Golden Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Total Time1 hr
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp EVOO
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 4 stalks bok choy or celery chopped
- 1/2 8 oz pack sliced mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/3 cup wild rice uncooked
- 64 oz vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 breast meat rotisserie chicken chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat up oil and butter over medium eat.
- Once butter is melted, add in chopped garlic, onion, carrots, bok choy, and mushrooms and sauté. While veggies are cooking, add in spices and mix. Saute veggies for approx 8-10 min, or until onions and bok choy become soft and transparent. Once veggies are sautéed, add in wild rice and mix in.
- Stir in broth, bay leaf, and chicken. Leave on medium heat and allow to simmer for 45 min.
- Remove from heat and serve! I like to top mine with almond slices for some extra crunch, but thats totally optional!
Homemade Holiday Cafe Mocha
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Total Time15 mins
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp raw honey
- 2 cups black coffee
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- candy cane (optional)
- cinnamon stick or powder (optional)
Instructions
- Start brewing a pot of coffee or 2 cups from Keurig.
- In a medium pot, pour in almond milk and cocoa powder and whisk over medium heat.
- Once milk and cocoa mixture starts to bubble, stir in honey. Add vanilla extract, then coffee, and stir to combine all ingredients. Ladle or pour into individual mugs.
- For peppermint flavor, add a candy cane as your stir stick. For cinnamon, add a cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder. Stir and enjoy! Yields enough for 3 medium drinks, or 4 small.
The Art of a Cheese Board
Prep Time15 mins
Ingredients
- 3-4 blocks variety of cheese (brie, aged cheddar, pepper jack, cream cheese topped with hot pepper jam)
- 2-3 cured meats (prosciutto, pancetta, capocollo)
- 1 cup variety of antipasto (garlic cloves, sun-dried tomatoes, stuffed olives, marinated mushrooms)
- 2 sprigs herbs (thyme and rosemary)
- 1 loaf french baguette
Instructions
- Grab a large serving platter or wooden board. Place cheeses on board first, and arrange so they are spread out from one another. Cut a couple pieces of each to get it started.
- Arrange meats around cheese blocks. For the thinly sliced meats, pinch them in the middle and lay on the board to where it almost makes a tent.
- Take antipasto items and fill in open spaces of the board. Top off with nuts, sprigs of herbs, and serve with bread and/or crackers.
Easy One-Pan Baked Chicken
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time50 mins
Total Time1 hr
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs chicken thighs (I like mine with skin) or any part of chicken
- 1 cup broth vegetable or chicken
- 1/2 white onion (optional) quartered
- 1 handful baby carrots (optional) cut in half long ways
- 2 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
- 1/2 lemon juice
Spice Mixture
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pour broth into a baking dish or skillet.
- Add onion and carrots to bottom of baking dish, then lay chicken on top of vegetables (if you choose to bake chicken without the veggies, just add chicken after broth).
- Brush some oil over chicken, then evenly cover the tops of each chicken thigh with spice mixture. Bake for 50 min. Squeeze lemon juice over chicken once done baking, serve with a side dish or over a salad!
Antioxidant Rich Mixed Berry Bars
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time35 mins
Ingredients
Gluten-Free Crust
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Berry Compote
- 6 oz organic blackberries
- 6 oz organic raspberries
- 6 oz organic strawberries approx. 13 strawberries
- 4 tbsp almond flour
- 5 dates pitted
- 1/2 cup water
- goji berries sprinkle on top
- sliced almonds sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together almond flour and shredded coconut.
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, and vanilla extract.
- Pour liquid mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and mix well.
- Take crust mixture and transfer it to lined baking dish. Pat down crust mixture so that it is evenly distributed across the surface of the baking dish. (I used the back of a spatula to thin the crust out.)
- Bake in oven for 15 min.
- While crust is baking, begin fruit compote. Prepare fruit by rinsing, remove stems from strawberries and cut in half, and remove pits from dates.
- Add water and all berries to saucepan and turn up to high heat. Stir berries periodically until mixture begins to boil. Let boil for 1-2 min, then reduce to medium heat. Take a potato masher and periodically mash the fruit mixture.
