating.
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https://smilesandwich.com/2014/02/28/2-minute-paleo-tuna-salad/

Healthy Homemade Pesto

1/2 cup raw almonds

1 clove garlic

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup cheese of choice (Pecorino)

1 cup olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water to get the correct consistency.

Sweet Potato Salad

This week’s mantra: Just Think Spring.

Raise your hand if you’re sick of winter. *Jordan raises both hands* I’ll save you from all my wintery gripes and get to the point of this post: SWEET POTATO SALAD. This colorful potato salad is shockingly delicious. I don’t even like potato salad, and I especially don’t care for mayonnaise, so for me to find a potato salad recipe that I enjoy means it must be a good one.

Sweet Potato Salad

This recipe uses sweet potatoes (my favorite spud variety) and a light vinegar dressing, so it’s much healthier than the normal creamy, bacon-y, white potato-y kind. Plus, in my humble opinion, much more delicious! I swear to you, although this doesn’t include any of the normal bad-for-you ingredients, it tastes JUST like the potato salad you’ve been enjoying at picnics for years.

Give it a try, I dare you. And if you don’t want to make it again, I’ll give you an open shot to launch a snowball right at me. (Yes, I’m that confident in this recipe).

Just Think Spring.

Sweet Potato Salad

What You Need:

6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup safflower oil

2 cups celery, thinly sliced

1/2 cup red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

2/3 cup copped walnuts

lettuce leaves

What You Do:

1. Steam potatoes 10 minutes or until tender. Transfer to medium bowl and cool.

2. In small bowl combine vinegar, mustard and safflower oil. Mix well. Pour over potatoes. Add celery, red pepper, green onions, salt, pepper and walnuts. Mix well. Divide among plates lined with lettuce.

 

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Spoiler alert: I’m a genius.

Okay fine, maybe I’m not the genius, but whoever thought of this definitely is. I’ve seen recipes for barbecue pulled chicken stuffed sweet potatoes floating around and always wanted to give them a try. I mean, I like BBQ chicken and I like sweet potatoes, so why not stuff them together and call it lunch?!

Don’t be scared. If you’re one of those people who can’t stand the thought of your food touching on your plate (you know those people I’m talking about) then this may not be the recipe for you. But trust me, the combination of the sweetness of the BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s, duh. As if you had a choice?!) and sweet potatoes is comforting and delicious.

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato

If you close your eyes, you can just imagine yourself eating this meal at a friendly barbecue party …. instead of cuddling up with it in your kitchen during a snow day. Sigh.

Even if you’re cooking for one like me, I would advise you to learn how to cook whole chickens. The thought of man handling an entire bird (they’re alarmingly heavy) is a little scary, but roasting a whole chicken is budget-friendly and super convenient! Pop the chicken in the oven (or slow cooker) one night and have it for dinner. Then, use the leftovers to make awesome creations LIKE THIS ONE.

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, The Lazy Way

Serves: 2 for lunch, 1 for dinner

What you need:

1 sweet potato

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

Your favorite barbecue sauce, to taste

Green onion

What you do:

1. Wash your sweet potato and stab it with a fork a couple times. Wrap it in  a paper towel and microwave for 5 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork; turn it over halfway through cooking.

2. Mix the chicken with your desired amount of barbecue sauce. (I went light so it was a bit healthier). Cover and microwave for 2 minutes.

3. Cut the sweet potato in half and top with chicken and green onion.

 

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, The Better Way

(This way takes more time, but it tastes better of course)

1. Place 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in your slow cooker. Cover with a generous amount of your favorite barbecue sauce (about 2 cups). Cook 5 hours on LOW or 2 1/2 hours on HIGH.

2. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Assemble the sweet potato as instructed above.

 

I think you might also like ….

Breakfast Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Breakfast Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

 Sweet Potato Paleo Pancakes

Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes

Paleo Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

There comes a point in your paleo diet when you’re eating a lunch of six microwaved turkey meatballs and you begin to think that the whole thing is totally not normal and no human should ever consume this much meat in a short amount of time. Well, maybe that was just me yesterday.

