Spaghetti Squash

     I love trying out new foods! I remember having spaghetti squash on occasion growing up, but I have never made it myself. It is a great replacement for pasta noodles and tastes delicious! It is realllly easy to make and I also didn't realize how many "noodles" one squash produces! I think the hardest part was getting the knife through the squash. A couple weeks ago my sister and I both cut ourselves with kitchen utensils within 24 hours so I was still a little afraid of sharp objects in the kitchen...but I was able to slice through this squash without injury :)
     Instead of making a marinara sauce I was able to use leftovers from my ratatouille from the night before. It was scrumptious!! I am excited to go out and buy another squash again soon and try out other toppings. I think a little butter, chopped basil, and a tomatoes would be delish!

Directions:
1. Slice off one end of squash to make it easier to stand up
2. Slice through squash lengthwise. Use a sharp chefs knife....be careful!
3. Scoop out the seeds and insides of both halves
4. Place in a lightly greased (I used olive oil spray) baking dish and poke with a fork
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until soft
6. Use a fork to scrap out the "noodles"

I topped mine with my ratatouille :)

Enjoy :)

Ratatouille

source

The first time I tried ratatouille was at a little French restaurant wrapped in a crepe. It was amazing! I loved all of the flavors and it was pretty much all of my favorite vegetables all mixed together.  I went home and had to recreate my new favorite dish hehhehe! I even learned to make crepes and stuffed them with the veggies. This time around, I just made ratatouille on its own with grilled sausage. During the summer I usually have all of the ingredients on hand, so it makes a great dinner when I don't plan what to eat ahead of time :) It is actual really easy to make, the hardest part is getting all of the vegetables cut, but then all you have to do is put them together to mingle their flavors and cook in a large pan. I even used the leftovers with dinner the next night...stay tuned for that one :)

Ratatouille

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, diced
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow squash, diced
•  8-10 mini yellow, orange, and red peppers (or 2 whole peppers)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• handful of basil, chopped
• large can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves

Directions:
1. Cook onions and garlic until translucent
2. Add in peppers, squash, eggplant, basil, bay leaves and tomatoes
3. Cook on medium low heat for 20-30 minutes, covered

Paleo Pizza

Let me start of by saying I LOVE PIZZA! Pizza is definitely one of my weaknesses and usually my go to meal when I don't feel like cooking! While I have been better about not eating as much pizza as I used to,  I haven't been able to completely say no while trying to eat Paleo! Because of my love for pizza I decided I needed to find a Paleo alternative! I went to my new go to website for Paleo recipes....Everyday Paleo. I used her recipe for my crust and got creative with my toppings. I found another recipe out there that used shredded eggplant in the crust with the almond meal, but I decided to play it safe for this first time. In honor of my love for pizza, I made my crust into the shape of a heart :) I also used my fresh rosemary that was planted this week!  While the pizza was in the oven, the smell was amazing, I couldn't wait for it be done to try it! The end result was delish. The crust was more like a crisp cracker and not like a regular pizza crust at all, but it was very tasty overall! I will definitely be making this again, so easy and a great pizza substitute :)

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 2 cups almond meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

Toppings:
I used Trader Joe's Putanesca Sauce because it has capers, olives, garlic, and lots of spices already added to the tomato sauce. I also used artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, yellow squash, and spinach. However, you can use any toppings that you have on hand or like to put on your pizzas!





Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients for crust and form the dough into a ball.

2. Lightly grease pan with olive oil. Use your hands to lightly press dough into desired shape on pan (circle, oval, or heart <3 like I made :)) The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick

3. Bake crust in 350 degrees oven for about 20 minutes 

 4. After crust is done. Spread sauce over the crust and add toppings

 5. Bake in the oven for another 25-30 minutes

Enjoy :)

Chicken and Chard

I discovered another favorite recipe from Everyday Paleo. Matt bought some rainbow chard from the Grower's Market a couple of weeks ago so I went on a hunt for recipes with chard. I made it and absolutely loved it! We bought more chard this past weekend so I decided to make it again. It is super easy to make and I just loved all the flavors together!

Chicken and Chard 

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
• 1 large bunch of rainbow chard  (roughly chopped)
• 1/2 red or sweet onion (diced)
• 5 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 (4oz) can of roasted green chiles 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of raisins and slivered almonds for garnish

Directions:

1. Saute onions over medium heat in 2 tablespoons coconut oil

2. Once onions are translucent, add chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes

3. Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes

4. Add green chile and cumin

5. Add chopped chard and cook for a few minutes or until wilted

6. Add slivered almonds and raisins as garnish and  Enjoy :)

 

Pecan Crusted Chicken

I tried out my first recipe from Everyday Paleo! It was actually the first recipe listed and I pretty much had all the ingredients in my kitchen.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken

•    ½ cup spicy brown mustard (I used a Honey Dijon because that was I already had)  
•   2 Tablespoons of honey
•     1 cup pecans, crushed
•     Boneless, skinless chicken breasts--dried with paper towel (her recipe says 4, but I made 3)

1.   Heat oven to 350° 
2.   Whisk together the mustard and honey in medium bowl
3.  Finely chop pecans  (I used my Magic Bullet for half and used a knife to chop the other half)  and put in another bowl
   
4. Roll the chicken in the mustard and then into the pecans—be sure to coat both sides
5.   Place the chicken in a greased glass baking dish and bake for 45 minutes

I was pleased with the results. My chicken didn’t quite look like the picture in the book, however it was tasty and got a thumbs up. I also made a salad to go with the chicken:

•  Spinach
• Red Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Artichoke Hearts
• Chopped Pecans

mmmm…..