- Let sit on medium heat for an additional 8-10 min, while periodically stirring and mashing. Remove from heat, stir in almond flour and let cool.
- Once your crust is finished, set out to cool. Once the crust and berry compote have cooled off to room temp, pour compote mixture onto crust. Spread an even layer over crust, sprinkle with goji berries and almonds.
- Freeze for minimum 1 hr, for best results freeze over night. Remove from baking dish, pull out parchment paper, and cut into squares. Store in fridge and enjoy!
BBQ Pulled Chicken Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 2-4 small-medium sized sweet potatoes 1 for each person being served
- 1 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1-1.25 lbs organic chicken breast or tenders
- 1/2 cup broth chicken or vegetable
- 1 cup favorite BBQ Sauce I use Sweet Baby Rays
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper each
- 1 bell pepper cut into thin strips
- 1/2 cup red onion cut into thin strips
- 2 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
- 4 green onion chopped
Guacamole
- 2 medium sized avocados
- 1 tbsp red onion chopped
- 1 small roma tomato chopped
- 1 tbsp pickled jalapeno chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/2 lime squeezed
Instructions
- Add broth to crock pot, and lay chicken on top. Grind salt and pepper to cover chicken. Add BBQ sauce and cook on high heat for 3 hours, or low heat for 7-8 hours.
- When chicken is done cooking, take 2 forks and pull apart chicken in the crock pot. Leave on warm heat and set aside until time to serve.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Take sweet potatoes, rinse, and cut a line down the middle of each one going 3/4 of the way through.
- Melt butter, oil, and chopped garlic together in a bowl. When melted, take a brush or spoon and cover the skin of each sweet potato.
- Take covered sweet potatoes and bake on a foil-lined baking dish for 50-60 min. Potatoes are done cooking when you can easily poke with a knife.
- While potatoes are baking, cut up 1 bell pepper, and 1/4 cup onion. Add 2 tbsp oil to a pan and sauté vegetables over medium heat (approx. 10-12 min). Set aside until potatoes are done cooking.
- Right before serving, start to make guacamole. Take 2 avocados, cut in half, scoop out pit, and throw flesh into a mixing bowl. Take a potato masher and mash avocado until it has a chunky consistency. Take chopped onion, tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, lime, and mix together.
- When potatoes are done baking, let cool, and then pull apart from where the line was cut. Using a tong, add a layer of veggies and pulled chicken along the center of the sweet potato. Top with a scoop of guacamole and green onions.
- Serve and enjoy!
Orange Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 6 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
- 2 naval oranges juice
- 1/2 cup raw organic honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- In a sauce pan combine cranberries, honey, juice from oranges, and cinnamon stick. (Some chunks or orange fell into the saucepan while I was juicing them and I just left them in there!)
- Cook on medium heat for 20 min. Cranberries will start to pop.
- Stir a couple times while over heat. This will help blend the ingredients together, and you'll start to see the sauce forming.
- Remove from heat to allow sauce to cool and thicken. Once sauce has cooled, remove cinnamon stick.
- Store in container or mason jar and refrigerate until time to use!
Gluten Free Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
- 3/4 loaf bread
- 8-10 oz sausage cooked
- 3 tbsp butter grass-fed
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 5 sticks celery peeled and chopped
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 pack portabello mushrooms chopped
- 3 cups chicken bone broth
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp fresh sage chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
- 3 cups cooked wild rice yielded from 1 cup dry wild rice
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a large casserole dish with oil. Set casserole dish aside.
- Cook 1 cup of wild rice (should yield approximately 3 cups cooked).
- Add 2 tablespoons EVOO to saucepan and cook sausage over medium heat. Break apart with a spoon.
- Take a loaf of gluten free bread, and cut 3/4 of the loaf into small cubes. Take bread cubes and set aside in casserole dish.
- When sausage is done cooking, pour over bread in casserole dish.
- Chop garlic, onion, mushrooms, and celery. Add 3 tablespoons of butter to saucepan with sausage drippings, add chopped veggies, and cook over medium heat. Sauté veggies for 8-10 min or until wilted.