Eating this way is a lot of work. And money. And self control. And meat. BUT judging by my progress just in the first week, it is definitely worth every damn microwave turkey meatball I have to eat. Nothing has ever worked better or quicker for me than eating a high protein, low carb, low sugar diet. I can proudly say I’m 5 days away from being in a bikini, and I’m almost ready! (Well, as ready as I’ll ever be).

So, per my Sunday ritual, I spent yesterday prepping lunches for the week and came up with this recipe for Paleo Mock Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl. Now, to say this tasted just like Chipotle would be a stretch of the truth, but either way it tastes pretty darn good! If I was eating normally, I’d definitely add black beans, and I think then it would closely resemble Chipotle’s version.

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I took the shortcut way of making the cilantro lime cauliflower rice, but it’s better if you sauté it with onion in a pan rather than microwaving it. But, sometimes a girl just wants to be lazy on a Sunday, okay? I also chose to use chicken thighs – not because they’re juicier and not because I prefer the taste to chicken breasts, but because they’re cheaper. This cavegirl is balling on a budget.

 

Paleo Mock Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

What You Need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

6 chicken thighs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small white onion, chopped

1 each green and orange bell peppers, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

Mexican seasonings (I used a blend of cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper)

1/2 head cauliflower

Juice of 1/2 lime

Fresh cilantro

What You Do:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken thighs on each side, but don’t cook through. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, sauté garlic, onion and peppers. Once they’re soft, add in the tomatoes and seasonings. Place the chicken thighs back in the pan, nestled into the vegetable mixture. Cover and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, blend the cauliflower in your food processor until it resembles rice. Place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes until it’s soft. Stir in your lime juice and cilantro. (This can also be done in a pan on the stove).

4. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and shred it with two forks. Add it back to the pan and stir. (If the mixture is too liquid-y, simply let it cook with the lid off for a few minutes).

5. Serve chicken on top of cauliflower rice! Yay healthy Chipotle.

 

Nana’s Paleo Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce

I’ve recently been a tad  bit weird about red meat. Perhaps it’s because my grandpa is a farmer, so we had an extra refrigerator just for those white packages of red meat that would be cooked into tacos and burgers and beef stroganoff and anything else you could imagine. Although I was a young adolescent who would literally eat anything my mom cooked (bless her soul for cooking for us every day), now that I’m old enough to cook for myself I’d just rather avoid red meat. Plus, I was tormented with something my whole family loved (the one thing I loathed) … Tater Tot Casserole.

Anyhoot, the one form of red meat that I can still stand is a beef roast. It just reminds me of comfort food and I just like it, okay? I don’t know why. So when I decided to do this paleo challenge, I got literally the BEST. IDEA. EVER. There’s an Italian restaurant we go to that has a menu item called Nana’s Gravy. It’s basically rigatoni with red meat sauce, except the meat in the sauce is shredded beef. So um, lightbulb! Tomatoes, plus vegetables, plus beef, plus zucchini “noodles” equals Jordan being a culinary paleo genius with this recipe for Nana’s Paleo Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce.

I said I was doing “modified” paleo diet because those crazy cavemen try to tell you which fruits and vegetables to eat. For me, if it’s a vegetable, I’ll friggin eat it. Fruits I’m still careful with (berries are best, and apples and bananas when I’m feeling naughty). So even though this recipe uses canned tomato sauce, just buy the organic kind with no added extra junk and I’d say you’re fine. Or you can be overly ambitious and make your own tomato sauce. Over achiever.

Okay so now that I’ve rambled for this long, here’s a photo to make your eyes happy.

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I’ve also decided that Paleo recipes are the least sexy food ever. But you (after eating paleo) will be so it’s okay.

So let’s talk about this paleo slow cooker tomato sauce. It might just be the best thing I’ve made so far. The beef gets super tender in the slow cooker, plus you have all the flavors of a standard marinara sauce, plus I even snuck in a few vegetables for added nutrients!

If you’re a normal human being, serve this over whole wheat rigatoni. Please. Today. Do it do it do it do it. Your stomach will thank you for it.

Paleo Slow Cooked Beef Roast Tomato Sauce
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Ingredients

  • 1 beef roast (organic, grass-fed, blah, blah)
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes
  • 2 14.5-ounce cans tomato sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fresh garlic
  • Fresh basil, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
  • 3-4 small zucchini, sliced with a mandolin, spiralizer, julienne or knife

Instructions

  1. Salt and pepper the outside of your beef roast. Saute in a pan about 4 minutes each side until just the outside is browned.
  2. Throw that hunk of meat in your slow cooker, then dump in the peppers and onion, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and whatever other herbs you like to put in your marinara sauce. Give it all a good stir. Cook on LOW about 6-8 hours.
  3. When it's about 45 minutes away from being done, add in the mushrooms and continue cooking.
  4. Once the meat is done, remove it from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Add it back in with the sauce and stir it all up.
  5. Saute your zucchini "noodles" in a pan until they're soft. Serve the meat over the noodles, or pasta if you prefer. ENJOY!
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https://smilesandwich.com/2014/01/07/paleo-slow-cooked-beef-roast-tomato-sauce/

Notes: I cut my zucchini noodles a bit bigger than normal because I wanted them to stand up to the hearty sauce, but in hindsight I think I would have gone with smaller noodles.

Also, I kept the noodles separate to make a better photo, but that was just silly of me. If you’re going to reheat this, throw it all into one container so you have less zucchini flavor and more beefy tomato sauce flavor.

Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble

In exactly 15 days I will be cruising to the Western Carribean, and considering temperatures are well below zero here in good old Chicago, to say I’m excited is a vast understatement. Now of course I’m an advocate of having a healthy lifestyle all year long, but sometimes a girl just needs to go on one of those short-term intense “diets.” Like, for example, after drinking and eating everything in sight during the holidays mere weeks before she has to be seen in a bikini.

Ipso facto: today starts my 15-day modified paleo challenge. Now, I did paleo for the better part of an entire summer before, and my only complaint is that it’s a loooot of meat. I’m not a fan of red meat, but am willing to give it a try for the sake of this challenge. We’ll see how it goes.

To keep myself accountable, of course I’m going to document everything I make, starting with this Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble. The most important thing to keep in mind when doing a challenge like this is, you HAVE to plan ahead. If you fail to plan, you better plan to fail. I’d suggest cooking on the weekends and freezing or refrigerating breakfasts and lunches.

Normally I eat a Greek yogurt every single day for breakfast because it keeps me full until lunch. But, since dairy is a no-no for cavemen, this scramble is something I can reheat for quick breakfasts during the week. The eggs and bacon are great protein while the sweet potato has filling fiber. Reheated eggs are not ideal, but the sacrifice must be made.

This isn’t the sexiest meal, but it tastes really really good. Trust.

IMG_2161

Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble

What You Need:

1 sweet potato, peeled and grated

1/2 cup red, green and yellow peppers (mine was a frozen blend)

3 slices organic uncured turkey bacon

2 eggs and 3 egg whites

Coconut oil

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

What You Do:

1. Cut up your bacon into small pieces and fry it, set aside. In the same pan, saute the peppers in coconut oil until soft and set aside with the bacon. Next, add more coconut oil to the same pan and throw in your grated sweet potato. Cook until soft.

2. Add the peppers and bacon back in the pan with the sweet potatoes and stir. Turn the heat down to low.

3. In a separate pan, scramble your eggs. Add the eggs into the pan of sweet potato mixture. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and enjoy!

Check back here to follow me on my get-cruise-ready-quick adventure.