- Add chopped herbs (sage, thyme, and rosemary), and 2 cups broth to veggie mixture and stir. Once broth is warmed up, remove from heat.
- Whisk together 1 cup of broth, two eggs and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper.
- In the casserole dish, already containing the bread and sausage, add the vegetables with broth, and cooked wild rice. Stir together and let cool a little. Then add broth/egg mixture (want the dish to cool down so the eggs don't cook). Stir all ingredients together.
- Drizzle apple cider vinegar over the top to bring out the flavor.
- Bake for 30 min with foil over top. Remove foil for last 10 min of baking.
Notes
- In order to cut down on time there are definitely parts of this recipe that can be prepped days ahead. For myself, I chopped all the veggies the day before making it. OR you could make the entire dish a couple days ahead of time and store in an air tight container or freezer bag. Then on the day of serving, just grease the pan and pop in the oven to cook!
- If made ahead of time, bring it to room temp, add a little more broth (as it was all soaked up while in the frig), blend and bake.
- If putting the stuffing in a bird, just stuff and cook as usual.
Bacon and Egg Muffins
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time30 mins
Servings: 17 muffins
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 1/4 cup red hot
- 1/4 cup milk unsweetened almond
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 cup fresh kale chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper (any color) chopped
- 4 pieces bacon cooked and chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin pan.
- Crack 12 eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Add milk, red hot, garlic, turmeric, ground flax seed, kale, pepper, and mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour egg mixture into muffin pan 3/4 full. Sprinkle cooked bacon and green onions on top before placing in oven.
- Bake for 15 min, let cool, and serve.
THE BEST Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 pint half and half cream
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 block velveeta cheese cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 1 block sharp white cheddar cut into 1/4 inch slices
- 1 tsp fresh nutmeg ground
- 1 1 lb box rotini pasta cooked
- 1/2 cup panko
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lay out all of your ingredients ahead of time, as the sauce will need to be stirred while cooking to prevent hardening or burning.
- Prep the cheeses by cutting them into thin slices (that way they melt in the saucepan quicker). Allow cream to get close to room temp, to avoid curdling.
- Once ingredients are laid out, add butter to saucepan over medium heat. Allow to melt and then whisk in flour.
- Slowly pour cream into saucepan in stages, while continuously stirring. This will thicken and create the roux for your cheese sauce.
- Once you have added all the cream and created your roux, start to add the cheeses and continually stir. Add cheese in stages (a handful of velveeta and cheddar at one time). Stir in cheese until it melts, then add another handful until everything is blended together.
- Sprinkle in nutmeg and stir.
- Add most of your cooked noodles to the cheese sauce and stir (I leave out a handful of noodles so it's extra creamy!).
- Transfer to a greased baking dish.
- Melt butter in a separate bowl and stir in 1/2 cup panko. Take panko mixture and sprinkle on top of mac and cheese.
- Bake for 30 min with foil on top for first 20 min.
Notes
- I use Vermont Sharp White Cheddar by Cracker Barrel for my choice of cheddar.
- Rotini pasta is my favorite to use with mac and cheese, because I find that its shape is best for grabbing the sauce.
Roasted Beet Salad
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 3 medium sized beets or 2 large (gold or red)
- arugula enough to make a bed on serving dish
- 2 tangerines peeled; or 1 orange, peeled and cut into small pieces
- 1/3 cup chopped dates pits removed
- 1/3 cup red onion chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- goat cheese optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil EVOO or avocado oil
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup EVOO
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice or juice from half a fresh lemon
- 1 tbsp. Italian herb mixture
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel beets and cut into large chunks.
- Transfer beets into a mixing bowl, add 2 tbsp. of EVOO with salt and pepper, and mix well.
- Wrap beets in tin foil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour. Beets are done cooking when they become soft (you can stick a knife/fork into it easily).
- While beets are cooking, toss arugula and onions in a mixing bow, and mix in the dressing.
- Lay arugula mixture on a serving tray.
- Cut beets into smaller chunks and lay over arugula.
- Add tangerines, dates, and walnuts to rest of salad and serve. If using goat cheese, add at this time.