 

 

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Peanut Sauce

I’m baaaaccckkk …. And what better way to come back than with a bang? These Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps are pretty darn good, and the Coconut Peanut Sauce that accompanies them is perfect for a number of dishes. I’ve been trying to eat fewer carbs since it’s the only diet change that seems to work for me, and these lettuce wraps are perfect to bring to work for lunches. Now, it looks like a whole bunch of ingredients, but most of these are staples you should already have on hand!

These are super healthy since they just use chicken, vegetables and a light sauce. You might get the urge to use iceberg lettuce, but please find the will the resist the urge. Boston is where it’s at. Also, if you’re one of those people who pay attention to detail, you’ll notice those are cashews on that plate instead of peanuts (guilty). I simply didn’t have peanuts on hand, so cashews it was. Either works!

IMG_1992

In other news totally unrelated to Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps … Google stinks. Just when I thought I was all cool with my Google Ads, the up and disable my account. Gggrrr. But, if there’s anything I’ve learned in life, it’s that you should never let Google ruin all your blogging fun. So, I’m back at it and determined to feed people with or without Google. SO THERE!

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Peanut Sauce

What You Need:

Chicken lettuce wraps:

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes (buy the organic kind or you’ll break my heart)

1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

4 scallions, diced

Fresh cilantro, diced

Peanuts, for garnish

Boston lettuce

Marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon finely minced ginger

1.5 teaspoons ground cardamon

Coconut Peanut Sauce:

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk (fat free or lite)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar (or honey)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sriracha sauce (or to taste)

What You Do:

1. Place the chicken in a medium bowl. Prepare the marinade: whisk all ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour about half the marinate over the chicken and massage the meat so the cubes are covered well. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight. Refrigerate the remaining marinade as well.

2. Cook the pepper and mushrooms in oil until the begin to soften, set aside. Cook the marinated chicken in the same pan until no longer pink.

3. When chicken is about half cooked, add in the vegetables and the reserved marinade. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

4. Prepare the coconut sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This can also be done in the microwave)

5. Once chicken is done, add in the scallions and cilantro.

6. To assemble: Spoon some chicken mixture onto a lettuce leaf and garnish with peanuts. Pour coconut sauce on top or serve on the side. Enjoy!

 

No-Bake Healthy Pumpkin Bars (vegan and gluten-free)

Okay, this is the last pumpkin post of the season … Maybe. They’re just so perfect as a healthy Thanksgiving dessert because A. They can be made the night before and B. They don’t even require any baking!

Pumpkin Bars

As soon as I saw these vegan, gluten-free pumpkin bars by The Kitchn, I knew I had to try them. The crust is made of an almond and coconut mixture, and the pumpkin filling is chai-spiced, so what’s not to love? I’m pretty sure pumpkin is a vegan’s best friend because it tastes so good simply sweetened with a little maple syrup and spices.

Pumpkin Bars

If I made these again, I think I’d increase the amount of pumpkin filling I made so the ratio of crust-to-filling was more in favor of the filling. Either way, I thought this was a delicious dessert for those vegan and gluten-free friends. Or, if you’re simply trying to cut back on sugar, give these a try! Any dessert that uses natural ingredients and still tastes good is a good one in my book. 🙂

IMG_1937

 

 

No-Bake Healthy Pumpkin Bars

What you need:

For the crust:

  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup pitted dates, chopped — plus a few more if needed

For the filling:

  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or coconut nectar (or to taste)
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
  • 3/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour

What you do:

1. Combine the oats, almonds, coconut, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and blend until fine. Add in the dates and blend until it’s sticky and holds together. If it’s too crumbly, add more dates.

2. Press the crust into an 8 x 8 baking ban lined with parchment paper. Place that in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

3. Combine pumpkin, syrup, oil, vanilla and spices in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add in the flour and blend until well combined.

4. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the filling over. Spread it evenly with a spoon. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

5. Lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper edges. Use a chef’s knife to cut the bars, wiping the knife clean between cuts. Serve chilled.

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